Happy Mother's Day, Schatz!

I do not write like Jen.  But, I still love her bunches.  So, I'm hijacking her blog to let her know that I love her and I feel so blessed to have her as the joyful mother of our children.  There, that's all.  Love you Schatz!

Thursdays at McDonald's.

we have a new family tradition.
my husband teaches a class on Tuesday and Thursday morning and so i drop the kids off at school around 8am and then my little girls and i head to the farm.
(old McDonald's farm)
sometimes we kidnap a friend to take with us.

it's a long drive to the farm with a slide- so we sing Old McDonald and we listen to Scripture Scouts!
(we LOVE scriptures scouts!)
Leah always asks if i took a short cut this time.

McDonald's on Thursday morning is dreamy.
my favorite part is when we first get there.
the main lobby is filled with darling old men.
there are some couples, but mostly men.
i jokingly asked if this was the "grumpy old men's club"?
they said, "Well young lady, take off that first word and you've got it just about right."

i love these men.
they are so cute with my little girls.
they always tell me i need some boys.
when i tell them i have seven children they hoot and say "good for you, we just don't see big families these days."
i love their hard working hands and their eyes wrinkled into permanent smiles.

we usually have play land all to ourselves.
it is magical.

you know how it says parents can climb too?
well, i always do.
following my adventurous baby.
it's good exercise (for them and me.)

lily is very timid.
she always begins afraid and barely crawling up the stairs.
she gets scared on the net tubes and has a hard time climbing the big drop steps.
by the end of our morning adventure she is yelling-- "See mom, i can stand up the whole way!"
every Thursday is a victory day for lily!

the girls have a club in the purple part.
(they always beg me to let them eat in there... but the sign says "no food".)
they take their socks off (gasp) and climb UP the slides (gasp).

and, we talk to our friend Alisha who cleans "mr play structure" while we play.
she is great at daring rescues of children stuck on a stair.
she is great at knocking when she is under them causing a tornado of dancing and laughing.
she loves to sing Selina Gomez songs while she cleans that make me smile.
i love that girl.
McDonald's is great for hiring her!

we usually order 99 cent sausage mcmuffins
and water with a straw.

sister is just learning to drink from a straw.
(see those two cute teeth?  two teeth is my FAVORITE age ever!)

and, on the way home we have to get ice cream.
even though it's still morning.
because, well, it's McDonald's.
(they will give the kids FREE baby comes- i'm definitely doing that next time.)

and, sometimes i grab a treat to go, and drop it off at a school on my way home.
just as a little surprise for another one of my kids that might need a special "i'm thinking about you" today.

last week anna was sad because ellie's teacher always gives them parties and special rewards.
her teacher is more strict.
she said, "i see her class in the hallway, they are loud and bad.  And he always gives them rewards.  We are good and our teacher is always yelling at us.  And, ellie gets a whole bag of M&M's just because she knows what 40 x 3 is.  It's not fair."
that next Thursday i picked up a bag of M&Ms and dropped them off in anna's classroom with a little note "you're so blessed to have a great teacher!  only eat this treat if you know what 40 x 3 is!"
being a mom is SO FUN!
we love McDonald's on Thursday morning!

and, actually, the professor and i have a date this morning...
BiMart is having a sale!!
i think i might take him to the farm with us afterwards.
hmmm.  McDonald's on Wednesday??  I wonder what it's like?!

have a great day!!

through my lens.

after writing a comment (or three) on my friend's blog about my efficient laundry system,
i found myself in my own small laundry room surrounded by a mountain of laundry.

should i admit that those are CLEAN clothes?
i had just put lily down for her nap and was supposed to be embarking on my own quiet, movie watching, laundry folding marathon..
didn't happen.
knowing HOW to do something doesn't always transfer to actually "gittin er done".

perhaps i should say, as i am "gittin er done", life happens.

and life is not laundry.

i thought i'd snap a picture to show her how my pile of clothes was just about bigger than my youngest child.

and then i just kept taking pictures...

of my fish making five year old.

and Daizie Pinky Pan-a-cake (who sometimes wishes she was back at the humane society).

how they all migrate to me when i walk into the room and make me feel like a superstar.

can i have an orange mom?

teething.

full of wonder...

ooh... where is that orange eating five year old?

and her trusty side-kick?

look mom!  i can cut by myself!

(my kids have skills... and safe knife choices.)

speaking of trusty side-kicks...

daizie looks at me with her puppy dog eyes before she runs from the baby monster...

she is so fast she is blurry in almost every picture i take without a flash inside my house.

that baby is a mover!

leah teaching daizie not to run from the baby...

what a sweet doggie.

my laundry isn't finished... and my windows are dirty.

i don't know why?

can i ride my bike?

in the oregon rain?

how i love being a mother.

there is joy seeing my life through a lens.

my laundry didn't get finished.

it never will.

laundry, it will be there tomorrow.

these babies won't.

how i will miss them...

life is good.