Officially Outnumbered

Camp Joseph

2011-12-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

In September, our Framingham Ward had a campout at Camp Joseph in Sharon, Vermont. We missed the first night but caught up with everyone for the second night. The weather was gorgeous and we all had fun being with good friends. We got to play with the Apke's and hang out with the Peck's, who kept everyone well-fed. If we ever go on a real camping trip we want to bring the Pecks with us!

The campout took place just a week and a half after Hurricane Irene tore through the area, devastating parts of Vermont. Rivers crested 10-20 feet above flood stage, ravaging homes and stores, leaving only foundations behind. We went to church on Sunday morning at the ward that meets onsite at the Joseph Smith Birthplace, and in the gym there were boxes upon boxes of humanitarian supplies from church headquarters. After having spent years putting together hygiene kits in Relief Society, it was touching and humbling to see hygiene kits coming back to the Northeast. There were also boxes of peanut butter among other foods, and clean-up buckets with shovels, cleaning supplies, masks, vests...anything that might be needed. The church really is prepared to help within hours of a natural disaster.

Of course, these two were inseperable.

The boys were playing some sort of chase game, and this "Lower Meadow" sign was jail (that explains Andrew's frown).

Of course, s'mores. We ate a lot of s'mores this year.

Not that stunning of a picture, but I am just happy with my hand-held camera skills here. No tripod, and a slooow shutter speed. Trust me when I say that in person, this was beautiful.

Finally Fall! First Day of School

2011-12-01T00:30:00.000-05:00

This was a big year for our family - everyone was going to be in school!

Seth and Tate started first. Seth is in 5th grade, and his teacher is Mrs. Underwood. She seems perfect for him and his personality, and is determined to get her new class prepared for middle school next year (yikes!). Tate is in 4th grade and has Ms. Bannon for his home base classroom. He will end up having her for all three years at Mindess, which is good because she is invested in helping him grow and succeed. He has matured a lot over the past year and is ready to be a fourth grader. Both boys attend Mindess Elementary School. The bus stop is still at the Gutwill's home, next door (nice for us!).

Max was out the door next, heading off to 2nd grade at the Warren Elementary School. His teacher is Mrs. Freeman, who is wonderful for Max. She gives a lot of work and challenges the children academically, and yet is a strong believer that kids need motion and movement. She teaches a lot of concepts through song and movement. Max's biggest challenge this year is managing the headaches he gets on a frequent basis. We have spent the last several months trying to figure out what is causing them and how to manage the pain. Despite this, Max is still so happy and easy-going.

And here is our little preschooler! Walker is headed to Reach Preschool this year. Reach is run by two good friends who have co-taught elementary school in the past. The class size is limited to 10 and is held in one of his teacher's basements. It is a wonderful environment for him to start out school.

His backpack looks so big on his little body.

Walker and Kathryn get to go to school together, which is fine by him. He adores her. Sara and I both say goodbye to our youngest a few days a week. I was a little conflicted, but it is good to know he is in such a nurturing environment, and he loves it. I am getting used to my alone time and enjoying it more and more. The boys are growing up!

Summer 2011, Part Three...New Hampshire

2011-11-30T23:07:00.001-05:00

We all met in New Hampshire again this year, and really wore ourselves out. We did the usual things, and had a fantastic time the entire week. We always have the best weather when we are up there! And this year was no different.

Cranmore has a whole new set up for summer fun. Ropes courses in the trees, trampoline jumping, a giant swing (no thank-you!!!), a mountain coaster (yes MA-AM!), and the old tube run. There is stuff there for everyone and it was FUN! I only have pics of Max and Walker, because on this day Seth and Tate were on their hike. They went later in the week with Doug.

Walker was so NOT into this place.

We also went to the lake. Seth and Tate were still on their hike, but Max, Walker and I had fun with cousins.

Look who is loving the water...

We took our usual Sunday walk up to Cathedral Ledge. Of course, I spend the whole time imagining the children falling over the top of the chain link fence and down the cliffs.

These two guys were so happy to be together! Walker still always talks about his friend Jack.

Playing Red Light, Green Light. Or was it Mother May I? Whatever it was, it was cut throat with this group. Megan or Tom had to take over operations to calm things down.

And of course, we went to the river.

These guys worked so hard to get the dam built. The tubes went down fast too!

Walker loved going down in the boat.

Noooo! Get back in the boat for Pete's sake!!!

There was a couple there watching us, and after an hour or so they started talking to us and commented how 1. fast the walls were put up (we told them the boys have a lot of experience in this particular area) and 2. how there were people of all ages there playing together, and it didn't cost a cent. They were really impressed, especially after we told them we have been doing this for over 35 years. When we come to the river each year, I feel so much gratitude for my dad and his foresight in establishing this tradition. We didn't go to Disney when I was growing up, but we did this every year and as a parent, I think this is a priceless gift.

Grandma bought supplies for a water battle. It was the craziest 75 seconds ever.

Do you see that look on Ben's face? That is pure rage.

They may look unhappy, but really they are all just really tired. It was a long, fun, exhausting day.

Summer 2011, Part Two...BIRTHDAYS!

2011-11-29T22:50:00.000-05:00

Max and Tate both celebrate summer birthdays. This can make it difficult to celebrate, because you never know who will be in town.

Max's birthday party was at Ben & Jerry's. It was fun! The kids got to tie-dye a t-shirt, make ice cream, eat some ice cream cake, and play outside. A lot of Max's friends were out of town, but that was ok with his brothers because that meant there was room for them to attend the festivities.

Making strawberry ice cream

In the freezer!

Ah, the ice cream cake. Custom made for Max, who chose black raspberry ice cream as one layer and cookies and cream for the other one. It was...um...interesting...

The party was fun, and Max had a great birthday. I can't believe he is seven, mostly because I can't believe that means next year he will be turning eight, and will be getting baptized. He is growing up so fast, and is such a nice, fun-loving, smart guy. I love that Max.

Tate turned 9 about a month later, and for his birthday he took two friends (and Doug) down to Fenway Park for a special Pawsox game there. They got to see a double header, play games, and got a baseball signed by minor league players. Wow, did they ever come home exhausted but so happy. I will have to add pictures from Doug's phone, since I wasn't there and thus didn't take any!

Tate got Legos (of course!)

A Red Sox banner for his room...among other things.

Cake time! Chocolate with orange frosting. He was in to orange at that time.

Yep, I think this was one good birthday for Tate. It is hard to imagine him as that little guy in the NICU on a ventilator nine years ago. He is so feisty and scrappy, so smart and determined (when he wants to be). Tate is fiercely competitive, which serves him well in many things. He is bright and charming, and fun to be around. I LOVE my Tater Tot!

Summer 2011, Part One

2011-11-28T22:12:00.000-05:00

Summer came and went FAST this year. One reason for that is school didn't let out until the last week in June (we suffered through a lot of snow days this year). Another reason is that time flies when you are having fun, and did we ever have a lot of fun this summer. We spent a lot of time in New Hampshire, and had a few extra weeks to spend with the Petersons too.

Our July Highlights...

We hiked. We took a 4th of July hike on what turned out to be a VERY difficult trail up one of the mountains in the Presidential Range in NH. We didn't make it to the top. Probably because I face-planted in the middle of a pile of rocks. So graceful.

Seth, Tate, Doug, Jonathan, Jeff, and Austin did an amazing 2 day hike up Mount Madison and Mount Washington. They braved foul weather conditions to make it to the top for an experience of a lifetime. Man, I am so proud of those guys. And so glad they all made it home safe and sound.

We raced remote control cars and flying things. The boys love taking all of their RC toys down to the high school parking lot and going nuts.

So cute...

I love hugs.

We spent a day at the Boston Commons, rode the swan boats, played in Frog Pond. We also went to the Children's Museum, and ate at what Megan and I deemed the Best Bakery Ever...Flour, right near the Children's Museum.

We also did the one thing Doug and I don't like to do...

We went to the beach. We decided we were very wrong to think the beach was just one giant hassle. The kids loved it. We loved it. Becky taught us the best way to hit the beach...rolling cart, large cooler, and two umbrellas. Yep, we were comfy.

What are they doing?

Ahhhhhh...

Jumping...(don't know who is in the bikini, just in case we wonder in ten years)

At first Walker wasn't too keen on the beach. In fact, when we were in Florida last Thanksgiving, he couldn't stand it.

But it is safe to say he has come around.

A very rare picture of us!

Baseball 2011

2011-11-28T02:55:00.002-05:00

Tate and Max decided to play baseball this spring. Max ended up missing a lot of his baseball season because we were on a VERY fun trip to see the Peterson's in their new digs (I have got to find pictures from that trip!!!) and then had his tonsils out. He jumped into the season when it was over half way through, but caught right up like a champ. I think he is pretty much ready to move on from T-ball though.

I know this one is blurry, but I love how the ball is just dangling in the air like that ( :

The Riverdogs. That was the name of his team. He had such a nice coach, too.

We had (yet another) freak hailstorm in May. Luckily we were at home and NOT at a ballgame. Our seedlings for our new garden didn't survive this one. Thank goodness for Home Depot.

Tate was on the Blue Jays this year. Most of his team was the same from last year, and they were well-prepared for battle. Tate takes this stuff seriously.

Very seriously.

He is a great ball player, and loves to win. Loves to hit the ball. Gets pretty frustrated if he doesn't get on base. He has nerves and guts and I love to watch him play! He is a fierce competitor.

This is Tate and Benny watching Max's T-ball game. They were on the same team this year. They were like Click and Clack. I just love watching them together. I need to remember to send this to Jackie.

Easter 2011

2011-11-27T02:43:00.000-05:00

Two things regularly come up in this blog each Spring...Easter and baseball. And while I would love to have a darling, matchy-matchy Easter morning picture of the boys, the truth is they just don't love being in Sunday clothes, and I don't love spending money on even more Sunday clothes for them to battle me over. They have their one pair of Sunday slacks, the older boys have a blazer, and they each have two Sunday shirts. That is it. We have done ties on and off, but right now no one wants to wear one, and I figure I will fight that battle when they turn twelve and pass the sacrament. So our Easter pictures tend to consist of decorating eggs rather than the church stuff.

Walker was IN to it this year!

See those veins on Max's forehead? I love to trace those, especially when we are sitting in sacrament meeting and he rests his head in my lap.

I see this picture and at first I think "cool egg!" and then I think "man, he needs to cut his fingernails."

Beautiful!

Spring 2011, Part One

2011-11-26T02:03:00.004-05:00

We had a fun spring - a busy spring! Our big family trip was going to upstate NY with the Apkes over spring break. It was a brave endeavor (at least for us) as we were going to spend a good portion of it in the car. The kids were great, no one threw up, and no one lost their temper. Must be a record. We went to Palmyra and the temple there, along with Hill Cumorah and the Smith Farm. We also stopped in Syracuse and had some Dinosaur Barbecue. Driving through our old home was a strange mix of feeling like we never left and feeling like we left a hundred years ago. Those were such formative years for us and we had fond memories as we told the kids about living there. We hit Niagara Falls, and Cooperstown too. This trip could have been a disaster, but everything went soooo smoothly!

Here we are at the Palmyra Temple:

And then we went on over to the Sacred Grove at the Smith Farm. Tate, Dad and Walker walked through the Grove together. It is amazing how peaceful and beautiful it is there. It was even a raw, rainy, windy day, and still it seemed like there couldn't be a more beautiful place on earth. You feel the sacred nature of the things that took place there so many years ago.

Aren't those fences so neat? They are recreations of the fences that they used on their farm, and wound all around their land. I loved looking at them, following their winding lines with my eye.

Here we are at the Smith log home. It is hard to imagine an entire family living in such a small space. We are so spoiled today!

Here Seth is looking at the Smith Family Bible (I think...or at least some Bible that is really old). See the guy behind him? He was commissioned by the church to come out and re-paint the mural behind the Christus at the Visitor's Center at Hill Cumorah. I think he said it would take him about six weeks.

This was the home that the Smith's built slowly, hoping to move into it someday. Things didn't work out as planned and they ended up back in the log home.

One of the many times mobs came to steal the golden plates, they were hidden under the bricks of the hearth, like here.

The barn...

And on to Hill Cumorah.

It really is awe-inspiring to walk around this place and think of the golden pates being buried there so long ago, and then pulled from the ground by Joseph Smith. It gave me such an awareness that Heavenly Father really is in charge of things.

This trip was great, but it was so much more so because we got to be with the Apkes. We are lucky to have such great friends in them.

Walker and Kathryn were adorable. They kept holding hands and hugging.

Here is Tate reading from the Book of Mormon (or Bible?) at the Visitor's Center. He was so cool. And if you look behind him, you can see the trees are painted two different tones, and you definitely see the scaffolding. The darker tones are where the artist has been working. The missionaries were talking about how amazing it is to watch him work. He is so focused on the most minute details. Because the room is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, the mural fades over time.

Tate and Mason watching a movie.

I loved this display...it showed the languages the Book of Mormon is published in. Each book on that table is a different language. The gospel really is reaching all lands on the earth.

Our last stop on our trip was the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. We thought this would be a great way to end it, but the truth is by then the kids were all museumed-out and weren't all that interested. Here are Tate and Seth in front of a statue of Jackie Robinson. They have both done reports on him over the past year. He was an incredible pioneer for the advancement of African-American rights during a turbulent time.

Of course, Curt Schillings bloody sock and shoe from the 2004 World Series. So cool.

We also went to Niagara Falls, where it was SNOWING of all things. I didn't bring my camera because the weather was so awful and I was afraid of getting it wet. I did take some pictures on my phone that I will need to unload and post up. They are pretty crazy. We all loved that place.

2011 Catch Up, Winter

2011-11-17T00:03:00.001-05:00

Okay, well now I have some serious catching up to do. It took me 5 weeks to cover our trip to Utah, how long can it possibly take to cover the rest of 2011? Well, here is winter, in a "life flashing before your eyes" snippet. It is either this or 2011 won't get catalogued for us!

The first big event of 2011 was the Mindess Ski Club. Which meant that Seth and Tate got to go to Nashoba Valley to ski every Wednesday afternoon after school with the Ski Club. This seemed an impossible thing to me - how can they possibly keep track of their coats/hats/gloves/ski pants/goggles/skis/poles/boots/SKI boots/$5 for food etc. etc. etc. when they can't even keep track of their LUNCHBOXES? Well, they did it. They got dressed all on their own, they skied, no one died or even got hurt. They rode that bus there and (most importantly) back. And they learned so much.

Our next big event was the Pinewood Derby, which means a lot of work, anticipation, and then a bit of a let-down when their cars don't win the big prize. But heats were won, and these cars were cool.

Seth's car was shaped like a #2 Pencil (love it!). Look at Seth leaping like that!

Tate's was a cool, blue racing car.

Acknowledged: I didn't get good shots of the cars. I didn't even get good shots of the boys. But I really didn't get good shots of the cars.

Random Shot: I love this picture of Walker reading the family reunion photo album Grandma and Grandpa sent to us:

We had our Winter Birthdays:

Seth turned 10 - DOUBLE DIGITS!

He was sick, so we cut the cake first and put all of his candles on his slice. Then we made him put back on his face mask (kidding).

He got his breakfast in bed (we are getting so lazy - McDonald's).

This guy turned 3!!!

And got to party at Build-A-Bear with his cousins (and Katherine):

Can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Doug's 40th birthday!!! I was totally sick on the couch. He went and turned 40 anyway.

The very sad thing is that the above sentence is totally incorrect. Doug turned 41 this year. He let me know gently after he read this post. I am losing it. Doesn't help that he still gets to look 27.

We also had a LOT of snow this year. Way too much of it. Made us wish we had either hired out our plowing, or bought a MUCH bigger snowblower. Or both. It was that bad.

Snow up to the Gutwill's second story window:

The snow covered the mailboxes for months. Months!!!

Doug brought these home for me one night when it was obvious the snow, the kids, the whatever was getting to me...

Seth and Tate weren't the only ones who skied. Max did...

And look who else did...

And finally, Tate got to play some real basketball (finally!)...

Whew! It is hard to condense three months into one post! But there you have it. Definitely short on details and pics, but jotted down anyway.

Utah Part Five, Provo/SLC

2011-11-14T22:49:00.002-05:00

And here we are, on our last day of our trip. We worked hard to pack in a lot of sight-seeing today. The kids were amazing, since we drove them all over the place, made them take a couple hundred photos, and indulge in all of the yummy Utah places at which I wanted to indulge. I really wish I had a photo of them in Krispy Kreme, because it was their first time and they were in heaven. They even got to see them making donuts, and the HOT light was on, so we got free donuts, plus the ones we bought. We were all giddy from the sugar high. They were crying because we didn't get even more on our way out of town. But I think our bodies would have gone into shock if we ate anymore of those donuts.

We were lucky enough to stay with Jeff and his family our last two nights there. We were so cozy and well-cared for. It was wonderful to be able to hang out and chat at night, and the boys fell in love with that dog there, Shay. They were crying when I told them we couldn't take him home (thanks jeff).

This is the view from their yard - ya, the Draper Temple. Amazing.

Our first stop on that last day was Provo. We saw the temple first.

Then we headed on over to BYU, to see the campus. The boys listened (somewhat) patiently while Doug told them about the good old days. They wanted to take pictures in front of all of the sculptures there. We had a slooow start as we stopped at each one.

While there we saw the biology building and the fish there, and the engineering building, amongst others. We went to the bookstore and spent a small fortune on BYU attire. We also got to bump in to a few buddies from home - Cecily and Brittany. I love those girls.

Then we met up with Grandma for a quick bite to eat at In 'n' Out (I am still in shock that the boys didn't love this place), and headed on up to Salt Lake City and Temple Square.

I am so glad we got to experience this holy place with our children. I just kept imagining them attending the temple when they head off on their missions; when they get married. They are usually rambunctious and loud and constantly touching each other and, well, just so much like boys. But they were respectful and, even at the end of a long day, were aware of the reverence and spirit that was there.

Bummed that this is the back of the Angel Moroni, but it was tough to take these shots with my lens. Still annoyed I didn't have my wide angle. I loved the light here though.

We also went across the street to the conference center. I loved, loved loved this shot. We were there towards the very end of the day, and we were all pretty wiped out, and this picture just seemed to sum it up. I loved the light and the dark and how calm and still and quiet it was.

See? Worn out. But still amazing sports.

We spent our last night out with Maria and Dave and Sam (Jake was working). We saw their beautiful house and went to Cafe Rio (finally! I got to eat there!). I can't believe that after all of the pictures that I took on this trip, I didn't get any of Maria and Dave or their house (or that Cafe Rio Salad). What was I thinking? I am glad we got to spend time with them, and the kids were loving their Uncle Dave. In fact when we told them we were going to see Uncle Dave, they all said "which one?" to which I responded "the crazy one," to which they asked again, "which crazy Dave?" True. They are both crazy (in the fun, cool-uncle, wrestle sort of way).

Utah Part Four, The Cabin

2011-11-03T22:17:00.001-04:00

Most of our time in Utah was spent at Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in Duck Creek. It is up in the mountains (and I mean WAY up). The kids loved it, as did we. There is fishing, four-wheeling, logs to split, elk and deer, and hikes just about everywhere.

I love all of the lines!

Grandma and Walker took a lot of walks around the neighborhood, collecting pinecones. He met lots of people, who kept giving him treats. Happy camper.

Four wheeling!

They could have done this the entire time.

Walker was hesitant at first, but quickly became a fan. One of his favorite phrases was "Where is the Rhino?"

Grandpa bribed them by offering rides if they helped load the split wood on the back of the Rhino. Then they would drive it down the hill to the wood pile.

Living in New England we like to brag about our fall foliage, but the leaves were beautiful! They were brilliant yellow and orange. Stunning.

Grandpa and Dad chopped a lot of wood for the fire pit. The boys were ecstatic to hold a real ax and help out. Don't ask me why they aren't this happy to make beds or clean a bathroom. Jeesh.

We saw a LOT of deer. All over the place. 20, 30, 40 at a time. Same with elks. Entire herds, right there in front of your eyes. We heard hunting season was officially starting soon. Not sure how I feel about that, seeing how beautiful they are. But on the other hand, there were a lot of them.

I think Max had one of his headaches here.

Ahhh...we all loved this swing.

A very "sweet" (or is it "sick?") fire pit, constructed by Grandpa and Grandma and the Gleasons. Thanks guys, because the S'mores were awesome.

Argh - smoke in the eyes.

Perfectly toasted.

And the money shot.

Utah, Part Three, Bryce Canyon

2011-11-02T21:54:00.003-04:00

This trip was my first time in southern Utah, and every single thing I saw took my breath away. Including Bryce Canyon, which we drove to while listening to General Conference on the drive up and back (with only one tantrum thrown over the arrangement). We multi task in this family.

Absolutely breathtaking. My photography skills don't even come close to doing Bryce Canyon justice. Everywhere you looked was painfully beautiful.

We all started out here before splitting up.

Seth and Grandpa parked over here and then hiked back to meet up with us.

While Seth and Grandpa hiked around one way, Doug, Tate and I went the other way to meet up with them. Doug and Tate ended up hiking down into the Canyon to the bottom and back up. Next time we all need to do it because they said it was crazy cool.

Grandma, Max and Walker hiked with us part of the way, too.

Max was amazing. I am not saying he loves hiking, but he was a real trooper, then happily kept Grandma and Walker company in the car while the rest of us finished our hikes.

And yes, I was totally freaked out that he would fall off the cliff. Many times along the way. In fact, Doug decided that I would NOT be hiking up Mt. Washington with them.

There was a fire not too long before we visited. A lot of the trees along the rim at one point looked like this.

Seriously!!! I had nightmares at night about this!!!

Good words to live by. Both while hiking a canyon and in life in general ( :

Utah, Part Two

2011-10-27T00:41:00.002-04:00

Well, I clearly take way too many pictures because I have spent hours pouring over them, tweaking, critiquing, and by now I could have blogged all of 2011. I am almost there though (well, almost there as far as the 700 or so pics I took in Utah - the rest of 2011 is another story). Here is another day or two from our terrific trip out west:

We went to Mammoth Caves, which are actually really close to the cabin. Most of the boys took the four wheelers, and Grandma, Walker and I decided to stay clean and drove in the car. The whole time I was looking down into the caves I was thinking how much it would hurt to fall. The lava is so rough and hard. Well, towards the end of our trip Grandpa did just that and hurt his knee and hand. OUCH. And he and Grandma were scheduled to head out to the islands as water resource specialists. Not the best timing. Grandkids can be hazardous to one's health.

These caves were COOL! And creepy, and amazing, and chilly, and made out of lava...did I mention cool? You can go down in one hole in the ground and pop up in another, 50 yards away, like a ground hog.

Ya, I know. Blurry. It is hard to take pictures in caves though!

Grandma and I decided to stay above ground. She is smart and I am chicken.

We lost Tate for a little bit, but not too long.

I love this picture.

We went fishing too. Grandpa is the most patient human being on the planet.

Very patient.

By the way, the foliage was AMAZING. The aspens were brilliant with golds and oranges. Ho-ly cow.

LOVE this picture too.

Doug is patient too. I know where he gets it from. If our kids are impatient (just sayin'), we know who they got it from. And it isn't Doug.

Let's just say the fish were not biting. Can you tell?

The kids kept at it for a long time (waaaay longer than I would have) and got pretty good at casting their, um, their, fishing wire and bait and all. Whatever you call it. LINE! Fishing line. Next year I am sure we will have more success. They were great sports though (and so were Dad and Grandpa).

Utah (Part One)

2011-10-20T13:21:00.002-04:00

We finally made our way out to Utah to see Grandma and Grandpa Colson. And I am finally writing a blog post. Two long-overdue things on a long list of over due things. We took a LOT of pictures while out there. Rather than putting off this post yet again, I am going to get a few days' worth of pics up on the blog.

We flew into Las Vegas, arriving at 11PM Utah time (which was REALLY late Eastern time). Grandpa picked us up, showed the kids part of the Strip (definitely the tame part), which all of us thought was really cool. "Look at the giant Coke bottle!" was among the many things we exclaimed while craning our necks to see out of the car window.

The next day we spent a nice, lazy day in St. George. Well, lazy for Doug and I. Not so lazy for Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma got up early with the boys to bake bread with them (delicious). She brought out a huge paint set and giant paper, and the kids painted and painted.

We also drove out to see the Petroglyphs. I have never driven on a dirt road through the desert before. This was way more cool than it may seem. Here are the boys looking at writings in the rocks with Grandpa. The writings were written a long time ago by Native Americans.

We thought this rock looked just like a frog!

Then we drove over to the Glitter Pits. It is a huge pit filled with mica. Once in a while someone will come by with a giant digger and rustle more mica out of the hill. It is so bright and glowing (as you can tell by all of the squints). We brought home about 20 pounds of this stuff in our suitcase.

We saw a lot of neat things, but the golf cart was a highlight for these guys. Grandpa even let Walker steer and was rewarded with a busted tire.

Grandpa is showing the boys his invention - a water desalination system he devised.

The Saint George Temple. I frantically took this from the car while we were driving down the highway. Next time we need to make the time to actually go stop there and see it up close.

Ahhhh...the pool. I think Max's expression says it all. Heaven.

The dark rocks tumbling down the side of the hill are basalt (we were all very interested in the geology of the area).

We headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's cabin in the mountains, stopping at Zion National Park along the way. Here we stopped just before the entrance to eat a quick lunch.

And now some scenery shots, so bear with me!

See? I am not the only one..

Did I mention how sunny it was there? SUNNY. We are squinting in every photo. We are like vampires in the sun, coming from the northeast.

Max was dying for me to take a picture of him jumping. Poor strangers in the background who are now immortalized in our family blog.

Hot!

Grandma and Walker were buddies on this trip. She is such a good sport. Grandma would stay behind with Walker and entertain him while we hiked all over Southern Utah.

Enough posting for today! I do have a family to take care of, ya know.

Just so ya know...

2010-11-12T22:56:00.004-05:00

I keep meaning to update this thing. Again. But I haven't taken many pics. Or rather, I have, but I haven't gotten them from the camera to computer. Running out of memory again. Computer memory, not mine. Who am I kidding? Mine too. So here is a post sans pics, so that I at least get something up here. I can't go MORE than 4 weeks without posting. Sooooo...what have we been up to?

October was crazy! In a fabulous way. Recap:

Columbus Day Weekend...Megan and I took 6 crazy kids up to NH for the three day weekend. She was planning on going, I was not. But we are both getting sentimental and sad about her move to Texas and I rescheduled my way up there with two of the boys and am so glad I did because it was such a fun weekend. We hit the Fryeburg Fair in Maine, which is a State Fair at its best. Fair food and farm animals. What more could a mom want? Well, other than a six year-old who doesn't throw a tantrum about not riding creaky, rusty traveling fair rides. I also got to see clogging for the first time in my life. Yep, that, along with farm animals and deep fried everything screams state fair, good times, and 5 more pounds.

The next weekend was Hens' Weekend. Eight of my most favorite women ever fly in from all over the country and we head up to NH for 4 days of eating ridiculously delicious food, outlet bargain shopping, and talk, talk, talking until all hours of the night. This year we were mellow and were pretty much in bed by 1 or 2AM. We were missing our Hen KC, who was about to have her 4th little baby (lucky!). We also played the craziest game of Sedarach. Which is Charades spelled backwards. I could go into more detail about the whole weekend, but I don't want to scare anybody. But it is a good thing that none of us drink. I am already counting down the days until HW 2011.

And the NEXT weekend I got to go to a fabulously fun, informative, and inspiring motherhood retreat run by Power of Moms. WOW. How great is it to just sit there for two days and listen to amazing women talk about being amazing moms? The challenges, the worries, the joys. There were 30 or so of us there, from all different walks of life, with all different kinds of families, but we all wanted to be the best mothers possible and were willing to set it all aside to come up to NH and try and figure some things out. We talked about making sure we had margins built in to our lives (I loved this) and prioritizing or eliminating the extra stuff, discipline, money management, focus, etc. It was a great retreat and chock full of information and inspiration. I went with three great friends from home, and it was so fun to spend time with them without kids to worry about, look after, wipe down...

We suffered through the dreaded Sunday Halloween this year. The boys and I talked about not going trick-or-treating this year because Halloween fell on a Sunday. At first they were pretty bummed. And by bummed I mean some of them (or, er, one of them) threw a pretty darn big tantrum. But then that was it. They were ok with it. And on Halloween, I asked them if they wanted to hand out candy or just turn out the lights and hole up in the basement with a movie and popcorn. They all happily cheered "Hand out candy!!!" What good guys. Luckily, we had a big, three-ward trunk-or-treat party (that's a lot of hyphens) on Saturday night before the big day, and the kids got crazy amounts of candy. And their lame-oh mom got zippo pics. And I think they realized that it is much more lucrative to trick-or-treat out of people's trunks in a parking lot stuffed full of cars than to huff and puff around our neighborhood. We still have candy coming out of our ears around here. Here is the costume recap: Seth - ghost, Tate - Lego guy (second year in a row - I LOVE it when they do that), Max - ghost, Walker - supposed to be a ghost but just ended up being Walker.

Other miscellany:

Tate just started basketball. By far the shortest little guy out there but has a ton of spunk in him.

Seth is in swimming lessons, trying to get ready for swim team.

Doug is away this week at a temporal bone course (I am so frazzled without him).

Watched "Wuthering Heights" for the first time and was a little appalled. Was expecting Jane Austin. Nope, I did not read this in High School.

Got to see Uncle Dave, who made a special trip from Minnesota so he could see the Pats beat the Vikings ( :

Max gets to go to Mad Science every Tuesday afternoon and comes home touting all sorts of scientific facts.

Walker is actually talking like mad finally; we just can't understand most of what is coming out of the cute little mouth.

Well, must get back to watching "An Ideal Husband."

Important stuff.

Apples

2010-10-12T00:01:00.002-04:00

I love apple picking. Apple picking was a part of my childhood. I went with my mother, with my school class, with friends. And when Doug and I lived in Syracuse, apple picking became a part of my sons' childhood. I think we have been every year since they have been alive. It reminds me of wonderful times with friends and family. It is one of the few times my children will gobble up fruit like it was candy. For some reason we are always blessed with gorgeous apple-picking weather. I am guessing that when all is said and done and we are up in heaven together, there will be an apple orchard up there too. With Honeycrisp apples.

Yummmm...fresh cider donuts (with a lot of cinnamon sugar)...

How many kids can fit in an apple cart?

I am not sure why my boys LOVE to lift other kids, but I have so many shots of them doing this very thing.

walkerboo

2010-09-21T00:44:00.002-04:00

He took these pictures with the remote control for my camera.

First Day of School

2010-09-20T17:00:00.001-04:00

Wow. Summer FLEW by. We had a great summer - got to do a lot of fun things, got to see a lot of relatives, got to play, play, play. We made the most of it, and now it is time to get down to business.

Aw, look at Max! He is a First Grader. First grade! How can my baby possibly be old enough to be in first grade? But there he is, and he is rising to the occasion. He is also missing his two front teeth. I LOVE it when they fall out around the same time. It is adorable.

The Maxes at the bus stop.

And here is the Mindess gang. It is hard to believe that this is the fifth year I have taken pics of these kids.

Seth and Tate are back in the same school again. Seth got really lucky and got to keep his teacher from third grade, Mrs. Hall. She is so kind and organized and structured - perfect for Seth. His buddy Ben is also still in class with him, another bonus! Tate is in the multiage program. He will be in a third grade math class, and bumped up to a fourth grade reading class.

The Pile. The boys arrive at the bus stop and throw their backpacks in a big heap. Every day. It is like they see how hard they can smack them down. There is a lot of aggression pent up in boys.

Grandma and Grandpa

2010-09-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

Right before school started we had a very fun visit from Grandma and Grandpa Colson. They just got off their mission in Jordan and man, have we ever missed them! They came out for Tate's baptism, and we had lots of fun making up for the last 18 months. Walker learned a new word - "camel." We canNOT wait to see them in November at the Colson Family Reunion!

Grandpa, Seth, and brothers got to do a LOT of science experiments.

It is nice that Grandpa is a scientist. Seth might just take after him.

Our big field trip was down to Battle Cove. We got to explore battleships and gunboats, including the WWII USS Massachusetts. This was the ultimate playground for four boys. Make that seven boys.

Max and Uncle Brent

Look at that cute Walker-boo!

Brent and Grandpa in deep, philosophical discussion.

I actually have no idea what they were talking about. It could have been something like "did you see how cool those gigantic guns were on that boat?!?!?" but probably not.

Kind of like that scene from Top Gun. Kinda. sorta.

Don't know why but I kept wanting to get cool shots of the decks. I was really drawn to the colors and lines. Didn't come out as neat as I had hoped. A bit boring.

They loved these big gun things. Ya, I don't know what they are called.

Grandma! Doesn't she look like she is in some movie from the 40's?

Mystic

2010-09-18T00:17:00.003-04:00

We had a free weekend right before school started and decided it was a great time to go to Mystic. We went to Old Mystic the first day (yes, we were just there 6 months ago but the kids love it). Then we hit the Aquarium the second day. No pics at the aquarium because it kept raining and I didn't want to get my camera wet. But an interesting tidbit: The author of the Curious George books wrote one based on the Mystic Aquarium. We got a copy there for Walker, who is a huge CG fan right now. Kinda cute - it shows the Beluga whale and everything.

At the Seaport, we got to take a ride on the Sabino. It is the only coal-powered boat left. I think. Or something like that. However...

...because these kinds of things tend to happen to us, Max's flip flop decided it was time to jump ship. Luckily Max decided to stay aboard.

After we docked, the very nice and understanding captain of the boat was able to track down the flip flop (hidden under the pier at this point) and rescue it for a rather distressed Maxwell. The captain mumbled something about him also having boys.

Back home again on Max's foot.

Max on one of the ships.

The boys got to make these boats. They spent a long time constructing them. I was impressed with how imaginative they were. Really cool project. And now I know Seth and Tate can use a glue gun on their own. A few first degree burns is all. No biggie. Right?

Seth and Tate got to pass off a few Cubscout achievements while we were there. I love this shot of Seth's hands.

Baptism

2010-09-14T19:29:00.002-04:00

I feel like it is hard to believe we have another baptized child. It seems like we just baptized Seth, and here is Tate right at his heels.

Tate and Mason were baptized on August 28th in the Weston Chapel. My little guy looked so beautiful in his white clothes, and then so grown-up in his sports jacket and khakis. How can he possibly be old enough to be baptized? Where did the past 8 years go?

I can't believe I didn't get a shot of him in his suit! He has been wearing it every Sunday to church, too. And let me tell you, it takes a LOT of extra time to put on belt, socks, penny loafers, tie, AND jacket.

You can't expect these two to stay docile for long. After I finished taking pictures of them for the program, I told them to wrestle. It took them a millisecond to get to it.

What is it with boys and wrestling?

This goes on at our house all the time!

New Hampshire, Summer 2010, Random Photos

2010-08-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it is time for me to put up a bunch of pics that I really love and that evoke sweet memories of NH, Summer 2010. Let her rip!

Mom, don't freak out - he was only face down for a second. Or two. Baby Zach. I really wanted to get a photo of him in the grass, one of those "on their level" shots. I convinced Bren that this could work! All she had to do was get him in position, then as soon as she moved her hands away I would snap a shot. She warned me that he hated to be on his tummy, and he would not hold his head up, but I didn't believe her. Well, this is the shot I got. I like to refer to it as the "Easter Egg Shot." This ended up being my favorite photo of the week, which is nuts because 1. it did NOT work, 2. I am focusing on the grass instead of Zach, and 3. it is a tiny bit mean to laugh at this.

Austin and Cam

This pic makes me so happy.

Same with this one.

Baxter! Abby was posing him for me.

Savannah introduced the Little Girls to these cute apps - something about making cupcakes, making pizza, etc. They loved it!!!

Soph dancing and singing to some Chipettes' song. I think she can re-enact the entire movie.

Tater and Baby Zach (I guess this means we can stop calling Jake "Baby Jake" now).

These three were so funny. It seems like this was the first time they all really played a lot together. Their favorite thing to do was to push around the toy strollers. Around and around and around and around and around...

Ahhh! More White Mountains shots. This one was from a pull-off on the Kancamagus Highway. I have been meaning to pull over for years now and I finally did it.

I need a wide-angle. Have I whined about that yet?

And just for the record, I don't usually dress Walker like this. I took this picture on the way home from Lost River, and after a trip to an ice cream stand. A very messy trip. A trip that resulted in an outfit smothered in melted chocolate ice cream. Luckily I had this brand new "Lemon Squeeze" Lost River t-shirt. I mean, he was mess-ssy!

These two just crack me up.

New Hampshire, Summer 2010, Part Three

2010-08-21T23:16:00.002-04:00

We did a LOT this summer in NH, and crammed it into two weeks. Among the other things I wrote about before, we went on hikes, swam in the river and Echo Lake, went on bike rides, learned to ride a bike (go Max!), hit Whale's Tale water park, went down the Alpine Slides, and went to the Lost River. I remember going to Lost River when I was little. You get to hike down, down, down into a gorge, wind your way through a series of caves, and then make your way up, up, up out of the gorge. There are over 1,000 stairs to navigate, and I had Walker. Walker, who tends to be afraid of stairs. Especially steep, wooden ones with high railings. So, I got twice the workout while holding Walker most of the way. Which turned out to be a good thing, because towards the end he wanted to walk, and I was a wreck worrying he was going to fall through the railing onto the rocks/into the river. By the end of the day, no one fell into the river, no one got lost in the caves, no one even threw a tantrum, and maybe the most miraculous, Jack did not re-break his arm.

I never ever get tired of this view. And it always catches my breath, every. single. time.

The gang. Walker, small enough to fall through and there is Jack, climbing up the railing with a broken arm! and Max. making a goofy face, of course

The kids got to sluice for gems and fossils. This occupied them for a long time. It was fun to see them find stones and match them up against the photos in the pamphlet, figuring out what they were. It helped that we bought them bags guaranteed to have gems and fossils in them, to dump into the water and sort through. Genuis!! Why didn't I think of selling that? A bag full of dirt, sand, and a few gemstones. The mark-up on that must rival mattresses and eyeglasses.

New Hampshire, Summer 2010, Part Two

2010-08-20T00:43:00.000-04:00

This post is all about Monkey Trunks. This place opened up a few years ago. We drive by it everytime we go to NH, and everytime we go home. And everytime I see it I think "we really need to go do that!." It is one of those high wire/climbing/zipline places. Looks fun, not at all scary. Not at all HIGH.

Well, I was wrong. Soooooo wrong (that is Jonathan up there, aka Monkey Boy). I am not sure when it started dawning on me. Was it during the required video viewing? Or when reading over the full page waiver I had to sign (that kept mentioning injury and "death"), or maybe it was when I was getting harnessed up, or maybe it was during that required class I had to take before being allowed up. Anyway, by the time I was up (and I mean UP), I was seriously regretting not making Doug come and do this instead of me. It was so much higher than it looked from my safe and trusty minivan. And why in the world did I pay so much money to be scared out of my wits? Jonathan, Abby, Amanda, Savannah, Seth and I started out on the hard course. I am not even gonna mention that there is an even HARDER course. After three obstacles, Seth decided he wanted to go on the Mini Monkey Trunks and let me tell you, I couldn't have scrambled down faster than if someone had yelled "Lightening!" I was so glad to be down on the ground again I think I may have wept.

Signing waivers.

Our tutorial (on how not to FALL 30 feet).

Max is soooooo Jonathan.

Yeah Seth!!! I can't believe his shoelaces are untied!!!

Soph rocked this course (um, the mini one - I am not THAT chicken).

ZIPINE! from the mini trunks.

Ryan!!!

New Hampshire, Summer 2010, Part One

2010-08-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it is August and that means NH for the Williams Family, and this year did not disappoint. We had fantastic weather, fun times, most illness stayed away until the end, and only one broken bone (figures - it was a Peterson). Here are some pictures from Storyland to start us out:

The Polar Coaster. See Max in the last car? His expression is hysterical. See Doug in the first car? More on this later...

This ride just basically gets you wet. But you do turn in slow circles. More on this later, too.

And then of course, what kiddie amusement park is complete without a flume ride?

Ahhhh, here we are. Poor Doug. Doug and rides that spin, or turn fast, or, well, that just about do anything (this is Storyland here, not exactly the most daring rides) do not go well together. He had to take a Dramamine. I found him like this, half passed out. He was in a nauseous daze for most of the day.

Now on the other hand, here is Grandma. She can go on spinning rides, no problem! The uncles can't do it, the dads can't do it, but Grandma could go on these things all day long.

I did it twice. And no, I didn't puke. Look! Even Walker got to go! He loved it.

Summer Wedding

2010-08-13T17:00:00.000-04:00

My cousin (who grew up literally up the street from us, so she is actually so much more than a cousin) got married in June. And we were so lucky because she and her husband had their reception at the Lyman Estate, which is where we had our reception many many (14 plus) years ago. It is so fun to go back there and remember our own wedding day. While our reception took place during a dark and dreary, snow-filled March, every other reception we have attended at the Lyman Estate have been on the most beautiful, sun-filled days. Brenna and Dane's reception was no exception. It was gorgeous.

At times like this I really long for a sweet wide-angle lens. This picture doesn't even come close to doing this beautiful place justice.

Ahhhh, our boys. Aren't they handsome all dolled up?

Are you finished taking pictures yet?

Pleeeeeeeease?!

Uncle Jack, always goofing.

Max has forgiven me.

And now for a bunch of Walker pics, because he was a fantastic model! I could take pictures of this little guy all day long.

These would make much more sense cropped horizontally, but for some reason I couldn't get Lightroom to cooperate and crop them the way I wanted. Check out the wavy glass on the door though -really cool. The kid is pretty darn cute too.

Looking back, it is a little odd that I didn't get any shots of Brenna and Dane! But there was a professional photographer there, and I didn't want to bug her, so I steered clear. I am pretty sure the food came out right after I shot these and we got down to some serious eating.

Summer Part 2

2010-08-13T00:51:00.003-04:00

We had Jake and Chloe out for a visit during the beginning of June. Chloe was here for some doctors' appointments, but we managed to squeeze in some fun, too.

We jumped on the new trampoline at Jonathan and Becky's...

Walker likes to jump ("dump! dump!") but he is also a chicken so he won't let both feet off the ground at the same time.

We went to Kimball's Farm too, for ice cream, farm animals, and bumper boats.

The gang, or at least part of them. You can't see Claire, Bennett, or Tate (though that is his Sox hat at the bottom).

Garden in the Woods

2010-08-11T17:00:00.000-04:00

Summer is our time to explore. We go to museums, parks, zoos...all of the places that are hard to do during the school year when things are so busy. One thing Seth wanted to do was to visit a wildlife preserve. Luckily for us, Garden in the Woods is pretty close by. It is a beautiful wildflower preserve with many different plants. The weather was beautiful and the kids were so curious and interested in everything.

There is a scavenger hunt for the kids to complete. The boys were so into it, it was fun to see them trying to find all of the bugs and flowers listed.

And, some pictures of the flowers. Indulge me here and check them out.

Summer Birthdays - Tate

2010-08-10T20:26:00.000-04:00

Tate's is the second birthday to pop up over the summer. His always hits while we are in New Hampshire for the Williams Family Reunion.

He still got his breakfast in bed (waffles with PB&J on them, OJ, yogurt, donut).

He got to open his gifts surrounded by curious and eager onlookers.

He had his birthday party a few days before we headed up north. We bought a few new Lego games and the boys got to play and play and play.

This is a big birthday for our Tater Tot. He turned 8 years old. At the end of the month he will be baptized with Mason. Big things to come!

Summer Birthdays - Max

2010-08-09T20:00:00.001-04:00

We have two summer birthdays. First comes Max, right as school ends.

We were a bit time-crunched, so his breakfast in bed consisted of a McDonald's spread. He loves McDonald's breakfast, so he was one happy camper.

He scored this year, including some Legos, two Pillow Pets, among other things.

His party was at Glow Golf. All I have to say about this is arming 12 six year-olds with metal golf clubs is probably not the best idea. Especially in the dark. Everyone made it out intact, but I didn't end up taking much pictures. Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to take a good picture in a glow-in-the-dark place?

Alex won these glasses by scoring at the last hole. I am so impressed with myself for getting a shot of this to turn out.

Summer, Part I

2010-08-08T19:43:00.003-04:00

Time to catch up again! Summer came slowly...school didn't let out until June 21st. We were ready for it and we hit the ground running. Here is how our first few weeks went:

There were tennis lessons, golf lessons, basketball camp...

...playgrounds...

...goofy faces...

...swimming...

...a new sandbox...

...strawberry picking...

...and lest our children someday forget (because I forgot to take pics!), we also took them to the Discovery Museum, the Ecotarium, and Garden in the Woods. We DO take them out for fun outings.

Ten Weeks

2010-06-08T01:43:00.002-04:00

I think that is how long it has been since I last posted. Maybe longer. Interesting that it coincides almost exactly with the start and end of baseball season. Having three boys in three different leagues has made life a tad crazy around here.

Taking a new online photog course. Will attach badge when I figure out how to do it (and when it isn't 1:44AM). Will describe it better later, but it is a lot of fun. Until then, here are my assignments from this week:

We were supposed to take a photo of something that brings us joy, and it couldn't be our kids (the whole class is on finding joy in taking pics of your children). It was a speed challenge - we had one day to get it done. I chose golf. Just started taking lessons. Cute Doug went out and bought me clubs off of eBay (NICE ones, too!) and has been so excited for me. I am finding it therapeutic to go and hit the heck out of something.

Here is my out-of-focus black and white. They were so cute lying there together but I couldn't get my camera up fast enough before Walker started wiggling out.

Walker up in our new swingset.

Part of the assignment was on relationships. Max just adores Walker. He would do anything for him. They played so well together on this afternoon. I am hoping it is a sign of things to come with this baby of mine.

Walker isn't crying - this is his camera face. When he sees me taking pics of him, he comes running up and pretends (like this) that he is taking pictures too. I have a hundred pics like this one.

Max and Walker's hands (love the silly bandz!)

Tate, Max, and Seth's hands intertwined.

Photography!

2010-03-16T23:10:00.002-04:00

Last month my good friend Macy agreed to put on a Lightroom workshop for Brenya and me so we could sharpen our editing skills. This was double-good for me because I learned a LOT and I got to see Bren for a whole weekend. It was tons of fun and very informative. Here are some pics from the weekend:

Walker learned a lot too. He was happy to have Macy's little guy here to play with.

I made Bren sit while I took some pics in the family room. The light seemed pretty cool.

She lasted for two pics before giving me her pitiful, "are we done yet?" face. Considering she takes a ga-jillion pics of her kids, this is very silly.

We had the chance to take wedding announcement pictures of Brenna and Dane. We were so glad to have two willing, obedient subjects who actually followed our every command. We got to sit with Macy that night while she walked us through the editing process. It was useful to take what she had taught us and put it in to practice. The only drawback was that it was absolutely freezing. Would do it again in a heartbeat though!

Thanks Macy!!

Seth's Birthday Pictures

2010-03-16T18:38:00.002-04:00

I already posted some of the reasons Seth is so awesome, but I wanted to put up pictures from his big day as well.

It started off with his birthday breakfast in bed. This was easy because his favorite breakfast is Honey Nut Cheerios, so we made him that, plus orange juice and hot chocolate.

And he got a bunch of camping and Cubscouts stuff for gifts.

Blowing out his rootbeer-flavored cupcakes

We celebrated Amanda's 14th birthday too (this is exciting for me because now she is officially one of my Mia Maids)!

His birthday party was a Wii party. Perfect for a bunch of 9 year-old boys (and one 9 year-old girl). Can you tell his cake is a Wii remote?

Ya! Have I whined recently about my flash?

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Pinewood Derby

2010-03-16T13:28:00.002-04:00

Seth's first real deal Pinewood Derby was last month. He and Doug worked and worked and worked on his car, then he ended up using one he had made last year ( :

It was a great night. We ate a lot of hotdogs and soda. All the boys had fun cheering on their brother. Seth's car won a lot of races, and he got an award for his beautiful car. Way to go, buddy!

Seth's car: Number Twelve

Winner!

Anyone who says winning isn't the point clearly hasn't been to a Pinewood Derby. Winning is the ONLY point.

That is Uncle Tom giving Seth his award. He is the Cubmaster. I think. I get all of the titles confused.

And yep, I know these are not my best pictures. But it was in the church gym, possibly the worst lighting conditions known to man. Or woman. At least known to this particular woman. I need an external flash. Sigh.

A Big Birthday

2010-03-05T20:28:00.002-05:00

Guess who turned the Big Four-Oh last weekend?

Yep, this guy (not the little one). And in honor of this monumental event, his four (well, three - one still isn't talking) sons put together a list of Ten Things They Love About Their Dad. Here goes:

1. You're our father (true)

2. You give us hugs and kisses (many)

3. You feed us (like a zookeeper)

4. You are nice (yepee)

5. You love us (more than they will ever know)

6. You pay taxes (huh? I mean, he does, but, huh?)

7. You give us allowances every month (well, we aren't really that good about this one)

8. You read stories to us (faithfully)

9. You bought our karate gear (this stuff cost a small fortune!)

10. WE love you!! (they totally do)

Do you know how hard it is for a bunch of boys to come up with this much intentional verbage? Those FORTY words (I KNOW! It is cosmic! forty!) took a lot of time and energy and effort. Boys just do not get into this touchy-feely-writey stuff. But they sat there and thought all of these up on their own.

I love the taxes one. Something about how it means we get to keep living in our house. Guess they don't know the word "mortgage" yet.

I love this guy. And I sure am glad he was born forty years ago (as my mother loves to say). He is awesome. Next year he gets to hear my top ten. I don't want to be upstaged.

Walkerboo

2010-03-01T10:28:00.003-05:00

This little guy

Just turned two. WHAT? Where did the last 24 months go? I was just holding him, cuddling him, nursing him, rocking him to sleep. My baby has grown into a healthy, happy, rambunctious two year-old and I feel like he just arrived in our family yesterday. I remember so distinctly laying on that operating room table as my doctor pulled out our fourth boy. For the last 5 months I had slowly come to terms with the idea that this baby was not going to be a girl, that he was, yes, another he, coming into a family full of hes and not nearly enough shes to be equitable. And yet when this little guy was born, the feeling was so overwhelming - that this little, tiny, squawking he was exactly where he is supposed to be. That he was supposed to come down to our family, and that these four boys were meant to be brothers, that they would need each other. And from that point on I have been so happy to have THIS little he in our lives.

Here are a few fun facts about Walker at this point in his life:

He loves junkfood. He would rather eat chips and cookies and m&ms than anything else. This has lead to many showdowns between Walker and me. I think he has finally realized it is better just to eat normal food than to be hungry, because he has been a little better about eating his meals lately.

Walker LOVES his brothers. He thinks he is at least 5 years old and would rather be with them than anyone else. Where ever they are, he is too, right in the thick of things. As I type he is putting on Seth's karate sparring gear. Need to get a pic of that.

Walker doesn't talk much yet, but he is a big fan of sign language. He knows the basics - milk, more, please, cookie (of course), ball...and it has helped him learn words to speak (sort of). But he wants to know the sign for any word, and since my sign knowledge consists of whatever was on Signing Times Volume One, well, there is again frustration. He signs things, flapping his hands around, and I have no clue what he is trying to tell me. We are working on it.

He is no longer my shopping buddy. He is more of my shopping nightmare. Doesn't want to be in a cart, wants to walk and touch and throw fits...your typical two year-old. Target loves us.

He loves his blue blankee. He has handmade quilts, beautiful blankets. And yet his favorite one is this cheesy blue synthetic thing I picked up at Marshalls on a whim as a stroller blanket. This is the one he has to have, can't sleep without, can't leave his bed without, can't live without. I have to sneak it into the wash. Still cute though. When I get him up from his nap, he grabs his blankee, I pick him up, and he puts the blankee on my shoulder, puts his head on it and cuddles for a few minutes. One of those precious, fleeting times when he will still do this.

He loves watching home movies. We just figured this out because we just had ours converted to DVD. He laughs and laughs at his brothers when they were little like he is now. He could watch them endlessly. He is not a big TV guy, but we have now found our TV pacifier.

He won't go to nursery. No way, no how. Not unless Doug or I are with him. He can be a shy guy.

He is one lucky guy. He is surrounded by people who love him, adore him, fight about sitting next to him, want to play with him. We are one incredibly blessed family to have him!

Seth

2010-03-01T09:54:00.003-05:00

Seth turned 9 on January 31st (yep, I am behind once again). NINE! We have a nine year-old? Is it possible? He has grown so much this year. I can see why kids get baptized when they turn eight. It really is an age when they are so much more aware of others, of understanding their actions and the resulting consequences. Seth has taken charge of his school work, works to keep his room clean and himself organized. Here are Ten Things about Seth:

1. Seth loves ROOTBEER. It is his favorite drink. He also loves vanilla cake and vanilla frosting. He was born into a family of chocolate lovers, which means that on most birthdays the cakes are chocolate. He was so happy to have his vanilla/vanilla cake on his birthday. He puts down pizza like nobody's business (sometimes cheese, sometimes pepperoni) and also likes Multigrain Cheerios.

2. Seth just earned his orange belt in karate. He is dedicated and works hard during training and at home to improve.

3. He is easy going! His primary class is small, and most of the time he is the only boy there. But he just keeps telling me "it is ok mom, I really don't mind."

4. Seth is a great helper. If I ask for his help, he is right there doing it. He will bring up groceries, help in the yard, entertain Walker, assist with dinner. He makes my life so much easier.

5. Seth is an amazing big brother. He and Max currently share a room. He encourages Max to do the right things - clean up, get ready, brush teeth...and Max listens to Seth a lot better than Max listens to me. Seth's younger brothers adore him. Where ever he is, they want to be as well. He is patient and kind with Walker. He plays well with Max, and Seth and Tate are practically like twins at this point they are so close.

6. Seth is a good friend. He stands up for his friends when they need him. He loves to be with them and to play.

7. He has a great imagination. He will draw pictures, and then describe what is going on in them in detail. He is artistic and creative and focused.

8. He looks so sharp when we go to church. Gets himself up in the morning, dresses up in his nice pants, shirt, and suit coat. Grabs his scriptures and is ready to go.

9. Seth understands what is important. He works hard to learn about the gospel and apply its principles to his life. How many nine year-olds can say that? He reads his scriptures, reads the Friend, listens in Primary and helps during family home evenings. He tries to choose the right with each decision.

10. I love this guy. He is our oldest here and he is such an amazing kid. He is such a testament that Heavenly Father has a plan, because there is no doubt in my mind that Seth is exactly where he is supposed to be - that we need him in our family just as much as he needs us. He is such a central part of all of our lives. I love you buddy!!

Brothers

2010-01-25T16:44:00.002-05:00

Ah, I love moments like these. Walker adores Seth. And for good reason. Seth is very calm and nurturing with him. He looks after him, works hard to keep him entertained, and does such a good job at being a big brother. It is one of the many ways that Seth has grown up and matured over the course of this year. More on this later as Seth turns 9 soon.

Operation. Remember this one? The boys love to play this game. In the newer version there are two levels of sensitivity, leveling the playing field for everyone. I still jump when I hear that buzzzzzzzz.

Friends

2010-01-22T23:13:00.002-05:00

Yep, it is blurry and yep, I am still posting it because I love this little girl and really get a kick out of her mom. We went to the Children's Museum last week and it was so fun to watch Walker play and explore, and I always love my conversations with Dana. This picture was from an afternoon last week when they stopped by tom um, say "hi." Walker and Jane just plopped down in this chair together and chilled.

Aftermath

2010-01-15T13:33:00.002-05:00

I've got to clean up...

We are slowly getting back in to our groove around here after Christmas and New Hampshire. There have been a few birthday parties, school is in session again, the boys are back at karate, Tate starts basketball this weekend. We were sad to see Uncle Brent move out, but he is just down the Pike, living in Cambridge so we still get to see him. He drove out this week to give the boys' piano lessons and to babysit while Doug worked and I was at YW. And he thought he could get away from us!

Christmas and New Hampshire, Part Two.

2010-01-02T22:30:00.002-05:00

One of our favorite things to do during the winter in NH is tubing at Mt. Cranmore. This year the weather was perfect! Fluffy snow and not-too-cold temps. The kids had a ball.

Waiting in line for the rope tow.

Jeff, Haley, Pher, and Ava.

Max.

Dug.

I really like this picture of him.

Doug on the tube...

Jakey finally gets to play in the snow!

Setheroo

Jack Jack. I kept thinking he was Alex. It was like being in a time warp.

Tate and Megan with Alex's legs sticking up. He was pulled like this all the way to the rope tow. What a kook!

Chloe, who also doesn't get to play in the snow much (too balmy in Houston). Here she is working on a snow angel.

Mady and Soph.

Alex.

The girls give it a run. Here is Mady, Ginger, and Soph.

Tater.

Haley Rae

I love this shot of Ginger.

Christmas and New Hampshire, Part One.

2010-01-02T00:58:00.003-05:00

We headed up to NH a few days after Christmas. Gave the kids a day or so to test drive their new toys. We were lucky to have most of the Williams family in NH again. It is so much fun to be able to hang out with all of my siblings and in-laws, and to see all of the cousins running around playing together. I have a few pictures ready to post, with more to follow.

One tradition that we started a few years ago was a cousin gift exchange. Ginger suggested it as a way for the cousins to stay connected. It has been a huge hit. We wait until everyone is together and then open up the cousin gifts, starting with the youngest. This year that meant Bennett was the first to unwrap, or at least to try and eat the paper.

Had to post the pic of the runny nose. There were a few of these this week. At least it wasn't a stomach bug that went around.

Hot chocolate. We also went through a lot of this.

And we had some nice chats with this boy's parents. Rivers is the cutest little guy.

Christmas Day

2010-01-02T00:12:00.002-05:00

Christmas morning, lined up on the stairs at 7:01 a.m. Ready to see their loot from Santa! The boys have been bursting at the seams with anticipation for the last few weeks. We decided to give us all a break and let Walker sleep, as he was happily sawing wood at this time.

A few of the favorites - an iPod (Seth), an iPod (Tate), and a DS (Max).

Seth gave Max this mask, as well as a set of Hulk hands. Max loved it. They all got these Underarmour sweatshirts and wore them for the next week straight.

Uncle Brent gave the boys "learn to play piano" books and the promise of piano lessons from him. They thought this was pretty neat (mom wholeheartedly agreed). We love Uncle Brent!

Walker finally woke up. Doug brought him down and he was greeted by torn wrapping paper all over the place and lots of new toys. His big Santa gift was a toy ATV. He loved it.

He also really got into unwrapping gifts. Not at all overwhelmed by the chaos. He fits right in.

And the bonus at the end - stockings. iTunes gift cards and Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Christmas trees.

Oh, and Scotch tape. Because they are always taking mine. More than a few people have received presents taped with masking tape from us because the Scotch tape roll is empty.

A few pics of the mess...

Christmas afternoon crept up on us and we had dinner at our house. Just a small gathering. About 35 people, give or take. I stopped trying to count. It was so much fun. Crazy, happy, full of good friends and family. And Grandma just had the whole shebang catered, so no one had to cook. This was good, since it ended up taking a lot of work and coordination to just get the food heated through. It was TAS-TY. Thanks Mom!

Here is Aunt Nancy and me. She is so fun and nice and caring.

Dessert was the usual - pumpkin and apple pies. Jen Bowen made a delicious chocolate pie. Yummmmm. And mom picked up a whole bunch of tiny red velvet cupcakes. Tate ate 5 or so, and would have kept going if I didn't put the brakes on. I don't blame him. They were delicious.

Testing...

2009-12-31T00:03:00.002-05:00

I think I was fiddling around with Lightroom when I posted this photo. It is stuffed blueberry french toast, by the way, and verrrrrrry tasty.

From Miscellaneous 2009

Holiday Cards

2009-12-29T15:44:00.002-05:00

This year I grabbed 5 minutes before church to try and get a shot of all four boys for our 2009 holiday cards. There were good reasons for choosing this time. #1 - everyone is dressed up. Warm-up pants and stained t-shirts would just not do. #2 - I was hoping that because we were heading for church, there might be some sort of divine intervention involved.

Divine intervention was surely responsible for the one shot I was able to get with all four boys looking at the camera and (sort of) smiling. I am including the outtakes so you can take pity on my state of mind.

The Prize

Ok, Max glances sideways and Tate is starting to blink...

Uh oh - Walker is starting to realize he was actually cooperating for a second there...

Threw a sheet over the chair for quick scene change and Walker is ready to...

BLOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW...

Seth hangs on to him for dear life as Max and Tate try really hard to keep smiling...

Tate says it all.

Christmas Tree(s)

2009-12-29T15:20:00.002-05:00

This year the kids got to decorate not one but TWO Christmas trees. The first one went up in NH over Thanksgiving weekend.

The pictures were all shot from overhead on the second floor, which is why you get to see so much hair and not much face. Just trust me when I say it ended up being the best angle that night.

ClaireBear (it took me a while to figure this out).

And the tree back at home. Some may say we are missing one of the crucial parts of Christmas - a live tree - but I say that this puppy goes up in 3 minutes flat, lights and all.

He really was happy to be doing this.

A little blurry, but I had to post it anyway. This pic screams "Max."

What did you want for Christmas? See what Santa brought us.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-29T13:25:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving was full of all of the essentials: food, family, and New Hampshire. We ate at Jonathan and Becky's place. Most of the Bowens were there, as well as Aunt Nancy, Uncle Dennis and family, and all the rest of us. We headed up to NH after dinner. Here are a bunch of pictures from Thanksgiving night.

Pilgrims

2009-12-27T23:43:00.002-05:00

It is a tradition at Seth's school that the third grade classes put on a Pilgrim play. It is quite a production. All of the traditional classrooms are involved, and each child has a part. I was really impressed with how well they all did! There were props, stage sets, and those kids knew their lines. Seth's scene included the pilgrims in Plimouth during the start of a long cold winter, right before Thanksgiving. The pilgrims are burying their dead. Yep, you got that right. Burying their dead. In fact, Seth was a grave digger. The picture quality is as bad as it gets, but here they are for the record. This is what I get for not arriving early enough to get a front row seat.

Curtain Call

My cute pilgrim

Seth and his buddies Ben and Joey.

Mom

2009-12-27T22:55:00.002-05:00

This is my mom. And this is such a rare photo. It should be in Life magazine, if they still published it. Because there are almost NO pictures of her out there. She doesn't like having her picture taken. I hoodwinked her into letting me take a whole slew of pictures of her for my photography class. I really did need them for an assignment, and it was great practice for me. Isn't she beautiful? She smiles all the time. In fact in some of the pics I needed her to look pensive, and she had the hardest time NOT smiling. I think she should let me take more pictures of her. She photographs very well. And she is going to be totally embarrassed that I posted this picture.

More Leaves

2009-12-27T22:44:00.003-05:00

Ok, not even comment on the fact that it has now been a month. More catching up. So catch these leave pics:

Never thought of the brown leaves as colorful, but I liked the colors here.

It was a BIG pile in the back yard.

catching up: halloween

2009-11-29T23:26:00.004-05:00

Yep, I told you I was behind. One whole holiday, to be exact. And the worst part of it is that I just realized I have no pictures of Walker, and on this, his second Halloween. And he is even wearing my favorite costume - the cute little frog. I may just have to put him in it again to get the pic. Bad mom.

Here come the costumes (why does Halloween always take place in the dark? So hard to take pics).

Some explanations are probably necessary. Seth is dressed as Leif from the book series "Deltora Quest." When he told me he wanted to go as Leif for Halloween I almost fainted. Who? What? But luckily we found pictures on the web of another boy whose mother was a much better mom than I and knew what Leif would look like if he actually existed. It is a great series, by the way.

Tate went as a Lego guy. When he told me he wanted to go as this I was thinking that it might just be easier to cough up $40 per costume for each kid. This was getting ridiculous. Doug came to the rescue and designed most of this one. All whining aside, I ended up loving this costume. It was fun and cute and different and didn't involve weaponry or gore.

And finally, Max. My wonderful, sweet, fabulous Max. He wanted to go as "Mix-up Man." Mix-up Man is a costume made up entirely from the contents of our dress-up bin. Love this guy. Especially on this particular Halloween. Here he is at the church Halloween party. See the top photo for the complete get-up.

catching up

2009-11-29T23:02:00.002-05:00

I am way behind in this blogging thing. I would love to write ten or so excuses, except I am not quite sure why I haven't been able to find the time to do it. But this is catch up week for me, so we will see some events over the next several days that are woefully out-of-date by now.

Doug has most Tuesdays off, and while the weather was still nice we went on a lot of walks with Walker. One of our favorite places was this park. The path runs for a few miles and the trees are everywhere. This fall the leaves have been beautiful, and plentiful trees = beautiful leaves which meant we took some breathtaking walks.

Apple Picking

2009-11-09T00:21:00.002-05:00

We do live in New England, and it is fall time, which means yet again, more apple picking pictures! It was a bumper crop this year due to our crazy summer weather.

Doug and the three older boys were out of town, so Walker and I went with Abby

and these two monkeys

and Becky, Amanda, and Sarah. I didn't do a very good job taking the rest of the Williams' pics. They are now in my mac's trashcan. I am such a hit-or-miss photographer.

I know he looks solemn, but I swear he had a lot of fun.

See? A lot of fun.

Ok, now I am only three weeks behind in posting.

Photography Class, part Three

2009-11-07T11:16:00.002-05:00

Ok, here we are with my third week of class. This was a tough one! The first two pictures are of backlighting, meaning the light source (sun) is coming from behind the person. It was a bit overcast, so the effect is a bit subtle. The first pic is without a reflector:

Second pic is with a gold reflector. But it is too low - see the shadows under his eyes? It isn't as flattering as it could be. See the blue mustache above his lip? NOT my photography. That is blue Gatorade. There is only so much I can expect out of my subjects, and a clean face just isn't it.

Ahhh, taken in the garage. It is pretty dramatic for a child's picture, and as my instructor noted, a bit underexposed, but I love his eyes and skin. If you could only see how messy our garage actually is behind him, you would really be impressed with this picture. But you don't even see it because the light isn't shining in more than a few feet. And for a few other reasons I won't totally bore you with. And he is wearing this tacky Old Navy sweatshirt. I love that you can't even tell.

Ok, definitely my favorite. Didn't quite follow the assignment, but had to put it in there. Supposed to be in deep shade - no light at all shining in. Well, couldn't find any deep shade on the says I set out to shoot, and ran out of time. I had taken this the week before at Cushing Memorial Park. Walker is under a huge maple tree with gorgeous leaves - brilliant reds and oranges. I didn't think I used a reflector, because I don't remember having one with me, but my instructor thinks she sees one in his eyes. There is definitely something reflecting there, I just can't figure out what it is.

Photography Class, Part Two

2009-11-02T21:56:00.002-05:00

Ok, here are some pics from my next assignment. As I said, these are pretty much the only picture I have taken lately, except for a few lame ones from Halloween. Why did I wait until dark? I digress. Here we go.

This is Seth, sitting by a window in our house. How do you like the pen on his forehead? He is a boy, after all. Heck, sometimes I even look in the mirror and see pen on my chin or cheek. I swear I am turning in to my 9th grade math teacher.

Ok, here is Seth again, same palace, same time, but using a white reflector. At least that was what I was supposed to do. Can you see the difference in the light? How his face is a bit less shadowy? Well, if you can't, that is because I JUST REALIZED that I used a diffuser, NOT a reflector. What a bonehead.

Here is Max. We are in the cemetery in Ashland. It has very pretty trees and leaves. And it is close by. We just barely caught the light. He is supposed to be in the shade for this assignment. I thought I had him in the shade, but the sun was shining on him more than I realized, I am guessing because it was pretty low in the sky. My instructor basically told me, nice shot, but didn't follow the assignment. Oh well. Here he is without the reflector.

And here is the same shot using a gold reflector. It filled in the shadows a little bit on the right side. I think.

This last one was supposed to be in full shade with a reflector directing the sun on him, acting as the only light source. Again, I think. Anyway, she liked it. I think I used the gold reflector again here.

Photography Class, again!

2009-10-31T21:01:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'll admit I have been slacking off on posting. I have a million excuses (I always do, right?) but here is part of the reason for my absence. Photography class! I love taking these classes. This is the second one I have taken from PPSOP. It came highly recommended from my dear buddy Macy (you have got to check out her site here - she is amazing).

So, in lieu of posting pics from our day-to-day lives (which are piling up in my "to edit" folder), here are pics from my first assignment. It was all on lighting patterns, and how the light falls across the face of your subject.

This one is called a Split lighting pattern. It is supposed to be half of the face in light, half in shadow. Mine turned out ok, but not dead-on. Ideally the dark would be much more dark - more dramatic. And the light side would have no shadow on it at all. When I saw a few real splits from my classmates I could see that the light here was too soft, But I think on Abby it looks good. She is a cute, sweet 9 year-old. Who needs drama there?

This one is the Rembrandt - so there is a little more light falling across her face. Or there should be. I should have turned her more towards the light than this. This ends up being more like a split. Kind of. Did I mention I didn't exactly nail these?

Ok, this is called the Loop lighting pattern. Even more of her face should be lit up - not in shadow. Again, she should be turned more than this towards the light. Too many shadows on the right side. This is actually more like a Rembrandt. But WOW. Does she ever have beautiful skin? And Abby here was a fantastic model. She was patient while I turned her and moved her from room to room and took a zillion pictures.

The final shot was to be a Butterfly pattern. In this lighting technique the subject is turned fully towards the light source (the window, here). There should be very little shadow on the face, other than accenting the cheekbones and a tiny bit under the nose. I had the hardest time with this one. I kept looking for that little shadow under the nose. The only way I could sort of achieve it was to have Amanda look down. As it turns out, it doesn't HAVE to be there (the shadow). The point is that the light is full-on. My instructor said that though this is the right pattern, she would have liked to have seen her eyes. I agree. Amanda has gorgeous eyes, and what is the point in taking a picture when you can't see them? She was a great help - she photographs very well. No cheesy smiles, just very natural. Her skin tones are perfect. And I LOVE her eyebrows and eyelashes.

soccer

2009-10-15T23:35:00.003-04:00

After years of watching his brothers play sports, Max finally got to play a real, actual, town-organized sport. It is fall, and around here that means soccer. He had to miss his first game (darn swine flu!) but here he is at the team's second game - his first. This kid gave it his all and had a blast.

Stone's Public House

2009-10-15T21:32:00.002-04:00

Seth is in the third grade. In our town the third graders do a project detailing the history of our community. They have a list of historic places in Ashland and a series of questions to answer. Finally, they have to include a photo with their answers. While it has been time consuming, it has been a lot of fun to learn about all the historic places here. Among them are the grave of a Revolutionary War Soldier (behind their school!), a rock noting an old Native American trail running from Boston to Hartford (from 1636), the old starting point of the Boston Marathon, and this:

Stone's Public House. It is a restaurant, right on the railroad tracks that run through the center of town. It was built in 1832 and was a stopover place to eat and rest for travelers. It is beautiful and authentic inside, with pretty decent food, and to top it off it is rumored to be haunted. hmmmmm...

Walker came a long too.

Seth and Sophia on the front porch at Stone's, collecting the information they needed for the project.

Seth watching Sophia finish up (he is a man of few words, both oral and written).

Are we finished yet?

Mystic

2009-10-04T18:50:00.003-04:00

We went to Mystic, CT over Labor Day weekend. Mystic was a big shipbuilding hub a few hundred years ago, and now serves as a living historical museum (like Plimouth Plantation). This place is built for kids! It is full of lots of different kinds of ships, shops, and stuff to climb on. We could have spent two days there, but settled for one. We met up with Tom and the twins and Thomas Apke as well. I really wish I was a better photographer because this place is the perfect place to take pictures.

The boys.

I loved the way this old fire station looked behind the boys.

This photo is so great of these two.

We waited forEVER for lunch, which turned out to be lukewarm hotdog and half-fried french fries. The 5 year-olds passed the time by playing on an iPhone.

I love Max's little leap here. See that huge ship they are heading towards? We got to walk on that. They are working on restoring it. It is huge! And all wooden.

Seth is saying his favorite phrase as of late - "oh come on!"

I think the colors and textures on this shed are cool.

Ok, I had to put these goofy ones in here. Seth, Tate and Max loved this thing.

Max REALLY loved this thing and totally hammed it up.

Cheshire

2009-10-03T23:25:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago we took a free Saturday to head to Cheshire, CT. This is where Doug grew up and we wanted to show the boys around. They had fun seeing all the places their dad used to spend his time as a child. It was hot that day - 95 degrees and humid. Ok, so it was more than a few weeks ago. I am really behind with this blogging thing.

The road in to town. Or out of town. Or around town. I can't remember. We took a LOT of pictures.

Seth and Doug at the baseball fields where Doug played Little League.

The Marion Rd. house

Mixville Pond where the kids used to swim.

Notch Road Store. One of the places the Colsons lived was behind this store.

Rossini's Pizza. Now here was a disappointment. When Doug and I used to live in New York we would drive through on our way to Boston and stop and eat here. We loved it. It was yummy, tomato-ey, deliciously crusty pizza. Well, we don't know what happened, but it was not the same. New owners, new recipe, we don't know but it is the end of an era.

We went to a very cool playground near Craig Castle. The kids and their dad had a lot of fun.

NH Part 5 (?)

2009-09-19T16:48:00.003-04:00

The last recap of our NH family reunion. Only took me 6 weeks to get it all finished. Some of the younger cousins went to Storyland. The weather was nice, the crowds not too bad, and everyone had fun.

The Polar Coaster

Bamboo Chutes

A very unusual minute of quiet and inaction (those bamboo shoots sing and play a song)

The wives were smart and sat this one out

Sleep...

Um, needs sleep...

He actually did sleep, I just thought this picture was funny. This was how I felt by 5:30. He was really good.

School

2009-09-16T14:32:00.002-04:00

School started two weeks ago for the boys. Seth graduated up to the older elementary school, which starts at grade 3. Once again my mommy anxiety kicked in and I spent weeks worrying before school started about everything there is to worry about. Teachers, friends, the bus, the lunchroom, recess, etc. And that first day was the longest I have had in a while, waiting for those school buses to roll back down the street. Will my boys ever understand how heartwrenching it was to see them walk up those stairs on to the bus? And how excited and happy I was to see them climbing back down those same bus stairs? Being the oldest, Seth paves the way for all of us. He survived the first day, even loved it! Can you imagine me finally exhaling? He gets a locker, the nicest third grade teacher, intramural activities, and a few friends in his class who he already knew. Life is good.

Tate is starting second grade, at the Warren school, and Max is starting kindergarten at Pittaway. They are on the same bus, along with Max The Neighbor (this is what he is called at our house) and Norah. If anyone is doubting that Max really is a mini-Jonathan, this look should convince you of the fact.

Max was so ready to start kindergarten. He has been ready for this since 2006. No fear or back to school jitters here. He loves his cute teacher, and told me he is sure she will never yell. The cherry on top of this sundae is that his buddy Nicholas is in class with him. He LOVES Nicholas. And because Nicholas is a good, sweet, smart boy, I love him too!

Tate had a good first day in second grade. This is his second year at Warren, so we all knew what to expect. After a long summer wondering if he would know anyone in his class, he happily told me he did have some buddies in there. I think as a mother this is my biggest worry come September...will my children have friends in their class? Or rather, will my boys have nasty, mean, horrid bullies in their class? So far so good.

Storage

2009-09-04T12:24:00.002-04:00

And I don't mean the Tupperware/basket/closet kind of storage. I mean bytes. Megabytes. A TERABYTE. I didn't even know that such a thing existed until a year ago. And since I started taking photos, my laptop has been filled to the gills with way too many bytes of stuff. In fact, I have a card full of photos that I couldn't even load onto my computer - it was THAT full.

Until now. This beauty just came in the mail today. Helene, our postal worker, just rang our doorbell and I could have wept I was so happy to see her holding that sweet little Amazon.com package. She asked what was in the box that made me so happy and I started to tell her, at which point her eyes kind of glazed over (probably much like yours are now, if you are still reading this). I am one happy gal.

New Hampshire (part four - tubing)

2009-08-30T22:21:00.003-04:00

As a special gift, Grandma and Grandpa treated all of the grandkids to two hours of ride time on the new tubing run at Mt. Cranmore. Everyone had a blast zipping down the mountainside, and the weather was perfect.

Ryan had the most enthusiasm. He doesn't get out much.

Soph

Seth - I just love that smile.

Ginger and Alexis

Jonathan - a little underwhelmed?

Jakey and Seth

Max and Alex

Savannah and Abby

Pher and Haley

Doug and Tater

New Hampshire (part two - the river)

2009-08-25T23:26:00.003-04:00

One of the things we used to do each summer in NH was head to The River. "The River" was not any particular river, but rather whatever river was near where we happened to be staying. We would swim, build dams, and spend much of vacation in The River. One of the great things about vacationing in NH is that we get to relive these memories. Here are some pics from this summer.

How cute is Ava? So cute. And she has this fantastic teenager-sized personality.

Usually by August the river is pretty low. But this year we have had so much rain that it was high and swift. This meant life jackets were mandatory for the kids and no dams were needed to create flow. Innertubes are generally the mode of transportation down the rapids, but after a while the kids realized that it was much more fun just to pick up their feet and let the river carry them down, buoyed up by their lifevests. Plus, they didn't have to lug those pesky tubes back up river. Of course, their rears took a beating on the rocks.

Here is Doug, letting Max go

The queue, waiting to launch

What a cutie, huh. He loves it when we are in sacrament meeting (church), and he puts his head in my lap, and I trace the veins on his forehead. See them?

Here is Bren, my photo buddy.

new hampshire (part one - birthdays)

2009-08-14T00:26:00.002-04:00

It is August and that means another New Hampshire family reunion! I love blogging about these things. We have so much fun together. Imagine 34 people all in one house, ages 3 months to, well, to mature, let's say. We have fun. And I mean FUN! We eat, we play, we laugh. It is a great time. It will take me a few posts to get through the week, but I figured I would get started with the birthdays.

Tate, Abby, and Grandma all have birthdays that fall during (or close to) the week we tend to be in NH. Here are Tate and Abby blowing out the candles on their cakes. Yoohoo, Tate...

Yummm....cake....he asked for the piece with his name on it, which meant some creative cutting. It was smack-dab in the middle of the cake.

And of course, a goofy picture of Jonathan.

For Mom's birthday this year I think we came up with something she really wanted. First she had to hunt for it. Brenya, Ginger and I thought up a treasure hunt with poetic clues for her. Of course we thought these up at midnight the night before, so there was a lot of creative license taken. Luckily Grandma had plenty of grandkids to help her out.

Ah, and the prize at the end...

It's a...a...a...

brand-spankin' new laptop, just for her. With her bookmarks on it, to use in her cute kitchen on her cute table. She had better be reading this blog entry on it!

Grandma is one fantastic woman. She is a terrific mother. She was a great mom when we were all growing up (I don't think a mother exists out there with a bigger heart) and is still a great mom today. I still find myself learning from her and growing because of her (and I don't mean just my waistline). I constantly think how blessed my boys are to have her for a grandmother. I sure am glad she was born, oh, you know, more than forty years ago. We'll just leave it at that. Love you mom!

Tate is Seven

2009-08-13T00:03:00.002-04:00

This cute guy just turned seven, and boy, was he ever happy about it. His birthday is on August 2nd, which tends to fall during our big Williams family reunion in NH. This means he gets to celebrate with Abby (birthday, July 30th) and Grandma (birthday, August 4th). He also gets extra presents from aunts and uncles who are around for the reunion. This year Tate walked away with a skateboard, a new DS game (something about Legos), a little RC car (that is broken and needs to be replaced), and enough Lego sets to build a second addition to the NH House.

He is also working on his camera smile.

TEN things about TATE

#1. Legos. Tate loves Legos. LOVES them. Loves to build them. If you are ever wondering what to get Tate, you can count on Legos. And he is good at building them. Never needs help. Doesn't want it. He is amazing at this.

#2. He is great at sports. This year Tate started learning karate. Man, is he ever good. He tries hard, practices often, and was one of the best students in his class. We shouldn't be surprised. It is good to find an outlet for all that energy and, um, aggression.

#3 and #4: Brothers and pancakes. This picture contains some of Tate's favorite things: his brothers and pancakes. If Tate could live off of pancakes he would. His favorite toppings are peanut butter and jelly with whipped cream. All at once. I am not even kidding. And he really loves these guys. They play all the time. They fight, but if you sit with Tate and ask him about his brothers, he tells you how much he loves them. He is fiercely loyal and watches over them, too. I don't worry so much about the other boys when I know Tate will be with them.

#5 Tate is CUTE! And I mean cutecutecutecutecute. He has these BIG brown eyes and this sparkling smile. He also happens to look exactly like his baby brother, Walker. This is actually photo of Tate when he was a year old. It isn't Walker. I know - totally looks like him.

#6. Tate knows his scriptures and has faith. He can tell you scripture stories, he can recite Articles of Faith that he has memorized, he can recall names and places from the scriptures better than I can (way better). He understands the power of prayer and isn't afraid to use it in his life. His faith is such a strong example to me.

#7 SMART! Tate is a smart kid. I mean, everyone thinks their child is smart. But this one is sharp as a whip. Trust me, he is watching and taking it all in. He reads way above his grade level. He does math like a human calculator. He is one bright chico. He also has this wonderful warm personality that really attracts people to him. The other children in his classes always like Tate. He has this smile that engages you instantly, and he has a hard time keeping it under wraps! He just can't stop smiling.

I just think this picture is so cute. He is four.

#8. He adores this little guy. This is Tate with Walker shortly after Walker was born. These brothers are like two peas in a pod. They had the exact same stats at birth (7lbs, 4 oz, 19 inches). They looked exactly the same, and still do. They are both little guys with strong, shining personalities. He loves being with Walker, playing with him, soothing him, making him happy. He is a fantastic big brother.

#9 Chef. Tate loves to cook. He likes to watch Bobby Flay on Food Network. He is a great help to me in the kitchen. Oh, and speaking of TV, he also loves to watch "Wipeout." Don't we all?

#10. Tate is a beautiful artist. He has a very creative mind and loves to make projects and wonderful pictures.

I am so grateful that Tate is in our family. He means so much to me and being with him makes me feel so happy. He makes all of us so happy! From the second he entered this world he has added spunk and excitement to our family and we love him sooooooooo much!

Beach

2009-08-10T00:12:00.003-04:00

Well, "beach" might be a bit of an overstatement. Here in Massachusetts we have a coastline and lots of real beaches, with the ocean and waves and rocks and lobsters, etc. etc. etc. But that also comes with at least an hour drive, a very very long walk from the parking lot to the beach, and a $30 parking fee. Since it was just the boys and this tired mom, we drove to Hopkinton State Park, paid $5 to park right next to the sand and hit the local beach. Sand, water, and friends. The boys were happy. We went with our friends the Martins, and the two Seths, Tate, Max, and Finn had fun. Walker was a little slow to warm up to all the new textures, but was won over by the plastic sand trucks.

Walker wasn't nuts about the water, so the boys made a pool for him instead. Then Seth plopped him down in it.

This isn't so bad after all.

Foil Packets and Sous Chefs

2009-08-09T22:59:00.003-04:00

This summer our boys have chores. During the school year they have some chores - mostly light ones that involve taking responsibility for their belongings. But because school is out and we didn't sign them up for camps, we figured they would have time to take on some additional work. They have been fantastic. We have hardly heard a whine from them when it is time to do chores. They clean bathrooms, vacuum, dust, take out the garbage/recycling, mop, weed, anything. It is incredible to see them work hard and the pride on their faces. And it sure is nice to have help around the house!

One of the chores is Sous Chef. One boy each week is my sous chef. He gets to pick out a dinner, a breakfast, and a snack or dessert to prepare. During Seth's week we knocked off two birds with one stone as he fulfilled his chores and passed off a few Cubscout achievements. He planned and prepared foil packet dinners for our family. The ingredients included ground beef, onions, green peppers, potatoes, carrots, and lots of seasoning salt. He wrapped it all up in foil, and Doug helped him grill it. He then made Aunt Ginger's Cool Whip, cottage cheese, and Jello salad. All by himself!

Here is the chef himself with his dinner...

Walker also indulged.

Tate provided some entertainment.

And of course, S'mores for dessert (how good does that look?).

Mmmmmmm...

Oh ya, this guy was a fantastic sous chef. I would hire him in a heartbeat.

The Fourth of July

2009-08-03T21:38:00.002-04:00

Our Fourth of July started out with no expectations whatsoever and ended up a lot of fun spent with good friends. Doug was on call all weekend so we didn't make any sort of plans. Family was all out of town, and we planned on a low-key day. Then our good friends, the Apkes, called and invited us over for an impromptu barbecue. They had also planned a mellow day as they were flying out of town the next morning. We had juicy burgers and delicious sides. The kids had a ball playing together as they always do. Here are some pics from the evening...

Max and Thomas. Max is just like Jonathan - many many goofy pictures of this one.

Andrew swinging...

Tate and Mason. These two are great buddies and it is so fun to watch them together.

Ahhh...I love this photo of this baby girl. She is the youngest Apke, and between our two families we have seven boys and one girl. She is the princess!

Ecotarium

2009-08-02T23:01:00.002-04:00

There has been a lot of rain this summer, and thank goodness for museum passes. We bought a family pass to the Ecotarium in Worcester. The Ecotarium is a science and nature museum. It is small enough that I don't worry about the kids getting lost. It is big enough that we can spend several hours there and not get bored. And it is thirty minute away, with free parking. What else can a mom with four boys ask for? Well, besides a babysitter.

Here are the boys in a giant burrow. There are a bunch of dead rodents incased in plexiglass in there. Kind of gross. Max was able to identify the rodent he saw in our yard this summer (a shrew, in case you were wondering).

I can't remember what this thing is called, but the boys really like it. There is a pen attached to the pendulum and you swing it to make a drawing.

Africian millipede. This must be a museum favorite because we saw one the next week at the Boston Museum of Science. The boys would NOT touch it. Chickens.

This was Walker's first adventure in a museum kidspace. He thought it was all pretty cool. Especially the little chairs and tables. Here he is sitting at the table (can you imagine how many germs are on that finger?).

Playing with the puzzle (in his own way)...

And I just really liked this one. Great lighting. Same exact place/time. Oh, I love this little guy.

Walker

2009-07-22T13:41:00.004-04:00

I thought it was about time to write a little bit about Walker. He is now walking (took him 16 1/2 months to get there). His food faves right now are bananas, pretzel, Popems, and he will actually still eat some veggies (I know these days are fleeting). He loves being with his brothers. For the most part he tends to putter around the house with some random item in hand and just likes to go around pulling things out of place. Do you remember when your high school physics teacher told you about gases, and how they tend toward a state of chaos? That sums up Walker right now.

Here he is in Walker Position, which makes my brother Jonathan's knees ache just lookin' at him.

Now, I know this one is blurry, but a few people asked to see him kneel-walking, and this was the best I could do. He spent 3 months walking around like this. Ouch.

Ooooh, I just love these feet! I think I have posted a Walker feet picture before because they are so darn cute. I think this one even has the realism of some toe fuzz in it. We had this car seat up in our kitchen for a few weeks when it was enroute from the garage to the attic (I know, this is just how it is around here). Walker spent so much time sitting in it. Don't know what the attraction was, but it kept him occupied and out of cabinets and drawers. THOSE FEET!

Yummy, he loves chocolate chip cookies too! those eyes! But there is something you should know about these cookies...

These are not any ordinary cookies. They are made from BEANS. Ya. Pinto beans. That is the "fat" in the cookie batter. And you may be thinking to yourself "heck, put chocolate chips in anything and it is tasty" but I am here to tell you that unless you are Walker, this is not so. These were pretty gross. They should be called "chocolate chip and drywall cookies," because that is exactly how they tasted.

Ahhh, here is his buddy Zara from up the street. Isn't she beautiful? They are Bus Stop Buddies. We hang out waiting for the bus to come pick up the older siblings. I want him to marry her some day. Unless he marries Katherine. I am ok with that too.

AH! Talk about EYES! If you look closely in her eyes you can see the rest of us reflected in them!!! Look at how many exclamation points I needed to use to emphasize this.

Graduation

2009-07-08T14:17:00.002-04:00

Max's preschool graduation was a few weeks ago (yes sirree I am about two weeks behind in this blog). It was so funny. All the kids made t-shirts to serve as their graduation "gowns". These shirts were HUGE. And all the kids in each class made a handprint and signed their name on each shirt. It is a cute keepsake, though considering it goes down to Max's calves, I don't think he will be wearing it again any time soon.

Max is in the lower left corner, front row.

Yep, there he is! Singing a song.

And doing actions to some song. He might be a little out of time with his classmates. No, I am sure they are all out of time with him. Right?

Walking over the bridge and getting his diploma with Miss K. (Kampersal) and Mrs. Corbin.

Sophia walking to get her diploma (I had a hard time getting good shots of her class).

Here is Alex with his teachers. He and Max were in the same class.

The happy graduate (don't ask me what the problem is with the lady behind him). I tried to crop this better but gave up. The police officer behind him is the Chief of Police here in Ashland.

Max and Alex in their classroom - their old classroom!

The boys and Christopher. These three guys and...

this guy (Nicholas) were best buddies this year. They spent most of the time wrestling just like this. In fact most of my pictures of Max with any of these three other boys were blurs of them on the ground, rolling around. I had to fight the urge to toss them a Scoobie Snack.

Graduation was a fantastic end to a wonderful year. Max loved his class, loved these three guys, loved his teachers. He had so much fun and grew a lot. He got to go apple picking and to an animal farm. He learned all about different countries and cultures, healthy bodies, the seasons, computers, science, etc. He ate lunch there and now plays a mean round of Freeze Dance ("I Like to Move It Move It"). He is one excited, newly-minted kindergartner.

Last Days of School

2009-07-05T21:58:00.002-04:00

School is finally out. We went clear through until the last week in June. Luckily, the weather seemed to agree with the school calendar and we had a cold, wet June. Here are a few pictures from the last few days of school.

Seth and Tate rode their scooters to and from the bus stop every day that they could. At the bus stop all the neighborhood kids would play "Cops and Robbers" on their scooters. I still can't believe no one broke anything.

This is Tate's first grade teacher, Mrs. Taylor. Seth also had her last year. We loved her! She was wonderful with the boys. She is fun, creative, spontaneous, and a wonderful reading teacher. Tate is reading at a 4th or 5th grade level this year. Seth is doing the same. We will miss her!

Tate's class had an end-of-year ice cream party. Is there a better way to celebrate the coming of summer?

Decisions, decisions...

Who wants whipped cream? (who doesn't?)

Seth's class also had an ice cream party. The boys' classrooms were right across the hall from each other.

Seth and Mrs. Kane, his second grade teacher. She was so kind and sweet. She really looked out for him this year. He has become a math whiz! And he grew so much emotionally, too. He is this happy and kind boy who looks out for his friends.

Tate had a few big projects this year. One was a Celebrate America project. He chose to make the White House, which was great for me because I could pass it off on to Doug. They really got in to it and made a fantastic, 3-D White House. Tate worked so hard and actually made most of it. Doug put together the box, then Tate did all the other cutting and gluing, including the door, windows, portico, porch, roof, etc. Maybe we have an architect in the making.

His other big project was a Helen Keller diorama. They read the Helen Keller story in class. Tate wanted to make a diorama of the scene at the water pump. By the time I took this picture the diorama had been to and from school (on the bus, to boot) and then hanging around the house. This might explain why Annie Sullivan's head looks like it is about to topple off. If you look closely, you can see the water spout. It is the little black pipe cleaner between Annie and Helen. We put plastic wrap (to look like water) coming out of it, then made a puddle out of sparkly blue puff paint on the bottom. Very cool.

Baseball

2009-06-30T23:43:00.002-04:00

Seth played baseball for the second season this spring. He was on the Braves and they were a fantastic team. Good hitters, good throwers/catchers, and they even had a few sweet pitchers. The team was also full of nice, nice kids which is the best part. Coach Dave was a great coach and cheerleader, very supportive of everyone.

Batter up!

Heading for home...

Playing second base (there is no way that left foot was coming off of that base)...

In the dugout...

goodgame, goodgame, goodgame...

Awww...

The Braves. Seth is the second from the left in the top row of players. Doug is in the middle with the red hat on. He was as assistant coach. Coach Dave is the second from the last, in the white shirt.

Trophy time!

And...SUMMERSAULTS! SOMERSAULTS?! Don't know how to spell that. For some reason the boys were really in to this...

Tate was so happy to see his buddy Armen at one of Seth's games. They are the giggliest boys ever.

All through baseball and t-ball season this little guy was amazing. He finally broke down during the last game. Of course, I grabbed the camera and photographed him before picking him up and consoling him. Poor kid. Still cute though, huh?

Max is Five

2009-06-22T10:47:00.006-04:00

Max turned five years old last week. He has been waiting for this day for two months now, ever since his cousins and friends started turning 5. He was King for the day. Here are the highlights, written on his birthday:

He started out his day with breakfast in bed. He was thrilled beyond words to have the privilege of eating breakfast not only outside of the kitchen, but in bed. In mom and dad's bed! With the TV on! He is so happy about this that he has been eating it since 7:30 AM (it is now 10:49 AM). Each time we pull him away to do something (like open gifts) he makes sure he will be able to go back to breakfast in bed. Play with his new play dough, breakfast in bed. Play with his new Bendaroos, breakfast in bed. I told him I would have to shut it down soon. Foodborne illnesses and all.

Here are Five Fabulous Things about Max.

#1. He is a happy, enthusiastic guy. He loves life like no one else! He is always ready to laugh, to play, to dance, to clown around. Whenever I write/talk about him, I always end with "he is such a nut." So much energy in that five year-old body!

This is my favorite Max pic right now. I didn't even edit the thing. Look at those eyes. LOOK at those EYES! He is wearing his favorite Ashland townie hat. It is for A-1 Bark & Mulch, where we get our mulch from (when we get around to mulching). Didn't happen this year. Macy, is this not one of my best?!

#2. He is not a picky eater! And to this mom, who gets complaints all the time about what's for dinner, this is heaven. He will try anything, and his tastes actually go beyond mac 'n' cheese and Ramen noodles. He loves guacamole. He loves Indian food. Mexican food. Chinese food. He loves steak. Asparagus. All kinds of different foods. Halelujiah. But his favorite dinner is still Ramen Noodles.

#3. He is a smart! He knows what is going on around him. Very aware! And he remembers everything! "Mom, remember when..." He remembers when he was younger. He remembers promises made weeks before. And he will not let you forget either!

#4. He is generous. If Max brings home a treat from school, he is always so sweet and shares it with his brothers (and sometimes his parents, too). He shares his toys. He loves to share with Walker. He doesn't want anyone to be unhappy.

#5. Max gives the BEST hugs. Wow. He is an affectionate guy, sensitive guy. If he sees I am cross (boy, is that putting it mildly) or sad, he will run up and give me a big hug. Sometimes he tells me "I love you always, mom!" He is always ready with a big hug and squeeze.

Max has his own little personality and is such an important part of our family. He makes us all better people!

Max at his Splash Bash birthday party (complete with Slip 'N' Slide)

Boy, does Max ever adore THIS little guy.

Grrrrr...

2009-06-22T10:37:00.003-04:00

No photos this time, only complaints. So if you are not in the mood to hear some whining, skip this post. Our DSL stinks. It is driving me crazy, and Doug only slightly less crazy. It works erratically, which means when we call to get help it seems to work just fine, until the next day. Or when we really really need to access something online. We have spent hours on the phone with Verizon. Every time we call we bank at least a half or so on the line with them. When we finally get a customer service rep on the line, we are then forced to run through several drills - unplugging, plugging, turning on, turning off, run this test, go to this site, wait 3 minutes, power off, power on, run around the room three times, bellow at the moon... argh. It is making me crazy. Last Monday I got to clear my schedule to wait for someone to come out from Verizon (ok, he was really nice, but still). He did something in the street, and yes! It worked great. Until Wednesday morning. Now we are back to slow, slow, slow. Called again, at which point I was told the only problem is we have the "slow plan." Clearly taking pity on the crazy woman on the other end of the line, the Verizon guy upgraded us for free. By Friday we were back to slow, slow, slow. I call again. Spend another 30 minutes on hold. Get someone on the line, who then has me plugging, unplugging, finding new phone cords, running my DSL unit all over the house, and tells me there is a lot of "noise" on the line (TELL me about it). So here I am again, waiting for yet another Verizon worker to come out and "check out the line." They were supposed to be here at 10. It is now 10:46. I am beginning to think this is all a plot on the part of Verizon to drive this particular housewife out of her mind. It is totally working. If you are still reading this, you must be pretty bored, or equally frustrated with your online service provider.

Mailbox

2009-06-16T23:11:00.005-04:00

When I blogged about my great Mother's Day, I forgot to mention my gift! This was our mailbox the week before Mother's Day. It was already pretty weak and wobbly - the hole it was set into was too loose for it's size, and the mailbox itself was a $10 beauty from Home Depot. Then it got friendly with a few snowplows this winter, and this is what we were left with after the spring thaw.

So Doug and the boys got busy.

This is the most fun they have ever had making a gift for me.

Duct tape IS strong!

They dug a deep hole and started working on the cement (no more wiggly mailbox).

Ta-da! Here is the finished product! Isn't it pretty? As I was taking this picture I couldn't figure out what was missing, until it dawned on me...I still need to order our address stickers. Heck, it has only been a month now.

T-ball

2009-06-16T21:36:00.002-04:00

Spring arrived and that meant t-ball. Tate has a summer birthday, so he was stuck playing t-ball as a first grader. At first we thought he would be miserable because he has been hitting off of pitches for a while now. As it turned out, he loved being one of the best players on the team and had a blast. We are glad we didn't push to have him moved up to baseball. Here are some pictures from Tate's season.

Ready position (in other words, quit goofing around and pay attention!).

Ah, the plum field position...Pitcher's Mound.

Tate had a fantastic coach. Coach Adam was tough with the kids and they LOVED him! He was great with Tate too. Kept him focused and really let the team soar. I am so surprised he never got beaned with the bat though. That is Tate at bat, and actually his cousin, Sophia, is in the background with her coach.

CRACK!

Running the bases. Love the tongue sticking out.

Here is the team after the game, getting ready for the big "Two! Four! Six! Eight!" cheer.

And of course, that age-old tradition of "shaking" hands with the opposition after the game. Can't you just hear the chorus - "goodgame...goodgame...goodgame..."

After the game, after the cheer, after shaking hands, the teams would have a "around the bases" relay. Of course, this was after chanting "RE-LAY! RE-LAY!". One team starts at home base, and the other starts at second. The baton is a baseball, and whichever team gets all their players around first wins. WOW. I think the kids are more competitive over this than the actual t-ball game. Especially one child in particular - ours.

Tate's jersey number was #2 this year. Their team was the Muckdogs, which is a single A team that plays out of upstate New York.

Alex and Sophia played t-ball too, just having made the age cut-off. Max was very disturbed not to have made the cut-off. He is dying to play. Here is Alex in the outfield during the game their team played Tate's.

And here is Soph on the bench, having just hit and run the bases. These two are so cute, with their intensity and skinny legs. I think Soph just wanted to hit the ball off the t so that she could get batting over with, run the bases, and get back to the bench to chit chat.

Tate's team also played Audrey's team. Isn't she so great in her hat? Love the pink glove. Good little player, too.

And every good t-ball game needs a cheering section. Here is Jane, Audrey's little sis. She is SMI-LEY! Her blue eyes just kill me.

And of course the most faithful fan, Walker with Dad. He went to each and every game without a wimper or a whine. He was SO awesome.

Quiet

2009-06-04T15:14:00.002-04:00

Right now I am just sitting at our counter, and things are quiet. Not a whole lot of that around here, but there you have it. Walker is in bed napping. Max is sitting in the room next to me watching "Arthur" on PBS. So I thought I would catch up on what has been going on around here.

Max has been home sick this week. He had a fever/sore throat on Sunday and Monday, and I guess these days that means a mandatory week out of school. So he has been having a blast hanging out with Walker and me the last four days. One day left of his quarantine. He asks me every half hour when Seth and Tate will be home. I think this might just be getting a bit boring for him.

Walker is, well, he just might be thinking about walking. Maybe. He had his 15 month check-up last week and his doctor is not worried, but it sure is funny to watch him. Last week he decided that crawling was too uncool for a toddler of his age, and started getting around on his knees. Not hands and knees, just knees. So he is kneeling all over the house. One day we will achieve full-uprightedness. I really need to get a photo of the knee bit though.

A few weeks ago we had friends stay with us. We met the Nelsons when we lived in Syracuse, NY. We were just moving out as they were moving in. They have FIVE boys, sprinkled throughout the same ages as our boys. The kids all had so much fun. They didn't have a lot of time to spend together - our kids were still in school and had a father-son campout to attend - but you would think they had been best friends since birth, they all got a long so well. It is great for the kids to have other boys their age from church to play with. We are going to try and get together another time this summer so the kids can really get in to some trouble together. As a mother of boys, I love sitting and talking to Erin about their boys and how they handle different situations.

Well, it is 3:21PM and the bus is due any moment, which means pandemonium (the good kind). I am excited and ready for the kids today!

Bennett

2009-06-01T11:18:00.002-04:00

Megan just had her baby one week ago today. Bennett Ward Peterson checked in to the world at 8 pounds, 10 ounces (is that right?) and 20.5 inches. She doesn't blog, so I am going to throw these pics up here for her. He is a cute little guy and soooooo snuggly. I love the way new babies feel in your arms - they are just the perfect heft and warmth and so cuddly.

He is digging his pacifier. Lucky mom.

Does he look like his dad or WHAT? I would say "let's call him Tom Jr." except that his big brother Jack already has that title. Megan says Bennett looks just like Jack did when he was born.

And just one more...

Megan and Bennett are doing well, especially now that the jaundice is under control. He is eating like a champ and is adored by his older siblings. Adored. A lot.

BYU Ballroom Dancers

2009-05-26T22:00:00.002-04:00

Man oh man, did our kids EVER have a blast with these guys. They are BYU Ballroom Dancers. The group have been touring this month, driving across the country. They made a stop in our humble little Ashland and gave a fantastic performance. It was a beautiful and electrifying show. The three older boys came with me and we loved every minute of it. The dancers were all amazing and the show was breathtaking.

We were lucky enough to have these four stay with us for a few nights.

Tia, Scott (with Max on his lap), Adam (with Tate), and Ben (with Seth).

They joined in our family home evening on Monday night. They boys got to ask them questions about where they grew up, where they live now (Utah), what sports they like to play (baseball, snowboarding, competitive dancing), and what their favorite dance style is (traditional and Latin). Seth got to show off his karate moves from his tournament last fall.

The kids got a kick out of the video on Adam's phone:

And of course, a silly face picture:

The boys had so much fun with them. They romped around, played catch, and goofed off. They really made an impact on our children. I loved how they kept talking about their missions, school, and their families. The kids were crying and crying when they had to say goodbye. We are so grateful that we got to know these amazing men and wish them all the best in their futures. They will make fantastic fathers, and are always welcome to stay with us if they are in our neck of the woods!

Fame and Weather

2009-05-18T22:53:00.002-04:00

Last week Tate's first grade class had a special visitor - Harvey Leonard. For those of you who are not as crazed about news and weather as I am, he is the chief meteorologist on Channel 5 here in Boston. He rocks. Tate's teacher (the cute blonde lady in the black and white dress) applied for a grant to build a weather station here at the school. She rocks too.

Mr. Leonard had several minutes to kill while waiting for his cameraman to show. Um, cameraperson (though it was a guy). He was great with the kids, teaching them about the weather and asking them all kinds of questions. He was good at keeping them engaged and interested. We need him to come over and run a FHE for us, because Doug and I never get this kind of respect.

THIS is the weather station! Not too shabby, huh?!?!? It has a thermometer, a wind gauge, a barometer, an anemometer, etc. I am not even sure what that last word is, but I know it is in there. A volunteer built the platform. Info can be gathered outside, or inside via a remote computer if the weather is lousy. I mean, this stuff is sophisticated! The kids then give a weather report each morning over the PA system. The report also gets phoned around to the other Ashland schools.

Tate was enthralled. In fact he was so enthralled he forgot to say the weather poem. He also forgot to sing the weather song.

Here he is again, forgetting to define "anemometer." Well, I guess I can't complain about that one, since I have no idea what the heck it is either.

Here he is giving me the classic Tate Face. He totally knows he is goofing off. While Harvey Leonard was talking to them, my child was standing in the back playing with dirt. He came home at the end of school and yelled enthusiastically that he was going to be on the 5 o'clock news. I wasn't sure how to break it to him that they probably weren't going to air the clip of the boy digging in the dirt, not singing the weather song, not reciting the weather poem, not defining "anemometer."

The class did end up on the news, for about 15 seconds. Maybe 10. But still! I heard the word "Ashland" and then we saw a nanosecond of the back of Tate's head, down at the bottom of the screen. The kid is famous. Tate also rocks!

Mother's Day

2009-05-17T23:30:00.003-04:00

Mother's Day at our house is FUN for me. Every year Doug and the boys make breakfast for me in bed. I love to eat fruit, so Doug goes out on Saturday night and buys all kinds of crazy fruit, whatever he can find. Then he wakes up early on Sunday and washes and chops and cuts and peels. He puts it all on pretty plates and a cute tray, complete with juice and, well, and FOUR forks, because the boys know they will be dining with me. They can barely wait for me to pull myself up off my pillow before jumping on the bed and diving in to the fruit. Keep in mind that any other day of the week, fruit is not this big of a deal to them. But on Mother's Day, well, that is a different matter.

Poor Walker, he is trying so hard to get in on the action...

Come on guys, PLEASE?!

We had a great day. The family came over for dinner (thanks again, Doug, for grilling up some fantastic ribs!) and Doug made this huge fruit salad out of all the breakfast leftovers. Delish. I also received so many presents from my cute boys - pictures, plants, cards, paintings, birdhouses (yep, you read that right). I was Queen for the day. Only 358 days until the next one.

Open House

2009-05-13T23:04:00.002-04:00

Max had his preschool open house a few weeks ago. His teachers did a real bang-up job organizing it. The projects they came up with were amazing! Each classroom was a different continent, and the children had projects in each classroom. We had passports, and as we traveled from room to room our passports got stamped. The kids loved it.

Here is Max in "South America." His class made this pyramid out of (what else?) sugar cubes. Did anyone else make sugar cube pyramids? I definitely remember making sugar cube pyramids in elementary school. Mine represented the Egypt pyramids. I am pretty sure we were in South America in this room though. I think. I mean, I am kind of sure. Oh jeesh, who knows. Are there even pyramids in South America?

For Max everything is "infinity." Infinity Dollars sounds pretty good to me, too.

This project was hilarious. That isn't Actual Max on that bike, but a photo of Max, that he then cut out and pasted on to the bike. I believe this was in Europe, in a display about Paris. He is going to correct me on all these continents, I just know it. Anyway, I was laughing pretty hard when I saw this display.

Here is Max's teacher with him (and me - he got uncharacteristically shy). No clue why the photo came out so lame compared to the others. Still learning...and didn't have time to pretty it up (i.e. Photoshop).

Did anyone catch that CRAZY Celtics game on Sunday night?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Wow.