Then

I'm thinking we should just skip to Plan B or C and forget A.

We arrived up at Hyak, started unloading all the bicycles and putting the lights and bags on the bikes. The kiddos played in the creek instead of helping. We kept calling them back. The water called to them. The water is apparently louder than we are.

Anyway.........we're almost ready to put our coats on when a man comes up and asks if the tunnel is open. "Why, sure it is." we reply. He shows us this nice, big yellow and black sign that says it is closed. Hmmmm............

We stop what we are doing. Perry and Elijah ride the quarter mile to the tunnel and sure enough, it is closed. Okay.

We decide to go the opposite direction which means we will have to ride back to the suburban instead of just riding 28-30 miles with a downhill grade which would lead to our home.

We found a nice area near a HUGE waterfall and rested for awhile. Then we found an old railroad trail and hiked it for awhile. Then we found some snow that we attempted to bike through. Then we decided we had gone far enough and turned around.

We then, how many then's can I put in this email?, decided to bbq. I then decided to make guacamole, carmelized onions, garlic and muishrooms to put on top of the burgers. Mmmmm.

We then decided to clean out the suburban and do any outside work because tomorrow we are going to catch up inside. S and I then decided Perry should take us for a drive to see the sunset. He then took us up a trail in the suburban that we have never been on. That was fun.

We then headed home and are going to shower and cuddle before bed.

More Pictures

Getting better at self-portrait, but it distorts a little. I'll have to keep attempting different angles. Here, I have E's sunglasses on my head. I was wishing I had brought my swimsuit.

These pictures are backwards. Below, S came flying towards me, Notice, her splint is not on. I was so concerned as I saw her flying towards me, head-first, that she was going to land on her arm. But, she didn't. As you can see she landed on her knees. If you look close you can see tears on her face.

Below, she "almost drowned". Her words. Actually, J-man was right there and immediately lifted her right up. Her friend brought her a flower which made everything, well almost everything, better.

Pictures of our Not Mt. St. Helens

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (this post includes a swear word)

Yesterday, S rode in the car with Carrie. I asked S what she was watching in the car............Depending on which minute she talked about it she would either say she was watching, "Kitty Kitty Bang Bang or Shitty Shitty Bang Bang."

I Didn't Know You Could Swim at Mt. St. Helens?!?

When a friend asked me if we wanted to accompany her and her 5 punkins to Mt. St. Helens, I quietly, whispered, "okay". We then agreed not to speak of it until the night before we were to leave.

So, last night, 10 p.m. said friend called and asked if we were still on. We agreed to wait until the morning to decide. Not that we're last minute people or anything!!

8:45, friend called and said it's a go from her end. I couldn't think of a reason not to go besides work so I woke up the kids and we hurriedly dressed, packed only junk food and headed out.

Now, when friend and I decide to do something we're aware of the stresses involved in getting out of the house and managing 10 punkins with varying personalities. We have an unspoken agreement to not cause each other stress and just go with the flow.

This time around it was her invite so my job was to say all the right things that would make the trip stress-free!!

I called her 5 minutes from her house and she headed out. "Just go down the hill, turn right and meet me at Fred Meyers." she said. I went down the hill, turned right and got on a freeway.

I called her back. "Okay. I've pulled off the freeway. I'm at a Fred Meyers. Is it the same one you're at?"

"No."

"Okay. You come to this one."

"Sure thing."

When she got there, we exchanged kids. I took all the boys, except her youngest punkin, and she took S and her girls.

When we were about 15 minutes from Mt. St. Helens, we saw the Road Closed Ahead sign. Okeedokee!!

We discussed Plan B. We didn't really have a Plan B, but she made one up. I listened, smiled appropriately and assured her, "I'm right behind you. You drive. I follow."

We arrived at Plan B which turned out to be quite hot, dry and full of ants, flying ants, crawling ants, lots of ants. We ate quickly and discussed a Plan C. Didn't really have that either, but, I listened, smiled appropriately and assured her, "I'm right behind you. You drive. I follow."

Plan C turned out to be quite fun. Plan C involved a lake which had a swimming area. "Do your kids have extra clothes?"

"Three of them do."

"Cool. Three of mine do too. The others, they can drip dry."

The kids were swimming, playing on logs, having a grand time. "So, would you like to hear the conversation I had with all the boys while driving here?"

"Sure."

"Well, we discussed marriage and how your son doesn't want to get married because of his dad's adultery. Then, your son explained to my M how boys go through feelings about girls. 'Sometimes, it's (lowers voice), no, then, it changes to yes, then back to, (lowers even more) no, then it's yes, then, well maybe, then, YESYESYES (pumping arms).' I explained that right now M is at the no stage and everyone else is between the yes and YES YES YES stage. We all died laughing."

"Then we discussed girls/sex/their feelings on girls/hormones/girls checking them out/them checking girls out/marriage/relationships/infidelity/hormones/what's normal at their ages and, finally when they started tossing cookie pieces at one another due to their embarrassment, I decided the conversation was over and turned up the music really loud so no one could hear each other talk. You know I don't back away from any conversation about hormones/sex, etc, but I decided that while their curiosity wasn't quite satisfied, their embarrassment was enough.......until next time. And, I know there will be a next time and assured them that eventually they would actually be able to talk about sexuality without being embarrassed."

"So," I asked, "What did you and the girls talk about?"

She started laughing and replied, "Waterfalls and how pretty they are."

Clearly she missed out.

There were so many times the boys and I were laughing so hard living this thing we call life.

Alpha Male

Yesterday, we were fortunate enough to witness a "battle" for Alpha Male in this family. I'm always surprised when we "go there" because the winner is never-changing.



It is always Perry.




However, being a woman and mom it is interesting to watch. A family, in which, there are 5 males. I assumed that, at least, one or two of the boys would have more passive personalities.




Alas, it is not so. So, S and I generally stand back and watch (at least when Perry's there - and let me tell you how glad I am he's in this family) the males of this family posture for dominance.





It's been in the last year that the personalities have clashed so mightily. Due, I suspect to the over-abundance of testosterone that has flowed/is still flowing through their bodies changing them into men.





I don't think M and J-man would be quite so embroiled in the Alpha Male thing, and for the most part just stand back and watch and learn, if E and J weren't vying for position. M and J-man are even closer in age so I suspect we will go through this with them together also.






I certainly wonder what S thinks when she watches this unfold. Being the youngest girl with 4 alpha personality brothers. Living this will certainly shape the woman she will become. Let's just say she's good at holding her own.





She is used to being treated like a little lady. We put high importance on boys/men being gentlemen.





Perry is very gentlemanly towards women, especially S and I. The boys watch and learn from him. They are expected to hold open doors for elderly, women and girls. They are expected to step aside and let elderly, women and girls go first. S totally takes advantage of this, reminding them when they forget. What are sisters for!






The challenge here is to allow them to be who they are without completely crushing their spirits and natural tendencies.



I want to add that I wrote this post days ago and, apparently, Perry put everyone nicely, but firmly in their place and the planets are aligned again and all is well and calm again.

Learning

E was busy studying so the four other kids and I headed up Little Si. We made it to The Bench. That was our goal. The top is another 30-40 minutes hike. Little Miss led the whole way.

J-man was determined to hold my hand the whole way. It was a hot and sweaty day, but.............it did not deter him. I find the conversations we have quite entertaining. This one was no different.

J-man and I discussed what wearing a wedding ring represents. The conversation then continued, "Mom, what if you were to fall in love with someone?"

"You mean with someone other than your dad?"

"Yes."

"It won't happen." This would've been enough of an answer a couple years ago.

"But, what if it does? What if you like or love someone more than dad? You might someday. It could happen." Hmmmmm...........my mind was thinking about what to say at this point. All of the other kids were clearly listening.

"Well.....yes.....it could happen, but it would be a sin. A sin called adultery." I then explained what adultery is so that all the kids could understand.

"But, what would you do? What if? What would you do?"

"I would do nothing."

"What do you mean? Nothing?"

"I would simply do nothing. I would not act on the feelings I might have. I am married to your dad and committed to the relationship until death do us part."

"So, that's why you wear your ring?" Somehow we had come full circle in the conversation.

"Something like that J-man."

J helped Little Miss the whole way.

Because M wasn't allowed to lead, he decided to stroll behind all of us. The whole time I felt like an elephant was crashing through the brush behind me. I could hear him running, jumping, swinging, climbing the whole time.

And The Waiting Begins

Before S's broken arm and my jaw surgery and, and, and, I made this delicious, mouth-watering totally white, butter-laden bread every few days.

Today, we managed to get ALL of our errands finished, along with a hike up Little Si, along with exercise, along with a visit to a friend to see their chicks and.............drum roll please..............the bread is in the oven. Two pizzas are being made from the dough and I just know as soon as I take the pizza out (I cook the dough before putting the toppings on) they are going to gobble it up before I manage to turn it into pizza.

The loaves of bread have to rise and then bake and no one is going to wait that long. The smell will draw them in along with the knowledge that it is there.

All this accomplished and it's only 9:45 p.m. Perry's not even home yet, but will walk in the door soon. I think I will meet him at the door and let the kids eat bread. They'll never know he's here.

How To Fix Your Blog

Some people have asked me to put a "subscribe to this blog" link up. I think I did, but.........I'm not sure if/how it works. Let me know.

Well....I get how, you click on it, but then many options appear. I'll have to check back later and see if I can figure it out.

Instruction in learning

S to J-man ~ "J-man, you just type http://www.com/, no not that, type w w w . c o m. Right. That's it."

I"m happy for you........

.........really, I am.

Spring appears to finally be in attendance. The oldest three of us decided to lose, up to, 20 pounds each. It's, ahem, easy this time of year because one is able to get outside and exercise and play and enjoy.

It's been a week now, well 5 days, but who's counting? Not me, certainly.

I'm always so happy for Perry when we do this because when he steps on the scale, the day after we start, he apparently tells the scale that he is now on a "diet" and the scale responds by taking 3 pounds off his weight.

Now take me, I exercise more, am way more active, eating fewer calories, but when I get on the scale the day after we start, it always says I gained a pound. O-kay. I refuse to be discouraged.

I have been making Perry exercise with me, even though he doesn't really want to, for up to an hour when he gets home. This, I tell him is because he can simple look at the scale and lose weight, I however, have to actually work for it.

Like I said we're at day 5. I've exercised every day for awhile now. Where do we stand, you might ask?

Perry - down 7.8 pounds
Me - down .4 (no not 4 pounds, .4 pounds)
E - down 3 pounds

I really am happy for them. I am.

Brillant

I have many brillant ideas!! Just ask Perry.

My latest brillant idea is in regards to bicycling. It was quite difficult for M, well, for Perry and I anyway, to keep upright this last ride.

J decided on our first ride that he wanted to use Perry's bike. Perry's bike tows the tag-along that M and J-man switch back and forth on when they get tired.

If J is able to tow someone for miles that also means E would be able to. Which means that E and J could take turns towing J-man or M on one tag-along while Perry tows the other. That would mean that we could actually go in a forward motion (see rule #1) and rule #2 wouldn't be as necessary because it would tire J and E out.

Brillant, huh?

Grateful

Life is finally back to normal, as we know it.

I was telling Perry a couple of weeks ago how very, very much I miss Little Miss in the kitchen with me. She usually "washes" dishes for me while I'm cleaning the kitchen. Or.....she "helps" stir, put the ingredients together or whatever, when I'm in the kitchen.

I have missed her since she's broken her arm.

While her arm isn't completely healed, it is healed enough and she can get it wet, to help again.

Praise the Lord for such a small thing.

Not So Invigorating

No one, except S, really wanted to ride out tonight, but..................we did it anyway.

M complained and complained and went so very slow that Perry and I would have to stop.

Then............Perry said to me, "Michele, they must not have checked the air in your tire. It's looking low. No. It is low. Stop. Stop. Right now."

I came to a hurried stop.

Perry and whichever of us were closer at any given time that he needed help, changed my flat. There was a 1" screw in it.

Wanting to make sure we were entertaining - S, J-man and I danced while waiting. I taught J how to partner-dance and then taught S how to do air guitar in a dramatic sort of way. I have this wonderful $7.99 little speaker that hooks to my ipod so we can all listen to music without having headsets on.

Managed to get a laugh out of Perry who was slaving away.

The kids played in the woods.

The flat was finally fixed and we continued on for 10 minutes or so.

We decided to have J and E stay behind the slowest rider on the ride back. As I say, "We are only as fast as the slowest rider and it is really frustrating for them to constantly attempt to catch you two only to have you take off again when they finally catch up."

J and E were great about staying back and J made up a game with J-man, which resulted in J-man riding the Whole. Way. Back. Way to go J-man. I was shocked. It was a lot of work and I was having to pedal the whole time which meant double for him.

When we were close to where we would be riding along a rode with lots of cars, we stopped to let J-man rest. J took S running. When the bike ride is long, she will get out and run for awhile. She enjoys running and has done this since she was 1. She actually runs fast enough that we can stay on our bikes and pedal.

This was J-man's first time to ride along the road.

E, J and I went on ahead with Perry following behind J-man to direct him. E and J rode straight home. S and I stopped at the bridge and waited for J-man to catch up.

I then took S on the small mountain biking trail while Perry stayed with J-man on the paved - main road. S and I were cruising along. I was really pushing it. Trying to make all the little hills without having to stop.

I heard M hollering and looked over to see them stopped beside the road. I finished the trail (there was no other choice) and rode back to them along the road.

The blahblahblah was broken on J-man's bike. The back wheel wouldn't turn. O-kay. Not exactly our best ride here. I suggested Perry take S on the tagalong and M could walk my bicycle while I carried/pushed J-man's to the Little Si Trailhead parking lot.

That worked well. J-man and M played in the woods, then J-man and I took pictures of ourselves while taking turns holding the camera. Makes for some funny pictures.

Perry returned with the suburban.

I decided to finish the bike ride by myself. I cruised trying to beat Perry only to look back once I was turning into our driveway and he hadn't even pulled out. ha ha

Attitude - Most of us 8,

One of us - 1

Fun - 3 (We encountered lots of problems - I hope we've used up our problems for awhile)

Again - 10

As a complete afterthought - We are attempting to make S more comfortable because the long ride and little wiggle room was hurting her tailbone. She has a gel seat, but we bought and have now carved a foam pillow and are hoping this will work better. We'll see.

Invigorating

We, the collective Perry and I, decided to bicycle to Rattlesnake Lake.


From our house.


I think it's between 7-8 miles with a 2-6 % uphill grade. About 20 minutes into it, it feels like a 20-60% uphill grade, especially to the youngest child or me. I can feel all of S's 40 pounds on the back of my bike this year.


The highlight was when two horses came trotting around the corner, nodding their heads at us, passing us by. Without their owners or anyway to catch them. They were beautiful.


J-man and M took turns on the blue bike. M's bike broke 15 minutes before we started our ride. This meant that they had to take turns on a smaller bike. Which isn't a big deal, except, 1. M's bike is only a month old and we've had nothing but problems with it and 2. Everyone else on the ride has 26" tires and it really, really makes a huge difference in how many times one has to pedal.


Our rule, well mine and Perry kind of helps it along is that You. Must. Be. Going. Forward. That's it. Sounds simple, yes? I will not complain or say anything to them (well, I try not to anyway) and don't even care if they are walking their bike as long as they are Going. In. A. Forward. Direction.


When J-man would lose all his Fireball Power, Perry would give him a Turbo Boost. One would think J-man would appreciate all the help he could get, but, alas, he actually wanted to go so slow that we couldn't stay upright. Go figure.


Here I was all impressed with Perry's ability to pull up alongside J-man and send him flying, all the while, staying upright on his own bike and not crashing into anything. J-man didn't appreciate Perry's act of kindness nearly as much as I did.


The second highlight was when we let the kids swim in the lake. I didn't anticipate it taking quite so long to bike there or that it would be quite so hot so vetoed any idea of bringing swimsuits/towels, etc. Silly me.


Therefore, we agreed to swimming with the caveat that there would be no complaining when they got back on their bike's with wet shorts on.


Except S. She was fully dressed because she just sits on the back of my bike chattering away, sliding her hands up my shirt or wrapping her legs around my waist. She's funny like that.


The only thing I had to change her into was a sweater. I stripped her, put the sweater on and if she stood perfectly still it covered the essentials.


Whatever. It worked. We were in a secluded area. Kind of.


They all had a blast. They were absolutely freezing but felt invigorated and ready to tackle the easy ride home.


Turns out it wasn't as easy as M thought it would be. But...........it was as easy as J-man thought it would be.


We cruised home with very few stops. Perry and I usually stay back with the slowest rider, it gives us the opportunity to talk, flirt, enjoy each other's company. Once, I moved ahead quickly to make sure there were no cars coming and block the road. That way J-man wouldn't have to slow down. S loved it. She didn't want to stay back anymore. She is such an adrenaline junkie. Funny, her being so young and all.


Oh..............turns out we have one more rule. Perry's rule, this time.


If you do NOT have a cell phone on your person or on the person you are riding with, you may NOT be more than 300 yards? feet? I forget, ahead of us.


Attitude - 7
Fun - 7
Again - 10

Bet you wish you were me.................

UPDATE: If you are queasy (like, apparently I am) then you should skip the second, third and fourth paragraphs.

Yesterday was our Out Of The House Early day. I drove the boys to their activities, turned right around, drove S to the dentist, left them hanging to go back and pick up the boys, got the kids lunch, went back to finish the dentist, got J lunch (his bite only connects in two places so food choices have altered dramatically for him) and finally drove home.

We had been home all of 20 -30 minutes before J-man came out and sheepishly told me his knife fell in the toilet. O-kay. I took one look in the toilet, couldn't see the knife and decided I was not the man for this job.

I told him to go to E and get his opinion. E told him to get some plastic gloves on. J-man did, but his arms/hands are too short and remember, you couldn't actually "see" the knife. I quietly told J-man to go back to E and see if he would get the knife out because otherwise that bathroom would be put off-limits until Perry got home.

To my utter shock, E actually did, while the rest of us were laughing so hard we had tears pouring down our faces, reach in There and get the knife out. God bless you E because there was no way I was doing That. We're just preparing you for parenthood early.

Fast forward 20-30 more minutes. I had kicked M off his computer to check my email since my laptop was broken (which Perry has since fixed). I heard a crash/thump followed by an, "I'm not hurt."

My first question when hearing a loud noise is, "Is anyone hurt?" Material things are material things and regardless of what happened they can or not be replaced but kids can't which is why S said immediately, "I'm not hurt."

I entered the kitchen to investigate the noise and saw S eating powdered sugar off the floor. While attempting to hold in my laughter I told her to go clean up and decided how to get the powdered sugar off the floor without making an even bigger mess.

This whole incident reminded me of the time E was barely 2 and J was 6-7 months. We lived in a very small home. We kept extra food in our closets. E and J were supposed to be sleeping. Perry and I heard coughing and decided to investigate it. When we entered our bedroom there was a white haze in the room.

Turned out E had found some powdered sugar and was throwing it around the room and eating it. J was the one coughing because he was inhaling the powdered sugar. Talk about a HUGE mess to clean up and not even knowing where to start..........

After S changed clothes and washed her face she decided she wanted to "help" me clean up the sugar. What a mess! But........not nearly as big a mess as 11 years ago or the 30 minutes prior.

For J

Today, after our school is finished, and while the boys are taking a break, I am going to make Angel Biscuits just for J. His mouth hurts and he's asked me about 5 gazillion times when I am going to make them. So......just for J, I am going to leave the clothes that need folding, floors that need mopping, bathrooms that need cleaned and rooms that need de-cluttered and make some biscuits. I sure hope they taste as good as he's remembering!!

Mother's Day - Blessed

On this, my thirteenth Mother's Day, I feel tremendously blessed.

I feel blessed to have five beautiful kids.

I feel blessed to have a husband - who is their father, along with five beautiful kids.

I feel blessed to have a home, a husband - who is their father, along with five beautiful kids.

I feel blessed to have exceptional relationships, to have a home, a husband - who is their father, along with five beautiful kids.

I feel blessed.

I pray I never take the relationships of my husband and kids for granted. Or, if I do, I make it up to them real quick like. :-)

Family

awe-inspiring

We were walking across the bridge when E recognized our shadows. What a beautiful day.

We ended the hike eating chocolate covered strawberries. They were delish.

Blessed

We decided to explore the cliffs on the other side of the bridge. We've only been there one time and really wanted to go back and explore more.

If the poses seem a little off to you, it is because J was having difficulty getting into the moment. Now, take S, she NEVER has difficulty getting into the moment/poses of pictures.

Nor did anyone else that day. For which, I was thankful. We did have a wonderful time. We hiked and hiked and hiked.

We explored and explored. We were there for 4-5 hours. We had a blast. It was so beautiful. I am so glad the kids are older now. I was so very thankful that S had worn Babylegs on her legs. They kept her safe from all the pokies and there were many.

When the tide started going out, you could see the how powerful the water was. Everyone was cautious, but not fearful and we had a blast exploring where we haven't explored before.

The one who is never photographed

Meet J. He is a bit camera shy at his ripe ole age of 12. Has been for a year now. However, he tried his best or not and Perry just happened to bend down at the right moment. Thanks Hon. I'm sure we planned that.

This is the back of J. Don't mistake him for E. I NEVER do that!!

J just happened to turn around at the right time once again. Thanks so much J. I know you did it for me.

This is J with his new braces. What? You can't see them. I'm sure he meant to smile.

tumultuous

Little Miss was so very excited to get her cast off today. She kept saying, "Only one more sleeping time until I get my cast off, right?"

By now, time was passing oh. so. slowly. Thankfully I had earplugs in my purse and a hair clip. The cast wasn't coming off because of the splint underneath. Because of it taking so long to cut through, the saw would heat up too much. We would then stop, let it cool off and keep going.

Still pretty excited to see what her arm is going to look like. Last time she saw it it was bent at an unusual angle.

To our complete surprise it hurt really, really bad once the cast was off. The lady kept telling her it was completely normal to not be able to bend her wrist........over and over and over. Finally, I stopped the nurse lady and said nicely, "If you were listening to her, you would hear her saying that she can't straighten her wrist, she can only keep it bent. Clearly you can see she is in a lot of pain." I then had this same conversation with the x-ray tech.

Whatever the instinct is that gives mom's the foresight (God) to throw things in their purse at the last second, on the way out the door.............I was ever so grateful to be able to pull out Tylenol and oxycodone to give her. She hasn't been on any pain meds for a week unless she has a particularly active day. I didn't actually expect this to hurt. I have had a cast removed more than once and wasn't in any pain when the cast came off. She had tears streaming down her face within 10 seconds of the removal. The pictures are actually pretty good, she had been crying so hard and long that her whole face was splotchy, etc.

They kept telling her it was perfectly normal to feel a sense of loss, WTH?, to feel weak, to want the cast back on, etc. "Here have some stickers. It will make you feel better."

While they were going on and on about her sense of loss I was getting Tylenol out of my purse and shoving it in her mouth.

After getting an x-ray the doctor came in and said the same things the nurse said. I repeated that, "She was really looking forward to getting the cast off. She's not mourning its loss. Contrary to what you have seen from her, she has a really high pain tolerance and this is clearly hurting her quite badly."

The x-ray shows the bones have filled in nicely although they need to continue to fill in. One bone has filled in the outside, but the inside is still clearly showing a break. This will continue to fill in over time and within 6 months should not show at all. Her wrist will continue to heal and shouldn't be bent by then either.

I was just wanting to get her out of the office so I could better determine the amount/cause of pain. Perry's work was 5 minutes away so we headed there.

What a balm Perry was to her soul. Okay...the pain meds were also starting to take affect, but his presence is such a comforting presence to be in. He looked at her tear-streaked face and gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms whispering sweet nothings to her. She cried on his shoulder, he bought her an ice cream from the vending machine and we went to his office for awhile.

She then told Perry the whole story, which made her feel a lot better. And......the pain meds had finally kicked in fully by then. She ended the story with, "I don't get why they thought stickers would stop the pain. How would stickers take pain away?"

Yes, she was indeed serious. I didn't get it either.

Perry took us out to lunch. God bless those pain meds.

She is fine tonight. She has taken a bath, had more pain meds, cleaned her arm, lotioned her arm. She is able to take the splint off and on by herself.

She will have it on for a month at which time we will go back for another x-ray. Hopefully one that will show a completely healed bone.

In the meantime she can use it if she is careful. And careful we will all be.

Update - No matter how many times I edit this post it will not space properly. So, just pretend there are paragraphs.

ailment

Well......with a full day planned from morning to evening, we instead stayed home and cuddled. Turns out Perry's allergies were actually a cold. We found out in the middle of the night with 4 out of 5 kids running fevers and getting headaches. Made for a sleepless night, but a relaxing day.

No one seems to have the cold as bad as Perry so I'm hoping for a beautiful Saturday to go biking.

In other news..........da da da...............Serena is reputed to get her cast off tomorrow. We are all looking forward to the removal. Fiberglass is quite an unpleasant material scraped across one's body.

Ask us how we know.

Comportment

I was telling M that two wrongs don't make a right. S thought about that a while, then came over to me and said, "Do ten wrongs make a right?"

"No."

"Five?"

"No."

"Three?"

"No."

"How many wrongs make a right then?"

She was completely serious.

Blessed

Today J was fortunate enough to be put through the torture of getting braces put on his teeth. After watching, I decided that they, the infamous they, had better come up with a better way because there is no way J-man could do that without gagging horrifically. Not a pretty picture, that.

I would put before and after pictures or during pictures, but we are not allowed to actually photograph J at this time of his life. It is a torture worse than death. I mean, who would want their picture taken?

Alas, I have figured out that for Mother's Day I am going to ask that all kids cooperate for pictures for the Whole Entire Day.

Benevolent

This is too funny. E is playing hide and seek with two 5 yr old's on the enclosed trampoline. They have a turtle sandbox up here. The 5 yo's "hide" while E counts, with his face facing out. Then, he walks around the sandbox that they are "hiding" under saying, "Where are S and R? Where are they hiding?"

Cinderella - In All Her Glory

Little Miss was mopping/drying the floor. She reminded me of Cinderella with her wild, unkept hair, broken arm, slaving away.

It was all her idea. We wouldn't actually make her do this kind of work with a broken arm. We would've, at least, combed her hair first.

Majestic

The boys/girl were cleaning off my mom's roof for her. Thanks guys/gal. While they were working I was taking pictures of our beautiful backyard. We are fortunate indeed.

Pictures