Number five is Alive!

There was a movie in the 80's called Short Circut where a robot is struck by lightening causing a power surge which brings the robot to life.  Throughout the movie the robot says "Number 5 is Alive!"  This movie was a favorite in my house growing up and when Jim and I found out we were expecting baby number five my dad uttered those famous words.

Well we welcomed "Number 5" into the world on March 20th.  She was 8 lb 10oz and sweet as can be.

Her name means Given to God. 

All our children have names with meanings from Hebrew.  Number five's name means "Given to God" with her middle name being Joy. 

On the blog she'll be Given.

She is a fabulous baby.  Sweet and laid back.  I keep saying that I don't know if my babies get better or if I'm just a better mom with each one.  In either case, she's a doll.

Bucket of Life

 I really love to just randomly make you look at pictures of my kids.  Soooo... TADA!

Little Life can fit in a bucket.  She sat in there forever on one of the steamy hot days we had.  We have a little pool and all the other kids were playing in there.  But not Life, she was happy in her bucket... a bucket of Life.

Our newest toy

Jim and I love second hand stores.  We love to save a dollar and we love random things.  It's really a win win.  And the best part is that it's something we like to do together.  Where we live now, there are mostly Goodwill stores.   The great part about Goodwill is that the money they make from the store goes into job training programs.  So we also like to take our gently used items and donate them.  So really, we clean out our closets, donate the items, go shopping and fill our closets.  It's a cycle that we enjoy.  Anyway, on a recient trip to the Goodwill we found this:

It's a go cart!

Asked taking it for a spin.

Joy was the speedy one. 

Asked and the neighbor's grandson.  They were actually pushing Joy right before this because the battery was almost dead.

Treasure taking a leisurely jaunt.

Life absolutely LOVES to ride on it.  The battery was just about dead and Jim helped her take it for a spin.  She was glowing she was so happy.  I'm afraid that she will be my daredevil.  Only time will tell.

Today I came home from work to find all the kids outside sweeping the road, so they could drive it.  It has such low ground clearance that it gets can get stuck pretty easily.  So they were getting rid of any debris so they would get in a good ride.   What must the neighbors think?  I will tell them that my house is SO very spotless, that I just had to get the road tidied up.  Unless they come over, they will never know the truth.

Rupture and repair

Jim prefaced the discussion with "Remember back to when you were a kid living with your mom and dad.  How did they resolve a fight?"  After the kids stopped laughing, it was kind of nice to hear them say that they don't think we fight that often.  We think that about ourselves, but it was reassuring to to hear it from the other people in our house.
We're participating in marriage enrichment program called Marriage Incubator.  This week during our class time, we discussed 'rupture and repair.'  Sometimes we fight.  That's a rupture.  Our attempts to make things better are the repair.
 So we decided to talk to the kids about this at lunch the next day.  What are some ways to work to repair a 'ruptured' relationship?  They came up with this list:

1)  Be nice to them
2) Say sorry
3) Give them something
4) Have dinner together

They decided that saying sorry was part of being nice to the person.  But other examples of being nice were: to help them, give them complements or make them laugh.

The most amusing category (according to me) was "give them something."   It was my favorite because their suggestions were: give them pie, bake them a cake, give them jewelry, ladies like chocolate and boys like sports cars.  I think I would like to fight with them and see if i could get some pie, jewelery or chocolate out of the deal!

The topic of having dinner together led to a good conversation about discussing your problems and not using harsh words.  Harsh words are definitely a struggle in our house and even more so is the issue of a harsh tone WITH your words.  We talked about the fact that it's not just words that can hurt the other person but how you say those words.

What a great springboard into conversation with our kids.  I hope we can use some of their insight next time we have a small rupture.

A Lesson in Tooth

I felt like our last trip to the dentist really knocked me down in the 'mother of the year' rankings.  Treasure's check up was great.  No cavities.  But Joy and Asked... UGH!  Both would require 8 fillings and Asked was going to need 3 teeth pulled AND a root canal.  I left the office in tears.  How could this have happened?  I made sure they brushed their teeth daily and I bought them flossers so they could floss their own teeth.  When I really thought about it, I wasn't sure the last time I actually WATCHED them brush or floss their teeth.  Upon further inspection I found that Joy wasn't properly flossing and Asked only cared for his front teeth.  DOH!  Well,  nothing  can undo what was already done, but we have taken steps to greatly improve dental hygiene in Jim and Brenda's house.  And I've spread the word so that what happened to us doesn't happen to others.  Learn from us, people!

Today was our first of several visits to the dentist for tooth repair.  Treasure had some sealant put on her adult teeth.  She went first.  Easy peasy.  Although during her procedure there was a boy beside her who was getting a tooth pulled.  The other kids seemed oblivious but it totally freaked me out.  I texted Jim in a panic.  He said "Tell them they're all together and it's going to be ok."  I didn't say anything to the kids because they didn't notice what was happening, but, really, I didn't have to say anything.  They were all very encouraging and supportive of each other. 

Joy and Asked got to go together and both got laughing gas  Joy was super emotional and whimpered quite a bit until the end when she started humming the Pink song "So What"  and finally seemed relaxed.  But she listened well and when the dentist said to stop doing whatever she was doing, she immediately stopped.  I stayed with her most of the time because Asked really seemed to respond, shall we say, positively to the laughing gas.  He talked even more non stop than usual.  His best comment was "I was born with ninja skills."  He was cracking the hygntist up.  And THANK GOD for Treasure who stayed with him without flinching or complaing.  I'm so blessed!

Joy getting the 'laughing air' as they called it at the dentist.  I took the camera and a few times she asked me to take a picture of what was going on so I could show her.  She likes to know what's happening.  I think next time will be less stressful for her because she knows what to expect.

They give the kids sunglasses to wear so the big light isn't so bright.  The kids all love that.

Joy has one more appointment and Asked will have two to finish all the work that needs to be done.  Today, their good behavior and bravery was rewarded with milkshakes and new games to play on their DS's.  And Asked was told that the Tooth fairy is extra kind to kids who loose their teeth at the dentist.  He lost 2 and so I think he will find the regular $1 a tooth and perhaps a little something extra under his pillow in the morning.