Life as a Yowler

Here is a summary of the reason I chose this title.

As you can see, I have a hard time saying no to cute kids(who by the way are extra cute and sweet when they want to sleep with me).

Them- “can we please please please sleep with you, mom? We love you so much!”

Me- “Oh what the heck. Just make sure you don’t wiggle all night.”

Them – “haha. We got her again.”

They are only little once right? I keep getting a little sad over the reality that my kids are growing up. They are really getting big and for now I’ll soak up these snuggles(and kicks to the face).

Brandon has been gone all week. He took Joah with him, leaving me with just my youngest three kids. Brielle actually prefers Brandon being gone. Then she gets to sleep in my bed. Caed has caught on and now also insists on sleeping in my bed.

We took a trip to the Frankenmuth Zoo with some friends. I love the Wilderness Trail Zoo. It’s not big and overwhelming, but big enough that there’s plenty to see. I am comfortable enough going without Brandon(since it’s small) and not worrying about dropping a kid down the gorilla cage.

The funniest/most terrible moment of our zoo trip happened with the little tiniest turtle I’ve ever seen. Brielle found him on the ground. She picked it up and at first I thought it was a little toy, but then I saw his little legs moving. He was about the size of a quarter. We thought maybe he escaped so we walked him over to someone who worked at the zoo. The worker said he probably came from their pond. The worker walked him back with all of our kids trailing behind watching. He said “alright everyone I’m going to set him free” and threw him into the pond with lots of eager wide eyed children watching. Like a scene from a movie, a catfish jumps up and snags that little falling turtle and  immediately and swallows him whole. I thought maybe there was hope that the kids didn’t see, but nope. Emma piped up first. She goes “hey, that fish just ate our turtle.” It was at that point in time that the kids got a nice lesson on “real life.”

I have done some fun little projects with the middle kids since their big brother is gone.

Isla got her nails trimmed….after doing this to her brother’s face. That girl can do more damage with those nails of hers.

We’ve been exploring our woods.

Meanwhile Joah is getting some real life experiences with Brandon. Joah is helping Brandon with his meetings. He has been surprisingly behaving angelically and getting his school done and brushing his teeth twice daily. Joah has always craved one on one attention and behaves so well when he gets it. Here he is making Texas shaped waffles at their hotel in Dallas.

Brandon also got Joah a lesson on how to kick professionally. 🤦‍♀️ The guy said he was an absolute natural. He wanted to sign him up. Brandon explained we live way too far away. The guy insisted we need to get Joah lessons closer to home. He said Joah has crazy good balance and strength. I could have told him that. I also could have told him “we probably shouldn’t teach him how to beat up his siblings professionally, but thanks anyways.”

Brandon and Joah toured the St Louis Arch. Joah loved it. I got to hear all about it. Evan sent me this touching card for Mother’s Day. He got my mom one that said “You are just like a mother to me.” 🤣 I love his sense of humor. I also love the nice hand written note on the inside. He is very thoughtful.

Today we went to the library for music class. Even Isla participated.

Tonight was Brielle’s dance rehearsal, starting the dance weekend off. She has three recitals total. She took two dance classes this year, Tap and Creative Movements. She is my outgoing child. The girl has no fear. She loves the stage. It was really fun(also hilarious) to watch her tonight. She has so much confidence. She had a great year of dance!

We’ve had a very relaxed and laid back week. Now starts the crazy. After Brielle’s dance recital on Sunday we leave for our motor home trip. I’m trying to enjoy and soak up these moments and not be overcome by stress. The details always come together and we always have a blast traveling. I’m thankful for grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends who have stepped up and helped me this week. I’m thankful the RV is finished being worked on(that’s another story but long story short it has been at at General RV and I’ve been panicking it wouldn’t be finished in time). God worked it all out. He always does.