Generally, I try to go grocery shopping when Nate can be home with the kids. It’s not that I mind taking them with me, but there just isn’t room in the cart for the groceries…

Our baseball season ended on Saturday. We’re sad. We’re trying to figure out what to do the next few weeks. We start school at the beginning of August.

Connor isn’t quite IN LOVE with baseball as Andy and Brady… It’s growing on him though. Since Daddy is his coach, he learned the hard way that he may have to be patient.

He was the last player on his team to get the game ball. He was elated, nonetheless!

(He later said the sun was in his eyes, so he “had to make that face!”)

We also made baseball cards for all the players, so I’ll post those soon!

My kids are always curious about how fast we’re driving. I’m not sure if that’s a normal thing, or if it’s because my husband is a cop and they want to be sure we’re not speeding.

We were all in the van the other day and Connor asked, “Mommy, how fast are we going?”

In a not-so-mother-of-the-year-moment-because-I’m-tired-of-answering-this-question, I replied, “48 million miles an hour.”

Hesitantly, Connor (4) asked, “Uuhhhhh, should we be going that fast?!”

Quote from Evan, now 3, (which will be held over her until WELL after he wedding day) while holding up her tiny pinky finger:

“Mama, picking boogers with THIS finger is NOT what the Bible says!”

We keep our kids with us in church unless they get rowdy/fussy/loud/etc. Last night, Nate was leading singing and Andy & Brady were allowed to sit with their older cousins, Dale & Ty.

So, I was sitting with the four youngest until Nate was done with the songs. We had Grayson’s 1st birthday party yesterday afternoon (more on that soon,) so the girls didn’t get their naps, and Grayson’s wasn’t quite long enough.

Soon after church started, he got REALLY wiggly. The girls were a little fussy, too. So, once it was time for Nate to join us, I left Connor and took the other three out to the gym. It was fine until Nate had to get up to lead the songs for invitation and closing.

A friend sitting a few pews behind Connor and Nate said that Nate got up and went forward, then Connor looked around and put his hands up as if to say “what in the world?” She whispered, “Connor, are you OK?”

He answered, “I can’t take care of myself!!” Funny kid!

Nate could of course see him the whole time… plus several friends were near by. Since he’s been in the service his whole life, he did just fine.

Last night, we went out to dinner with some friends after church. As we were driving home, the kids were looking out the windows of the van and talking about the moon.

Then Evan looked up again and shouted, “Hey God… Knock, Knock!”

I love her simple faith. I’m sure she wouldn’t have been at all surprised if God had shouted back, “Who’s there?”

Nate and I chuckled from the front seats and I said, “I’m pretty sure God smiles down at us a lot, shakes his head, and says, ‘Those crazy kids!’”

A couple weeks ago, this was the deal:

On May 27, Brady earned the game ball for his defensive work!

Last night, something new happened:

Andy went 2-2 last night and had a few great defensive plays.

I love watching my two boys play together on the same team! They read each other so well and know just where the other will be. So fun!

So, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this week. People around here were, of course, elated. Someone near our house even set off the big, 4th-of-July-type fireworks.

My kids were just as excited about the fireworks. They lined up on the couch so they could watch the sky from our giant picture window.

They were ooohing and ahhhhing… then Ferris turned around and, in all her curly-haired, two-year-old cuteness, gasped, “Tinkerbell, Mama!!” She pointed out into the sky!

We have this pool that we’d never used. We got it back when we were able to do homebirths. It’s exactly the same size as the one my first three boys were born in.

At any rate, it’d been in our basement for a long time, so we broke it out on Memorial Day and let the kids go nuts. It’s 5′ in diameter and 2′ deep, though we didn’t fill it all the way full.

You’d think it might have been too small for five kids, but they LOVED it. They took turns trying to “jump” in, and Brady successfully figured out how to do cannonballs into it. Seriously!

Grayson missed out on the fun because he was napping, but hopefully he’ll get to join in next time!

It seems summer may have finally arrived — though I’m cautious about saying that too soon. It’s supposed to rain and cool down this weekend!

My kids have been enjoying playing outside much more. I’ve enjoyed giving them the extra space to run and just be kids! The other day, they played until it was pretty much dark outside.

But I failed them. I forgot to drench them in bug spray.

I’m pretty sure at least half of my kids are allergic to mosquito bites, like I am. The girls both woke up the next morning with what practically looked like hives. I counted more than 30 bites on Ferris’ upper body alone. Her arms were wavy with swollen bumps! Evan was much the same.

By afternoon, the mosquito bites had started to blister. I broke down and gave them each a small dose of Benadryl. It seems to have helped.

The strangest part, though, is that Grayson is strangely drawn to the Benadryl bottle! He loves watching the red liquid ooze from one end of the bottle to the other! Because of the child-proof lid, he can’t open it… so I’ve been letting him entertain himself with the bottle.

This morning, he carried it around for more than an hour.

Hopefully that means he won’t get any allergic reactions any time soon…

Anyone know of any good ways to get rid of mosquitoes?