Total Chaos!

So, this is funny. . .
I was working away in the kitchen. Ben was quietly playing alone in the living room. . . .when the tornado, that is my three oldest children, touched down and swept through my kitchen. They didn't stop at the living room stairs but just flew over the top of them and the house filled with the instantaneous wail of all four children. Sara had twisted her ankle on the fall down, Will & Kayte bonked noggins and Kayte's nose was bleeding. My fourth child was screaming from the terror of the frightfully loud and sudden tornado.
I yelled for Joe (who was blissfully aware of the racket from the safety of his shower), and then attempted to sort out the injuries on my own by order of urgency.
Whew! Crazy kids!

Sabbath Dinner Saturday Night

Well, it's been awhile since we'd been out to the cabin for Saturday night dinner, but we made it this week. Sara helped me make a coconut cream pie, at Ed's request (we were finally getting around to Ed's birthday celebration).

Pie-making is serious business!

They're playing outside - thank heaven for SPRING!

It was time to measure all the kids again. This was Ben's first time - he's about an inch shorter than Will was at 10 months. I'm confident he will catch up eventually!

Wrasslin'. I tried to get Jack to wrestle with me, because his parents were braggin' about how strong he was. But he wouldn't do it . . . apparently girls can't wrestle!

He's Walking!

It's official - and I have the photo-evidence to prove it!

He can walk while reading. . . .

. . .on various terrain. . .

. . . .and while eating!
He goes 8 to 10 feet at a time, he can use his pivot foot to do a 180, and he can boost himself up from the ground without using any furniture - and less than 3 weeks after his first step!
Pretty impressive! And he made it right under the wire, at 11 months and 28 days!
Way to go Ben!

Why I might be running late: Reason 1

The other day I went to wake up Ben and get him ready for breakfast but stopped short, "Whoa, what's this? . . . Is that puke?"

After further inspection, I discovered it was not puke, just a bad diaper gone wrong. . . all over the crib! Whew!

So before breakfast, there was a scrub-down in the tub and then plenty of attention paid to the sheets and sides of the crib.

Of course, if it had been puke, this would've been titled "Why I might've fallen off the grid for three weeks."

So this is much better.

Speaking of trees fallin' on stuff. . .

We woke up this morning to 6 inches of new snow and another large branch completely engulfing Joe's car and stretching halfway across the roadway! Fortunately - no damage done. Just another Idaho adventure. . .

Do you know what day it is?

Kayte came running in today, "MOM, the living room is gone!"
"Oh my goodness! Did a tree fall on it?" I ask in mock horror.
"Yes!!!" says she, "You must come see!"
So I follow her around the corner, and Kayte nearly self-implodes,

"Happy Wednesday's Fools' Day!" she squeals.

That was a first for this mom!

Armed & Dangerous

Yep, he figured out how to pull the trigger (after taking out that scary doll in the background with his sore molars).
. . . .He's pretty proud of himself!

Happy Birthday Hudson!

So it's been one year for little Hudson. We headed over to the Sawyers' to help celebrate.

The kids started out at a nice distance.

And zoomed in real fast as soon as it got exciting.

Susan made a super-cool racetrack cake!

Hudson is such a happy, cheery little guy! I know Ben and him are going to be great buds (although so far, they both seem a bit intimidated by each other. . .which is also funny to watch).
Happy 1st Hudson!

Big Helper!

Since I'm constantly late, Kayte and Will are always helping me get out the door by helping Sara with her shoes.
She's learning. . . . till then, I'm enjoying watching this:

And yes, she does pick out her clothes herself. Did I mention I'm always in a hurry?

Where is their mother???

Likely somewhere with a tall glass of wine and the iPod turned up way loud!

Sunday Breakfast.

Well, I missed my mom & dad as they had spent the last 10 days driving across the country in their new Jeep, so I invited my family and I over for breakfast last Sunday.
That's the great thing about mom & dad's place, you can always invite yourself inside and they never leave you standing there in the rain! :)

Will helped make the French Toast.

Sara sorted Dad's silver from his copper for his Wine Fund.

Ben showed off his new skills for his Grandma.

And the girls love a good rainstorm, so they got their boots and umbrellas (never mind the coats) and headed out. At one point it got a bit windy and literally began to lift little Sara's umbrella, pulling her off the ground. Both hollered till help arrived, and when they were safely inside, Kayte said with worry, "If Sara blew away, I wouldn't have a sister anymore."
So true.

Sabbath Dinner at the Wilson's

A very brave Doug and Nancy invited our whole clan over to dinner on Saturday night. There is nothing quite like celebrating with old friends. There were 18 children and 14 adults in attendance: all healthy, all happy, and ready for a good time!

Nancy wanted a shot of all the kids together. We are only missing Chloe in this photo. Turned out pretty well!
We will have to try it again when we can squeeze in the 5 globe-trotting Merkle children.

It was snowing outside, but inside was all Spring with pink & red dishes, tulips, and the most scrumptious grilled steak sandwiches.

The kiddie tables.

Here are the kids dancing as Doug plays "Tiptoe through the Tulips", which is a song even Joe and I remember him playing back in the old days. Great dancing song!
What a fun evening!

Oops!. . .what a day!

Sara's New 'do:

We decided to freshen up her look a bit, her hair was always hanging in her face! So I took to it today with the scissors, but I couldn't tell that her eyebrows were raised as I trimmed, so again, I went way too short!
Oh well, it is hard for this girl not to be cute - if anyone can pull this look off, Sara can!
But it is just turning out to be that kind of day.
I did a whole load of laundry without putting the soap in, and then I emptied half the dishwasher before I realized that I hadn't run it yet. Then I had to wait a half an hour before I showered, restarted the laundry, or ran the dishwasher, because we ran out of hot water with that load of laundry, two baths and two showers already.
Needless to say, I haven't been that productive yet. But during the downtime I got some reading time in with Sara, so the morning was not a complete loss, and maybe on further reflection, it was a providential blessing!

Papparazzi shots!

You boys better get used to this, we love pictures!

This was only 3 of the 12 cameras lined up for this shot! :)

The big Party!

Birthdays are always a good time, but you cannot beat the 1st birthday, and the cake is definitely the most entertaining part. Heather was in charge of the cupcakes shaped like all kinds of bugs. Very cool!

Getting some help with the candle. . .

. . .but Terran needed no help with the cupcake, he can take care of that all by himself. When he finished he sighed out loud with satisfaction!

Cool decor!

We didn't have time to stick around for all of the gift-opening, but we did see them play with the slide we gave them. They thought it was great fun and I will definitely be picking one up for Ben for his birthday!
I was tying a big blue bow around the slide this morning and Will came into the room. "Wow!" says he. "That looks really beautiful mom!" (see, he is very complimentary!)
But then, I can see his eyes roll up to heaven, "Moooommmm, it isn't supposed to be beautiful! It's for boys!!!!"
Well. . . .the bow was blue, wasn't it?

A Date with Kayte

I am sure a lucky mom - I asked Kayte on a date and she said Yes! We headed to Spokane to attend the twin's birthday party, and I had some shopping to take care of. I was so glad she wanted to come with me - she is fantastic company!

When on earth did her legs get so long?

We were at River Park Square and Kayte insisted that we hit the "Magic Stairs" which led us to the food court (who knew?) where we sniffed out some pizza. So we shared a slice. And, as Kayte said, "If we'd never taken those Stairs, we never would have found that pizza!"
So true!
It was the perfect shopping trip to take her on, because I didn't actually have that much to do, so we just wandered wherever we fancied.

We did get a little lost on our way to Jessa's for the party. But we were way ahead of schedule anyway. . . Kayte was happy to see the twins and eat treats!

We picked up a cheeseburger on the way home and then she conked out like this until we were about a block from the house.
Shopping is hard work!
I am looking forward to a whole lifetime of shopping trips with my girls. Kayte was thrilled to get some time alone and wondered, "Is this what you get to do on girls' night?" She can't wait to get to come along for those!

My Kayte

I love her exuberant smiles!

Kayte is an extremist, just like her mom! She is either starving or stuffed full, boiling hot or freezing cold, really excited or just a puddle. The other day we were in the car and she said, "I would like some ice cream and waffles and whipped cream and carrots."
"Right now? . . .Why?" says I, as it was the middle of the afternoon.
"Because I'm starving!" says she.
Well, at least carrots made the list. (That makes me a good mom, right?)

******************

Earlier that same day (in the car again) Kayte was asking about her violin lesson, "So how did Miss Katie think I did?"
"She said you did great!" says I.
"How do you think I did?" asks she.
"Wonderful!" says I. " You've been working really hard."
Will says, "What do you think Kayte?"
"Well," says Kayte honestly, "I always think I do a really good job."
. . .I love that about her.