Happy New Year!

It is 9:00 pm and we have already been to our New Year's party, rung in the New Year, launched fireworks, had a balloon drop, caught up with friends, driven home and put all four kids to bed. This is how you celebrate New Year's Eve when you have small kids and all of your friends have them too.

It is amazing how things change. Gone are the days of going out to celebrate. Gone are the days of having the party at our house because we are the only one with a child that needs to go to bed - so that way we could still enjoy the celebration until midnight with our friends. Gone are the days of ringing in the new year on East Coast time because most of our friends didn't have kids. Now we ring in the new year with some yet to be discovered island in the Atlantic! Yes the new year for us began at 7:00 pm CST on 12/31/07.

Thanks James and Tracey for a very, very fun evening. And thanks for sending the kids home with noisemakers - they made the ride home memorable!

May you all have a wonderful 2008!
Jenn

PS. No, Rehm had not been sneaking adult beverages. He just can't say Happy New Year without looking goofy.

PPS. No, Eliza Claire does not normally walk around with a paci in her mouth. We have a only at nap or bedtime rule. But when it is an hour after her normal bedtime and there are loud, bright fireworks within 20 ft it seemed only fair.

Merry Christmas

We are having a wonderful holiday. We have spent lots of time with family and friends doing lots of fun outings and just hanging out at home. I promise to update everyone on it all but for now I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. Now I'm going back to enjoying my family for a few more days. I hope you get to do the same.

Jenn

What was THAT?

That was Charlotte's room after quiet time. At 3:00 I told her she could come out of quiet time when ever she was ready and had cleaned up the things on the floor (a few blankets and pillows). She informed me that she wanted to stay in her room a little longer. I of course was thrilled.

The twins were actually napping for the first time in a week or two, Rehm didn't have homework and was happily parked in front of the TV, I felt terrible and just wanted to sit down! I enjoyed an hour of surfing the web and watching TV. When the twins woke from their nap I was surprised to realize I had not heard anything out of Charlotte in the last hour. I should have known at that point that something was up. Silly me thought maybe she had actually fallen asleep on all the blankets she had arranged so carefully on the floor.

Charlotte came into the hallway and informed me that she had gotten out a little too much during quiet time and needed help picking up. I opened her door and was shocked by the sight that met me.


How had one little girl done all of this in one hour? What was she thinking? Where did it all come from? Does she have any clue how long this will take to clean up?

She had decided, for reasons I do not know, to empty several boxes of hand-me-downs and the box containing all her special mementos and pictures.

I surprised myself. I did not yell. I did not lay down in the floor and cry. I did not run screaming from the house. I calmly told her that this was unacceptable and I was disappointed. I told her I could not deal with her right this minute and closed the door. As I walked down the hall I heard her start crying. Apparently what I said was effective and she understood the gravity of the situation.

Now, several hours later. All of the mementos are back in the right box, all of the clothes are piled in boxes and sitting in the hallway. In my spare time this week (because I have nothing else to do) I will need to sort and fold them all. Before going to bed Charlotte cleaned up all of the blankets and pillows instead of having story time.

So you ask was it worth it? I'll let you know after I get all the hand-me-downs re-sorted, folded, and stored.

Jenn

The Price of an Hour of Peace and Quiet

Fashion

Last week Charlotte and I were putting away clean clothes in her room. She saw a pair of black tights in one of her drawers and the following conversation took place.

Charlotte (holding up the tights): Mommy! I want to wear my black tights. I haven't worn them yet this year!

Me: That is GREAT Charlotte! You're going to get to wear them soon, on Christmas Eve with your Christmas dress!

Charlotte: No Mommy! I CAN'T wear them on Christmas! I need to wear white tights on Christmas!

Me: Charlotte, white tights don't match your Christmas dress, they wouldn't look pretty. You need to wear your black ones. [Her dress is black with red bows embroidered on it and the shirt that goes under it is cream.]

Me thinking: Didn't she just say 30 seconds ago she wanted to wear black tights? Isn't that how this conversation started?

Charlotte (almost in tears): But Mommmmmmy! I wore black tights LAST year with my Christmas dress! I can't wear them again THIS year!

OK she is four! First of all I'm shocked she remembers what color her tights were last year. Second, she's four! How in the world can she know these things matter. Third, do they matter, it isn't like I'm asking her to wear the same Christmas dress two years in a row! They are tights for crying out loud.

I'm crossing my fingers that I have her convinced to wear the black tights. Though I do have a pair of cream ones just in case...

If these are the issues I'm dealing with at four, just think what my life will be like in ten years...
Jenn

Bandy Snatcher Catcher

Rehm came home a few weeks ago and announced he was making a Bandy Snatcher Catcher in QUEST (one of his classes at school). The conversation went something like this

Rehm: We are making Bandy Snatcher Catchers for QUEST!

Me: What is a Bandy Snatcher Catcher?

Rehm: Something to catch a Bandy Snatcher!

Me: What is a Bandy Snatcher?

Rehm: Something that catches a Bandy.

Me: What is a Bandy?

Rehm: I don't know!

OK so you don't know what a Bandy is, but you know it is caught by a Bandy Snatcher and you must build something to catch said Bandy Snatcher? Did I get that all? Yep that was the basic idea.

So the kids had a worksheet where they had to decide what a Bandy was and draw one. Then they had to do the same for a Bandy Snatcher. After that they had to devise a trap using exactly 17 items from a specific set of items (including a specific number of things like paper clips, straws, cups, paper plates and string). Any broken or lost items could not be replaced but broken items could still be used.

Rehm's Bandy had a bunch of different shaped heads, had wings and a stinger. He said it was a sea bee. The bandy snatcher looked basically the same but it could change shapes and colors (like a chameleon). He thought he should use a fake bandy to catch the bandy snatcher.

Today they presented their Bandy Snatcher Catchers. They had to describe how the Catcher worked and then read the book they had made about the Bandy Snatcher.

Here is Rehm's presentation and his book.







The book can be viewed here if you can't see the slide show.

Jenn

Wind Blowing

Today Charlotte came into the room and said, "Mommy it would be OK if you called my the wind blowing name today." I had no idea what she was talking about and asked her what she said. She repeated, "I want you to call me the wind blowing name." I was stumped, what in the world had we played that had a wind blowing name in it? No I don't go around calling her my little fart muffin or anything so I just didn't know what she could possibly be talking about. Then she said something about the lady on the Christmas tree...Aha! She wanted me to call her Scarlett! I have several Hallmark ornaments from "Gone with the Wind" and she loves to look at all of them and admire Scarlett's pretty dresses. In her world "Wind Blowing" equals "Gone with the Wind."

Later at lunch she was looking at a kid cookbook. She announced that we needed to have Kid Cook Night more often because Mommy and Daddy Buffet was getting BORING! She didn't want to go to Mommy and Daddy Buffet anymore she wanted more variety and Kid Cook Night is much more better!

Ah, what will she think of next?
Jenn

Camping

I can now officially say I have been tent camping. I made it 34.5 years without having the experience. And well, while I'm sure I'll go again, I'm not sad it took me this long to go.

Michael, Rehm, Charlotte and I went with Rehm's Cub Scout pack. We went about 1.5 hours from our house to Canyon of the Eagles. We had to take two cars because I needed to come back today and Michael and the big kids are staying until Sunday morning. Last night driving down a winding 2 lane road in the dark in the middle of nowhere following Michael I was sure we were lost and crazy. When the road ended, luckily we were at the right place! In the process of finding our actual site we stumbled on the Lodge - I told Michael I would happily go back and stay there :)

We found the rest of the pack and picked a spot to pitch our tent. Everyone was headed to the Observatory so we sent Rehm off with another family and Charlotte, Michael and I started setting up camp. The first thing we discovered is we had forgotten the adult flash lights. Our only source of light were two kid flash lights - one a lion that roars and the other a zebra that giggles. Oh, and they turn off every two minutes.

About halfway through setting up the tent I mention to Michael that the lights on the van were dim. I went to start the van and yep, it wouldn't start! We had drained the battery! Luckily we had our other car and jumper cables. However neither one of us could find the latch for the hood. I had to get the owner's manual out and look it up, using a roaring flashlight whose batteries died in the process.

Back to setting up the tent. We got the first two poles done properly in no time but the second two just weren't doing what Michael remembered when he had set it up with our friend John (who we borrowed the tent from). Of course I asked where the directions were. Of course we had none. After a few more minutes of fiddling with it we figured it out and had the tent ready to go.

I looked around us at all the other tents and then looked back at ours and asked Michael where he was planning to sleep. It was tiny! He assured me we would all fit and it would be fine. I knew we wouldn't have to worry about staying warm as we were going to be very on top of each other.



From there things started smoothing out. We put the kids to bed and sat and talked to some of the other parents for a bit. When we went to bed it was well, comical. We were completely squished. I swear at points during the night Charlotte was taking up 1/3 of the tent. How can someone so small take up so much space?

When I left today Charlotte was in a tree and Rehm was off with his pack on a spy mission. At least I know they will sleep better tonight as everyone will have more room.

I'll definitely go camping again but only with a larger tent and an air mattress! Oh and a couple of flash lights that don't make any noise.

Here is a link to all the pictures if you can't see the slide show.

Don't Expect a Christmas Card from Us!

I had high hopes that I would actually get Christmas cards done this year. But alas it is already December and I still don't have anything that resembles a decent picture of my family! So now even if I get a decent picture soon, I still have to order them, get them in envelopes and mailed. Then they have to get to everyone...It starting to look like the Mahams will be sending Valentines Day cards again this year!

Here is a sample of my attempts at a Chirstmas card. Can someone tell my kids to stand/sit still for a minute or ask Santa to send me a digital SLR camera. Otherwise, I may never get a good picture of all of them together.



Jenn

Dada!

Today when I opened the girls door after nap time that tell tale smell met me, you know the one, that someone pooped! Eliza Claire had been babbling for about 30 minutes before I went to get them so I assumed she was the culprit.

I got her out of her bed and was talking to her telling her "you need to learn to say 'poop, mama, poop' so Mommy will know you have poop in your diaper and come change you!" She giggled and babbled back to me. Then I said, "Eliza Claire, can you say 'poop?'" to which Eliza Claire said, "Dada!" Again I said, "Eliza Claire can you say 'poop?'" Again Eliza Claire said "Dada!" with a big satisfied smile. I wonder what her father will think of that...

Once I got to her diaper I realized she wasn't the one with poop after all. So I guess she thought I was pretty dumb to be telling her she needed to let me know when she pooped when she hadn't actually pooped. She was probably thinking "Duh Mom, don't you think I know that all ready?"

Apparently it doesn't bother Ruby to sleep with a poopy diaper but it does bother Eliza Claire to try to sleep while smelling someone else's...I guess all that babbling was "hey, it is stinky in here, can you get me out now!"

Don't you just love reading about 'dada'?
Jenn

Jello

Rehm just asked me if we could make Jello this afternoon. I asked him if he was really going to eat it (since usually when I make it he eats a little and I end up throwing the rest out.) His response, "Well, it's just squishy animal parts!"

So tell me would you make Jello for him? I mean doesn't that just sound super appetizing. I know we all know what Jello is made of but I don't need the reminder.

Ah the joys of being a six year old boy!

While talking about silly things Rehm says. Last weekend we had a big family dinner with my parents, Michael's parents, both of Michael's brothers and their families. Right when we started fixing plates the power went out. We rushed around finding candles and flashlights. The kids all started eating and Rehm piped up with "Well, at least we have each other!" Indeed we do!

Jenn

I'm Thankful

Today I'm reminded of just how much I have to be thankful for. We hosted both sets of our parents, Michael's brother Dallas, sister-in-law Cathi, nephew Griffin, and Cathi's parents and sister. It was a full house. It was family at its best, complete with a couple of melt downs from the kids.

I'm thankful to be part of a family where not only do I get along with my in-laws but my parents and my husbands' parents can get along and we don't have to have two thanksgivings. It was nice to have my sister-in-law's family here as well. I am so glad we all got to spend the day with both sides of our family. I am so blessed.

I'm thankful for the five special children God has blessed us with. I love getting to watch four of them grow up. Rehm was having a hard day today - he was super tired from staying up too late last night. He bonked his nose very hard while wrestling and had several other upsets today. Several times today only I could make it better. Eliza was also all about Mommy today, she is not a big fan of a lot of people in her house. Charlotte enjoyed being the hostess and greeting everyone. She also spent a lot of time trying to be the peace maker. Ruby was the social butterfly. She has yet to meet a stranger. She loves anyone who will give her attention. They are all such different and fun children. I am so glad I get to be their mom.

I'm blessed that I got to spend an enjoyable day with family, having fun, making memories and just remembering how much I have to be thankful for.

Happy Turkey Day,
Jenn

In Her Own Time

Eliza Claire continues to prove that she is her own person and will not be lumped into the family mold. She does things in her own time and in her own way. And this means not like any of her siblings.

Wednesday evening she decided she was ready to walk. But no clumsy couple of steps for Eliza Claire and then falling down. We went to church for dinner. When we got inside I got her out of the stroller and stood her up. When I let go she took off walking! Six or seven steps. Then she looked at me and smiled and walked 12 or so steps. Withing just a few minutes she was walking half way across the room with no effort at all.

Did I mention that prior to walking yesterday she has never even stood without holding on to something? Never taken a step or two. None of that! Silly girl. Oh, but for a couple of months she has been walking on her knees.

I guess when you wait until 16.5 months to walk this is what happens!



Enjoy,
Jenn

Our Newest Addition

Rehm announced about a week ago that he could not ride his bike to school the next day. He gave no further information and his father and I were a bit confused. I could not figure out what he had done to lose the privilege of riding his bike. I knew I hadn't taken away the privilege and I knew Michael hadn't. I assumed if he had done something bad enough for the school to tell him he couldn't ride it that they would have notified me. So I was a little stumped.

Upon questioning him we learned that he needed to bring Grass Man home from school and he couldn't do that and ride his bike. We didn't know what Grass Man would be and Rehm wasn't very forthcoming with information. All he would tell us is that he couldn't bring him home on the bike.

Once Grass Man arrived, we needed to find a proper home for him. He resides on the window sill above the kitchen sink. This seems to be a good fit as Grass Man is growing by leaps and bounds. He's already had one hair cut since he joined the family and it looks like he needs another one.

I wonder how long he'll survive...
Jenn

Lots to Report

Make sure you keep reading. I finally had a chance to catch up.

Technology Girl

Fall Leaves

Before and After

Monster Shoe

Enjoy!
Jenn

Technology Girl

Charlotte has always loved music and now she has a new love, my ipod shuffle. She begs me to let her use it and will run around the house for an hour listening to my music. She would really like to have one of her own. It would be nice to have mine back and not find soggy earphones when I go to use it. Santa, please bring Charlotte her very own ipod, please.

Jenn

Fall Fun

All four playing in the leaves



Happy Fall!
Jenn

PS if you can't see the slide show all of the pictures can be viewed here.

Before and After

Before

Rehm has not had a real haircut since late June. We decided it was time to let it grow a bit and see what we could do with it.

Rehm with a "2-4"

I should probably explain that for the last 5 years I have been cutting his hair with clippers. This is not because I'm really good at cutting hair or anything, just simply that I'm cheap. Once I realized that for the price of one haircut I could buy my own clippers, well you can figure out the rest. So for the last 5 years he has has a "2-4." That means I've used clipper guard no. 2 on the sides and clipper guard no. 4 on the top. Very simple, very easy. Just a matter of getting him to sit still for the 10 minutes to do it. Over the course of five years I've saved between $600-$1200 by giving him a "2-4."

During

For the last 5 months all I have done is trim around his neck and ears about once a month but otherwise just let it grow. I decided it was time to let a professional give him a new hair style. So here it is. Now I have to admit I still won't take him to get it cut regularly, I'll just trim it until I can trim no more and the break down and take him to have it cut. So still probably only looking at 2 to 4 haircuts a year.

Doesn't he look handsome?

After

Jenn

PS the last time I cut all the kids hair Charlotte told me that I should be a hair cutter when I grew up.

Monster Shoe

Rehm has been working on a project for one of his classes at school. He had to start with a shoe, add ten items to it to make it into something else and write a story about it. He also had to have one movable part. When they were done the did presentations to explain their Monster Shoe.

Here is Rehm's presentation.



If you caught the part about the sharp nose that fell off. Apparently the UFFF had a toothpick for a nose but at some point before the presentation it fell off.

Jenn

Retro Charlotte

This is Charlotte in an outfit my grandmother made for me when I was around Charlotte's age. It is one of her favorite things to wear right now. It makes me smile every time she puts it on because I remember wearing it and how cool I thought it was. I did notice that it needs new elastic in the skirt and the hem needs to be fixed in a place or two, but not bad for a 30 year old outfit.