August 14

Billy came back over bright and early this morning to finish installing the can lights and some electrical outlets in our piano room. We headed off to church, and by the time we returned he was almost finished. After lunch, Chris took the big kids up to the YMCA (they went to big-kid childcare while he did speedwork on the treadmill, and then they all went swimming together) while I put the little ones down for naps and got to work building bookshelves.

Eli woke up before I was finished, though, and decided to "help".

So. That is the beginning of our wall of bookshelves. You can see two of the four new outlets Billy installed, and two of the six new can lights in that room. Eventually, the bookcases will be trimmed out and "built in", but we aren't quite there yet. I pushed this project forward because I realized that we need space to store all of our homeschooling stuff. For as much as Chris and I love books, the only bookshelves we have on our main floor are for kids books! Organization makes me happy, so I'm hopeful that once this is done I will be able to organize homeschooling materials here, and have a bright, airy room to sit and learn in!

Eli "helped" me with the screwdriver.

This baby. Does he kill you? He kills me.

I mean, really. He was so happy to be "helping"!

Later, Chris and the kids got home and Lily woke up from her nap. I had some hammering to do, and Caleb found a toy hammer so that Eli could help with that, too.

(I tried to tell him that he was using the wrong end of the hammer, but he didn't want to hear it. Let's not mention it.)

(Let's also not mention how weird my fingers look here. I promise I have all five of them on my left hand.)

I was so delighted and proud of Eli's hammering skills! Look, even Lily is standing in awe, watching.

I worked while Chris made dinner, and then Chris worked while I put the kids to bed, and I think the bookcases might be officially installed now? I'm afraid to ask. I still have some patching to do, and they need trim, and then I will need approximately 4,921 baskets and boxes to store things on them, but they must all match and they cannot be expensive, so I may never find them. Still, progress! Yay!

August 13

I don't remember what we did today, but I do know we went to the pool. 

Hi, Lily!

It was 89 degrees out, which turns out is much too cool for swimming in our shady neighborhood pool.

At least, that's what I thought. The kids didn't seem to mind, though.

Sweet baby! This is why I do what I do, and why I take eight million pictures each day. It's all worth it for one photo like the one above.

Eli loves the pool!

Daisy's jump. 

Lily thought about jumping, but wasn't feeling brave enough.

My husband is the best dad at the pool. All of the other parents are lounging in their chairs, sipping their beverages, trying their best to ignore their children. Chris, however, is in the water, playing , splashing, instigating adventures. He brings the fun!

And just because I don't have any pictures of Caleb from today, here's one that I took so that he could see the marks his goggles made under his eyes. They were actually Daisy's goggles, and perhaps a bit too tight!

August 12

Such a busy day today! We started with a visit to Chris' bank so that we could sign closing documents to refinance our mortgage. (Rates are so low right now that by refinancing, we can keep our payment the same and pay off the house sooner. Winning!) I did have to bring all four kiddos with me, though, which could have been awful. Thankfully, at his birthday party last night Max gave each of the kids a little Lego set. It was just the entertainment they needed while Chris and I signed documents!

The closing only took about thirty minutes, but then the kids spent another 15-20 minutes exploring Chris' office and saying hello to his co-workers. They love visiting him at work!

Then we headed to Amber's house for a short playdate, since we were already halfway there. I don't have any pictures, but there is some awesome construction work going on at her house that the children found highly entertaining. Man-sized holes, cement being poured... it was exciting stuff!

We made it home in time for some playtime and lunch. We in the middle of a house project that is going to turn one of our least-used rooms into one of the most awesome rooms in the house, and I am so excited. That means, though, that things in the house are a bit... jumbled and chaotic?... right now.

It also means that toys and play items that have previously been hidden have suddenly came to light, and I'm too distracted to fight them.

Enter Window Crayons.

My mom picked these up for us a year or two ago, and I love the concept. We have big, wide windows that are perfect for this! However, they are messy. Seriously messy, and cleanup is a beast. So I hid them away after a few uses, but Daisy found them a few days ago and finally wore me down enough that I allowed her to play with them.

I know. It looks totally fun, doesn't it? Too bad the cleanup is a disaster.

Eli wanted so badly to participate in the window drawing, but I just couldn't take the risk of him drawing all over everything. These "crayons" are more like grease pencils or oil pastels. Really messy.

But so much fun!

(Side  note: you can see a bit of our butterfly garden out there. It has been so rewarding this year - we have tons of butterflies, and even two or three hummingbirds that come several times a day. It's so much fun to watch!)

In the evening, Emily, Billy, and the boys came over for dinner while Billy worked on installing can lights in the front room. It's part of the project I mentioned, and it is going to be fabulous! Billy worked, Chris assisted, the kids played, and Emily and I chatted. Perfect!

Ha! Sweet Eli found an old computer keyboard and was typing away while the big kids watched a movie.

"Book? Book? Wread? Wap?"

Things I love:

Max dressed as Darth Vader.

Three sweet cousins.

The fact that they have a whole couch to sit on, but they are choosing to sit all snuggled together. 

I love these kids!

August 11

It was a busy day today. 

I volunteered to help with childcare for a MOPS planning meeting, so all four kids and I were gone all morning. I had a photo shoot scheduled in the evening, so I prepared by trying out my 50mm lens on the new camera body. Eli was my model.

Isn't he sweet?

"Book! Wread!"

His curls?

His pouty lips?

His big, brown eyes?

I love this sweet boy!

We're still working on our big camera selfies.

When the little ones went down for naps, Daisy and I baked muffins for breakfast tomorrow. After naps, we all loaded into the van and headed to the park to celebrate my nephew Max's 6th birthday. It was hot, but the park has a fabulous splash pad.

Watching Max open presents!

I didn't get many pictures, though, because I only had 20 minutes before I had to leave for my photo session. Luckily, it was a Fresh 48 session at a hospital nearby, so I was there and back in just over an hour.

The birthday boy and his parents.

Happy birthday, Max!

Aren't they a sweet family?

The kids had so much fun on the playground. This bumpy slide was a particular favorite. 

Lily kept shouting, "Watch me go crazy!" and then making a funny noise as she went down the bumpy slide.

Hi, Daisy!

Oh! And the merry-go-round! They loved it!

Don't let Ryan at the top distract you. Instead, direct your attention to sweet little Eli, holding on at the bottom. The boy loved  the merry-go-round!

Can you tell from the sunset that it was bedtime?

Tired boys.

Tough boys.

Happy birthday, Max!

August 10

The kids in our neighborhood went back to school today.

If I weren't homeschooling the kids, today would be Daisy's first day of kindergarten.

I'm 75% certain that I am making the right decision when it comes to homeschooling Caleb and Daisy this year, but today still felt really weird. I felt sad that Daisy didn't get to experience getting on the big yellow bus and going to kindergarten. I know she would have rocked it. 

Maybe it just feels weird because we haven't started yet. Our co-op doesn't start until after Labor Day, and I will start slowly easing the kids into school next week. But I don't have any concrete plans, and I suppose I'm having some anxiety and regret about the whole thing.

Still, I think we're doing the right thing.

It just feels weird right now.

So we went to a playground today while all of our neighbors were at school.

This is my homeschooled child.

I am 100% responsible for this.

Eli rocks the playground now, and he knows it.

He's about to go down a slide. 

Also, it was hot. See the sweat running down his face?

And new shoes. He just moved up a size in shoes. My boy is growing!

Having a playground to ourselves is fun!

Warning. Cute baby alert.

Her curls kill me. Aren't they perfect?

I love this picture.

He found an acorn. He was actually more excited about it than he looks. 

Lily also moved up a shoe size and discovered a whole new shoe wardrobe.

Actually, she moved up two sizes. I feel like a bad mom for not noticing that her shoes were too small!

She's walking on a "balance beam".

"Look, Mommy! I balancing!"

Daisy gathered acorns. She asked me to put this handful in my pocket, but I told her no.

Hours later, I changed my clothes and guess what fell out of my pocket? 

Daisy's handful of acorns. 

Girl is a stinker.

August 9

You guys.

I was in the kitchen making breakfast this morning when Daisy ran in, shouting with excitement and panic, "CALEB LOST HIS TOOTH!"

1. She stole his thunder.

2. She was so excited for him.

3. It's about darn time.

4. Dear Jesus, thank you that I didn't have to pull that tooth out myself. Yuck.

So. Exactly one month after his seventh birthday, my boy finally lost his first tooth. The permanent tooth is already 1/4 of the way out, which is funny. That tooth has been ready to go for a long time, and its friend is getting ready to break free, too. I'm not surprised that he's so late to the tooth-losing game; after all, when he was a baby his first tooth arrived so late that I was worried he would be 32 and toothless. (I had lots of free time for worrying back when I only had one baby.) His teeth eventually came (two at once!) when he was ten and a half months old. 

And now they are falling out!

I was nervous about how Caleb would handle the loss of his first tooth. Obviously, he did great! (The one that fell out is on the left side of this picture, his right side. But you can see the edge of his new tooth already popping up, and you can see that its partner is standing at a jaunty angle, ready to jump out at any moment.)

It looks so tiny in his hand! He is definitely ready for bigger and better things teeth.

Sorry for the picture overload. Except that I'm totally not sorry at all, because this is a big deal. Look, even Batman on his shirt is pumped.

The kids know the truth about things like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, so Caleb didn't even need the Tooth Fairy explained to him. He knew. Still, we like to play, so Chris and I had a late-night, last-minute harried discussion about the going rate for teeth. One dollar? Five dollars, since it's the first tooth?  A quarter? With four kids, we need to be stingy! But then I realized that since we don't usually keep cash in the house, all we had was a twenty. I love my firstborn, but not twenty dollars worth. We were debating running to the ATM, then going to a store to break a twenty... 

Finally, Chris randomly found a dollar in our room. 

Problem solved.

Congratulations, Caleb!