Leaving the nest..well for 3 hours a day

My first baby girl is headed to Kindergarten in two short days and she's so unbelievably ready but I'm still not. I get choked up when I go to Walmart and walk by school supplies or when I even think of dropping her off that first day. Jason told me the other day, "She is going to school, you have to take her school, we are not homeschooling" and "This is not like when you didn't want her in daycare, she has to go" I know, I know. And although I've thought seriously about homeschooling, it's probably not the best option for our family and I want her to have that experience right now. Yes, there are days that I think it's great someone else will have to answer her incessant questions for 3 hours 5 days a week but most of me is sad that this phase of her childhood is over. I've had 5 years of being with her almost every day. There will be other influences on her, positive and negative. That someone will hurt her feelings and I won't be there to fix it. I remember bringing her home and being so scared of this little person I was responsible for, her crazy crying spells those first few months, going back to work for one whole day before we knew that me being home was the best thing ever. Lily is so used to be the leader, I think it will be a great experience for her to not be the boss all the time. Lily is my one who questions everything, challenges my answers, is in timeout frequently but she's also so thoughtful, will get her sisters drinks/snacks before she gets her own, will clean up a room for me just because, super smart, makes cards for random people she just met, asks our neighbors if she can have dinner with them or run to home depot if that's where they're headed. Plain and simple, she's our Lily.

What Lily will learn in Kindy...

We pass Lily's school everyday on the way home from the gym and of course, then have to talk about it. Today, it was...
Lily, "Mommy, know what I'm going to learn in Kindergarten?"
Me, "What are you going to learn?"
Lily, "I'm going to learn how to read, how to do instruments and how to be on a stage"
Me, "Who told you that you're going to learn to be on a stage?"
Lily, "Mrs. White" Mrs. White is her Kindy teacher who she has maybe said 10 words to so far.
Me, "Are you sure that's what Mrs. White said?"
Lily, "Yep"

Harper's just nuts...

Gave Harper a cup with some grapes in it for snack, thought she was done but then I found her putting grapes in shoes and then using the shoe to dump the grape in her mouth. Not even her shoes, just gross.

What Daddy should pray for...

Lots to blog about but Haley's been sick, settling in from our trip,etc. so that will have to wait but this morning Jason was getting ready to go to church, then come home to take Lily & Lacy to the beach while I stayed home with the little ones.

Lily, "Where's Daddy going?"
Me, "Church"
Lily, "So he can pray to God to thank him for the beach"
Me, "Something like that"

What would happen?

From Lacy, "What would happen if a dinosaur ate Haley & Daddy?"
Me, "I don't know, what do you think would happen?"
Lacy, "The dinosaur would probably have a bellyache"

I do not like...

From Lily:
"I really do not like having so many boogers in my nose"

Happy Hearted Lacy

It occurred to me today especially that my sweet Lacy is not a complainer and it again makes me grateful that all our girls are so very different. I love that she just eats what is on her plate, usually asks for more, loves fruit and some vegetables. Love that she gets so excited when we buy her any little thing. Love that she wears her underwear backwards most days and sometimes her flip flops on the wrong feet, if you tell her about it, she'll just say, "But Mommy, they feel good" Love that she wanted to buy a stuffed baby giraffe for Jason but now carries it around everywhere and sleeps with it.

Harper the Ham

Harper is our ham, our class clown, one that will do anything for a laugh and then do it over and over.

Wow, a stepstool & a sink full of bubbly water! And I've got on my cool new rain boots. It's my lucky day!

Yes, I just opened every cabinet & now I'm probably going to see if there's anything good to eat in the overflowing garbage bag before Daddy takes it out.

Playroom Sleepover

Lacy & Lily wanted to sleep in the playroom the other night, and as part of my new parenting resolution to say YES whenever possible, I said YES thinking they wouldn't last 20 minutes in there. Well, they did. They spread out their sleeping bags, pillows, Sissy's 50 million animals and then finally fell asleep until 2 am when they came to tell me that their light bright light wasn't staying on and then at 4am when they came to tell me they were going to the bathroom and then at 5:30a when they came to chat with me while I fed Haley. Of course then they slept late & Jason said, "Wow, they slept really well in there"
"No, they didn't. They were up 3 times" Me
"I'll shut up now" Jason
Of course as soon as they got up, they asked if they could sleep in the playroom again.

Thinkin' the girls are ready for fall...

It's that time of year again, the time of year when I go through about 20 giant rubbermaid tubs of little girls clothes. I have memories of my Mom doing this with us to see what fits, what doesn't, what we needed and it's fun that Lily & Lacy are starting to do it with me. They can look at the sizes & know (most of the time) whose bucket it goes in. Anyway, this of course led to them wanting to try on of all things their footie pajamas. FLEECE footie pajamas, it's like 90 degrees this week. Of course these are from 2 years ago so they fit Lacy but are ridiculously small on Lily. I told Lily, "Those are too small for you" "No, they're not, I just can't sit down"
They wanted to play outside in them, I vetoed that idea but they put them right back on when they came inside and requested hot chocolate for a snack...

Haley's a swingin'

Haley loves the baby swing on the playset. I always say I can't wait until next summer when everyone can just hang out outside and play all day but at least now, she can hang out in her swing while the big girls play. Lily was pushing her and Haley laughed & squealed at her, so cute.

Haley with her customary mohawk and giant drool bubble

Where's my giant book of answers?

Lacy & Lily have started asking questions about birth,death, Heaven, God, getting smooshed, cemetaries and every other uncomfortable subject you can think of that doesn't have easy answers. Conversation today on the way home...

Lily, "What's that building?"
Me, "It's a church, see the cross?"
Lily, "For dead people?"
Me, "No, for people that are alive"
Lacy, "Where are the dead people?"
Me, "Dead people are usually in the cemetary, remember the one by our house?"
Lily, "Why are they not in Heaven?"
Me, "Ummmm..." think fast, think fast.
Me, "Well, their bodies are in the cemetary but their spirit & their soul are in Heaven if they loved Jesus"
Lily, "Where's Jesus?"
Me, "Remember? He's in heaven"
Thank goodness they took a break in the conversation to talk about what they were going to eat for lunch but then they saw a police car....
Lily, "I think that police man is going to help someone"
Lacy, "Who is he going to help?"
Lily, "Somebody who got smooshed"
Me, "I bet the policeman will help take them to the hospital to see the dr."
Lily, "No, they're going to Heaven"
Me, "Maybe the Dr. will be able to make them better"
Lily, "Nope, they're going to Heaven"
Lily, "They can't talk in Heaven"
Lacy, "Why not?"
Lily, "Their mouth was smooshed"
Me, "When you go to Heaven, Jesus makes you all better. You're not smooshed in Heaven"
And although these questions leave me stumped sometimes & a little nervous about all the questions to come, it's amazing to me how their little brains work through such complex ideas.

What would happen #3780

Lacy's what would happen question for the day...
Lacy, "Mommy, what would happen if a spider tried to change Daddy's diaper?"
Me, "ummm, I don't know, what do you think would happen?"
Lacy, "Well, the spider would be this (holds her arms out wide) big. And would change daddy's diaper.:
Me, "Ok"
I didn't even ask why Daddy is wearing the diaper, why there is a giant spider changing his diaper because I'm a little scared of her answers.

Buckle Up!

One of the hardest parts of mothering for me is that children have NO sense of urgency. So, when I say girls, go get your shoes on. I think they must hear me say, "Finish playing dollhouse, get a drink of water, push my puppy in the stroller and then if I still remember what Mommy said 5 minutes ago, I will find one shoe and then need her help to find the other"
Getting buckled up to go somewhere is one of my huge pet peeves. Lily & Lacy have boosters that they can get into and buckle/unbuckle themselves. Well, they can if they haven't horribly twisted up the seat belt and it's not stuck. So, our conversations go like this when we're about to leave.
Me, "Newton girls, load up"
Me, "What's the first thing we do when we get in the car"
Lily & Lacy, "Get in our car seats, buckle up"
They head out to the car, I get Haley in her car seat, go out to the garage and usually find a scenario like this.
Me "Girls, we are not watering our flowers, riding our bikes, scooters, pushing Harper in the stroller, picking bugs up off the floor,etc. We need to get in the car, get buckled" They then will get in the car but usually before buckling up, they'll need to situate their water bottles, animals, get a favorite book, talk to Harper, ask where Haley is, where we're going, if we can go through the big puddle, why the road is so bumpy, if I brought snacks, if Makayla will be at the gym, if Erin can come over that day,etc. This is usually when I take a deep breath so I don't start screaming.

Sweet Haley Mae

Seriously, I have to live with all these other people? I thought for sure I requested a family with NO other children?
Sleep now sweet girl, your sisters will be carrying you around like a sack of potatoes in the next few hours

New York State of Mind

Conversation between Lily & Daddy
Lily, "When will we go to New York?"
Daddy, "Why do you want to go to New York?"
Lily, "It's my favorite state"
Daddy, "Why is it your favorite state?"
Lily, "They have so much candy there"

Family & Friends

Had lots of fun with the girls on the trip, took Lily & Lacy to see Toy Story 3. The girls have been to the movies with Grandma & Grandpa so this was our first time seeing them watching a movie. It was 3D and they didn't quite get it so they kept taking their glasses off. Lacy was just as thrilled with her Icee as the movie, Lily got a little restless and told me she was sleepy a few times. Jason said, They're at such a fun age and he's so right. They're done with diapers, bottles, almost done with naps so it's so easy to just pick up and take them anywhere. Mammy tells me not to wish my life away but I will be glad when we're able to do more things as a family without having to worry about the baby schedules.
Hung out with Aunt Cheryl and Lauren at the pool, little nervous about taking all of them to the pool but it was so much fun. Harper loved it, Haley slept and hung out in her stroller. I love it when I think things will go horribly wrong and it turns out just fine. Lily & Lacy wanted to spend the night at Aunt Cheryl's, probably because she's so much fun but also because she has two cats that I think they want to terrorize.
Thomas came to play with us at Mammy's house which was great just to watch how fascinated they are just because he's not their sibling and he's a BOY which we don't get alot of. That's something I miss because we're far away, I would love to be able to have them grow up together and be close. We even ventured out to Cracker Barrel with our "Party" of 12. I use the term party loosely, it is anything but a party and anything but relaxing when you have that many children eating out. LOVED watching the munchkins play together...

Lacy pulling Harper who only weighs 7 pounds less than her.
Trying to get a good pic of Thomas & Harper. They're probably thinking, "Woman, move out of the way, we're trying to see if Elmo is on"

Do I not just look like Jason Newton but with a giant yellow polka dot bow?

I said, "Move woman, we're trying to watch Elmo?"

Thomas pulling what suspiciously looks like a purse...SSSHHH! Don't tell Neal.

They like this bathtub since it has doors, they can have PRIVACY

Harper, livin' the good life, eating chips and hanging out with Daddy

Everything tastes better when you sit on a blanket and it's at the pool

Shwimming!

Woman, don't touch these toys! Everything was just fine until you girls showed up...

Teeny, tiny, baby Grant

Road Trip!

Just back from KY, well two days ago but it takes that long to get caught up on laundry and unpacking. The girls did awesome this trip, leaving super early is the trick. DVD player + lots of snacks help everyone stay sane.

Harper eating her feet, girl will do anything for a laugh

The two pics above are at a gas station snack stop. We do not stop until someone has either been screaming a really long time or someone needs to potty. We do not stop at fast food restaurants, you lose an hour and the kids have to sit still. We stop to gas up and let the girls pick out a snack in the gas station. Harper also thinks this includes her since she threw two giant bags of chips on the counter too. Then, we find a grassy gas station area, throw the tailgate open and eat our snacks. Redneck, yes. very. Do we care? No. And I can change diapers in the car, not in a nasty bathroom. Works for everybody...and Jason can get a scratch off lottery ticket. Really, a win/win.

Harper, still eating her feet.

And still eating her feet.

And Jason texting while driving which might I remind you, is illegal in the state of Illinois. Maybe we were in Indiana by then.

Harper with her giant smile behind her giant tootie which we wouldn't dare take away on a 6 hour road trip.

Yeah, we're cool. We hang out at gas stations.

Video of feet eating by Harper Joy Newton