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He takes baths

The boy is old enough now to know when he’s getting the short end of the stick.  As I was getting ready to leave the house yesterday with several of the girls, he came to me with barely suppressed tears, trying his best to be grown up and mature.
“Mom, can I go with you?”
I kneeled [...]

Potty training the little man

I have to start by saying that I am in awe of my little manchild.
I posted recently about some signs of readiness for potty training, but I am a firm believer in not pushing the issue until I’m reasonably sure the child is ready.  The whole training process seems so much smoother this way.  Smoother [...]

Pumpkin rolls

Cream-cheese-filled Pumpkin Rolls are a longstanding tradition in our house.  My mother-in-law has made them for the masses every Thanksgiving and Christmas for time immemorial, raising enough funds for Christmas shopping to make Santa look stingy.  I sold a few myself back when all of the kids were little, working far into the wee hours [...]

New dress

Bethany has a new dress.  Like every girl,  she’s thrilled to model it for us:

Oops.  She wasn’t quite ready that time.  Let’s try again:

Yoo hoo!  Over here…

That’s better.  Isn’t she so cute you just want to eat her up?  And her dress is cute enough to eat, too.  See?

Who  wants to know where her dress [...]

Milestones that make my day go bump

The Boy knows how to unbutton his shirts.

He doesn’t know how to button them up; he just unbuttons them.

This means that he now feels empowered to change his shirt every time it gets dirty.  Every time.  Do you know how often that happens with a boy?  Do you? DO YOU? [insert maniacal laughter]

And he [...]

Babies, babies everywhere!

My sister just had a baby boy minutes ago, and now my sister-in-law is delivering her boy!  I’m waiting for a phone call any minute…

He’s not a baby

The boy was 2 at the end of June and has shown very little interest in potty training.  It will be nice to have just one in diapers someday soon.  In the meantime we buy them in two sizes: Big baby and little baby.  I’m ok with that, but am trying to exert just a [...]

He didn’t throw the first punch…

…but he threw the last one.
Last night, we got together with much of my extended family: My parents, my own household, a couple of random in-laws and outlaws, 8 of my sibs with their respective spouses, friends-of-the-opposite-sex, and a plethora of children.
Perry buddied up with his cousin Rian, who is exactly one year older - [...]

New dragons to slay

Yesterday 6 of the children had checkups at the dentist.  This was going to be The Boy’s first official turn in The Chair.  This isn’t a scary place for him.  He has climbed up during other sisters’ cleanings and let the dentist look in his mouth, just for fun.  We are here all the [...]

you know you are loved when….

you open your lunch to find…
a homemade personal size pizza and a the last of someone’s personal stash of skittles.
thanks gals you made me smile today.

Discipline

If you know me, I never forward stuff, but this one has me intrigued.  I received the email below from my brother-in-law.  His wife is expecting their first child soon, so they are obviously looking into child-rearing methods.  We’re all for spanking, but this technique has merit too.  I can see how this might work.  [...]

Because she’s too cute to keep to ourselves

It’s easy to get a good smile out of this girl:

If you miss it with the camera, just ask her to smile again.  She’s always happy to comply.

She’s an excellent conversationalist, always deeply interested in what you are saying.

Although she sometimes looks a bit skeptical:

And has an opinion of her own to offer:

When all else [...]

Big-mouth puppet

posted by 7 yo Becca.
Yesterday my sister and I found instructions for a big-mouth puppet.
It was  fun and easy.
This video is going to tell you how to make it.
Please leave a comment if your kids try it.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

She loves me

Our kids love to go to work with their dad, but I sure miss them - especially the younger ones. It feels unnatural to have them gone for so long.  Apparently they miss me too.
They left extra early several days this week, and since they were leaving before most of us woke up, they [...]

He loves his girls

Some might think that a boy with 8 sisters might be a bit sissified.  Not our boy.  He loves his sisters and does everything he can to take care of them.  Already, he defends them daily from bugs and bad guys, using his foam sword or his gun if necessary.  He refers to each of [...]