The wisdom of a father

Dane looked up casually from his lunch today and said, "I'd like to hear more Easy Lover."

Thank you Greg for introducing our children to mildly inappropriate Phil Collins music.

Do you hear what I hear?

These are a few things that I heard today.

In an intense moment of imaginative play, Aubrey exclaimed that her stuffed puppy, Boltina, was having SUCH A HARD TIME giving up cigarettes. Will this topic never cease to haunt me?

Johanna snuggled up to Aubrey in bed tonight, binky in mouth and purple blanket in hands, while Aubrey read her three Dr. Seuss books. At the end of each book Johanna would say, "More please Aubee."

Dane asked me to say, "Dane, why are your fish (toys) able to swim in the air?" After doing as I was told Dane said, "Because it isn't air, it's water, and you just don't know it."

After looking through a National Geographic article about Saturn Aubrey said, "It makes sense that Saturn has so many moons. It's so big and such a large mass would make it have A LOT of gravity. It probably sucks in big rocks from the asteroid belt." You're darn right I'll take some credit for that one!

Tonight I asked Nathan if he knew how much I loved him and he said, "One billion and one." WRONG KIDDO! It's more.

Greg, currently yelling coaching tips at the NBA game he is watching while working out. It's a basement full of man sounds.

Daneisms, part 2

In the car today, getting lunch:

"Mom, you know that picture of me where I'm on top of a mountain and I'm making a face like this?" (Imagine a scrunched up nose, squinty eyes, and a cheesy grin.)

(I have no idea what he is talking about.)

"Yeah Dane, I think I know the picture you are talking about."

"Don't you think I look like a guinea pig?"



Later that same day....

Dane runs out, in the middle of the day, in his pajamas.

"Dane, why do you have your jammies on?"

SIDE NOTE: I am tired of my kids changing their clothes multiple times a day because everything ends up dirty and I end up averaging three outfits per kid to wash each day. So no, I was not over reacting. SIDE NOTE ENDED

"Because they are so warm and snuggly."

"Dane, I want you to go and put your clothes back on, you can wear those to bed tonight."

"BUT MY CLOTHES AREN'T AS SNUGGLY ON MY RUMPUS!!"

Daneisms

Dane is an accidental comedian. He truly does say the darndest things.

Yesterday Dane had the stomach flu and spent all day nauseated and throwing up.

Today he was back to himself, running around, playing, and being a tad whiny.

For dinner I made Shepherd's Pie. My kids HATE Shepherd's Pie but it is Greg's favorite and sometimes the four small dictators don't rule the whole universe.

Dane sat in front of it, looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Mommy, I feel like throwing up."

"Dane, do you really feel like throwing up or do you just not want to eat dinner?"

"NO MOMMY, I do feel like throwing up! I see this dinner and it makes me throw up!"

The gratitude is overwhelming.

More blog than you can handle

I have wanted to post for some time but the longer the absence, the greater the pressure. What should my tone be? Witty, contrite, or flippant? Do I apologize to my ten readers for my absence (implying that it has been a hardship for them) or ignore the gap all together? Pictures or no pictures? Update or humorous antecdote? After mulling these questions over in my head I would walk away and figure I'd do it another day. Understand, I was probably mulling these things over while folding clothes, teaching math, and cooking dinner. At the same time. Which of course is an entire other reason this blog has been neglected.

Yet, here I am, and I figured an update is what came most naturally. And some photos, courtesy of my mom. I have hundreds of pictures trapped on my own photo card, stuck there until I get myself another cord to hook up to my computer. Thanks Mom!

GREG: Coaching kindergarten Upward basketball, playing on his own rec basketball league for the 13th year in a row (fatherhood, injuries, and other commitments have left his team with THE IRON FIVE more than once this year), and rocking fatherhood and husbandhood. Why, just tonight, I called him in a state of panic, demanding chai tea and carbs, lest I lose my mind. He is an obliging man, and smart one, and keeps this family happy, warm, and fed.

Sara: I am home schooling. And raising four kids. And managing a house. And running kids to gymnastics, art, cheer, piano, and basketball. I try to work out in the mornings. I like to read books. I am fearfully addicted to Words With Friends. We host a care group. We go to church. I would like to do a Women's Bible Study, write more, work out more, read more, sit more, go on dates with my husband more, sleep more, and solve world peace. Most of the time I am satisfied to know that what I do is important, fulfilling, and normally enjoyable. For exceptions see above reference to chai tea and carbs.

Aubrey: Our 7 1/2 year old spent her Christmas holiday sick with mono. Four weeks later she has finally turned the corner and can make it through the day without a nap. She loves Upward Cheer but says she will return to basketball next year. (You can hear Greg breathe a sigh of relief from where you are.) She is whizzing through her piano lessons and, while on a brief hiatus during cheer, thoroughly loving a home school art class. She just recently moved out of her brothers' room and in with Johanna. I am already so in love with that sister relationship, it is beautiful to watch. She is our writer, creator, nurturer, pleaser, and hard worker. An oldest girl child, I understand nearly every move she makes.

Nathan: Our 5 1/2 year old son seems to have an increasing level of energy as the years go by. He is our fearless gymnast and would love to be taking more lessons if time, money, and energy would allow it. He is on his daddy's basketball team and while enjoying it, still is working on the finer points of play (which basket is his, what direction he should run). He is a thinker and asks the most mind stumping questions. Where does lightening go after it hits the ground? Why is the South Pole colder than the North Pole? How are snow and hail formed? Why are the different? What did people do with a kid like him without the internet?!? He is excelling at math, tolerates reading, and loves to play games. He is energetic, enthusiastic, inquisitive, joyful, and imaginative.

Dane: Our Danish Doodle turned four this past Saturday and while every day with a child is a joy, I can't say as we were sad to see three go. Dane excelled at being three, what with its illogical outbursts, selective hearing, and general contrariness. Greg and I also say that Dane is our most polarized child. He is sensitive, thoughtful, an excellent sharer without ever being asked, physically affectionate, hilarious, and endearing. He can also be, well, not so sweet and I find myself saying everyday, "DANE, do you like it when I lose my patience?!?" He loves any kind of airplane, legos, transformers, baking with his mama, giving snuggles, and wearing his Superman pajamas. He was also finally cleared to no longer wear a leg brace at night so that was welcomed news. (He was born with a club foot for those who are wondering.)

Johanna: Our baby has turned into a toddler right before our eyes. She is an excellent little talker (she told me today, "Mama, I bonk head"), adores her siblings, loves to be read to, will eat anything, likes to sit on the counter with me and pour ingredients when I bake, watch Elmo clips on YouTube, and hates to be excluded from anything. Ever since she gave up her morning nap school has been moved to the afternoon while she sleeps. She likes to be an active school participant (LOOK, I dumped the markers! Look, I stole Aubrey's textbook! WAAHH, pay attention to me!!!) and we are all happier doing school while she sleeps. She sports a flowing mullet and remains our sweet and gentle baby girl.

IS ANYONE STILL READING?!?

I hope to be back in blogging business. I miss the writing outlet and need to hone my skills if I'm to make millions writing the next American classic.

Happy Snow Day to all!

Betcha missed me

So, summer has came and is nearly gone already. We have eaten it up. My dreams of days of leisurely backyard play and popcicles haven't been as plentiful as I had hoped. Instead we have packed the time with camping trips, a week long Seaside vacation, swimming lessons, Greg and I both completing our first sprint triathlons, swimming lessons, a family photo shoot, BBQs with friends, birthdays, and enough backyard play to keep us all happy and sane. Many times this summer Nathan has told me, "THIS IS MY BEST DAY EVER!!!"

Prepare yourself for two months worth of photos. We are kinda cute.

Angela, Sara, Jenny, and Julie after completing our FIRST Danskin triathlon!

Wetsuit beauties

Greg and Justin with ALL THEIR kids after completing the Race the River triathlon

Silverwood with the Baerlocher fam . We would take up every single ride with just our families.

Dane and Gracie, two lovebirds blossoming in the Savannah

The whole Silverwood clan. Seven kids, four adults, and we actually had fun!

You think this is bad, wait until you see the faces Dane made in EVERY shot during family photos.

These are a bunch of shots from the 4th of July. We celebrated in Liberty Lake and had a great time as a family. The little kids were invited to dance during the music and Aubrey and Dane shook it until it wouldn't shake anymore!

There are still pictures from camping trips, Seaside, and maybe an entire post dedicated to the girl's triathlon, but I think this is a good start, no? You gotta give a girl a few days, and posts, to play catch up with.

Dane's hilarious melt down

Today Dane didn't nap. Dane is 3 1/2 and REQUIRES a nap. He didn't nap because at nap time he and Nathan were playing super heroes together and when I said it was nap time Nathan looked at me with trembling lips and tearful eyes and said, "Mama, can Dane please rest with me? He is my brother and I want him to be with me." Frankly, I was powerless to do anything but let them "rest" (let's use that word very loosely) together after that heartfelt speech. I might have even given them each a treat just for being precious.

Tonight however Dane was a hot mess. (The term "hot mess" comes from a hilarious friend. You know who you are!) He was weepy. He was irrational. He was flushed and droopy eyed and taking to random fits of quiet sobbing. So deep was his despair that Greg and I couldn't do anything but laugh at his misery. As we put him to bed he lost it completely and made the following wailing proclamations:

"MY BED IS SO BORING! (SOB.) I LIKED IT YESTERDAY BUT TODAY IT IS BORING AND I WANT IT TO NOT BE BORING!"

"There is something wet on my pillow! It might be drool!! (Greg flips his pillow, a vision of fatherly patience.) OH MAN, it's wet again! Daddy, it is the wet things sliding down my face that are making it wet. WHERE IS THE DRY SIDE?!?!?!"

"i ONLY WANT TWO BLANKETS! OH MAN, THEY ARE SCRIBBLY!! (I take one blanket away.) WHY DID YOU TAKE MY BLANKET, WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME COLD???"

"Daddy, will you read another story?" (Greg says no, it is way too late. He deduced this since Dane was asking this while lying on the floor, flapping his arms and crying.) "OH MAN, but I need another story so that I won't forget the story!!"

At this point Aubrey lost it and shouted, "Why are you such a whinie??" Dane screamed, "STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!!!"

One second later he was asleep.

Let the pictures do the talking

My blogging mojo has been sucked into a vortex of busyness. In penance I am giving you what you want anyways, a few pictures.

Because of how blogger loaded my pictures giving them individual captions is nearly impossible. However, in no particular order, you will find Nathan flexing what his mama gave him, Dane double fisting pickles, Aubrey showing off a new toothless grin, Johanna channelling Nicole Richie, misc. Easter pictures, Nathan mowing the lawn, Johanna rocking the hat I made her, and a cute one of Greg with the kids on his birthday. Enjoy!

Pictures a plenty

This is mostly a picture post because I was a little camera crazy this weekend but here are some of the funny things coming out of my kids mouths lately. Or the funny things I say because my kids are crazy. Or because I am just going crazy.

When Aubrey gets startled she likes to say, "HEY, you scared the bejabbers out of me!!" I have adopted that one. She also asked me if she could have more chores. Man, I do related to that oldest female child of mine! She started a new art class and makes amazing drawings for all of us. Her understanding of dimension far out paces mine. She is reading like crazy and read a whole page of "Ramona the Pest" to us. She seems so big these days, she is such a cool kid.

Nathan has had an attitude lately and recently had all his pennies taken away for two days for lying to me. (The kids get four pennies a day, each worth 15 minutes of screen time. He lied about drilling a hole into their new dresser with a pen. That's another story.) He has been full of anguish the last two days as his siblings skip on down to watch their daily Phineaus and Ferb. I was feeling kind of bad for him and said I would play a game with him. He said, "No, but can daddy come home from work and play one with me?" Sigh. It is endearing though how much he loves his daddy.

Dane is hilarious. He talks a mile a minute and says, "mommy, mommy, can you get me some milk, mommy, mommy, I need some milk, mommy mommy...." I finally asked him to call me Penelope just so he would stop saying MOMMY all the time. He thought I was nuts. He also drug my favorite blanket into our room this morning, telling me to close my eyes like it was a present, and when I opened them he said, "Look mommy mommy, it's your blanket! i brought it in for me and Daddy and Johanna." Once again, mom is chopped liver. Oh, and the stinker broke a $100 standing wrought iron candle holder yesterday at Hobby Lobby. That's another story.

Johanna is coming up on 9 months old. She is now playing peek-a-boo, refuses to feed herself much of anything, says, DADADADADADADADA all the time (what is it with that guy?), looks like a gerbil when she drinks out of her sippy cup, loves to suck on her very own tooth brush, scoots all around in her own special sit-hands and knees-sit-pivot-belly flop sort of way, and arches her back when I bring her into her room for nap time. She is so smilely and adores her siblings. LIfe is not too hard for our pampered princess. Or Princess Pampers if you like.

Enjoy the pictures!

All about a Danish

Our little Dane turned three on January 14. Three year old birthdays are so much fun because they GET IT. That means that they understand that they are awesome, that they can say things like "I get to go first-take that from you-eat that-make a general nuisance of myself- because it's my birthday!!" and that the events of the day (or days as our family seems to do) revolve around them.

I always make the kids a special breakfast, lunch, and dinner for their birthdays. Knowing that Dane loves pancakes I asked him what he wanted for his breakfast. He paused to think and said, "Syrup." Later I asked what he wanted for dinner and he said, "Soup." This floored me because making him eat any kind of soup is a full assault battle. "What kind of soup?" I asked. "Syrup soup." Hey, at least the kid knows his own mind!

Dane truly had a wonderful birthday. He loved his cake, he loved his gifts, he loved going to Chuck E. Cheese, and he loved all the special attention. I love birthdays too, it's a chance to really dote on one of the kids and go out of the way to make them feel special. My mom always made a big deal out of our birthdays and they are some of my best childhood memories. I am hoping to repeat that with our kiddos. In a house full of kids it's a big deal to have a day or two devoted only to you! OH, and thank you to all our wonderful family who spent the day with us and made his day special. Grandma Julie, you were missed!

I included many pictures of his birthday as well as the shots I took for his third birthday. I think I have a couple of ones that are good enough to avoid the JC Penneys. Of course the photo shoot ended up with him tantruming and crying in time out but hey, you can't tell from the photos!

Happy Monday folks!