The Fireman's Parade

My parents live near this little town Colonial Beach. It is right on the Potomac River. The town is on the small side, and it is very pretty in some parts. They even let golf carts drive on the streets in most of the town. It's a very amusing thing. They also don't have to have car seats on the golf carts, so it's very nerve racking for me to watch. They have a place called the River Boat. It sits in the water just over the high tide mark so it is officially in Maryland. They do off track betting and stuff there. The population of this town is just ripe for people watching. We certainly add to the entertainment when we show up!

Every year there is a parade there where firetrucks and rescue vehicles from about 100 miles come and drive down the main drag. It is really so much fun for the kids. It is also really LOUD!

The trucks all drive by with their sirens wailing. The anticipation of the first truck was just killing the kids! They also were excited to see if there was going to be any candy. Nothing is as much fun without candy!

Dance Recitals

The girls have been in dance for quite a while now. One has been dancing since Kindergarten year I think. That's five long years! This year we finally got really cute costumes! These things are so cute. I LOVE them. The dances they did were just as cute.
They did such a good job. Usually they look at the kids next to them, but this year they both knew the dances and did a wonderful job! I am so proud of them.

Birthdays

He doesn't eat at all, but he managed to make quite a mess with his cupcake. Four turned one! He seems like such a baby still, but he's not an infant anymore. I am trying hard to look forward to all of the cool stuff he's going to learn how to do in the next few months, but it's hard to not miss that sweet little bundle with the smell good head. These days he has dirty feet and hands, and more often than not he just plain stinks!


And then while I was blinking my baby girl turned seven. She is the only one of the four I was able to hold directly after she was delivered, and I will never forget the look in her eyes. She has an old soul. I have a hard time believing she is so very old now. The awful part is I know it is only going to keep on happening. She is big enough these days to not even technically need a car seat anymore.


I know that no matter what I do these kids will continue to grow and change, and that is a good thing. I know it is and if I keep saying it it will be true...right. I just can't help but feeling like they are growing WAY too fast. I just am glad that I am able to be at home with them. I can't even imagine how much I would have missed if they had gone right into daycare and then into school. I am truly a very lucky woman!

My Boys

I can just see them wanting to take Papa's Corvette out for a joy ride fourteen years from now!

Now Hear This...

These boys are so much fun! They just play so very hard. And when they nap...well, they nap really hard. They stayed just like that, without moving, for about an hour. It was a delightful break for me. The Baby has finally learned how to crawl and he just loves it. He's getting pretty fast. I've had to remember to keep my lazy susan shut. If I don't I get flour, sugar, and salt all over the floor. He's also learned how to push buttons on the DVD player. That can get very upsetting for the girls and Three.

I forgot just how appealing stickers can be for a small one. He managed to put a whole sheet of them on his head. He even had one inside his ear! As you can tell his sister thinks he's a hoot! After the sticker sticking he got up and danced his little butt of to Hannah Montana. It's really amusing. He might just be the next Justin Timberlake. I've got to get the video function working on camera. The dancing just has to be documented.

We have extra kids this week so I will be very busy, and probably in a bad mood by Friday. I have to snap out of it though because it is Two's birthday on Saturday. I am trying to figure out what to get her. Things just snuck up on me, and everything she thinks she wants comes from American Girl. I just don't have enough money to pay for rush shipping. Cross your fingers for me that I think of something equally cool!

Head Injuries-R-Us

This has been a banner week for the boys and their heads. On Thursday the Baby fell off the front porch onto the first step. He didn't really hurt himself, but since it is concrete he got quite the nasty scrape on the side of his head. Then on Sunday Three fell off of a climber thing. He managed to catch himself with...His Head! Could he manage to do this feat on the grass? Of course not. It's always much better to fall a few feet, catch yourself with your head, and land on the nice soft driveway. Now, this is a kid who doesn't generally cry past validation of a hurt. He just motors right on after an injury. Not this time. He cried for a good ten minutes. He has the road rash on the side of his head to prove it. Then, when he did manage to get calm again, he ran right into the counter. So much drama. Then the Baby decided he wanted to chase the cat on Monday morning. Down the stairs. Really, I don't know what he was thinking. Thankfully there's a landing about half way down. I'm just not sure my nerves could handle a full on fall all the way down. So, I'm hoping things will calm down and we are done with the whole trying to bash their skulls in thing for a few days at least!

Where's My Spot?

On Saturday I got up early and went yardsaleing with a good friend of mine. I like to go see what sort of stuff other people are getting rid of. I also love it when I find really cool stuff for really cheap. This week I scored a headboard for my Mom for $5! Such a good deal. I also got a pink princess lamp for the girls for $2. Totally cool! Then there are the people who try to sell stuff at antique store prices. I saw a very pretty serving bowl. It was blue and pink and was a sort of oriental style. I might would have paid $5 for it, but not $25! It's a yardsale, get over it! But the whole upshot of the yardsale thing is that I had to get up early. 6:30. That is just wrong. I don't like to get up that early, but we do what we must to get the bargains. So, after I got out of bed I looked and there wasn't any room for me even if I had wanted to get back in.

How did this happen? I never started out thinking we would have a "family bed". I always thought it was weird and a little creepy. Well, that was four kids ago.

We were really good about getting the first one to sleep by herself. Then when the second one came along, I was just too tired to care much. She started sleeping in her own bed a little after she was a year old. Our wall sharing neighbor went away on a cruise, so we didn't feel guilty letting her scream. It only took a couple of nights and she was sleeping the night away in her very own bed.

Then came that boy. He refused to sleep in his bassinet as an infant. Then when he got too big for it (about a week after he was born) he would not lay down in the crib at all without screaming. At the time, we lived in a two bedroom place, and we couldn't just let him "cry it out" in the same room as the girls. So, when we moved into our current house, we did let him scream. He would scream for hours! It was awful. We finally gave in. He will go down in his bed, but he winds up in ours sometime between two and six every night. He's three now, and I just hope before he turns ten he learns to stay in his bed.

Then there's that cute, yet very stinky, Baby. He is 11 months old now. He has yet to sleep in his crib. It's all set up and waiting for him, but it is empty every night. He just won't lay down by himself. I've tried a few times, but I give in after about five seconds. I really do like to sleep with him though, and I think that is why I don't try very hard. He is so warm and soft and cuddly. I can't imagine just letting him lay there and cry. It would break my heart.

Now we are those weird people with kids in the bed. I am that Mom that has no spot in the bed after I get up. That is my wonderful husband who is pushed to the very edge every night by little feet. There aren't many nights when we sleep straight through. There's always someone waking us up for some reason. But, these are good nights. Our kids love us enough to want to be with us even when they are asleep. In a few years they will be to cool for us, and that big bed will seem empty. Then I will long for little feet and hands to push and wake me. Until then I'll have to keep trying to find my spot!

The Hubby also had to get up about five minutes after I left. The Baby's Mommy proximity alarm went off and he wasn't going to sleep if I wasn't there!