3rd Annual Backyard Campout

At sunset.  Gabe is already sleeping soundly.  And yes, that is a 2 man tent in the background. Time to upgrade?  Anyone?
Abby and Ron......doing flips.

And just so I am completely honest.....Gabe and I snuck in the house at 11 pm.  You did see the 2 man tent, right?

Family Pic

Bathroom Break

This morning as I was cooking breakfast I hear Lauren calling out from the bathroom,

"Mommy, could you come and get Gabe out....... of........ here?  This is my bathroom time!"

A few seconds later it was followed by, "Uh, and could you come and wipe me?"

Throwback Friday

Looking for an explanation?  This would be the (completely generic) B*arbie doll that my brother John (sorry to call you out on that bro ;) dropped off for Madeline on his way back to college a few years ago.  The thought was there - I'll give him that.  

Unfortunately (and just after he jetted, rather quickly, out the door), the doll's head popped off and the tears started flowing.  Soon after, came one leg and then another.  It was a disaster.  I took this photo and sent it to my brother with a note letting him know how much Maddie enjoyed it.  ;)  

For anyone that might be wondering, UDF is not the best place to purchase a toy.

(and in case you think I have just totally outed my brother, he and I have shared many laughs over this.....love you John!)

Crash Scene

Whenever we are on the road and we see an ambulance or fire truck whiz by we stop and say a prayer for the family.  Ron and I have always done this and now our kids will start to pray before we even realize what is going on.

....Lauren's prayers are the absolute best.....but that is another entry.

So, we are on the road yesterday and we hear the sirens.  Lauren starts to pray (this is where it really starts to get good but I could never do it justice) and Abigail says, "You know.  Instead of praying that they are able to arrive fast and help the family, we really should pray that when they get there the family doesn't need help."

Hmmmm.  A very fine point.

Costello Family Vaca!

Yes, that would be me......tubing.
Craft time on the lawn.....thanks Grandma!

Our Little Prince

Family Pic
19 of us....we missed you Beth!

She's Her Mother's Daughter

....that is a saying isn't it?  A strange one though, right?  Who else would she be?

Anyway, I thought of it today as were baking cookies.  As they were coming out of the oven Madeline said, "I'll get the wax paper!"  

Now, I know, most people use cooling racks, or just leave them on the cookie sheet, but my Mom always put our warm cookies on wax paper to cool.  She would tear the largest sheet ever and spread it out on the counter and start scooping cookies onto it. 

 

And so, of course, I do the same.  

And for the past 2 days (Wait, did I just say that out loud?  My mistake.                       Ok, fine.  We made oatmeal cookies yesterday and chocolate chip today.  What's your point?) Madeline has grabbed the wax paper and started ripping.

That's my girl.

You've Got Mail!

On occasion, I have mentioned to Madeline that I don't get many letters in the mail anymore. With email, cell phones and all the "instant" ways to talk,  its almost a lost form of communication.  I have no idea when the last time I mentioned this but it has definitely been a while.

Anyway, we arrived home from vacation and today the Postmaster delivered a huge bin of mail at our front door.  As I brought it in to start the madness, I noticed an envelope sitting at the top: "To Mommy, Love Maddie."

 

The letter inside read:

Dear Mom, 

I now you only get taxes so I'm righting a letter for you.  Love Maddie.  

P.S. Please get right back if you can.

I am off to compose some snail mail.

Throwback Friday

This time last year - Madeline keeping Gabriel occupied while I packed for Costello family vacation.

This year we are off to Silver Lake.

Dancing Matt

I have no idea why this made me cry. It just did.
Something about the togetherness of dancing. It unifies. It makes you laugh. You are young again. You can just be.

Comments

Couple fun comments from today:

Abigail: holding a Gospel Bill VHS (yes, VHS, they are from when I was a child)

"Gospel is the Bible guy and Bill is the one that is really sly."

(And just to clarify, Gospel Bill is one person)

Madeline: after sneaking down to watch Abby and I pull summer shoes out of the "Size 9 shoe bin" (yes, that really exists)

"It just really made me smile to see my little sister trying on my old shoes."

Throwback Friday

A little gem (or 3 of them) from 2006.

He's Walking....

It's Time

You know it's time to buy your son a toy truck when he steals the mouse from your computer and starts "driving" it along the carpet.

This, after I caught him driving his sippy cup along the grocery cart at Whole Foods.

It's time.

Christmas in June

Sending out a thank you to the anonymous Santa who left us a big bag of (new) summer toys on our front porch today.  The kids had a blast checking everything out and couldn't believe there was no card and we had no idea who it was from.....especially since we were home at the time and the screen door was open so this was an especially quiet Santa!

Madeline had the bright idea to put a bag of goodies together and drop it off on another porch so your gift is already being paid forward. :)

Thanks for making our day!!!

The Thumb

We are trying to encourage Lauren to stop sucking her thumb and have offered (read: bribe) to take her to the toy store and let her pick out any toy -- if she gives it up.

Today at nap I reminded her that she is trying to quit. 

(do they have a N*icorette version for this sort of thing?) 

As I am walking out she says, "Umm, can you close the door all the way so you can't see me sucking my thumb?"

Hmmm.  Perhaps I should let her peruse a few toy catalogues.

Do Not Call List - I thought I was on it??

I should preface this story but saying that one of my pet peeves is when a solicitor does not respect my very polite way of getting off the phone.  

This was today's phone call:

Solicitor:  Hello! (so peppy - like the I've-had-12-cups of coffee peppy) My name is George and I am calling on behalf of the National Republican Party and I....

Me:  I'm sorry Sir.  This is not a good time.

S:  Well, I will make this brief, I just need to talk to you about....

Me:  Sir.  Its just not a good time right now.

S:  Madam, we would like your...

Me: (trying not to hang up.  desperate to say something to appease him)  We are voting Republican.  Can you just put us down for that?

S: Well, I need to tell you....

Me: And now I am voting Democrat.  Goodbye.

I felt like the British lady from W*eakest Link........You are the weakest link.  Goodbye.

Snow Angels?

The girls went to Ron's basketball game with him this morning.....at 5 am.  Needless to say, I had 4 sleeping children this afternoon -- at the same time.

As they were waking up Lauren says, "Mommy, if it snows today can we go out and play in it?"

I explained that its summer, in the 80's and probably won't snow again until around Christmas.  She looks and me and says, "Well, Okay then."

Where's Waldo.....I mean Ron

We have tons of blackberry trees along the bike paths by our house.   

Kind of organic?

Tea Party

I took Maddie to her first real tea party today.  We had a lovely time.

I Have Found

I Have Found - a song by Kim Walker - has really spoken to me during these past few weeks.

I Have Found....  

    a peace that plows on through the storm

a joy that jumps over sadness

a love that lights up every room

a trust that teaches how to rest

a grace that guides me by the hand

a strength that stands like a mountain

....I've Found You.

That You - Is God.

Happy Father's Day!

Ron - You are the best father ever.  Honest.  I couldn't even dream up a better Dad for our kids. I am blessed beyond measure.  

A Lesson in Humility

So, I let my kids run around in the rainstorm today.  A huge thunderstorm with bucks of water pouring down.
Why, you ask? Because I didn't want to. Because I was too lazy to deal with the mess of it all.

Let me back up and share this from the beginning which actually started yesterday.

I am running around doing laundry, picking up the house and who knows what else and I see the girls come around the corner with HUGE shopping bags. 

Immediately, I am annoyed. Not too proud to admit it either.  Just putting it in very small print so maybe you'll miss it.

The girls have started a tradition where they pick items from around the house and give them to us on special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)  I once received a pair of sandals I didn't realize I owned.  Its fun to see all the things you never even knew you had. Believe me, these girls can dig through drawers and closets like Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail. They don't miss much.

Anyway, I can see from the bulky bags that they have accumulated about 2,469 items from around the house.....the house I was in the process of cleaning.  Here's where Mother of the Year Award goes back up for grabs:

As if it was ever mine, I just burst out laughing.

Me:  Hey, watcha guys doin?  (praying I am somehow wrong and they have actually gathered shoes from the boot box and are putting them back in the appropriate closets)

M&A: (very excited voices)  We are gathering things for Daddy for Father's Day!

Me: (trying to hide annoyance in voice)  Oooooh.  Let me see.

And then I error.  Big time.  I start to explain that we don't really need to give Daddy all of this stuff.   I'm trying to clean the house right now and couldn't they just help clean instead of un-cleaning.  (nice grammar lesson Mommy)

I see these big crocodile tears start forming in Maddie's eyes and I feel like a real schmuck.  So much so that I am considering deleting this. No, really. 

I back peddle as best I can but I still feel like a schmuck.  Still, as in, this very moment.  Still.                   And, yep, Still.

And so today when they ask if they can strip down to their undies and run around in the pouring rain I say, "Yes." 

Definitely. 

Absolutely.

So, I have a few wet towels to deal with (and hair and undies and the floor and Gabe...who's really keeping track) 

Get over it.  Honestly.

I'm hoping years from now they'll remember the run in the rain and not the shopping bag incident.

My Celebrity Look-Alikes

I'm off to Hollywood people. ROTFL.

You Do What You Gotta Do

Ran across this and had to post.... only because I might have tried it on one of my kids a few years ago.

Experienced similar results.  Definitely a good trump card.

Vaseline and....well, isn't that enough?

Lauren came downstairs this afternoon covered - completely and totally - from head to toe in Vaseline.  

I'm talking, I had to scrub her down with dry towels before throwing her in the tub and dousing her with soap.  Ok, so Madeline did the tub part.  But only because I was removing Vaseline from every object within a 3 year-olds reach starting in the upstairs bathroom and ending (Thank God) in the kitchen downstairs.  

Oh, and the funniest part.  She didn't even seemed to be phased by the Vaseline.  She walked in and said, "Mom, am I wearing tacky pants?" 

(I can't tell her its "khaki" - we just got over her switching from faffle to waffle)

Throwback Friday

Maddie and Abby in August of '05.  They were playing in this same spot in the kitchen this morning.  

Don't even get me started.

Things I Learned in 1st Grade

One of Madeline's final school assignments was to make a list of the things she learned in 1st grade.  Here was her list:

• In First Grade I learned that I need to obay.
  
• Make sure you are always kind.
  
• Build people up do not tar (tear) people down.
  
• A poam does not have to rime.
  
• A lot of people like to right books.
  
• A lot of people like to play.
  
• God is always watching over me.
  

Simply stated.

Morning Devotion

Madeline will often leave drawings and notes at the door to our room for us to find in the morning.

As I was coming down for breakfast this morning, I had one of these notes at our door.

The first page said, "Mom" and had a beautiful rainbow.

The 2nd page said, "God, you are my God and I will every prays you.  I will seek you in the morning and I will follow you all of my ways."

Out of the mouth of babes.

Talk about a good morning cry.

Throwback Friday

7 days old.

Boys will be Boys

People always ask me, "Do you notice how different boys are than girls?"

They started asking this when Gabe was about 2 weeks old and I have to tell you....other than the very obvious anatomical difference....I didn't notice much.

A year later?  Starting to see some major differences.  Like the fact that he somehow manages to scale just about any object in our house.  I found him on bouncing on one of the girl's beds earlier this week.  I have no idea how he got up there.

Yesterday, he banged on the wooden floor with one of the girl's tea party spoons until it broke in half.  Which seemed to please him immensely - despite Lauren's tears.  (I super glued it back together and we are good to go for future tea parties)  

This morning, he figured out how to open the cupboard an inch, stick his other hand in, and undo the safety latch from the inside.  Yes.  I kid you not.  

I can promise you the girls still don't know how to do that. 

And this whole time I thought I had forgotten to lock the screen door the day he escaped.  I'm starting to wonder....

My Little Inventor

Madeline is learning about Simple Machines at school and brought home her workbook to show me.  On the last page she was to draw a picture of a "Machine of the Future" and explain how it worked.

Here's what she wrote:

--------------------

"I would like to have an Anything Machine.  It can do anything that you want it to do.  It will do thees things - wash and dry, clean your room, and things you can never amagine.  I love to be an inventer."

She drew a machine that looks like a giant robot with huge claws....wearing quite the stylish polka-dot outfit.  He is saying, "I do not take badderies."

As I was reading it she said, "Mom, I picked that one so you would have some help around the house."

--------------------

I'm very much looking forward to this thing being invented.

Keyboard Issues

Madeline and I were working on an art project (here is your first indication that something is about to go wrong....I have no business doing anything art related) that involved super glue (another big mistake).

I ran up to change Gabe's diaper and all the sudden I hear, "I sorry, Momma.  I sorry."

Oh, no.  (Madeline - where are you???)

I ran downstairs and Lauren has the super glue turned upside down and it is dripping......onto my brand new Mac keyboard.   Noooooooooooo.  Please, no.

After an afternoon of gently applying acetone -- everything but the "t" works.  Well, the "t" works....you just have to hammer down on it with every bit of muscle in your left index finger.

Which is why this email took 4 minutes to type.  

Couldn't she just have dripped it directly on the "Q"??

Happy Tears

I just got a call from my SIL that made my day.  She called to tell me that she was in Target in the card aisle picking out "thank you" cards in baby boy blue.  

She said, "That's it.  I just had to call someone to tell them I am actually picking out cards to thank friends and family for BABY gifts."

Yes, that's right.  After a very long wait, she has the most precious baby boy in the world.

He. Is. Amazing.

Throwback Friday

View from our bed in Mexico.  Ahhhhh, to be back there again.

First Steps!

Gabe took his first couple steps last night during the bedtime routine.

 (anything to delay bedtime!)

The girls were squealing with delight and screaming, "walk to me, Gabbers!"

Words of Wisdom

Madeline made homemade Mother's Day cards for all of her aunts.

One of her cards read:

To Aunt Rebecca -

A child only holds your hand for a little while.  Then, they let go to get married.

That one got me where it hurts.

Just Your Average Saturday

Lauren said she was "organizing the kitchen drawers."

Do Not...

...allow your 3 year-old to put Play-Doh in an infant's hair.

Just don't.

Throwback Friday

Here is an old picture of Lauren nursing one of the American Girl dolls.  Classic.

Maximus Samuel

I would like to introduce my nephew Maximus.  

His name means, "the greatest" ....because he is the greatest miracle!

And believe me Max, you are.

My Favorite Day

Madeline had to construct what her "favorite day" would look like, complete with illustrations.

While I can't do the pictures justice, let me give you a peak into the day:

She would wake up and go swimming.

Eat some cake.

Head to COSI (Science museum)

Swim in the ocean.

Collect seashells.

See a sea horse.

Color.

Head to the park.

See a rainbow.

Sing to God.

Go fishing.

Head to the slopes for some snow skiing.

Make a craft.

Eat some bubble gum.

Go to the circus.

Celebrate Christmas.

Followed by Valentine's Day.

Conclude with a birthday party....for herself.

That is one day I would not want to miss!

Reddi Wip

Clip of the day.....so far.