Part of being a preschool teacher is washing the sheets and blankets from nap time.  To get to the laundry room at work we have to go through the boys restroom.  I  was putting the laundry in to wash before I left work for home so I had Katie with me.  I went in and started loading the washer and Katie went to use the bathroom.  I walked out of the laundry room and Katie was sitting on the urinal like it was a toilet. There was a little step stool in front of it so little boys could reach but she thought it was like any other step stool in front of a toilet.  It was a funny sight to see this little girl barely fitting on the urinal, feet dangling, elbows on her knees just doing her business.  I should have snapped a picture with my phone. 

This made me smile

Charles said something about dying to the effect that he isn't too worried about it.  Eric chimed in, "Oh no you don't want to die all you do is sleep and sing the words of God". 

Every Sunday the boys and Dean have a race to see who can change out of their church clothes and hang them up the fastest.  Dean won this week (or so he thinks he did).  Charles was in my room getting dressed after his shower tonight and noticed Dean's tie on the floor from Sunday.  He said to me, "I guess dad didn't win the Sunday race.  He has to come hang that up". 

21 weeks down, 19 to go

I am 21 weeks now and I can say that I am more than half way through my pregnancy .  I went to the doctor yesterday and was able to hear the heartbeat.  Even though this is my fourth pregnancy I still find it amazing that there is something living and growing inside of me.  So far everything has been fantastic.  I'm really excited to have this baby's sex be a surprise.  The other three babies I just had to know what their gender was because I wanted to be prepared. 
This is one time keeping everything like a pack rat has paid off.  There were several times when I would see the boxes and boxes of baby clothes and I wanted to give them away but then I would decide that I needed to keep them for a little longer.  I have plenty of things for a boy or a girl so I feel like I can wait to find out until he or she is born. 
I just started telling my preschool class that I was going to have a baby.  They have been full of questions, which is one reason I have been waiting to tell them.  I knew it was time when I stood up from the lunch table and one little girl said, "Wow, Miss Marcie has a really full tummy!"  Katie thinks if she looks under my shirt she will see the baby.  This morning she lifted my shirt, patted my tummy then gave it a kiss and said, "hi baby". 
When I was pregnant with Katie, Charles was convinced he had a puppy in his tummy.  It was in his tummy for weeks, maybe even months  after I had Katie.  Then one day he said it was out. 
I feel blessed that we are having a new baby in our family.  I'm not sure how you moms with more than three kids do it but I guess I'll soon learn.

Giddy for my griddle

I'm sure this is going to sound silly to most of you reading this post but I have loved every minute of  it.  "It" is the griddle I purchased last week.  A long, long time ago my mom wanted to get us a griddle for christmas.  She was getting one for everyone else and I politely declined.  It must have been before I had children or Eric was too young for pancakes.   For whatever reason I didn't think I would use it.  Now eight years later I'm wondering why on earth I didn't get one sooner.  In the past I made pancakes in a skillet which could only cook one or two at a time and ended up taking forever.  The kids would call dibs on the pancake as I was pooring in the batter so they wouldn't have to wait so long.  Well I found one for half price at King Soopers of all places.  It took me about ten or fifteen minutes to make a mountain of pancakes.  Then I used it to make quesadillas for the kids and I made all three at the same time.  Awesome!! I warmed tortillas for breakfast burritos and cooked the bacon too. I felt so productive. I can't wait to make grilled cheese sandwhiches, all  five at the same time and I can't forget french toast either.  The one downfall is I have no cabinet space to store it.  I guess it can hang out with the bread maching and the food processor in the storage room in the basement.  I'm sure all of you moms out there own a griddle but if you don't you had better go get one soon.

August 19

I had an ultrasound today!  I wasn't positive of the information necessary to calculate my due date so we had been guesstimating when baby #4 would be here.  The good news is that he or she should arrive on August 19!  I was a few weeks off.  When I did the math it was the very end of August.  Dean and I wanted to find out the gender of our other kids but decided that since we have clothes for both boys and girls it would be fun to keep this one a surprise.  The doctor said everything looked good so far.  I just hope and pray it stays that way. 

Chicken Toes???

I love the funny things that come out of kids mouths.  This morning I was loading the dishwasher while some blueberry muffins baked.  Katie came in and crawled up on the stove to watch.  I thought she was trying to turn the knobs so I told her that her buns would get burned if she touched them.  Her response to me was "I don't want to touch those (the knobs) because my little toes will turn to chicken". 

Monkey Toes

The recipe I have calls them Monkey Toes, they're also known as monkey bread or pull apart bread or bubble bread, but my family and I prefer monkey toes.  This recipe is super yummy and easy.  I put the boys to work Sunday night making them.  While Eric cut up one can of biscuits Charles dunked them in cinnamon and sugar and then they traded jobs on the other can.  Here's the recipe:

Monkey Toes

2 cans refrigerated bisbuit dough (7.5 oz)

1/2 c. sugar

1tsp. cinnamon

1/2 stick butter

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 Tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces (a pizza cutter works great for this).  Combine the sugar and cinnamon mixture in a plastic zippered bag.  Shake the biscuit pieces, a few at a time, in the cinnamon mixture.  Place pieces in a well greased bundt pan.  Melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan or in the microwave then add vanilla.  Stir; spoon mixture over biscuits.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden.  Turn out shortly after removing from the oven or the gooey butter and suger mixture will stick to the pan.