Apparently, early birds have to wait for the worm store to open

David is an early riser. Like, 5:30 in the morning early. Since he gets up that early, I must also get up that early. And once I'm up, the rest of the kids soon follow. Since we're all up and ready, I like to head out to get our errands run before the stores get crowded. There is just one problem: many stores, apparently, do not open until much later in the morning. We went to Sam's Club at 9:30 this morning (hardly the crack of dawn) only to find that they don't open until 10:00. Yesterday, we went to Toys R Us, a half hour before they opened for business. I'll have to start calling places to check their business hours from now on, because as un-exciting as it is to be out running errands with six kids on lovely summer mornings, it's even more un-exciting to have to kill a half hour in a parking lot with six kids waiting for a store to open.

Pod People

Our children like to make up new games. I'm not exactly sure how this one is played. It has something to do with one person trying to sneak past the others, who are pretending to be rocks. I like it because rocks are, by nature, very quiet. Most of the other games the kids have invented involve a lot of crashing, yelling, running, and other decidedly non-quiet maneuvers.
The quiet turned out to be very short lived. This game, like most games, came to its end when someone broke the made-up rules of the game and the players failed to come to a peaceful resolution.

Movie Star

Here's a little video of me trying to get David to smile, which of course he won't. You can also hear all the other kids making a ruckus in the background. My cinematography skills get no appreciation whatsoever around here.

New Toys

David has seemed rather bored lately. When you can't even hold your own head up for more than a few seconds, it really limits your entertainment options. So, I though he might enjoy one of these baby gyms that dangle toys up over his head.
Lucky for him I found one at a garage sale this weekend, because momma don't like to pay retail (and these things retail for nearly $50!) It's turning out to be the best three dollars I've spent this week.

Barely used baby toy: $3.

Ten extra minutes of baby happiness: priceless.

The rest of the kids scored some new loot as well, in the form of Silly Bands. Every child I know between the ages of 2 and 12 wears a ladder of these things up their arm. What are they, you ask?
Overpriced rubber bands, that come in all different shapes, that can be stretched out and then snap back into their original shape. Kids collect different shapes and trade them with their friends. This is the hottest kid fad to come along in quite some time. They're cheap enough, and harmless enough, that I momentarily set aside my aversion for all things trendy and bought one pack for each kid. By the time all their Silly Bands have gotten broken, lost, or sucked up by the vacuum cleaner, the fad will surely have faded.

Baby Face

Here's lookin' at you, kid

Man v. Beast

So far, Beast is winning. Remember that cute little baby bunny Joe caught a few weeks ago? Well, he's still here. And he liked it here so much that he called up all his friends and relatives, and they all came to live here, too. All those little white flowers in our yard are clover, which just so happens to be a favorite food of bunnies. We're the only ones in the neighborhood who don't dump weed killers on our lawn, so we have tons of bunny fodder growing for all the little bunnies who've made their home at Becker's Bountiful All-You-Can-Eat Buffet for Bunnies.
The bunnies aren't that big of a problem for the people who live here. They are a huge problem for the dog who lives here. They sit right outside our big picture window munching calmly on clover blossoms, while the dog stares drooling at them, plotting their death in her little doggy mind.
The dog has been driven to such distraction that Matt has determined to capture and relocate the bunnies. He bought two new hav-a-hart traps in big-bunny and medium-bunny sizes, and baited them with bunny food that the bunnies don't seem to find nearly as tasty as the clover that is growing all over the entire yard. We have not caught one single wabbitt.
Until this afternoon. Joe caught himself another cute little bitty bunny in his trusty net. This one was so little, and so cute, that I just didn't have the heart to tear him away from his poor bunny momma. I made the boys put him back under the wood pile. Don't tell the dog.

Left foot, right foot, feet feet feet...

...How many, many feet you meet. When you come shoe shopping with us, anyways! I took all six kids to the mall this morning to get new sneakers for three of them. Renee did not get new sneakers, she just wanted to be in the picture. Joe did get new sneakers, but he did not want to be in the picture. Paul wanted new sneakers, because everyone else was getting new sneakers, but his old ones still fit, so he's out of luck until he grows some more. David can't walk, so no new sneakers for him, either. New shoes are a pretty big deal; shoes are one of the few items that I don't buy second-hand, and they rarely survive to be passed down from one child to the next. All recipients of new sneakers have been instructed to cease and desist using the toes of said sneakers in lieu of the brakes on their bikes, as this causes premature sneaker failure.

Entering construction area: hard hats required beyond this point

We are trying very hard to transform our house into a space that is both functional for a large and busy family, and lovely to look at. Right now, as you can see, it is neither. This room is still under construction, as is evidenced by the power tools laying about and the tape markings on the walls that indicate where we'll be putting new book shelves. The lack of the aforementioned bookshelves explains the enormous stacks of books piled on the floor. And since life goes on as always, regardless of construction work, there are Lego creations on the hearth, empty coffee cups near the computer, and some stuff the dog chewed up last night still on the floor. In the 11 years we have lived here, I don't think there has ever been a time when every room in the house was in its finished state at the same time; yet in spite of the perpetual chaos, we've always had our welcome mat out. If we'd wanted a Better Homes and Gardens house, we'd never have had six children!

He's just so darn cute!