ahhh....

Its vacation time.

Actually we left Wednesday afternoon...but we have yet to reach our final destination...getting there is half the fun right?

The kids are doing so well. However it will be nice to reach our condo in FL and just BE.

Pictures when we return....

Sullivanism

Sullivan: 'Mom where is there so much Christian Mingle stuff on History Channel?'
Me: 'Sullivan, what is Christian Mingle?'
Sullivan: 'A place for people who cant find a wife.'

He is scary observant that one.

the panic

We leave for spring vacation in approximately 72 hours. 

Its safe to say that my pre-vacation panic has officially set in.

Im scared to bring anything but jeans because I just cannot believe its warmer than 30 degrees anywhere in the US...because we havent seen anything above that since about October 15th it seems this year. I literally do not know how people dress in 70 degree temps. I said to myself today, 'Can we even go to the beach?'

And I am determined that my house must be really clean before we leave because what if something happened to us and people had to come into our house and it was dirty?

Jordan has reminded me several times that there are grocery stores and Walmarts in Florida.
For some reason I do not appear to believe him.

Honestly.

Its bad.

I'm annoying myself. 

Just try...

Just try and tell this face no.

Science Center

A couple weeks back Amy and I took the kids to the Science Center for a field trip. 

T Rex SUE is there right now on part of her journey. 

We have seen her before but really, do you ever turn down the chance to see 

one of the most complete T Rex skeletons? 

No, you dont. 

While there the kids did some digging for their own dinosaur bones. 

Another very fun day! 

Tikki Tikki Tembo

A couple weeks ago Sullivan's music class had a performance. 

They put on the play Tikki Tikki Tembo. 

Sullivan had one of the narrator roles. 

He was so excited about this...and was bummed when it got cancelled twice because of snow. 

He did great and we loved watching how excited he was. 

1st Graders are pretty adorable. 

Kiss us we're Irish!?!?!?!

Yesterday we had Grandma Cindy's St. Patrick's Day Party. 

The kids look forward to this for weeks. 

Cindy does it all up. 

Everything is perfect. 

Rainbow and green food is plentiful!

 Is this not fun!?

The kids are all dolled up...Lauren even went and got some green eye lashes for the day!

The boys were having a blast with their mustaches. 

Next year I think all the girls want them too!

Kai seemed to enjoy his first St. Pat's party!

All the party guests minus the youngest 3. 

These two refuse to smile for their pictures! 

Serious little Leprechaun! 

These two don't stop smiling! 

They keep things interesting at get togethers. 

 As does this little cheeseball with her daddy! 

The kids made Leprechauns out of marshmallows and had a leprechaun hunt. 

Hunting! 

 A few more pictures of cuteness and fun. 

Posey-posersons.

Thank you again Cindy for the super fun day! 

The kids are going to remember these parties forever.

a little privacy

I know this will be life altering for many people. 

(insert lots of sarcastic laughter)

I've chosen to make my blog private. 

No big reasons except that my husband would like me to and that 

as my kids get older Im realizing they may not like their lives broadcast throughout

town and not knowing who is reading it. 

So sometime this week I'm going to change the privacy settings. 

If you would like the code to access it and continue reading all my 

witty comments and hilarious stories as well as my wise words...

just email me at rebecadirks at hotmail dot com.

Basically if I know you, if we are blog world friends or real world friends...I'd love for you to follow our journey...if I dont know you and you are weird and creepy...well you know. 

Yes, this is me

friends

Each of the 4 older kids had a friend over today or went to a friend's house. 

(public school is on spring break...our spring break is later this month...for a VERY fun reason! But I agreed to some fun breaks this week.)

Tess was by far the most excited! 

She and Emmy are so sweet. 

Such a fun age for girls. 

And they played awesome together. 

Zero fighting or arguing. 

At one point they were playing house and Emmy said, 

'Tess you can be the mom.'

Contessa replied, 'Well what age kid do you want to be?'

Without hesitation Emmy replied, '65'

I busted out laughing. 

The girls could not figure out why.

And duh, isnt that the age everyone would choose?!

So cute. 

BLTs

Lauren had a friend over last night.

Jordan found it fun to point out that soon Lauren and her friends will all be taller than me. 

But not yet. 

We had a fun Friday night playing games. 

During the middle of UNO Sullivan called Lauren and Claire - BLT's. 

Of course he meant BFF's. 

Everyone got a huge kick out of it and it became a fun joke for the night. 

At one point Lauren gave Claire a 'Draw 2' and 

Claire responded with, 'Fine, you are not my BLT anymore!'

Its fun getting to know our kids' BLTs. 

our baby

Oh Torrance Reagan. 

This poor child. 

She has a bad rap. 

Its deserved...but it still seems unfair...cause she's my baby. 

She is a terror. 

A terror.

If there is a mess to be made - she makes it. 

A dangerous tall object to climb - she climbs it. 

A seat belt or car seat strap to wriggle out of - houdini she is. 

A treacherous spot to miraculously get to - she's there. 

A full kleenex box to empty for no reason - done.

A puddle to jump or sit in - of course.

A bead to shove somewhere bad - been there, done that

A tiny spot to get stuck in or a door to lock and become trapped behind - call the fire department

A way to get drenched completely at the Science Center, while the 6 other kids in attendance with you stay dry - you bet, she's soaked. 

A public event to scream at - oh yeah.

A dangerous parking lot to run away from me in - bye mom.

A purse to rifle through - done before you even sat down.

A box of crackers to dump out and stomp all over - better add that to the grocery list. 

A friend to claw, out of love of course - get the Neosporin ready. 

She's the only child I've had who made me actually think, 'you know those leashes they have for kids? Those really ARE a good idea!

I have said if she were my first, she would have been my only. 

Oh my word she gets me. 

But then she smiles. 

And giggles like only she can do.

And I'm done. 

I'm laughing at antics the older kids could never dream of getting away with. 

And she is so very snuggly. 

She finds my lap every night...blankies in hand, thumb in mouth.

And she is mommy's girl. 

Also my first one of those. 

She pats my face and says, I wub oh too.

She rubs my cheeks and snuggles her tiny body into mine for hugs and doesn't let go. 

She plays with my hair as I rock her at night. 

And she calls me, 'Mama'. And it is the sweetest noise I've ever heard. 

I love that. 

And even at the end of a day where I wanted to muzzle and straight jacket her...

I find myself praying God will stop time and let me keep her at age two. 

Oh Torrance, you have me. 

My baby you'll always be. 

the bead

So today Torrance was not getting the attention she wanted during school. 

She did what any 2 year old would do...stuck a bead up nose. 

Lauren and I had a fun time getting it out. I was sure we'd end up at the dr. getting it extracted. She was screaming and saying 'owie, hurt mommy!' 

She seems set on proving to me that just because I've had 5 kids...I still know nothing. 

weekend review = lots of pictures!

We crammed in just about as much fun as allowed this weekend!

Saturday morning was Alexa's birthday party. 

While I got no pictures of the birthday girl I did get some of these incredibly cute girls holding Kai. 

Kai had no idea that danger he was in with these 2. 

Seriously Torrance...so excited. 

Adding Tess to the mix did nothing to ensure his safety. 

But he didn't seem to mind. He was even smiling! 

Immediately following Alexa's party we headed to a baby shower for Kai. 

So many cute cute baby things...made me almost want another one myself...almost. 

But then again, no!

Saturday night we hosted Nick and his family and my mom for supper, game playing and a movie. 

We went to bed too late...as always is the theme. 

This morning we celebrated a pretty big birthday...Jordan's grandma Hildegarde turns 90 tomorrow!

We all gathered at her church to celebrate her. 

Lauren and Avery have been working on something special as her gift. 

It started as a project in their reading curriculum and ended with this awesome keepsake of her life. 

They interviewed her and illustrated the book themselves. 

Some of the pages...

Great Grandma and her biographers! 

This afternoon Jordan and I attended a fundraising event in Cedar FAlls. 

It was actually my Christmas present to him. 

We had fun dressing up and being together. 

We laughed so hard. 

Truly, Im so blessed by this man. 

After close to 20 years together he still acts as if he's trying to win my heart...

even though he's owned it since day one. 

Best looking guy at the event, hands down. 

Daddy Date

Contessa has been missing her daddy lately.

So Friday night they scheduled a date. 

She was so very excited. It was adorable. 

We came in from Co-op and she was racing to pick out the perfect dress and asking Lauren to do her make up. 

They went out for supper at 'the pancake store'...as Tess calls it...otherwise known as Village Inn.

Then they went to Barnes and Noble and read books together. 

Let me tell you, she felt like the queen of the world and think he felt pretty special too!

He is the best dad. 

And my kids are so lucky. 

I am so lucky.