Now A Family of *gulp* Six.

We've been spending a lot of time outdoors already. This is a common scene in the backyard. Charlie's a little cautious of the slip-and-slide, but Roman loves it. Charlie prefers to just stick his hand or toy into the spray. On Wednesday, I attended my last class for my Master's. I'm done! Had to pose with St. Francis of Assisi before I left campus. Although I'm not Catholic, my Latin teacher in high school was always a big fan of St. Francis. And plus, I drove past this little grove on my way to park for every. single. class. Doug decided to begin Tang Soo Do lessons as well, and went to his first class Thursday with Roman. They're allowed to wear t-shirts instead of the do-bak (jacket) in the summer. Charlie continues to demonstrate his bizarre love of kitchenware. He has shown attachment to wooden spoons, a spatula, and a spaghetti scooper (also a vegetable peeler, but we had to nix that). Today it was a plastic fork he was given at a picnic around 5pm. He ne...

There's a lot of love in our house!

I love the summer because it allows my brain to rest from "work" and focus again on "play." I have been keeping up with my Project 365, taking a picture a day (or at least enough to have a picture a day). But what has been sad is the scrapbooking magazines I get, after I look at them and mark pages, I put them on a shelf. I haven't had time in 7 months to actually rip out the article, or plan the sketch, or scan the idea. With grad school winding down (last class tomorrow!) I have begun reorganizing my desk, putting folders and binders away I will not use until after 2011 (when I have to take more classes again to keep up my certification). I also pulled 3 magazines off the shelf and paged through them once more, finally ripping out the pages that have info on them. I also have made the leap to 3-ring binders to hold my pages instead of post-bound albums. I held off for a long time, but since I don't scrap chronologically (or else Charlie would never make...

Saturday was unusual in that our power went out for 3.5 hours. It was sunny with barely a cloud in the sky, so we figure it was an overload of everyone turning their air conditioning on. We ended up doing burgers on the grill and hanging out in the front yard to catch the breeze. Came back on around 7:30, just in time to cool off the house so the kids could go to bed. Today to celebrate Father's Day we put Doug to work. Wasn't very relaxing, but as I told him, he has received a sense of accomplishment for Father's Day! We got the backyard ship-shape for summer, including putting up the shade gazebo, new sand in the sandbox, and filling up the little wading pool. In fact, the one you'll see in the video below we discovered had a crack in it, so I bought a plastic wading pool for $12. It'll work just fine seeing as Charlie will want to be taking dips, and Roman likes to do daredevil stunts like the following:

It's been a fun week with just Roman home and Charlie in daycare. The "what could've been" thoughts were in my head briefly - "if we hadn't had Charlie, this is what my summer would be like..." But today Charlie had to stay home because of a fever (passed down from Roman earlier in the week), and I have had a good time with both boys home. I do like watching Charlie explore and learn, and he's so very sweet. Spontaneous hugs and open-mouth kisses. Plus him adoring his big brother and trying to imitate everything he does. We got our entertainment value out of him today at lunch. Charlie was so tired, he started falling asleep while eating. It was hard not to laugh out loud watching him, eyes closed, chewing away as his head started to sink lower...

It's been all about Roman these past few days. Last day of school, birthday, birthday party today... and more of him on the blog, too. Pictures from the celebrations: You like his cake? Made it myself, and Ro insisted we add his Galactic Heroes to the cake. Of course he picked out the Wampa, the biggest guy he had! Birthday party today was supposed to be outside but due to weather, we called around and switched it to the local indoor public pool. It worked out just fine, kids didn't care one way or the other. Isn't that a motley crew of boys, though? A nice bunch of kids, really. Tomorrow, back to "normal." Although we haven't quite figured out what that's going to be this summer yet!

Tomorrow is Roman's birthday. He will be 6! Since he was almost 10 months when we brought him home, I'm one of those rare parents who doesn't say "where did the time go?" We've had some long days & weeks with this boy, so yes - it feels like we have had him for as long as he is old. He is out of his mind with excitement. Having his birthday right when school gets out is a curse and blessing, I think. For him, he was experiencing so many emotions today he could hardly stand it, one minute begging to stay home with me and the next impatient to get to school, only to flip back around and wrap his arms around my legs in line for class and plead with me to take him home. Same thing with karate tonight - he wants to go, he doesn't want to go... poor boy must be exhausted. Exhausting for me, too - I'm trying to wrap up the school year, move (yet again) my desk and files, and to come home and relax... but I had a cake to bake, presents to wrap (Doug did t...

Scene: Grandma & Papa's house, Grand Rapids. Action: Young Roman is putting on his pajamas, complaining that he will be too cold because Daddy packed just shorts & a short-sleeve top. Doug: "Put socks on. It's the super-secret way of staying warm in bed if you think you'll be cold." Roman, ever so eloquently: "Dutch houses are always cold."

In our complicated dance that is the raising of Roman, we've searched high and low around the Internet for information. ADHD, attachment disorder, parenting tips - we've read a whole bunch of it. Occasionally, of course, you find the right blog at the right time - even if it doesn't relate completely, there's a nugget in there that makes you feel better, or think deeper. Such was the case yesterday and today. Attachment disorder (her comparison to parenting and God's parenting is thoughtful and beautiful), & frustrated parenting . Ahh. I'm not alone.