Mommy Date!

I LOVE Mommy dates! It is a great way for me to spend alone time with one or two of my children. When you have a large family and you homeschool them all, you really need to get creative on how to spend quality time with each of them. As with all children, they are so different and I enjoy spending time with them doing the things they love. Now it doesn't always work like this. Sometimes I will just bring one child with me when I am running errands, but I cherish it nonetheless.

This past Friday I surprised the girls with a mommy date. Our homeschool group goes to a local theatre each semester. This theatre is amazing and puts on kids productions so that children get exposed to the arts at a young age. I LOVE IT! This semester they are doing The Little Mermaid. I know the boys would of enjoyed it too, but I thought it would be special for the girls and I to have some time together.

I didn't tell the girls what we were doing until we were in the parking lot! At first they thought we were going to Disney World (we are in the midst of planning a DW vacation for next year so I know that is why they thought that first), but they were still excited about this new experience.

Here we are before the show started...

THEY LOVED IT!!! We have always known that Hannah would love theatre. She is our drama queen and also loves to sing and dance. I kid you not when I say she did not move during the whole production. She was in HEAVEN! It was adorable to watch.

Here are the girls with the Little Mermaid and the Prince.... Then they HAD to get their picture taken with every actor. The actors {OF COURSE} thought they were the cutest things ever and spend a lot of time with them. We were one of the last to leave.
It was a great morning. One that none of us will soon forget!

Coming up for air

Hello... I thought I would make an appearance and let you know what is happening in the Alexander household. Things remain busy. The funny thing is besides piano we have nothing extracurricular going on. Life with five kids is just... full! I wouldn't have it any other way!

All five kids were sick last week. The boys were on antibiotics for sinus infections and ear infections. The girls just had nasty viruses. I am so thankful the everyone is doing better. The kids were not sick all winter, but this spring they have been sick twice. I believe it is allergies, they have been brutal in the midwest this year.

Monte has been working a lot lately. As of today he has been working for 33 days straight, with no end in sight. We are thankful for the overtime and we are also fortunate that he is able to work from home on the weekends, but we are tired. When he works, I don't get a break either and I am sure it is starting to take its toll.

We are still plugging away at school. It has been a year of transition for everyone, so there were many days that schooling was light. Because of that we are planning on working through July, taking August off and hitting the books hard in September. No my idea of a fun summer, but we'll still find plenty of time for the pool and being outdoors!

I can HONESTLY say that the girls are doing great! We have overcome so much the past 10 months and I give all the glory to God! I am now not concerned at all with bonding issues and I can't even begin to tell you what a relief that is. We are not 100% bonded or adjusted but we are getting there!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend friends!

I will leave you with some pictures I took of the kids flying their kite a couple of weeks ago... enjoy!

Gym and Swim

This spring I signed the boys up for a homeschool gym and swim class. It is 45 minutes of gym class where they learn different skills and then 45 minutes of swimming lessons. The thing I love about it is that it's located at a local rec. center and the pool water is actually warm. When the boys were really little they took swimming lessons at a high school and that didn't go over well because the water was so stinkin' cold.

By the end of the summer last year, Josiah was jumping in the deep end with no floatation device. He seems to have forgotten that. He freaked out the second week of class and hasn't gotten back in the pool since. I am not going to push him because I know that once summer hits he'll be back into the swing of things. Monte is a very strong swimmer and works with the boys a lot. I truly believe Josiah is afraid of his swim instructor, who doesn't seem to understand children. He has unintentionally sidelined a few children because they are scared of him!

Even though I am not making Josiah swim, I am also not letting him run around and have a grand ol' time. He has to sit until his brothers are done. As you can see, he is not happy. I am sure I would win a "Mean Mommy Award"!

The Birthday Festivities Continue...

John had five friends come for a sleep over on Friday. They all were at the house by 6pm. Each one of them was beyond excited. Mom's of boys know what happens when boys get excited. The energy and volume levels get extremely high. I honestly didn't bother me. I knew with 8 boys in our small house it was going to get loud!

I just love boys. They were cracking me up all night. At dinner they discussed why they were or were not going to get married. One boy said the only reason he didn't want to get married is because he didn't want to kiss a girl, because that is GROSS!! We made sure they were in bed by 10pm, but at 11:15pm the room with five boys in it was still wide awake. I had to go in there then and sit with them till they fell asleep. Before I went into the room I overheard them talking about girls, bodily functions (only boys) and politics. These are 5 - 7 year olds!!

I think it is an understatement to say that they had a blast. They all were very well behaved and got along great. I can't wait to do it again!!

Decorating Sugar Cookies.

John's creation.

Getting ready to watch a movie.

Monte made pancakes for breakfast. A Saturday tradition.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

First Snow of 2009

Today we got a small snow storm. We hardly had any snow last year, so this stormed was welcomed. Isaac and John couldn't wait to get outside. Josiah was not available for this photo shoot. He was done with the snow and cold by the time I was ready to take pictures and shovel. He is not a fan of extreme temperatures!

I loved growing up in Maine and doing all the winter outdoor things. I just realized yesterday that my boys didn't even know what a snowmobile was. I have also sparked their interested in ice fishing and skiing. They are begging me to take them to Maine during the winter. The whole winter...ha! I can't wait till we can make it happen, but probably not for the whole winter.

John's snow angel

Isaac's snow angel

Corn Maze

When my parents were here, they took all the grandkids and my sister and I to a local corn maze. Even though it was chilly we still had a good time.

The State Fair

Last week I was able to bring the boys to the state fair. I took them once when Isaac and John were VERY little, but it was a disaster. I think we stayed for 45 minutes. It has taken me 4 years to get the courage up to do it again.

We stayed 5 hours this time. We had a blast! It was not crowded at all and it wasn't too hot! We were all exhausted by the time we left, but we couldn't pull ourselves away any sooner.

As soon as we got into the kids section, I saw ponies. Josiah loves horses, so much so, that we have strongly thought about getting him lessons at a nearby stable. So I asked the boys if they wanted to ride and they all wanted to. When we got closer I saw it, $5 EACH to ride to a PONY. I about fell over. I wanted to ask them if it was an hour ride, but didn't need to. It was one lap around a small piece of land... nice. I learned a very important lesson right then and there. Do not ask the boys if they want to do something until you know how much it costs. They had a good time though and Josiah was in heaven the whole time!

Shortly after we left the horses I saw something a lot better (at least in my opinion). They had an elephant and were doing elephant rides!!! I didn't even mention it to the boys until... yes, you guess it... I found out how much it cost. It was only $1 more per child to ride the elephant. They all were very brave and rode her. Josiah did confess after that he was a little scared. John could hardly contain himself. He loves animals and I can see him working with them in some capacity when he is grown. It was an experience I got to have when I was 5 years old, so it was neat seeing my boys do it too.

We saw an endless amount of farm animals. We even saw a chick hatch (that was a highlight for me). We ate enough fried dough to last us till next year. It was a great day and I am looking forward to doing it again next August.

Our Date Night...

I am SO thankful to Michelle for doing the bloggy giveaway that I won. Here are the details on what we did with the Visa giftcard that I received.

Last Friday night, Monte and I were able to go to a Japanese Steakhouse here in town. There are two of them, but we chose the one that we had a coupon for… BONUS! This is something we have never done together. I went to one when I was in 4th grade. That was 22 years ago, I am surprised I even remember going.

We had a wonderful time! Was it because we were eating for free? Um… maybe that had something to do with it, but I just love spending alone time with Monte. I know it is important to have that time together, but sometimes it is hard to accomplish!

This was the second date that we have had in a month and that is a record for us. Our babysitter, Cassie, is in college, so we are only able to have here when she is on breaks. This summer she is going to be a camp counselor, so we knew we needed to make the most of her being home.

We are planning on going away for a long weekend when Cassie comes home in August. Isaac stayed with our friends overnight when he was 8 months old, other than that we have never left the boys. I was originally thinking we would go to Chicago, but Monte HATES cities. So, I am thinking about the Indiana Dunes. We have never been there and it looks like a lot of fun!

Any other suggestions?

Quality Family Time

While my parents were in town they took the whole family (my sister's and my families) to a hotel in Indianapolis that has an indoor water park. We had an amazing time together. With thirteen people in the family it is hard to find fun stuff to do for all of us, but this was perfect!

John cannot get enough of the water. The second day we were there he was under the water most of the time.

Isaac did so well at the water park. He isn't a fan of going under the water (notice the dry hair), but he let the big bucket of water fall on his head SIX times... for Isaac this is HUGE and
I am so proud of him!

My Niece Abby and Josiah. Cousins are the best!