Better late than...

 Oy, there are sooo many pictures on my camera!!!

TW went to a soccer camp at a local church (they did this instead of VBS), he LOVED it!  It rained one evening, so they played inside, and ended their time playing with balloons :)

Both boys got black eyes, not at the same time.  It started with Mr. E, who bonked his eye on his bed (don't ask how, because I haven't a clue).  And then, on the last day of soccer, TW butted heads with another kid and he got a black eye... same eye as Mr. E, just on bottom!

We passed a yard sale (sort of) one day, pulled over, and walked away with a $1 apple slicer/peeler/core-er... the kids were pretty impressed!

We (I) broke down and we have purchased two sets of a new toy (called a Zoob)... the first toys in months (no including Mr. E's tractor for his birthday)... everyone has really enjoyed them... Mr. E played almost a full hour on the couch with them, just like this ;)

We saw this rainbow on the way to church a few weeks ago... it's funny, you can't tell from the photo, but if you were able to look straight SW down this road, that is where the rainbow ends, and that is where we live... sadly we did not find a pot of gold when we got home!

Did you know Florida had scorpions?  Me neither.

One of the kids left a (washable) green crayon on the floor... Smaug found it.

Smaug playing in the rain!

Everyone playing in the rain!

We went to the zoo one day :)

And, of course, went to the splash park!

One night, J and I heard a commotion... here's what it turned out to be... (P.S.  I think Pretty Girl looks like Aunt SAE in this picture!)

They are all eating BBQ sauce out of the bowl... Pretty Girl showed up a few minutes later!

We finally visited Castillo de San Marcos (a fort) in St. Augustine!

And rolled down the hill!

All the kids have been enjoying going to the chiropractors 3 days a week.  The girls were trying out the traction seats :)

Last night, we saw this random rainbow... I say random because... do you see that cloud to the left, that was the only cloud :)

In Other News:  J tried to convince me that this was appropriate wear for church a few weeks back... men.

A Gabby Mom Review

I have a secret... sometimes I YELL!!!  At the kids, at the dog, at myself, at J, at the chili that "burped" on Mr. E's birth announcement that had, just that morning had the glass broken and was sitting on the counter waiting for me to safely remove the rest of the glass.  It happens, the yelling.  Sometimes I am angry, sometimes I'm frustrated and/or upset, sometimes (and I find this is the most frequent cause), it seems to be the only way to get someones attention over the other noises in the house.



Regardless of the reason, I hate yelling.  As soon as my vocal cords cool down, I find myself shaking my head, "why did I just yell?".  And then there are the days where, for whatever reason, I feel like all I've done is yell, and then I just feel rotten to the core, miserable, like an unloving Mama.  Since I know that this is not "me" it has been a struggle for, oh since about the time I discovered I had a temper, i.e. about the third time our puppy (10+ years ago) peed on the floor right in front of me, as we were walking out the door to go potty, and after having cleaned up two other "messes" in the previous 10 minutes.

So, for the past year, I have really been working on this yelling thing.  I have already identified most of my yelling triggers.  One new trigger, in this house, is having 5 bodies around my 3 x 1 foot kitchen working space, asking to help, carrying things and leaving little milk trails from kitchen to table... it just really gets my goat, and tenses me up!  I've been working on having one child help at a time (and trying to ignore the yelling match over who's turn it is).  Let's just say, it's a work in progress :)

When I first started in as a Gabby Mom through Eternal Encouragement, I noticed that Mrs. Flem had a book all about yelling.  I never purchased it, for whatever reasons.  And then, July's review came up and guess what?  It was the yelling book (technically, "Yelling:  The Cause, The Casualty, The Cure").  I was so excited and dove right in.  Now, for my honest review (since I got the book before you did, for free)... I was a bit disappointed, I think mostly because I have been working on this and I've read so many different books (not so much on yelling, but on parenting) that I didn't really have any "aha" moments.  I have come to accept though, that life builds on itself and that "aha" moments are rare.  That being said, I did like the fact that everything in the book was about yelling and ways of managing those hollers that sneak out.  

If you find that you are yelling way more than you want (or yelling at all), and you are in the beginning stages of your journey, than this book is a great start for you!  It will give you some ideas as to the causes of your yelling and some tips on dealing with those things.  Best thing?  It's free for Kindle on July 24th only - if you miss it, or want it NOW, it's only $4.99 :)  Also, on July 24th there is going to be a Facebook party, all about yelling :)  in a fun environment!

Happy July

We have been BUSY.  I am truly not sure what has kept us so busy, but it seems like days are just flying by.  Right now the 4 older kids are watching a movie with Daddy, and Smaug is still munching on his dinner, so I have a minute to myself :)

Mr. E has had a few night accidents lately, which has resulted in some bed washings... this is what happens when Daddy re-makes the bed!  And... he smiled (sort of) for the camera!!!

Daddy made TW this little table with leftover bookcase wood... so TW set up a Lego station (it has since moved about 4 times, but who's counting?).

All the kids enjoy having Daddy land his helicopter on them :)

Pretty Girl and Berry frequently fight over who gets to help make "lunch" (the term for any meal).  Pretty Girl is helping here... in her new apron from Nana :)

The triplets and I all had dental cleanings... we are all cavity free!!!  P.S.  Have I mentioned I really like our dentists office?

Last Saturday we went to a church picnic.  Smaug attacked TW's watermelon rind!

I lost the other 4 to this toy most of the afternoon!

On Sunday's we have pancakes for dinner.  I pulled out my pancake molds- which I got from J for our first Christmas, used once and have had them packed away since.  So, my pan is not flat, and I chop up the pancakes before serving them... guess I'll repack the molds :)

J discovered a bald tire on his motorcycle, so we took him to work.  On the way to picking him up, this guy fell asleep in the van... he never falls asleep in the van.  Don't worry, Mom, we were parked in the parking lot waiting on Daddy when I took the picture ;)

And, here are the pictures from the 4th of July activities.  We planned on a parade, so everyone decorated a candy bag!  

Here we are waiting for the parade to start!

Instead of a more traditional color guard (which showed up about midway with some... aged... vets, once of which looked like he was about to "fall out"), we had this.  Pretty Girl was so excited... "horse, Mama!  Mama, girl on horse"!!!

Later, we had a picnic.  I'm trying to hold the balloons out of the shot, but it was the only shot with all the kids and I!

Smaug and I hung out...

.... while the kids played for a while.

Then we headed home and played outside some more!

Then Daddy grilled some steak, and Smaug attacked his garlic mashed potatoes :)

It started raining, but we still got some sparkler time in!

We found out that our neighbors brother had a bunch of fireworks to set off.  While we waited for it to get dark and for the rain to slow down, TW played with more sparklers and ran between our house and the neighbors (they have 2 girls)!

J tells me that all boys do this at some point... I'll take his word for it.

Now, it turns out that these were huge fireworks... about 45 minutes worth (actually 25-30 minutes, there were some relight breaks in there)... they were huge and beautiful, and obviously set off in our field a mere 100 yards (maybe) from our driveway.  Best part... TW sat in a chair and J and I got to swing together in our seat while all the others slept off their busy day :)

On Thursday we took our van in to get looked at... on Monday it gets all new ball bearings for the front wheels :)

I have started a new "diet"... an elimination diet.  So, for the first 4 days I eat normal, but keep track of what I eat, marking down any symptoms I have (e.g. post nasal drip, headache, intestinal discomfort, etc.)  On day 5 I start the diet.  Since I am already mostly dairy free, I'm doing the dairy free elimination first to see if any of my complaints go away.  As part of this I made a batch of dairy free (and soy free) English muffins :)

A few weeks ago I made J some pickled jalapenos (he eats these on "everything")... who knew they were so easy?

I also made up our first batch of homemade (soy-free) ranch dressing, not that I eat ranch, but... J likes it :)

TW made this dinosaur this morning!  I think that about catches you up on all the happenings since last time!!!

In Other News:  This strange bug landed on our windshield one afternoon :)