Up, Up and Away!

Sam's favorite thing to do when he visits grandpa's dental office is to take advantage of the 'good kid' treasure box. This past visit yielded a great treasure.... a foam airplane that soared!

SWING!

Grandma and Grandpa Lee have a huge swing in their backyard. Some kids love it and some don't. Sam, Sarah and Mary love it. Joe doesn't.

St. Johns and the Fair!

A few weeks ago I took the kids to St. Johns to see their grandparents and to get some dental work done.

I felt brave enough to travel by myself with all 4 kids. In hindsight it was a false sense of bravery. The 4 and 1/2 hour drive to the White Mountains was filled with whining (I can't hear the movie, I'm tired, I'm hungry), crying (from all 5 of us), and complaining about our sore bottoms.

I must share: Mary, she's a smart one, kept telling me she was 'stinky' and pointed to her diaper. I decided that sitting in a poopie diaper for another 45 minutes (we were that close) was torture. I pulled off the highway and removed Mary from her car seat. Holding her above my head, her butt to my face, I sniffed her diaper. RATS! I was fooled! She wasn't poopie! She smiled a funny smile. I tried to put her back in her car seat but she only screamed. You know, that heir of Julia scream. After about 10 minutes of bouncing her around and letting her shake her legs out I was able to put her back in her seat. Mary insisted that she had a stinky for the remainder of the trip, funny smile included. I didn't believe her. Would you? We got to our destination safely and without incident. Thank goodness!

The next day I took the bigger kids to grandpa's dental office in Springerville, AZ. The kids had their teeth cleaned and I had some 'work' done.

We hurried home to spend some more time with grandma, make crafts and play in the backyard.

That night we headed off to the annual Apache County Fair. The kids had a great time riding rides (over and over and over) and eating fair-ish foods. Joe and Mary spent most of the evening in their stroller (thanks to grandma) who pushed them around so they could see all the art, food, flower, plants, you name-it exhibits. I decided to let them loose near the end of the night. They had a blast throwing rocks in the air and at people, not on purpose, but still embarrassing. We left the fair with happy and tired kids. It was a great day.

Changing Things Around

We took advantage of Labor Day and did some major work in our house! Poor Mike! His day off from work equalled a full day of work here at home. We decided it was time to separate the kids into 'boy' and 'girl' rooms (Sam and Sarah shared a room and the babies shared a room). I didn't realize how much work it was! Mike dismantled Joe's crib and moved it into Sam's room. Then he took apart the bunk beds that Sam and Sarah were using and moved one bed into Mary's room. How does so much stuff get pushed under beds and cribs? There were books, shoes, food, cups, clothes and toys under Sarah's bed alone! We finished setting up the beds and cribs before the end of the day. The toys, for the most part, were put wherever they could fit.
We felt good about the new arrangement.
Sadly, Joe and Mary took it harder than I thought. They were so used to being in the same room that they were sad and lonely. They screamed for 2 hours at bedtime. Uhh! Sam and Sarah didn't get much sleep that night.

I will post some pics as soon as I am completely finished setting up their rooms.