Operation CrazyWoman: Day 6

We are officially over half-way done.  Not that I'm counting.  Much.  Although having 4 extra kiddos in the house does bring it's own bunch of stresses, I really love this opportunity I have to get to know my nieces and nephews.  When you don't live in the same state as your extended family, the time we have to get to know each other is usually limited to short visits here and there, and during those the adults usually talk to the adults and the kids hang out with the kids.  What a blessing it is to have Niel's kids for 11 whole days all to myself!  In a manner of speaking, anyway.

I've noticed something that is kind of funny and kind of not.  Simon (who is 20 months) is jealous of Maddox (who is 8 months).  I'm not sure if it's because Maddox is the "other" baby, or because he's gotten attached to me because I'm the mom and he's a boy that really loves his mama.  But regardless of why it is, when Simon is really tired or cranky, if he sees Maddox playing with a toy - any toy - he screams, runs over, and grabs the toy away from Maddox.  Like it's HIS special toy and Maddox had the nerve to touch it.  It would be comical if it weren't so hard on Maddox.  Fortunately, Maddox doesn't really know what's going on and it doesn't bother him much.  Also, he's got a pretty good grip and Simon can't usually get the toy away from him.  Though Simon sometimes drags him a foot or two.  Either way, it's keeping me on my toes!

I was really looking forward to having Ben home today.  I thought for SURE I would get a nap.  However, my nap time got relegated to the back burner when Olivia came in and got me around 5:00 am or so crying with pain from her ears.  The poor thing was diagnosed with a double ear infection and swimmer's ear in on one side about 10 days ago.  It's come back with a vengeance, and worse.  I'm not sure it truly got cleared up the first time.  The doctor said her ears were so red he couldn't tell the edge of the ear drum from the ear canal.  So we're on another round of antibiotics and she is banned from the swimming pool for a few days.  I asked her if I could take her picture when we got in the van to go to the doctor's office.  She was a good sport about it, but she wasn't going to smile for me.  It hurt too much.

Hopefully she'll be perking up soon.  Nan told me tonight during our talk that she has really missed playing with Olivia.  Speaking of the other kids, I did get a few good pictures today - and Nan took a couple of her own!

Connor and Mallie had fun playing cars this morning.  When I came in with my camera for a picture, Connor looked up and said, "Cheeeese!

The kids also went swimming for a while this morning, and they asked me to take a couple more pictures.  (We're all getting used to this "photo-journal" thing!)

Nan loves giving those bunny ears!

And a video of them doing one of their favorite things in the pool... making a whirlpool!
(By the way, if the music on my blog is playing, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and pause it while you're watching the videos!)

After lunchtime, Ben let Nan, Wesley and Kelsey break out the play dough for a while.  I was at the doctor with Olivia, but they were still working hard when I got home so I got a few pics of their fun.  I just bought a 24-pack of play dough this past week, so all of the colors are soft, new, and unmixed!  They are being very careful with it.

Doesn't Wesley have the cutest dimples ever??

And I'm not sure what Kelsey making here, but she is stylin' in that hat!

Do you remember my post from Day 1 about the beads that Julie had left for the kids to grow in water?  Well, today Nan started the green ones, and she took pictures of them at the beginning and then about 2 hours into it.  Here are Nan's pictures:

Some of the beads in the bowl before adding water.

One bead in Nan's palm.

About 5 minutes after adding the water, you can already see them starting to grow.

Two hours later - voila!  Another bead in Nan's hand.  It's almost as big as a marble!

And they aren't done growing yet... We'll have to take some pictures in the morning before church.  If there is time, of course!

There's one more video I wanted to post from today.  I was busy making dinner and Kelsey asked if she could feed Maddox.  So I got out the baby food for her and she fed him while I cooked.  I glanced over and noticed she was making those exaggerated motions with her mouth that we all do when we're feeding babies - you know, like we're showing them how it's done or something.  When I started recording the video she exaggerated a little more than she had been, but you get the general idea.  I'm not sure if this is a learned behavior or an instinctive one!

After dinner, we wrapped up our day with another movie night - an early one this time.  We had gotten the kids to take baths throughout the day, so that all we had to do was have them stick on their jammies, set out their clothes for church, and gather for a quiet movie.  That was the idea, anyway.  You see, when the kids are left to their own devices to play, they often come up with some rowdy, noisy things that are not the sort of things you want them doing right before bed.  Like playing "dogs", for example:

So we thought a nice evening watching Hoodwinked would be just the thing.  The older kids sat quietly, Simon kept stealing Maddox's toys (jealous, remember?) and I fell asleep for about 20 minutes of the movie.  It reminds me of one of my all time favorite quotes that sums up my life:

When I work, I work hard.  When I play, I play hard.  When I think, I fall asleep.