first words

When you are the fourth in line, sometimes life is rough. 

Big brothers take your toys. 

Or big sister won't let you chew on her markers. 

But sometimes life is easy... too easy.  You never have to do much to get attention. 

After a year, you still don't feel the need for walking or talking because you have brothers and sister around 24/7 to bring you every toy or tell Mommy you need a snack. 

Until one night you're up a little late and something shiny catches your eye.  You point up at it, look over at Daddy and say "buffoon!!"

That's another rough thing about being number 4, sometimes boys have to play with princess 'buffoons'

It's Over!

Softball season is finally over for the year.  Despite many ups and downs this season, they ended on a really great note.  The Rodies ended the Sunday afternoon league in a 3 way tie for first, but somehow came out on top.  I have no idea how they figure it out, but I'm just excited for them!

We played the last game of the night, which always means we end up with a few short Rodies on the field after the game.

Girls too!

And even little Teegan!

The following week was the tournament for that league.  Apparently, our guys have never actually finished in first for both the season and the tournament.  This year they finally did it!  Of course, with a little more help from the fans!

No, she's not mine, but she's stinkin' CUTE!!

A couple of weeks ago, Kevin and I spent a few days with his sister's 4 kiddos while she and her hubby were out of town.  The thing is, Kevin and his brothers were playing in a softball tournament the same weekend.  My van only seats seven, that leaves no place for 3 of us.  So we divied up the munchkins, girls with Daddy/Uncle Kevin and boys with Mommy/Aunt Becca, and drove both our cars over to the tournament.  While we waited for the games to start, I took all 8 kids over to the really great playground.  I learned a couple of things while I was over there.


1.  Trying to count to 8 children when only one of them is still is quite a challenge.


and 2. Lydia...

likes to climb...

a lot!!

I don't think I realized she was actually trying to push Luke off the steps here.

The things cute 2 year olds get away with.  Maybe Aunt Becca should come out from behind that camera a little more. 

Fall photos

You know that old saying, "the best laid plans..."  Well, that was how I felt today after my attempt at a photo shoot for my kiddos.  The day was gorgeous: blue sky, lots of sun (not always great for photos, but there were enough clouds to make a go of it), warm enough for just a sweater and no rain.  So I found some fallish sweaters for the big kids and went to town looking for something for Isaac (I had a gift card specifically for this purpose).  We struck out at Walmart, so I used the gift card for family essentials and found a cute sweater for my guy at Target. 

Then we headed off to the lake.  I had done a shoot out there a week ago that the scenery was awesome for.

However, I forgot to take into account the torrential rains we had last week. Of course I think my kids are adorable so anywhere will work, right? Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the rain decimated the leaves on the trees and filled the lakebed with water.  This shot was no longer possible.  That was REALLY sad, because I love it and I wanted it for my kids.

But we made do. I stood below this dock to take pictures last week, today the water came right up underneath it.  There was no standing below it today. But Micah definitely seems to be at home on the water, doesn't he?

Here, we found a little bit of yellow still left on the trees, but JJ appears more interested in the stick he found than in any photo shoot.  Maybe that's why I absolutely love this shot.

Chloe is certainly growing up to be a big helper. 

She's such a big girl and she's really sweet to her little brothers (most of the time).

Isaac is getting big too, big enough he stayed awake and happy to sit for the camera with his big sister.  Aren't they sweet together?

We had a great time out together despite the rough start.  And it was a great day to be outside even without any picture taking.  I hope we have a few more days like it this year before it gets any colder.  I just love fall.

Science lesson

Remember the "Song of the Cebu"  fromVeggie Tales?

Well I always thought they were fictitious animals.  Apparently, though, they really do exist.  Right here in central Illinois.  Even Mommy has to learn something new once in a while. 

There is a pumpkin patch north of us, about 45 minutes that I've always wanted to go to, but I've never gotten around to it.  So last Friday Jody, and Megan and I had plans to take the kids finally.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate.  So on Wednesday, after naptime, I packed up my troupe and took them myself. 


They had a blast!!


This place has fun little petting zoo with, you guessed it, Zebus!! 


They've got a fun playhouse, big enough for my girl, with slides for getting down from the house.

They've also got a corn maze that looks pretty cool, but it's kinda expensive and not something I want to do with four kids anyway.  But they also have a "corn shock" maze just for the kids.  All three of my biggies will tell you this was their favorite part. 

Of course they have pumpkins, some of them are enormous!!

This bad boy weighed almost 900 pounds!!


It was really great to do something fun with the kids.  I think they've been getting a little stir crazy because everything seems to be about the baby lately, so I was glad to get out with them.  Of course we did bring little Isaac along and he stayed warm and content with Mommy in his snuggly little sling right up until we left. Then we had to document the day with a picture of all four of my kids together.  I just think they are darling!

Baby brother love

I know it's been forever and I've not done much to satisfy the need for more pictures, but you'll have to forgive me. I've ignored my camera a lot these past couple of weeks. I'll try to do better. In the meantime, here are the proud big sister and brothers. Megan came up to the hospital with Kevin and the kids after Isaac was born and she took some pictures of my kiddos with the baby.

They just dote on him. Jadon loves to give him kisses. I am constantly reminding him to kiss hiss head, not his face. Micah ignores the baby most of the time, but every once in a while, he finds the need to come play with him or hold him for a bit. I think he'll like him a whole lot more when they can do a little more playing instead of just watching. Chloe is having a great time being a big sister to a newborn. She's a great helper. Isaac hates to be left alone, so she often volunteers to talk to him and keep him calm while I'm occupied with the other kids or doing dishes or fixing dinner. She's also gotten to be a big help with Jadon. He usually goes to her for help making his bed or putting on his shoes or coat. She definitely makes the transition to Momma of 4 a lot easier for me to handle.

We're having lots of fun, but life is definitely a challenge right now. We're hoping to start school again next week and get into a more normal routine. I'll let you know how that works out. Hopefully I can give my camera the attention that it needs, too!

My BIG Mistake

Kevin and I are getting ready to celebrate our 10 year anniversary next week. We have plans to take the train to Chicago for a few days and just spend some time together alone, something we don't get nearly enough of. So the other day, I thought I'd check into getting Cubs tickets for the two of us while we're there.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting Micah know. For those of you who don't know Micah very well, even at 5 years old he is a diehard Cubs fan. He knows more about the Cubs than any man, aside from his own family, that I've ever met. He broke down in tears because he wanted to go so badly. After he finally got calmed down, he went outside to play while I fixed lunch. When we sat down to eat, he asked to pray for the meal. Micah got about halfway through his prayer and began to ask for God to keep Mommy and Daddy safe during the trip to Chicago to see the Cubs. He got just a couple words in before he broke down sobbing again. Poor kid. He was absolutely devastated.

Well, to make up for my boneheaded mistake, and to get the waterworks to stop, I finally suggested that we go outside to play in the sprinkler after lunch. That seemed to get him calmed down enough to eat at least. I have to admit, the kids had a great time and it did seem to get Micah's mind off of his heartbreak.

Micah's even figured out that the sprinkler is more fun if you actually get wet.

Jadon loves the sprinkler! He was asking for it today when it was only 65 degrees outside.

Chloe is definitely not afraid to get wet.

Mommy even let them jump in the mudpuddles just to keep that poor Micah happy. What a mess!

I'm afraid the Cubs game fiasco is still going to come back to haunt me, but at least this helped ease the pain on this day.

The Party...

Well, despite the terrific thunderstorm that had our entire family in the basement a mere 12 hours before Chloe's birthday party and without power just 8 hours before, the party was great! We started at 4 and at about 3:58, the power went out again. But just for a few minutes. We had planned on having the entire event outside, but my husband made the decision to move all 46 of us into the house because of the 90 degree heat outside. It turned out to be a great decision.

My SIL, Megan had the idea to tie dye at Chloe's party. I had not tie dyed since the '80s so she was kind enough to help with that part of the party. The night before, Chloe, Megan, Ellen (my MIL) and I did some practice shirts for our family to wear at the party and so Ellen and I could learn how to do it. So yesterday morning we set up the basement for the tie dye station. It really helped to keep the chaos to a minimum and the kids had so much fun! The older kids (the fab 5 and older) did most of their own work on their shirts. The mommies got to do the shirts for the littler ones. I think most of them turned out really cute!

Unfortunately, this photographer mommy got so caught up with helping the kids, I completely forgot to get out my camera! We'll just blame it on my pregnant brain. I did get it out after the party for some of the stragglers.

Here's the finished product. We actually had 25 kids and all of them got at least one t-shirt. My girl and a few of her cousins got to use some left-overs to make these after everyone else was gone. We even did one for the baby.

Here are some cousins in their tie dye fun! (fyi: this is only half the cousins)

2 wheels... or 4?

Yes, I know. I've been rather inexplicably absent recently. While I have plenty to blog about, we've been rather busy doing all the things I have to blog about. Kind of a catch 22 don't ya think?

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, Micah had been begging to get a bigger bike. He's been distraught about the fact that all his cousins and his sister have bigger bikes while he's still riding around on his little 12 inch bike with the training wheels. So Kevin made a deal with him, as soon as he learned to ride on 2 wheels, we'd get him a bigger bike.

So on a Saturday afternoon when Kevin was home with nothing to do, they went outside to do just that. It took him a while, but he finally caught on. Every time he got a little tired, they'd take a break, and Micah would come back a little while later doing a lot better. He did so well that when I went out on my girls' night out later on, I got a phone call that Micah had ridden all the way to the park without any help(that's just a little less than a block away)!

Last weekend, I happened to drive past a yard sale with a boy's bike out front. When I stopped they said they were asking $5 for the bike. It was a really nice bike and it was in great shape, so of course we bought it! Micah is not quite tall enough to get on by himself so Kevin or I have to hold the bike up for him, but he's learning to get it going. And he loves being on a big bike now!

Chloe and Micah spent this evening racing up and down the street on their big kid bikes!

Jadon was not going to be left out!Jadon is definitely enjoying the fruits of Micah's labor because now he gets to learn on the little bike. Four wheels is just fine with him!

Little Boy Blue

My SIL, Megan, asked me about a month ago if I would cut her little guy's hair. The timing finally worked out this week, so she and BJ brought little Teegan over to play barbershop on Tuesday. He was not terribly impressed with the idea. But BJ did a pretty good job of distracting him with one toy after another. He really sat pretty still for how upset he was to begin with.
Still, little T.T. was definitely relieved to be done with the whole ordeal. Megan was a little sad to see all his baby hair go, but doesn't he look cute?

Rainy Days

We've had quite a rainy spring around here. Despite all the warmer weather, it has led to several days of staying inside because the ground is covered in muddy puddles. So this was a very common sight in our house last week. It really warms my heart that my kids like to read so much.

Even Jadon likes to get in on the book time. Thankfully we have two very nice libraries available to us. They definitely make rainy/muddy days a little more fun.

It's a Lunker!!

Micah has been in some dire need of Daddy time lately. So last week, I suggested that Kevin take him out fishing this weekend. I know, I know, I can't believe I actually suggested Kevin go fishing. But you have to make certain sacrifices for your children you know.

Anyway, Kevin and Micah took off sometime before 8 that morning. A little while later I got a call from Micah saying that he had caught a 13 oz crappie. I honestly didn't know if that was big or not, but of course I made a big deal out of it. FYI, it is pretty big. I did know that sometime in the past, but my children have taken my place as Kevin's fishing companion, much to my relief.

Kevin's brother Mark, his daughter Ilese (one of the Fab 5) and Kevin's Dad joined my boys at the pond later that morning. The crowded dock made casting a little difficult for my little guy, so he was pretty content to simply fish over the edge of the dock. That was apparently the best spot because this is the fish he caught there.

6 Pounds!!

He was so excited! I actually think Uncle Mark was a little jealous. Kevin was in high school before he ever caught a fish that big. Way to go Micah. He had so much fun!

Ilese got in on the action too. She caught a little 1 pound catfish, much better for eating. They both got a kick out of eating the fish they caught themselves.