{this moment}

A Friday Ritual.

a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week

a simple, 

          special, 

                  extraordinary moment

a moment I want to pause, 

                                    savor 

                                           and remember

please

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where it all started

Soule Mama

mama's boy

Maybe I should discourage the behavior, but I don't.

I kinda think it's adorable --

My little guy Mikey won't let anyone else near me.

No.

Seriously.

He will separate me from anyone I am hugging or holding hands with. He grabs them and pushes them away and YELLS at them if they don't move. If I am cuddling another kid, it lasts less than 10 seconds before he is jamming himself between us.

It is so hilarious!

Big Mikey doesn't find this as cute as I do.

I think I am liking this so much because all the others adore Dad and have definitely preferred him over me for most (okay, all) of their lives.

No joke.

AND the middle two liked their sibling over me too.

DJ, up until about 2 years ago did everything Paige asked him to, and did it with a smile. Now he does everything Kelly says... but Kelly, unlike Paige, worships him! It floors me sometimes how close those two are since they are 6 years apart.

All of this has never bothered me.
Mike feeds these kids -- of course they like him more!

But now I finally have one that likes me the best.
(tee hee)

So I plan on keeping him a Mama's Boy for as long as I can!

{love}

comforting her brother

 a teenager's 'look'

smile's for The Mama

brothers and sisters

When I was pregnant with DJ, even though I really wanted another baby, I was extremely worried that I was ruining Paige's life by giving her a sibling. How were either of us going to be able to handle my attention being not solely on her? What if she was jealous? What would I do?
I don't care what all the books tell you, not every child is upset by a new baby. Paige was never upset -- not once. DJ was born and he was ours! He was smiling and laughing out loud for her when he was a week old ~
He followed her everywhere and did everything she said, played every game the way she wanted him to and he was super happy to do it!
(DJ has always been super happy)
Paige was 8 and DJ just turned 6 when Kelly was born. This time, I was concerned that they were so much older they wouldn't get along.
I don't know why I worry about these things. They adored her!

They read to her and sang to her and gladly gave up their "choking hazard" toys.





As Paige grew a little older, she no longer wanted to play with DJ as much, and fortunately by that time, Kelly was old enough to do things with him.

DJ was bossed around his whole life by one sister -- the other one just took over!

I can't tell you how many times DJ has come to us upset because "Kelly said" he couldn't do x, y or z. Our answer is always, "You know, you don't always have to listen to the 2 year old" (or the 3 year old, or the 4 year old) "tell her you won't play with her if she isn't nice".

(hrumph... when Kelly was 3, her pediatrician suggested we find another Alpha Female for her to play with....)

Lately, either DJ has finally found his voice with her, or Kelly has learned to back off, (yeah -- right) but those two are inseparable! You could see it happening, but I have really noticed it more over this school break.

She tells him all the time, "DJ, you are my favorite boy!" and they are singing goofy made up songs and building castles out of blocks and DJ is helping her read.

I for one, am enjoying it all --
Maybe they will all start arguing when they are teenagers. Paige at 13 is pretty mean to the rest of them. Not so much Mikey, she likes him (he LOVES her!) but you can tell that even he is starting to get on her nerves.
And just where will Mikey fit in with all of them? Paige will be off to college when he starts Kindergarten (yikes!) and I don't see him putting up with Kelly's bossy ways!

I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Spring Break

We made no plans for Spring Break. Well, no fun plans. My plan was to do a bit of spring cleaning, but that hasn't happened yet and it is already Tuesday.

I wish we could still go up to the Lake.
{sigh}

I am a huge believer on kids getting the right amount of sleep. I think so many kids are sleep deprived and their parents don't even realize it. Here is a chart from Babycenter: sleep chart Kids need a crazy amount of sleep, right? Yes, I know my kids are older, but I can't find that chart...
DJ has always been an early riser (in a house full of 'let's sleep in' people) and even now needs 10 hours of sleep. He was the one who taught me to have a set bedtime. When he was a baby, if I didn't get him in his crib between 8:00 and 8:10 he would scream for two solid hours straight! If I had him in bed by 8:00, he'd roll over and fall fast asleep!
(yes, it took me a while to figure it out)
Oh, and no matter what time he went to bed, he woke at the same time every morning -- he still does that and so does Kelly.
As he grew into a toddler, when I went to bed I would leave one of those split cleaning buckets on his crib rail filled with books and toys, so he would wake up and play instead wanting to get out of bed at 6AM!
The point I am trying to make, is that it is not a normal thing for me to let my kids stay up past their bedtime.
Until this week.
These kids have been staying up and hanging out with us until at least 10:30 every night. They are dancing in the living room, playing video games and having ice cream!

I also have a rule about homework, even when there is a break at school. They are not allowed to go anywhere or watch TV or play games until all their homework is finished. Always.
Until this week.
I haven't made them do any of it yet... AND we went to the park yesterday.

It has become a mad house!

I love having all my kids home together.

three day weekend

The last 3 day weekend was so fun, but we did nothing. I am pretty sure we were all in pajamas for most of it. Mike watched football while we played Scrabble on the iTouch he got me for Christmas. DJ and Kelly were attached at the hip as usual, and Paige helped with the baby and read. Seems boring, but I find myself looking at everyone and just loving the moment. Then of course, I wonder if they will all need therapy because we have made them be anti-social along with us....