Cedar Point With An Almost 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 Year Old

We went to Cedar Point Monday with Grandma, Grandpa, cousins Joseph and Isaac, and their mom Julie. We had a great time!

Celebrating Sydney's First Birthday

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house today to celebrate Sydney's first birthday. She'll be one on Friday. We had a cookout, visited with cousins Joseph and Isaac, and enjoyed cake and homemade ice cream.

Poor Sydney...

Mom feels terrible. Mom REALLY wanted a shower this afternoon. It's really tough with a walking baby in the house. She normally either showers while Sydney sleeps or has Lydia watch Sydney while she showers. However, this afternoon, Lydia was at a friend’s house, Sydney wasn’t tired, and Mom really wanted to go out to dinner without her hair looking like she just got of the pool. There is a playpen in the house, but Morgan likes to dive in with Sydney, and Mom worries about the risk of it tipping.

Therefore, against her better judgment, Mom looked at Seth today and said, “you’re a big kid now. I need you to help me. You have to watch Sydney while I shower.” He was practicing cartwheels in the living room. Mom also said, “whatever you do, make sure Sydney isn’t in the way when you do a cartwheel."

A few minutes later, she heard screaming coming from Sydney. It turns out that Seth did listen. He told Morgan (who weighs 30 pounds) that she had to move Sydney (who weighs 20 pounds) so he could do more cartwheels. Morgan carried Sydney across the room and dropped her on the edge of a table. Sydney now has a scraped bloody nose for her first birthday next week. She's ok other than that though.

Mom is glad it's over :-)

Lydia and Seth have taken group kids' golf lessons all summer at a local golf course. They went every Thursday from 8-9. It was a great deal at $3 a week, and they learned a lot and had fun. However, Mom is thrilled that it's over. To get there on time, Mom had to have all four kids dressed, fed, ,and in the car with water bottles and golf clubs by 7:25 AM. Since Mom is a night person and never goes to bed before midnight, this was not fun!

Lots of Excitement!!!

Morgan went to bed tonight sleeping in her new leotard :-) She didn't want to change out of it into pajamas. The gymnastics and dance clothes and shoes arrived today. She and Lydia loved trying things on and dancing around the house. In the next three weeks Morgan will begin 2 morning a week preschool, dance class, and gymnastics class. She is very excited about all of this. She tells everyone as often as she can what a big girl she is unlike Sydney who is a baby and wears diapers...

Dad's Sunday Night Philly Steak and Cheese's

Mom has to do her grading for the week on Sunday evening/ nights, and Dad usually does dinner. Either ordering pizza or cooking Philly Steak and Cheese Sandwiches has become his Sunday night tradition.

Zoo Camp

The kids went to zoo camp in Fort Wayne again this year. They were there the week of July 19-23, but Mom is running late on posting the pictures. Lydia has gone every summer since she was four, and this was Seth's first year going full days. As always, they had a wonderful time. Lydia is dreaming of being one of the orange shirted teenage volunteers someday, and Seth is wondering if his group will be the goofy giraffes again next year :-)

11 Year Anniversary Dinner Date with a Tag-Along

Tomorrow is Mom and Dad's 11th anniversary. Grandma and Grandpa took the three oldest kids for the night, and Mom and Dad went to a Japanese Steakhouse with Sydney. It was a lot of fun.

Soccer Camp

Last week Lydia and Seth participated in a local soccer camp every evening. It brought out a whole new side of Seth. When we are going somewhere, Seth is normally the last one to have all of his stuff together and be in the van. However, he was so excited to go to soccer that he stayed on top of things all week. One day Mom was looking for him when it was time to go, and she found him buckled in the van with his ball and dinner to eat on the way. Wouldn't it be nice if every day was a soccer day...

Dressed Up Future Dancers

This fall Lydia and Morgan will be taking dance. Last night the dance studio held open house, and Mom took all the girls. (Sydney has to wait a couple years to enroll :-) ) It was an insane place. Mom has never seen so many people packed into such a small space. She was supposed to buy the tights, shoes, leotards, and anything else the dance studio could think of to take Mom and Dad's money. However, she had to teach and knew she couldn't stand in line for hours. She ordered all the necessary attire online later, and the girls are excited to begin next month.

Absolutely Scrumptious

Mom is planning to cook some meals soon to freeze for the busy fall school nights ahead. She's been feeding kids random foods all week that are taking up freezer space to make room. They haven't been Mom's favorite meals. However, Seth was so excited about his pizza rolls. He tried one and said, "these are absolutely scrumptious!" Mom didn't know the word, "scrumptious" was in his vocabulary, but she's happy someone is enjoying frozen food week :-)

Mom's New Hobby

Yesterday Mom decided to make matching dresses for Lydia and her best friend's American Girl dolls. The girls picked out the fabrics and Mom sewed the dresses. Mom enjoyed doing something creative and went back today to buy fabric and accessories for more clothes.

"You gotta understand... this is just the way my life is..."

It's a real sore spot in Seth's life that he's the only boy. He still talks about how the family would have turned out better if there were an equal number of boys and girls. Today we had a little boy over for the afternoon. When he walked into our garage, he said, "Seth, why is everything pink and for girls." This really hit a nerve for Seth. He pointed out the things in the garage that were not for girls. He then explained in his most philosophical tone of voice, "You gotta understand..... this is just the way my life is. I have three sisters and they have lots of pink stuff. A little of the stuff is not pink and mine though." It's a rough life being a boy in our family.

11 Months Old and Lovin' Life

Sydney turned 11 months old today. She had fun playing in the fountains in a park in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. She also enjoyed going to Science Central for the morning. She's walking now but only a couple steps at a time.

Hanging Out With Friends

Today the kids spent most of the day hanging out with their friends. We took Seth's buddy to the pool with us, and he came home with us to play the Wii with Seth. Morgan's friend also came over and played with the Barbie stuff Mom's cousins Breann and Blaine gave her. Lydia had one of her friends she saw at the pool spend the night. Seth was annoyed that Mom wouldn't let his friend spend the night. Mom explained that he wasn't old enough yet. Seth told her that his friend could watch movies and eat as well as any of Lydia's friends :-)

Night at Drive-In Movie to See Toy Story 3

We went to a drive-in movie theater tonight to see Toy Story 3. It was a lot of fun! It was much better for our group than a regular movie theater. The kids loved watching the movie on the huge screen while lying on the ground with their favorite pillows and blankets.

A Little Too Much Help in the Kitchen

Sydney LOVES to climb the dishwasher, pull dishes out of the dishwasher, play with silverware, etc. It's now almost impossible to load or unload the dishwasher with her in the room.

Sunday at Indianapolis Children's Museum

Saturday at Indianapolis Zoo and Dinner Out

On Saturday we met friends Jason and Stephanie and their children at the Indianapolis Zoo. You can see by the ice cream picture that the kids were having a great time with lots of friends. Even Sydney enjoyed the dinner out afterwards.

Friday at Fort Wayne Zoo

We went on a weekend vacation for the holiday. We took one of Lydia's friends with us. We spent Friday at the Fort Wayne Children's zoo.