A boy and his mommies

Here is one of Pax's mommies. Bailey cannot get enough of this little man. She is really good to him. She is always loving on him and making sure he is comfortable. Can you tell she is smitten?

Here is the Pax man. He is such a great baby. He is so calm and so smiley. He can also get this really intense look while he is trying to figure things out. He arches those little eyebrows and gives you his " shhh I'm concentrating look. " He is hanging out while I cook dinner.

Here are the rest of his "little mommies". He is often crowded out by all these girls. He doesn't mind. He smiles and coos and shares his slobber with them. They are fascinated by him and are constantly telling me the new things they see him do.

He is hours of entertainment. Such a handsome little dude. He has everyone wrapped around his finger.

Need I say more?

Swim Lessons

This summer would not be complete without swim lessons. My really good friend and I go to the Rec center here and stand or sit rather in line for over 2 hours just so we can have our kiddos in swim lessons. It is well worth it. It is such a nice diversion for two weeks. Plus the kids come home and are exhausted. This year we had Aislynn and Bailey in a class at 10 in the morning and then Cecely was in a class at 10:45. So my friend and I ended up staying for almost two hours everyday. With five kids it was always interesting that is for sure. This is Bailey and Trevor on the last day of swim. They get to have a free day where they can go down the slides and off the diving boards.

This is my water baby Cecely. She loved her swim lessons. Here she is swimming under water. I was worried when I put her in swim that she wouldn't want to do it, but she proved me wrong and I am so glad! She made some really good friends in her class.

This is what Paxton did for the swim lessons. He just slept mostly. Or he would look around and smile and coo. He is such a laid back baby. It made it so nice since I was basically running around the pool area trying to keep Devonney from jumping into the big pool.

Another water baby of mine. This is the kiddy pool. While the big kids were in their lessons the little kids had fun splashing around in the little pool. The swim instructors were nice enough to always let us have some toys and things for the little ones to play with. Devonney loved the water and didn't mind going under at all. She is my no fear girl that is for sure.

Here is Cecely getting ready to go off of the diving board. She was brave. I had to coax her a couple of times but after that she was ready to do it on her own. She did a great job and loved her teacher and her friends. Even though it was a little tough sometimes to wrangle five kids it was well worth it. My children love to swim and are learning to love the water. I grew up swimming and loving the water. Some of my fondest memories are in the water with my dad. I hope my kids can have great memories like that too!

TROUBLE

So there are a lot of words that come to mind when I think of my 19 month old. She is the most adorable, chubby, loud, persistent, snugly, mamas girl around. There is another word however that describes her pretty darn well and that is TROUBLE. She is into something all day long. She loves to wear every ones shoes and then when her sisters go to look for their shoes they are no where to be found. She is so sneaky about where she puts them. These happen to be my shoes and yes, I had to look for them after she was done.

She never wears headbands or hair bows. After I put them in she immediately pulls them out and then says "Here Here Here" and wants me to put it in and play the put in take out game. But seriously how can you not love this face. I have to admit I am hooked. It has been that way since I found out we were having her.

She then proceeds to pose around and try and walk like a fashion model. Her older sisters have taught her that. There are quite a few other things her sisters have taught her too!

No girl is complete without a furry fluffy dog on your arm. Or in her case in your hand being dragged around all day long. She loves these dogs even more than our own dog. Max and Devonney haven't been getting along lately. Max is a stealer of food. If you leave it somewhere it is fair game and he will eat it. Devonney does not like that and has been known to chase him around the house throwing her fake doggies at him to get her food back.

What can I say.... I love my children. Each of them has a special tender place in my heart. Even though she is a tornado.... I love her to pieces and would not have it any other way.

How does your garden grow?

My garden of children tends to be growing quite rapidly :). They are getting bigger everyday. I tend to feed them at least 12 times a day. Maybe more on some days. Notice Bailey's grumpy face. I give them plenty of sunshine and lots of water. I find that good ole TLC works wonders on them. They definitely grow where they are planted. I try and make the growing conditions and environment just right, but you know sometimes they are a little picky and wilt a little. So that is where the TLC comes in :).

My outside garden has been growing by leaps and bounds too. We have gotten some monstrous squash and zucchini. We have been really blessed with how much we have produced this year. We have frozen a ton and made lots of yummy casseroles and given lots away.

My herb garden has been fabulous. We have had homegrown herbs in all of our food and we can really taste the difference. Each of the girls got to plant an herb. They have done such a wonderful job of watering them and taking great care of them. Of course we helped Devonney with her herbs. She mostly wanted to pull them out and eat them. We have Basil, Oregano, and Thyme.

Every day I would go out and water and would find about this many ready to pick. The girls had such a fun time helping me pick the veggies. We also have wonderful tomatoes and peas. Even being out in the desert things still grow in abundance. It has been so nice to have home grown veggies this year.

I put a pencil to show the size of the zucchini. They are so huge. I can get about six cups of shredded zucchini out of each one. It is fabulous! My family has eaten a lot of zucchini bread this summer and I am happy to say that even my picky eater loves it!