The World's Largest Nudist Colony

Sunday, on the way home from church, we listened to the following conversation between our children:

Faithie: "Maybe someday we can visit Australia."
Apple: "Ew. I don't want to go to Australia. The people there don't wear clothes. That's really gross."

Yes, We are Still Alive

I know it has been over a month since I've posted anything. I know all of you are waiting breathlessly for any kind of update from the Mack household. I know your lives simply are not complete with no new pictures of or antecdotes about our small fries. I know I am being ridiculous.

Anyway, I have no excuse except that our life has been very busy. I even have a new camera, that takes amazing pictures, that will be so much easier to post with than my old one. Here is a basic run-down of life since I posted last:

-March 26: My grandfather (my dad's dad and my last grandparent) went home to be with the Lord.
-March 28 (morning): Mack left for a weekend in Minnesota
-March 29 (evening): Mack returned home
-March 30 (morning): I flew to Texas to attend the funeral
-April 1 (morning): I returned home
-April 5: Mack spent most of the day repairing a large hole C-Ray had put in the wall a few weeks earlier (I just listed that for the amusement value)
-April 10 &11: I spent most of these 2 days helping the teens at church prepare for their Parent Appreciation Banquet
-April 12: We celebrated C-Ray's 4th birthday
-April 13 (morning): Mack flew to Florida for a conference
-April 16 (evening): Mack returned home
-April 17 (afternoon): We all drove to Nebraska for a long weekend
-April 20 (evening): We arrived home again
-April 23 (morning): Mack and I flew to Pennsylvania to visit some friends, and for Mack to do some "work stuff" both there and in D.C.
-April 25 (morning): I returned home, Mack will not be home until the 27th.

So, there you go. In addition to the normal insanity of having 4 kids under the age of 6, we have had much extra craziness this month. Hopefully I'll post some pictures of the significant parts when Mack gets home with my camera...

"I'm Too Small for Rides, But I Still Had Fun!"

Camp Snoopy... or Whatever They Call It Now

I don't care what the name of the amusement park inside of the Mall of America is actually called these days, it will always be Camp Snoopy. But, whatever the name is, the kids loved it!

Little One Stands

I am not the best about documenting "landmark" events, but I have somehow managed to capture on film the first time ALL of our kids pulled themselves up in their crib. Pretty impressive for me :P

Melts the Heart

Not long ago, I was in the kitchen and C-Ray came in and gave me an unsolicited kiss on the cheek. He then said, "Here's a kiss for you, Mommy. Don't give it to anyone, but if you lose it, I'll give you another one."

Lock Up Your Valuables!

Little One has been crawling for a few weeks now, thus ending my relative peace concerning our newest addition. She is curious about everything! Her particular favorite is the bag of plastic grocery sacks in the pantry- she loves to pull them out one by one!

Stupid Dog

Yesterday, Apple and C-Ray were playing quite nicely together for more than five minutes in Faithie and Apple's room (that event alone is enough to post about, but there is a story to follow). I came upstairs, completely unbeknownst to them, to deposit some laundry in my bedroom (not an event worth posting about).

As I came to the top of the stairs, I heard Apple say, "Stupid! Stupid!" I was quite sure, without hearing any of the preceding conversation, that C-Ray was the subject of her... adjectives, so I started to open my mouth to correct her for unkind name-calling. Before I could get the words out, I heard the following conversation:

Apple: "C-Ray, we're pretending that you are a puppy and your name is Stupid."
C-Ray: "Okay!"
Apple: "Stupid! Come here, Stupid! Lay down, Stupid Dog!"
C-Ray: (happy) "Woof!"

I continued down the hall, glad to have escaped giving the lecture (this time). I think that if we ever do get a dog, I am going to name it Stupid.

Funnies

No, I don't have any pics to post (sorry) but I do have two funny things the kids have said (sorry again- I am one of "those" parents).

We flew to Seattle for Christmas to spend the holiday with Mack's family. On our way home we had a layover in Minneapolis. We got all the kids off the plane and immediately headed for the restrooms. Mack volunteered to take C-Ray with him, and C-Ray actually consented to go (yes, this is a big deal, as C-Ray has "issues" with anyone but Mommy seeing him in a... private setting). When Mack got into the restrooms, he found the stalls to be filthy so he informed C-Ray that he was going to go standing up (a first for our man-child). C-Ray's little venture was successful (and, amazingly enough, scream-free), and as he was going he says to Mack, "I gotta show this to Apple!"

This weekend we took the kids on a spur-the-moment little trip to the Wisconsin Dells. It was a great time, except that Little One did not sleep very well. As a result, Mommy did not sleep very well and was pretty tired as we sat at breakfast Sunday morning. Banter began between Mom and Dad about whether or not Mommy would fall asleep on the car ride home. I maintained that I would not, while Mack replied that he knew me better than that. Apple says to me, "Mom, you can't sleep in the van. What if we need to ask you something?" (Let me give you the Mom Translation: "Mom, if you are sleeping in the car, there will be no one for me to whine to. Who will I ask every five minutes how much longer until we are home? Who will I tell every ten minutes that I am hungry? Who will listen to me say how bored I am? What will be the point in saying, every 20 minutes, that I have to go to the bathroom, whether I really do or not? Who will tell me things I already know, like that my coloring book is in my backpack, when I ask seven different times?) Oh yeah, did I mention that the car ride to the Dells is only an HOUR AND A HALF??

Catching Up

Faithie's first day of school Faithie as a fairy
Apple as Cinderella
C-Ray the shark
Little One the pumpkin

Okay, so I thought I had dozens of pictures to post in order to get caught up- with everything from pumpkins to Christmas trees. However I have discovered that most of my pictures were deleted from my camera before making it into blog-land. Sadness. But, I've got a few to post and hopefully I will be able to get pictures of Little One's first Christmas from family members...