Girls Just Want to Have Fun

G-I-R-L-S. Me with my girl.......What would I do without her?! She allows me to enjoy frills and femininity. I get to dress her up, we paint our nails together, have tea parties (admittedly, the boys like to join us for these) and rock her babies to sleep. With all of the male bonding going on at our house lately, the father's and son's outing and Grant's date with dad, I feel compelled to showcase the female members of our family. We may be outnumbered, but we make our presence known! Peyton and I went on a date two weeks ago on a Saturday evening and had a really fun time together. I haven't had many opportunities to be alone with my little girl and this was a much needed escape. Mark and I are attempting to give each of our children a date alone with mom or dad once a month. Peyton was first and now Grant has had a turn. Peyton and I went shopping for our date and she chose a dress for church (shown in the pictures) and some flip flops that she now wears with everything she owns. They are bright red with cherries on them (matching the aforementioned dress). They are her first pair of flip flops and also her new favorite shoes. We had a great time driving around with the windows down (at her request), chatting while the wind whipped through the car. We also ate dinner together. She chose the food and we both enjoyed a treat afterwards. What is a date without some sort of sweets? She finished off every last bite....yep, she is my kind of girl!
During the father's and son's outing, Peyton and I played together again. Benjamin joined us this time, but the most memorable part of the evening happened after Benjamin had gone to bed and Peyton and I cuddled up in my bed and read stories. Peyton was excited to have a sleepover with mommy. I woke up a few times in the night because I had feet in my face or bony elbows pressing into my back, but it was fun to cuddle with Peyton. Our sleepover was cut short when Daddy burst into the house at 4 o'clock in the morning, announcing himself so that I wouldn't be scared to death. My getting out of bed, to help bring all of our little campers into the house and into bed, awakened Peyton and she good naturedly allowed me to guide her back to her own bed so Daddy could take her place. In the morning she kept telling the boys she was glad they were home. I was too, but there is nothing like a girl's night out (or in). I can hardly wait for our next date. Peyton has so much to teach me.

Fathers and Sons Outing

Since the weather was a little overcast we decided to take the extra two captain seats out of 'mommy car' so that we would have a place to hide if a big storm washed our camp away. Shannon masterfully cut Peyton's face out of this picture since she wasn't invited to the Aaronic Priesthood commemoration. She was sad, but took comfort that Shannon promised to take her to her favorite restaurant (Chick- Fil-A) for dinner.
After a stop at Wendy's, a few detours (thanks to google maps), and some crazy directions from a native of Springfield LA (After we talked to him Carston asked me if I thought he was the voice for Mater from Cars), we finally made it to Tickfaw State Park with just enough time to pitch our tent before dark.
Right after I took this picture I put insect repellent all over the boys. All three of them cried and said that it was stinging their faces...oops. To redeem myself I pulled out these little light sticks, they did just the trick, and they saved my retinas from the inevitable burnout that goes hand in hand with little boys and flashlights. You might notice that Jackson had a hard time adjusting to the lack of facilities in the great outdoors. I think we are going to blame this one on a mommy that encourages her boys to always sit on the potty to avoid splashes.

I guess that is one of the great things about camping when mom isn't around, even if you have a little accident - who cares? You are camping! You are supposed to get dirty!
We walked over to where the rest of the group was congregating and had a little campfire with a thought from President Conlin. Carston's favorite part was looking at an eight inch turtle shell that someone had found in the woods, Jackson liked the songs we sang like "Tarzan of the Apes", and Grant just liked running around the fire and hitting people with his light saber.
I almost forgot to mention Buster, the stuffed animal that Carston is carrying. Buster is Carston's class mascot. He gets passed around from child to child throughout the year, and he just happened to come home with Carston today. Carston wanted to be sure to get a few pictures of Buster's camp experience so that he could tell his class all about it on Monday.


After the campfire and a few snacks the boys decided that they didn't want to roast marshmallows. They said they were just too tired. I think that was partially because it was almost three hours past their normal bedtime, but mostly because they were dying to play in the tent some more. Carston and Jackson didn't last long...But Grant was another story. He played and played. It was fun for the first little while until he got really tired. Finally he fell asleep around 10:45. He woke up every hour until 1:45 when he announced to the whole campsite that it was "morning time" and that we all needed to get up. In an effort to keep him semi-quiet we got our shoes on and went for a little walk. I told him that I was really tired and wanted to go to bed and he said, "Me too, lets go home!" There was no convincing him(especially not in a quiet way). So, after another 45 min of tantrums and trying to get him to fall asleep, I decided that I was going to get a better night's rest in my own bed. I put Grant in his carseat, laid the other boys down in the empty belly of mommy car and broke camp at 2:30. As we pulled out of the camp, I thought to myself: 'Well that wasn't so bad, at least I will get a couple of hours of sleep before everyone wakes up'... The gates were locked. There was no way out of the park. 45 mins later after 4 calls to the parrish sheriff's department, trying to break into the ranger station (unsuccessfully) and being chased by a guard dog, a maintenance man let me out the gate and I drove on home. Grant slept the whole way.

In retrospect, I really had a fun time and all three boys enjoyed it too. Granted, things didn't turn out as I thought they would, but I guess life never does. All I can do is look forward to next year's outing with all four of my sons.

Grant's Outing with Dad

One of the traditions in Shannon's family growing up was the occasional date with Mom or Dad. We have been trying to do the same thing with our kids but with many time constraints and many small children to take out, it has been hard to be regular about anything in our little world. Last Friday I had a chance to take Grant out for a few hours. He is a busy little guy with no concept of what it means to walk instead of run or talk instead of yell. My plan was to absolutely saturate him with stimulus like he had never before experienced. We went first to Toys r us where he ran from display to display giggling the whole time.

After a couple of Nerds ropes and a short trip to Lowes (for Dad), we headed to Petsmart to look at the animals. He loved the dogs, cats, and fish but the biggest hit might have been this
Grant-sized shopping cart that he was able to push around.

(By the way, I know the plural for mouse is mice. Maybe this slip of the tongue gives you a little insight into why I have had to be in school for 23/31 years of my life)

After the pet store we went to Circuit City for a few minutes and then rushed to the park to play on the slides and swings. We capped off our outing by meeting Shannon and the rest of the family at McDonald's playland for a few nuggets before bed (Shannon wanted me to make sure that everyone knows this was Grant's request and not a regular occurance for us). As a side note, I find it funny that when I buy my kids food that I know really isn't good for them, I still feel frustrated when they don't want to eat it.

Grant was the first one to bed that night so I guess that my plan worked, but I have to admit that I wasn't far behind. He wore me out too. What a fun tradition!

Sno-balls

We have decided that sno-cones don't stand a snowball's chance in New Orleans, or in other words: sno-balls are a lot better. Carston says that it is really like eating snow. I am not sure if that recommends them to you or not, but we give them two thumbs up and four colorful tongues out.Tonight for our family home evening treat, we went over to Oasis and bought kiddy sno-balls to enjoy out on their picnic tables. I admit that our kids like the treats for family home evening better than anything else they might gain from the experience. That is okay, for now.
For some reason, our kids don't like the sno-ball flavors that come in muted colors. Their favorites have to be flamboyant red or the color of blue you will never get out of your clothes again after a spill. I didn't mind the boys spilling on their T-shirts, but I was anxious about Princess Peyton's apple shirt. Mark told me that I should just take it off of her if I was worried. I honestly thought about it for a moment, but only for a moment. Then I did the next best thing, I fed her myself being very careful not to spill. The boys wouldn't have put up with that type of nonsense. This also insured I got a few bites for myself. ..mmmmm. Thanks, Peyton.Benjamin got his first taste of a sno-ball tonight. He has decided to become a fan, like the rest of us. Sno-balls aren't as high on our list of New Orleans goodies as beignets, but nothing beats this icy cold treat on a hot and humid summer day! We're just getting an early start. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

New to the List of Favorite Things

Our new trampoline quickly made its way onto the list of Calder family favorites. For the past few weeks, it has provided a nice place to lay back and enjoy the blue sky, play ball, get some exercise and perhaps most importantly to our kids: it makes a pretty decent tiger cage.
The netting around the trampoline has already saved Grant's life at least ten times! It also has been great for when Benjamin wants to explore and play ball on the trampoline by himself. I can lay him on the trampoline, zip up the netting and watch while he crawls around.
Carston is probably getting the most exercise on the trampoline. He goes out to jump pretty often and the other kids will either try to jump with him or kindly sit while he takes his turn. Luckily, no one has been hurt yet and we are hoping to keep it that way. For now, we are just enjoying our new "play yard" and can't wait to put a sprinkler under it.

John Calvin Playschool's Annual Art and Fun Festival

Today was the Annual Art and Fun Festival at John Calvin. This afternoon, Carston, Jackson and Peyton all performed with their classes on a small wooden stage that had been set up for the occasion. There was also a nice display of some of the children's artwork. Each of our kids had a great piece of artwork displayed. We were so proud of all three of them! The weather was gorgeous and we had a really fun time playing games, eating treats and enjoying the sunshine.
Jackson's and Peyton's class sang and danced to "In the Good Ol' Summertime". All of the kids were adorable in their star sunglasses. Jackson and Peyton both dutifully performed the dance routine but weren't quite sure enough of their moves to add some pizazz. They were intent on getting the moves right, which was very cute. They take after me. Oh, to have some natural dancing ability...



















Carston's class performed "the Orchestra". His favorite part was being the drums. Each member of his class made their own T-shirt, complete with buttons and bowtie. Carston's good friend Joshua is in this picture with him.
Carston's class didn't dance, but they "played" their musical instruments throughout the performance. Carston takes after his dad with his enthusiasm and pizazz when performing.

This Monkey loves Tubby Time

This monkey towel has been so appropriate for our little boys!
We wrapped it around Grant when he was smaller and it now belongs to Benjamin, our little monkey in the bath tub with his giggling and wild splashes.






I love baby feet! These little wrinkled baby feet just got out of the bath and have a special claim on my heart because they belong to my Benjamin.








Our monkey not only has a cute toothy grin, gorgeous eyes and perfect fingers and toes.
He also has soft skin and smells delicious.















The miracle of it all is that Benjamin took this bath after throwing up all over his crib during nap time. He was sick yesterday with all of our other kids and with his daddy who started really feeling under the weather toward bedtime. (Is it just me or do we get sick a lot?) After getting cleaned up, splashing and playing with Grant in the tub for a little while, he was ready to get out and have a photo shoot with Mommy. I can't get enough of this little monkey and his beautiful blues!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

With tuppence for paper and strings
You can have your own set of wings
With your feet on the ground
You're a bird in a flight
With your fist holding tight
To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

When you send it flying up there
All at once you're lighter than air
You can dance on the breeze
Over houses and trees
With your fist holding tight
To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Let's go fly a kite!

(I can't help but sing while I read those words....and really I think of this song any time I see a kite--I guess I was brainwashed by Mary Poppins as a child.)

This is our very first kite! You can imagine our excitement when we finally got the chance to test it out in the open sky. We went to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, where you can almost always catch a nice breeze, and let it soar. Carston was excited to learn how to control the string and how to let it in and out.

Carston was soon flying the kite by himself and doing a great job. The poor kid had to look straight into the sun when the cloud cover would shift away from the brilliance and glide toward the horizon. He faithfully squinted into the sun watching his kite drifting higher and higher.

Jackson took a turn with the kite and did well until the wind picked it up, took control and started grabbing it away from him.

The string was unraveling at an alarming rate when Dad saved the day and reeled the kite back in toward the ground. We learned to tie the string on tightly to keep it in check.

Peyton didn't care if she was in control of the kite as long as she got to hold the string. The wind was merciless during her turn and it was picking up her hair and skirt and tossing them about. She would have floated off if she could have borrowed Mary Poppin's umbrella.

Tenacious little Grant took a turn as well. Daddy made sure the string was tied tightly to the spinner and Grant held on and watched the kite careen toward the water before deciding he was done with his flight lesson. He spent most of his time throwing shells and rocks into the lake with extreme diligence. He has a good arm!

We have now learned that each child needs their own kite and it doesn't need to be very elaborate or be able to fly "up through the atmosphere". They would be happy with a small kite blowing in the wind over their heads as they run. You live and learn! This was a fun dinner time outing.

Our Twins

I try to give each of our children as much of my personal attention and time as possible. It is especially difficult with five kids born within four and a half years. In this spirit, I want to pay a special tribute to my sweet twins who deal with the lack of Mommy's time with patience and offer me many tender moments each day.

Let me just say that although having twins has been exciting, fun and wonderful, it has also been overwhelming and time-consuming (but less so as they get older). One of the pinnacle moments of my life was when we found out that I was expecting twins. They have blessed my life since I first knew that they were growing inside of me. They have a deep love for each other and it is so fun to see the way they have clung to each other since even before birth. This picture was taken right after they came home from the hospital. They always slept better cuddled right up to each other. I guess you get used to the lack of personal space when you constantly have each others' limbs poking and crowding you in the womb.

These two partners in crime are never far apart. They shared a room until a year ago when Peyton got her own room (quite the privilege around here). This picture was taken just before their second birthday as they stole a moment alone in a big, comfy chair to enjoy the sunshine. Peyton, who seems to have a personality similar to mine, is fiercely loyal to her brother. She will attack anyone she feels is bothering "her" Jackson, even if it is me trying to discipline him. She is a true friend. Jackson has a different way of showing his love. He good naturedly allows Peyton to follow him around, play with him and his toys, climb on him and give him hugs. He told me today that he really likes Peyton, that she is his friend. He is very intuitive and kind.

It has been comforting to me since Jackson and Peyton were first born that they always have each other. When they were tiny, screaming for a feeding in the middle of the night while I was trying to teach them to sleep, I was glad they were cuddled up together. I felt the same way when I sent them to nursery at church or when I left them at John Calvin Playschool for their first day of school (which was when this picture was taken). By the way, Jackson was going through a period of time, after having broken his arm, where he wouldn't brace himself for a fall by throwing his hands out in front of his face. He would just allow his face to scrape the sidewalk. That would explain the scabs on his forehead in this picture.

I took this picture just a few days ago. I can hardly believe that my "little" twins are growing up so fast....too fast. I hope they know how much I love them and how grateful I am that Heavenly Father sent both of these amazing spirits to me at the same time. They were meant to come together. I can honestly say that I love being their mom even when they write in permanent marker on the walls, dump all of the toys out, splash water all over the bathroom, leave fingerprints anywhere and everywhere or when they were potty training and it was double trouble (one of the ultimate tests of my patience)! Thank goodness for twins!
Hooray for Jackson who is loving, sensitive, genuine, kind, in tune, intelligent and playful with a cute sense of humor!
Hooray for Peyton who is loyal, imaginative, quirky, friendly, inviting, helpful and observant with a natural sense of order!

Conference Breakfast

You have to love Mark's plate designs. He always organizes things beautifully when he cooks!One of our favorite family traditions was passed down from Mark's family growing up. We love General Conference at our house and want our kids to have wonderful memories associated with this semi-annual event. We make forts in front of the TV, empty a great big bowl full of our favorite candy and enjoy our traditional conference breakfast! After Priesthood Conference Saturday evening, Mark goes shopping and picks all of the best ingredients for a great breakfast in the morning and buys treats for the kids (and for me) that they don't get any other time of the year. He also brings me flowers, which I love. Sunday morning before the morning session, he makes a delicious breakfast for the rest of us and we savor it until conference starts. This is a picture of our plates this year. We also had our favorite cereals, yogurts and breakfast drinks. Thank you for always making this tradition fun, Mark! I am the luckiest girl in the world.

Puddles, Sunshine and Swimming Suits!

We love playing in the water! Whether it is a bath, puddles, ponds, swimming pools or the ocean, our kids can't get enough. During Mark's spring break this last week, we had to stick with baths, puddles and the man-made pond at the zoo. The beauty of it was that the kids had tons of fun! If we could all just be so childlike again! We had a big rainstorm one night that left our backyard full of water. When the kids woke up in the morning, they ran to look out the windows to determine if the storm had left them any worthy puddles. When they saw the backyard, they immediately begged to go outside and play in the water. They didn't want to take time to eat or get dressed, so Mark and I let them enjoy the wonderland of gigantic puddles in their pajamas and rain boots.
On Thursday, we decided to visit one of our favorite places in New Orleans: the Audubon Zoo. Late in the afternoon, we rushed to the zoo to enjoy the cool respite of the pond. Carston jumped off of every possible rock into the shallow water. He sent water splashing everywhere, which in the heat was much appreciated! He led the other kids on adventures through the rocks and played tigers (as usual) cooling themselves from the oppressive heat of the deep jungle. Doesn't Carston look so grown up in this picture?!
Jackson nimbly followed his brother over rocks, down the small waterfalls and through the greenery. He is learning to let his face go under the water with some trepidation. He missed swimming lessons last summer because of his broken arm, so he is a little more cautious in the water than Carston and Peyton. Luckily this pond is shallow and just plain fun for little kids, which allows them to investigate it a lot more.
Peyton did her own thing while we were at the zoo. She enjoyed relaxing on the rocks, jumping into the water and climbing with her brothers. She always marches to the beat of her own drum. I love that about her.
Energy, energy and more energy!!! Grant jumped, ran, smiled and screamed with laughter, played, climbed, splashed and enjoyed every minute in the water. He has been begging me for months, more especially during the last few weeks, to take him swimming in the YMCA pool (which doesn't open for another month). This was the next best thing. Grant's excitement is almost tangible sometimes and he is so full of life I can hardly help myself from catching on. He can't slow down, he can't talk quietly and he can't hold still, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Benjamin insisted on timidly trying out the water by himself as well. He got more and more comfortable with splashing and walking through the cold water until it he was in his element. It is so fun to watch him discovering the world around him. It allows me to appreciate it all over again.

Although the kids went to school this week, we made time to have fun. We're so glad when Daddy is home! It was a much needed break. I can't wait for a real vacation with no school for the kids or Mark. For now, I am just enjoying the adventures of everyday life with my six best friends.

Missing the Magic!

The Magic Kingdom will have to wait for us! We are keeping the dream alive and know it will be even better and more appreciated when we actually get to go see Walt Disney's imagination come to life. We were all disappointed not to go to Disney World during Mark's medical school spring break, but planned some fun things to do around New Orleans while our kids got over being sick. My last post about Benjamin's hospitalization also figured into the ultimate decision that we had better stay home. Benjamin is doing much better, but wouldn't have felt the magic! So, we feel like we made the right decision, although it was hard. Watch out Disney World! We are on our way as soon as we can make it.

I'll post some pictures from our outings during Mark's "spring break" (although he still had to attend his MPH class) in my next post..........I'm sure all will be waiting with baited breath!