I was feeling a little self conscious about posting again due to several comments about my productivity after Chloe's birth. Just so you know, during the past two weeks that was about the only productive thing I did.
Today was my first day ruling the roost all by myself. The whole family agreed that it would be wonderful if Dad could only work half days ALL SUMMER LONG; but someone has got to earn the money for the chicken feed and to keep the coop up and running.
As I went to sleep last night I felt a little overwhelmed with fear of how I was going to manage the house stuff plus keep the kids alive and happy. Well, the dishes still haven't been touched today but Coop did finally get a fresh diaper just before eating lunch. I, on the other hand, had a great loooong shower (my daily indulgence) got dressed and ate breakfast all before 10 am. Not bad, eh? The kids have played well with each other today and I even attempted my first summer "homeschool" lesson prior to eating lunch. This week our theme is "
Joseph Smith's First Vision and Forrest Life." The kids seemed to really enjoy having something structured to do and especially loved the pudding mud that we made at the end for our dessert after lunch. I'm hoping to pull off something similar each day this summer...but I'm not going to stress too much if Momma Hen skips a day here and there.
The past two weeks have been filled with all sorts of fun at our house. Birch has been so good at really making an effort to include each of the kids in special activities and do some extra one-on-one time with each of them. The kids seem to thrive on having dates ALONE with dad.
Meanwhile, back at the farm... here are some of the activities that have gone on at our house the past two weeks:
One early morning Birch took Alex and Tyler rock climbing.
It was their first time and they LOVED it!
Alex
Tyler
We went miniature golfing. Coop loved dropping the golf ball
in the holes then retrieving them. He also loved throwing
his golf ball in any of the water features.
Nate built a few things in the shop. He made and painted
a really cool wooden race car.
Birch took some of the kids to an outdoor water squirter park.
As you can tell they had a great time cooling off.
Tyler, Nate, Alysee
We went swimming at our friend's pool. Lately Coop has decided that he doesn't like water...sure has made bath time and swimming not much fun. However, he did discover that he does enjoy squirting people with water guns.
Alysee
The Forth of July was lots of fun! We had our own little family picnic (who am I kidding, nothing is little around here); we said the pledge of allegiance; we ate yummy patriotic food; and then the kids and Birch set up camp in the backyard. Chloe and I enjoyed the night in our soft bed, though I am pretty sure that I had to get up more often than Birch did during the night.
Can you tell who LOVES pop?
And corn?
And watermelon?
Yep, that would be Cooper.
Alex feeling rather lucky that he got to sit in one of the two coveted lawn chairs.
Alex and Tyler setting up camp.
Storytime in the tent--biding time before the fireworks.
Game time in the boys' tent.
Ditto Camp all set up.
The highlight of the week for Alysee and Tyler would be my allowing them to have a frog and a tadpole. Our friends found a bunch of tadpoles in a lake and could see how much Alysee was enthralled with them. If I had known what happiness I was going to bring to Alysee's life, I would have hidden the frog for a month and then given it to her for her birthday. Both Tyler and Alysee ended the school year with science units about frogs. They LOVED learning and observing the life cycle of the frog. Since I am NOT a pet person the frog and tadpole have found their home far from our house on the outer edge of our property in a large plastic tub. I hear the frog and tadpole are quite happy!
Tyler, Nate, and Alysee digging for worms to add to the frog habitat.
Yesterday Birch cut off four different pairs of pants to make himself some new shorts. We ended up spending the next several hours making "pillows" out of the cut-off pant legs. The kids had fun appliquéing pictures on the outside of the pillow and then using pastel fabric crayons to draw pictures around the design. The kids all loved sewing. Besides the sewing project, Birch also managed to install a whole new toilet downstairs which is apparently so powerful that we could flush 150 feet of toilet paper down and it would not plug the toilet. Goodbye plunger!!
So what have I been doing all week?
Mostly being a Momma cow, changing poopy diapers, and resting my bum on the couch.
Chloe had her two-week check up last week and gained 4 ounces. She now weighs 6 pounds 8 ounces. We love every ounce of her!!! I would describe Chloe so far as a "normal" baby. She does mostly eat, sleep, and poop. (We have had several kids who would not fit this "normal" category, so we are grateful.) She is VERY noisy, though. Maybe this is because she feels like she lives on a farm. She makes grunting, groaning, and even a great horse neighing sound (which isn't so great at 1 am, 3 am, 4 am, etc...). She prefers to not sleep in her bassinet (again, just like her siblings), but wrapped up in momma's arms close to her next meal. Although all the kids love Chloe, Tyler has particularly seemed to enjoy each minute with his little sister. He is great at babysitting her! Actually last week I paid Tyler $1.00 to babysit Cooper for the morning before Birch got home at lunchtime; he did a great job fixing breakfast, getting Coop dressed, and playing him all morning.
Here are a few pictures to catch you up on Chloe's growth:
Chloe's first Sunday going to church - 15 days old (yes, her toenails are painted--I just couldn't resist).
We love every inch of her!!!
Okay, I can tell I have overdone my computer time now. Chloe has peed through her diaper all over my leg; the dishes are still in the sink; the doors outside have been left wide open, letting the 100-degree air warm the house; Coop is calling for me from his crib; I'm ignoring the kids' requests for help; and the piles of laundry have grown beyond the laundry basket.
Good thing Birch is on his way home and my mom is coming to the rescue by sending us pizza for dinner tonight! Life on the farm continues...
This past weekend Alex turned 10 years old! We sure filled the day with LOTS of fun activities. Since I am not much of a cake girl and Alex loves cinnamon rolls we enjoyed a Papa Murphy's cinnamon wheel for Alex's "cake." We started off the day with my Aunt and Uncle visiting from Colorado with my cousin's kids, then we headed to the family fun center, and then off to McDonald's. After we snarfed down lunch our friends the Coxes joined us for the afternoon, Birch took the kids swimming (yes, seven kids on his own), and then we had a pizza movie party. I think Alex's favorite gift was a new lefty baseball mitt and a bag of baseballs.
In the morning we went to the family fun center and rode the go-carts, bumper boats, and did a few arcade games. Alysee and I were quite the wild drivers!
Coop really did NOT enjoy getting wet on the bumper boats. Although this picture doesn't really show it, he did really love the arcade games and horsey ride.
Tyler and Birch won first place in the go-cart race. I'm stayin' off the road once Tyler gets his license.
Family picture (minus Chloe who was being babysat by some friends) after the bumper boat attack.
Our garden in May 2008.
Our garden today--July 2008. We've got sugar snap peas, basil, corn, cucumbers, beans, strawberries, blueberries, tons of tomatoes, squash up the ying-yang, pumpkins, watermelon, and cantaloupe. Oh yes, and my favorite...the zinnias.
4 weeks old - time is just flying. Chloe is such a good baby (as she is now crying in the background). Really, we are SO SUPER DUPER grateful!! She sleeps, eats, and poops. Nights aren't so awesome but they never have been with a Ditto newborn. We just love her to pieces!!
Capturing one of Chloe's first smiles. They are far between but we are pretty sure that they are FOR REAL. Check out those cheeks...I might be making 2% milk this time as opposed to the skim supreme in the past.
