Summer Birthdays

Celebrating the summer Pernot birthdays. So many memories. So much laughter. Oh, so sweet.

Playtime with Uncle Nick

Top 3 things I am always saying to Nicholas:

1) Nick, please stop scaring the children!

2) Don't teach them how to do that! 

3) When they wake up at 2 in the morning with nightmares, I am going to call you!

They look severely traumatized, no?

Thanks for always making us laugh, Uncle Nick.

Sunrise/Sonrise

It is 5:30am. I am laying in a trundle bed that I have slept in every summer at my parents' cottage. The breeze is blowing the shades on the window, ever so slightly. The sun is peeking over the bluff, almost afraid to rise. It SHOULD BE AFRAID to rise. I threaten it EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING. "Don't you dare rise," I say. "Don't you dare wake my children!" Then I plead, "You know what happens when you come up! Can't we just squeeze you in the schedule around 7 or 8?" Then I panic, "All I wanted was 5 more minutes. Have you no pity?!?!?!"

Then I see this face. This is what I wake up for. These are the moments. So my brain might not be operating at 100%. I am told that brain functioning is over rated, anyway...

Shutdown Part III- Just Funny

That's a lot of babies in a pack n' play

That's even more!

Right after I told Sarah and Joseph that they couldn't drive the boat.

Loving the whole experience, anyway.

So happy to be on the water, passing the pier.

Shutdown Part II

Since our vacation was hodge-podge, these posts will be also!

Sarah, always the fish, spent as much time as she possibly could in the water.

Fishing...with a log...and two sets of toddler hands?!?!

Facials with Honey/Making a salad

Nathan really wants to know why he has to be a part of the insanity.
"Are these people really my relatives?!?"

Precious Moments

Tom-Boo looking dapper

Perfect

Twins (love the foot)

Trouble

Shutdown Part I

GM shuts down completely for a whole week in July. Matt is FORCED to take a vacation...which is a very good thing for our hardworking Daddy! This year, we went to the cottage for the entire week. We did absolutely nothing and LOVED IT!

Thomas made himself a boat. Why do we bother getting the children toys? Coolers work just fine! By the way, it is really disturbing to me that Boo fits in this one.

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Joseph emptied out the toy box and decided to just chill in his "new boat".

Steve and Emily at 6:30a. Tommy woke up at 6, asking for milkshakes. Vacation has begun!

Nathan: "Why are we awake?"

Bean, looking forward to a day at the beach.

"Cute and Cuddly, Boys"

This may look like the face of innocence, but it's not. It is, most definitely, NOT! Nathan was downstairs in the playroom as I was getting some dishes done in the kitchen. I turned around to empty the dishwasher, and there he was...in the kitchen...upstairs...asking me politely if there was anything he could help me with... Yeah, right!

He is now climbing stairs. T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

I love how so many people have told me that I will miss the fingerprints all over the walls and windows. Take a closer look at that first picture. Will I miss the face imprints and tongue marks too?!?!

Probably.

Happy Birthday, Nonna!

You are the best Nonna any kids could ask for! We love you and hope your day was blessed!

Friends

The greatest gift you can give your child is another sibling. - Pope John Paul II

Things I love today:
~The children pray for eachother at grace before meals.
~They really DO love one another.
~I was finally able to say "Your face is going to stick like that!" this week.
~It only took me two hours to clean a bathroom this week, during which I nursed the baby twice, broke up 5 fights, gave out 3 snacks, filled 3 sippy cups, answered 2 phone calls, gave 1 time out, and began the rosary 6 times.

Big Shoes to Fill

The children LOVE to play "shoe store". They get out all the shoes from the front closet and clomp around the house in the most ill-fitted footwear they can find. I have tried explaining to them, ever so gently, that this really isn't what happens at a shoe store. They then explain to me, ever so gently, that I have never brought them to a shoe store...so how would they know...and could I just bring them to a shoe store soon, because they WILL be good this time...and maybe while we are there we could get pretzels at the mall...and Joseph promises that he will most definitely NOT bite Thomas this time...and Thomas promises that he will try to make Jesus' heart so happy...and Sarah promises that she will try really hard not to hide under the clothing racks so that Mommy and Daddy can't find her and go in search of a security guard...

I need another cup of coffee.

Anyway, last night we took the children to the mall. Sarah needed sneakers. "No more velcro for me, Mom! I want laces!" Right! Because, as it stands now, we have to figure in an extra 45 minutes when we want to leave the house...just to put shoes on the children. I would have to add on more time to unknot the laces that she wouldn't untie before taking off her shoes the last time. And all the knots that she put in the laces while she was using her shoes as a leash for her stuffed dog, Frenchy. Then she would have to put on her own shoes and tie them herself. What's another 15 minutes among friends? A nice, even hour to leave home would be easier to calculate for my mommy-brain, anyway. "Sure, Sarah! Sneaks with laces, it is!"

All joking aside, I am really grieving as she begins this new stage. She is becoming so tall and independent. I cried in the shoe department last night as she was trying on shoes. When did my baby grow up? I remember the first pair of shoes. Delicate and feminine Mary Janes. I remember trying to squeeze her chubby feet into them. I couldn't buckle them. Matt and I laughed. I did not laugh last night as she picked out hot pink running sneakers (with laces) so that she could "go so much faster". Why does she want to go faster? Do they sell sneakers that make children slow down?

No pretzels last night. No biting. Tommy DID makes Jesus' heart happy, I am sure. Sarah did not hide under any clothing racks. But driving home, I still felt like someone knocked the wind out of me. Who knew that buying new shoes could be so emotionally taxing?