Week 14!

LAST DAY!!!
After today, I have a second grader, first grader, and Delaney will be a preschooler!!! It continues to be hard to believe that they are growing up so much. I was painting Delaney's nails the other day and I slipped and got a little on her toe. She quickly said, "Getting a little hasty with the pasty aren't you, Mom?". Isn't it lovely? She got my thighs and my sarcasm--poor kid! They have decided that when the baby is born, Shawn will come out and whisper the gender to Drew, who will whisper it to Dawsyn, who will whisper it to Dax, who will whisper it to Delaney, who will tell everyone what it is. We decided to practice this. All went well until step two when Drew told Dawsyn and she stomped her foot, sighed very loudly and angrily, then turned to tell Dax. Gee??? Wonder what Drew told her??? We decided that since Drew announced Delaney's gender when she was born and Dawsyn announced Daxton's, it was Delaney's rightful turn. She was very proud to hear this and said she would then tell the baby what it was. I smiled and said, "Honey, I think the baby will know what it is". She just patted my hand, shook her head and said, "Mom--it's only a baby--there is no way it will know what it is!" Why do I get the feeling the poor kid will think it's a girl (what Delaney wants) no matter what? Add that to the list of "things we should have thought about before having our fifth". At my second ultrasound, everything looked good. It is amazing how quickly baby is growing (granted not at a large enough rate to explain the huge belly, but oh well). Mom went with me and just kept smiling and saying "it's a boy". I have to remind her that we aren't going to find out...but she has never been wrong before. I guess I need to go get the Notre Dame onesie for the baby picture.

ANOTHER TRIP UP NORTH
We went to Toledo for the weekend for my cousin Monica's graduation party. It is hard to believe that she graduated. This is partly due to the fact that I remember changing her diapers and feeding her baby food when I would babysit, but it is mainly because I noticed that she started school the year I graduated!!!! There's a reality check! My kids have gotten really good at the whole "trip to Toledo" thing. They recognize the major landmarks on our way (which is impressive considering that once you are north of Columbus, it is pretty much flat, straight farmland until Bowling Green). That isn't to say they particularly enjoy the trip, though. When we stopped at a rest area, Drew stated that he wasn't sure this "three hour car trip we do all the time" was very good for the environment. He was especially tired though, because he had spent the night at a friend's house the night before, much to Dawsyn's dismay. She didn't think it was very good parenting skills for us to let him run around and spend the night at friend's houses and, by the way, didn't we trust her??? Why didn't she get to spend the night anywhere??? It is always great to see the family and watch my kids play with my cousins' kids just like we all played together when we were little. My mom is one of eight and my dad is one of five, so we have pretty big families to visit. We even got to see my cousin, Lindsey, while she was in labor yesterday (yes, we are THAT type of family--we just walked right into the hospital room while she was in labor). Shawn's family is not at all like this! They all live within a ten-mile radius and we only see them at Thanksgiving, so he still thinks this is really odd. Katherine Rose was born at 11:54 last night and we hear she has red hair like her mommy! We are very excited for them. So, it was another busy weekend--but this is the last week of school!!!! I am really looking forward to summer and spending all day with my crew!