We bought our camera when Joseph was a baby and it was pretty fancy then.  Now it simply devours batteries.  2 brand new batters MAY get you 1 picture.  Suffice to say, we haven't taken too many pictures lately.  (I spoke with a guy in Best Buy yesterday about new cameras.  He was very nice and when learning that I was looking for something to replace my 7 megapixel camera with a 256MB SD card, he very politely said something to the effect of, "Whatever you get will be way better than that."  And also that our SD card is probably not compatible with the newer cameras.  It seems much has changed in 8 years.)

Charlie likes to sing.  Lately he's been singing as follows:  "Do you wanna build a snowman?  Do you wanna play outside?  I never see you anymore.  Because I am poor.  But I am only 5!"  I like it.

Mom fails from last week:
1.  Realized Joseph's towel was still neatly folded on Mon morning--exactly as I'd put it there from the laundry a week before.  So, that meant he hadn't bathed in over a week.  (They NEVER use anyone else's towel--except maybe to stand on.  Cooties, you know.)
2. (A) Got to church last Sunday and realized Elisabeth had no shoes. (B) Her socks had a hole in them large enough for her to poke out her big toe. (C) And her hair was still in braids from Friday.  Yes, Friday.  And for a bonus, she announced (rather loudly) that she'd had Peanut M&M's for breakfast.
3.  At Joseph's Open House on Thurs, I read his "Where I'm From" poem, which talks about how things around us shape us and make us who we are.  The line where the kids were to write about what they often hear.... Other kids had "Share and be kind"  "We are all in this together" "Work hard and try hard"  Lovely, uplifting, empowering.  Joseph's line, "Shut up and are you lost?"  Ouch.

Scouts hurts my head.  Too many ranks.  Too many badges.  Too many various options and assignments.  And the "Turkey Cheer"--are you serious?

We have a chipmunk.  He likes the cover for our propane tank. We lifted the cover to check the gas level and found the whole thing filled with sand.  We removed the sand, plugged the plunge hole and bought a cover for the tank lid.  More sand a few days later.  I bought super stinky dryer sheets (you should have seen us testing them in the grocery store!) and filled hole with them, lined the inside of the tank area, and layered them under the blocks around it.  (I bet the little bugger is using them for blankets right now!)  This weekend we covered the area, inside and out, with castor oil repellent.  He's still hanging out.

I blame the loss of our neighborhood cat.  I miss her.  Maybe we need a new one.  I'm sure we aren't the only ones with chipmunk problems.  It would be a community service.  :)

We've changed our phone service.  Saves $45/mo.  I guess that's worth the pain of notifying everyone of our new phone number.  Nathan did the happy dance last night when he hung up with the phone company after cancelling the service.  Email me for the new number.  :)

Lil'Nathan bought himself a phone in August.  No service, but it works as a tablet and he can call with Magic Jack if he's in WiFi.  He used his phone camera to take some pictures for us yesterday.  I wanted a shot of all the kids together, and all smiling.  (It could happen.)  I shamelessly promised each of them a Klondike bar if they cooperated.  Lookie this:

And, coming soon to a Christmas Card near you...

We went camping as a family in July to celebrate Elisabeth's and Nathan's birthdays.  On the way home we stopped at Franconia Notch.  How have I missed this all my life?  The pictures cannot do justice to its amazing beauty.  Even Lil'Nathan, who had a massive headache (and it was his birthday!) eventually enjoyed himself and said it was beautiful.

zoom in to see Charlie-the-ham

it really drove him crazy that he couldn't go off the trail and climb the rocks

just too much excitement for this new 3 yr old

We're back!

 Joseph planted this flower "box" in the front.  We have 4 total and can't wait for the flowers to begin spilling over the edges.  Gotta be easier than the hanging baskets we killed last year, right?  (By the way, I just LOVE it when the boys match clothes by accident.  For some reason, it cracks me up.)

Charlie's little lavender plant.  He's very proud of it.

And happy.

It's May now, so the lilacs are blooming.  

Our back "serenity garden" was discovered by the deer in the early part of spring.  But it turns out, they left some for us after all...

In addition to flowers in the front, we planted lettuces, peas, and spinach in the back.  In cinder blocks.

I'm trying to sell my baby clothes.  The 24mo girls stuff sold (for enough to buy ice cream after we finish the climbing box--see below).  Nothing else sold.  Not even at the scout yard sale this weekend.  (Though to be fair, they actually had a pretty lousy turn-out and made very little this year.)  I'm beginning to think I may need to just accost people on the street, give them a bag of clothes, and run.

And yes, a climbing box.

A friend of Mary's gave us a slide, 2 swings, and a monkey bars.  My plan was to build a simple, little swing-set for it.  Ahh, me and my wishful thinking.

Here is the slide, sad and lonely on its side for the past 2 weeks.

Elisabeth couldn't take the excitement.  She didn't even make it home from (the 3hr trip) to Home Depot.

Here is Joseph, hanging out in the car with half (yes, half) of the supplies.

 

Let the drilling begin.

Here is everyone, half done, at 9:30 last night, when I begged them to reduce the plan and let this suffice.  (Puh-leeze!)  

They agreed.  It was planned for too much. (The plan was 2 boxes of this size, with a 10 "bridge" between where the swings would be.  There was also some talk of turning one of the box bottoms into a chicken coop!)  So I returned about half the lumber and bolts, and they attached the slide and went to bed.  (Side braces coming soon, as well as a ladder for the slide.  Swing/s to go up later.  Maybe monkey bars across the top and a fire pole down after that.)

Today, Joseph swung up some rope and began to play on the 8x8x10 box.  Lil'Nathan used more rope to make a giant spider webby thing.  ("It's 3D.")  We'll see about that.

But Peanut Pants loves it.

 Photo Dump!

Proof we went camping.  Though, as you can see, the camera never left the car... and only Charlie took pictures.  

 See our lovely lean-to?  Our favorite site.  This allowed us all to sleep dry and tent-less on our last camp-out, despite the fairly heavy rain.

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Don't know what Nathan did to tick off this bird, but it got him three days in a row.  Blueberries must be plentiful this year.

 I had just set this block down after carrying it from the back yard and who should happen to pop out and wonder what was happening to his lovely hiding place, but this "little" guy.

He stayed right there while Nathan carried his block back to the back yard.

Our friend brings in peaches to sell at her farm stand.  Peach prices for friends included the box.  I now have three new bookshelves.  :)

When we moved in the stairs were... well, recently stripped of their carpet and looked it.  So, Nathan desired to finish them.  We had different ideas of what this meant, but as he was the one doing it, it went his way.  First to stain them black (my first clue things were not heading in the direction I was imagining).  Second, paint the faces white.  (Joseph says they remind him of piano keys.  Mary claims they look like ice cream sandwiches.)

 Third, cut out letters and decoupage.  (At least, I think that's what it's called.)  We settled on the 6 characteristics Nathan put into our family Coat of Arms--Charity, Hope, Faith, Unity, Integrity, and Courage.

 Embellish with fall foliage stickers, cover with polyurethane, and viola!  Beautiful stairs.
 

And I've been busy making hats of all sizes.  This is my total from the past two weeks.  All the crocheted ones on the right were done in 2 days.  Wicked easy pattern.  :)

Nasty hot day + water hose + tools + PVC + 2 trips to Home Depot = lots of fun!

 

 And in no time, it's ready to go!  (We made it tall.)

 Don't look too sure, do they?


But maybe it's just her brother.

Oh, well.

And a shot of Nathan before he could make a face...

And just so you know we still have Joseph...

 Love those pig-tails!

 

In this house, if you can't find it, it's probably in a laundry basket.