1st Day of Kindergarten

Today was the first day of kindergarten for Talmage. That special day that is full of all kinds of emotions for mothers. That day when tears are shed.

You know, those emotions like humiliation, frustration, embarassment, exhaustion.... what? Ohhhhh. Not those emotions, huh? So you mean your child didn't go to kindergarten kicking and yelling, being prodded and coaxed? Refusing to have his picture taken? And your child didn't even try to run away, fighting teachers and staff? And those mother's tears aren't supposed to be out of sheer frustration wondering how you will ever survive raising this kid? And you didn't get a phone call an hour into class saying you needed to come back to the school because he was still trying to run away? Well now, aren't you the lucky one.

Someday I will understand why he is putting me through the refiner's fire.... in the meantime, I will do my best and love him!

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day, saying.... "I will try again tomorrow." -- Mary Anne Radmacher

Tag, you're it!

The Rules:
• Link the person(s) who tagged you.
• Mention the rules on your blog.
• Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
• Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.
• Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Tagged by Julia, the sweet lady that holds my baby every Sunday, and my friend of course!

1- I am a night owl. Always have been. And much to my chagrin, always will be. I have to be the last one to go to sleep (and typically have been the last to get up). Even in high school it just felt odd to go to sleep before everyone else and I was usually up studying anyway. So between that and pulling too many all-nighters in college I am ruined for life. I envy all you morning people and have tried endlessly to change my internal clock. Oh well, I guess you make the best of what you've got!

2- I am a picker - there I admitted it! I pick at everything. Lance likes to make fun of me b/c I can't seem to sit down to nurse Kalem without picking at his ears or dry skin or whatever. As you can imagine cradle cap on my babies drives me BONKERS! Funny thing is that I seem to have passed it down to my girls, too. If you ever need stickers pulled off something or the paper pulled down on a crayon give it to Adelle and Emory. They'll take care of it..... even when you don't want the stickers taken off, they'll take care of it, LOL.

3- I love doing laundry and am a bit anal about it (yes, Natalie, I can see you nodding your head and laughing). Lance knows that no matter what, you don't touch my laundry b/c I am so particular about it. Does that mean it's always folded and put away? No. I did pretty good up until Emory was born and then at some point after that I got behind in putting it away and well, I'm not sure I ever got caught up. Maybe I should rephrase that to say I love washing laundry.

4- I very rarely have any desire to watch TV or movies (especially chick-flicks, blech!) I get so bored and can't stop thinking about everything that needs done. If I do watch movies, it's usually just kid-type movies or something like The Chronicles of Narnia.... well except for anything Jared Hess (gosh!).

5- I have a terrible habit of taking on too much... and I don't mean that in a good way. I put way too much on my plate b/c I seem to think I can do it all and then I wonder why I am pulling my hair out. In high school, it was working 30 hours/week and having no life. In college, it was taking 18-21 credits each semester while working part-time. And now it's just the life of a mom I guess and wearing all the different 'hats' that come with church, community, school, home and gardening, etc. Sometimes I think it stems from pride. Whatever it is, things always seem to work out so I never learn my lesson. I'm trying to realize that I have more control over it than i think.

6- I am a clean-freak, but not a clutter-freak.... if that makes any sense, LOL. I hate taking on the chore of organizing. It seems like such a huge project. So at first glance my house can seem untidy - things left out and not put away. But.... it's the little things that get cleaned more often. You know, the little things that no one will ever notice. For example, I can't stand when my air-return ducts are dusty and I have to wipe down all the baseboards regularly, and I can't stand it when the kitchen sink is dirty. I need to have the small details clean, but not necessarily the big stuff. Weird, I know.

There, now you know way more than you ever wanted to about me.

I think almost everyone I know with a blog has already been tagged.... so let's see....

Jessica, Natalie, KoriAnn, Heather P., and Megan (if you're still reading here - b/c you crack me up!)

Happy Birthday, Seester!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister, Kami! I was trying to find some of the great pictures from when we were kids, but this is all I have on the computer at the moment. I will have to add more when I find them later.

Kami is my "twin" sister, if you will. In fact, as teenagers we looked so similar that we were mistaken for the same person at girl's camp one year by our camp director. Remember that Kami? How Rose kept thinking we were the same person that just liked to change clothing a lot, LOL. Poor Rose, trying to take care of all 60 of us YW, and losing her mind!

Kami is one of those ladies that we all wish we could be like in some aspect or another. I wish I could have her fashion sense, or her ease of making friends, or even just her simple decorating skills. Maybe some day!

Hope you have a great one, Kami. We love you!

NEW Quote of the Day....

"Talmage, ya know what? Poop is made of dirt."
"No, it's not. It's made of food."
"Nut-uh, it's made of dirt! Right dad?"
"Nope, sorry, Adelle, Talmage is right. Poop is made from what's left of the food when our body is done using it"
"Oh........*thinking, thinking* why is Talmage always the genius?!"

Yep, poop is a hot topic at our house. Don't you wish it was at yours?

Quote of the day....

"I knew I was in trouble once the shark bit me."
~shark attack victim on Discovery Channel's Shark week DVD

um, ya think? 'Cause I'm not sure I would know I was in trouble if I was bit.

Check it out at redbox... free codes found here.
Just beware though, you may never be able to swim in the ocean again!
Talmage watched this show a million times and was just as fascinated each time as the first.

Introducing Kalem Kenneth......

Kalem was born on March 30, 2008. He was 7 lbs. 9 oz.....


.....and instantly adored by all of his siblings!



Especially Emory - Kalem is "her" baby. She always makes sure to come tell me when the baby is "cwying".


At about 1 week old......
And, yes, he was laughing in his sleep in the picture in our title header.



Sweet and soft baby feet..... (Tara, am I making you babysick yet?)



(sorry for some of the bad quality - it appears my computer did not save all my photo edits - and I am way too tired to bother redoing it)

Definitely an outie, don't you think?


This is called "instant baby sleeping burrito". He loves to be swaddled and held tight. If he is tired, this is the guaranteed way to get him to sleep quick.


And the most recent at 4 months old.....



I'm usually not fond of using a flash, but this "stunned by the headlights" picture just made me laugh....



Kalem is such a sweet and happy baby. He is always smiling and drooling. He seems to have lighter hair than all the other kids did as babies, including Emory (hers was dark until it fell out and the blond came in). And it seems to be getting more and more red tints to it. He has been so different from the other kids, but most like Adelle was as a baby. He's happy to feed only every 3 hours and really isn't very demanding.... if feeding time has to wait for a few minutes, he's cool with that as long as he is being held. The only thing that he is really particular about is his diaper. He can't stand to be wet or poopy (can't say I blame him!) And he can toot like no other! *cough cough* just like his namesake

He's definitely a keeper!

Interviews

So first, I think I will appease my dear friend Jenn. Jenn has lovingly nudged me back to the blogging world even if that means specifically tagging me through email so I can’t as easily shrug it off. Here is my mommy interview with Adelle:

1. What does mommy always say to you?

No (now in my defense, we did just come back from the grocery store and if you’ve ever shopped with kids you’ll understand why this was her answer.)

2. What makes mommy happy?

When I clean up (she pays attention, doesn’t she?)

3. What makes mommy sad?

When you can’t get something to work.

4. How does mommy make you laugh?

When you tickle me.

5. How old is mommy?

You know how old you are, I don’t (Clever, eh?)

6. What does mommy like to do?

Clean up the house.

7. What is mommy’s job?

To get work done.

8. What is mommy’s favorite food?

Potatoes.

9. what is mommy’s favorite color?

Pink (I think this is the only color that exists in Adelle-world)

10. How do you know mommy loves you?

Because I do what mama says (not sure what to think about that one…..)

Oh, and I'll tag anyone that wants to be tagged, because I really have no idea who really will even read this. How's that for lame? :) {*insert note here* for those of you who are new to the blogging world, tagging is just like "tag, you're it" but with get-to-know-you stuff}
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This reminded me of another interview that her preschool teacher did with her for Mother’s Day. The mothers were invited to a special tea party with the kids where they sang some songs for us and we got to guess which survey answers were ours. Of course, I completely forgot to bring a camera - I'm trying to get better about that. Luckily, her teacher offered to take a photo of us. Here is how Adelle filled in the blanks:

My mom has pink hair. (Again, can you tell what her favorite color is??)
My mom has green eyes. (Which she thinks are beautiful, but you know, not my nose)
My mom is 20 inches tall. (yeah, sometimes I do feel like that)
My mom weighs 50 pounds. (hmmm, not sure how to respond to that)
My mom likes to clean up. (are you noticing a trend here?)
My mom is silly. (Can’t argue that one)

Adelle is my little girly sweetheart. She is the peacemaker in our home and amazingly, has a very clear understanding of unconditional love. Just the other day, when I was upset with her about something she told me that she wasn’t happy with me but wanted me to know that she loved me anyway. She helps me out with the other kids so much – mothering Emory (her constant shadow and parrot) and Kalem; and acting as a second set of eyes on Talmage for me, LOL.

Jessica, whaddya think? Mrs. Parrish look alike? LOL!

It’s definitely time for an update, don’t you think?

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve had such a hard time getting around to this blog. It seems, I think about it a lot, but then I just ‘blog in my head’ and it never finds the need to get to the computer. [And by the way, the blog posts in my head are extremely witty and make me laugh out loud –it’s quite therapeutic really- but I can’t guarantee any such thing here, sorry] Or….. maybe it’s just that I’m changing butts, feeding kids, doing laundry, tripping on toys, cooking, lactating, following Talmage around, cleaning spilled milk, breaking up fist fights, singing fun kiddo songs with Emory (what’s the record for the number of times singing “Popcorn Popping” in a row?) and you know, reading blogs. I forget how much time it takes to nurse a newborn. Needless to say, I have found more time to read blogs than to actually do any blogging. Reading doesn’t require hands! :)

To be completely honest, I’ve put it off so much because I’ve felt this obligation of sorts to first post an intro and birth story of our 4th baby, Kalem, before doing any other blog posts. An obligation to whom or what I’m not sure. I have such a hard time writing up the births of my children because every little detail is so important in my brain, and it seems that it would take ages for it to be done. Plus, I’m never quite sure how detailed anyone even cares to hear, LOL. So I have decided to postpone that ‘obligation’ for a while until I’m ready. But for now, suffice it to say that he was born much like Emory sans drama; and with the bonus of Lance being with me this time (what a man! Now he can add delivering a baby on his resume!)

So expect to see some catch up posting here from the last 4 months… and,oh, in no particular order either. :)