Oh What a Night!

Matt and I decided to tackle cleaning out the basement, which has been a nightmare since we moved in 1.5 years ago. It was time. So we've been working on it a little at a time in the evenings after the kids are in bed.. tonight we decided to work on it after dinner while the older kids played outside and Adah stayed with us in the basement. Things were going so well until it was too quiet outside. Any of you who have children know the silence I am talking about, the kind when you stop and say it's much too quiet something bad must be going on.

I went upstairs and peered out the kitchen window to see this......

I guess I didn't think about how all the rain we've had the past few days had affected the big dirt hole in the back on the yard. Matt dug out a huge tree root a couple weeks ago and we left it so we can plant a new tree there. But I didn't think the hole would fill with water and turn into a huge mud pool:)
The kids were slipping and sliding around on the mud and splashing around in the "pool" having an absolute blast. So instead of getting upset, because what can you do about it at this point? Matt and I went outside laughed with them for a while, took some pictures, and hosed them down. That part they didn't enjoy too much:)

Preshower shower:)

Stair step kids

My little "stair steps"! I often get comments on my stair step kids so thought I'd take a photo of them in order. From top to bottom (Elijah (8), Anna (6), Levi (5), Micah (3), Adah (17 months).

It takes many pictures to get a keeper, here's the reality of trying to take a picture of 5 kids:)

Growing Belly*Updated*

13 weeks
22 weeks


31 weeks

Showing off my ever growing belly! It's been a while since I've allowed pictures of me to be taken, not only do I feel huge but my kids don't take the most flattering photos from their angle.

Daddy's Girl

Nothing sweeter than a little girl with curls snuggled against her daddy! I love these moments.

a new authority

Apparently we have a new authority around our house. It's not God, Daddy, or Mommy..although I've been told all those have their place. It is John Tesh. John Tesh is the evening radio broadcaster for the local Christian radio station 93.3 and apparently he is a new advisor in our home.
Elijah likes to listen to the radio at night before he goes to sleep and part of John Tesh's program is called Intelligence for your Life. Elijah loves listening to this and often relays the info he hears from the show to Matt and I. He'll often say something like, "Hey mom did you know that John Tesh said to put your fruit bowl in the middle of your table because it helps you eat healthier food since you see it more?"
Not bad advice, I just think it's cute that he's interested in the info on the show.
Today here is a conversation that just took place:
Elijah : "Mom you should probably go to the grocery store after Dad gets home today so you don't have to take all the kids."
Me: "hmm"
Elijah: "And Mom did you know that John Tesh says that people who take their kids to the store with them in general spend more money and buy more because the kids are there."
Me: "really?"
Elijah: "And John Tesh also said that it is more stressful to grocery shop with kids. And Mom did you know that stress leads to a higher body weight? (something he heard on the program a couple of weeks ago) so it's probably best if you don't take us to the grocery store anymore".
Me: At a loss for words. How can I argue with such reasoning?!

Updates

It's been a while since I've had some time to blog on what's been going on around the O'Connor house. Between homeschooling, t-ball for Levi, baseball for Elijah, gymnastics for Anna, and life in general it has been busy! We also added a garden and new playset in the past few weeks.

I'm being quite ambitious this year with the garden, hopefully it goes well. We have 4 raised beds, a potato can, and 8 planters that we've started for our various veggies, fruits, and herbs. We are trying to grow (key word is trying as this is still new territory) peas, green beans, melons, tomatoes, various lettuces, potatoes, carrots, onion, cucumber, pepper, peanuts, broccoli, strawberries, and several herbs. I'm going to try to blog as much of the gardening process as I can (except the parts we've already done like building/ filling the beds and some of the plantings). The kids have enjoyed getting involved in the garden too but of course they'd rather play on the new playset.

Backyard Construction!

Matt and his mom working on the playset and his cousin chopping some wood for us

The finished product

Elijah and Anna in the clubhouse

Adah testing out the swings her own way

Happy Birthday Levi!

Baby Levi

Levi (2)- love that blonde hair!

Sporting his Bengals jersey and a big smile (almost 3)

More Recently showing off his clay figure

Levi and Daddy all dressed up!

Tuesday Levi turned 5! He's getting so big and growing so fast, it seems just the other day I was snuggling my littlest baby. Levi came into the world 8 days early. He was the first baby I actually went into labor with (the first 2 were induced) and he was our tiniest baby weighing 7 lbs 2 oz. I know that's not really small but all the other kids were pretty big. He came into the world quickly as it took just one push and the doctor barely made it in time. Levi was by far my best pregnancy and delivery.

He was such a good and laid back baby and is still a laid back little man. He is often shy and quiet but is so sweet. He is so thoughtful and caring. He is our only lefty to date. He is very bright and picks up on things quickly. He adores his brothers and sisters and is adored by them as well. We are so blessed and thankful to have our little Levi.