That Time of Year

 The evil eye of graduation has hit our  village again.   This year Spencer View is losing Sara,  Yan and Abbey.  I am sure we will continue to be friends for years to come but things just aren't going to be the same around here.    We have had great times sitting out on blankets while the kids play and on our occasional  girls nights when we have  escaped the world of mommy-ing and felt like we were actual adults...and sometimes felt more like silly teenagers.  I have learned so much  and laughed so hard and cried a few times too with these women and will always feel so lucky that we shared this  pocket of space together. 

Safety Town

 Daisy spent two weeks at Safety Town.  The Eugene Police put on the two week camp and she learned all kinds of safety rules.  On the last day they performed songs at the graduation ceremony.

 Safety camp  couldn't have come at a better time for our family.  All the kids have been adjusting  to the new  baby but it has been the hardest on Daisy.  The other day Brandon went to take the kids to the library to give me a break and a  minute  after  they left Daisy came back in.  She had a big smile and told me that she was going to stay home with me.  A couple seconds later Rosy came in and Daisy burst into tears.  She just wanted  to be home without her sisters.   In the end Rocky won because she ended up getting to go to the library and having her dad to herself.  The big loser...me.  I tried to comfort Daisy for a second while Rosy was outside which gave  her enough time to run away.  Then I  spent the next 10 minutes looking for her only to find her in the stairway directly above our apartment.  By that time Brandon was home and my patience was gone...again.
The camp  was perfect because it gave the middle child a chance to be away from the rest of us.
Being a mom is interesting.  It isn't easy trying to balance the joy that comes from always being wanted and the exhaustion that comes from always being wanted.

We are starting to emerge back into regular  life.  Our ward had a Pioneer Day picnic and it was delightful.  The kids all played  old games.  They did a three-legged race, played  tug-of-war, jumped around in gunny sacks, and a bunch of other stuff that adults never let kids do anymore because they could be dangerous.  Of course there were some minor bumps and bruises as a result but it felt like childhood should feel. I finally remembered I had a camera at the end of the party when the kids were playing at the playground.

 I  love this picture of the boys.

 After church today I was sitting on the bed feeding the babe and watching  Rosy.  She knew I was in the  room but I am positive she didn't know I was watching her.  She spent 20 minutes diligently working on her new hairstyle.

Clearly it was worth the time.

More Ike

Artists in Action

 Rocky gave me an  invitation to her Spring Fashion Fling.

 She handed it to me and then she said, "Oh, and can you  bring Brunch?"  I was impressed and disappointed at the same time  when I saw the "you're dolls."  I had no idea that she knew how to use an apostrophe, but did she have to use it to commit the worst atrocity in the English language?
I don't  know what happened but all of a sudden the girls are really into fashion.  Some people left a couple of fashion magazines on the benches outside  when they moved out and Rocky and Daisy cut out a bunch of pages and  hung them all over their room.  They think they are teenagers.

Daisy drew this moose.  I don't have anything to say about it except that it makes me very happy.

 When I was cleaning up some things in my room  I found the card  that Rocky made for Father's Day.  She gave it  to me to hide so that she  could surprise her dad with  it,  and then when Ike was born  we both forgot about it. 
In case you can't tell  Chewbacca is saving the world from very smiley dinosaurs.

Hopefully these works made you're day a little better. 

Good and Crazy

 People keep asking me how things are going with four kids.   This photo is  the answer.
Everyone is alive and healthy but maybe sometimes not everyone is wearing pants.

After 7 years of living in Eugene  we finally went to one of the Oregon  Track Club All Comers Meets.  The kids get a chance to participate in track and field events at Hayward Field.  One week world class runners take the track and the next week a bunch of enthusiastic kids.  Both meets are extremely competitive.

Daisy got to run in a heat with Kinsley which is cool because they are  close friends.  This also means that Kinsley gets to look even faster than she is.   It is  kind of like when I run with...I mean behind  her mom  Katie.

 And just  like  me Daisy happily takes things at her own pace.

 

 Rocky was in the big kid division where things get serious.  They even start with the  gun like the adults.  She got off  to a bad beginning after  plugging her ears because she was afraid it  would  be too loud.  Then one of  the other girls crossed  into her lane in front and  slowed her down.

 Eventually she jumped into the open lane and ended up finishing 3rd.   She was  pretty proud of her  ribbon.

 Rosy even  ran the 60 meter race  assisted by Brandon.  I unfortunately didn't  get  a picture because I was trying to sort out confusion with Rocky at the long jump pit.  You may rest  assured that it was adorable.   These meets are just another reason that Eugene is awesome.

 Ike has continued to grow.   He has never ending attention from his sisters.  I left him in  the front  room while  I was trying to get Rosy to take a nap and the big girls had made a bed for him complete with a pillow pet,  Boppy, and a  tissue  paper headrest.  They were  in the process of building Tinker Toy scaffolding over  him but  I had to put the kibosh on that.   They also took  another  60 photos but  none of them  were good,  except maybe this one. 

Take that Suckers!

 He is growing but still looks as lurpy as can be.   My spell checker is trying to tell me that 'lurpy' isn't a word but I looked it up and found it on Urban Dictionary...along with a lot of other interesting  words.  None of my neighbors here think it is a real word either, except the ones from Utah.  According to my online research it means a more awkward form of lanky.  Yep, that is my baby.

He is lurpy and awesome.

Name That Riglet

 

When I put Baby Ike in the blue gown that the girls all wore  Rocky asked me why I was dressing him like a princess.  I was surprised because when I put my girls in the same outfit when they were newborns everyone assumed that they were boys.  I have never cared if it was made for boys or girls because all of my babies have looked so adorable wearing it.  Some of you may remember  this quiz from a couple of years ago but here it is again.  Can  you tell who these babies are?

 

 

 

A

B

C

D

Answers:

 

A-Daisy  B-Rosy C-Rocky D-Ike

 

 

 

 

 

Chillin' Like a Villain

 I have taken photo after photo trying to prove how long and lurpy this baby is but every time I get it out he curls himself  into a little ball.  I guess it is okay because he looks so cute all squished like that.  I am especially fond of his feet. 
The last few days went super smoothly because Kathy was here showering everyone with love.  She did all kinds of activities with the girls and snuggled little Ike who took to her immediately.

 They made Star Wars chocolates using the original  molds.  They also made some that were in the shape of baby booties which led to the girls giggling uncontrollably.    Let's just say when Abia said they were making baby booties they had a different kind of booty in mind. 

 Chewbacca was clearly the favorite and as much as I would like to say it is because they admire his strength and courage I think it probably has more to do with the fact that he is almost twice the size as the next smallest character.  I'm not raising fools.

 As I mentioned before Kathy is a world class baby snuggler and even though she just left last night it seems that the little guy has realized that she is gone.  Instead of being soothed to sleep he is back to being poked by his  mom  who  wants him to open his eyes so she can take a picture. 

Photo Bomb

 At  least now I have proof that despite all evidence from the blog, Rosy does know  how to smile.  She actually has a smile that is irresistible.  I think that is  why she uses it sparsely when her picture is being taken.   She is afraid that if it is overused it will lose its power.  

 He is slowly gaining weight but still looks  pretty gaunt.   It is hard to fill out a body that lanky.

 We needed a picture showing Daisy and Rosy in their matching Jammies.  Rocky felt like it was a little unfair that since she grew out of the P.J.s that she got kicked out of the shot.  I took one with her in it and then went ahead and cropped her out.  I would feel worse if she wasn't the only one of the 4 children in this family with a baby book.  I gotta make things right somehow.

Daisy has become a complete baby hog.  Whenever someone else tries to hold him she hounds them until  they give him up.  For his part he seems quite content when she has him, probably because as long as he is in her arms that means he is not being held by Rosy.  He is only 3 weeks but he can already tell that a not-quite-three-year-old has no business holding him.  To be fair, she really tries hard to be gentle, and she has improved quite a bit,  but we all kind of hold  our breath when  it is her turn.   

 We had to make a  stop in at Voodoo Doughnuts.  Rosy has trouble when we are there because their are three choices with orange frosting.  In the end  she  decided that the best bet was the one that also had  orange sprinkles.

We also  stopped at Papa's Pizza so that they could spend some quality time in the ball pit. 

 And now that our grandparent visits are over things are about to get boring.  We are thrilled to have our new baby but it has put a damper on the usual summer activities.  My plan is to keep things calm for another  week or two and then hit August hard.  Either that or we could just keep it calm until next summer.  That  sounds even better.

Awww

Week 2

 Rocky and  Daisy were out playing  and they started yelling that there was something weird in the sky.  Right then  the smoke went in front of the sun and the sky went  creepily dark.  Sure enough there was something crazy going on.   Civic Stadium which is just across the track from our apartment was on fire.  It only took a few minutes before it  was completely engulfed in flames.  You could feel the heat coming off of it and it was  terrifying, especially before the firefighters got it under control.

 We found out later that it was started by four kids that were over there playing around.  It was one of those nightmare stories that parents always warn you about and that nobody really believes  will happen to them.
It is especially sad to see  this stadium burn because the whole community had just put a ton of work into raising 4.5 million dollars to save it.   Now all that is left  is the rubble.  

 

The fire only added to the ridiculous amount of heat we have been having here.  Eugene is usually so pleasant during the summer.  If you can make it through all the rain during  the winter, and get through the early grass seasonal allergies by the time you get to mid June  things are usually perfect.  The mornings are cool and sometimes a little rainy and the afternoons are just the right temperature to enjoy some time at the pool.  Not so this year.  We have been roasting.  Little Ike made  his appearance just in time to experience record heat.  I just thank my lucky stars that  I'm  not still pregnant.

 Rosy was supposed to be in bed but I found her  singing to her baby brother.  I thought I should take a picture because it was the first time that they were together that she wasn't trying to shove her hands in his face.  Don't look at how dirty her feet are.

I took another half  million  pictures  to try to document how this boy looks and how much he already has us all wrapped around his tiny little fingers.

 He had quite an audience for his first bath.

 The girls are really loving the baby but they have been a little bit unpredictable in their behavior.  Everything seemed  to change at once because they got out of school,  the weather went crazy, and they have a new baby at home all at the same  time.  I haven't gotten to spend as much one on one time with any of them and they are all tired  and cranky.   Mostly this manifests itself through fights.  One reoccurring fight is that Rosy steals Daisy's flip flops and insists that they are hers.  Of all the ridiculous things I have dealt with as a mother  this one might be the irritating.  I actually took Rosy to the store and let her pick out her own pair that actually fit her feet but it did nothing to stop her from wearing  the big ones.  She will not back down from it  and  no matter how many times they are taken away she will still insist that they are hers.
Daisy has had her fair share of freak outs too.  She usually saves her explosions up and has about one a year but there  have been a few flare-ups.  The other day she and Rocky were fighting over a Pirate bandanna with drastic results.  Rocky put it in her mouth and Daisy pulled it out and along with the scarf came a tooth.  Incidentally both Brandon and I each lost a tooth in a similar situation with a sibling so we were not as surprised  as we could have been.
Once she got over the shock Rocky was pretty thrilled that she had  a tooth to put under her pillow and in the end I think it sort of broke the tension that had been building up between  the sisters and they seem to be getting along a little better.
Along with her tooth she left a note.

 Translation:  Dear Tooth Fairy, My little sister ripped my tooth out accidentally but it was loose.
(I thought she was being pretty diplomatic calling it an accident.)

 P.S. I look like a vampire - no  fangs

 I am sorry for the disgustingness of the tooth photo but you can see that the roots were definitely still there and that without the help it may have stayed put for another month or so.

But we somehow soldier on in this crazy home of ours and everybody seems to get along in the end.

 Our little Isaac is still so small.  In fact, he is almost a pound smaller than when he was born.  He eats  and he sleeps and he shrinks.  He still seems healthy, strong and alert...and tiny.  I have been working really hard to get some weight on him and  sometimes it gets a little tiring so I put him in this onesie to give myself some encouragement.  I still don't think he has gained much but I feel cheered on.  It is a bummer that it is so unhealthy because he is so cute with his chicken legs and his long skinny torso.  I can't blame him for just wanting to sleep in this heat.  On the plus side he is a mellow little guy and when he cries he has this adorable little squeak.  It is impossible not to melt when he squeaks. 

 I can't remember  why I took this picture of Rosy but I thought that I had better use it because she is actually smiling. 

 Because I have to spend so much time trying to nourish our youngest Brandon has really been working hard to keep the others entertained.  He takes them to the park every day and planned a bunch of outdoor activities that they have taught to the other kids in the neighborhood.  He got their bikes all decorated for a parade at the park for the 4th.  He is just the cutest dad ever.

 He ran the Butte to Butte 10K and even though I was jealous that I didn't get to participate it was fun to be able to cheer him on.   The girls were  so excited and they told everyone around that they were watching for their Daddy.  I could see how proud they were.

 Rocky wanted to take some pictures.  The other 65 pictures that she took weren't that great but I thought this one was pretty cool.

 Daisy is still a little bit erratic on her bike so the parade took a lot of focus. 

 When they were taking the group shot I was standing behind all the kids.  A man kept saying, "Everybody needs to smile we don't want frowns."  I should have known who he was talking about.

 After the parade we had a picnic and then spent the afternoon sitting in front of the fan in our apartment with both doors open trying to get a cross breeze.  That night Brandon took the girls to a potluck and I stayed home with the bean.  Later we tried to walk around and see if there was a spot close by to witness fireworks and saw a couple but not many.  The highlight of the day for the girls was the Pop-Its.

And a few more baby shots.

 He really is that cute.  I know you don't believe it, but he is.

And one last picture to finish things off.  I found this hanging on Rocky's wall.  It speaks for itself.