Dear Nudist Colonies,

I get you.

Sincerely,

A Mother Of Five

Tell me the stories of Jesus, or I will make them up myself...

"Jesus is telling Jesus Christ to 'put that fish back in the water!' but he wants to take it home and Jesus is really cranky at him..."
                 --the story of Christ calling his disciples, as told by Adell

Mini-Me...

Adell came into my room this morning asking:

"What can I do for a nose and a mouth and eyes and ears?"

I was stumped.

She repeated her question with similar results on my part.

I thought to ask, "Tell me some of the other things you've used so far." hoping to get a clue as to what she was talking about and what she needed.

"My pants are my legs, my shirt is my belly..." she explained, gesturing to her totally naked body.

"You better show me..."

In her bedroom I found her shirt and pants set out on the floor like a chalk drawing.  She was making a copy of herself with her clothes and wanted to complete the look.  I suggested a plate for her head, squinkies for eyes and a bracelet for a mouth.  She added those items and asked "Hmmmm, what else to I need?"  I waved my arms and hands around until understanding lit up her face.  "Oh, I know!  A nose!"

Close enough.

She added a nose, figured out gloves for hands and some toy car seats for feet.  She was pretty proud of her creation--even if it left her completely naked.

Distracted...

 

 

Oh, I am so behind in my blogging. 

We went to Montana this summer--for the first time in six years.  We spent a hot, sweaty day at Six Flags (and only almost lost Adell twice).  The kids took swim lessons from a lovely teenage girl at the pool down the street.  Wyatt had three teeth pulled at the dentists.  In fact, the big kids have nearly bankrupted our Tooth Fairy with all the teeth they've lost this summer.  Stanford football season started.  Wyatt has been in soccer and both of the big kids started running cross country this fall.  I had a birthday. (yipee!)  Lorien is running for a spot on the Student Council.  Will took the girls out on the Daddy-daughter-camp-out. 

Yes, I have a lot to put up on this blog.

But Colter keeps distracting me.  He is too cute and too demanding.  I spend a lot of time holding him, kissing him and saving him from an overly-loving big sister.

It is a full time job.

 

Colter is four months old now.  He loves to laugh and squeal.  Our house is a noisy place these days and Colter is happy to add to the chatter.  He learned how to roll from his back to his belly.  As soon as I put him down on his back he flips over to his belly.  However, he does not know how to get off his belly.  So, he will spend a few happy minutes--looking at the view from his belly.  Then, he starts to fuss and cry--frustrated that he cannot get off his belly.  We let him cry, hoping his frustration will help him learn how to roll the other way.  So far, it hasn't worked.  He ends up burring his face in the carpet and screaming until we come to his rescue. 

 

He is adorably ticklish, on his back, on his belly, under his chin and armpits.  I try not to take advantage of this knowledge.  He loves to smile at every one.  He is learning about his hands and how to reach and grab things--and put things in his mouth. 

 

He is not sleeping through the night.  He is on a very predictable schedule: down for the night between 6:00 and 7:00pm, up for his first feeding between 11:00 and midnight, up again around 2:30 am and up one more time around 5:00 am for short feedings.  He is usually is awake for the day between 7:00 and 8:00 am--taking his first nap two hours after he wakes up.  The end result is a very predictable night and morning.  After his first nap all bets are off the table.  We have school pick-ups and outside activities for the big kids.  He doesn't get a good second nap and so is cranky and demanding for the rest of the day.  We still love him to pieces--irritability and all.

 

And now, I will have to go back and post-date some blog entries.  For my own sake...

 

 

 



Publicity...

Lorien is running for a council position at school.  She wants to win the "Publicity Chair" where she would be responsible for making all of the posters telling students about upcoming activities. 

She had to make a poster for her campaign and asked for help coming up with a slogan to tempt the juvenile voters.

I suggested:

Don't be a dead opossum.  Vote for Lorien she's awesome!

She went with this:

Her slogan was: Want publicity that's creative and smart?  Vote for Lorien, she's great at art!

Catchy?  Yes. 

Truthful?  Yes. 

Funny as "Don't be a dead opossum..."?  No. 

I did convince her to put the "Don't be a dead opossum" idea on her poster in the form of one of her pieces of art. 

Brilliant. 

School Days...

I sent the three older children off to school this morning.  Last year, as soon as they were all settled at school, I cried.  It felt lonely to have so many of my kids out of the house. 

This year, as soon as they were all settled at school, I clicked my heels with joy.  The quiet in the house with just Adell and Colter is wonderful!!! 

No one is fighting over the TV.  No one is building forts with all the couch cushions.  No one is asking me where a lost toy is.  No one is complaining. 

Right now, Colter is sleeping, Adell is watching a show and I am enjoying a late breakfast with no interruptions.

I love public school.

Hello my little fishies...

One of my goals for the summer was to help my kids improve their swimming skills.  I looked into putting my kids into swim team but turns out they did not know how to "swim". 

They didn't know a single actual stroke. 

Lorien and Wyatt were pretty good at flailing their arms and legs to get around the pool.  But there isn't a swim stroke called "flail".  Clare wouldn't even put her shoulders under water and cried if she was splashed in the face. 

No, swim team was out.  

So I hired a local life guard to come to our pool every morning and teach the kids to swim. 

Katrina was a life-long swim teamer and had been a life guard at a community pool for a couple of years.  She was kind and fun.  The kids loved her.

Lorien and Wyatt learned how to free style swim, Clare learned how do to the "arrow" and Adell learned how to "glub".  All of the kids gained some valuable confidence. 

It was just what they needed.  Maybe they will be able to do swim team next summer.

Maybe...

Lorien

Wyatt

Clare

If you were wondering, "glubbing" is what Adell calls going all the way under the water.

We had swim lessons first thing in the morning before anyone else showed up at the pool.  Some mornings were pretty cold.  Poor Katrina had to stay in the pool for an hour while my kids rotated through their lessons.  One day Clare and Adell were done with lessons but didn't want to go up to the house.  So they stayed on the side of the pool, wearing their coats and shivering.  Adell wrapped her arm around Clare and said "Don't worry Clare, I'll warm you up."  It was so sweet.

 

 

Colter and I sat on the pool chairs, kept time for each lesson and cheered our swimmers on. 

 



Can a Fairy file for Chapter 11?

The Anderson kids have been losing teeth like crazy this summer.  Lorien is losing molars, Clare is losing her first teeth and Wyatt had to have three teeth pulled by the dentist.

I think the Tooth Fairy swings by our house every other night...  I think she is regretting the price she set with the very first tooth lost at our house. 

Big Sky...

Well, it is actually the first weekend in October but I am post-dating this sucker for August.  And now, when I think back on this trip I am so amazed we actually pulled it off.

We hadn't been to Montana since Clare was the new baby around here--so six full years ago. 

I had just given birth to another baby 11 short weeks earlier.

We had five kids to manage this time around.

Those are not small hurdles.

But Will and I both agree, we are so glad we did it.  The kids had so much fun, the lake was beyond beautiful and seeing extended family was awesome.

The first, and looking back now: the most amazing thing about our trip was how we all go from Northern California to Montana.  I couldn't stomach the idea of driving for 20+ hours with a new born baby.  So Will drove our van with three of our kids, two of our nephews and his sister, Emily.  Lorien, Colter and I flew out a few days behind the driving crew.  I am still so impressed with this driving feat.  Will did the driving and Emily did the tending (a role I usually take and was so glad to pass on to some one else).  They only stopped a few times (excepting fuel and potty breaks) to see Craters of the Moon National Park and the Snake River.  Emily made up a travel bag for each of the kids full of stickers, coloring pages and little activities for trip.  Will printed off maps and had the kids track their progress across the western states.  They searched for licence plates and made it to the lake safe and sound. 


Lorien and I enjoyed a girls weekend (plus a baby boy) before getting on a plane for Montana on Monday morning.  Our flight was uneventful--Colter was so well behaved and I did not throw up.

This is the sweet face that kept us company to the airport at 5:00 in the morning. 

                                             

We spent the next five days swimming, boating, eating, visiting with family, digging in the dirt, roasting marshmallows, reading, fishing and having an all around fantastic time. 

This is my Huba-Huba-Husband getting some time on the wake board.

This is my Mother-in-law, Judy.  Is she awesome or what?   

All of the kids lived in their swimsuits and life jackets.  I don't know why I even bothered to pack clothes...  Wyatt and Lorien tried their hand (or legs) at water skiing.  Wyatt turned out to be a great skier. 

All of the kids loved being pulled by the boat on the inner tube (it is called something much classier than 'inner tube' but I cannot remember what that is...). 

Will organized all of his minions and cleared a portion of the lake front property of overgrown brush.

After five Montana-filled-days, Lorien and I boarded another airplane (with Colter) to head back home.  Leaving Will to gather our family supplies and drive the other kids back home. 

We had such a great time!  After being away for so many years it had started to feel impossible to get up to the lake.  Now that we've done it again we are excited to go back.

 

 

You can see the bandage on the right side of Adell's chin here.  Now she has a lovely little scar...look for it in future posts. 

Ahh, I forgot.  There was one bit of bad news while we were up at the lake: Adell slipped off a ladder and cracked her chin open. 

It was ugly. 

I freaked out. 

Adell, Colter, Will and I were hanging out in the cabin.  Adell climbed up the ladder to the loft where her favorite blankets were.  On her way down she slipped on the silky blanket and fell--smashing her chin on one of the rungs of the ladder.  I hopped up and down, wringing my hands and crying "She's bleeding, she's bleeding, she's bleeding!" while Will assessed the damage.  Thankfully, Will's cousin (Melody) is a nurse and had "liquid stitches" in her first-aid kit.  She was so nice to Adell while she closed up the gash and said the most reassuring things to me. 

Thank you a million times over Melody for your level head and lovely bed-side manner. 

Thanks Judy for letting me sob on your shoulder after it was all over. 

Seeing the Davis side of things...

Even though I had a baby in May, we did manage to pull off a few family trips during summer vacation.  

At the end of July we drove down to Southern California to visit my Aunt Colleen, Uncle Richard and a variety of cousins.  My sister, Jennifer, was there and some of my other siblings from Utah made the drive as well.  

I enjoyed introducing my kids to members of my (large in number) side of the family.  We Davises don't get together frequently enough.  Sigh...

For my own record, here are a bunch of pictures and some lame captions.  

It is getting late and my contacts are bothering me...

The grown-ups spent their time sitting and talking while consuming lots of food.  Life is pretty good when you are a grown-up.

The kids spent their time in the pool--always the pool.  Uncle Richard put a ladder up and then my kids jumped off the roof.  

They jumped off the roof!  It terrified me.  I am not sure what made Lorien happier, the thrill of jumping or the thrill of freaking me out.  

We made the kids group up for as many pictures as they would tolerate.

Jennifer was the "Baby Whisperer"

Lorien was the "Baby Costumer" 

Clare was a rock star.  She chilled in the sun and played ping pong--you know, real rock star stuff.

Will also sold a solar system to my Uncle Richard and made a trip down to CSS's San Diego offices.  So, a productive weekend for family and work...that is how we roll.