Week 39

September 19

Nicky came and delivered the 4 older kids back to us...safe and sound.

September 20

Another homeschool family hosted a butterfly fieldtrip. 1st the older kids sat in and listened to the tutorial part while I enjoyed the beautiful day outside with the little guys in their beautiful yard.

Then we all went out to a field with nets and magnifying glasses.
September 21--Ooops! No picture.

September 22

The neighbor asked to borrow a big pot. Madison, true to form, devised a plan when I asked her to run it across the street.September 23

Sad. We drove down to Monroe to say our goodbye's to Andrea and the girls. They will be playing in Houston for the next two seasons and living in a gorgeous home they just purchased.

We had a beautiful afternoon--a picnic in the park.

I love this picture:
Ninny and her girls:September 24

Rocco's favorite pastime...fist down the pants.

Maddy's learn to skate program:

September 25

Snaggle Tooth! It's gotta come out soon!

Fan Man Strikes Again! (and other silly quotes)

Leaving BJ's as it began to drizzle:
Nathanael (getting in the car): I just got hit with 36 rain drops.

C4: How do you know? Did you count?

Nathanael: Yup! (He is always thinking in math terms. Always.)
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I was putting the boys to bed and snuggling with Nathanael. The boys were talking about starting algebra. (not sure how we ended up there) Joking I said to Nathanael, "No algebra for you until your done with pull-ups."

A smile spread across his face and he said, "Deal! Shake on it!"
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Nathanael has also taken to calling me Best Mom in the World. He'll say, "Goodnight, Best Mom in the World" or "May I please have some milk, Best Mom in the World?" So silly.
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Rocco is smack in the middle of a love affair with his boy-ness. He is constantly stuffing his fist down his diaper and playing with himself. It happens so frequently that #1 it's embarrassing in some situations (like the nursery at church!) and #2 the kids started teasing him at home saying, "Rocco! It's just a penis! It's still there!"

Well when the older 4 stayed over at Uncle Nicky's, Auntie Katie asked them, "So what do you think Rocco will do at home all by himself?"

"Probably play with his penis," answered Nathanael matter of factly.
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This one is for C4 and kinda hard to explain. It's the old, 'you had to be there'!

We were singing hymns at the nursing home. Someone requested Page 1, How Great Thou Art. We began singing. C4 holds his book up to show me that he flipped to page 1, only he actually flipped to the very first page, which was the 'dedication' page of the nursing home hymnal. He leaned into my ear and to the tune of How Great Thou Art sang, "To all of our dear confined friends in nursing homes and all the faithful workers..."

He got me giggling so bad I could hardly sing the rest of the song.
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One for Trev! Just a quote from when the boys were chasing each other around the house with Nerf guns.

Trevor: I'm gonna shoot your sister and hers gonna be dead for a long, long time!

Rockin' It Out!

Colombo usually does breakfast with the kids. Often I am just getting home from the gym and showering as he is finishing up cereal with the kids. For the last few weeks, they 'rocked it out' after breakfast. Every day. It's always this David Crowder song. Sometimes Maddy's on piano, sometimes on the flute. Sometimes Nathanael's in underwear, sometimes clothes. You never know. But even Rocco likes to be in his 'spot' on the stool jammin' it out.

Week 38

September 12
Trevor came downstairs dressed in an outfit that not only matched, but was surprisingly appropriate for where we were going. Amazing! He can really come up with some interesting combinations so when he came down, Madsion was like, "Mom, did you see Trevor?! He looks so good! Take a picture! Trevor, you look so handsome!!"

September 13
Rocco is into EVERYTHING! EV-RY-THING! This is one of his 'usual' spots in Daddy's office.

September 14
A regular day...Madison turned Laura Ingalls


1st day of dance for the year

Trevor wanted me to take his picture too...just like this.
September 15
We closed the pool. When the guys showed up to do it, the 3 boys stripped and jumped in for one last hoorah!

September 16
Rocco's hair is so sweet. It's fine and blond and has a little bit of curl on the bottom. I love it! Often, though, this is how it is after naps or a long ride in the car seat.

September 17
Uncle Nicky and Auntie Katie asked to have the 4 oldest kids over for two nights. I drove out in the afternoon and dropped them off. I sadly drove away waving goodbye to my heart! They had a fabulous time watching movies, cooking, and rock climbing! And all 4 were returned unharmed.
Saturday 18
Rocco thoroughly enjoyed being the only child for about 36 hours! He ate up the attention and Colombo and I also enjoyed our time alone with him. Anytime I get one-on-one time with any of them it's super special.

6th Annual LobsterFest

Over Labor Day weekend we celebrated our 6th Annual Lobster Fest. This has been a fun family tradition that we share with Uncle Lee and Aunt Bonnie from New York and their grown kids, Melody and Johnny, from Philly. Johnny brought his new girlfriend, Lauren. She was perfect...beautiful, all-American, family kind of girl. She dove into kid duty and seemingly passed all our 'tests'. She even went out of her way to get her hands on a tie-dye tshirt to wear. I also received a thank you note and pictures from her in the mail before I even finished this post. Well, that's just a little annoying, but she really was great!

Bethany and Chris hosted and the weather was just beautiful.

The day started with a round of golf for the guys. Then it was hangin' on the porch and playing in the yard the rest of the day. Such a fun tradition. And the food seems to get better and better as the years go on; like we have to out-do ourselves.

The '09 Boy's Club (minus Trey)

Perfect family day!

Lisa did an INCREDIBLE job of capturing the day both by pictures and journal. Check out Lisa's LobsterFest post .

The Fan-Man

One afternoon in the van, Madison and her friend were playing MASH, which I have a fuzzy recollection of from my days as a tween. Somehow with a folded piece of paper it predicts who you'll marry, what your job will be, and how many kids you'll have...or something of the sort.

So Madison asks Nathanael, "Who are 3 girls that you like?" [a conversation that is not usually condoned]

Nathanael (emphatically): "I don't even know 3 girls. The only girls I know are my cousins!"

Well, that isn't exactly the case, but boy did it warm this mother's heart to know he can't even pull 3 names!

Next question. "Name 3 jobs you want to have."

Nathanael: A Golden Retriever, a ....

Insert our laughter here. He was recovering from an ear infection and heard 'dogs' instead of 'jobs'. We all got a laugh out it.

The game was sort of derailed, which was fine with me, but as the conversation continued, Nathanael let us all know, "Well, I'm not even going to college because I'm going to Bible college."

He also wants to be with us when we go to the "greeter" to pick out a puppy. Breeder, greeter...same thing!

He is just too much!

Week 37

I've been a little behind blogging because I've been quite sick the better part of two weeks now. I guess officially it's a sinus infection and double ear infection, but even after meds I'm still not as well as I had hoped.

For several days the camera was not even touched.

September 5

6th Annual LobsterFest with family from New York and Philly. It is quite the tradition!

September 6

Labor Day. After brunch at Lisa's and saying goodbye to the Boyd's, we headed to Providence to check out Nick and Katie's new place. It is very sweet and suits them perfectly. After pizza we walked a few blocks to the park.

On this ride, Colombo had hopped on one side.

Then Nathanael says, "Hey Uncle Nicky! Come get on this side."

Nicky climbed in and Nathanael exclaimed, "Yes!!! Two Dads!!"

This ride

left you feeling like this:

September 7

1st day of school! Our 7th year of homeschool!!! I was feeling so bad that I fully intended to put it off another day, but by the time a finally dragged myself downstairs, Nathanael was already through 3 subjects and Madison was working hard, so I wasn't about to put the brakes on!

C4 is in 6th, Madison in 4th and Nathanael in 2nd--God help me!

Septmeber 8 & 9...no pictures. I was on the couch feeling lousy.

September 10

I felt a bit better after new medicine. I met Colombo's cousin 1/2 way to Portland and dropped off the 3 oldest kids for a special cousins' weekend in Maine.

That made Trevor the oldest. He LOVES that! While Rocco was down, TJ and I prepared a meal for a family from church who just had a baby.

A little pick-me-up and get well note from my husband:September 11

Even writing the date now, I'm thinking, "How can anyone not remember?!"

I did a day in Boston with some friends. Lunch at Quincy Market, a walk in the park, a show (Wicked), dinner in the North End, cannoli's at Mike's, gelato, and the nicest parking garage EVER! Beautiful day, beautiful city, beautiful women.

Week 36

August 29

The boys spent some time taking inventory of hockey equipment and packing their bags for the start of another season.

The same night, Nathanael lost his second tooth.August 30
After a long search, I finally found the bag with my old doll house furniture. Madison played with it for several days on the dining room table. Some of the pieces were my Mom's when she was a kid.

August 31- September 2....NO pictures! Can you believe it? However, I did come across a couple 'old' ones that are fun!

September 3
Trevor, Madison, and Nathanael helped me roll 5 1/2 pounds of meatballs for the 26 people we had for dinner the next night.Rocco was not so much of a help.
September 4
We hosted our Labor Day Weekend / LobsterFest festivities kickoff with dinner at our house after church. We ate by candlelight on the deck, lit a bonfire, and were treated to fireworks in the cul-de-sac thanks to the the teenagers across the street! We liked watching their fireworks and they got a kick out of the 8 or so of our kids who sat on the wall and cheered after each one. The kids would chant, "Entree, entree!" (meaning Encore)

Good food. Good times.And only one tablecloth went up in flames!