Kieran's been doing the doing the "ready to walk" dance.  Every time he gets himself up from the floor into this awkward positon he's cheered and applauded by an audience of siblings, and he's been loving every minute.

He also gets a "golden scissors award" for letting me cut his hair without making a single protest peep.  What a little-big boy!

Yesterday I saw these--abandoned on the kitchen table:

Because these distractions kept doing stunts directly overhead:

It is a good thing Keegan only drives pedal powered vehicles.

As we left the grocery store he said, "People in the parking lot have to be careful so we don’t bump them with the car."

I explained that we need to be careful so they aren’t bumped!

He said, "We don’t want to run over anyone except naughty people and yucky people."

I asked, "We shouldn’t run over anyone.  But who are the "yucky people"?"

He replied, "People who are mean to ‘Anna or Kierie."

I then asked if he knew anyone who was mean to Keianna or Kieran. He shook his head, "No. But if there are any, they should watch out so we don’t run over them."

Again I reminded him that we shouldn’t run over anyone--not even imaginary, mean-naughty people. (He only seemed half convinced.)

Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

Heading out the door to a fellowship lunch yesterday, we had our hands full.  Ken turned to Kaira and asked, "Would you like to carry the brownies or take Kieran out and buckle him?"  With a cheerful smile she answered, "I'll take the most precious thing!"

Hmm... brownies or her brother, which would she choose?  

Her face radiant, she scooped up her baby brother.  Although she loves chococolate, there was never any doubt.

More precious than brownies!  Now THAT is love!

(Still trying to learn the manual settings on the camera...)

Yesterday the resident three-year-old boy, in a moment of supreme three-year-old boyishness found a styrofoam Itsy-Bead-Sie (yes, that's their real name--truly), and realized it fit quite well in his olfactory orifice.   Evidently he was quite persistent, because he managed to get that little styrofoam ball up around a little bend--which I learned is called a turbinate. 

Various attempts to extract the object at home failed, including nasal irrigation, tweezers and other rare forms of tortures reserved for little boys with impulse control issues. (Poor little guy. He was a trooper.) We gave him a break from the tortures, and he ate lunch and played outside while I made myself a mocha frostie and pondered what to do.  It wasn't blocking air, and he was active and fine--our only concern was infection if it remained--and it clearly wasn't going to budge on its own. Finally a call to the doctor resulted in an appointment.

It took them most of an hour. One gal tried, called another, then called in the doctor, then when all attempts failed they called ER for suggestions (all stuff I'd tried and they'd tried). They were about to refer me to an ENT when finally they found a tool thing that held open the passage further, and after another 10 minutes of torture (poor boy's nose bleeding by now) they got it!

Interestingly, one of the nurses mentioned she had a three year old boy, and a vase filled with

Itsy-Bead-Sies, and she told us that just last week she extracted said beadsie from said three year old's nose. Beware the beadsies with the threesies!

I must say I was amazed and impressed by the beautiful atmosphere of local family practice office!  We'd never been in before, being generally healthy and not really having a need. Several signs were up about how they seek to serve God through medicine. The exam room we were in had the fruits of the spirit on the wall, and when, at long last, the nurses/doc/tech/whatever people triumphed, one of them said (reverently, with tears in her eyes from the intensity, not in vain), "Thank you, Lord" and the other said, "Amen."

The staff all praised him for how brave he was, and indeed I think he did pretty well for having people dig in his nose for almost an hour.  

Boys! What an adventure! Watching Kieran (who doesn't walk, but instead scales things like a mountain goat) I'm sure we have more adventures in store!

Most people detour to avoid construction.  Lately we've detoured especially to see it.   Keianna and Keegan joined me for a few errands today, and driving home, the crane was in  motion!   

Keegan's glee knew no bounds when I pulled over and parked so we could watch for a moment.  I guess "stop and watch the construction" is the boy equivalent to "stop and smell the roses."

Further down the road, around the bend (visible in the background) are towering piles of dirt.  Each time we pass by Keegan says, "Ooooh! Can we PLAY in it!?"  Alas, it is fenced off--unavailable for play. 

Ah!  The rapture on a boy's face watching a crane sway beams against the sky!  It reminds me that we should pull off the road more often.

Finding ripe strawberries before the birds, rabbits and squirrels is always satisfying.  The children voted on whether they should save the "first fruit" for Daddy or split the tiny strawberry five ways-Poor Daddy.  (Actually, of the four who voted, the vote was split.  Kaira decided to break the tie, and changed her vote to take Kieran into account.  He loves berries and she knew he'd want his fifth.)

Harvesting the wind damage: 

Cold, howling winds, tired mommy, and exhausted children prompted me to declair yesterday, "Movie Day"!

Before my nightshift sweetie went to bed, I snuck off to the Library to fetch home Johnny Tremain.  Kaira had just finished reading the book for our Tapestry Studies, so it was a perfect fit.

After the movie (and after he finally came-to) Keegan declared it his favorite movie of all.  I'm not sure he's the best judge of it, because here's a picture I snapped near the climax:

I think the girls, especially Kaira and Kendra, found it more riveting than Keegan did--despite Keegan's declarations to the contrary.

"Mommy, Mommy!  There is a WORM in the tornado cellar!  May we have a jar?"

"Oh, he's BEAUTIFUL, Mommy."

Beautiful?  Interesting, perhaps.  Useful, certainly--but beautiful?   Of course I provided the jar, and helped them find a shady spot on the deck for their new-found-friend.

A sniff indicated that either the worm, or the dirt in the jar was stinky, which seemed to me an excellent name for their worm.  (The children were horrified that I'd threaten to christen their noble pet with such a lowly name, and I'll confess that in a few minutes I discovered that it was Kieran who was stinky, and not the worm after all.)

When I returned from Kieran's much needed diaper change, Kaira said, "We have to spend time and think about a name for something this important!"  Ultimately they dubbed him "Dusty". 

At last report, Dusty  is still doing well.  He's been given fresh damp soil every morning for five days now, and Kaira and Kendra informed me that his release is planned for tomorrow.  (They have a catch and release program.)  

Oh, to have the eyes of wonder my children do--seeing beauty and glory in the earthworm. 

Wyoming doesn't have monsoons?  Hm.. well, maybe not, but for our typically arid prairie, we are certainly soggy lately.  We never have gentle rain, but rather hard pouring torrents.  We don't get gentle breezes, but full gales...  Subtlety is lost on Wyoming.  The lightening shows are fabulous though--  Absolutely awe inspiring!

I'm glad I seized the moment and took our Sunny Sunday Snapshots so that I can remember what "sunny" is!  Sunday was the first day in several of sun, and we've barely glimpsed it since. Our gravel drive is quite the lake from downpours.

Fortunately, I'm a rainy day kinda gal. I love to light the candles, and curl up with a book. I even took a bit of time trying to remember our knitting lesson, but I fear our instructor (my sweet mother-in-law) will need to return to give a refresher class.  (Good excuse to beg her to come anyway.)  Kaira, I think retained better than I did. I’m going to give it another go tomorrow after studying the diagrams again.

Kaira knows what rainy days are for. Here she is, cozy, snug and contented–a girl after my own heart. 

Each baby has been so special in so many different ways. 

Kieran's personality delights us daily, simply because he's such a smiling, laughing fellow!  An extra treat has been watching the older girls enjoy him.  He's been the first baby they've been able to tend and care for in quite such a mature and active way.  Even though Kaira changed a few diapers even on Keegan (she actually wanted to!), somehow this time is different.

 Here's Kendra with her Kieran-buddy:

And yes, his tongue is usually hanging out like that.  He was doing it on the night he was born, causing the midwife to note, "Well, we don't have to check to see if he's tongue-tied."  We call him a puppy dog, with his tongue lolling out. 

"Kierie buddy time" is both Kaira and Kendra's favorite part of the day.  They plan things to teach him and entertain him in this time and are always calling me in to show me what he's accomplished.  His face and theirs glow with pride in each other!  

Such fun to watch different Sibling dynamics!

My apologies for an unexplained blog lag. I've not been feeling grand, and while I've had sufficient grace and energy to keep on top of our days here with my PrairieFrogs, I've not had a brain cell or iota of energy left at the end of the days to blog about it, so at the end of the day I've been retiring to the bathtub with a novel (or straight to bed). 

I do think I'm starting to feel better, so blogging should resume! (No major illnesses, just migraines and unexplained weirdnesss--auto immune or allergy or some such enigmatic, frustratingly undiagnosable annoyances.)

In other news, I’ve been trying to make it my policy to bring the camera on every jaunt from the house. Photo opportunities happen at unexpected times, and I like having it handy "just in case." Alas, Saturday, when we took a family trip to the library, I forgot my new rule. Of course, it was "just" a trip to the library, so I didn’t think I’d need it. Naturally, it is usually when I don’t think I’ll need it that I wish I had it along.

After the library en route to Walmart, we passed a parking lot filled with military helicopters and armored vehicles, available for exploration! The Air Force had soldiers available to explain displays of guns, and help children into the vehicles. Keianna looked so cute in the cockpit of the helicopter with a helmet on. Keegan loved the sirens and alarms in one big armored tankish thing, and Kaira and Kendra enjoyed going up through the hatch to the top of the vehicles to peer around for the "enemy" and train guns on them. They all got to talk on the radio, play with controls and other such fun.

Next time, I hope I have the camera. The children so enjoy pictures after events to relive them, but they assured me that they took pictures with their minds–and those are sometimes the best kinds!

I've been meaning to post this for a week or two, but kept getting distracted.  Still, it is a glimpse into my odd sense of humor.

We recently ordered a lap top computer.  I kept teasing Ken that he already had a Dell lap-top (me), and he didn't need another, but he decided to two-time on me anyway. 

We chuckled over the messages as he placed his order.  First he clicked a box saying he agrees to all Dell's terms and conditions!    WOO HOOO!  I have him where I want him now!

As it processed our credit card, it flashed the message, "Thank you, Ken, for choosing Dell."  I gave the guy a big hug (after all, he agrees to abide by my terms and conditions) and echoed the sentiment.

School is at half speed this week, as yesterday we barely touched academics, choosing instead to watch movies, recover fully from colds, and enjoy my coronation.  (Re: Coronation: I finally have a new crown on a tooth that has been quite the project for the past few months. )

Today we didn't touch academics at all!  With the colds behind us, we enjoyed a wonderful  treat and met up with my friend who was traveling through the area.  We had a splendid time visiting, and my children thoroughly enjoyed her darling daughter!  (The pictures posted here are just my own wee ones though.  I didn't happen to ask for a photo release to post my friend's pictures.  I must say, her  munchkin is absolutely adorable. Aw... sorry, tantalizing about pictures I won't post is hardly fair, is it?)

Kieran enjoyed a new game in the swings.  It is called "Bop Big Brother on The Head."  As the swing came forward each time, he'd give Keegan a bop.  Oddly, big brother enjoyed the game as much as Kieran did.