Summer Camp

Carston, Jackson and Peyton started summer camp at John Calvin Playschool on Monday. The focus of this week's summer camp is children's literature. The kids go for three hours each morning and are really enjoying it. Carston's class has been focusing on the author Leo Lionni. Jackson's and Peyton's class have been reading Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle. Each day, they read a story and complete a craft or activity based on the story.

Carston really loved the book Swimmy and wants me to get it and a few other Lionni books at the library. He made this picture of Swimmy, who is the lone survivor of a school of fish that were swallowed by a tuna, and his new friends who are camouflaging themselves as a large fish to survive. He did a good job on the picture.

Peyton and Jackson each colored their own hat fashioned after the hat from the Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. They loved their hats! Jackson's was almost immediately ripped apart once he arrived home, but Peyton's has now officially survived for more than one day and she has been wearing it around the house.

Jackson and Peyton also painted rubber ducks after reading Ten Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle. All of the kids were so excited about these rubber ducks when they got home that they insisted on having a bath with them as soon as we finished lunch. Every rubber duck in the house took a swim yesterday. There was extensive clean up after bath time was over (most of our rubber ducks squirt water).

Today the kids all went to a dramatization of "Dorothy's Trek to Oz". Carston loved it and I told him that I would read the book to him. I read it with my third graders at Carden and we had a lot of fun with it. I am so grateful the kids are learning to love books! Tomorrow they will have a storyteller and a puppet show.

The kids are also attending camp next week. The focus next week will be art. I'm really excited about it. I have tried at different times to familiarize them with famous artwork, so it will be nice for them to learn about a few artists at camp. This is a perfect break in our summer lull and as much as I would like to accomplish these same things at home, it just doesn't happen. We will be driving to Utah to see family as soon as camp is over next week. We're excited for a vacation, although driving will be difficult!

Happy Father's Day!

Mark spent most of his day at the hospital for Father's Day. He didn't even get breakfast in bed out of the deal (I was way too slow). But, he deserves to be honored for being a wonderful father who always puts his family first. Happy Father's Day to you, sweetheart! Thank you for being such a fun and kind father. I love watching and learning from you as you interact with our kids.

Not only do you know how to father all of your active boys, but you know how to treat your sweet girl. She is a definite Daddy's Girl! We all love you!

Happy Father's Day, Dad! You are a wonderful example of steady obedience and willingness to give and sacrifice. Thank you for always encouraging us to do our best! We love you!

Happy Father's Day, Jim! We all learn so much by watching you interact with others. Your quiet kindness and encouragement to always push forward despite setbacks inspires us!
We love you!

Happy Father's Day to all of the other fathers in our lives
(brothers, brothers-in-law and friends)!

Volcaneus

Carston has been excited to make his own volcano for the past few days. He originally got the idea from the movie Nim's Island and a kit he saw at the toy store. Something sparked his memory and yesterday he insisted that we study volcanoes and make our own model. He and Mark read about volcanoes last night and watched videos of them erupting. Mark printed off an explanation from about.com detailing how to make your own volcano and then to cause it to "erupt".

Carston wanted to wait until Dad got home before we started the "experiment" today, which was fine by me. They mixed together the dough to make the volcano and I finished mixing it and formed it into a volcano around a small bottle on a baking sheet.

We mixed some green food coloring into the dough, but Carston felt that the coloring wasn't quite right. So, I painted it greener with finger paints and then a dark gray with some food coloring (I still have black fingers from the dye).

This was much better! They were now ready for Mark to pour the baking soda and vinegar in to create an eruption. He used red food coloring so it would look more like the lava Carston was imagining.

Here is our volcano after it erupted. The boys were all excited and gave me a thumbs up (Grant's "thumbs up" is a finger up). We explained the reaction between the vinegar and baking soda to Carston and he asked for us to do it again. So, our volcano erupted twice. I asked Carston if we should name the volcano "Mount St. Carston" but he decided to name it "Volcaneus" and wants me to paint a face on it in the morning, since it is now an old family friend. The volcano is "sleeping" with Carston and Jackson in their room tonight. They begged to have it placed on the train table. There volcaneus sits now, dormant. I guess it was worth it to use all of our flour and salt!

Good Morning, Merry Sunshine! How did you wake so SOON?

The sun shines through our bathroom window not long after five a.m. every morning, bathing our bed in light. I wake up at this time everyday, wishing that I were still asleep. I try to remember to shut the door before I go to bed at night because the streaming light can be quite distracting when you are trying to keep your sleepy eyes closed in the morning. Somehow our kids all sense that the sun is rising (even though it doesn't shine directly into their rooms) and wake up before six everyday. It is usually only ten minutes before six o'clock, but it seems almost obscene that my day with them starts so early. I thought maybe it was their 7:30 bedtime that soaked all of the sleep out of them by the early hours of the morning, but the time they go to bed doesn't make any difference. They wake up around 6 a.m. regardless of the their bedtime the night before. I can handle it better when I look at the clock and it is six than I can when it is still five. Somehow I always feel surprised that they are already awake, even though this happens each day. It is funny that I can't seem to grasp reality.
They are quite pleasant in the morning.

This picture was taken at 5:54 a.m. All four boys were up, as usual, and most were smiling but were still wiping sleep from their eyes. Carston has always been an early riser. We'll see what happens when he becomes a teenager! Carston gets excited to get the day going with whatever make-believe he decides everyone will play that day. We have lots of tiger or dinosaur days and lately, we've had many pirate days complete with building ships.

This picture is why I pulled out the camera so early that morning. Jackson was still tired and had laid down in the hallway. I told him he should just climb back into bed for a minute until he felt more awake. After I helped him into his bed, Grant insisted on laying by his brother. Jackson even let him climb under the blanket. They laid there together for at least five minutes, which is a miracle for Grant. He usually can't hold still for more than a few seconds (he even tosses and turns when he is asleep, falling out of bed almost every night)!

Benjamin was in on the action as well. He was off pulling all of the books off of the bookcase in the family room. He keeps busy! He is still taking two naps most days and I assume this has worked for me because Grant wakes him up so early each morning (the joys of having them sleep together).
Peyton usually gets up around seven a.m. The noise gets her up earlier some days. She is usually awake, I think she just enjoys her alone time sucking her thumb. My favorite thing about her is that she always waltzes out of her bedroom once she is up, finds me and says: "Good morning, Mommy!". Somehow the boys usually forget this formality, settling on starting the morning by yelling for me to get something for them or to take them to the bathroom.

I honestly don't remember what it is like to sleep in, but it isn't all bad to be up and going early in the morning. We usually have prayer with Dad before he leaves (if they got up much later they wouldn't even see him in the morning) and then play together until 7 a.m. I try to have breakfast ready at 7, since Grant can hardly wait to fill his empty tummy once he is up. It takes me a long time to feed and dress everyone. By the time I comb their hair, get the dishes done and the beds made, it is already almost nine o'clock and time to go to the gym or to pack up for a planned outing.

I wonder if the days will ever come when I'll sleep in or if I will forever feel guilty if I am not up by 6:30.

Family Pictures 2008

We had some family pictures taken on the 17th of May in City Park. Sadly, this was a first for us. I was proud of myself for finally setting it up. It was high time!
The weather was perfect, even a cool breeze was blowing through the enormous moss-covered trees. We had so much rain during the few days leading up to picture day, that I was worried we would have to cancel. Luckily, the sun came up bright and beautiful that morning and we caught the best part of the day (it rained later). Thank goodness for tender mercies!
The only problem in the park was the plenitude of mud. It quickly coated the bottom of all of our shoes and also smeared its way onto our clothing by the end of the photo session. It was well worth it, though.
Thanks so much Becky!

It all started with just the two of us. I am a lucky girl! It just gets better and better as I get to know him like I know myself. After all, he is part of me. Mark has been gone since early this morning and I don't expect to see him until I've already gone to bed tonight. I miss him when he is gone. I depend on him for so much. I try to be independent, but he is my backbone, my rock! I couldn't do it without him, my partner in every way.

This is our legacy! Yes, they are all mine. Yes, we have a set of twins, no triplets. AND, yes, I do indeed have my hands full, but aren't they cute?!

Is it too much to expect to have everyone look at the camera at the same time? The answer to that question is decidedly: YES! Well, we tried.

Even though this is posed, we actually look like this crossing the street or the parking lot at the YMCA. People stop what they are doing to watch us. It makes me feel like we are on display. Apparently, we are an oddity. I shouldn't say "we", really people think that I am the oddity for having so many kids so close together. I don't mind being odd.

We are trying so hard to smile, almost done with the pictures now.

My boys!

The girls, slightly outnumbered, but we wouldn't change it for the world.

I love this picture! The sparkle in his eye is so HIM, so BENJAMIN!

These two are a handful but what would I do without them?! They're already best friends.
They are so adorable, it is hard to get mad at them. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he made toddlers the most beautiful little people around.

Isn't she sweet!?
She is smiling AND looking at the camera! That is a big deal. Way to go, Peyton!

Jackson's sly smile. You never know what this handsome guy has up his sleeve.

It seems appropriate to end on this one, since it was taken at the very beginning of our photo shoot. This is one of the first pictures yet, somehow, we didn't get the hang of it.
We weren't lucky enough to have a picture taken in which all of us are looking, let alone smiling.
I am just glad to have pictures of all of us together. They are priceless to me!
I have so many reasons to be grateful and so much to appreciate about my six best friends!
I love you, forever.

Yo ho yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

Jackson decided he wanted to have his own birthday party this year. He only wanted boys at his party with a few exceptions. Luckily, he allowed Peyton to attend without too much coaxing. He had settled on a pirate theme months ago, so we had a lot of fun planning what we would do. The funniest thing was that, at the actual party, the boys weren't too interested in partcipating in anything that would hinder free play. They didn't even want to go on the treasure hunt we planned, much to Carston's chagrin (he has been looking forward to it).

The party started at 10 am and as the boys arrived, we had them line up to play a ring toss game on the big blow-up pirate ship we bought for the occasion. Unfortunately, the game was harder for them than we anticipated. They couldn't seem to get the rings to land on any of the three masts of the ship and they quickly lost interest and began running around. We tried to get "pin the patch on the pirate" going, but the boys wanted to be set free to play outside. Mark got the treasure map ready to take them outside and start the outdoor fun, but they weren't too concerned about discovering hidden treasure. Upon being let out the door, they all separated and headed straight for the slip and slide and the pool waiting for them in the backyard. Mark wisely decided to just let them play. They especially enjoyed the slip and slide and I was barely able to coax them away from it by offering treats and drinks. They were excited for the pinata, so (not surprisingly) they came running when we were ready to knock it around. The treasure chest pinata was obstinate, refusing to break open! After all of the kids had taken at least three turns, Uncle Robb gave it a whack that brought candy raining down on them. They filled their loot bags and some quickly starting shoveling candy into their mouths as well. The time flew by quickly since I was rushing around the entire time getting treats, taking wet and slippery little boys to the potty and taking pictures. We called all of the boys over at the end of the party for cake. We sang to Jackson and he blew out his candles, before digging in. Everyone seemed to enjoy the cake, which made me happy. Jackson's favorite part were the sharks circling his island. I ended up handing out the party favors just before everyone left, since they hadn't gotten them on the treasure hunt as planned. They all got pirate hats, swords, eye patches, a telescope and a small treasure chest with a key. It was probably good that we hadn't handed them out earlier since inevitable sword fights broke out instantly (mostly between my boys). Captain Jackson had some swashbucklin' fun at his Buccaneer Bash and was so busy playing pirates after lunch that he barely noticed that Peyton was having her own party. He was the true Capn' Jack, even carrying his parrot with him when it wouldn't stay on his shoulder.

Peyton's Dora Birthday Party

Peyton was excited to have an all girl party. We scheduled the party to begin at 12:30, an hour after Jackson's party was over. When the girls arrived, they each put on their Dora lipgloss bracelets we had found for party favors and went outside for an adventure using map to find the pinata Swiper had swiped from the party. Instead of diligently following map, we ended up just playing outside in the water for a little while and eating some snacks before miraculously "finding" the pinata and relieving it of all of its goodies. After eating a few pieces of their pinata candy, the girls were finished with the great outdoors, so we came inside to play some games and color. They all sat down to color a booklet of Dora Saves the Mermaid coloring pages. While they were sitting at the table, Peyton looked around and in a sweet voice said: "Girls, thanks for coming to my birthday party.". It was cute. After coloring, we played a few party games and put together a big Dora puzzle before we sang to Peyton and cut her birthday cake. The boys joined us for the cake because they are always "in" when food is involved. It was humorous to see the differences between the boys and the girls at the two parties!Peyton had a great time at her party! After everyone left, Peyton took a bath all by herself (a novelty for her) and played with some of her new Dora bath toys. She stayed so long in the water that by the time she was ready to get out, the water had turned rather cold and she was freezing. After getting warm again and dressed, Peyton sat down to enjoy another piece of her cake. That pretty much ended up being dinner. No one wanted to eat dinner after all of the treats! Peyton was exhausted after playing at Jackson's pirate party and her own party and had a meltdown before being tucked into bed a bit early. Happy 4th Birthday my sweet Peyton!