1st annual sleep out



 A bright eyed and bushy tailed Christopher Robin!

Our first annual sleep out happened Friday night.  The evening was cool and gorgeous with no rain clouds in sight, so we loaded up and went to Walmart.  We were in need of some sleep out essentials: bug repellent, bug repellent candles, and a tarp. 

When we got home, the party began.

The tarp made a perfect road for Christopher Robin's mack truck.

Out came the inflatable mattress.

Which was pretty darn

nifty.

 Ryan taught Jace how to light matches 

so they could light the

mosquito repellant candles of course.

Next it was time for the feather down mattress top.  Only the finest bedding for our sleep out.

Rue shrieked with glee, it was so much fun!

They romped and

they rolled 

for quite awhile

until

Rue pulled Robin's hair right out of his head.

After the tears were dried, Mom tried out the bed to make sure it was just right.

  Then "we spanked them all soundly and sent them to bed!"

But not before Christopher Robin drove his truck

all the way around the deck.

"My bed is just perfect Daddy, I love it outside!!!"

An hour later, about 10:30 pm,  Robin and Rue were finally sound asleep - Rue slept inside.

Cheerios outside in bed!

The next morning, a very excited Robin awoke to the beautiful morning sun.  But  Mom was no where to be found. 

Christopher Robin spots some rain clouds.  Get those beds inside quick!

The lady of the house just couldn't take the throbbing of her neck or the aching of her back past  3:39AM.  So she escaped to the comfort of her Beauty Rest mattress.

Inside, she could no longer hear the beautiful songs of the crickets, or smell the sweet scent of the aspen trees in the breeze, or watch the beautiful moon glide across the night sky, or hear the laughing of her drunk neighbors, or feel the cold dampness in the sheets left by the moist, humid air.  But that's ok, because nothing can compare to a good nights rest!

But this Friday night, when we do our 1st annual sleep out all over again, Ryan has promised his Princess that there will be no pea left under her Beauty Rest mattress after he gets it hauled out on the deck!

Turned loose

They played in the sink for at least an hour.

Today, I turned Robin and Rue loose for most of the afternoon.  I got the urge to start my fall cleaning.  The air has changed here in Iowa.  It is cooler, and crisp, and tells me to clean.  So I did.

They were still at it when Dad got home.

My accomplishments today:

Fridge and freezer emptied and scrubed

Fridge moved and swept under

Top of fridge dusted and washed

Oven/stove swept under and outside scrubed

Filing cabinent emptied and sorted

The rest of the house-- a disaster.

This evening while I finished my sorting Ryan fed the kids, then Jace took the camera.

So here is the evening through the eyes of Christopher Robin:

 Daddy feeding Grace.

Grace always has her hand in her water.   Grammy-you have a special name for that--what is it?? Is it sticky fingers?   (It's "tasty fingers" -  thanks Grammy!)

A self portrait

 Picture of mom, which luckily turned out blurry!

Grace is DONE!

Dad cleaning up!

(dang he's cute-there's something about a man in the kitchen!)

The evening sun.

We then made plans for a sleep out!  We have been wanting to sleep outside for weeks now.  But the weather or Ryan's call schedule has not permitted.  But tonight the stars have aligned so we are off to make it happen!!

More on that next week!

A present for Rue

Daddy's little girl got a special surprise.

Her birthday present!

 

--just a little bit late.

 

But that doesn't matter because look what it is-

 

a dolly with HAIR!!!,  

 

and a nose,

 

and eyes.

 

But best of all are it's little purple shoes.

But try as she might,

they only would fit on her

big toe!

And Daddy is great,

 

'cuz he makes things just right!

It happened

Jace presenting me with the presents he made for me.

Well, those of you who know me well, know what happened yesterday.  I turned a year older.

I will be honest, the day started off kind-of crappy, but luckily, it got progressively better!

The not-so great moments of the day:

• Grace cutting a molar and keeping us up most the night.
• Accidentally sleeping in and being really late for speech therapy.
• Ryan not getting to have lunch with us because of an emergency add-on patient
• Jace accidentally locking us out of our house around 1:00pm while I was chasing Gracie down the street after she escaped when he went to get the mail.

The highlights of the day were:

• The sweet phone calls I received from close friends and family members.
• The messages left on my Face book page, or email.
• The cards I received in the mail.
• The BEAUTIFUL flowers that my dear friend Jen Ramsey sent me.  They arrived while I was locked out of my house.  So they got to sit on the front porch with me while I decided what to do.

The evening was spent alone with my sweetheart.  We had a wonderful time. We did a little shopping and then had pie and ice cream.  

When we got home Jace greeted me with presents he had made for me while we were gone.

I received the kitchen phone

and trinkets from my yellow desk.

He is such an amazing, thoughtful kid.  He did this all on his own.

Earlier that evening when Ryan and I were shopping,  I talked him into taking me to the Goodwill.  Since it was my birthday he reluctantly obliged me. What can I say--the Holy Ghost of shopping was speaking to me.

Because look at what I was able to snag for Christopher Robin!

Yes, it would be an

Optimus Prime mack truck with a trailer!!!!

And watching him open his birthday gift, was just what made my day entirely PERFECT!

The mother of 6

Jace and Charlie discovering they have the same eye color and hair color!



Yesterday morning my phone rang.  It was my very pregnant friend, Maryanne.  She was in labor!  A little while later, I became the mother of 6.  We had a really fun time all together.  I became aware of senses I didn't know I had.  I have bionic hearing and x-ray vision it turns out, and it sure was handy.

Charlie, Jace and Eli.

I promised Alexander, Laurajane, Charlie, Eli, Jace and Grace that we would make homemade ice cream.  It turned out that that promise was great leverage!  For the most part, they were little angels.

They ate all their chicken nuggets,

and shared all the toys.

They happily watched a movie on Netflix,

and Grace finally let me put her down.

Jace and Eli share the same passion for cars.

The Dr. didn't walk through my door until 7:00pm last night.  He had no idea that we had a house full!  As he walked into the kitchen he saw me up to my elbows in ice cream, gummy bears, gummy worms, m&ms, bananas, and the works. Chaos. He chuckled as he greeted me with his usual squeeze and contagious smile. Then the FIRST thing he said to me was not, what can I do to help, but rather, "so how many kids did you want to have?"  

Oh, I think at least 6.