Little Helpers..........

Molly wanted to help me make some cinnamon rolls and Tallis always has to get in on the action. I loved Molly's flour covered face and her cinnamon rolls turned out great!

The Many Reasons Why.........

The many reasons why Tallis should be under a very watchful eye! I decided that I was going to keep the camera ready to capture all of the moments in a day that someone is yelling about Tallis getting into one thing or another and also for those moments that things are quiet, TOO quiet!! This is what I caught, I'm sure that I missed out on more by posting too soon!


Pulling all of the bowls out of the cupboard along with a whisk.

Tallis has mastered the DVD player, and by mastered I mean she knows what button opens the drawer and draws the most screams of dismay from her siblings. Apparently that is the reaction she loves!

If the computer chair has a one inch gap she is able to crawl up and type (bang) on the computer.

As soon as laundry is pulled out of the dryer this is where she can be found, burrowed into the warm pile.

I caught her on the table just this morning!

Sawyer had taken the last bath of the evening and I specifically told him to make sure he shut the door.

He did not listen and within thirty seconds I heard a splash! I grabbed the camera and I got my final shot.

1. Watch for items to trip over in the kitchen, including small children.
2. Keep ottoman pulled in front of the DVD player (unreachable for short arms).
3. Keep chair pushed in tight at computer.
4. Make sure to not lose small children in laundry pile.
5. Keep chairs pushed in tight at the table.
6. Keep bathroom door shut and toilet lid down at ALL times.
7. Keep a good sense of humor and a camera around! The memories are worth keeping!

Just Like Grandma!

Ok, so Grandma sent a box that had some tattos in it and Molly asked for this one, on her foot! I don't know how to get the picture of Mom's to my computer or I would have one of it too! All day in the car Molly kept taking her shoe off and checking to make sure that it was still there. Too funny!!

Going Fishin'........

Telling the big story. Those of you familiar with Sidon know this involves alot of hand waiving!

Posing with his catch.

Craig, Bo, and Sidon went to Lost Lake while Sawyer was having his last day of school and caught Perch and a nice Brook Trout. The sky turned black and as Craig put it 'God showed up' so Sidon thought they should call it a day. We had a good fish dinner and it was a good way to end the day!

Daddy and Tallis.....

I just loved this picture of them.

Graduation-Kindergarten Style!

Sidon with Mrs. Stoker and Mrs. Henderson.



Sidon is a graduate!!! We are officially OUT of school for the summer and I am so excited to have my kids all to myself.

Flower Hunt,,,,,,,,,,

We all fell victim to the flu last week and in our house that takes a few days to clear out. After being in the house for too many days in a row we decided to take an evening walk and go on a flower hunt. It must have been exactly what the mom ordered because we came home and the next morning, for the most part, we were on the mend! And fresh flowers are always good!!

Ultimate Fans.....

Brown Brothers Logging sent Craig this picture of their 527 CAT. As part of their winter overhaul they had a custom paint job put on it. Pretty dedicated considering that they are hauling it to the woods as I write this to go back to work! And on that note, what a blessing, Craig is going to work on Monday!!!

Brakes and Diapers......

WARNING.....This post contains graphic descriptions of bodily functions and should be read with discretion and the views of this post are held by the author alone. Not suitable for those of you with a weak stomach or lack of sense of humor.

Ok, if that didn't scare you off, here goes.

There are things in this life that just go together. Apples and caramel, peanut butter and jelly, chainsaws and big pine, movies and popcorn, sunshine and picking raspberries, riding bikes and scraped knees, little boys and big dreams, big boys and bigger dreams, tutus and little girls, emotional tears and little girls, coupons and groceries, you get the idea. Well this is just an observation of mine, but I think that there is some kind of eerie similarity to the usefulness and necessity of brakes on a vehicle and a diaper on a baby.
Brakes are a safety measure and without them our cars become a wildly unpredictable mass of movement and in a worst case scenario, a horrible disaster that, Lord willing, nobody is hurt in. You know how people are with a car wreck? On the freeway you drive slowly by and survey the damage and hope and pray that everyone is OK. In town, when it is someones vehicle that you know, people rush to see the damage done and speculate on what could have happened and how much work it is going to take to 'Get her up and running again'. Hence the phrase, "It was like watching a car wreck" you want to turn away but you have a hard time NOT looking. You can see how necessary brakes can be to our safety in a vehicle right?
Well in my observations of babies (I've had some experience in this department) diapers are something that should always, ALWAYS, be on a loose baby. They are a safety measure, much like brakes on a vehicle, and without them the outcome is very similar. An unpredictable mass of movement with a tendency to hide and leave little 'disasters' in their wake. And like a car wreck, at least in my house, everyone wants to see where it was left so they can all comment on how disgusting it is and how horrible it smells. Also what kind of damage was done to anything in direct contact. Now with that long winded intro I have a horrible story, but funny (at least to me).

A few months back I had an experience with naked roving Tallis. I had run the bathtub full of water and had stepped into the girls room and taken off her diaper, which was dry. I walked her diaper down the hall and left it on the dryer. I walked back down the hall and I smelled something that made my heart sink. At exactly that time all the girls, including Tallis started screaming. She had crawled up into the little wicker chair and left me a present, that fast. It took alot of scrubbing and a fresh coat of paint to fix that mess but thankfully I had a bath nice and ready. There is a blessing in every disaster.

I swore I had learned my lesson and that she would never be let out of a diaper again to roam wildly in the house. And then this happened. I had put all three of the girls into the bath on this particular evening and I tend to get them out one at a time so that we keep the hectic to a minimum. I got Maggie out first, combed hair, used lotion and put jammies on, next I got Molly out and repeated the process. As I rounded the corner to retrieve Tallis, the bathtub was empty, no Tallis. I was literally running back down the hall, I was not fast enough (maybe I should have taken track in school....HMMM). As I hustled through the kitchen the smell hit me. That sweet little girl was squatted in my entry way and was already on her second deposit. I scooped her up (ok, I was holding her at arms length) and ran her straight back to the bath calmly telling the kids to stay out of the entry way. I didn't elaborate because I knew it would draw unwanted attention to the area. As I plopped her back in the bath I hear a blood curdling scream from Sidon. "Why didn't you tell me she pooped?" The scene could be aptly described as a series of unfortunate events. Sidon had not taken my suggestion and had stepped into the mess thus slipping and falling down. He sat there on the ground holding the soiled foot in the air and warning me he thought he was going throw up. Really at that point all you can do is laugh and be thankful that all of this was on a hard surface. Poor Sidon, I really did feel sorry for him. Why must we always have to look at the car wreck, Why???

Hands so Full.........

I had one of those days. I got up bright and early and no I did not jump on the elliptical. I took a shower. I enjoy a good shower like it is some kind of vacation in an eternally relaxed setting, until I hear screams or someone rips the shower curtain open begging for discipline to be handed down at the horrible wrong-doing of a sibling, or the inevitable 'I really need to poop!'. AHH, peaceful relaxed feeling GONE!
Thankfully this shower had none of those indecencies forced upon my vacation. I was dressed and had makeup on in time to take my handsome boys to school. I was able to stop at the grocery store and grab an ad for this week so that I might thoughtfully plan what I might be getting this week according to what was budget friendly. The store manager was nice enough to unlock the door five minutes early and suggest that with this beautiful weather I ought to think of something to BBQ. We are privileged enough in this small little town of ours that even ones shopping patterns and the things that you buy on a regular basis are noted and when ringing up your total it is customary to be asked 'What, no diet coke this time?!, as if I must be leaving out something vitally important to my existence. To which I usually just smile nicely (like my Mom taught me to do) and say 'Nope, not this time.'
Ok so back on track, my day. I came home and Craig and Bo left for Nelma's to do some fence fixing. The girls slept in like little angels (I'm painting a picture here) and I was able to fix them a healthy and nutritious breakfast. As I was dishing it up they came out and got up to the table (I'm so not kidding. And you should know, this NEVER happens this way). My mornings are for some reason or another (totally different post) usually fairly hectic and loud and rushed and full of mayhem and disorder (I'm painting another picture, aren't I?). The girls all ate their breakfast without complaint and I was able to dress them and do hair and have some time to spare before heading out to get Sidon from school.
I loaded up the kids and was able to get my mail as we headed down to the school. We picked up Sidon, ran back to the house to grab coupons for Krissi and went back to the store to purchase some highly nutritious mac and cheese for lunch. My children were really having an awesome day, they were being polite (even to each other!), well behaved, and appreciative. I pulled up to the store and began to unload my brood and there happened to be a man (it is not nice to say that someone looks slimy but he did) standing on the sidewalk watching me. As we filed into the store he commented (in a rude kind of way) 'Do you think you have enough kids?'. Mind you, I didn't have Sawyer with me, it was just Sidon and the girls. Well, I felt my eyebrows rise and my shoulders set and if the eyes didn't say it all, the tone of my voice did (Oh, also something I learned from my Mom) 'I guess that depends on who you ask.' Making it clear that I wasn't asking him! As I loaded Tallis into the cart Molly crawled into the bottom half and Maggie stuck her little hand in my back pocket and Sidon walked along beside. What a blessing, if someone is going to comment on my kids at least they were being really, REALLY good. Every single person in the grocery store made some comment or another about how full my hands were, what a big brood you have, here comes the thundering herd (the slimy guy), I didn't know you had another one (Tallis), are they all yours, and isn't there one more? The last woman looked shocked, 'You have five kids!' to which I responded 'I'm aware of that.'. One thing I have managed to do in all of this mayhem is still have a grasp on how many kids I have, thank the Lord for that!
I'm not sure what it was about today that made us stick out or was making people visibly count heads?
We walked to school later to get Sawyer and as we were walking home I turned around and there was a little girl walking a few paces back all alone. I asked her if she would like to join our parade and walk with us to her turnoff. She smiled and said sure, like it was some kind of privilege to get to walk with us. I feel that way, privileged. Privileged to be the mom of five, Yes, five kids. Privileged to have my hands so full. Privileged to have a front row seat to all of the memories we are making and all of the crazy, pull your hair out, cheese falling off your cracker moments too.
I say this to people regularly and often, 'Our hands are full. It's a really good kind of full!'

Crafty Grandma......

Mom said she was sending some flowers in the mail, what we didn't know was that Grandma made them!! Ginger also got a matching flower and my girls thought that anything linking us to cousin Ginger was awesome and that Grandma's 'flare' making abilities were awesome! So all around an awesome little package, Thanks Mom.

The Tutu......

The girls and I made the trek to Ontario today and we had multiple stops to make, one of those being Care-o-sell. I found a few things and as I was having Chris ring them up I noticed a big pile of fancy on the back counter. I asked her if it was a tutu or a dress and she said it was a tutu and asked if I wanted it. It happened to have a ragged edge on the hem so she wasn't going to be able to sell it so she put it in our bag for dress up clothes. A fun bit of happy and the girls loved it, as you can see below they all took their turn in the tutu!

The Grass Heads Have Hair!

The Grass Heads and their sweet hair styles!