Nose, meet sidewalk.

Poor Sydney went chasing down our lawn on Saturday afternoon. We have a fairly steep hill at the front of the yard and as she started running down her little feet couldn't catch up. She rolled and most of her fell on the grass, that is, except her nose and forehead. The forehead actually looks better now, and the nose is worse (picture above was taken Monday am). The first layer of skin scraped off and was raw, but now it is scabbed up. The forehead rapped pretty good and had a goose egg that has since gone down. It's amazing the difference an ouchie makes on our outings. Before it was, "Aww, she's so sweet, I can't stop staring at her." now I get mixed looks of pity or disgust that I could possibly allow my baby to fall and do that to herself. I'm just glad it's temporary. Only a week or two and she'll be good as new. It's amazing how the body can solve these issues with a little time!

Mother of 5?!?

OK, I know my Mom did it with 7, and maybe we were spaced and she had time to adjust to the idea and the sheer quantity of us, but whoa. I watched a couple of boys for a few hours Thursday and then all day today and it was nonstop. Maybe it has to do with the chemistry of 3 boys. They certainly know how to turn the house upside down! I have to say the highlight (sarcasm) was when the 2 yr old climbed up to the very top in the McDonald's playland and then decided he was too scared to go down the slide. After sending some older kids to try to help him down, unsuccessfully, I ended up going after him myself. At least I wasn't 8 months pregnant this time (last time I had to do that Savannah was not quite 2 and Gunnar was in utero). Gunnar: "Mom, you have to take off your socks or you won't be able to get up the tubes!!" I have to say that for all the running around, those boys sure were fun. It's so amazing to find out about who exactly these little people are, even if they're not your own. It takes a village, eh?

Gunnar's 5!

Our big boy had big plans for his birthday. He decreed that we would eat dinner at Cafe Rio, then go play arcade games and go in the bouncy playground at Boondocks for an hour. Following that, we could head home for presents and cake....in that order. Well, all righty then, Your Birthday Majesty! We followed his plan, and 4 hours later we had "Partied Until We Were Purple!" (his words!) We all had a good time, even Sydney, as she walked from game to game in the arcade pushing buttons and checking out the lights.
Gunnar got a cool aquarium lamp from his grandparents that he LOVES. This boy may be 5, but he sure needs a little light overnight. It's so cool, I wish I had one in my room! He also asked for a Jack-In-The-Box, which his big sister obliged him with. GO figure! Added bonus, Sydney also loves it! :) His Dad got him Jenga, which they've been playing all day. And Aunt KC came through with some cool Cheeky Monkey plates and a Leap Pad Rattatouie software kit. That's not all he got, but those are the highlights.
We celebrated the day after, so he really had 2 days of birthday. This mom was glad when it was up though because she had heard her fair share of, "The Birthday Boy gets to do whatever he wants, even if the Mom says something else." NOT.

Soccer Mom

Our little Savi started Soccer this week, and Chris mentioned that now I'm officially a "Soccer Mom" LOL. She is very excited because she is playing on a team of 9 girls, who are all from her group of friends, and the coach is one of her best friend's Dad. We had 2 practices this week and her first game is on Tuesday. She claims she isn't good at soccer and she doesn't "get it", but I assured her that all of that will come with practicing! So far she believes me! Whew. She is quite a runner though, at practice yesterday they did a few laps around the field and she was strides ahead of the group. Wish I could sprint like her!

Happy Birthday Dear Daddy!

This post is a bit late....I finally put the pics on the computer! Chris had a birthday last week and we celebrated with take-out Olive Garden, birthday cake and presents, followed by a wrestling match! I think the kids won.

We love our Daddy! He is a snowboarding, yard working, tree hugging :), hiking, biking, camping, all around fix-it type of guy. He's always working on a project around the house or yard or planning an outdoor adventure. He plans on taking Savi on a backpacking trip this year and she's pretty excited about going REAL camping, vs. the car camping we usually do, now that she's old enough. You can tell from the pictures that he's a local favorite, and a wonderful Dad!

Happy Easter!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Easter Sunday! The kids enjoyed the things the Easter Bunny brought of course, new Spring pjs, sandbox toys, candies and bubble batons. Sydney loved the marshmallow bunnies, see Syd Pic of the week, which she proceeded to shove into her mouth one after the other. I think she got about 5 in before she spit them back out and decided one at a time was much better.

Easter is my 2nd favorite holiday, following Christmas. But Spring is my favorite season by far, and that has everything to do with Easter. As I contemplate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I can see rebirth all around me. In the buds of the crocus and the tulip greens shooting through the dirt. The fuzzy buds on the Aspen and Magnolia trees and the yellow green shoots on the willows. It fills me with such a happy and peaceful feeling. I am so grateful for the sacrifice that was made for me, so that I can return to the presence of my Creator and live again, and I am also grateful that He has given me an annual reminder of that rebirth. It's a beautiful display of His love for His children. I hope you all have traditions to help you celebrate this special time of year.

Unwelcome Opinion

This week it has been mostly sunny and warmer and my kids have been venturing out into the neighborhood with greater regularity. I love that we live in a relatively safe area that doesn't have a lot of non-resident traffic because my kids can come and go and I don't have to watch them the whole time. There is a circle 1 house down off of our street and the kids tend to gather there with their scooters and bikes, they also shoot hoops at our neighbors, whose driveway I can see from my front windows.

Gunnar was out a couple of days ago and happened to see one of our nieghbor's adult son smoking while working in his yard. Being Gunnar, he of course approached him and let him know "Smoking is bad for you, you could die. And besides, Jesus doesn't want you to do it." This guy responded that he didn't want to live to be an old man, and he doesn't believe that Jesus exists, and for that matter, neither does Satan. He also told him that he went ot the same church we go to when he was little and now he knows better.

Gunnar promptly ran home to relate the story to me and I was floored. This is an adult, telling a 4 year old that something his parents and all the adults in his life have taught him is not true. HeLlo?!? My response to my trusting curious son was something along these lines, "Well buddy, I know he's a grown up, but he's obviously confused. We know that Jesus loves us, so he exists. And Satan, well confusing people is one of his best tricks. If he can get someone to think he doesn't exist then it won't matter to them if they make bad choices, will it? OH, and this is a guy who smokes even though he knows it could kill him...I wouldn't listen to him if I were you. Why don't you just not talk to him when you see him around."

Shortly after this I was talking a walk to a neighbor's house with all my kids and the same guy happened to be in his yard. Gunnar crossed the street and told him loudly enough that I could hear, "My Mom said I shouldn't talk to you anymore." He responded that he thought that was probably a good idea. Nice.

I haven't confronted him, and I don't think I will. Gunnar basically already did, and the problem seems to be averted. But, did I do the right thing? What would you have done if you were in my place?