Toothfairy

The toothfair is so lame! She has forgotten, or better put, been delayed, 3 times! That's 3 out of 7 teeth! First she was sick, then the next time she couldn't get here because so many kids lost their teeth that day, then last night she was vacationing in Hawaii! She is one busy fairy! Hopefully next time, she'll make it the first night! Poor Trey, but at least the Tooth Fairy is leaving more money when she comes late. So I guess it's not so bad for him.

Grandma and Grandpa

My sister-in-law Janelle had this really cute idea and I want to share it. There are 6 kids in Ryan's family and we are all married with our own kids. So we all had to take a picture with a letter and then she put all the letters together and it spelled out Grandma, and another spelled out Grandpa. It was for Father's Day and my mother-in-law's birthday. Check it out.

Where's Nolan?

My friend Lacy went to Girl's Camp for our church this week and I watched her 2 kids for two days. I had the brilliant idea of taking all 5 kids swimming! Two one and a half year olds, and a 4, 5, and 7 year old. Only the 7 year old can swim. What was I thinking?! My friend Laura said she would do it with me, along with her two young kids. I apologize Lacy, it wasn't the smartest idea. It all turned out fine though. But it was so funny when we were leaving, I was a bit frazzled after constantly trying to keep track of everyone, and I couldn't find Nolan (the other one and a half year old). We were walking out and I was looking everywhere for him and couldn't see him and was getting nervous and was yelling out, "Where's Nolan?!" Laura looked over at me and said, "He's in your arms." Well, thank goodness for that.

Summer

Oh my, the list of blog entries is growing much too long, I need to write about our summer! We have had such a great summer so far and I can't believe we're half way over already. That makes me a little sad. I just love the freedom that summer brings, the time with my boys, and all the summer fruits! I go crazy for fresh fruits, especially watermelon, YUM! And I have some of my boys hooked as well!

I keep lists on sticky note paper of all the little funny goings-ons in my home, and here are a few of them...

A couple weeks ago, Seth wore a shirt to church that clips under the crotch. You know the kind that little ones wear so their shirt always looks like it's tucked in. He never does that anymore, so when Trey and Justin saw it they thought it was so funny because it really showed off his cute little belly bulge. They called him little Grandpa all day, I guess they have the same bellies!

Justin will often do something like not pee entirely in the toilet, but on the seat and the floor, and when that happens, it doesn't make me very happy. So I'll say something to him and he seems to always say, "I sorry mama." How can I be mad at that? So sweet.

One day I was telling Trey that Schade, that's my maiden name, means "too bad" in German. He said, "I'm glad I don't have that last name!" What's so funny is that he has no idea at all what his own last name means, Dickman!

Yesterday Justin was getting out of the tub and said, "Put a little dime in the jukebox baby..." And I couldn't figure out what he was talking about! He still refers to Seth as "baby" so I thought he was talking to him. Then I heard him say, "I love rock n' roll" and quickly I realized he was quoting lyrics. It was so funny, these boys listen to all kinds of music with Ryan!

These stories are more funny if you know Justin, because you just wouldn't expect him to say these things. Here's another story...Seth took Justin's little racecar and Justin was chasing him saying, "You little rascal!" Apparently that's what my mom says all the time and that's where they got that, I didn't know she always says that.

About 3 months ago if Ryan ever had sports on TV, Trey would walk over and turn the TV off, he hated it. Well, practically over night, he LOVES to watch them all! If something is on, he's GLUED to the TV. He loved the World Cup and was so excited when Spain won! That's where Ryan and I served our missions. Ryan is happy he has someone to cheer with him!

My boys are addicted to two things (besides otter pops) Rocky and the accappella group Inside Out. They constantly ask to listen to the Rocky soundtracks while jumping on my bed and they watch you-tube videos of it. And we always have Inside Out on in the car, even Seth demands it. Trey knows every word of the whole CD. I have to say, the CD is very fun, we just bought another one.

Justin constantly eats peanut butter on a spoon, several spoonfuls a day!

Trey is reading on his own! Yeah! He's reading those Magic Treehouse books, and he loves them. Thanks for the idea Amber!

I made a chore chart for my two oldest boys and they are actually doing chores every day! YES!! It's working and I'm thrilled.

Whenever Justin wants something, he'll bribe me to give him what he wants. It's hillarious. He'll always say, "Please mama, I'll give you 100 ______" (fill in the blank). It's usually either M&M's or dollars.

Angels Camp

We went to Angels Camp, California this week with just my little family. We hardly ever go somewhere with just us, and it was great. We always travel to see family, which I love, but this is nice too. But man it's hard traveling with small children! There is so much work, before, during, and after! But it was worth it.

Angels Camp is about 2 hours east of where I live. It's a gold rush history area. We stayed in a time share resort. The pools were the best part, that's what my boys wanted to do. But anyone who knows us well, knows that when we travel, my kids get sick! Particularly Justin!!! So of course, I pack my whole medicine cabinet so that I'm prepared, but I wasn't prepared this time. We got there Sunday evening and by Monday morning Justin was wheezing bad and having trouble breathing. He hasn't had asthma problems in years, he did as a baby, but he's been fine. So I have a bunch of medication at home that never gets used. We had to get his doctor to transfer perscriptions over to us and we paid $200 on things we have at home! But of course it was worth it, it was a little scary watching him breath so fast. Once he got the meds in him though, he did much better and we were able to have a nice trip after that. Thank goodness! Of course we had some cranky kids at times and tantrums, more than normal, but I guess that's expected when the kids are out of their schedules.

Tuesday we went to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It was amazing! They had a perfect path for us and our stroller and the boys loved the gigantic sequoia trees. I put a ton of pictures in, I didn't leave many out. I didn't want to.

We're standing on a tree stump, it's huge!

We did this a lot, looking up at the tall tall trees. It's kind of what I have to do when I kiss Ryan!

Seth is my biggest wonderer. My other boys didn't do that so much, they stayed by me much more. Seth just goes off wherever.

It looks like Ryan is standing between two huge dinasaur legs!

We rarely ever get a whole family shot, but a nice passer-byer offered to take a picture for us.

Each of the boys, including Ryan, picked out walking sticks, which were occasionally used as hitting and poking sticks.

This was my favorite spot in the whole park. A perfect place to take in the tall views. I wish all benches were made like this one. It would be a great place for a nap, very comfortable!

Some of these trees were, I don't know, I can't remember very well now, but maybe 1400 years old! This one had fallen over and was decaying away and you could walk through it.

That whole day was so fun! It was the ideal day, in my opinion. We spent the morning and into the afternoon at the big tree park. Then off to a park for a bit for the boys to play around. Then to the local pizza parlor, then back to the resort for swimming. And it had been a hot day, so the pool was nice and warm. Ahhh, it was so great. By far the best day we had there.

The next day was good, but not as good. Swimming and a tour of an old deserted rail station, literally, no one was there! It was like a ghost town! My boys most enjoyed the train table in the gift shop! And it was hot.

We went and saw Mark Twain's cabin. He lived there in a small cabin for a couple years, pretty cool. And it was tiny. Here are the picts.

Seth kept trying to give the donkey his pacifier, it was funny. And I think he/she would have taken it if I'd of let him give it.

The boys on the way home, they were pooped!