Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Our family's favorite book is 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Annie just read it for about the 5th time

for a book report.  They have book reports once a month

and her teacher gives them a lot of leeway, "Be Creative!"

So this month Annie decided to do a Power Point presentation on the characters in her book.  We had a LOT of fun.  A lot.

I'll spare you the full report but here are some of my favorite parts:

The church busybody we used is her 

Aunt Cake who also happens to be her gym teacher.

We slipped in pics of some unsuspecting classmates.

Elmer ~ The pastor's kid who is tired of being Joseph year after year.  Even as a teenager his dad still makes him.  (His mom helped me by snapping the pic but wouldn't tell him why :)

 Alice Wendelkin ~ The Angelic looking girl who plays Mary every year.  She is a bit of a goodie goodie. (Annie's BFF)

Herdman’s Cat

The mailman would not deliver any of the Herdman’s mail because of the cat.

It would attack anything it could see out of it’s one eye.

Now here is where the real hoodlums come in:

Ralph Herdman

Oldest Herdman Kid

Joseph - No one else dared to volunteer to be Joseph cause they didn't want to be beat up by Ralph.

Imogene Herdman

2^nd Oldest Herdman

She found out everyone’s weight in the nurses office and used the information to control and bully classmates.

Was smoking in the church bathroom.

Mary - Bullied Alice out of her standing Mary role by threatening to “shove a pussy willow so far down her ear that it will start to grow.”

LeRoy Herdman

3^rd oldest Herdman

Started his neighbor’s tool shed on fire with the Chemistry set he stole from the hardware store.

Got the Herdman clan to start attending church because he heard a rumor that there was unlimited dessert at church.

Wiseman- brought his families wrapped Christmas ham from the ladies aid basket, instead of frankincense, to the manger in the pageant.

   

Claude Herdman 

& Ollie Herdman

Herdmans number 4 & 5

Even the littlest Herdmans smoked.

Claude stole donuts from the fireman, who were putting out the shed fire, and stuffed them up his shirt.

Wiseman

Glayds Herdman

The youngest Herdman.

The angel of the Lord- the little church boys were afraid to be shepherds because they were afraid Gladys (being the angel of the Lord) would punch them & knock them out.

You survived our book report!

Annie has practiced her power point a million times 

& is so excited to show it to her class.

Now I love this book because it makes 

me feel like maybe my kids aren't SO wild.  

I mean our family is a crazy mess...
but hey...we're no Herdmans!

Pic from our own church Christmas pageant this year.

What's your family's favorite book?

The Secret is Out

Bo is like all first graders...losing teeth left & right.

He was missing his front tooth, then got bumped by his good buddy  which knocked out his other front wiggly tooth.

Of course we couldn't find the tooth fairy jar at bed time
so I assured him the tooth fairy would come 
if he just put it in a little baggie.  

He was very skeptical but put his tooth in the 
Ziploc & headed to bed.

At 6:00 the next morning I was awoken by his voice 
"I TOLD you it wouldn't come."   
I opened my eyes & he was about two inches from my face holding up the baggie for me to see, 
with the saddest little face I ever saw.

Oh no....the tooth fairy forgot!

"Oh baby, I think I know what happened."  I explained, "Look outside.  The sun is not even up....it is still night.  I bet you were the last kid on the list tonight and you just woke up too early.  She is probably trying to come right now but we are up too early so she can't come...it's okay!  She'll just come tomorrow night.  I bet she feels really bad, but what can she do?   We are already up she can't come now!"

Bo thought about it and didn't say anything.  He turned to go downstairs to get ready for the day & I promised him I'd be right down. 

When I finally got down there he looked at me with a big smile, "Mom...I think  know who the tooth fairy is."

"Oh yeah Who?"

"You."  He pointed at me with the edges of his lips curling up.  I could tell he was pretty proud of himself for unlocking one of life's mysteries.

I smiled....a HUGE smile & nodded my head yes without saying a word.  He knew...despite that big fat whopper of a lie I told him.  
(I try realllly hard to tell my kids the truth always so that was hard for me). 

His smile grew bigger & bigger & he punched his fist into the air, 
"YES!!!! YES!!!! I knew it!!!! 
I always knew it was you!!!!!" 

It was fun to see how proud he was for figuring it out.  "Now Bo...you can't tell your brothers.  Annie has know this for a loooong time but she didn't tell you because she didn't want to spoil your fun."

"Okay....but mom?  You put me LAST on the list?!?!"  He still had a smile as wide as his face with 2 missing top teeth.  "And...What do you do with all those teeth?!?!"

Oh man...I thought he figured out that I was the tooth fairy...but it seems he "figured out" that I was THEE Tooth Fairy! 

Rocco & Roo were up by now & he had so many questions!  "Bo we will talk about this later."  I tried to quiet him with the other boys still never experiencing tooth fairy magic. 

He smiled at me all morning. 

On the ride to school I was glad he seemed to have forgotten about it & then from the back seat, " Mom?  Who will be the tooth fairy when you get older...cause I don't want to do it...I want to be a cobra tamer!" 

"Bo, I told you we will talk about this later, but no,

 you will not be the tooth fairy."

After school we got so busy we both forgot about it.  Then, right before bed he came over & patted me on the shoulder smiling, "Mom...don't forget to come tonight!"  he spun on his toes & scooted off to bed yelling over his shoulder back to me,

"Put me first on the list tonight!  Oh & mom...don't worry...knowing your secret doesn't ruin the fun...I like it."   
And into bed he hopped.

So the next night I actually WAS the tooth fairy,

We found the special tooth jar & 
turns out he was first on the list.

We never have talked about it again but,

I am totally dreading breaking his little heart when

 I tell him that I am not THEE Tooth Fairy. 

In the meantime I just get to enjoy imagining his vision of this tall, very pregnant, mom of 5, flying house to house every night 
in a tutu.  

And I can't tell you how tickled I am that he thinks I could be.

What's the going rate for teeth at your house?

Mornings

Mornings at our house start before the sun rises.

 

Even with my eyes still closed I hear

little feet running down the hall.

 

It gets quiet as they tiptoe into our room,

 I hear, "Mom?" and I open my eyes

to one of the boys about a foot from my face.

I send them down stairs & tell them I'll be down soon,

and then I hope they get started getting dressed.

 

Bo & Rocco are usually dressed before
I come down because I always lay out their clothes in little piles
on the fireplace before I go to bed.

 

And when those piles are gone I have
a full bucket of jammies
to put back on the shelf until tonight,
and a pile of yesterday's underwear
to whisk off to the laundry room.

 

But Annie...

she will still be here.
 

 

and it'll take me about 5 minutes to threaten coax her out of bed.

 

The kids start trickling to the table,

(Kit is always first)

 

just as sun starts to peek up over the horizon.

 

As the kids eat,

 

I run around doing all the little things that need to be done,
Making tea for Annie & my myself, 

 
setting out snack options for them
to choose & stuff into their backpacks for school,

 
making sure their backpacks are fully loaded & ready to go.

 

 Then, at 7:40 comes my least favorite part...

"Get your shoes on.
Annie go start the car.
Get your shoes on.
Get your jackets on.
Bo get your shoes on.
Rocco, Roo get in the car.
Bo, your shoes!"

And everyone needs to be bundled to the max,
look at my weather on the morning drive today:

after the "get out the door scuffle" all is well again.
(& after the "get buckled" scuffle)

I love seeing the full back seat in my rearview mirror
as I buckle check,

"Bo, get buckled!"

The drive is beautiful to their little school in the cornfields,

and I love listening to their chatter.

Today, Rocco was filling Roo in on important baby deets that even I didn't know about,

"So if an angel comes into your house and you see it that means you are going to have a baby."

Then, comes the part that makes me a
little emotional every single day:

As they get out with I love yous and pass in front of the car,
 my heart swells as Bo looks so grown up
& I think of him on his own for the next 7 hours.

 I start to miss them already as Annie turns at the door to wave
& always holds the door for Bo no matter how far he is behind."

We smile & wave like crazy
and then I am down to three.

And as long as we are in the car it's errand time.

Every other day we seem to head to Target from school.

Where I have to resist this:

"Pleeeeeease mom?

But I stay strong.

Today was just a quick run for

strawberries
&
radishes.

It was a good thing we stopped despite that cold because the boys acted like they might die while I quickly snapped
that last strawberry picture.

But, I understand because I might have died without my radishes.

This radish-butter flatbread recipe was just calling my name!

Then it's just time to wait.
The mornings have slipped away and we settle in to
enjoy the long days until we get to pick Annie & Bo up again.

I am all too aware that those looong days turn into years
that are flying by so fast they make my head spin.

So cherish those mornings Mamas.
'Cause even though it always seems wayyyyyy too early,
all too soon no one will be
peeking over the side of your bed.

 

Life's Little Surprises

I've heard it said, "Trouble follows him wherever he goes."  

For me it is true.

Trouble LITERALLY follows me wherever I go.

But, it doesn't just follow me.

It also goes before me,

along side me,

you name it...trouble is all around me.

Living with a pack of trouble boys is the most interesting thing.

The other day I got into my husbands car & found unwrapped tampons in his cup holder, 
just the cotton parts, 
"Hmmm...I'm not sure I want to know."

He replied, "Oh it's a good one,
the boys were shoving them up their noses,
they were telling me these are nose cleaners." 

And yesterday when I told the boys to vacuum up their mess,
 they walked right past my vacuum and hauled 
this baby in from the garage.  

Life is full of little surprises.

When I got home the other day I had to burst out laughing...

...my husband was patching the walls to paint:

but hey...it got me a much needed makeover...

Now if I could just get them to break my entry way light.  

(I'm actually not kidding)

Then, last week my washer was not spinning out.  I had to manually turn it to spin & drain after each load.  We started looking at new washers.  At the end of the week one night I told the kids, "Go put your shoes on."  I got to the back door & there was Bo...standing in my washer!  You can imagine I was not very happy.  The boy is too old to be doing stuff like that.  But you know....after that my washer worked, he fixed it!!!   Sometimes their shenanigans come in handy.  I almost put him back in it to take a picture!  But I didn't think it would be good to encourage him.

These little surprises are what just one little week of my life is like.

It'll sure be interesting to see what this babe I'm carrying is.

I just realized I might have 5 sons 7 & under...

...I'm not gonna lie....little freaky :)  

A Baby Story...

Today Kit turned 2.

More than any of my kids, Kit thinks HE runs the place.

He does everything the other boys do...everything.

He wants to be right there in the middle of it all
& if he's not in a picture I take

...it's probably because I cropped him out.

He is full of life & curiosity,
he wants to know how everything works.

He knows how to get his way...today I actually found him following Rocco around with the toaster because he was hungry...so yes...Rocco made him toast.

Now there is something most of you don't know about Kit's story.  When he was about 6 months old, a routine doctor visit showed something wrong with his blood work.  We were sent to the Children's hospital that very same day.  That night after a battery of test, Kelly and I were told by the doctor that Kit had cancer.  Then she curtly told us we needed to wait in this little room for the Oncologist & the Hematologist to come down to speak with us & figure out his treatment plan.  For the next hour & a half we prayed, we cried, we planned how to make the other kids feel loved, and I held him tighter than I ever have before in my life.  I finally asked Kelly to call my mom & tell her.  He did.  She phoned my sisters for me to tell them the news.

After that hour & a half the same doctor came back into the room and told us it looked like he didn't have cancer & we could go home.  No apology & left the room.  I cried even harder than before...this time sobbing tears of joy.  Hurried phone calls to correct what we told everyone were met with lots of crying and "Praise God!!!!" 

That dark night, darker than any other, turned out to be a gift.  Not a day goes by when I don't thank the Lord that Kit is cancer free.  I just look to heaven & say "Thank you!!!" 

So if my Instagram feed is flooded with pictures of my baby boy,

 it's cause when I look at him my heart ooooozes
with love & joy.

He's just such a big part of us.

So, today I could hardly wait to throw up the party decorations...

To celebrate my baby turning 2.

Cause ooooo baby Kit I do love you!

(It took a few weeks, and a great doctor to realize Kit has neutropenia.  His body kills off the white blood cells that fight bacteria.  We just protect him a little more & take him in if he is starting to get sick.  The doctors are optimistic that he will grow out of it :)

Quiet

Yes...I've been quiet here...but there IS a reason.

I'm tired...  

It is so dark here so early & these boys,
the loves of my life,
can wear a mama out.

But mostly I'm tired 'cause when I am pregnant...I'm tired! 

So, right now I go to bed soon after I get the kids to bed.

The lil' Babe was a totally surprise,

as I was pretty sure I already had more than I can handle.

But...God has other plans,

better plans,

for my family & me.

And I'm about ready for another one of these:

The kids are completely excited,

Annie says it's all she can think about.

She's already making the babe a hat.

She's making one pink & one blue.

Roo is pretty sure I am having two little babies 

& they are up in my chest.

Bo says, "It better be a boy."

Rocco wants to name it buttercup.

Roo wants to name it Jello, just what every woman wants,
 kids rubbing her tummy saying "Hello, Jello".

Me...I can't believe I have to name another child!

And Kit will be in for the surprise of his life.

So Baby Doyle #6 is due May 2nd.