wordless wednesday

reading & 'rithmatic

lately we've noticed that olivia is growing up so quickly. suddenly she can read everything - it's very odd to go from 4 kids who can't read to suddenly have one kid that reads stuff on tv, at the store, on cereal boxes, on my computer screen, etc.

at bedtime tim reads a book to all the kids, then i usually put olivia to bed and read a chapter book to her. last night i went in to read some junie b jones to her. she already had the book out and she said to me, "mom, just a minute. let me finish this page, then i'll read to you." where did that come from??? and sure enough she could read it to me.

i think we'll have to make a trip to the library for some nancy drew books...that was my late night addiction - but i don't remember being 6 when i read them. mmm...

slow down olivia. you're growing up too fast!! but since you can read now, maybe you can keep your brothers busy and read to them :) thanks!

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the other afternoon olivia got busy with a math book. she absolutely loves doing math problems and working with the number line my mom gave her. can we say a nerd? {yes, i realize she's like me!!}

so after a few hours of doing math, she says "i'm so excited!! when garrett is in kindergarten and HAS to to math i'm just going to sit on the couch and RELAX! it's going to be GREAT!!!!"

like i was making her sit there for hours and do math??

later at supper she started singing to herself "nationwide is on your side"...so perhaps an actuarial career is in her future :) or maybe she's just a nerd who watches too much tv??

party in the tub

josie's almost 1 year old and tonight was the FIRST night of FOUR kids in the bath
not to mention josie's FIRST night in the ring
{we're not overprotective... she just learned how to sit up! ha ha}
check out josie's toy... the first few kids get all the cutesy bath toys
the last one gets the spiderman dive stick!!

when he grows up...

i often wonder what my kids will be when they grow up
a doctor, a supreme court judge, a scientist...
or in ryan's case - a covert spy who sneaks around undetected in the darkness
{oh wait - maybe he'd be a good burglar - ha ha}

ryan is one sneaky & quiet kid

most every night we wake up to find ryan smack dab in the middle of our bed
he's all covered up nicely, just sleeping away
we NEVER hear him come in
we NEVER feel him crawling under the covers
nope, he just slips right in without disturbing us and goes right to sleep

crazy ryan

wordless wednesday

2 ideas

i have lots of super creative friends
one such friend has given me 2 new ideas for 2009

first idea... think of a word that you want to focus on for the year
second idea... take a picture each day of the year

my word for 2009 is appreciate
it seems like every november i think about the things i'm thankful for
but this year i want to appreciate those things ALL YEAR LONG
it's so easy to get bogged down in the mundane day-to-day stuff
more often than not, i go to bed not appreciating the day i've had
so idea #1 for 2009 is to appreciate each day
i'm pretty sure i won't be able to do this (or even remember to) every day
but i might as well try!

now for taking a picture each day...
my goal is to take a picture of something every day
i got a new camera for christmas - i won't pretend that makes me a "photographer"
but i do hope it helps me get creative!

i'm going to post all my pictures on a new blog

stop in and check it out once in a while
you'll find a link on my sidebar

once the year is over, i'm going to make a book out of the blog
(sarah, you'll have to help me with that part)
just something to look back at and remember the little bits that made up 2009

and i need to appreciate all those little bits
well, most of them at least :)


feel free to snag this idea
i'd love to have some picture blogs to look at!!!

friends

visiting minnesota means visiting friends!

our last trip back we were able to hang out with the barnetts

while sarah & i talk daily thanks to modern technology, our kids don't get that chance

so it's pretty cool to see that when they get together they can play super well

this last visit, olivia & ben were so cute together

how grown up do our babies look??

halloween 2004

christmas 2008

christmas in pictures, part 1

better late than never.
here goes...

after a 14 hour car ride, we spent the week of christmas in minneapolis
the kids enjoyed new pjs from nana & papa :)
plus tons of attention and toys!

while the kids were enjoying all the attention, tim & i enjoyed a few minutes of freedom
we read some books, ran, shopped & went out with friends

celebrating baby

today was my sister's baby shower

my dad made the crib - it's awesome and makes me wish i was having another
4 kids and could ask for one - ha ha!!! just kidding :)
emily picked it out from land of nod and my dad replicated it - wow!

my mom is very much into the small details (ya, that's where olivia gets it)
the cake matched the dessert napkins - which i forgot to get a picture of
but you can see how cute the larger napkins were
(my mom was worried that her church ladies would be offended by the napkins...ha ha)

my mom, emily & i are known for copying each other
today was no exception
as you can see the wrap top/large necklace look was very much in
but emily & i took it one step further...

yes, we both wore a faux wrap dress, lace cami and tall boots!

...
emily is about 3 weeks out from her due date,
so i should be posting little baby white pics soon!

and for the record, i think it's a boy.
...

and now that sarah has given me the crash course in picasa collages i'll post some christmas pictures... one of these days :)

6 yr old logic

last night olivia & i were making a diaper cake for my sister's baby shower this weekend. it was pretty funny b/c the whole concept perplexed olivia. finally i realized she thought people were going to eat the cake. ha ha.

anyhow while making it, we had the following conversation...

olivia: why do we have to do allllll this stuff for emily?

me: because that's what you do when your sister is having a baby. maybe someday josie will give you a baby shower.

olivia: NO. i'm not having any kids!!!

me: why?

olivia: oh man. kids are just so much work. they just junk up your house with all their toys, they leave their clothes everywhere, they make forts with your chairs and blankets. kids are just too much work. i just don't want to be that busy!!! oh and at night you can't watch any parent movies because they keep coming downstairs.

me: kids aren't all that bad. think about fun it is to cuddle little josie and how much you love her smile.

olivia: well, i'll just cuddle my neices and nephews. i don't need my own kids. plus it will give me more time to shop online.

me: what do you need to shop for?

olivia: lamps

and that is how my 6 yr old's brain works :)