re-inventing the camera

So last week, Van brought a little red top to Bobbie's house. The kind that spins when you voop it the right way with your fingers. It was about an inch or two tall. He was really good at vooping it. When it was time to go to carpool, he took it along. When we got back, he realized he had lost it. After searching the van several times in the next few hours, Van decided to make a camera. We were having craft time, seeing what we could make with pipe cleaners, feathers, clothespins and glue. Oh, and googley eyes. Van puts together some stuff and declares it is a camera. He was going to put it in the van, then when its nighttime and the top comes out of its hiding place, it will take a picture and then he would know where the top went. Oh and he would need a flashlight....

Playing School

One thing I think is funny is how the kids LOVE to play school when they have time off from school. The best is when teachers give the kids old worksheets toward the end of the school year. Katie especially used to love to help her teachers clean out their rooms and would come home with reams worth of old papers! She is still a bit like that, check out her blog, www.theorganizedpackrat.blogspot.com. Anyway, Hannah loved to be the teacher, she is a natural born leader I would say...instigator, others might say... Even as old as fifth grade, Alice and Hannah were still playing school When Alice got tired of it, she would just start being silly and Hannah would send her to the principal (Bobbie). There was a phase when Leah was the oldest one here that she was the teacher. Everyday. I would have to "drive" Nell and Van to school, from the couch in the TV room. She would come get them from "carpool" and walk them into "school" which was the living room. They would have to stay "buckled" until she can and got them. When Mason was paying attention, he got to ride along, but being two years younger, had to stay with Bobbie and couldn't go to school. Mason would be in charge of the keys though (upcoming blog about key obsessions) and Van would make sure i knew which couch cushion to plug the keys into. Leah would play school all day if she could, Nell was the best stunt as long as Leah gave her papers to color. Van was always ready to get picked back up from carpool and go "home" to the other room and tell me all about his day at "school".

Family Ties

This one is actually a follow-up to last week. There are many families who have had more than one child here at Bobbie's house. Which is a lot of fun to see them grow and see the school age kids come back. My sibling families are:
Pookie and Johnny
Hannah, Ella and Leah
Alice and Vada
Jack, Van and Nell
Chloe and Mason
Cooper and the newest one, Avery
One of my favorite times is "Camp Bobbie" in the summer, one week where it is only big kids, no babies, no diapers and no having to run your day around naptime...though i DO love naptime...which was a whole other blog. Not sure what this blog is about other than the sibling thing.

Friends

We sing this song, "friends, friends, one-two- three, all my friends are here with me" and then we name everyone in the house, including the pets..."Maggie's my friend, Jack's my friend, Nell's my friend, Mason's my friend, Bobbie's my friend..." you get the idea.

But where do we go and what do we do when our friends don't act like our friends? Well, we cry, pout, tattle, grunt, yell, AND the all time most horrible response anyone can give...

"YOU CAN'T COME TO MY BIRTHDAY!!!"

That is the most terrifying thing that can happen, that someone does not get to come to their friends birthday. Some kids use this threat daily to get their way, with other kids it pops up once in a great while....
SO--- to give a funny example, Van was yelling about something I was doing that was annoying him (like I don't even remember what, maybe I told him the sky was blue) and he whipped out the "YOU can't come to MY birthday". Well, I decided to tell him that was fine cuz HE can't come to MY BIRHTDAY. "Well", Van said, "you don't have birthdays cuz you're old-- you're a grandma" (which I am OLD, but most certainly AM NOT a grandma....)

Anyway, i guess i "got told"

characters

I have observed there are quintessential characters that exist in the kid world. I would like to talk about some of the kinds of kids that have come thru Bobbie's house to fill these roles....

First one that comes to mind are THE DUMPERS. No, this has nothing to do with diapers, but yes, there are those occasionally too. The Dumpers are the kids that come into the house, find the nicely organized baskets of toys (thanks Katie!) and then they dump. They don't play with anything, just dump, walk away and dump some more....not naming any names....
THE MOUTH are the ones that can't stop talking. EVER. Sometimes I just sit and watch their mouths move and think, when will they take a breath? sorry, again, nameless...
THE WHINER, THE FIGHTER and THE BOSS need no elaboration. rarely the same person at the same moment which is a good thing...
THE PARROT is adorable, says anything you say, on cue...Mason.... and then there is Alice who knew all her animal sounds before she knew any words which was oh so cute!
THE HUGGER is also nice to have, some babies just cling right into your side and love being held.  often these turn into huggers who brighten every day...Ella!
THE MOM can change diapers at the age of two before she herself is potty trained, loves to play babies all day everyday...Leah...
THE SHOW GIRL loves to sing into the microphone and her sidekick THE DANCER is right there with her...Hannah and Alice...

and last but not least, at least for today's list...THE DOCTOR DOOLITTLE...loves the pets, all the pets. Feeds the fish half a jar of fish food...Pookie....Feeds Maggie dinner at 4 p.m. when i am not looking...Nell...Carries her new kittens around at the age of 1 until her arms are scratched raw...Ella...Picks up bugs, any time, any day, Van, Jack, Alice...Taught Maggie how to "crawl"...Ella...knows all there is to know about dolphins, penguins and most sea creatures...Jack...Knew how many of which pills Luke dog got every day for breakfast...Leah...(when she was 3)

OK commenters, any ones i missed?

Mealtime at Bobbie's

Odd things about lunch at Bobbie's House:

Hannah and Alice invented eating chicken nuggets with a chopstick (one chopstick-- like a spear)
They also invented eating frozen chicken nuggets (ewww)
And eating chicken nuggets with ranch dip. and applesauce (Mason invented that one)

some kids just eat dip (Vada) and just ketchup (Chloe)

Every time Alice, Vada, Hannah, Ella and Leah are here, we have macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets for lunch. Every time, without fail...seriously...for years... they are 11, 11, 8, 7 and 5 now!!

Leah invented colorful omelets to match her outfit that day. and coloring the applesauce at lunch too.
Ella still talks about when she was 4 and I made pancakes that looked like snowmen. 

When Nell was 2, all she would eat for lunch were hot dogs, which her Mom called "noonie-dogs". As  a graduate of first aid about 7 times, I would cut her hot dogs into teeny little pieces, to avoid any "airway obstructions"... SO, of course, then Ella, Leah, Chloe, Van and Jack all had to have their "noonie-dogs" cut up like that too. After a few months of that, Chloe decided she didn't like hot dogs, Van and Jack decided to eat them "big" and that left me only cutting up 3 "noonie-dogs" daily.

Vata and Ella like to eat bisquick. just the powder stuff. ewwww.

Nell and Van like to pick cherry tomatoes off the plant and eat them. Now that one is not so ewwww-ey, but that they will eat "spinny cheese" (the kind that comes out of a can) on fruit snacks is ewwww!

Always interesting at Bobbie's House!

Naptime

One of the nicest things that happens some days is that EVERYONE at Bobbie's House naps at the same time. Except Bobbie, of course! We have our routines we follow, and one of them is the older kids helping me put the younger kids down for naps. On Delaney's second day here, EVERYONE decided to put her down for her nap. Mind you, Delaney is 7 months old and this is her SECOND day here, which means she is firmly entrenched into transitioning. So here, we go, Van and Nell, age 3 and 1/2, Kate, age 2 and 1/2, Mason, age 2 and Cooper crawling along behind. Cooper just turned one and crawls 90 mph, but doesn't walk yet. Oh, and Maggie too, who runs in and jumps on the bed to get a better view of little Delaney. So we pop Delaney into bed and everyone says nite-nite to her. Amazingly, she fussed less then a minute and went right to sleep. Some babies take a lot longer to adjust, but not her!

Outta the mouths of babes

So one thing that is just so funny is not only what they say, but how they say it. When is was in college, i majored in french for a year. thought I would be a translator. Well, I changed my major, but here I am, a translator, of sorts. The "Word of the week" will highlight some interesting takes on the english language.
In one conversation this week, Van says to me, "Bobbie, you know who I love more than you?" I am thinking, this is gonna be good. i said, "No, Van, who do you  love more than me?" Van says, "Maggie. She is my best dog." Van plays a lot with Maggie, our two year old yellow Lab. Maggie is "Pirate Van's Pirate Dog", or "Policeman Van's Police-dog" or "Fireman Van's Dalamation" (pronounced "dal-a-may-shun") Sometimes, he just uses her for a pillow or horsey rides. Horsey rides once got him into trouble--two stitches in the temple trouble, and Bobbie's House first trip to the ER. (Momma took him, not me, thank goodness!)