August 31

Things have been so busy around here lately that today was a rare do-nothing at home day. It was lovely. We had a slow morning, and around 10:30 the kids grabbed their nature journals, I wrapped Eli on my back, and we went for a nature walk. Even Lily brought her journal, which I thought was just about the sweetest thing ever.

We didn't have to go far. At the base of a tree in our front yard, we found this awesome guy:

It was so fuzzy and walked really fast - very interesting!

Can you see it on the tree? The kids observed for quite a while.

(Yes, Lily is wearing white leggings and a white long-sleeved shirt. Her monochromatic ensembles are pretty funny. Or in this case, is it achromatic? Panchromatic? Whatever.)

When we got home, we googled the caterpillar. Apparently, it is an American Dagger Moth caterpillar. It was a good thing none of my children were brave enough to touch it, because apparently it's poisonous. Or at least, it contains toxins that could cause red welts on the skin. Interesting, isn't it?

Caleb was really interested in observing the little purple flowers on this ornamental grass, too. (Liriope, right, Mom?)

And Eli was sleepy and happy on my back. He's a good nature walk companion!

Daisy and I are really struggling to find a learning groove. She wants to do everything herself, without any input from me at all. She doesn't want to practice her writing, because SHE CAN ALREADY WRITE!!! And practicing lower case letters, or writing on the lines, is just silly. It's a mind game, and I have to figure out how to best work with a strong-willed kid with her.  This "Daisy" on the dry erase board was the result of 20 minutes of wheedling, coercing, arguing, and practice. She finally wrote her name, but erased it before I could take a picture. I gave up and left the room, and a moment later she called me back in to take a picture. 

This girl is trouble.

And these two helped me make dinner. One is happier about having his picture taken than the other.

August 29

Only one picture from today, but it's a cutie:

Eli was feeling really needy at dinner time, so up he went.

Funny - I went to upload this image, and the one immediately after it was this one, from January 2015: 

Eli was less than 24 hours old here. We've come a long way in 19 months!

Lately he's been fighting being worn, and when I reach for a wrap or ring sling he yells "NO! Nonononono!" and runs the other direction. Even today, he desperately wanted me to hold him, but screamed as I wrapped him. Once he was up, though, he was happy as can be! I never really wore Caleb or Daisy when they were this age, and when Lily was this age, she was already a big sister and I was too busy wearing Eli to wear her. So this is new territory for me. I'm hoping it passes, because I really want to Try All The Wraps before this season of life is over. 

I'll just have to keep on trying!

August 28

Today was our turn to serve in the nursery at church, and it was our first time in there since Eli has moved up to the toddler classroom. That means that Chris and I spent the morning snuggling babies that weren't ours, which was simultaneously liberating and strange. Eli is doing great in the toddler classroom, though, so hooray!

I had two photo sessions scheduled for this evening (one as the photographer and one as the subject), but both got postponed for various reasons, so we had the whole afternoon to spend doing whatever. After our weekly Costco trip, we picked up one of their ginormous cheese pizzas and went to the park where Chris and I were married. I texted my mom that we would be picnicking, and she and Dad met us there to feed fish and play. It was perfect. We finished the picnic with some tree climbing.

Eli was adamant that he be in the tree, too, and not some dinky low branch. Thank goodness Grandpa (or "Papa", as Eli calls him) was there to help him out!

I love these little monkeys in a tree!

Happy boy!

Grouchy girl. 

Seriously, who can be grouchy while climbing a tree? 

Lily can.

She's a sweet monkey. Don't you love her daisy tank top, flowered skirt, and flowered flip flops? If you had thrown her in a field of wildflowers, she would have been totally camouflaged.

Hi, Eli!

We got home much too late, but Lily and Eli were eager for their naps. Then Chris and I got to work on a serious issue: the marble countertop we installed in our master bath in 2013 has an undermount sink, and that undermount sink has gradually become... un-mounted. It had four clips holding it in place, and it was down to one clip and the plumbing keeping it up. Yikes. Thankfully, my husbando is on top of things, and he researched and purchased a perfect solution.

I just had to lie under the sink, in the cabinet, holding the bowl in place while he did some of the work. So this is my first "under the sink" selfie. Hopefully my last, too?

We made some delicious gluten-free pumpkin pancakes for dinner, then went to the neighborhood pool for a quick swim before bed. I brought my camera, but forgot my memory card. Whoops.

When we got home, the kids changed into their jammies, but begged for a chance to run around outside before bedtime. Um, ok?

Running.

(Eli's footie pajamas are not so conducive to running outside, so he ran sans jammies.

I mean, really. This kid is too cute.

Daisy had been the most vocal advocate for running outside, but once we were out there, she chose to draw with chalk instead of running.

How about some video of the running?

She looks weird, but Lily was running as fast as she could in her kitty cat jammies.

Eli now yells, "FAST!" before he starts running. It's hilarious!

Sidewalk sitting selfie.

There. Now she looks fast.

Downhill is so much more exciting than uphill!

Soon, Caleb was pooped!

Oh, goodness. I have all the puffy heart eyes for this baby.

I mean toddler.

Can I still call him my baby? I think I will.

And then, Caleb challenged Chris to a race.

They lined up,

And they were off!

Caleb ran his little heart out, and can you see how happy Eli is to be part of the race?

Chris ran 10 miles before church this morning, so I'm not sure if that was what slowed him down, or the fact that he was carrying Eli as he ran, but he couldn't keep up!

This picture of my three boys, all so happy, makes my heart burst a little.

And then it was time for bed. Everyone except Eli came in when I called.

Eli still had a little more running to do!

August 27

Oh, Saturday. I love you.

We had nothing on our agenda at all today, which turned out to be a good thing. After taking the kids to the donut shop for the first time ever this morning, Chris decided to take our vacuum cleaner down into the basement and clean up all of the wood shavings from the electrical work we did a few weeks ago. (Yes, a few weeks ago. Don't judge the lack of cleaning.)

When he plugged in the vacuum, something happened with the electricity in part of the house, and Chris spent the rest of the morning trying (unsuccessfully) to figure out the issue and correct it.  It was frustrating on so many levels!

While Chris changed out outlets, checked GFIs, replaced a circuit in the breaker... the kids and I played.

OK, goofy iPhone picture and the lighting is terrible, but Babies in Sunglasses? 

Cutest thing ever.

At some point, Lily was fussy, fussy, fussy, so I popped her up in our borrowed carrier and that made everything better.

Sweet girl. She asked to be on my front, not my back, so she could snuggle better.

At one point there was an episode where the kids were happily playing back in the bedrooms and Lily came running out, yelling, "MOMMY! ELI HAS A BLOODY FACE!" and then poor Eli came wandering into the kitchen, looking like a zombie.

He had a bloody nose. 

I asked Lily what happened, and she told me that Daisy put a toy up Eli's nose.

That's right. DAISY PUT A TOY UP ELI'S NOSE.

You know I called Daisy out to ask what was going on, and she just stared at me, stone-faced. She wouldn't explain anything. I was blown away. Why on earth would she put a toy up her baby brother's nose, so aggressively that it caused him to bleed? Why did he let her? Why didn't I hear any crying? WAS DAISY SOME SORT OF SOCIOPATH?!?!?!

Daisy would shed no light on the situation. She wouldn't show me the toy, tell me what happened, nothing.

I dealt with the situation and sent Daisy to be alone in her room for a while. 10 or 15 minutes later, I went in to talk to her. Finally, she told me that she put the "snot sucker" in Eli's nose, and that was why it was bleeding.

Not a toy.

The NoseFrida, which is missing a key part and is therefore useless and potentially able to cause a bloody nose on a child whose mucous membranes are already sensitive because of a cold.

She was trying to take care of his runny nose with the snot sucker, and instead it started bleeding.

Praise the Lord. 

My daughter is not a sociopath. 

We had a good long talk about how important it is to explain things like this to Mommy, and hopefully next time she won't clam up like she did. Goodness, Daisy is an interesting child.

Then I fed them all lunch and put the little ones down for naps, and I took the big kids grocery shopping with me so that Chris could mow our neighbors' lawn. Caleb and Daisy are great shoppers.

We got home right after Chris finished mowing, and before the little ones woke up. Caleb and Daisy played MarioKart while I unloaded groceries and started dinner.

At dinner time, I asked the kids to help me set the table. The only one who was willing to help?

Sweet Baby Eli.

I grabbed the silverware and handed him one piece at a time, telling him where to put it. Then he did his best to get it in the right place.

Oh my goodness. Look at him trying his hardest to help!

He was so proud of himself for helping me set the table!

I love this little boy.

August 26

Months ago, I volunteered to photograph a charity golf scramble for an organization I think is fantastic. It was kind of a big deal, because it was an all-day thing on a weekday, so Chris had to take the day off work. Being the supportive husband that he is, he agreed. 

Today was the day, and before it was even time for me to leave, Chris had all four kids ready to go on a walk to the library, nature journals in hand. He later texted me that the nature walk was so much fun, and that the kids were so interested in observing everything that he takes for granted. I'm so glad Chris was able to get a little window into what our school days are like while I was out doing things like this:

Riding on the back of a golf cart as other volunteers drove me around to photograph golfers and sponsor signage.

Hanging out with one of my very favorite friends.

And - after a quick stop at home for the briefest shower ever after a sweaty day on the course - a trip to the hair salon for a new 'do:

She cut off almost 5 inches, and I'm feeling really sassy. Look out, World!

So. No pictures of kids, but a very fulfilling day for me. Thanks, Chris!

August 25

I woke up this morning to a very-excited Caleb.

"Mommy! Mommy! Come look at what I built!"

He was adamant that I get my camera or phone and take a picture of his latest Lego creation. New Lego creations are a daily (sometimes hourly) occurrence here; they almost always are some sort of fighter space ship or vehicle of some sort. That's why I was surprised by this one.

Pardon the bizarre composition of this image; I was still groggy and hadn't had my coffee yet. Can you see it? It's a Lego playground, and Daisy built something or other to go with it. It's blog-worthy because:

 1. He was so proud

and

2. It is not Star Wars or Ninjago-related.

I think this is specifically tied to Special Time with Grandmother, because they spend lots of time with Grandmother building things like houses and pools and non-Star Wars/Ninjago things. I'm so excited to see him expanding his vision and being more creative! Thanks, Gayle!

I have no idea what is going on here, but Eli was really happy. Don't worry, Mom. No Legos were lost in Eli's ear.

Once I got some coffee in me, I had Caleb bring his creation out to the kitchen for a real picture.

So. there you go: a Lego playground.

He has begged me to submit it to the Lego magazine (he's a VIP member of the free Lego club, and gets a free magazine each month. No, I'm not making this up.), but I just tried and apparently there are to be no real people in the pictures submitted, so I'll have to take a Caleb-free picture and submit it.

Also, at naptime, this happened: 

Sweet baby Eli, playing with the light-up letter E his GREAT Aunt Magggie gave him. 

(Don't worry, Mom. The lights aren't hot. He didn't burn his little finger.)

August 24

Another busy day. Seriously - how does it happen that we have so many busy days, all in the same week?

It has helped that I'm trying to get to bed earlier, though, and my sweet husband has helped me get my bearings each morning by waking me at 6:30 with a cup of coffee, then leaving me alone in our room for 30 minutes while I have quiet time and gear up for the day.

Today, Caleb and Daisy slept in - Daisy until 7:30, and Caleb until 7:48. That is super-late for my kids. Lily and Eli, however, were wide awake. We waved goodbye to Chris from the front porch when he left for work.

Today's busy-ness?

Since I recently signed up as a volunteer with the babywearing group I love, I made a last-minute decision that we would attend the babywearing meeting this morning. It was only 10 minutes away, so not a big deal.

Except that I also needed to drive 25 minutes in the opposite direction to drop off promotional stuff to go in goodie bags for a charity golf tournament I have volunteered to photograph on Friday, and the morning was my only chance.

So we did both. The kids were fantastic during the 45 minute drive, and they rocked the babywearing meeting. Eli got a little bit needy halfway through, but eventually I put him up in the ring sling (despite his protests!) and he snuggled in and fell asleep.

At 11 am.

Weird. I hope he's not getting sick!

I was so busy that I didn't take a picture, but it has been a very long time since he last slept while I wore him, and it was such a sweet moment. Before he fell asleep, he had one hand out and was gently patting my chest/mama metal necklace, almost like he was mimicking the rhythm of my heartbeat. 

Sweet baby.

We got home and had lunch, and then the little ones went down for naps. (A lovely surprise on a busy day: Chris' mom brought over dinner for us during nap time! Even better, it was her homemade beef stroganoff. Our kids are such picky eaters that we haven't had beef stroganoff since Caleb was a baby, but it used to be one of our favorites. What a treat!)

While the little ones went down, Caleb and Daisy worked on school stuff. When they were finally asleep, I was able to work with them on trickier stuff. My favorite part of the day? Science time. They took their new nature journals out into the back yard and found things to observe.

Caleb found a cicada shell. We examined its anatomy, talked about exoskeletons, and discussed why it had a big crack in its back. Pretty cool!

 The two pictures above are cell phone pictures, but I loved the moment so much that I also captured it on my big camera.

Examining the cicada with a stick, with nature journal and magnifying glass in his lap.

Checking out its claws.

Daisy, meanwhile, chose to observe the raspberry bush. Her decision may have been swayed by the fact that there were several ripe berries on the bush, ready to be picked and eaten.

(She chose her shirt today specifically because it had a daisy on it.)

Can you see her observations in her nature journal? She was quite proud. She wrote the date and the temperature, then traced a raspberry leaf and added some details. Then she drew the berry, and how the berries grow on the branches.

Then she looked up and saw a bug on our patio umbrella, so she drew it.

Later, I helped her sound-spell "bug" and "raspberry". She was so happy with her accomplishments!

Caleb was also proud of his work. He also wrote the date and temperature, then he drew the objects he observed from afar, and "zoomed in" to also draw close-ups. I thought the technique was pretty clever!

I love how engaged the kids were. Caleb was finished, but then a particularly lovely butterfly flew by, so he sat down and drew it, too. I hope to make this a daily thing for our home school, and on not-so-busy days we will go on adventures to find things in places other than our backyard.

Then Daisy and I tried out a carrier that I borrowed from the babywearing lending library.

I would like to become a babywearing educator, so even though I really want to borrow *all the wraps*, I decided to borrow a carrier I'm less familiar with. It was a wise choice, if not a fun one. Still, I like the carrier quite a bit, and 32-pound Lily and  40-pound Daisy both fit really nicely in it. It's made for toddlers, though, so Eli is not big enough to ride in it. Daisy loved it, though!

Then we did more school, got dinner ready, ate, and went for a family swim (at our YMCA pool, because for some reason our neighborhood pool was closed, but we didn't realize it until we had already promised the kids a trip to the pool and everyone was loaded in the van wearing swimsuits. We were glad we had a back-up option!