So much cuteness!

Coco had her kittens! We could tell she was in labor Tuesday night because she kept meowing and looking in secluded places. So we put her in the box we had fixed up and waited expectantly. Sam was so excited and emotional he kept tearing up (I don't know what he'll be like if he ever has children of his own someday). She would only stay in the box if we sat next to her, though, and after 2 hours of taking shifts, we finally gave up and got the kids ready for bed.

Before Seth and I went to sleep at midnight, I headed upstairs to put towels down in Frankie's crib, which was where I had last seen Coco, only to find her in Sam and Charlie's closet with a newborn kitten. So we woke up the kids, and the boys got to watch her next baby come out before we all went back to bed.  Elena was too tired to get up, which was just as well because it was difficult for us all to see anyway. Sam had already named the first-born Skunk before he went back to sleep.

At 4:00am Sam came into our room worried because he woke up to the sound of frantic meowing and noticed that Coco was in his bed (her normal sleeping spot) nursing only one kitten; the rest were still in the closet.  So we moved Mama and her four(!) kittens to the box we had prepared and spent 45 minutes trying to help the littlest one latch on. We finally had to give up, and it took me a lot of reassuring Sam that the kitten would probably not be dead by morning, and if s/he was still struggling, we could call the vet and get some milk. Fortunately, all four were nursing when he woke up at 6:30, and Coco has been doing a great job with them since.

We are also very lucky that she is a relaxed mom, and doesn't seem to mind people coming near her kittens. We have had lots of visitors, and we've had to gate the room so Frankie and Charlie can't get in without supervision. Charlie knows better, but he just can't resist picking them up when he thinks he can get away with it. I've caught some of the older kids doing it, too, so we've had to lay down some pretty strict rules and big threats. We had 8 extra kids stop by today alone to see the kitties, and I don't want to take advantage of Coco's generosity in sharing her little ones.

Each of our kids got to name one kitten, and fortunately they all picked different kittens to name so there was no fighting (Frankie didn't much care). So we are happy to introduce:

Skunk (named by Sam - the one who looks like a skunk)
Mittens (named by Elena - gray with white feet)
Flash Minty Pizza Cowboy ("Flash" for short, named by Charlie - who else? - the orange one)
and Ticka (that's how Frankie says "kitty" - all gray)

I can hardly stand how cute these guys are!

Happy 1st Communion, Sam

On Sunday Sam received the greatest gift obtainable on Earth for the first time. Congratulations, Sammy!

We had to promise Charlie a goofy picture to get him to pose for the first one.

As much as Sam wanted a suit, not just a nice shirt and tie, he sure changed out of it quickly!

 We tried to recreate this classic picture, but fell a little short. I didn't have the original handy so we were working from memory. Plus Sam had already changed, and Charlie didn't understand what the heck we were doing, but we tried.

 And if you look closely at that cake, you will see that although I am more German than anything else, those perfectionist genes failed to make their way into my DNA. (I ran out of room on the word "Communion" and had to write the "n" on the other side of the chalice, which itself was pretty badly smudged).

Mexico 2017

In no particular order, here is a snippet of our Mexico trip:

Frankie getting a chance to run up and down a little hill in between bus rides and tours. This was the highlight of the day for him. He was not a huge fan of all the bus rides, plane rides and having to be held during the tours. I would have loved to put him down while we were sightseeing (especially since I was about the only one he would let hold him), but he always wanted to run the opposite direction of the group.

Frankie making friends on the bus. The only saving grace during all the transporting around was that Frankie absolutely loved making new friends. He spent most of the bus and plane rides climbing up my face to see the people behind us so he could make faces and blow kisses. He learned really quickly in Mexico that he would get a BIG reaction from people if he blew kisses.  On my way back to the bathroom on one of the plane rides, I overheard someone say, "Look at that baby! He blows kisses! See if you can get him to blow us one!"

The tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We were thrilled to be able to see this - Frankie had his worst day of all at the shrine, but we made it there and it was wonderful.

Frankie playing peekaboo with one of our friends, Shon. These two were best buds all week.

On a catamaran ride at a beach near Cancun. I don't remember the name of it, but it's one of the most beautiful in the world. Frankie threw a monstrous tantrum at the idea of having a life jacket on so we ended up making a ring of people around the edges of the catamaran while Frankie danced in the middle. We were happy to provide everyone with the entertainment for the ride.

On the beach. The water didn't interest him too much, surprisingly, but we had lots of fun in the sand. Seth and I both got burned (grrrr) despite multiple applications of sunblock. Other than that, this was a very fun-filled day.

Making friends on the beach

At the Sun Pyramid - we did have time to climb, unfortunately, but it was impressive nonetheless.

Frankie wanting to be put down at the Sun Pyramid.

Frankie and me with our bodyguard at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (We had earpieces for the tour, in case you're wondering)

Chilling in a cabana with a (virgin) daiquiri, which Frankie used as his chip dip.

Looking cute and taking a brief break from his constant activity. I had so many people tell me,  "I have never seen a baby so busy/fast/active/entertaining as he is!" When we entered a restaurant we had been to the day before, I overheard one of the waiters say,  "Look! It's the very fast baby!"

Interesting combo

This morning I made crepes(pancakes) for breakfast. When I offered one to Charlie he said, "Yeah! I want one with cinnamon and ketchup!"

"Do you mean syrup?"

"Oh yeah, syrup."

I suppose they both end with "up" and they come in similar bottles....

Tips on keeping an organized house: Special Edition for families with small children

I recently came across an article in a housekeeping magazine with tips on staying organized, and it was pretty entertaining. I'm assuming most families with young and/or numerous children can relate. For those of you with children who continually beat yourself up wondering why you can't just pull it all together, let me offer you some peace of mind by sharing my modified list of organizational tips.


1. Put things away as soon as you are done using them.

If someone has figured out how to effectively communicate this to toddlers, I'm all ears. Feel free to put things away as soon as you're done using them - this is a great tip. You may find however, that getting everyone in the house under 4 ft tall to do the same could quickly turn into a full time job. At some point, you will probably just have to let go, and that's ok because eventually you will completely lose it and make everyone clean while you are acting like a psychopath for an hour or two and you can get your peace of mind back - for 5 minutes or so before it all starts coming undone again.

2. Have a place for everything and keep everything in its place
unless you can't handle the frustration of not being able to find something when "it should be right here!"   Your best bet on this one is to  resign yourself to the fact that things will only stay where they belong in another 10-25 years (depending on how many more kids you plan to have and how quickly or slowly they mature).

3. Make a to-do list for the day.
I like to do mine towards the end of the day by listing small accomplishments that I've already achieved (brush teeth, eat food, keep all family members out of the emergency room, etc) so I can get a little emotional boost as I cross them off. The real to-do list that I made first thing in the morning has usually been lost by then anyway.

4. Do one thing at a time.  (I laughed long and hard at this one)

4 kids? No problem. They'll keep themselves entertained while you focus on your "one task." Just beware your Kleenex box may look like this by the end of the day when someone decides to pull 150 Kleenexes out of a box to make a blanket for the cat. (Don't worry potential visitors - we have a decent box of tissues ready for company).

5. Clear the table and wash dishes as soon as you are done eating. But only if you don't mind a toddler crying to be held and pulling down your pants the whole time you are cleaning up. This at least improves as you get kids old enough to help. At that point you might just want to invest in an ipod or something to put in your ears after meals to block out the sound of their complaining about how none of their friends are ever subjected to such cruel and unusual punishments. And many nights it will just need to wait until all the kids are asleep.

6. Drawers are your friends.

They're just not real chummy with toddlers. Exhibit A:

7. Finish what you are working on before moving onto the next task or activity.
That's right! Do not let yourself become distracted. That 2-year-old crying for a snack will figure out how to get herself a glass of milk and cut up an apple in another 2 years or so - she can wait. The child scaling the fridge in an attempt to get at some forbidden treat or toy will get a good lesson in gravity when he falls (or discipline if he succeeds). No matter how adorable that child is when he asks for a cuddle and a story, do not give into his plea for love and attention. Ignore that baby who ripped off his diaper, pooped on the floor and now appears to be making a mural on the wall with his own feces. Be firm: resist the urge to switch to a new task before you have finished the one you are on!

Of course, some parents with children are able to completely avoid following these modified organizational tips and can happily continue with your more standard procedures. The trick to this is to make sure to breed children who are quiet, calm, not prone to wandering or making fast movements, and are content to only explore and play within the limits and confines set by their adult care-takers. This is possible. I know because I have seen such children. From a distance, yes, but enough to know they are out there and if you choose your mate wisely, you might get one. I don't really expect to ever have one myself, but then I'm not sure I would even know what to do with such a child so I guess we'll just stick with the active/curious/rambunctious type.

To sum it up: this is EXACTLY how it feels to try to keep a clean house with children around:

Sometimes, you have to stop and ask yourself,  "What does my family need from me most right now?" And a lot of times the answer is not a clean floor or dishes. Sometimes it's just your undivided attention or a trip to the park. And when that happens, just let the chocolates go by and enjoy some time with your kids while you still have them in your home.

Lightning strike!

This afternoon lightning struck a little too close to home for comfort. We're just thankful it didn't actually strike our home nor did it split the tree, which could have been a huge mess. It did leave a scar the entire length of the tree, however, spraying chunks of bark all the way across the street. The prognosis isn't looking good - chances are the loss of protection along that strip will leave the tree susceptible to damage from insects, disease, and freezing temperatures so we'll see how long it lasts.

We were only slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see it happen - that's certainly not something many people get to see up close very often. Our neighbor and our babysitter saw it though. They saw an impressive flash of red light along with chunks of bark and wood spraying out into the street, and a boom that left their ears ringing for 10 minutes. The sitter had just gotten Frankie to sleep for a nap so he woke up of course (Charlie was also sleeping, but he slept right though it).

I suppose we had recently been wishing we had more deciduous trees to our yard so this might provide us with an opportunity. And at least, I know the wood would never go to waste with Seth around. If it does end up needing to come down, I can look forward to finding out what Seth will build with all that lumber.

This little peanut turned 10 today

Our first child has hit double digits! It is such a joy watching this spunky little girl grow up. As much as we work to teach and prepare her for life, I'm realizing more each year that she is teaching us just as much without even trying. Unfortunately for her, much of what she has taught us (patience, empathy, how to deal with the trials of the various stages of childhood, etc) have benefitted her little brothers more than it has benefitted her.

And even though there have been times I'm suddenly struck it the thought that I'm doing this whole parenting thing wrong, I am comforted to see what a delightful, caring and competent person she is becoming.  We love you so, so much baby!

And now for some flashbacks: