Saturday night!

We spent Friday night and Saturday with 2 of my brothers and their families and somehow I didn't take a single picture! What is the matter with me?!

Even of adorable Joshua!

Or of Jordan the birthday boy!

Terrible.

Tonight I finally sat down for the day and had time to take pictures of all these cuties from the other side of the family.

Lots of fun with cousins tonight...in matchy-matchy jammies

And craziness from the boys.

And Pictionary

And a movie with popcorn

hunting

Tess thought picking up candy off the ground was great fun!

Avery found some friends.

And we found a number of cousins.

1/2 a year!

Torrance is 6 months old today!

1/2 a year!

Really?

How did that happen?

Didn't we just walk in the door from the hospital?

I swear time has gone by faster with each baby.

At 6 months Torrance is really a joy.

She is an easy baby with a happy disposition.

Just this week she has really started to play independently

and spent long periods of time on the floor surrounded by her toys.

Again, if all babies were born at 6 months of age I'd like have become the 'Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe'...

Tori is adored by her siblings...and she adores them right back.

I often wonder what she would be like if she didn't have them to watch and stare at.

She takes in everything they do and squeals in delight as she watches.

In this picture she wont look at me because she is too busy watching

Avery and Tess behind me.

She is apprehensive with Contessa,

Sullivan makes her giggle and laugh the hardest and easiest,

Avery pays her the least amount of attention but loves to snuggle her

and Lauren can comfort and soothe her as well if not better than me.

She is starting to scoot around by turning, rolling and reaching...

I dont think crawling is too far off.

She has 4-5 bottles a day...she is definetly not attached to the bottle.

Sometimes I feel like I'm forcing her to take it.

She is still battling some reflux issues which makes all the floor time messy -

thank goodness for our hard wood floors.

She's the best sleeper.

She typically goes to bed by 8:30 and wakes between 8 and 8:30.

She takes a short am nap and a long afternoon nap.

Rarely an evening nap anymore.

Sometimes she cuts her afternoon nap short and then she will have a

pretty fussy afternoon but thankfully that isnt too often.

Torrance loves baby food, especially veggies.

She also likes baby puffs.

She is teething - full of drool.

She sucks on EVERYTHING.

She loves her thumb.

She has been doing really well in the church nursery.

She loves her daddy.

And I love watching them together.

I love that she has his blue blue eyes.

She loves me! ;)

I can tell we might have some attachment issues in the future.

But Im not sure who will have the bigger problem...Torrance or mommy.

She loves being outside and being in the stroller.

She loves to pull hair!

Her favorite toys include wet wipes, her indestructible book, and the basket I keep diapers in...which makes the 2 rubbermaid tubs full of baby toys in our house pretty ridiculous.

Now Torrance...this first half of this year passed way too quickly...

slow down for the next half ok!?

multi-tasker

Can you see what Avery is doing here?

She's feeding her doll a bottle and writing something.

She's copying what she sees me doing ... multitasking.

I thought it was cute so I took a picture.

Then I realized that she probably watches me too closely...and I need to be more careful.

And I realized that I need to stop multi-tasking so much because really what it means is that I'm not really doing anything 'well'. Im just doing a lot.

dear avery,

It is 40 degrees out today.

Just because you were allowed to wear flip flops to school a couple weeks ago when it was 70 degrees...does not mean I will let you when it is 40 degrees.

Also, when you are dressing for soccer practice in the wind and frigid temps you will not be allowed to wear shorts and a tank top.

Pretending you don't hear me wont work. Waiting as long as possible to get dressed so that I am frazzled and rushed will also not work. Pleading will not work. Begging will not work. Crying REALLY will not work. Pouting will only get you in more trouble. Claiming that your friends are all doing it wont work - in fact I will simply ask the old question about jumping off the cliff - again.

Do you remember me? I am your mother. These tricks have never worked in the past. They will not work now. Or ever in the future. You are not wearing me down...you are in fact strengthening my resolve. And I have a secret for you...you get your stubbornness from me...I invented some of the tricks you are pulling...therefore they are no match for me.

Sincerely,

your mother

p.s. Believe it or not, I make these rules because I want you to be warm and safe. And I don't fall for your tricks because I love you.

wow.

wolf!!!

For some reason Contessa really fixated on this wolf in the play.

He had the best howl.

After she met each of the other characters she kept telling us and them something about the wolf and then she would point to where the beast was standing.

No one was really understanding what she was trying to tell us.

Here she is trying to explain it to Beauty's mom.

Finally she had it with us and she went back to the wolf himself.

He didn't understand her either...so she just grabbed his hand and took him with her.

Here you can see her leading him through the large crowd...he just followed right along.

It was so adorable and funny. Everyone was watching this all go down.

I love how much Lauren is loving to watch all this from the sidelines.

It was so funny! And she is such a good big sister!

Finally she got him where she wanted...

What you cant really see is the Beast knealing down.

Then we figured it out.

She felt that the Beast and the Wolf NEEDED to be standing next to each other instead of on opposite ends of the cast line.

Tess would not go near the Beast...but just wanted these two next to each other.

After the three talked for awhile they convinced her that the Beast was nice now...

so she posed for a picture.

And then she went in for a hug!

I love two year olds...love them!

The only sad thing about the night was that it reminded me of the last time we went to a play there - Narnia...Avery had a similar attachment to Tumnus.

And now Avery is almost 7 and way too old for such things! ;(

Beauty and the Beast

The best part about the BH Children's Theater is that after the performances all the actors come out to the lobby for pictures and autographs.

In this particular play there were only 2 adults acting. All the rest were kids ranging in age from 2nd grade to high school. And they all did a really great job.

Tess did awesome. The play was just over an hour long with a 15 minute intermission between acts. It was the perfect length for her to stay engaged.

Sullivan was terrified at the beginning but thankfully got over it quickly!

After the play Tess wanted to meet every character.

She didn't care if we followed her...she was going to meet each one!

Tess with one of the selfish princesses.

Tess with one of the selfish sisters.

After awhile people stopped paying attention to the actors and just started watching Tess.

She was hysterical and having SO much fun!

Tess in awe as 'Beauty' signed autographs.

All the kids with 'Beauty'

Sully with Beast! Luckily he came out dressed as the prince and not the beast because otherwise Sully would have been screaming!

This little girl was a 2nd grader and she about stole the show.

Her voice was so cute.

Avery and one of the 'bewitched' characters in the castle - a painting.

Avery and the two girls who made up the 'looking glass'.

This picture is bad because there were so many people walking around and I couldnt get a clear shot. But Tess was SO happy to hug this guy...he played a bewitched chair. He was super funny.

Fun night

We took the four older kids to see Beauty and the Beast

last night at the Black Hawk Children's Theater.

They've been anticipating this night for weeks.

Contessa was insistent that we were going to the ballet.

We didn't tell her any different.

They got all dressed up in their Easter clothes, went out for supper and loved every second.

Seriously, love them...even when Sully smiles like a goon in ALL pictures.

These three are always willing to smile nicely for me!

Grrrr...

Contessa says Happy Friday!

schedules

Torrance is outgrowing her 4 nap a day schedule.

She just doesn't know it yet.

If I let her take 4 naps nowadays they are all short and she is fussy.

So the past few weeks I've cut it to 3 and somedays 2.

She gets up about 8:00 or 8:30, naps at 10 for 1/2 hour to 1 hour,

then goes down again at 2 for 2.5-3 hours. ah!

Then sometimes an evening nap, sometimes not.

Then goes to bed at 8 with the other kids.

It works perfectly for her to have a long afternoon nap giving me time with the older kids when they get home and time to get supper started. And a little quiet time for me too I wont lie!

This schedule keeps her so much happier too.

But around 12:30 Tori can get pretty fussy as she waits

for her 1-1:30 bottle after we walk Sully to preschool.

Today I was cleaning up the kitchen and she wasn't fussing yet but I could tell we were getting to the tired point. Then I looked over and poof...she was asleep.

ADORABLE!

My babies do not do this past about age 2 months.

They are really only able to sleep once I lay them in their beds.

This NEVER happens.

But Tori has her trusty best friend - her thumb.

Its a magic trick for her.

And I think its like the cutest thing ever.

And seriously, is that not the sweetest thing in the entire world...a totally conked out baby!?

150 years

150 years ago a civil war started in our country.

And today we should look back on that.

And I love this quote from the movie Gettysburg so you get to read it today too.

And yes, I know, he probably didn't actually say this but I think his sentiment would have been the same...from what I know of him he was a pretty cool guy.

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain:

'This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. This has not happened much, in the history of the world: We are an army out to set other men free. America should be free ground, all of it, from here to the Pacific Ocean. No man has to bow, no man born to royalty. Here we judge you by what you do, not by who your father was. Here you can be something. Here is the place to build a home. But it's not the land. There's always more land. It's the idea that we all have value, you and me. What we're fighting for, in the end... we're fighting for each other. Sorry. Didn't mean to preach.'

pictures

After supper tonight Jordan said, 'Are you ok? You haven't blogged in awhile.'

That is funny and sweet on so many levels.

I'm short on words or even thoughts.

But I've got plenty of pictures from our short trip to the park tonight.

Pictures of these people who I'm lucky enough to call mine.

Sullivan - Mr. Energy

Avery always has to hold hands.

Always.

Lauren is always helping out.

And smiling. I hope this doesn't change as she enters these 'tween years.

And the two year old.

Oh goodness I love two year olds.

but this one tests me.

She questions everything and does not 'obey right away'...kind of my daily motto!

One good thing about big families...when one of you loses something at recess -

there is plenty of help to go back after supper to search for it.

One downside? There are lots of kids to yell - 'Push me Daddy!' ;)

And the baby...oh the baby.

She's so great.

And such an amazing baby.

And I'm so glad I get to snuggle and love on her all day long.

Are you kidding me with those eyes?

She skips my heart.

They all kind of do.

random Friday and a confession

Is anyone else so happy its Friday?!

I just took pictures off my camera and decided to post some big randomness.

This is Lauren and several of her friends at their concert last night.

They could dress from any decade. Most of them chose the 80's.

Oh side pony tails and oversized sweatshirts worn off the shoulder...not sorry you are gone!

But they were cute.

Lauren had a small group part in the concert.

The kids all did really well.

It was a ton of fun to watch.

See...tons of fun to watch!

hilarious.

After school every day the kids get a snack and then watch

Electric Company on PBS.

But today, Avery did this instead.

And I had to take a picture.

(and please ignore the chipped woodwork in the background -

on second thought please allow it to bother you so much that you have to

come repaint all the woodwork in my home!)

Sully does not have preschool on Fridays.

Today after the little girls were in bed we played 3 games of Memory.

Then he asked if we could sit on the couch together.

uh, yes!

Then he grabbed my hand and I literally almost cried.

Can you say lashes?

Its hitting me that I only have 5 months left with him home everyday.

Its going to go fast. And I'm starting to get sad.

And for my confession:

I LOVE Electric Company.

It is hilarious to me.

This clip especially. And my kids LOVE it when this episode is on because they love to watch me laugh hysterically about it.

No one else will probably find it funny but me...but I want to remember that my kids loved watching me laugh at this.