Oh...That Was A Rule?

Why is it that rules only become understandable when they are broken? - And the person breaking the rule is CAUGHT...

Take for instance my rule of no kicking/throwing objects in the house...like a soccer ball. For some reason my daughters, ages 13 & 11 apparently saw no reason for this rule. Therefore, they commenced this activity. Of course they never expected me to find out about their game, as I was upstairs feeding the baby at the time. Unfortunately, a tremendous crash followed by the sound of breaking glass clued me in to the idea that perhaps my children were up to something that was clearly AGAINST THE RULES.

Of course they were sorry...they are ALWAYS sorry. Of course they didn't mean to break anything - they never MEAN to break things. Of course they tried to lay blame on others, "It wasn't my fault...I didn't kick it" or "It wasn't my fault...I didn't MEAN to kick it at the chandelier" or "Well, it was Oliver's fault too...he was playing with us." Of course they didn't like my take on the situation: Everyone who was playing was at fault - you ALL knew it was wrong. (Although I did get after the older girls a bit more than the six-year-old.)

Next example: Don't slide down the banister. Especially when your two-year-old sister is watching... I guess it isn't a big deal...unless you are CAUGHT! The "guilty-oops" look is a classic in our house. Quickly followed by some lame excuse.

Another frequent example: No gum chewing in the house...or car...or church. That leaves only outside. Yet they always ask to buy gum...where are they going to chew it? So at least once a week I am speaking with a child when I stop mid-sentence and ask, "Are you chewing gum in the house?" Or perhaps I spy gum stuck on the side of their dinner plate...eww...and dare to ask why it is there when they are NOT allowed to chew gum in the house. This is followed by a sheepish grin and another lame excuse on why they thought it would be ok. Which I guess it would have been if I hadn't CAUGHT them. And no, I do not buy it for them...I assume it comes from other well-meaning sources.

Then we have the "No eating outside the kitchen rule". Yeah right. In my dreams this might be a reality. The kids walk around blissfully snacking until they run into me...then it's the famous "busted" expression and usually an "I forgot". I sometimes get a bit fed up and whatever they are snacking on goes right in the trash. Other times I am too nice. I'm sure the gamble makes it worth the risk. More often than not I usually catch them by finding the evidence they leave behind. Trash or half-eaten food in their room, crumbs or spills on the carpet, etc. Occasionally I am treated to the "Well, someone else must have put it there to try to get me in trouble" - that one amazes me the most.

And the list goes ON and ON!
- Don't stand or jump on or off of the furniture
- Don't come into my bathroom without knocking
- Please don't potty on the bathroom floor, AIM
- When you make a mess or spill something, clean it up
- If your shoes are caked with mud please take them off BEFORE stepping on the carpet
...and on and on...

So why all this venting? Christmas vacation - kids have been home for a couple of weeks and, although I love them dearly, my hope...my wish...my desire is for them to try a LITTLE harder to follow those seemingly pointless rules. (Yes, even when I am not looking.)

Seguin Heritage Days - Oct.

Each fall Seguin hosts a "Heritage Days" for the community. It's all about agriculture, history, pecans, and activities and games for the kids. One of the highlights for the kids is purchasing a treat from the bake sale. They also love completing the scavenger hunt and found a new treasure at the old-time store...old fashioned candy sticks. (Yes...lots of candy/sugar was present.)

This year the Heritage Days fell on October 23. It was a beautiful Saturday - don't let the clouds fool you - it was still pretty hot with temps in the 90's. For some reason I let the kids talk me into taking them. It was just Abagail, Simon, Oliver, Amelia and I. We walked around for hours checking out all the events.

I thought for sure all the walking in the heat would spur on labor...not AT the event, but later that evening. I was seriously surprised when it didn't even cause contractions - just fatigue. (Course Joshua was born two days later so maybe it did get things jump started...just s.l.o.w.l.y.)

I love this picture. We had a heck of a time getting the kids up on that hay bail.

Kids doing some of the activities.

Posing with the strangest turkey in town.

Each year, so far, we have had Oliver pose with "his" tractor.

An attempt to catch up...

Oh wow - I am woefully behind on blogging. According to this, my online photo journal, my sweet little Joshua hasn't even been born yet.

Since he has been born I've been a bit busy and sleep deprived. Not to mention that most of my typing is done one-handed while holding or feeding him. Also, not to mention that I lost all my reasoning brain cells when this child was born. I can no longer complete a sentence or spell correctly - so everything takes twice as long.

So. I will attempt to catch up...and not fall too much farther behind in the process.

I Wonder...

...When the day comes that I no longer have to clean linens from a soiled bed...will I be giddy or sad?

Same goes for the day that I no longer need to clean urine off the bathroom floor, wall, or toilet.

Restless...

I am restless.

It's been a weird day. Had so much to do and didn't feel like getting anything done. So I slowly plugged away at some things...but not everything. Then tonight when all I wanted to do was be done I decided to clean the bathrooms, do laundry, and finish the kitchen - all in between getting the kids baths and to bed.

Not the most efficient timing but at least some of the items on my "to do" list are gone until Monday. I know I couldn't have relaxed at all tomorrow if they were still hanging around.

P.S. Poll - does anyone else feel crazy when their children simply cannot keep a room clean? I had them clean up the family room probably a dozen times today. Maybe that is why after they were all upstairs I had to finally give it a good once over...so it will stay done for the approximately 8-10 hours that they will be asleep.

Our New Friend - Olivia

My girls get a big kick out of dressing up and using their imaginations...kind of reminds me of Lysa and I as children. Anyway, usually Amelia is their target of choice. For some reason last week Oliver volunteered.



I was busily working on a project when I the girls came into my room to introduce me to their new friend, Olivia. Oliver was so pleased and REALLY wanted me to take his picture and put it up on our family blog.

So....here he is. I'm sure this will give Marc, Keith, and Brian flashbacks to the torture Lysa and I put them through...even though they were very willing at the time. :)

School Spirit

I was never really into homecoming as a teen - even when I was in High School myself. This year all I heard about in the week leading up to homecoming was, "can I go to the game, mom?" and "can I dress up and paint my face?" and "all my friends will be there". This was from the girls - they were pretty excited to go. Gabriel was a bit more casual about it. His only concern was if I was going to come watch his program. Gabriel really enjoys hanging out with the band and does a great job with his marching.

I don't think I went to more than one HS football game in my 4 years of HS...and I never went when I was in the younger grades. I guess with three children in band I'll be making up for that now.


Each weekend the kids and I head out to cheer Gabriel and Katrina on at their cross country meets. Some of the meets are pretty far. The last one was 1-1/2 hours away. The team was treated to lunch by their coach after the meet, so Gabe and Katrina rode the bus home so they could participate. Why oh why didn't I just say, "Have a good time at the meet, call me when you get back to the school"? Nooooo.....I had to drive the rest of the children waaaaay over to the meet, stand in the hot brutal sun for hours, and drive all the way home again.

As it was I received a phone call from Katrina about 20 minutes before I arrived at the meet. She told me that Gabriel was starting his run. My question was whether he was running 2 or 3 miles. If it was 2 miles I would miss it. If he was running 3 I might just make it for the finish. I suppressed the urge to put on the gas (good thing too as I passed a sheriff pulling over the car that had just sped by me) and continued on - hoping to make it. We got to the meet and rushed over to the finish line exactly 60 seconds before Gabriel came running in. We cheered and waved and he was happy as could be that we had made it.

Of course Gabriel would choose THAT day to set his personal record and come in under 20 minutes. Katrina also set a personal record for her 2 mile run. They were so excited and sooo glad that we were there to witness their accomplishments...guess it makes those looong car rides worth it.

Visit to Corpus & Beach!

Our first weekend back in school brought the first Cross Country meet of the season. It was in our favorite place...Corpus Christi. This gave us an excellent reason to drive the 3 hours south to hit the beach for the day!

This was Katrina's first cross country meet. She did awesome. She set a personal record and placed 5th out of the seventh grade girls. She was glowing with excitement and we were so proud of how hard she worked!

After getting all hot and sweaty running - and standing in the blazing heat watching the run - what better way to cool off then head to the beach?

We met up at Mustang Island with Allen's brothers and their families. Going to the beach is great - going with cousins is WAY great. I love the top left photo - I took it right after rescuing Amelia from a "biiiig water" wave.

A day of sun, sand, and surf...what could be better than that.

Our cousins brought some boogie boards and were so nice to share...the kids all had a great time riding the waves!

Hanging out, chatting, laughing, snacking, swimming = tons of fun!

We started our day at 6 am to get to the cross country meet on time. (Of course Katrina and I were up at 3 am to get her to the bus on time.) We got a bit sleepy by the end of the day - especially since we still had a 3 hour drive home.

The kids always build these elaborate sand villages and pits surrounded by walls. Amelia so wants to help but often ends up destroying the creations - making the kids less than thrilled. Aunt Juanita kindly helped Amelia build her very own castle settlement. Funny, she didn't want to break this one.

Let the Band Play On

Gabriel is now in 9th grade (gasp...high school!) - and he has joined the HS marching band.

I had a chance to attend their first performance. Gabriel did a great job! Especially since he was absent for all but 3 days of summer band camp due to being in New Mexico.

I didn't realize what a time commitment HS band was. They practice each Monday night, play at all the football games on Friday nights, and have some Saturday competitions coming up. All this leads up to a spring trip to perform at Disney World in Florida. He's pretty excited about that!

It makes for one busy teenager. His schedule goes something like this:
- Early morning Seminary, each day
- Cross country training after school, each day (due to missing for seminary)
- Monday night - band practice
- Wednesday night - YM at church
- Friday night - Football games, usually from 4-11 pm
- Saturday morning - Cross Country meets, usually from 6:30 am - noon
- Sunday - Church, Firesides, FHE, meetings, home teaching, etc.
- Every other day - try, try, try to keep up on homework, chores, and sleep

...and it's only his first year in high school...

Back to School Bash

We decided to have a celebration to mark the end of summer vacation and the beginning of a new school year. (Hoping to get the excitement level up.)

We had an apple themed party. We ate apples, watched The Apple Dumpling Gang, and played Apples to Apples - one of their favorite games.


Setting up for our movie-picnic lunch.


The kids showing off their favorite treats. We had apples and celery with pb, "pencils" - cheese sticks with raisins, and sandwiches on a stick. Gabriel didn't bother to put his sandwich on a stick so he just showed off his sandwich pile. I love how the kids get excited over simple things that I do for them - 'cause I'm a simple girl and I don't get too fancy.


Abagail helped make our dessert - Smore's popcorn. She did a GREAT job. Now, it did have a good flavor but it was a really big mess to make and eat. It tasted like carmel popcorn with chocolate, graham crackers and a tiny bit of marshmallows. I think next time I would use less popcorn and more graham crackers.

Pretty as Two Princesses...

...and one peeping Prince.


Katrina loves to dress Amelia and herself up. She loves to deck Amelia out in jewelry and paint her toes. Now Amelia likes to wear her pretty-pretty dress all the time. So I have to set rules - like she can't wear it to sleep or go places. She seems to accept it for now. Right now she is upstairs looking for her dress, "Mom, where is it my pretty-pretty dress?" (over and over and over again...guess I should go help her look).

Celebrating 16 Years!

This year we had a special treat to celebrate our anniversary. (Actually it was to celebrate Allen graduating from college with his Bachelor's degree - but we used it for our anniversary.)

My mom set us up at a hotel on the S.A. Riverwalk and dinner at a very nice restaurant. The only time previously to this that we have been away from the kids for a night was when we were interviewing in S.A. for Allen's job - that was 8 years ago. So this was a HUGE treat for us.

We found a great babysitter, made all the arrangements, and had a terrific evening just hanging out, relaxing, eating really good food, and not having to worry about anything. The next day we walked all over downtown S.A. and checked out the Alamo - Allen has lived here 8 years and never visited there - guess he was always working when the kids and I have taken out of town visitors.

It was a really nice, relaxing way to be together. We decided that we needed to do it again sometime - before another 8 years goes by.

Wave Pool Party

Some friends of ours hosted a birthday party at the Seguin Wave Pool. They shared some photos of us from the event.



Of course the older kids were very independent. I expected that. What I didn't expect was that Simon and Oliver were also EXTREMELY independent. I could hardly keep my eyes on them. They hung out in their floaties out in the waves and had a ball. Amelia was also quite independent. I wasn't "allowed" to touch her floatie - she wanted to "swim a-by a-self". We reached a compromise where she would hold on to one end of a pair of goggles and I would hold the other end. She happily hung on while I toted her around the pool.
In the bottom photo you can see her little head barely bobbing above her floatie.

The Leper is Healed

The kids love to do plays. In August the kids found a dramatization of Naaman the leper and Elijah the prophet in the Friend magazine. They thought this would be a perfect FHE lesson.



They each played multiple roles...kings, narrators, Naaman, Elijah, servants, etc. They had a ball. Poor Dad and Gabriel were off camping in New Mexico so they missed out. However, knowing my kids we are not done producing FHE plays.

My Entrepreneurs

For Amelia's birthday she received a $2 box of play food. The older kids quickly confiscated it and set up shop...literally. Each child had their own store or restaurant. Then they would take turns making purchases from each other. This lasted for about a week - all day - every day. It was a great way to kill some of those long summer hours. Oliver and Gabriel got in on the action too...everyone but Amelia who wasn't too interested in her new toy.

Amelia's quip

Here is a new one from Amelia...

"Hey, somebody put a stinky in-a my diaper"



Funniest thing was she was singing along and just slipped that one in. Almost didn't even catch it - except I could smell it.

So fun to hear the things she comes up with.

My Little Angel turns 2 - July

Amelia celebrated her 2nd birthday in July. After singing multiple times to Oliver and then having her own song she became quite the fan of "Happy Birthday to you - me" as she sings it.


Enjoying her treat.


Some darling photos of my darling little girl.


The kids were putting on a play and I was taking photos. Amelia asked me to take her picture - about a million times. Each time she would pose by putting her head on her shoulder. I'm not real sure where she picked this up but it was pretty cute!

Oliver turns the BIG 6! - July

This year we were able to celebrate Oliver's birthday with two groups of cousins. First we celebrated with our Missouri cousins when they visited during the 4th of July. The first group of pictures is from this celebration. Later in the month we had a chance to go swimming with some of our Texas Coleman cousins. We celebrated again poolside with cupcakes and singing. Katrina tried her hand at making homemade fudge frosting for that occasion - she is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen.




Some photos of my sweet, big boy. He is so spontaneous and full of life - it is hard not to smile when he is around.

Katrina's YW Camp

This was Katrina's 1st year at YW camp. They attended Camp Bovay in N. Texas. She had a great time and can't wait until next summer to go again!






Some random photos that one of the leaders took. I have no idea what the blue lips are about, but aren't they oh-so attractive? :)