Busy Days

 Working on trying to get a picture of all 6 children! Not so easy! Today we are enjoying some at home time with a craft (I felt inspired), laundry, reading, and admiring our little boy.

It seems that the time is flying by, days fill up so quickly. This week has been a bad home school week, as in we have not done much. I have not been feeling well and then with Monday starting out with appointments (I ended up getting my sister to babysit for me, I didn't think we would all fit in the Dr. office), we just never got into school. We did do some math and some reading but not much. The weather was so nice the girls were outside a lot more!! Yesterday they went 'swimming' in the muddy water in the yard. They had fun and I was thankful that I got all the white parts on their clothes white again!

 Not sure why this picture is sideways, but it is so cute! Do you think they all look alike! I find the youngest two look the most like me. Especially Joel, he has the dark hair and skin like me, but his eyes are darker brown.

 Here is another girl, we kept adding a few until I decided to try all 6!

 Everyone wants to hold Joel, or be near him as much as possible. We actually have certain days for each girl to hold Joel. We call it their 'special day'. They get to get the mail, help with making meals, ride on daddy's back to bed, collect eggs and chose the movie to watch. So it is a pretty important day.

 Today our craft is making flowers out of paper towels for Bryan's grandmother. It is her birthday this weekend and we will be seeing her on Sunday afternoon. We are waiting for the paint to dry and then we will put them together, I hope it works!

 Finger painting is always exciting and it is very rare to get to do it!

 Even Ellia got to join in this time.

 Here is our 3 month old, who weighs 17lbs. 3 oz. and I think he was 26 in. long. He gets up once a night and naps about 3 times a day. He is so happy and content and we just love to kiss him all the time. We love our little boy!

 Here is my now 2 year old! When I got the excersaucer out for Joel I knew she would climb in as all the girls have done before her. Usually they climb in and then 2 seconds later scream to get out. Not Ellia, she seems to really enjoy it. I like it because I know she can't get into anything!! Unfortunately she can often get out on her own now!

 Ellia loves it when Daddy brings home pizza. So for a birthday supper we had pizza! I love it when the girls want pizza from the store because then I don't have to cook!! And we found out that when you buy pizza during the week it is cheaper then on the weekend!! So guess what Cassia wants for her birthday?

 

 Meet Jeffery and Joel, Jeffrey was born 3 months before Joel, can you tell? Jeffery's mom had given me a lot of his newborn clothes, but when Joel was born he was the same size that Jeffery was at that time, so we were not able to use any of his hand-me-downs! I passed them on to a lady in our homeschool group who does foster care and has a sweet little, tiny, newborn baby boy.

 My 2 youngest, Ellia loves her baby brother, sometimes a little too much!! She often asks where "buddy boy" or "baby Doel" is. She gets very excited to see him. There is a huge difference between these two, but I hope they will grow to be great friends!

 My pictures got a little mixed up, this is from Ellia's birthday supper. We love to eat pizza and watch a movie, thanks to Daddy! I am pretty surprised at how much pizza our family can eat when we buy it, but when I make it we eat a lot less!! Maybe because I try to make healthy pizza with whole wheat flour, and lots of veggies on it!!

 All the girls in our church are very excited for the upcoming wedding of Matt and Jessica. We had a bridal shower for her at my parents house a week or so ago and the girls were pretty excited about that too! The girls all crowded around to watch her open presents and she was very sweet taking her time and letting them see what she got or even help open the gifts.

 

We all love any excuse to get together, but this one was especially fun. We are all looking forward to the wedding in June!

 

So that is what we have been up to lately. We are loving the spring weather and are looking forward to camping. I always get so excited about camping this time of year! We hope to go in May for the long weekend. I know I vowed to never go camping with a nursing baby again, but Joel is so good that I think it will be okay!! It is only for the weekend, so we shall see.

 

Swimming with Daddy

 

Sometimes I have wished that Bryan was like some of those husbands that help with dishes, laundry or cooking. Bryan doesn't do those things, at least not very often. He bought me a dishwasher because he really does not like doing dishes. He does like a clean house, so in the past when things have gotten really bad he has pitched in. Like this past week when I had to go away in the evening with the 3 oldest girls and I had not managed my time very well, leaving the house a disaster! I really did not expect Bryan to clean up. To my surprise not only did he do the dishes and clean up the toys but he even vacuumed too!! That was so nice! But that is all beside the point. We are all different in what we can and want to do! Not a lot of husbands who do all those things would do what my husband is doing right now! He took all 5 of our girls swimming at our local pool! That is five girls between the ages of 2 and 8 years of age! I really did not expect him to take Ellia, but was very thankful that he did. The girls love to go and since it has been rainy and cold this week they have not been out much. I have been extra tired due to a too busy weekend and then some late nights this week. They really needed to get out and get some exercise. I know that Bryan would have never thought he could take all 5, but I love that he does it and it really helps me out, plus the girls have not seen much of him this week so it is great for them all!

This was taken when we were in Toronto. At the local pool the girls can touch and they have life jackets for the little girls. There is also a big slide and a little slide and lots of toys. We also love the family change room that has a shower in it. Bryan even washes the girls hair for me!!

Here you can see the 3 oldest girls clinging to Bryan, this use to be how swimming was for us. Many children piled on pulling every which way and holding on for dear life!! But now they are swimming (at least if they can touch or with a life jacket). The girls can stay in the pool for hours, jumping in and just playing around! I am really looking forward to this summer.

 

 As to me, I am not feeling so great. I am on my way to a nice hot bath with Epsom salts. I have a sore throat and am very tired. Also, I was nursing Joel and looking down at him and brought my head up and pulled something in my neck, so I can't move it to the right at all. I am hoping the bath will warm me up and relive some of the tightness in my neck.

 

Joel continues to be a sweet content baby! Almost sleeping through the night, last feeding between 9 and 10 pm and then sleeping until 5am. He is smiling more and cooing! He enjoys his excersaucer and mat with toys hanging over him. I take him to the Dr. this week for a check up so I can find out how much he weighs! Monday is the day, we have dentist appointments for the 4 oldest girls in the morning and Joel's appointment with the Dr. in the afternoon! I am taking all 6 kids to both appointments, so I shall see how it will go! I am planning on bringing lots of snacks and drinks to keep every one happy!