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Priorities of a 6 year old

I was sitting here at the desk trying once again to figure out how to post pictures to my blog. (I seriously need lessons.) When Maveric came in with a piece of paper and a marker needing me to help him spell a few things. He was making a list of what he was going to accomplish today and I thought it was so funny. Here is how his day is stacking up...

1. Fishing

2. Eat skittles

3. Rest

Maveric Richey

I wish my list was always that simple! Hope your day is as wonderful as Maveric's!!

Okay, so maybe I will just attempt to post monthly. That seems to be a more realistic goal! We had a wonderful Easter. All of our kids were beautiful and Piper was especially adorable on her first Easter. We have had sick kids for 2 weeks. First Maveric, then Piper and Ali. Today was the first day that someone has not been sick. So we made the most of it. My mom offered to watch Piper so that I could have some fun with the other kids. We had a blast. We started at Walmart where Savannah, Ali and Maveric had some gift cards to spend. Then we headed to Opry Mills since we have not been there much since we moved to Smyrna. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, ate ice cream from the Marble slab, adopted new animals from Build-A-Bear and obtained a new picture casing for Maveric's wallet! Just to let you know why this is significant, Maveric is a little O.C. (Obsessive Compulsive) He got a wallet from one of the kiosks in the middle of the walkway@ Opry Mills several months ago, most likely because I needed to buy something from that one kiosk since I can not resist products from these strategically placed carts. Anyway, he loves this wallet. It is filled with 31 one dollar bills, 30 of which my mother-in-law sent him for his birthday. He likes to carry it in his back pocket like Eric. Not long ago, Eric needed to get a bank statement that was missing for our taxes so he was in the bank managers office, when Maveric who was sitting in a chair next to her, pulled out his wallet, opened it up and inhaled deeply, then stated that he loved the smell of money! Back to the story; our children have chores, and have to do their own laundry. Maveric and Josh put their jeans in to wash and Maverics wallet went through the heavy duty cycle. The wallet survived along with the 31 ones, but the picture casing did not fair so well. His picture of his "girlfriend"d Jillian, his picture and Josh's picture were ruined and the front of it was ripped. He was distraught to say the least. I promised him that we would get a new one and he reminded me of it at least 50 times. So, it was with great relief to us both when I explained the situation to the man at the kiosk today and he pulled out a new picture casing and gave it to Maveric! Awesome day. I am so thankful that I was able to spend this time with them. It is really difficult to make that happen because I have to be so focused on Piper most of the time. It was such a blessing to have so much fun with the older kids. Hope you had a wonderful day too!

Maveric Learns to Shave

Maveric received a shaving kit in his Easter Basket. This is his first shave!

Easter Pictures

Here are some of our Easter Pictures!!

Ali being Ali with Savannah

Me with two handsome boys!

Best Buddies

Piper's first Easter Pictures

One cute group of kids!

(Josh, Maveric, Bailey, Savannah, Ali and Piper)

Piper Learns To Clap!

Catching Up

We have had a busy couple of weeks. It started with the Sacred Gathering at church. We were fasting and I sort-of did a fast from technology as well. I did not really get on the computer or watch tv, just wanted to listen for God's voice and be as "undistracted" as possible. It was an amazing time of worship at church, I loved it! Lots has happened. My sweet baby boy turned 6 on Valentines Day! I will have to post some pictures of that later. We had a party for him here at the house and invited some of his friends from school. It was a Transformers party and he and his friends were wild. No one can get excited about something like Maveric. I always have a weepy moment on all of the kids birthdays when I think back to when they were born and how tiny they were. The night before his birthday, I went in to tuck him in and he was already asleep, so I kissed my 5 year old boy for the last time, yes another weepy moment. Another big event that occurred was Savannah getting her hair cut. It is just below her shoulders, but layered with some long bangs. She is straightening it and it looks beautiful! She looks so much older. Savannah is also starting private saxophone lessons and is auditioning for a solo in her choir at school. Joshua just started gymnastics over the weekend at Tri-star. He took gymnastics a couple of years ago and then retired to go onto his other careers in multiple sports...baseball, soccer, swim team, karate (well, one lesson-he said he learned everything he needed to know) and cub scouts. Who knows maybe gymnastics will be his thing, he seems to be very good at it. Ali is still doing the fast pitch travel softball team, which becomes all consuming when summer gets here. And Piper girl is just along for the wild ride! With the activities they have chosen for now they all actually work out well scheduling wise. At one point all four of the older kids were doing ball: baseball and softball. That was nearly impossible to do scheduling wise! So I am thankful for this. Hope all is well with your families. Posting pics soon!!

Something Funny

My dad received an email about a teacher that had given her class the first half of famous proverbs or sayings and her first grade class had to complete them. Some of them were hysterically funny. My dad thought that it would be fun to do the same thing with our kids. So, he printed off the email and made copies of the paper without the second half of the sayings so that our kids could fill them in. Josh and Ali over thought this exercise and were frustrated that they did not know the "right" answer, like they were taking a test that they were going to fail. They just did not get that the point was to answer wrong and that is what made them funny. Anyway, Maveric's answer were quite funny. Here is what he said...

Strike while the...animal is still.
It's always darkest...before it rains.
Never underestimate the power of...lightening.
Don't bite the hand that....is yours.
You can't teach an old dog...not to dig in the trash.
Love all, trust...Jillian and Chandler. (His two best friends!)
A penny saved is...so you can buy something.
Don't put off till tomorrow what...you can play today.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and...somebody's going to tell the teacher.
If at first you don't succeed...erase it.
When the blind lead the blind...you might have to feel goo. I'm thinking that he got this idea from the haunted house experience in Gatlinbug when Savannah said that she couldn't see anything and she was feeling the walls and it felt like goo.
A bird in the hand...poops.

Savannah knew a lot of these but some of hers were funny too...
If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas.
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and...they laugh at you.
there are none so blind as...blind people.
When the blind lead the blind...there's trouble.

Hope some of these made you smile...have a wonderful day!!

This morning I went to Stewarts Creek, the school that all of the kids are attending to help their teachers out. I started in Ali's room and did all of her teachers copying and cutting, then went on to Josh's class, where his teacher works herself silly and did not have anything there for me to do! I just love her, we spent a few minutes catching up and I got to hear a little about her wedding, she got married a week ago. Then it was on to Maveric's class where she always has a ton of stuff to do. I finished her things just in time to have lunch with Maveric and Ali. I love going to their school. When each of our children see me come into their class room they light up. It makes them feel so special to have me up there and I really enjoy being able to do that for them. I brought cookies today for Ali's class and she is going to get to pass them out at their snack time. I love being their mom. Which make me think of Eric. He works so hard for our family so that I can be available for them. I get all of the credit for being a great mom, but if it weren't for him I could not do what I do. I am SO thankful for him... he is really HOT too...I love my man!!

Savannah

With five children, sometimes I don't feel like I adequately concentrate on each child individually enough. I mean, I am with them all of the time, but I am with ALL of them together all of the time. It is a challenge that takes planning to overcome. I think that they all enjoy being a part of a large family and wouldn't want it any other way and I also know that they really enjoy time spent one on one. I thought it would be nice to have a special blog for each one.


I don't think I could ask for more in a daughter. Savannah is our leader. She is one of the most mature and responsible children I have ever seen. When we were homeschooling, Savannah made that job extremely easy. We were a part of a tutorial and I rarely had to even look at what she was doing. She handled the classes and work like a college student. Now that she is in public school, each time I have been up to her school her teachers track me down to tell me what a wonderful student she is and how much they love having her in their classes. This year she is playing the saxaphone in the band, which makes Eric really proud since that is what he played in school and Savannah is using his sax! She is also in the choir and the Jr. Beta Club. Next Tuesday they are having their school softball team tryouts and she is going out for that. She is a friend to everyone that she meets and is crazy about horses! Not long ago, Eric and I came up with some new family rules with a list of chores that they have to complete everyday and of course Savannah has not missed any of them. She helps me out so much with the other kids, sometimes too much. I will open my mouth to discipline someone and Savannah's voice chimes in! She has it all, she is beautiful, smart and talented. We are so thankful for such a wonderful girl and so proud of the young lady that she is becoming!

Pictures

My genius husband helped me with my flashcard. So he posted the picture of Piper underneath and hopefully I will be able to add pictures now that he showed me how. I love that man! Gotta get the kids to school, have a great day.

That's one adorable baby!

Piper busted at 2 am skinny dipping in our sink! We're going to have our hands full with this one.

Baby Wise and Random Phobias

What a rainy day! Piper and I have just been hanging out today. She took a very long nap because she stayed up almost all night. I think I need "Baby Wise." Does anyone have a copy I can borrow? I don't know why she has started doing this lately. She wants to sleep on top of me or nurse randomly throughout the night, like a 24 hour all-you-can-eat buffet! If she stirs a little and I am not there she starts crying. I have made the transition from her co-sleeper beside our bed to her bed in her room, but she is still doing the same thing. Which has just made it harder on me because now I am up and down all night. I have heard a lot about Baby Wise but have never read it. I have heard that she will sleep through the night with this magical method, so please if any one has a copy that I can borrow, I would be very grateful. None of the other kids did this, well Maveric did enjoy sleeping with us and still occasionally pulls what I call the ninja. He can get in between Eric and I without us knowing until morning. It's quite impressive. While Piper was taking her nap, I did a lot of cleaning. I mopped floors with a cleaner that left a film on them and so I got to mop them again. I also realized that cleaning sponges are really disgusting. Really, you can only use them one time and then they just look like they are harboring millions of bacteria! Yuck! You know the other thing that really freaks me out? Public swimming pools. I take my kids to them but I can not stand to get in them, especially small ones. I just look at everyone and try to figure out who has bathed and who has not and how long it has been between baths. Then sometimes, there is the creepy couple hanging all over one another in the pool:o This was especially bothersome when we were living in our condo at Nashboro Village. I would take the kids swimming there and just pray that no one needed my assistance in the water. At first, Eric made fun of me, like, "You're crazy!" Then he started thinking about it too, and suddenly was finding excuses not to get in the water. I said, "what's wrong honey, dive in!!" He had to admit it...it was grossing him out too. Got any phobias to share?

Church n stuff

We went to the Blend today at church. It is a new "old" service! The music is more traditional such as hymns. I really really enjoyed it Somebody asked me if it was better. I wouldn't say better, but there were things about it that I did like better. Like Ron leading worship, I miss him in the other service. He is immensely talented and a gifted servant. I think what he brings to worship is irreplaceable. He truely ministers to so many in our church, including our family. When my grandmother died a year ago, Ron drove to East Nashville to sing and play at her funeral. When Piper was born, he (and his daughter) came to the hospital to see us and pray over her. He and Eric connected early on in our marriage and he has had a huge spiritual impact on Eric. We love Ron. Anyway, I really liked the intimate atmosphere. I did not like watching Pat on screen, but Piper gets rowdy when he gets up to speak anyway so I always end up watching him on screen from the "nursing moms lounge", so I guess that was not much different than any other Sunday. I would definitely recommend it. The most important aspect of any service is to come expecting to meet the Lord and to give him your attention and praise. Not to be entertained. If a certain style of music helps you to better express your love to God then go with it. Well, I need to get ready for Zumba. If any of you have not tried this class at the Y, you need to. It is so much fun. It is Latin dance for exercise and on any given Sunday, you can find half of the ladies of our church there. This little Latino woman leads the class and I don't know how she keeps her composure while she sees all of the southern ladies attempting her moves! Too funny. A word of advice:Do not stand in the back because you will not be able to see what she is doing and everyone in front of you will be doing something different! Have a wonderful day!

Really Fun Girls Night

On Thursday night, my friend Vivian invited the girls and I to go out and celebrate her twin girls birthday. Her sister-in-law Debbie, her daughter Meg and Viv's friend Christy and her daughter Skylar also were along for the fun. She had extra High School Musical tix and had rented the Sweet and Sassy hot pink limo! We met at Macaroni Grill for dinner and then the limo pulled up outside to get all of us. I have never seen a group of girls run so fast. We were getting our cameras ready for a picture and the girls were gone, already in the limo. We made them all get back out for a shot in front of the limo then we were off. It was Hannah Montana blasting on the sound system and girls dancing everywhere! We had the video camera rolling so we decided to get in on the dancing action. You know, there are just moments when you are reminded that you are no longer cool, ie. It was my turn for a dance in front of the video camera and as I am breaking it down in unison I hear "MOMMA STOP!!!" from both of my girls. Yep, no longer cool. That's okay, being cool fell to the bottom if not off of my priority list a long time ago. Say, about the time that I was happy to own and drive a minivan. Back to the evening. High School Musical was awesome. Towards the end, Viv decided that she was going to sing along with the songs which was hysterically funny, but borderline humiliating all at once. I just knew the people around us were going to have us thrown out due to her singing and our laughter. The girls kept asking when they could get back in the limo. It was a super fun night. Savannah had fun while Ali decided that this was definitely the life for her. I'm thinking Saint Cecilia's all girls school for that one! I will try to add some of the pix later.

Reviving My Blog

Okay this is really sad that my last post was in July! Well, we moved and unhooked our computer and did not get reconnected until about 1 month ago, well I was able to use Eric's computer when he got home from work, but that is not really connected. Yes we finally moved...HALLELUJAH! So, I am going to attempt to keep the blog up and keep pictures posted of all of the kids. Thanks for stopping in!
Christi

Happt New Year!

Savannah, Bailey and Ali ring in the New Year!

Happy 2008!!!

Busy Summer

I was telling my sister that this has not even seemed like summer! Summer is about going to the pool every day and sleeping in and having fun with the kids. I think we have been swimming 6 or 7 times this entire summer and a lot of those have been in the evening so that Piper is not so hot. It has just flown by. Most of our weekends have been spent playing softball. Other than the weekend spent having Piper!! I was waiting to post again until I had the pics from the tournament but I do not have them yet. I went to Walgreens to make a cd from my flashcard and their machine was down. The Warriors played awesome and got 3rd place. This weekend we are packing! Yes, Thank the Lord, we are finally moving. It has been a horrific experience building this house, I would never do it again. Our house is going to be beautiful, but NO house is worth what our family has had to endure. Anyway, I'll save that for another post! Gotta get back to packing. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be posting more pictures very soon.

Softball Anyone?

It has been a very busy week as usual. Right now I am just preparing to leave for Bowling Green KY tomorrow morning at 5:30 am. Ali is on an 8 & under fast pitch travel softball team and they are headed to the World Tournament. She loves playing on this team and has learned so much. The girls she plays with are great and they have awesome coaches. Thurman Bailey is the head coach and he truly has a gift of working with these girls. I love that he always incorporates his faith, like praying with the girls before they play, in the pep talks before and after the game and giving God the glory. He is such a great witness to these girls and to us as parents, I am so thankful to have a godly coach in our daughters life. I still have a load of laundry drying that has to be folded and I am sure Piper will be waking up soon for a midnight snack! Hopefully I will have some good pictures to post after the weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend too!!

Blogging

Okay, I am just trying to figure out how this blog thing works. I was having trouble earlier today uploading pictures to the site. While I was looking for my pictures, I came across this old family picture. It is one of my favorites, I just love it! When I saw it I was shocked at how much they have all grown. They are all so little...and so was I! (HEE HEE) I thought that it would be a good reminder for me to enjoy each day that I have with them. They really do grow up so fast. We had this picture taken on Maveric's first birthday and now he is headed to Kindergarten, and Piper was not even a thought, literally we had absolutely no intentions of birthin' any more babies! I am so thankful and crazy in love with each one of them!