Portraits

Every year we take our kids portraits ourselves. Then we get them printed into 8x10's and hang them on our wall. These are this years. We think that the pictures came out better this year. We are very pleased with the results. All of our kids did very well.

Portraits

Adam and Boy

This is Adam's cat. He named him "Boy". When the kittens were born, Adam picked this one out right away as his cat because Adam's favorite color is yellow. Ruth dictated who would name each kitten and was generous enough to give the orange cat to Adam to name. At first Adam said his name is yellow cat. Then a moment later he dedcided the kitten's name would be boy. All of the other kids objected on the basis that boy is a ridiculous name. But I got the final word on the matter and declared "Boy" the official name, unless the kitten ended up being a girl. Well "Boy" was indeed a boy, and "Boy" has stuck. Boy has been the most handled kitten since they were born in early May because Adam was just in love with him. Adam sometimes is very sweet. Sometimes he will get a string and play with Boy, but sometimes Adam is very mean. We do have to keep an eye on Adam and Boy. We know that Adam would be heart broken if Boy died because he swung him into a wall or smothered him with pillows.

John has been worried that Adam will turn Boy into a fierce cat. But so far, Boy is gentle and sweet and very tame. Boy will just sit on people of his own accord. He will even just come up and greet you when you go out into the garage. Boy will sit and hang out with all of the kids when they are out on the grass talking or inside in a group playing Nintendo. Boy has only scratched Adam once and just on the finger. I think he will grow up to be a very tame and nice cat.

The name Boy has had some funny results. John and I have always wanted to name a cat "dog", but the kids would not have it. We feel satisfied with the name "boy" because it just seems similar enough. The other day I said to Adam, "Okay, boy, get out of the bathtub." Adam responded, "Don't call me a cat-- call me a people." So I said, "Okay, people get out of the bathtub." Adam, said, "Don't call me people." Well that went on a bit until Adam said, "Just call me Adam."

Anyway, we all love Boy and basically acknowledge that he is Adam's cat.

We have given away the two girl kittens, and have kept the two boy kittens. We are keeping the mom cat, Meg, and we are sending Ginger, the grandma cat to the pound. Ginger did not like the kitten invasion and has turned pretty mean. She attacks her daughter, Meg. Well, that is cats so that is okay. But she now attacks our entire family if we even put your hand toward her, so she has to go. That will give us three cats, and they will all be spayed, neutered, and vaccinated soon. The two little boys will go first because we do not want prowling male cats peeing all over.

The Perfect Pet

He will let you sit on him.

He will listen to all of your secrets.

He will let you pet him as long or as short as you desire.

And unlike this one, he will never get hungry, and you will never have to clean up his poop.

Wet and Wild Day at the Zoo

Every Friday in June the fire men send a truck to the zoo and spray the hose at all of the kids. It makes a big puddle and a lot of mud. But it is really fun for most of the kids. Ruth, Kate, and Adam just love it.

Johnny hates it. He will not wear his swim suit when we go to wet and wild day, and he swears that he will never get wet. Johnny thought he was getting away with staying dry yesterday. I changed that, even though I had to get soaked myself.

Johnny ran off as soon as he was free, but I stayed in the water and played with Adam. Adam was delighted to have his mom playing in the water with him this week.

Johnny went and sat and pouted and cried for a good half hour after he got wet. It is nice that Johnny has such quiet temper tantrums. All of the rest of us had fun, enjoyed the cool spray, played with our friends and had a lovely time. We did have the Kitchen family come along. They have six kids too, and all about the same ages and genders as our kids. They had one boy when we had a girl and their is a bit of an age differences with a couple of kids. But their fmily matches our family pretty well, and the moms are good friends.

The Results So Far

One week ago I got fed up with Kate's complaining about always being hungry or thirsty (always thirsty at inconvenient times that is). It happened when I took the kids out to the museum. I put two and a half bottles of water at the bottom of the stroller for when we went to the musuem part after wards. There is no food or water allowed in the museum, but I did not want to go all the way back to the car, and the kids wanted to play at the park. We had a nice time in the museum, with the exception of all the nagging from me when it came time to move from point a to point b. (Rather difficult with 6 children). Around the time we were finished, Kate began complaining about being thirsty. I said, "well, let's hurry up and leave so you can get a drink of water." Unfortunately, Kate happened to be the main child who would not come. (am I suppose to understand this?) When we finally got outside, Kate grabbed a bottle of water and began drinking while we walked up to the park. When we got to the park I nursed the baby and ran around with Adam and Rachel until Johnny came to me saying that he was thirsty. I simply told him to get a bottle of water from under the stroller. He said, "Kate drank all of the water." Indeed she had. I felt mad and frustrated. We had to stop playing and go back to the car for more water (which meant going home). I told Kate that she was very inconsiderate, and if she would just drink when she had a drink and eat when she had food she would not have these problems. At that point, I decided that Kate's punishement would be that she would not be allowed to leave the table at meals and snacks until she ate all and drank all. I have not done this very much, because I mostly go under the assumption that kids can decide when they have had enough, and because John and I both hate force feeding, and we both hated being force fed. But I wanted to try this out on Kate. It has been one week now, and actually, after one day, John and I were astonished at the results. Kate has not complained that she is hungry or thirsty (unless, I forgot to put out a snack or was late getting meals). Kate has not stood with the fridge opened or made any food messes. That is what I was hoping would happen. But this is what has astonished us-- Kate is not complaining about anything at all. She is happy, and nice. She hasn't been saying anything mean to her siblings (a problem we have been working on with Kate since the first grade). I often would think of Kate with the nickname "Katecomplaint." I worried about Kate never being happy or satisfied in her life. I have tried a lot of things to get Kate to be more possitive. Well, apparently I needed to make her eat. Kate has not complained about anything since last Thursday. I am utterly astonished. So John and I have been making all the rest of our kids drink their drinks every meal. Everyone else generally eats unless they hate what is provided. Kate has to eat wether she likes the food or not now. But Kate has started doing this somewhat on her own too. She also recognized that she felt better, and happier. I hope things will continue to be better for "HappyKate".

Adam Flew

Dressed up as Spiderman, Adam moved close to my face and said, "I can fly. Watch me." He climbed onto the arm of the couch; stuck out his arm and said, "Chook, chook." Then he lepted off the couch, landed on his toes, sprang quickly into a hand stand and flipped over. Yep, I'd say Adam can fly.

Mom's Punishment

Rachel got pretty angry with me when I held onto her in the shopping cart while walking from the store to the car. Rachel wanted to jump out and run into the parking lot, so I held onto her dress. Despite all of her screams, I did not let her go. When we arrived at the car I immediately put her into her car seat and buckled her. Rachel looked at me and said, "You go to bed!! You are bad, Mom!!"

Pockets

Rachel has discovered the wonders of pockets. The last few days she has worn dresses with no pockets and has been shoving things down her underwear and dress (yuck). But today Rachel has on a pair of shorts with pockets and she is stuffing them full. Some times Rachel's tiny hands have had a bit of trouble putting things into her pockets and she asked for help. A few minutes ago, while having trouble putting a small doll into her pocket, Rachel exclaimed, "Oh man, helpee, mommy."

Why Can't Kate Eat Her Meals

A Complaint:

Kate never eats her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She is always hungry and always snooping around for snacks and making messes with food when it is not meal time. Tonight we had French toast with bacon. Kate tried to take every piece of bacon. Then she only ate cream cheese. She had absolutely no french toast. When I got rice cereal for the baby, Kate had to have that too. But she still would not eat any french toast. Unfortunately, Rachel followed suit. I had to make extra rice cereal. Kate ate what the baby wouldn't and I made a new bowl for the Rachel. Of course, neither Kate nor Rachel would eat rice cereal when they were babies. Anya does not either.

Johnny's Tale

A few days ago Johnny said:

Once I ate my ear wax and it tasted disgusting!!! I picked wax out of my ear and thought, boogers are good, I will just eat this. But it was really awful. So I leave my earwax in my ears now.

Summer Schedule Stuff

We have been on summer vacation for over three weeks now, and I think that we are finally getting into the summer groove. There is so much that I wanted to do and be sure that it happens that is not going to happen. I had to give up on a few things in order to get the kids to bed before 11pm and me to bed before 2 am. The first week was insane. Everyday I found myself cleaning the house around 11:30 and John pining for time with me after midnight. So I knew that I could not do all that I wanted. I have found a few ways to sneak some things back in. I basically had to give up on doing a lot of extra math and school work with the kids, and I had to give up the notion of a lot of 3 to 6 mile walks. I am trying to include long walks once a week. I have managed to put school work back in a bit. Instead of me being there teaching the kids I have them do work while I do the morning chores. Mostly, I have them read, but I give them math and writing to do independently when I can. That is why I have Ruth and Kate blogging. It is easy for me to sit down to the computer for a minute or two and help them edit their work, and make suggestions to help them learn to write. I try to remember to ask Kate and Johnny their multiplication facts while I make meals or drive in the car. The things we have done everyday are outside play, reading, chores, meals and day trips to the library, zoo, and museum, rest time and friends over. I need to explain a bit why so few things can keep us up so late. It is just the amount of people. Making a meal and cleaning up after a meal for 7 people just takes more time. I can get the dishes done and the counters and table washed in about 20 minutes, if I do it after every meal. But that used to take me 10. The laundry takes the most amount of time. I think I spend a good 2 hours a day, washing, folding, and putting away clothes. Since Anya only nurses, I have to sit down and feed her every two hours for 10 to 20 minutes all day everyday. That really adds up too. I pretty much have to wash a toilet or a floor everyday even if I don't intend to do so. Some one is sure to miss and some one else eventually comes in with a disgusted face saying there is urine on the toilet or floor. I expect I spend 10 minutes daily cleaning the bathrooms. Since Rachel needs a lot of help in the bathroom, Adam still needs a bit, and Anya is in diapers. I would have to say that I spend a good half an hour or more wiping bottoms, and changing messy clothes. The reading takes a lot of time too. I read kid books to Adam and Rachel once or twice a day. They get 20 to 30minutes of reading time depending on their attention spans. I then read to Ruth and Kate, and then something else to Johnny. So it probably takes 1 to 2 hours to read to my kids. But I think that the reading is pleasant, and I can often combine it with nursing the baby. I do half of my non laundry and food related chores in the morning and the other half after I put the kids to bed. Tonight, for example, I will scrub the floors. Tomorrow night I will wash the bathtubs. By doing this, I can get in more time with my kids. So with all the stuff, life is a lot busier with the kids out of school.

I have to add a couple of things. First, we all love the day trips. I had to buy a zoo pass and a kid museum pass, but they have been worth it. When we go out for long periods of time, the house stays a lot cleaner. That is awesome, but the main thing is I get more time just hanging around and talking to my kids. We usually come home pretty tired and hungry, but the house is clean and the kids are willing to sit and listen to a book, eat a late dinner, and they go to bed tired.

Second, I have to mention how good all of my kids are generally. Ruth is always helping me, and does so everyday without being asked. She is very conscientious about how she is treating other members of the family. She rarely fights with anyone. Kate is good at coming up with games and fun things for the kids to do together that often include the younger children. She had a hard time learning to read, and does not like reading to herself for very long, but I have been very pleased that she has been reading independently without fighting me. I think she is even starting to enjoy it. Kate, too, is a big help, especially with the younger children. Johnny has gotten a lot better at not fighting with Adam so very much. He also has learned to do his chores quickly and without complaining. I have been very pleased with his reading too. He is only 6 and a half, but he goes off and reads in his spare time. I think that he has finished four books that are over one hundred pages in two weeks. Adam does not scream so much. He has become more of a playmate and less of a tormentor to Rachel. He is always getting old costumes for him and Rachel to dress up in, or the little people out to play with Rachel. That actually makes my life a lot easier. At the beginning of the summer Rachel whined all day long. If she was not whining to me, she would be screaming about something else. Adam choosing Rachel as a playmate has made a world of difference. Rachel has had to spend a lot of time in time out, but she is learning that she can not whine all of the time, and when I say no, any amounting of crying and whining will not change that. I have heard a few nightmare stories from a couple women in church about their kids this summer. I feel very blessed to have the good kids that I have. My long hard days are not due to my kids behavior as much as the amount of kids I have and I think that is wonderful. My life is good and I am enjoying the summer with all of my six kids.

A Few Cute Things

Rachel came to me the other day and excitedly showed me two quarters she had found. I thought that she was excited to get money. (A dumb thing to think of a two year old.) Then Rachel lifted the quarters up, covered her eyes, and said "Look! Eyes!"

Rachel loves the songs "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." They have the same tune. Rachel goes around singing then all of the time. She always gets the tune correct, and she always sings fake words with an occasional baa, baa, and little star.

I bought some new clothes, because I have not lost enough weight in time to fit into my old summer clothes. When I put on my new outfit, Adam came into my room and said, "Oh, Mom, that looks good on you." I sure felt happy after that.

Adam was putting on his spiderman costume and having a bit of trouble pulling it up over his overall shorts. I asked, "Do you want me to help you get that up over your bum." Adam said, "Yeah, because I have a fat bum like you."

Adam has been wearing a spiderman costume around recently. When he is in his costume and you call him Adam he will very seriously say, "Call me Spiderman."

Ruth, Kate, Johnny, and Adam were watching me put my make-up on, and talking to me while I did so. When I got my make-up all the way on, Kate said, "You look prettier in make- up, mom." I agree with that statement completely. Then Johnny said, "Well, I think you look pretty without make-up." John agrees with that statement.

While I was putting on my make-up with my audience we talked about wrinkles. I showed the kids the wrinkles around my eyes. They asked how I got those there. Later, Johnny worriedly said, "Am I getting wrinkles around my eyes?" I said, "You don't have to worry about that yet, and boys don't care about that anyway." Then Johnny timidly said, "Some boys do." I asked, "Do you care?" He replied, "Yes, a little bit." Johnny has always cared more about his looks than our other kids.

Childhood Memory

At about the age of 9, I tried to play jokes and tricks on my dad. I tried things like jumping out from behind doors or putting something gross in his drink. I always failed. My dad would say, "You have to get up pretty early in the morning to fool me." For some time I managed to wake up before 6am, but my dad was already awake. One morning, I awoke at 4am. The house was dark and quiet. I crept to my parents room, hid behind the door and said, "Wooooo, woooo, woooo," like a ghost. Both of my parents jumped up and screamed. I popped out and started siniging, "I got you! I got you! I got you! I woke up early in the morning and I fooled you." My mother just rolled over, but my father in rather a grumpy voice said, "You did not. Go back to bed." I said, "Yes, I did. You thought I was I a ghost and I fooled you." My dad affirmed that I did not and that I had better get back to bed quickly. I went back to bed, but I gloated the whole of the next day. I quit playing tricks on my dad after that because I felt satisfied that I had finally tricked him. But my dad, to this very day, says I did not trick him. I think that I did scare him, even if he didn't ever think that there was a ghost in his bedroom.

Musings overs Bleach and Wuthering Heights

For quite some time now John and I have been watching this weird Japanese Cartoon called Bleach. We got the first disk from the library. We both found Bleach to be quite strange, but rather entertaining. John got the second disk from the library, and we found that not only did we find Bleach strange, but that we both felt drawn to it and wanted to continue the story. Then we discovered that the library had no more discs of Bleach, even though there are currently ten DVD's and a lot more episodes. (Apparently the Japanese love Bleach too). After a couple of weeks of no Bleach John joined netflix. He did this solely to get more Bleach episodes. So twice a month for the last 3 months we have been enjoying Bleach. Last night we watched the ninth disc. There is only one more Bleach disc available and after that we have to wait until July for disc 11. If we weren't so devoted we would have given Bleach up because the language is bad, it is bloody and violent, and there is an occasionally immodest character. But we are hooked and do not feel like it is bad enough to give up the entertainment. We have so far only wasted 36x20minutes of time on Bleach. Yet, we hope to waste more. When we finish watching Bleach John and I have confessed that we both still have scenes going through our heads, or we are thinking about the jokes, or the theme music. Sometimes I even dream about Bleach. I can't exactly say what I like so much about this animae cartoon, and I am sure I would not like it if it was not animated. I do love that the main character loses his temper and shouts a lot. He insults other characters in such a funny way. I love that he bleeds and almost loses every battle, but then always wins and his healed within a single episode. I like the other characters quite well too and the way they play off of each other. I like the nerdy guy who can fight well and sew even better, and this huge guy named Chad that never gets hurt. I like that none of the characters look much alike, but the total affect of the animation is amazing. I just like Bleach a lot. I also really enjoy the cheesey high school drama that I disdain in everything else I have ever seen and read. Bleach just makes cheesey high school drama funny in a weird way. I love Bleach.

I spent exactly one week annoying my husband and my children to read Wuthering Heights whenever I had a chance. That meant that most nights last week we did not have dinner until 8pm. So I was definitely a bad mom. I promised John that I would take one whole week off from reading to make up for it. But, like Bleach, I found myself involved to a large degree in this novel. I could not go to sleep easily because I could not stop thinking about and pondering over Wuthering Heights. My dreams, even after I had finished the novel, have been all about Wuthering Heights. I have a perfect picture in my head of what each character looks like, what the landscape looks like, and what their houses and skies and the moors looked like. I could picture every flower and cliff described in the book. I felt more like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. I don't think I could ever watch a movie version of Wuthering Heights, because it would destroy my personal images. A few people have asked me if it is a good book, and I have to say no. Wuthering Heights will not make a better person out of anyone. It was not virtuous expect in that it was a very well written, involved and interesting story. Mostly, Wuthering Heights seemed to be about mental illness, before much was known about mental illness. It involved the sufferings of the mentally ill as well as how the mentally ill made others to suffer. I found it to be a rather intense and sad story that ended well. I have to say that I really love the writing style and imaginings of both Bronte sisters. Here is a sentence that I thought was just beautifully written, like the rest of the book: "She bounded before me, and returned to my side, and was off again like a young greyhound; and, at first, I found plenty of entertainment of listening to the larks far and near; and enjoying the sweet, warm sunshine; and watching her, my pet, and my delight, with her golden ringlets flying close behind, and her bright cheek, as soft and pure in its bloom, as a wild rose, and her eyes radiant with cloudless pleasure." Ahh, if only I could write so beautifully. Alas, now I am to go one whole week without reading as penance for being too involved in a single activity last week. But at least we will have dinner before 8pm.

Anya

Here is my little Anya Esther. She is doing a lot more now. She rolls around and around and plays with toys and chews on things. She cried when Ruth left and she no longer had her hair to pull. She smiles the biggest smiles whenever anyone looks at her, so where ever we go people comment on what a cute baby we have. She seems to just love people.Isn't the drool adorable?

Okay, so this same blog is on John's blog too. That is my fault. I accidently put it there to begin with, but I wanted the blog to be mine all mine. Actually the pictures are cute enough to leave on John's blog too.

Rachel's Agression

This is actually kind of nice for how Rachel picks up the kittens

I guess Rachel did not feel like she got enough agression out on the kitten

Poor Baby, But I had to laugh when I saw these pictures