summer fun

Sassy girl had a ball game the other day.  Our local minor league team mascot visited this special group of kiddos for a photo session.  Miss Sassy LOVES Ribby!  She got a little distracted by her favorite giant bat and failed to play any baseball at all, instead choosing to follow Ribby around squealing excitedly.  But for the photo shoot... this was a close as she would get to her great, furry hero.

Oldest kiddo went out to apply for a job yesterday.  I am so proud of her!  She's got a lot on her plate right now with Little Man here, but she is determined to take on as much responsibility as possible.  Senior year, college applications, an incredible GPA to maintain, a sweet, sweet baby she's doing a marvelous job nurturing... and now a part-time job again, as well.  (She worked part-time through much of the pregnancy.)  Did I mention I'm one PROUD mamma?

 

Meanwhile... gadget girl tried her hand at babysitting!

Notice the ears... Gadget girl was given a much-appreciated gift at one of the baby showers!

Here is youngest kiddo modeling the latest in hot summer fashion.  Mmmmhmmm... an apron and a bikini.  Guess she won't be getting any spaghettii sauce on her belly... 

Youngest kiddo is growing up on us.  Apparently, she has had a crush on a boy for about six months now.  And forgot to mention that to us.  (Sheeesh!)  She's been hanging out at the town pool a lot this summer.  It didn't take too long for big sisters to figure out her infatuation.  Especially since the boy likes her, too!  Big sisters have been alternating light-hearted teasing with earnest comraderie and an endless string of advice.  What fun to suddenly have a giggly bunch of teens running around the house figuring out what youngest should wear to the pool or some other trivial detail!  It is bittersweet to have her growing up, but the comraderie and excitement is contagious.  Sigh!  My baby has a boyfriend.

             

And some Little Man photos!  Youngest kiddo snatches him up every chance she gets.  Ummmm... so does G'amma....

                                                

  Have a happy day!

Oooops!

I've had a few people mention that they read the blog and look forward to new postings.  Perhaps pointedly mention that they look forward to new postings...  Yup.  I'm behind again...

Our summer is busy as always.  The girls are working, swimming, hanging out with friends.  I seem to be continually waiting for Miss Sassy's summer school bus or picking up Gadget Girl from her job.  And feeding and cleaning up after a houseful of kids. 

I don't have much writing time.  But I suspect a few followers are currently "reading" the blog for more photos of the little star of the family.  The little man is beautiful and growing fast.  He started his life journey at 7 lb. 9 oz. and at three weeks old, he is 9 lb.  His main hobbies are eating, sleeping, and filling his diaper.  Once in a while he takes a break from that busy schedule to open his eyes and observe the world around him.  Including his hands.  Sometimes he manages to pull his hair, bat at a toy, or pop them into his mouth.  He does get mad at that baby who pulls his hair, though... 

Little Man sometimes lacks attention around here.

  There may have been a few minutes last week that noone was holding, cuddling or talking to him.

Other news... hubby and I spent the day in Maine a couple of weeks ago to celebrate his birthday.  We had a wonderful time walking the beaches, eating out, driving around and talking.  The quiet was a bit of a shock, though.  We're not used to it...

Gadget girl has a new haircut.  She wanted me to cut it for her.  I originally refused (due to complications associated with 20th anniversary dinners, etc.), but she promised not to cry.  Ta da!  I can cut a mohawk!  And she loves it!  What a free-spirited kid!  I really admire her spunk.  Or, perhaps more accurately, her punk.

Gadget Girl has joined one of the goofy town bands with me!  Mostly because she likes to drive us to practices & might as well bring the trombone and play.  But she has found herself enjoying the band in spite of herself.  There are a bunch of goofy and interesting teens in the band, a fantastic & very friendly conductor, and a fun trombone section.  (Ok... when is a trombone section ever NOT fun?)

 Speaking of fun trombone sections...  Trombone nights are a blast!  Sometimes we even play the instruments for a while.

 Sometimes playing doesn't involve instruments.  Gadget Girl was shot in the glasses with a nerf dart.

 The perp wasn't even contrite.  Maybe because we were celebrating his birthday.

 Little guy played with the trombones again.  He stuck to tooting the back end this time (repeatedly) and let Gadget Girl try the little trombone.  We also discovered that Gadget Girl is a phenomenal euphonium player!  Her first time playing the instrument, she kept up beautifully with the bunch of us!  (Not that we are difficult to keep up with;  mostly lots of giggling and banter between players.)  Might have to keep our eyes open for a euphonium now.  Gadget Girl loved it.  Oiy!

Original Oddball almost got a chance to play, but Little Man woke up and had other ideas.  Like tooting repeatedly....

Miss Sassy loves the new little guy!  She kisses him and holds him every chance she gets!  If he cries, she goes running to him.  Youngest kiddo loves him, too.  She can be found rocking him and cuddling him several times a day.

Well... that's it for now!  A few happy thoughts for today!  Have a wonderful day!

Musically Gifted...

A week ago, oldest kiddo & I were getting ready to go toot our horns with friends at our Monday night jam session.  I guess Little Guy got excited about so many trombone players gathering in one place.  Labor started fast and furious about half an hour before we would have been leaving and the little guy was born three hours later.  No worries, though... he made it to the next session and celebrated his one-week birthday surrounded by trombonists!

While still at the hospital, one of the nurses commented to oldest kiddo that the baby had her lips.  YES!!!  I *knew* he was going to be a trombonist!  We tried him out on a little trombone last night.  He looked pretty cool, even if all his tooting came out the back end. 

All through the pregnancy, Little Guy enjoyed jazz band; boogeying and summer-saulting through oldest kiddo's rehearsals.  We were curious how he would react to a bit of live music.

Oldest kiddo sat with him about four feet from the bells of the goofy group. 

He was very impressed.  Guess he'd rather be playing!

it's a boy!

Guess who's 15 1/2?

Second child is very glad that oldest kiddo hasn't given birth to grandbump yet.  This kiddo has been waiting about 13 1/2 years for the chance to drive!

Meanwhile... grandbump is misbehavin' already!  Oldest kiddo had contractions 5 minutes apart for 30 hours earlier this week (yes, that is THIRTY hours).  We finally got her checked into the hospital and called in the waiting-room-cheering-squad.  Our two large families took over the waiting room, hall way and we were eyeing the elevators.  Kiddo was making great progress!  And then... nothing.  Nadda.  All done.  Bump decided to stay put for a few more days.

One of my friends commented, "stubborn baby, must be a boy."  Ummm...hmmm...  Must be.  'Cause NONE of the girls in this family are stubborn....  (Fearless Leader is not in agreement over that bit of information.)

Oldest kiddo is back home and getting rested up for the second half of labor.  Whenever Bump decides to make his or her entrance into the world...

Have a happy day! 

Concert!

Miss Sassy and youngest kiddo had a concert tonight.

Sassy Girl started playing the drum-pad this year.  As of concert time, she has advanced to first-chair-desk-drummer!

Ok... techno-nerd at the keyboard.  I couldn't figure out how to turn the video, so she's drumming sideways.  But I cried happy tears right-side-up!  I'm so proud of her!  When she was tiny, we didn't know if she would learn to walk.  Now she's keeping up a steady rythm with her band.  And lighting up the place with that 1000 kilowatt smile!  (Youngest kiddo plays the flute and both kiddos sang with the chorus, as well!)

Oldest kiddo is faring well with the pregnancy.  Grandbaby-bump is due two weeks from today.  Gulp!  I'm hoping grand-bump stays put a few days past the scheduled arrival time since my school year goes a bit past the 21st...

My crazy family had a shower for oldest kiddo last weekend.  I use the word "crazy" in the nicest way possible.  Over 60 people gathered to wish the kiddos and wee one well.  Three days of camping, bonfires, swimming, wagon rides, and general chaos ensued!  It was wonderful.

Here's a little taste of the goofiness.  Gadget girl greeted guests with, "ballet parking."  That's hospitality, our big, goofy family-style!
And the cake!  Our skinny little neighbor bakes like she should be twice my size!  White cake with raspberry filling and lemon frosting.  I shouldn't even try to describe the cake.  The description falls far short of the taste!

Well... other news... it's hot, we have just over two weeks left to school, the little guys in our class have had a guest teacher and guest aide in their class for the last three months of school.  Oh yeah!  We are feeling the end of the year wiggles!  Today's little escapade was a humdinger....  Rest time involves little nap-mats and quiet activities with the lights low and music playing.  It would be very relaxing if it didn't involve 12 squirmy kidlets.  We've offered to switch places with the kids.  Someday they can tuck us in, rub our backs and make sure we don't chat with each other for a half an hour or so....

But I digress...  One wee one had rubber stamps and was working industriously on a picture.  But apparently the stamp pads were not quite wet enough.  So while I was passing out snack, she went over to the sink and wet the stamp pads.  Did I say wet?  I meant saturated....  Small child then walked across the room with her ink pads, dripping across the floor, a book, a snack, and one of her classmates.  And since four pads were a little too much for her hands, she just tucked one against her tummy.  When the trail of purple dots was discovered and traced to the blotch on the belly, we also discovered that the ink pads are permanent dye ink.  Diluted with water, but, nevertheless, permanent.  Oiy!  My apologies for sending home stained children tonight...

Well... I hope something in this post has brought a smile to your day!  Have a happy day!

    

20 years...

Hubby and I have been married 20 years now.  Friends of mine sent their condolences to hubby...  but added that he certainly can't complain about the years being dull!

Sooooo... how do you celebrate 20 years with a houseful of teens?  We solved that dilema.  Gadget Girl cut her hair.  REALLY cut her hair...  Ten minutes before hubby arrived home to head out for dinner, I had a hysterical, crying child with a funny looking head of hair.  What to do?  Walk out on the crying child or postpone 20th anniversary dinner?  Ok... I'm a sucker for tears.  And hubby didn't cry when I told him we'd be leaving a little late.  He did stomp around a bit and mutter my name in vain under his breath, but no tears.  I can handle stomping.  A couple hours later, the hair was reasonably mended, the kids were fed and we finally got to leave....  Hmmmm... yeah.... Never a dull moment around our house!

A few days later, the long anticipated prom arrived.  Oldest child looked beautiful!  In all her preadolescent dreams, she never anticipated going to her junior (or senior) prom 8 months pregnant.  Boy... I sure didn't either!  But she had a wonderful time.  Her feet got tired from all the dancing!

Gadget Girl helped out with the horse-drawn carriage rides as a groom.  She's on the far right with the new hair do... 

As we were snapping photos at the prom, hubby and I did a quick kid count.  Youngest was sleeping over at a friends house, Sassy Girl was spending the night with Nana and Boppa and oldest two were busy with prom.  We had a second chance at going out for our anniversary!  The second celebration was relaxed and unhurried.  I guess 20 years comes with plenty of time for second chances.  Or, perhaps, without second chances, we never could have made it 20 years...

A few more quick things that have made me smile in the past weeks...

One day, the teacher I am working with left early for a class.  A few minutes after she left, a child came back from the restroom with an answer for me.  (An answer?  I didn't remember asking any questions....)  But she had a very serious message to relay.  Miss G. was still in the office and she wanted this kiddo to tell me that I was "mag...ni...fi...cent!"  Love it!  What fun to see the utter seriousness of a child trying to pronounce such a long and wonderful word :o)

Our family almost always eats dinner together.  Sometimes it is rushed and busy with people heading off in different directions.  But last week, we had an evening with all 4 girls sitting around the table for half an hour after everyone finished.  Laughing, talking, sharing.  Sassy girl was giggling & giggling at her sisters and adding her cheery, "bo!  bo!  bo!" to the chatter.  It was wonderful!

And oldest child sorted all eight loads of clean laundry one day.  Without being asked!  She just wanted to give me a hand!

And, band.  On Tuesday, our conductor stopped mid-song to laugh at the trombone section.  (I know we're goofy, but most of our joking around is between songs.)  This song was a doozy.  I guess our looks of extreme focus and utter determination to hit the right notes was pretty commical....  Gotta love a band that can laugh together!

Well... I have to run!  Have a good day!  Enjoy laughs about little things!