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Last night was the first ward activity that Mark and I were in charge of. We decided to do a Sock Hop. Besides lots of loud music, we also had a Soda Fountain complete with four very handsome Soda Jerks, several games including a bubble gum blowing contest, a hula hoop contest, and a limbo contest, and we even managed to get our hands on a couple of disco balls. All of the kids went home with a prize of some sort or another all of which tied into the fifties–from silly putty to plastic army men to BabyRuth candybars. And I’m hoping everyone that came had lots of fun. I was busy setting up the Soda Fountain, chasing kids and running the games while Mark was DJ-ing most of the night so we didn’t get too many pictures. But here’s a few.

Mark and I had a blast throwing the party and we’re excited for the upcoming Potato Derby in May. Next time the only thing we’ll do differently is have more people on the set up committee and get a babysitter for the babies. They ended up being pretty exhausted, especially poor Caleb. Thanks to everyone that helped from gathering the supplies, pitching their ideas, setting up, cleaning up, taking care of our little ones and running the show. We couldn’t have done it without you.

My mind is spinning with all of the things I need to do and have to do and want to do. Last weekend we rearranged all of our furniture in an attempt to make the eight of us fit in this little house. With less than 200 square feet per person, things can get kind of tight at times and we’re trying to maximize our space as best we can as well as rid ourselves of as much clutter as possible. So, Mark and I moved our bedroom downstairs and we put the three babies in one room and the big boys in another room. We no longer have a guest bedroom which sort of puts an end to the Henrichsen Hotel we’ve been known to run from time to time. You’re all welcome to come and visit but from now on all I have to offer is an air mattress in the basement and a place in line for one of the bathrooms.

I gave Mark specific orders to reduce his clothing stash and when he was finished all he had to offer me was a pair of shoes. But thankfully I’m less attached to things and have managed to rid ourselves of many items we no longer need. I’d love to keep several of them but the new rule for keeping things around here is–if we don’t use it on a daily basis, we can’t keep it. So Mark made one trip to Goodwill and I have another trip ready for him when he gets back from Mexico.

On the first trip to Goodwill Mark donated several items and then called me from the store where he’d found several items he thought we might want–a popcorn popper, another bouncy seat, some scooters, a bathroom cabinet and a picnic basket? Since we’re trying to reduce our stash I did my best to refuse, although we did end up with another bouncy seat and a popcorn popper for the stove so we can try and make our own Kettle Korn–a staple in our household. When Mark visits Goodwill this next time maybe he should stay away from the store part since it kind of defeats the purpose of my decluttering and we always seem to find something there that we’ve just gotta have.

So the past several days I’ve been trying to put things back in order which is quite a challenge. I’ve also been trying to dig clothes out of boxes for all of the boys. The big boys need t-shirts since the weather is warming up and I can no longer stuff poor Caleb in size 12 months. Of course, this requires extra laundry and more of my time. I finally gave up on the laundry and decided to hit the laundromat last Saturday. I got all of the laundry clean but did I get it all put away? Nope. And here we are at Wednesday and you’d never guess I went to the laundromat at all. Now I just have piles of the stuff all over the house begging me to do something with it. And that’s not the only thing begging for my attention. All of the kids seem to need me too.

Yesterday we reached 75 degrees outside. It was “simp-a-lee gorgeous” as Denver would say and we couldn’t resist a day in the fresh air and sunshine. So we had a picnic lunch and spent a good three or four hours in the out-of-doors longing for the return of summer and popsicles and swimming pools and lazy summer afternoons. Of course that meant I didn’t get a whole lot done and am beginning to fall behind on other chores. So today I tackled my to-do list and neglected the children while I checked things off one by one. I got the bills paid and the checkbook balanced. I got the invites to my sister’s baby shower made and addressed. And I got a good start on the finishing touches for the Ward Sock Hop Mark and I are in charge of. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned our new calling–we’re the Ward Activities Committee. So we’re planning this great ward sock hop complete with Soda fountain and Soda Jerks and Hula-hoop contests and disco balls and music and bubble gum blowing contests and all sorts of fun. But we’re down to the last few days of preparation and with six kids attached to my hip I’ve been limited in my ability to “get ready.” But I’ve gotten good at delegating and I have some really great friends and I think refreshments, decorations, games and prizes are just about set. Now we’ve just got to get that darn disco ball up and running and make sure we know how to work the sound system. Minor details, I know.

Of course Mark’s been out of town as well and that always adds to the craziness. But despite the hairiness of things right now, I sort of like it. I don’t get so bored when I have a million things running around in my head begging to be done. I enjoy a good challenge now and then. Plus I eat a lot less when I’m running around aimlessly and that’s always good for my waistline, although I can’t say that I’ve lost as much weight as I have sanity. But there you go–whoever said I was sane to begin with?

Well Noah. . . you are officially six years old. Don’t ask me how you got so grown up. All I did was bat an eyelash and poof! You were big.

In so many ways you haven’t changed. You still love jewels and gems and anything small that fits in your fist or your pocket. People have started predicting we’ll get a Gemologist out of you. That or maybe a Geologist. Volcanoes still thrill you as do all natural disasters as long as they aren’t a threat in our neck of the woods. You’re nervous in so many ways about so many things but especially fires and spiders. I’ve had to promise never to tease you about spiders that might be climbing up the wall nearby and heaven help the person who mentions fires at bedtime. But you sure love to tease us. You continue to tell some of the tallest tales I’ve ever heard and yet you make them sound so real. And oh, the pranks you play. Now I know why your eyes seem so sparkly–it must be from all the fun you get out of pulling our legs.

This picture of you playing Nintendo is so true-to-life. You love your games more than life itself and beware anyone that comes between the two of you. There’s not a single member of this household that hasn’t been shouted at for “ruining your concentration” and more often than not, your games leave you in tears and Time-Out. But you continue to love to play your games and when you’re not playing them in real life, you’re making them up on paper or with bits and pieces from your treasure drawer. Uncle Nate is your all-time favorite adult and all of us are so glad for his Zelda expertise and his willingness to aid you in your quest for treasure. When you aren’t playing Nintendo (or you’re banned from it) your next favorite thing to do is watch movies with a big bowl of popcorn on your lap. Add a little candy or some white chocolate chips and you’re in heaven.

Speaking of favorite people, Stefano is your new best friend and the two of you together are like the Three Stooges minus one. Starting Kindergarten and the social life that goes with it has been challenging and rewarding for you. Cole drives you crazy with his constant tattle-telling and rule enforcing–he’s the closest thing to a bully I hope you ever have to face. Your heart is broken when someone won’t play with you at recess. And you are so proud to have so many new buddies. It is so neat to watch you walking into school, greeting all of your new-found friends and seeing how popular you’ve become. You even have eleven year old girls inviting you to their birthday parties and sleepovers. What a stud you are! Just check out what your classmates had to say about you.

Noah you definitely challenge me and your father. Sometimes you can be as moody and emotional as a teenage girl. Most days, you claim, are bad days and you are ever disappointed in me. I rarely do right by you. You leave your treasures and your drawings and your creations everywhere! You are a fierce competitor and playing any sort of game with you usually results in ear-piercing screams and gigantic temper tantrums. You really like to win. When I kiss you goodnight you like to try and spit in my mouth. When you don’t like your punishments, you try and punish me right back. There are definitely days when I don’t even know where to begin with you. But somehow despite all of the challenges and frustrations, when I think of you I don’t think of them. Nope. When I think of you I smile. And then I start to giggle. And pretty soon I’m smiling so much it hurts and whatever might be bad isn’t so bad anymore, except maybe for the ache in my face from smiling so much. And I’m so glad we had you six years ago because without you my world woudn’t be so sunshiney. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do just to see your blue eyes sparkle, Noah and I hope they keep on sparkling for another six more years. And six more after that. And six more after that. And six more. . . . Happy Birthday and I love you.

I found this wee rascal running around the house last night and think maybe he’s the one that’s been causing all the mischief around here lately. Seriously, as adorable as this little sprite may appear, he causes me all sorts of heart attacks and nervous breakdowns. I honestly fear for his life (and his baby brothers’) at times and trully believe if he makes it to the age of two it will be a miracle. Just today he helped himself to Hunter’s seizure meds (thanks to a lid that wasn’t screwed on tight) and yesterday he dove head first into the jucuzzi while Denver was having a very deep “great big bubble bath.” I swear his motto is I laugh in the face of danger and his goal is to drive me to the looney bin as quicky as possible so he can get away with even more death-defying stunts. And the worst part of all of this is knowing that half of the terrible mischief he gets into is because I went and had more babies than I can handle. Caleb has way too much unsupervised time on his hands. And me. . . I have way more than I can juggle right now. Heaven help us all.

I used to think this was the best idea in the world–rice (or birdseed or beans or split peas or whatever) in a giant container complete with cups and spoons and funnels for the kids to play with. Basically an indoor sandbox only less sandy. The kids love it and it keeps them happy and busy for quite awhile, especially on rainy days and during dinner prep. And clean up isn’t too bad–nothing a vacuum can’t handle.

But then this happened:

Now I think this idea is better except it still doesn’t help me on rainy days. Or cold days. Or snowy days. . . .

Well, from the look of things around our home today, it seems the first thing on the little men’s agenda was to cause mischief. A trail of green shamrocks and gold dust led from our kitchen door straight to our refrigerator. And sure enough, our applesauce and milk had been turned green! Denver refused to drink the green milk but Hunter was thrilled to have some with his Eggo’s cereal.

From the kitchen we followed the shamrock trail into the family room where we discovered that leprechauns are gifted in block design. This lovely display of art greeted us, complete with rainbow and pot of gold. Now we just wonder how in the world they managed to get the blocks out of the basement. They must be geniuses!

After a little arts and crafts time, the leprechauns did one of two things. We’re not sure which one first because from here the trail goes two ways: upstairs and into the piano room. Upstairs the trail led into the boys’ room where we found their magic dust in all of their beds. The leprechauns must’ve had fun climbing all over the sleeping boys! In the piano room we found a tiny game of Uno almost complete. We’re assuming we had four leprechauns in our house because there were four hands dealt. But then again, maybe there were five and one of them won.

After their game of Uno the little fellows must have gotten curious about the cardboard house we’ve been working on this week because we found a new addition there this morning: a tiny door carved into the front door. At that point one or all of them must have had to go potty because they left in a hurry and forgot to take their pots of gold with them. And because their trail of shamrocks led us here:

Yup! That’s green pee in our toilet and last time I checked none of us peed in green. Hunter is most excited about the little ladder they left behind and discovered that they used my glue gun to construct the thing. And, he also concluded that’s how they were able to get into so many things. Little troublemakers! I hope leprechaun pee doesn’t leave a ring!

But of course, the best thing of all is the gold they left behind. Not only is it pretty to look at but it tastes like chocolate too! I’m glad our money isn’t made out of chocolate. If it were we’d be broke! Happy St. Patty’s Day to you all and hope the leprechauns didn’t cause too much mischief in your neck of the woods!

Caleb has been sick forever. He went from an ear infection to a chest cold to an ear infection all in the last four weeks. Every time we thought we had him cured, he came down with something new. So Saturday when we came home from the Talent Show and the babysitter informed us that Caleb had a fever and wasn’t doing well, it was no huge surprise. He and the twins had come down with a cough and some congestion earlier in the week but I was really hoping it was just a bad cold.

Sunday I took all three babies to the Doctor. Caleb had an ear infection and all three had “Bronchiolitis.” So we started Caleb on an antibiotic which the Doctor said was a “bit nasty tasting” (see me straddling him and forcing it down his throat) and crossed our fingers things wouldn’t get worse. Still, I had this nagging suspicion that both the twins would be back at the Doctor’s office because when does Bronchiolitis just disappear in four month old babies?

Tuesday we returned to the Pediatrician’s because wouldn’t ya know it–Jericho was wheezing and having a very hard time breathing. So they prescribed a nebulizer and sent us home with instructions to return tomorrow for a follow up visit. Tuesday afternoon Denver started begging me for Tylenol and finally curled up in a ball on the couch with tears welling up in his eyes because his throat hurt so bad and fell asleep. Back to the Doctor again. . . this time for Denver. And sure enough, he was diagnosed with Pneumonia and given an antibiotic. Tuesday evening, both Justus and Caleb were having a hard time breathing and the nurse on call told me to give them nebulizer treatments as well and to bring them into the office tomorrow. Great!

So Wednesday Mark took Hunter to Diabetes Clinic and I took the babies to the Pediatrician’s office while my friend, Johnette, stayed with Denver. Diagnosis? The twins have RSV and need nebulizer treatments every four hours and Caleb’s Brochiolitis had worsened and he now required a nebulizer also as well as a steroid.

So basically my day goes like this: Nebulizer, nebulizer, nebulizer, antibiotic, antibiotic, bottle, bottle, bottle, diaper, diaper, diaper, nap, nap, nap, lunch for Denver, popcorn and movie for Noah, repeat, with an occassional fight that needs refereeing and a few ten-minute tidies here and there. My lunch today consisted of a bunch of chocolates and pretzels that I popped into my mouth inbetween nebulizer treatments and bottles. Amazingly enough I managed to put together a Birthday treat for Noah’s class yesterday and drag myself out of bed early enough to make him pancakes and sing him Happy Birthday before he left for school (although I wasn’t together enough to realize the manual focus was off and got a bunch of blurry pics of the Birthday Boy.) My goal for the day was to fold and put away laundry so the kids would quit nagging me for pajamas and underwear but so far I’ve only succeeded in transferring the pile from the basement to the foot of my bed. And. . . I’ve still got to make Noah some Butterscotch Brownies because, who knew he hates cake? Last year we had to order a cake with a frosting flower on each piece and three frosting flowers on his piece.

Anyway, I must go. It’s time for me to diaper, diaper, diaper and tidy, bake and referee. . . .

We’ve had a few days of mid fifty degree weather and it has been absolutely delightful. We’ve been riding bikes and swinging and blowing bubbles and even eating popsicles. I love having the windows open and wearing capris and no socks and playing “Around the World” with the boys. I know it’s a little early for Spring but we’re hoping for it anyway.

This weekend we escaped the deep freeze and enjoyed some warmish weather and sunshine. The babies (all three) came down with Bronchiolitis and Caleb has an ear infection (again!) so they were all a wee bit fussy and Mark and I are lacking in the sleep department (what’s new?) but all of that was soon forgotten when we flung open our windows and enjoyed some fresh air. The boys spent most of the day yesterday, playing outside and we all took a walk/bike ride to the park yesterday afternoon. We fed the ducks a loaf of bread and played hide and seek and did some swinging and we all returned home happy and refreshed. Mark fried up some homemade scones for dinner and they were perfect and delicious.

Anyway, along with the fresh air and the sunshine and spending time with my family, and eating Mark’s scones, this video clip of Noah that I captured yesterday brings a bunch of happiness to my heart. I’ve watched it a million times and can’t help laughing every time. Noah is such a nut–so much of my world would be dull without him and all of his silly ways.

Hunter has been in school now for three years. This, however, is the first year we’ve attended the school’s Talent Show. I guess when I thought of attending an elementary school talent show I envisioned a bunch of silly acts in a hot, crowded and very uncomfortable elementary school cafeteria. And it was that thought that prevented me from allowing my kids to take part and kept me from purchasing tickets. But this year Hunter got invited to participate in an act with several of his second grade buddies and I couldn’t deny him the opportunity. So he attended tryouts and weekly practices and a four hour dress refearsal. And we bleached his hair and I hit Target for some sandals and spent thirty dollars on tickets. And. . . it was the most fabulous four hour elementary school talent show I’ve ever been to. I can only imagine how much sweat and tears were involved in pulling off such a wonderful production and all I can say is, I can’t wait ’til next year. Now all I’ve gotta do is figure out what act Hunter, Noah and Denver can do together and whatever it is. . . it’s gotta be good.

*To see Hunter and his buddies perform, click on the picture of Hunter.