Ike

I wanted to take a moment to recognize the smallest member of our family, Isaac or Ike. He is only 9 months old so his current actions rarely make the blog. So, I wanted to get him a little face time and let you know what a truely joyful baby he really is. I love all of my boys but if I am honest with myself and you, Will and Sam were a little tough in their baby years. They seemed rather annoyed that they couldn't do all the things their little minds thought of doing. Today, they are amazing and really very good and sweet little boys. I am thankful I didn't set them out in the "Free Puppy" box.
Ike on the other hand is really quite content most of the time. He just really desires love in its truest form and asks for little else. Ok, so he wants food alot but he gets a pass there. He is a growing boy! Anyway, the boys dress him up as King Isaac so they can be his knights. We dress him up as a Steak and Shake waiter. Through it all, he just sort of grins and rolls with it. He is a delight and I wanted to give him a moment in the spotlight. I think I also wanted to get this down so that if and when he does hit a difficult period and I am ready to pull his and my hair out, I will be reminded that he has quite a deposit built up in the bank of goodness.

PS - I am sure most of you watch the news and are aware of a little storm brewing out in the ocean, Hurricane Ike. He looks to be a booger of a storm and he may actually be bearing down on the part of Florida where my parents live:( (Say a prayer for them.) I am a little concerned for us here in Arkansas too though. I fear that we also should be preparing for Hurricane Ike. He is a little storm right now but in no time he will gain strength and we better bar the doors and windows because Hurricane Ike Chism will be tearing this place up!

Lemonade

This past weekend, we went to Springfield to relax and hang out with some family. There are details that I could share and will when my blogging window is not so small (sleeping baby!). However, I just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the kids and their entrepreneurial spirit.

I think one time, a couple of years ago, Will requested to have a lemonade stand. Well, that day was like 25 degrees so I told Will that although it was a very good idea we might want to wait until it was hot so that people would want some refreshment. Hm mm, he took that to heart and now on every 95+ degree weather day, he wants to have a stand. This was the case last week but we were heading out of town to Springfield, so I suggested having one at Granny and Papa's house since they get a lot of traffic on their street. That seemed like an OK idea to Will so I am not sure it this qualifies us as a franchise or chain or even him as a traveling salesman but we were open for business on E. Vincent St. (I am thankful the government only requires paying taxes over a certain amount because I would hate to try to figure out how to pay in AR and MO;))

Anyway, here are some pictures of the little business. There was some false advertising involved when they listed the stand was for the poor. The kids might feel they are poor but I would beg to differ. There was also a little confusion on how to split profits. These kids are no dummies but with some gentle negotiating, everything worked out great and no feelings were permanently damaged.

In the various pictures you will find Sam(3), Aaron(3), Lexi(6), and Will(6).

PS - For those CFOs out there, the kids did alright. Granny and Papa have some very nice neighbors who took pity on the children and wanted to help out the "poor". I think Granny and Papa lost money though. Granny provided the supplies and lemonade making expertise and Papa ran security duty (they are 6 and 3, you never know when one of them might want to flag down a car by just jumping into the street!).

Vacations

Part of the reason why it took me a month to post was because we were barely home. We had a couple short trips here and there but our major trip was to Florida for Brent to attend a conference for work and for the boys and I to see my parents and sister. We flew into West Palm Beach near my parents' home in Port St. Lucie. Also, my sister, Heather, lives in Stuart, FL. We had a fun time both in Orlando and seeing the family. I took many pictures but I think I missed the best one. Unfortunately, my hands were full at the time. As we exited the airport at the conclusion of our trip Brent looked at me and said something about the effort required to travel with such a crew, 4 suitcases, 3 car seats, 6 carry-ons, 3 children, and 2 not-so-smart parents!

Technology

Ok, so when I found out that even my 50+ mother had a facebook account, I realized that I might need to get with the times and sign up too. So, yesterday I did just that. I filled in enough info to get started and quickly began accumulating friends. Oh fun!

It makes you feel so popular, everyone asking to be your friend. It is like school days again, well, except for the fact that I have no idea what to do now. I have these friends but I am not exactly sure what to do with them. In fact, I am not sure what facebook is about. I guess if I was single and wanted to meet strangers, this is a way to do it. It is sort of a cyberclub maybe? I am not on the hunt, so I guess this is a way to chat with my friends but I haven't figured out how that is different from email or even my blog for that matter. And, do I have to keep up on my facebook like I do my blog? You see how well I am doing at that lately;)

Then, there is this way to say what you are doing at that moment in time. Boy, does that make my life seem boring. I only wrote once today about what I was doing because I didn't feel that making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or breastfeeding was facebook worthy.

I will admit that it is fascinating to try and find people but it is also time consuming. I could sit all day and try and think of old school friends but I do have children to feed so instead I just wander through the day completing tasks thinking, "Hm mm, I wonder if she's on facebook." I guess I need to make a list or maybe my friends will find me.

And, I think you should be required to post at least one picture of yourself to help a girl out in her search. I am looking for friends and the generic grey, shadow outline of a man really doesn't help me know if that is my friend Tiffany from long ago. But on the other hand the generic man is nice in some cases because call me prude, but I really don't want a friend who posts the opening pic of herself mugging on some man. First, gross. Second, I can't even see your face to see if you are my friend!!!! Clearly, there are reasons why it has taken me so long to get into facebook. First and foremost, I am really not cool enough!

What do we do now?

Well, Will is off on his first day of first grade! It was a big day for me. I was a bit nervous about him getting up, remembering all he learned last year, having someone to sit with at lunch, getting ink all over his hands from the full page note I sent in his lunchbox, you know all the usual, first day worries, right?

Well, if my son had known how to do it, I think he would have liked to have given me the finger just so that I would take my papparazzi picture taking butt home! No, he was very sweet and very patient. My worries were for nothing. Will was, well, Will. He was fine. He was happy to go. He was willing to smile on the porch in his first day outfit with his backpack, without his backpack, with his lunch, without, you get it. He let his dad, mom and two little brothers follow him in all the way to his classroom and even smiled for one more photo:)

So, what do we do now? Sam and I are again lost for a day or two until we figure out what to do without Will around. He is the activities director. He is the social commissioner. You see, this is one of many reasons why I don't home school. Will needs a break from us. He needs us to get a life!

So, here we go...

PS - I do know that I have a third child, Ike, but he was not mentioned because he loves Will but he kind of enjoys a little extra attention!

Big Will in the Big Leagues

Will just finished up his second season of teeball. It went quite a bit better than the first. Last year, he wanted to play but then changed his mind just after the organization cashed the check. So like all good parents, we took that opportunity to teach him about commitment. I don't think he really cared about commitment so we ultimately had to bribe him. Neither Brent nor I care what activities the boys participate in but we do care about making commitments and giving everything legal and moral in life a chance.

Well, I guess last year wasn't a total bust because he was ready to try again this year. (We didn't even negotiate a deal before he took the field!) The games were 3 innings long and Will was usually interested for 2 of them. But come the last round, you might find him covering his face with his hat or using his glove as a mask. I am not sure the pros can even field balls when their vision is obstructed. So during those times, unless the ball smacked him in the head or dropped right at his feet, he was very willing to let his teammates get it;) There was also a time or two where we found him to be, what looked like, digging a hole in the dirt to China. I guess he was hoping they weren't playing teeball there! He really did seemed to enjoy it though. His favorite parts of the game are the postgame snacks and the end of the season trophy:)

Here are some highlight pics from the season. The season is made up of 3-4 games a week for only a few weeks. So it was over before we knew it. We did have some of our close friends and their children make it to a game. It was a wonderful treat and gave Will a whole cheering section which I know made him feel special! So, thank you to The Bakers and Stays for your support. I promise to be at your child's first lemonade stand or dance recital, whichever comes first!

PS - One other little funny, with only two games left, Will decided that he wanted his name on the back of his shirt. So we put "Will" just above the #7. That evening's game, everytime Will went up to bat, the crowd cheered for "Will". Everytime someone yelled his name he would literally stop midstride or midswing to check the crowd to see who was yelling his name. He looked so puzzled because he knew it wasn't his parents or anyone else he knew yelling so how they knew his name was extremely confusing!

(If you want to hear the music I chose for this slide show, put your mouse pointer on the word "slide" at the top of the slide show. A speaker will pop out from the right side. Click on the speaker and the song will begin. To stop it, repeat instructions.)

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Our 10th Anniversary Trip to Hawaii

Since I am new to the blogging world, I am still figuring out how all of this works. So, after about 3 hours of work and neglect to my children, I have made a slideshow of our pictures from Hawaii. It is not all of them though. I do have to feed my kids sometime tonight! I hope you enjoy the pics.

(If you want to hear the music I chose for this slide show, put your mouse pointer on the word "slide" at the top of the slide show. A speaker will pop out from the right side. Click on the speaker and the song will begin. To stop it, repeat instructions.)