May 2012

Here are some pictures of other stuff we did in May besides Elizabeth’s surgery and our New York Tip:

We had lots of baseball practices and games for Tristan and Oliver.  Daniel coached Tristan’s team, which was fun for both of them.

Oliver:                                                                       

The younger kids loved playing on the playground near the baseball fields during Tristan and Oliver’s games:

Oliver continued bringing home fun little creatures every day during the last month of school.  One day he opened the door and called out, “Mom, don’t scream!”, which is always fun to hear.  I knew he must have brought home something crazy, so I tentatively peeked my head out of the kitchen to see him standing by the front door with a giant spider in his hand.  I told him to hurry and take it outside and put it down, but he wanted a picture of it so I grabbed my camera and went out.                                                  

When I got outside, this is what he was doing (I kept this picture small and put it after the other one because it’s kind of scary):

I can’t believe he’s so brave.  I was worried it was going to bite him, but he told me it was okay because he was watching the spider’s fangs the whole time to make sure it wasn’t about to bite.  The fact that it had fangs big enough to keep an eye on didn’t make me feel much better.

Just like Oliver, Henry is always on the lookout for an animal to catch.  Daniel took all the boys to Austin’s Park and Pizza for a father and sons activity, and I think Henry spent the whole miniature golf game catching toads.                                                                       

The girls and I were back at home doing fun girl things like making cupcakes (this is when Lizza still had her surgery bandages on.  Only Lizza could look so cute in surgery bandages wrapped around her head):

Besides catching creatures, Henry’s other obsession right now is dressing up and pretending to be any sort of super hero type guy (I guess this isn’t a recent obsession – he’s been doing this most of his life).  He got ahold of one of Tristan’s batting gloves and decided it gave him super powers.  He wore that thing for about 3 days straight.  It was extra helpful for when he used the force to open the doors at Target (he uses the force to open any automatic doors or elevators.  I haven’t ever explained to him how they work, so there’s a chance he really thinks he’s doing it).                             

Posing with The Glove of Power:                                                                              

Cynthia also likes dressing up, but she usually goes for more fancy accessories:

Here are the older five singing a Mother’s Day song to their grandmas (they just changed the words a little bit.) I love Henry’s shrugging shoulders in this:

A Mother’s Day picture of me with all my kids.  (We had just taken off Lizza’s bandages, which is why she is wearing them in the video above, but only has the headband on in this picture.)  I am happy and blessed to have all these good kids.                                                          

Reading on the couch together after clean-up time and baths – one of my favorite scenes. (I asked Rachel why she was grumpy in this picture, and she said it was because she couldn’t find her Harry Potter book). 

More reading.  Cynthia and Tristan discussing one of his books together.

Cynthia being cute with a ponytail and cowboy boots.  She is determined to keep getting older, which partly makes me happy, because every new stage she enters seems cuter even than the last, and she is learning so much.  But it also partly makes me sad, because I want her to stay at this stage forever.

My little bug hunters.  I love it.                                 

Rachel and Cindy playing with magnet dinosaurs on the fridge.  Cynthia is the luckiest kid to have five older siblings who love playing with her so much.  They fight over her in the morning when I take her upstairs (“I get to play with Cindy!  It’s my turn!  I said first!”)  It’s the kind of arguing that I just ignore as I smile and head downstairs to go back to bed.                                                   

Memorial Day.  We met some friends for bocce ball and swimming at our neighborhood pool.  First Daniel played some catch with the boys, and the little ones ran around in the grass.

Getting ready for some bocce ball.  I love this game.  There is no setting up, the rules are simple, and even little kids can play.                                                            

Swimming:

Lizza wasn’t supposed to be swimming quite yet because of her surgery, but we decided the splash pad at the pool would be fine.  She was so happy to be able to play in the water – she and Rachel were running around like crazy ladies.                                                      

Cool jumping pictures:

My girls:                                                                

My boys:                                                                

The next day was Tristan’s end of the year baseball party, so we were back at the pool again:

This was on the last day of May, and the last day of school for my older three.  All week Tristan had been setting up one of his lego sets on his little table for the younger kids to play with during the day.  It was a grand and generous idea, but Henry had a hard time remembering Tristan’s two simple rules:  don’t break the legos apart, and keep them on the table, so it didn’t last for long.  Whenever he has a hard time with something (using Tristan’s legos, coloring with markers, attempting to stand up while going to the bathroom), I tell him that he’s not allowed to do that anymore, and we’ll try again when he’s four.  Now I’m a little worried when he turns four next month he’s going to have a big list of things in his head that I’m supposed to let him do. 

As soon as all the kids were out of school I put them right to work.  Haha, just kidding.  It usually takes me a good two or three weeks to get around to coming up with a summer schedule, which I don’t mind, because it gives the kids some much-needed free time.  But Cynthia still does her best to help out around the house.  Here she is doing a reverse silverware job.  She calls it “doin’ silver”, and it involves her getting back out all of the silverware that Henry has put away, and lining it up on the counter in neat rows.  What would I do without her?