The Riders

Here are the promised photos of the bike riders. Madelyn and Adam use these rides for a good quality nap.

When we get home, the kids are always hungry. Today, Julianne had mashed potatoes and gravy. Catherine and Madelyn had popcorn.

Too many kids???

There are too many kids in this tub.
There are too many elbows to scrub.
I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine.
There are too many kids in this tub.
--Shel Silverstein

(L to R -- Zach, Adam, Julianne, Madelyn, Hailey, and Catherine -- Zach and Hailey are cousins)

Television Connections 101

Now, if colleges and universities really wanted to help us all, they would offer this class. It took an hour and a half, but we are pleased to annouce that our TV, DVD, VCR, and satelite are all connected and functioning properly. We are even getting the local channels in HDTV, (which of course means just another couple of wires). We are too cheap to get all of it HDTV but maybe someday. It is really nice. Here's how the room looks

For The Birds (or to be more precise -- the bird)

Yesterday, we left for school and Trent was about ready to leave for work. When we rode back in the driveway, I was surprised to see his car still here. As I walked into the house, things were quite a bit disheveled. There were several cabinet doors open and bowls and lids everywhere. Trent then walked out of our bedroom (in "play" clothes, not work clothes) and asked (rather sternly) "Is the back door closed?" He continued on "You guys need to keep that door closed. It is ridiculous that you leave it open." He then proceeded to tell us that. . .

"After you guys left, Iwent back into our closet when I heard someone in the bathroom. I was scared thinking someone had come into the house. And something had . . . A bird. A big, black and gray bird. It was flying all over, crashing into the windows and crapping everywhere. It was mad at me and creating quite a scene. I ran through the house shutting doors trying to get it contained. Finally I had it in our bedroom in the sitting area. It kept flying into the window and finally got stuck in the blinds. I got a garbage can and trappped it in the garbage can and then got it untangled from the blinds and used a file folder as a lid and got it outside. All the while the bird was going crazy!."

Trent looked a little worse for the wear. He was hot and sweaty and visibly shaking! Oh we wished we could have watched! He assured me that if this had happened while I was home I would simple have left and left him a note saying I would be back when the bird was gone!

Bike Riding

We are now on day 8 of riding our bikes to take Julianne to school. I think it is the highlight of everyone's day. We are quite the little parade. Madelyn and Adam are in the trailer behind my bike and Julianne and Catherine each ride their own bike. I think it is a little over a mile to the school. We leave at 8:00 to take her and get home by 8:30 and then we leave again at 3:20 and get home just before 4:00. Riding with little kids can be very entertaining. . . here is a sampling

• Catherine was going really fast the other day and I was surprized by how quickly we were going. I was riding comfortably behind her when all at once she slammed on her brakes and came to a complete stop. It was all I could do to not plow right into her. (bikes have the distinct disadvantage of not having brake lights). I asked her why she stopped so suddenly and she replied, "I have an itch." She proceeded to scratch her arm and then started again.
• There is one busy street we have to cross. There are 2 lanes going each direction with a place to stop in the middle. As we were stopped in the middle I felt something on my hand and looked down to see a lizard sitting right on my hand! I screamed! Catherine screamed and I shook my hand frantically. The lizard hopped off and perched right on my handlebar. It took a lot of bike shaking before that lizard would get off! The only thing I can think of is that the lizard got on the bike in the garage and had been going on the ride with us for quite sometime.
• Creative bike riding positions. The girls are really experimenting. The stand up, they put their feet way out, they ride "side saddle" . It is pretty funny

Dreaming

I am feeling like my life is a dream... things are familiar but then they are not . . . some things make sense. . . some do not. I guess that is what happens when you move. It's like most things are really still the same except for they are different in some way. I keep thinking that I will wake up and be back in my old life, but I have to keep remembering that this is my life.

I know that I am way to busy when my kids start doing crazy things. Here's a sampling. . .

1. Madelyn cut her hair (of all my kids giving themselves a hair cut -- her's takes the cake. ) She had her hair in one of those fountain like ponytails on top of her head and put the scissors under the hair in the ponytail and snipped. The thing is I could tell she cut it, and I found the scissors, but there was no hair anywhere. I had Julianne and catherine looking for it everywhere, we never found it until at bathtime when I realized that the cut hair was still held in the ponytail. That was one huge clump of hair that came out with the rubber band.
2. The kids smeared handsoap over much of the upstairs
3. The kids tried climbing through the laundry pass through
4. When they had a friend over they put nearly all the clothes in the entire house down the laundry shoot.

And if Madelyn's hair did not already look crazy enough, she then fell on the driveway and skinned her lip, nose and forehead.

Madelyn talks more and more everyday -- her funny thing today was she called downstairs . . .
"Jamie, Adam is awake!!!"