Windows

He really enjoyed watching out the window yesterday.

And so did someone else.

He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B!

(Yes, I am feeling much better! Praise God! Hannah is good too. She went back to school today. Thanks for the prayers! God willing, we will stay healthy for a while!)

Here's Isaac's first dance!



He is pulling up to stand now as you can see! He has three more teeth on the way-poor baby! And he is doing much better about not touching the dog's bowl now that I figured out what his Kryptonite is. Sudden loud sounds, the blender, for example. Now all I have to do is say, "No, sir" if he is going for it and he turns tail with a whimper afraid that Ill turn on the blender again! Hopefully, this is permanent!

Tonight his sisters were trying to play with their dolls and didn't want him to mess their stuff up so they made a wall with their backs to block him. Well, this presented a new challenge that Isaac met head on, literally! He head butted right in between the two of them and broke though the offensive line. Can anyone say "Future Defensive Tackle?" It was funny to watch especially with the girls were squealing.

Just call me Typhoid Mary!

Yes, we're sick again! Something is seriously wrong with our immune systems or something! Hannah and I have another stomach bug. We are a lot better today than yesterday, but not quite out of the woods yet. Plus, I am waiting to see if Genna and Isaac are going to get it. (Isaac just finally got his last stomach bug out of his system this weekend!) I just can't believe we have a different stomach bug than we just had! Anyway, I am signing off until I feel a lot better!

Interview with a girl who lives in "La La Land"

This is a random spontaneous interview with Genna. She was just making me laugh, so I turned on the camera and just started asking questions about things we've been learning and talking about lately to see if she's been listening and learning. She surprised me in her answers. She can't recall her full name, but she knows who Nancy Pelosi is...go figure! (I actually have been teaching Hannah about government lately, and Genna started jumping in with answers when I quizzed Hannah.) Her mannerisms totally crack me up! I promise this will get you giggling!

Diverting a very determined boy...

...is not easy! I remember reading somewhere that if you are trying to keep a child from doing something (in this case, playing in the dog water bowl), you can give them an alternative that might satisfy his curiosity and show him an appropriate place and time in which he can do that thing. So, here was my attempt at that. I gave him a bowl of clean water to splash in outside. It actually din't last too long because he dumped it out, but he had fun while it lasted. This was yesterday, and today he was still going after the dog water bowl, but perhaps with many days of trying it out in the appropriate place and time will help. Today was just too chilly outside for water play, but he did get to splash in the tub.

I still don't know what color his eyes are. I took this without his clothes on because they do seem to change based on the color he is wearing. The blue mat kind of snuck in the picture though. They kind of look green? No, maybe gray? Hazel? I don't know!

Holly Hobbie Hannah

Another attempt to dress herself on Sunday AFTER church. It warmed up quite a bit and they needed cooler clothes to go play outside in, so I sent her upstairs to pick out her outfit. Wow! is all I have to say. She claimed to look like Holly Hobbie, if you know who that is.

Hannah had a great day today! She went back to school after being out for two weeks for spring/Easter break. She had so much fun! I put a note in her lunch box since she is learning to read that said "Mom loves Hannah" and a bunny shaped green marshmallow. She told me last week while we were at the grocery store that her best friend's mom puts a big pink marshmallow in her lunch box everyday. So I let her pick out some fun marshmallows. So when I picked her up she was out on the playground, and she was out of breath and covered in sand and dirt which I have to say is very unusual for her to be so dirty. I digress...so she says, "Mom, I saw the surprise you left in my lunch box. And um I did like it, but everyone else in the whole class had candy or chocolate in their lunch boxes!" I asked why the marshmallow didn't count as candy and she said it just wasn't the same. However, as we talked it turned out that she has adopted my flare for exaggeration, and her best friend still had the same marshmallow and no candy. The whole conversation was quite funny to me, mostly because she just seems so much older than her little petite body in which she resides. Earlier she asked me a question and added at the end, "So what's the deal, Mom?" Such a drama queen!

After her reading lesson this afternoon, Hannah wanted to learn to tie a bow. I had made this cardboard thing to teach her when her fascination with tying things first arose. At the time, however, she wasn't interested in learning the correct way. She wanted to do it her own way. So I had put this away for later. Today she remembered it and asked me to teach her. So twenty minutes later, she was tying bows!!!! I was so very proud of her! We just did one step at a time and then practiced the whole thing several times. Then I had to go get Genna up from her nap, and I came back to a bow that only needed a little tightening done completely by herself without me even reminding her of the steps! Way to go Hannah! Now I guess we need tennis shoes that tie. I always take the easy way out with the Velcro! She is so excited to show her daddy all that she is learning while he's away! Look how proud she was!

We polished nails this evening and while I put Isaac to bed, Genna's were drying, and so Hannah got out her lesson book and was teaching Genna to read. It was adorable! She sounded like Mini-Me again!

Like his entrance into the world...

...his first tooth was pretty late! Isaac was 8 months and 10 days on Saturday when his bottom right tooth finally broke through the gums. He is mostly over his stomach bug, but his appetite and his digestive system are still not back to normal yet. He now gas a good cough and runny nose though! The cold so far doesn't seem to be a bad one.

Here is his face he makes when he is refusing food! He tucks his chin in to the side.


You can't even see his new tooth yet from a distance. It is just barely through the surface.


He also learned to pull up today all the way to standing. Up until now he was just pulling up to his knees.

Do you want tickets to the Gun Show?

(Photo taken on our Pajama Day last Thursday)

Just what do I do all day anyways?

Well, it is exhilarating! Let me tell you! I tell Isaac"No" 100 times and move him away from the dog's water bowl, the computer, the wires that can't be hidden, the chimney sweep grate that he pulls out of the wall, and even the Bible that he actually ate a page out of (well, he didn't swallow it, but it was all in his mouth-Sorry God!) Boys are so not the same as girls! He is exhausting! I have a feeling that I am going to be using my play yard a lot more with this little guy than I did with the girls. Hannah still tested me, but she did it to test me. Isaac is doing this because those are truly the only things that interest him at the moment. Toys just don't cut it anymore. I can tell him "No," move him out of site in another room, and give him another toy. Within seconds he has abandoned the toy and started on his mission back to whatever it was that I told him he could not have.



Yes, he is still sick, but that doesn't slow him down. It does make him pretty cranky though. He is keeping a little bit of food down now. So I guess he's on the mend. So far the rest of us remain healthy. Thank you, God!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

These might look like innocent children (picture taken on Monday in their new shirts they got for Easter),

but do not be deceived! I went inside for a minute with Isaac and came back out to find this in the backyard!

Can you believe this? I know I should have been doing something about this, but I had to get it on camera first! Genna informed me that she wanted to be tied up because she was the princess, but still mean Mommy made Hannah untie her and told them to pick another game. What in the world will they think of next?

(They were in their PJ's because Hannah asked if we could have a pajama day when she found out we weren't going anywhere today. Her kindergarten is on Easter break this week.)

Wordless Wednesday

In need of prayers

I don't think we have been more than 5 days in this house without someone (or multiple someones) being sick since we got back home in mid February! Seriously, we have been to the doctor nearly every week for someone. Isaac is the most recent victim, and with a stomach bug, no less! I think it doesn't get much worse than when an infant can't keep down food. My poor little angel was sick last week with a stomach thing too, but just for one day. And it was not quite so severe. It is just exhausting without Brian here to deal with one illness after another! Prayers are welcome!

I started my spring cleaning yesterday (a little late in the year because I waited for the motivation to hit me,) but now it may have to be put on hold until my Mr. Cranky Pants feels better! The car needs maintenance too, so that is what we'll be up to tomorrow if all goes well! Got to go check on all that laundry Isaac produced today!

Spring Photo Shoot

Back tracking a tiny bit...

Saturday we dyed eggs and went to an Easter party. The first part of the party was for the girls and the parents were banned. I went with a friend of mine (with our little guys in tow) and got all kinds of errands done! I got all Genna's stuff she needs for kindergarten, her party supplies (for her Princess and Knights Tea Party), and her birthday present too. The kids had a great time doing Easter crafts and playing games.

Isaac just worked on those incoming teeth while we dyed the eggs because his nap just wasn't long enough for us to get it all done.

He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!

We had a difficult day today because the girls are really missing their daddy. Genna, in particular, has a hard time at Mass since that is a time he is always with us when he isn't traveling. Bless her heart, today was her hardest day. Tomorrow's a new day!

I got better pictures today of them individually or with just two of them, but here is the one I got of all three of them.

I love this expression on Hannah. I was trying to talk her into joining the photos.

Obviously, it worked!

Isaac is such a cutie pie! He wasn't much for smiling though.

"Call me Cue Ball, and I'll drop kick you."

Genna and Isaac together- I just got way too many cute ones of these two together before Hannah would join the fun!

Genevieve was in a picture mood...

We got WAY too much candy! Look at my biggest stock pot! Some of this is left over candy, but most is new. People came out of the woodwork to give my kids candy! The flowers came from church. They were giving away the decorations. On our Lenten Calendar (in the background), Jesus is risen and the stone rolled away. Plus, the Alleluia is displayed in yellow too. (By the way, our grass did grow, but you can't see it well in this picture. I was thinking it was a flop until Saturday night when I saw some grass in our Bowl of Earth. New life!)

Spring pictures are coming too, but not tonight! I am off to bed!

The Rest of the Visit

Isaac has had a HARD week! His worse ever, to be more precise. He is waiting on these teeth and he wins the award for My Worst Teether! He has cried every time I have walked away from him with very few exceptions, and this is just not like him. He normally plays very happily by himself. He's taken three 30 minute naps everyday until today (which might just have been a catch up day). I hope this is over soon! He just feels rotten. Bless his heart!

Can't you tell that he doesn't feel good? (BTW, he is wearing 2T shorts, and they fit great, just a tad long!)

He's getting up on his hands and feet more often now. And he is waving too, when I say "Hi."

The girls all had a great time with their friends playing dress up, swimming (we went again on Thursday,) watching movies, and playing outside (although not enough time spent outside in this beautiful and RARE weather, in my opinion). I got to go out to dinner in downtown Kaiserslautern with friends (and no kids). And last night, I took just the girls to Holy Thursday Mass. My friend watched Isaac and got him in bed on time for me since the service started at 7pm. It was nice to be able to spend good time with them on my favorite Mass of the year. Holy Thursday Mass was the very first Mass I ever attended!

Fun at the indoor pool!

We have friends visiting us this week from another town in Germany a few hours away. So I have been busy and am catching up a bit on the blog. Yesterday, My friend took her oldest two kids to visit a castle while I watched the younger two, a 3 year old girl and an 8 month old boy. So if you've lost count we have seven kids in the house this week, and yesterday I had five of them under the age of five from 11am until 8:30pm. It was a harry, crazy day to say the least! But I got them all in bed (her two did not stay asleep though) at 8:30pm and had the house cleaned up by 9pm, at which time I got to eat dinner. :) LOL I even bathed the two baby boys!

Today was busy with a trip to the indoor pool. Because of the babies, we hung out mostly in the shallow baby pool with a few individual trips to the big water slide. It was just easier on us moms that way. Here are the photos!

Isaac pooped out right away because he took a 20 minute nap this morning. So I laid him in the other baby's car seat since he has long grown out of his.

Hannah is the one under water behind Genna, practicing her swimming in the shallow water.

Five of the seven kids having fun here.

Isaac woke up and had fun crawling around in the shallow end!

Hannah and Genna playing.

Some VERY hungry girls! they were too busy swimming to eat, so they waited until they were in the car at 2:30pm to finally scarf down there PB&J's.

Isaac is chewing on his pacifier that he uses solely for a teething toy.

We missed afternoon naps and so everyone was a mess by bedtime! I had my three down by 7:30pm, 30 minutes early, because they were all teary and exhausted. And we might just do it all over again tomorrow! Spring Break!