Quick outside fun before it starts raining...AGAIN!

Today we crept outside to enjoy a few minuets of dry playtime. It has been raining for 2 days and isn't supposed to stop for another 2. I love that Finn has his bike helmet (that is WAY too small for his unusually large head) on to play baseball. What a safety kid!

My absolute favorite part about the humidity is that I almost don't even have to comb Neelah's hair. It curls up so cute without even a spray of water. If only the rat's nest in back would magically untangle...

These kids are too cute together. They really have started to play well with one another. Usually it is Finn trying to get Neelah to do whatever he wants her to do and Neelah going along so that she can be just like her big brother. Sometimes I am lucky enough to hear snippets of their "conversations". Today Finn was giving Neelah a tutorial on how to pitch the ball. It was hysterical. Even though Neelah would only throw the ball 5 or 6 inches, Finn would still swing like he had a chance at hitting it. Classic. And then they would do it all over again.

Learning at a young age...

I love that my kids are eager to help me if I only ask in my "sweet mommy" voice. Today while the girls were napping, I asked Finn if he would help me clean. He looked at me for a minute and then I added that he needed to do some "chores" and then if he did them, he would earn money. He was all about it when I said the word money.

He was so cute using the Swiffer Duster to dust the staircase and the family room. He got the biggest kick out of pushing the button so that the head angled. It was definitely a highlight of his day. When he was done dusting I gave him $.50. He told me that he wanted $1. I explained that if he wanted $1, he had to do another chore...such as mopping the floor. So I set him up with the little mop and he went to town. It wasn't the most sparkling job but most of the dried chocolate milk spots were cleaned up. He worked really hard and earned that $1.

The Disney Channel has this new cartoon on called Special Agent Oso. It is Finn's new favorite. Oso gets called on these "missions" to help kids do random things. For instance, a little boy wants to do the dishes "all by himself" but doesn't know how. Oso is here to help! Hence the above picture of Finn doing his own dishes. Each night he asks if he can wash his dishes and then pulls a chair up to the sink. Of course Neelah has to be in on the action! They almost always soak themselves (the reason Neelah is shirtless) but get the plates wiped clean.

I love my little helper. I know that the day will come when I have to threaten him with dismemberment to do the dishes but for now, I am enjoying it.

Here is a shot of Neelah wanting to be a turtle. At least, that is what Eric called it. We were painting wood rods to make tomato trellis' and she got crazy with the green.

Jewels

"...if every mother regarded her children as the jewels of her life, as gifts from the God of heaven..."

These, Our Little Ones Gordon B Hinkley

How true this is. I come from my quick trip to Utah for my grandparents memorial and Finn can hardly wait to give this to me. I need to read this article every morning before I begin the day with my kids. If only I remembered that they are jewels then maybe I wouldn't be so quick to act annoyed when they tear pages out of my books, spit up all over my clean clothes, or push their sister down. Can you guess which one did what today?

Finn is intelligent and tender. Neelah is charismatic and independent. Savvy is long-suffering and sweet. I just feel so blessed with these kids at this moment even though Finn just dropped a jar of change on the floor and Savvy is upstairs refusing to take a nap. Ironically, Neelah is sleeping through all of it...for the moment.

Weekend with the Sutera's

Jamie, Anthony, Carmine and Braxton came all the way (1 hour :) ) from Virginia on Saturday. We had a big family sleep over. It was great, at least I thought so. Maybe Braxton (on the right) didn't like it so much since Neelah followed him the entire weekend yelling "Mine!!" Plus, he got stuck riding either Neelah's pink trike or Dora truck...whichever one she didn't want at the moment.
Lunch was a real treat. 5 kids are quite a circus. At least they got ice cream with their meals.

Before lunch, we split up with the hubby's and Jamie and I took the youngest 2 kids with us and sent the oldest 3 with Eric and Anthony. They thought they got the easier end of the deal until I get this text from Eric saying that he can't get anything done with all these kids! He was at Sears trying to purchase a ride-on lawnmower. Neelah had to sit on each and every model and Finn and Carmine were running around like maniacs. Welcome to my life. :) Jamie and I went to the craft store and got everything we needed to make our mom's presents. I will post a pic of them after the gifts get to the mom's.
All these pictures are backwards. This was that morning at breakfast. Jamie and Anthony brought bagels from Panera Bread. Holy Crap they were SO GOOD.

I love that we have a house big enough to have visitors.

I am Back!!!

YES! We have finally gotten internet access! It is a Christmas Miracle! So these are a few things that have happened over the last few days.

Last night after dinner, Finn announced that he had to "do his work". By that he meant to use this cool toy to do addition and subtraction. Thanks Grandma Sharlene for such a great learning toy! He was so proud of himself and was sad when it was bath time.

We took advantage of the hour that it wasn't raining and went over to say hi to the horses. Of course Neelah is trying to climb over the fence. She is such a MANIAC!! She is all over the place and always falling off things. Pretty much everything she climbs on which is EVERYTHING. She is so different than Finn. She is anything but mild and I am still getting used to that. If she wasn't so darling I would have lost my mind weeks ago. It's like she turned 2 and THAT DAY decided to be a drama queen. The days of the 8am sleep in are over. Neelah is awake at least 30 min later than everyone else and probley an hour before us all. She lays in her bed or in front of the door and sings at the top of her lungs...all the songs she knows...all inter-mixed together.
It is highly entertaining except when it is completely obnoxious.