Name that Kiddo...

Here's another one I couldn't pass up...

Name that Kid

While organizing pictures of the kiddos, I found this sweet one of _______... Who do you think this is? Give your guess, then feel free to leave a caption if you're so moved. Couldn't pass this one up.

Amazon Woman-Child (good thing she has a pretty face)

A few weeks ago Kurt and I were at a loss trying to figure out what to do for poor Cam in the middle of the night. It was (and currently is) a pattern for her to wake up in the middle of the night every night with pain in her legs. We've been giving out lots of motrin (thanks Costco) and spending time rubbing her poor little legs throughout the night. Then, I had the idea of measuring her to check out her growth, having no idea what to expect. I had to measure, and re-measure just to make sure I was right.
Camdyn has grown almost two inches since the beginning of January. For fun, let's say she grows at approximately that rate (slightly less) for the next ten years. She's 42 1/2 inches tall today. That would mean that she would be over 10 feet tall at 14 years of age... She'd be a great middle blocker!

WAAAAAAA!

Our kids are great. Kurt and I love each one so much. Today, something struck me. Noise. Today, it was all about injuries. There is always a lot of noise around here, but this afternoon was particularly noisy, because everyone was getting "injured". Lots of crying. Lots. Here is a list of "injuries" that happened today- mostly in the last hour and a half. Each injury elicited tears, screams, and spasmodic behavior of sorts.
1. Reilly dropped the kitchen bench on his toe while doing homework, then banged his knee on the table in the overreaction. I think that probably really hurt.
2. Camdyn, while running down the stairs with a book, knocked the book into something which then knocked her lip, causing the tiniest amount of blood, but by far the most screaming of all the episodes. And the piece of paper towel was carefully held there for the next 30 minutes. With occasional whimpers.
3. Reilly, while trying to poke under Shea's eye (??) during dinner, poked her right in the eye. Lots of crying for that one.
4. Kinley tripped on something (her own feet- I believe) when she came out of the bathroom and thudded her knees on the ground (waking me from my shallow afternoon cat nap on the couch).
5. Macy slipped on a pearl necklace on the wood floor in the girls' bedroom and found herself in the splits (nearly). Ouch.
6. Cam banged her glasses on something, in turn jamming them into the top of her nose. This is an almost daily injury.
And now for the finger injuries (it is highly unusual to have three index finger injuries in one day, let alone one hour!)
7. Kinley "cracked (her) knuckle" on the railing while running wildly up the stairs.
8. Reilly, in typical spastic form, raced across the kitchen and whacked his finger on the kitchen table (of course this inhibited him from holding the pencil well while finishing his homework).
9. Shea, while wearing her new swim goggles (Easter basket) and cleaning the stairs, with impaired vision, didn't see the railing and jammed her finger into it as she tried to pick something up.

I know this doesn't account for all of the crying and injuries today- this list literally took me 3 minutes to compile, and the thought didn't even occur to me until dinner (I wasn't taking notes throughout the day). Thankfully, Kurt nor I sustained any injuries today. Now they're all in bed, quiet as mice... and though I enjoy the quiet, I actually get excited to wake them up in the mornings and start it all over!

Camping with Gma and Gpa

Over the kids' spring break, grandma and grandpa came down, joined us at Disneyland, then treated the kiddos to some fun camping in their 5th wheel near the beach. The kids just love it. Plain and simple. Being outside, riding bikes, taking walks, roasting marshmallows around a campfire, climbing through the bushes and making up "clubs" with passwords, playing cards with grandpa, reading books with grandma, eating the best California oranges ever...the list goes on!
Words fail me.

Mom: "Cam, I love your new headbands!" (from the Easter Egg hunt)

Cam: "Mom, these are not headbands."

Mom: "Oh, I'm sorry." (She was a little offended by my ignorance) "What are they?" (I was really curious)

Cam: "They're what the aliens have. They wear them on the show."

Mom: hmmmmmmmmm..........

Sweet alien girl...

Bike ride with daddy.

Those crazy Gebhards' kids

The Munch Bunch groovin to their own styles (mommy didn't dress them)

Kinley getting cold at dinner, grandpa's resolution. Lovin' Cam's expression.

Sissies chillin and cruisin around the loop

Reilly, as he typically performs for the camera, checking out the loot from the Easter Egg Hunt

Macy was thrilled with each egg she found, sitting down after each one to examine and not realizing there were more

Sweet Kinley with her Easter basket after grandma and grandpa held the annual search (a little early!)

Shea, searching through the trees for any last egg she could find

Cam, so excited to find her prizes!

Sweet sissies!! This was NOT posed, although this is extremely rare between these two at this stage of their lives. They have a love/hate relationship. Macy loves Cam, and, well, you get the rest.

Feeding the squirrel...trying not to scare him...then the rest of the night we had to shoo him away as he nearly jumped into our laps!

Disneyland!

Grandma and Cam mixing things up out there in bug land

Kinley and Grandpa squeezed into the tiny car

Big girl Macy was even tall enough to ride with daddy on this one! She loved it.

All wet...by choice! It was already getting chilly but these crazy kids begged and begged to get on this ride. Thankfully, they weren't totally drenched like some of the people exiting the ride.

My parents with Macy as we watched the crazy kids on the water ride, wanting desperately to get soaked even though it was already sweatshirt weather...

Cam kept repeating, "This should not be happening! This should not be happening!!" the whole ride through. What a nut.

I didn't brave the rope bridges. Grandma and Grandpa took care of the little ones and thankfully we managed to retrieve all of them after the madness- they all took off in different directions when they saw the slides and fun stuff...

"Disneyland for 8 people- Off the charts expensive. Ice cream at "Burr-bank Ice Cream" - $6 per person. Lunch at Pizza Port- $89. Kurt's expression in this picture...you guessed it...priceless."

It's no secret we are Disneyland fans. I believe we've purchased season passes 5 or 6 times now, and we just got them again. So we went at the beginning of the kids' spring break, not knowing just how busy it might be. Thankfully, there weren't huge crowds and we got onto lots of rides! I was so excited for Cam to see Disney "for the first time", now that she has her glasses. It was fun to watch her face light up, especially on her favorite ride, "Small World". We all had a blast, and it was great to have my parents there to join the fun (and help us keep track of 5 wandering kids). I know the pics are out of order, but I've wasted so much time accidentally erasing them in previous attempts to get it right, I'll leave it alone. I have other things to do.

Painted Pony Farm Field Trip with Kinley

McKinley and Kate on the bus being silly...

Photo op...my sweet little kindergartner!

Cute little girl holding a cute little chick... she put the thing to sleep!

Feeding the goats- she was trying to feed the baby, and was a little scared when the big mama's came over...

The girls...The first two on the left are the girls Kinley talks about all the time- Bella and Kate. They love each other and are SO cute together! Kinley comes home and tells me about their conversations- usually silly, but they always compliment each other. I love it!

Since it's a little difficult for me to get into the kids' classroom regularly, I attempt to go on their field trips with them whenever possible. My name was drawn out of the hat for Kinley's field trip, and she was so excited! I was too. We had such a fun day with her little friends. As you can see, there was a lot to see and do. She learned all about a working farm- this one is family owned and the tour was given by the husband, wife and daughter. Farmer Pam makes homemade goat ice cream the night before each field trip comes, and it was delicious. She got to milk a goat, hold baby chicks, feed the goats and sheep, and we saw a huge pig, chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, and I think that's it. It was so much fun and the weather was just perfect. My favorite part had to be watching how Kinley interacts with her little friends and with her teacher. I think she may be Mrs. Fitzpatrick's favorite...of course!

Camdyn's Birthday Party

Cam's friends, with two princesses who helped serve the little girlies (Shea and Kinley).

Eating dinner in the play house (a few of the girls).

Lauren and Cam enjoying their dinner (what a nut!).

This was Cam, all dolled up for her party. Ten minutes before they were to arrive, she crashed! It took her a few minutes to come to...

This was Cam on her birthday after she opened a present from Grandma and Grandpa- matching dresses for her and her American Girl. She was so thrilled!

Well, I am SO far behind with posting different events, so I think I will try to post every day for a while... beginning with Cam's party which was almost two weeks ago! She invited a few of her little friends over and ate hot dogs in the play house, painted fingernails, and ate cake. Just what she wanted. I am so thankful that kids really are so simple! Cam is such a fun little girl. We love our "nut"!! Here are the reasons why:

1. She comes up with the craziest things to say that make no sense at all, and she knows it.

2. She bounces everywhere she goes.

3. She is ultra-spirited.

4. She is a complete nut. She loves to be crazy and funny.

5. She loves her mommy and daddy, and always loves a hug.

6. She keeps me on my toes and humbles me (in inappropriate public situations...).

7. She is becoming a great big sissy to Macy-Boo who thinks the world of her big sister.

8. She has distinct (and hilarious) facial expressions that speak volumes about what's happening inside her little brain.

9. She's a total nut. Did I already say that?