Phew...where to begin, what to blog about...?

Well let's start with a little about each kiddo.

Bennett:  He's nearing in on 10.  He loves to joke around with us and thinks it's great when he "gets" the adult jokes.  We're in rocket football season and he loves it.  According to him, football is his favorite sport.  I think if we'd say fishing was a sport though, it might be a toss up.  When getting ready to go places, he takes his sweet time.  We have to hurry him along quite often.  He has been practicing with his bow so he can hunt this season with his dad.  They've been out a couple of times already this season.  He has a "uniform" and is picky in a way about his clothes.  He likes jeans, or athletic pants with a t-shirt and hooded sweatshirt on top.  And it has to be the right kind of hooded sweatshirt.  I showed him a collared dress shirt today that my aunt found for him and he is adamant he will never wear it.  He would like to wear a sweatshirt to Curt and Laura's wedding (I don't blame him.  Much more comfortable.)  He loves watching football on tv which is what he's doing right now. When outside he rides his ripstick and shoots his bow at the target.  And when the weathers right, he fishes.  He does what he needs to to get by with good grades but if it's not definitely required, he'll pass on it.  Extra reading time is definitely a no go with him.

Annabelle:  My girl is coming up on 9 at the end of December.  She is a rule follower and is responsible with her school work.  She makes sure we sign what needs to be signed and gets done what needs to be done without us having to tell her to do it.  She is compassionate in that she does not like hurting people's feelings. She is also quite sensitive.  As an example, she had a meltdown one night over the fact her computer teacher yells more than she would like. And she's concerned because she's yelling at other children, never her.  Annabelle loves having friends over and is one who always wants to know "what's next?"  It's been nice that now they are a little older, they can rides bikes to friends houses.  She is in her first year of rocket cheer and loves it!  She knows quite a few cheers and practices them at home often.  She's got the splits down but is still working on mastering the cart wheel.   Her dance season starts soon which she also loves.  She is more coordinated in those areas than I am, that's for sure!  She is good at doing hair and likes doing it.  She often asks to do her sisters hair which is wonderful for me!

Eliza:  Eliza recently turned 5.  She's a laid back one.  She enjoys hanging out with friends and asks "what are we doing today."   But she is also good at finding things to do on her own.  She loves listening to music on youtube, playing with play doh, and coloring, or doing workbooks. She gets along fabulously with Annabelle. When Ann is home, they are usually doing something together.  She loves hanging out with her dad.  If he's home and heads outside, she usually does too. She's a good sleeper and on weekends will often sleep the longest.  She's not fussy about her clothes.  I usually ask her if she wants to pick out her clothes, or if she wants me to do it.  She usually tells me I can do it.  She's protective of Ads and likes to see to it Ads isn't getting into trouble.  Lize likes bike riding and is a pro at her 2 wheel bike.  If we take a walk she always wants  to ride her bike.  We let her go around our little block with one of her older siblings.  This year she wanted to cheer like Annabelle did.  Annabelle taught her a few cheers and as a result, Eliza can spell touchdown, awesome, and Constantine.  She loves when she has school at Jenny's and Science school at the Amigo Centre.  Both of those "schools" make learning so much fun for her! At science school this past Monday, she visited a bog on the property then made a mini bog to bring home.

CallaMae:  Cal is 2...3 in about a month (and since I needed to finish this draft, she turned 3 four days ago).  She is independent and wants to do everything on her own even if it's a lot of work for her.  For example, getting her own cup out of the cupboard requires her to pull a chair across the kitchen, over to the counter and back again.  But she's willing to do it.  She really likes watching youtube videos of people playing with playdoh.  And she likes always having something to drink close by, especially chocolate milk.  She sleeps with her "cozy heart blanket" and sometimes likes to bring it places with her.  She is hilarious in the things she says and her facial expressions.  Sometimes when I lay with her at night before going to sleep, I hope she stays awake a bit longer because the things she talks about are so random and funny!  She likes playing with her friend Maylyn across the street.  Her sisters and I threw together a quick party for her the other day for her birthday (with just us) and when all the decorations were down but we would still say things like "there's the birthday girl" she adamantly told us that she wanted her birthday to be done now!  She has kind of a dry sense of humor and she knows she's funny.

Adelene:  Ads is 14 months.  She walks well and has even passed the point where she turns around to back down large cracks in the sidewalk.  She now very intently focuses on trying to step down them.  She loves her yellow blanket and is very partial to one corner that is more frayed than the others.  She puts it to her nose and sucks the first two fingers of her left hand.  She talks some.  My favorite thing she says, and crazily, one of the first things she ever said is "here you go."  She says it every time she hands you something and sometimes when we hand her something.  She says Palmer's name "Paba" and some of her siblings names in her own cute way.  She can have a pretty impressive tantrum.  She will throw things off a table or area, pinch at me (although she doesn't realize that's what she's doing), and drops herself delicately (she doesn't want to hurt herself) to the floor. She likes waving to people who are coming or going and says "bye."  She shrieks with utter joy when her siblings wake up or get home from school.   Her pout when told "no" is heartbreaking.  Ads also loves to be outside and can get quite upset if I bring her in especially if she sees her siblings are still outside.

Oh my heart...

Our Annabelle has a heart of gold and she often melts mine...

A note to her sisters who were still asleep when she left for school..

the things they say...

As CallaMae has her hands around Adelene trying to get her to a standing position, she looks at me sweetly and says,

"Me not choking her.  Me holding her."

And the other night I was rubbing CallaMae's back hoping to get her to fall asleep before her siblings got home from Bennett's baseball practice.  If she's sleeping before everyone else, it's usually quieter in their room.  She has a way of getting everyone riled up and laughing.  Anyway, as I'm rubbing her back I can she her thinking and she says,

"Where'd my Annie go?  I respond "With Daddy"
"Where'd my Lidey go?"  I again respond "With Daddy"
"Where'd my Brother go?"  Finally I say, "With Dad at baseball practice."

She thinks for a few seconds then says, "No.  At soccer practice.  Bennett put his soccer shoes on."  She had remembered seeing Bennett earlier that day putting his new cleats on that we had purchased before soccer season, therefore they were his soccer shoes.

Love the things 2 year  olds say!  And I love "seeing" them think!

And last night as we're leaving a graduation open house with a DJ and dancing, Eliza says in a happily exasperated voice, "Tubing AND this in the same day?!?"  As if she was certain the day couldn't have been any better.

She has quite an enthusiasm for life!

This and that times 5

Bennett:  9 years old.  Likes shooting hoops in the driveway.  Thinks it's fun that he gets jokes he sees on TV commercials/shows and often replays them for us even though we saw it too.  He likes to be told more "adult" jokes...usually by Darrin :).  He thinks it's cool when his dad lets him stay up late to watch sporting events.  He's a homebody and has to think hard about whether or not he wants to do some event or go somewhere with someone.  He hates going to the grocery store.  He loves yogurt. That's usually his snack choice or is included in at least one of his meals.  He's going to try soccer for the first time this year.  He's competitive and doesn't like to lose in a game.  In school he doesn't get worked up before a test or big assignment and is okay with, "I did well enough."  :).  So his competitive nature doesn't necessarily apply to schoolwork.  But he still does well.  One of his favorite television shows is River Monsters on the Animal Planet.  And fishing still remains an all time favorite for our boy.

Annabelle:  8 years old.  Just had her dance recital and is bummed it's over for the year.  According to her, it's her favorite "sport."  She's still very opinionated about her hair and clothing but in a whole new way.  Her wardrobe is simple (but now we need to purchase a few more of her favored items) t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, black yoga pants.  When she doesn't have a pair of black yoga pants clean, it's a huge ordeal.  She likes dressing her and her sisters the same or similar, and she enjoys doing their hair.  She can easily go from playing something "older" to something "younger" when her sisters ask her.  She likes to write and make lists.  And she likes math.  She's my buddy and loves to do things with me.  She doesn't even mind the grocery store.  She likes music.  She's been working hard on improving her splits.  She can go all the way down in one direction.  She's still working on perfecting the middle splits.  She just got glasses which correct her vision a bit.  She was having a difficult time seeing the board at school.  She enjoys having them....at least so far.

Eliza:  4 years old.  Just completed her first year of dance with Miss Kim.  Her weeks revolved around whether or not it was a "dance night."  She is in a phase of "What if..." sentences.  She comes up with some crazy stories/scenarios to complete those sentences and sometimes it's hard to even know how to respond.  It might go something like this.  "What if we could take a car and put it in our house...etc"  She got a bike one size up from the one she learned to ride 2 wheel on and it is wonderful for her.  She rides all over and is a little too brave for my liking.  She's a cuddle bug, especially with her Dad.  She likes playing "Mom."  She also likes to color.  She enjoys singing and listening to music.  She's quite social and asks almost every day, "Who are we going to see today?"

CallaMae:  2 years old.  She's in a "I do it myself" phase to the point where sometimes I have to put things back on a shelf just so she can get it off again.  Most of her sentences end in "Mama" and it melts my heart.  She loves to be outside.  CallaMae can make her siblings laugh very hard by the things she says and does....mostly at night when she should be quiet and trying to go to sleep.  She likes cheese flavored rice cakes and pretzels.  Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  And she likes listening to all the songs her sisters like on Youtube including All About the Bass, Let It Go, Shake It Off, and Uptown Funk.  She even does a decent job singing them.  Sometimes I hear her singing to herself.  She's quick to let you know you're bothering her.  "Don't" and "Go away" are things that come out of her mouth regularly.  Lol.

Adelene.  7 months.  Breaking her first bottom tooth through.  I can now feel the whole thing above the gum.  She still sucks on the first two fingers on her left hand.  She recently started eating solid food and does very well.  Didn't take much practice at all.  She's so smiley but often checks to make sure I am still in her view.  She gets up on her knees and rocks and moves her hands forward, and is able to slowly get where she needs to go by pulling herself across the floor one way or another.  She loves when you kiss her cheeks.  It makes her laugh.  She by far sleeps best in her crib.  She doesn't sleep long or well when we are on the go (not a good car seat sleeper).  She is content when being pushed outside in her stroller.

Here are my favorite 6 at Cabelas in Dundee this past Tuesday.  It was a spring break day trip.  CallaMae was mad because she wanted to keep exploring and looking at the animals.

pictures

Kidbits

Bennett
9 years old
tall for his age
gets a kick out of the fact that he is catching on to more and more jokes that he hears on tv or reads.
changes his voice from deep to more childlike depending on who he's talking to or what he's talking about.
has a hard time losing.
loves to play football at recess with his friends.
sometimes thinks he's older than he is.
homebody.
usually sweet to his sisters.
key lime Dannon Oikos yogurt is probably his favorite "healthy food."

Annabelle
8 years old
tall for her age
has a few favorite clothing items she will wear over and over including a Nike sweatshirt and an Under Armour sweatshirt.
fussy about things relating to her hair and clothing.
gentle hearted.  has a genuine concern about not hurting the feelings of others and sensitive when her feelings are hurt.
she has many ideas that she thinks would be neat/fun to do.  I'd never be able to accomplish all she wishes we could do!
loves dance class.


Eliza
4 years old
confident
likes watching clips from youtube with Elsa and Anna, Barbie, and play dough.
loves dance class.
laid back about most things.
her favorite toys are her play food items including the Melissa and Doug cookies, cake and pizza.
using the play food, we have a "birthday party" almost every day.
she sometimes gets away with being a little stinker because she has a way of doing it sweetly.



CallaMae
2 years old
vocabulary is expanding rapidly and she's speaking in two (sometimes 3) word sentences.  Today she used the words "almost done" together, which was so cute.  Another cute one is "hot cocoa please"
she looks for trouble.  yesterday she colored her face with brown marker.
she like playing hide and seek and will even "count" using a few actual numbers in order.
she laughs hard when you kiss/blow raspberries in her neck.
she's not afraid of jumping, swimming, or swinging.
she likes to be read to.
loves to snack!


Adelene
4 months old
just learned to stick her tongue out and blow raspberries
can roll, usually from back to belly.  she doesn't as often roll from belly to back
giggles when you wash her hands with a wipe or kiss in her neck.
hates her baths.
smiles readily.
is starting to have a pretty normal routine.  she goes to bed usually between 7:00 and 8:00. and will sleep until about 2:00 (most nights).
is really starting to enjoy her exersaucer.
loves to be held and is still exclusively breastfed.