September 30

 I love Friday. It just so happened that today was a much-needed Do-Nothing Friday, which is even better than a normal Friday.

Lily celebrated by drinking two breakfast smoothies at once. (Don't tell Eli she swiped his smoothie!)

Poor Eli was out of sorts today, though. Around 10:00 this morning, the big kids were playing/reading/doing something quiet in their rooms while I worked on a spreadsheet for logging homeschool hours. Poor Eli climbed into my lap and fell asleep.

It might have been the sweetest thing ever. I can't remember the last time this child napped on me, instead of in his room. It must have been when he was a tiny baby, at least a year ago. I thought about trying to put him down in his crib, but instead I decided to savor the sweet, sweet moment. 

Sweet baby. He's 20 months old now, but he still looks like a newborn in these pics!

Eventually he woke up, and we did some serious work trying to break in my friend Sara's Didymos Blues Indio Hemp wrap for her. She's expecting a baby any day, and this wrap is currently too thick and beastly to snuggle a baby. We are doing our part to get it soft and floppy!

Daisy even took a turn!

Then she asked me to help her wrap her heavy baby, Rosie, on her back using another one of Sara's wraps. (Didymos Corallina hemp. Sara likes hemp Didys, and so do I!) Daisy was so proud of herself!

Once I got the little two down for naps, Chris came home from work early to pick up the older two. A customer of his was having a party celebrating his company's 40th anniversary, and offering factory tours and goodies. Chris thought Caleb especially would be fascinated to see all of the machines.

When the little ones woke up, they insisted on waiting on the porch for Daddy, Caleb, and Daisy.

Eli played with a stick.

Lily drew a picture of me! (Another fabulous outfit from Lily: black skeleton shirt with navy blue and white striped leggings. Send help.)

This was Lily's drawing! I'm pretty sure it was her first representational drawing. She said it was me! The picture is sideways, but can you see my green face, pink eyes, pink hair (pigtails, she told me!) and white dress (she said it was a "tattered gray dress" - just like it's described in her Cinderella book!). She also said I had a sad face, because Daddy was gone. Funny girl!

And sweet boy!

September 29

These children of mine are too funny!

Eli has been developing some strong opinions lately, and today he wanted to be naked. He still can't get his clothes on and off on his own yet, though, so he needed my help. Since I have no problem with a diaper-clad baby running around my house, I helped him. But then I decided to be silly and put his pants on his head, like a hat.

He loved it.

Look at how pleased he is!

(Also, I'm pleased to see Daisy happily rocking away on the rocking horse we gave her when she was 1 or 2. Glad that thing still gets lots of use!)

He was probably saying, "See?" because he wanted to see the picture I was taking.

Rocking!

Rocking with her baby brother!

(I love how happy Eli looks!)

Of course, Lily had to get in on the "rocking with baby brother" fun, so she took a turn, too. 

Eli was mostly over it by then, but he was a good sport.

I love these kids!

September 28

No pictures of kids today. 

But I have this picture I took first thing this morning:

Costco Flowers

Eli's favorite book

random pink spoon

Daisy's water bottle

world map in the background

dirty kitchen table and bench

Still, it's lovely, and it made me happy. I took a moment to be thankful for all of my blessings.

Then Eli came along, looked at the flowers, and decided to tip the vase over and dump all of the water inside all over my kitchen.

I wasn't so thankful anymore.

I guess some days, that's just how it goes.

Later, Eli saw this Star Wars lunch box. He was fascinated. He pointed to Luke Skywalker and said, "Billy?"

He thought Luke Skywalker was his uncle Billy.

I couldn't help myself; I said, "Yes, Eli. That is Billy."

Then he replied, "Oh. Strong. Billy strong."

He's right. Funny boy!

September 27

Today was exhausting.

Exhausting.

It was a Classical Conversations community day, which meant that we spent 9-12:15 with our community. But each week we start our morning with a presentation by a different family. This week was our turn. The kids and I put together a presentation about ways our family likes to play outside, with photos to remind us of our main points. Caleb talked about how we like to swim, Daisy talked about how we like to play in our yard and on playgrounds, and I talked about how we like to bike and run. It was great!

I also happened to volunteer to take individual student photos for a yearbook we are putting together. And picture day happened to be today.

I took pictures for nearly 3 straight hours, and it was a lot more than I am used to.

Then I loaded all of the kids in the van, handed each one a lunch bag, and drove to Chris' parents' house. I  dropped Caleb there, and Gayle took him to speech. I took the younger three home, put Eli and Lily down for naps, and then Caleb and Gayle were back to grab Daisy  and hop in the van for Special Time with Grandmother. 

I had time to get dinner prepped, but just as I had finished and was finally laying down on the couch to rest, Eli woke up.

So we snuggled together on the couch.

Then Lily woke up, and everyone came home, and Gayle and I chatted until Chris got home, and then Chris spent some time with his mom. She left when dinner was ready, and after we ate dinner, we had a rare lazy evening together. Luckily, we also had some entertainment.

Isn't Lily funny in her striped shirt and flowered leggings? Don't you want to watch a video of her?

For reference, here is a link to a video of the actual song.

I love our girl.

September 26

I keep falling behind on the blog, but I promise I'm not quitting! It's just getting harder and harder to process the pictures every single night.

I was feeling frisky today and decided to take the kids to the Botanical Garden. It was a last-minute decision and we got a late start, so we had to be very particular about which parts of the garden we visited. The kids decided that feeding the fish in the Japanese Garden was the main priority, so we took the path through my favorite part of the garden (the English Woodland Garden) to get there.

The kids were all fascinated by the creek. This is one of the first times I have let Eli run around at the Garden, and I was honestly afraid he was going to climb in the water or jump off the bridge! He did great, though, and I love this picture of my four favorite little people at one of my favorite places.

No pictures of us feeding the fish because 4 children + a body of water = yikes. But they had so much fun! Daisy even felt bold enough to pet some of the fish, which she was really excited about. She said they felt slimy and soft and hard.

I asked Daisy if she wanted to take her picture on the daisy (or cherry blossom - whatever) and she quickly agreed. This was her pose.

Eventually I convinced her to show me a more conventional pose, too.

We found a quiet spot for a snack. (Definitely not a picnic, because picnics are against the rules. This was merely a snack. Obviously.)

It was lunchtime, though, so we had to book it out of the Garden. Unfortunately, we are at the farthest possible point from the entrance. Up Eli went onto my back, and off we hustled.

I am borrowing this Didymos Alpenglow from a friend, and it was so fun to wrap with! Also, I got my middle-marker dead centered, and Eli was high and tight. #winning

One child.

Two children.

Three children.

Four! (Of course, the fourth was feeling feisty, which is why she was the last one to join our selfie.) It was a lovely morning, and just what we all needed!

September 25

It was weird waking up this morning without Chris, Caleb, or Daisy! Lily came into my room right when her clock turned green at 6:30, and woke me, saying, "Mommy! There is no one in the kitchen!"

I pulled her into bed and snuggled her, surprised that Eli wasn't awake yet. Most mornings he makes it quite clear he's ready to be awake by shouting, "Daddy? Daddy! DADDY!" It's pretty funny. This morning, though, there was no shouting. After a little while I grew concerned, so I turned up my monitor and heard him talking happily to himself. Sweet boy. 

Lily and I went in to get him, and then I got to work making breakfast and getting everyone ready for church. When the oatmeal was ready, I came back to get Eli and Lily and found them like this:

She was "reading" to him, and he was totally into it. Goodness, I love them.

Later this morning, I also found them "reading" here:

She was trying her best to tell him the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

While we went to church, Chris, Caleb, and Daisy broke down camp with the Boy Scouts. They had a lot of fun!

Apparently they did some reading, too.

They were home in time for lunch, and then Caleb had a soccer game this afternoon. Chris took Daisy with him and Caleb, while I stayed home with the little ones.

Go, team! Caleb is making progress as a soccer player, and really likes playing offense.

Daisy fell asleep in the car on the way to the soccer game. I guess camping wears her out. I sure am glad to have all of my people back under one roof!

September 24

Today was the Cub Scouts family camping event. Lily and Eli still don't camp well, so Chris took Caleb and Daisy camping while I stayed home with the little ones. Luckily, he sent me lots of pictures of their adventures!

A hike through the woods.

Their campsite. Can you spy Caleb and Daisy?

There's Caleb, reading in the red chair!

(I love that their water cooler gets a chair of its own!)

And there's Daisy, resting on the air mattress.

Head lamps and s'mores.

Two s'mores!

One of my favorite things Chris does when he takes the kids camping is that he sends me a goodnight video. It never ceases to melt my heart.

Isn't Caleb so sweet?

The little ones and I had a nice evening, too. My mom and Ryan came over, and Mom played with the kids while I cleaned and made dinner, and while Ryan got ready for his homecoming dance. Ryan even let me snap a few pictures of him!

I can't believe he's a senior this year!

Also, isn't he dapper?

I even got to learn how to tie a real bow tie for him. What a fun evening!

September 23

It's Friday! Hooray! 

I was feeling frisky this morning, so I decided to take all four kids to the Art Museum for the first time ever. I am ashamed to admit this, but it wasn't just the first time I took all four kids to the Art Museum; it was the first time I took any of my children to the Art Museum. For someone who loves art - and the Art Museum! - as much as I do, that's pretty sad. 

But we made up for lost time today! Caleb and Daisy are learning about medieval times and knights in Classical Conversations, so I took them to see the museum's galleries of medieval armor and weapons. They loved it! Then we moved on to mummies, and then on to the paintings.

The kids lasted about an hour, and did remarkably well, considering they weren't allowed to touch anything and I wasn't allowed to wear Eli on my back! This picture was taken right as we were about to leave. Can you tell they are feeling antsy and restless?

Caleb's favorite part was the weapons.

Daisy liked the paintings.

Lily liked the dishes and chairs, and wants to bring Daddy to the museum to show him the dishes and chairs.

Thankfully I planned ahead and packed a picnic lunch. We headed down to the Grand Basin and found a spot of shade for lunch.

(Don't worry, Mom. Eli can't fit between the columns and splash into the water below. I checked, and believe me, he tried. No babies got wet today.)

Isn't Lily's ensemble the cutest thing ever? She even asked to wear two bows in her hair - one red, one green. When we sat down for our picnic, she handed out plates and began dishing out food. This is her peeling clementines for her siblings. She is so sweet!

They really wanted to get in the water.

Picnic selfie!

On the way home, I looked back in my mirror at a stop light and saw this. I love all of my sleeping babies!

Once the little ones were down for naps, Daisy and I worked on a project. She and I picked up a set of ten beginner books at the library. I told her that when she had read all ten books to me, I would paint her fingernails. She started them yesterday, and read 6/10 to me. Today, she finished!

My very proud girl, with very pink fingernails.

Caleb was jealous, so when he completed two pages of 3-digit addition problems, I painted his nails, too. 

My only rule was "no pink", so he chose metallic blue.

After naps, we went outside to play and found that a field of mushrooms had sprouted in our back yard! 

Cool, huh?

The kids were fascinated! 

And Eli mowed the yard.

Then he noticed the mushrooms, too!

(Unfortunately, Caleb had already beaten most of the mushrooms into smithereens with his stick.) 

Goodness. Isn't he sweet?

I love Eli's face here - you can tell he thinks the mushrooms are kind of cool, and kind of gross.

Sweet baby!