Henry ate cereal with glue.

I have a terrible cough. I have a cough that starts and doesn't cease. This morning was my turn to serve as a parent volunteer teacher for Children's Church for 13 one and two-year-olds. I didn't think my friends would appreciate me coughing all over the room where the babies played, so this morning, after a fitful night of coughing while trying to sleep, I tried to find a replacement. My replacement turned out to be Robbie. "Will I have to change any diapers?" was his very serious question. He agreed to help me, but my confident and capable husband looked irritated and slightly unsure as he left the house. I handed him the timeline for the class, and he said, "What? We have to do a craft?" Olivia went to help him. Robbie is a good man, but today he was also a lucky man. His co-teacher was Mo, a very nice friend of mine. Three 8th grade student volunteers were present. Only three little children attended Children's Church in Robbie's room. He had a smooth sail.

I, on the other hand, in an effort to make it up to him, tried to have our traditional big Sunday breakfast ready when he came through the door. I forgot to get buttermilk for his from scratch pancake recipe, so I used a vinegar and milk substitution. The result was not like Robbie's. The kids gobbled them down, but Robbie and I were sorely disappointed. Henry took the craft project from Children's Church, and he ate ten fruit loops that Olivia had glued to two trees on a sheet of paper. Really, Henry? You ate glued cereal, and then you didn't stop at just one or two?

Henry's hair grew quite long. It was so long, in fact, that I thought he looked like a surfer boy. Robbie took him to the barber shop yesterday, and they had to wait (with the big girls too) for a long time. One old guy was cutting hair, and Robbie described a long row of seated gentlemen waiting for a turn. Robbie told me that right before the end of Robbie's cut, Henry started saying this little chant that he learned from the Wojo boys. It includes hand movements similar to the Macarena. Robbie heard him start, "Oh, MY GOSH! I think I broke a ...," at which point Robbie said a loud, "HENRY!" before Henry could finish with a high pitched, "nail." He said he was mortified. Henry was asked to sing a song recently, and he belted, "You always can't get what you wa-antt!" over and over again. I guess we should sing that line to poor Robbie.

Olivia has been having some trouble getting up in the morning for school. This week she promised me that since I took her to a library to listen to a children's book author speak late into the evening, she would get right out of bed the next day with full cooperation. She got out of bed, but she decided to lie down outside her bedroom door on the floor of the hallway in the dark in the six o'clock hour. I flipped off my bedroom light before I left the room to try to avoid waking Vivian by letting light spill into the hall, and I stepped on Olivia's neck. I am so thankful that I didn't seriously injure her. I stepped on something, lost my balance, fell, stepped on something else in the dark, and finally realized it was Olivia. She has a red mark under her ear lobe, and I don't think she'll do that again soon.

Baby Vivian is now 20 months. She has been nodding super big, and her word strings are long and clear. I love it. Olivia said, "Mom, baby is four months from being two." Wow! Another HUGE wow is that after I unfastened Henry from his car seat this week he helped me by unbuckling baby Vivian from her five-point harness car seat. He put his hands under her arms and lifted her out of her seat. I jumped up and down with excitement. Our one car garage requires me to crawl in and out of the van to get Vivian in place, so Henry's help was huge.

Evelyn has had a cough too, and it gets the worst at night. I was up with her in the middle of the night three times this week giving her nebulizer breathing treatments. It was nice, quiet snuggle time, but it has caught up with me. I am old tired mama. Thankfully, when I just told Olivia to lay out her clothes for school in preparation for tomorrow morning, she reminded me that we have no school tomorrow. Thank you, Columbus.

Sprinkler Surprise

Again the children played outside as I made their lunches today. Henry and Evelyn raked some leaves into a pile, and baby Vivian pushed a big black truck around the yard. This morning the children spotted inside a yogurt package some tongue tattoos (which I was going to toss), and they remembered them after they ate their picnic lunch. We were inside applying bunnies to their tongues when we heard a distress cry from Vivian. I went running, and she stood on the paved area outside our patio with her arms outstretched, "ALL wet!!" she uttered sadly. She was drenched. Robbie changed the program on the sprinkler system, and it went off on her as she played in the grass. She was soaked to the bone. "Oh, poor baby girl," I said as I rescued her. Evelyn sweetly offered to undress, dry, and change her. Bad daddy. Noon is not a good sprinkler setting.

Henry's Super Cape

This weekend we went to Oklahoma to spend some time with Great-grandma Gloria and Grandpa Overlease. Robbie took us down Highway 71, then we drove 540 and 112 through the mountains in Arkansas. The scenery was spectacular. The leaves on the trees were still green, so the view often looked like bunches of broccoli. It was very pretty. The bridges were terrifyingly high. No joke. I felt like I was on an outdoors amusement park ride. I was pretty scared. I can also attest to the fact that I can't recall a location where we were surrounded by more fast and crazy drivers than on that stretch of road. My friend from Arkansas said they were U of A college kids.

We went hiking at Robber's Cave State Park. This was Henry's first trip to the caves, and he loved it. He tried hard to climb the rocks as well as his sisters, and he gave it his best effort. The girls really, really enjoy their trips to Robber's Cave. They used to insist it was called Robert's Cave. Some of the climbing was quite dangerous, and we really had to hold onto our kids. At one point we all sat down together with our legs hanging over the side of a cliff. The rocks, cliffs, and an expanse of trees on various elevations spread around us. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue, and gorgeous clouds hung in the sky. We had a memorable family moment. Robbie and I looked at each other and commented on the blessing of our little children. Grandpa Overlease was atop another ledge higher than us not too far away, and I prayed he wouldn't fall.

My little Henry was tucked under my arm, and he uttered some words that will surely go down in the Overlease book of history. I think he said something which when we look back on it years from now, may summarize this little guy's childhood. All of the sudden, it was as though a light bulb went off inside Henry's head. His little voice registered what I can best describe as an, "Oh, Man!! Why didn't I think of that?" tone. He said, "Ohhh! I should have brought my super cape." I burst out laughing, hugged him, then said, "Henry, look at my face. You can't really fly with your super cape on, Buddy. It is just pretend, so don't jump off of anything high, okay?" I held his hand extra tight after that.

Again, I will note that I feel lucky my children have two parents. Kids need balance. I am the cautious one, and Robbie is the one who took the girls to the top of a cliff and tried to help them climb down what is called Devil's Slide. A light layer of sand made the steep sheet of rock incredibly slick, and they did not have good footing. "Crab walk! Crab walk!!" I yelled from way down below. Robbie almost always crosses the line between exciting and unsafe, but the girls survived. I kept Henry with me for that one.

We had a nice visit in Wilburton, and the grandparents seemed to really enjoy the children. It was a good weekend.

Pickle-icious

Vivian is very little for her age. Today, I think she had the first experience of ever exerting dominance over another living creature. She certainly doesn't have that luxury at home with her older siblings. Henry bowls over the poor baby at least once a day. She's resilient. This morning was another sunny, but brisk, morning. Such days are my favorite, and I almost can't stand not getting outside. We've been taking long walks, and I LOVE this weather. Vivian loves the great outdoors too. She often says, "OutSIDE!!" After we dropped off Henry at gymnastics, (which, by the way, he keeps calling "ballet class") I drove Evelyn and baby Vivian to a park with a large pond and playground. Vivian was in Heaven. She kept saying, "Honk! Honk!" I think my child would have picked up a goose had I let her get close enough. As it was, she kept following them, and they kept honking and moving away from her. She controlled the show, and she was very happy about it. One of my favorite things Vivian does these days is express her joy. Sometimes when I hand her "night-night" (her blanket) or give her warm milk, the angel will smile and say, "Happy." At the dentist's office today the women kept coming to the waiting area from the back to check out Vivian's cheeks and blue eyes. She was a hit with the ladies.

I asked Henry during a recent walk what I do that makes him happy. He said, "Play cars with me. Make me warm milk. Make me oatmeal with cinnamon." I have three Henry stories to share before I hit the sack. First, he said, "I'm going to marry you when I grow up, and when I grow up, Daddy's going to grow little." Next, he copies his big sisters and sings his version of a funny song to me. It goes, "Mommy and Daddy, sitting in a tree, K-I-S (pause) T-U-V." Just typing that made me laugh out loud. He thinks he's so clever with that one. I about ended his cleverness when I found him standing inside the lowest drawer of his highboy dresser just as he jumped out of it. My girls were never so dangerous. Finally, yesterday the children played in the yard as I made lunch, then I let them have a picnic. The baby dropped her pear slice in the rubber mulch of the playset. Henry's hands were a mess, and he told me, "Mom, we're digging for coconuts." He held a jar of acorns.

Okay, this one needs prep. There is a children's storybook with the title Pinkilicious. It is about a youngster who sneaks too many pink cupcakes and....(yes...you guessed it) she turns pink. All of my kids like the story. The little girl tells it, and the voice is great. Evelyn is our art girl. She is constantly, and that is no stretch, CONSTANTLY making projects. She lives to create things with paper and glue and tape and anything else she can find...trash, scrap ribbon, feathers, rocks. The list is long. Well, during one recent endeavor she managed to turn her foot green. It stayed green after the shower she gave herself. Robbie was teasing her about it, and he said, "I think Evelyn must be Pickle-icious." Olivia and I LOVED Daddy's joke. Man, did we laugh hard. I love Robbie's humor, and that was his best quick thinking line in ages. Evelyn found no humor in it. She got mad about her green feet and the pickle comment. I think Pickle-icious may stick. If she's sour, then I'm going to bring it out again.

Olivia has now had two piano lessons. Robbie wanted her to practice more this evening, and she was mad about it. She left the room in a huff and then sat down to play her songs some more. I told Robbie that it was ironic that we knew she was mad, yet she couldn't sit down and bang out some low down tune. Instead, the little song was light and sweet and high. It didn't match her attitude one bit. That was a blessing for us.

God's Gifts

My children and I share High Points and Low Points about each day after school. Evelyn almost always says that her high point is when I pick her up after school. I have a special high point to share. If something tops this one yet today, then I have more blessings than one mom deserves.

On the drive to my first bible study, Henry was entertaining Vivian in the van. She kept giggling, and they were laughing together. I said, "I love your friendship." Henry asked what I meant, and I explained that when they play together and laugh and enjoy each other, it makes me very happy as a mom. My guy said, "Mom, did God give me to you?" I told him yes, and he said with the sweetest voice, "Oooohhhh!" as though he was really touched by this blessing. He then said, "God loves you, Mom. God loves me, and God loves baby Vivian." Amen.

H Man is upstairs talking, talking, talking nonstop in his bed at nap time. However, he stays in his room, so I am not going near him. Mom and Ant got a big kick out of Henry while I was away recently on a trip. Apparently, he was the tired one, and baby was talking incessantly. He started saying, "Be quiet, Baby. I'm TRYING to sleep. Vivian, STOP talking! Be QUIET, Vivian." His requests didn't work. I think that was payback to Henry for all of his shenanigans.

A Turtle Bite and Baby Jail

Apparently I can't read the very long (and wonderful) book The Invisible Bridge while also reading War and Peace, and still find time to parent, maintain domestic order, and exercise. Sorry for the delay in my blog.

Few things bring out the drama in the Overlease children like open wounds. We just returned from eating in the neighbor's backyard. He smoked some great brisket, and the kids ran around and played. Evelyn got bitten by the pet turtle that lives in a large boxed area of the yard. The bite drew blood, and she has a big flap of loose skin. Henry was very concerned, then he commented in a very positive manner, "But her finger is still there!" Yes, luckily for Ev, he's right. Robbie found some remaining dirt in it after her bath, and screaming from fear followed. I tried all kinds of tricks to distract her. Nothing worked well. Finally I said, "Evelyn, your daddy is a doctor, and he is trying to help you." "He is NOT a finger doctor!!" I burst out laughing. Robbie did an amazing job of staying calm. Evelyn had Henry very concerned due to all of her yelling.

Robbie and I returned from a trip to Martha's Vineyard for a friend's wedding (Thanks for staying with the kids Mom and Mike!), and the baby turned into a Little Miss Mischief Girl while we were away. Her latest trick is to use kitchen table chairs to access the top of the kitchen table. I keep finding her sitting in the center of it. Henry came to us this morning as we prepared for church, and he said, "Mommy, Mommy. Baby has scissors." Ev is our craft diva, so various supplies are often on the table. The baby has poured glue this week, colored her face with black marker, wrapped tape every which way, and shred construction paper. I think there is a window of sweet baby state in which people decide to have another baby. It appears we've just passed that mark with baby Vivian. She's a mess. Olivia got scolded for saying, "Bad baby," to Vivian, so she's changed it up to spell, "B-A-D baby B-A-D baby!!" Vivian is going to learn to spell "bad" pretty quickly, if you know what I mean. Robbie acted devastated this morning when I told him that the start of Children's Church (a.k.a. Baby Jail) was delayed until next Sunday. He spent the entire mass outside the sanctuary with wild Vivian. She was loud before the priest even walked to the altar. When Henry heard us talking about baby jail, he got very upset. "I don't want Vivian to go to jail. I LOVE my sister." The big girls got a big kick out of his misunderstanding.

I'll try not to let so much time pass before I write again.

"You don't need a rainbow pony right now!!!"

Oh, the woes of a mother. Although not a hard and fast rule in our household, I have set the general tone with my four children that if they choose to get out of bed in the middle of the night, then they may return independently to that bed. Henry showed up at my bedside almost an hour ago. I've been trying to go back to sleep without success, and it is 4:20 am. He said, "I can't find my little rainbow pony." My closest friend let him borrow a My Little Pony miniature toy yesterday, and he went to sleep with it. He got Lightning McQueen Striderite Cars shoes that we let him put under his sheets to sleep with too. I try to say, "Yes," when I can. Usually if he wakes up in the night he is pretty quiet (for a 3-year-old boy) and calm. He'll snuggle me for a minute or two until I tell him it is time to go back to his big boy bed. However, he would not rest the issue of the missing pony. My reasoning got me nowhere. Whispered insistence that he be quiet and go to bed failed, and I snapped. Raising one's voice in the vicinity of 3 am in the dark to a distressed child is not very productive. There is a very adult book that has picture storybook illustrations called Go the (blank) to Sleep. Robbie heard about it on talk radio. Part of it has rhymes and depicts our parental love and adoration. The next verses include some well placed profanity which mimics the inner voice of a parent who has reached the limits of patience. I obviously do not swear at my children, but I made it quite clear that I was not going to go on a pony search in the dark, and I conveyed that making a fuss over it was unacceptable.

Henry's latest phrase is, "Can I please be your girl dog, Violet?" She's the neighbor's old dog next door, and Henry goes around on all fours pretending to be my dog. At first he asked to be called Woofy Woof Woof. That is his favorite game right now. He'll then ask, "Am I still your girl dog?" "Do you want to still be my girl dog, Henry?" "Yes, mom." "Okay, then, Violet. You're still my girl dog." This exchange happens something like 87 times a day. Luckily, he has not posed the question in the night, and he only pees in the potty. My typical phrase when Henry shows up next to the bed is, "Go potty." He goes, then he returns. Well, Olivia recently came into my room in the night. I sleep without contacts, so I'm quite blind. I didn't even open my eyes. I just felt an arm and said, "Go potty." Olivia later told me that she thought to herself, "That's odd. Mommy doesn't usually tell me to go potty when I need her in the night, but okay, I'll go." She used the restroom, returned to me, I held her and was so tired that I thought she was Henry the whole time. I can't explain that one, but it is true. She and I laughed to death when we discovered my mistake about her identity.

We watched the Beezus and Ramona movie as a family recently, and a woman married a couple. Evelyn asked why the priest was a girl, and Olivia said, "She's not a priest. She's a weddinger." Love it.

As Robbie and I went to bed one night close to 11 pm, we noticed a light coming from under Henry and Vivian's door. Buddy was responsible for it, and the baby never made a peep. Robbie carefully opened the door, and he said over his shoulder in a frightened whisper, "The baby's not in her bed!" Ha, ha. He gets a thrill out of messing with me, but when I got to the doorway I too saw no baby Vivian. Her crib was devoid of a baby. Robbie crept over the squeaky wooden floorboards to examine the bed. He wondered where Henry had put the baby. She was sleeping horizontal as close to the far end of the bed as possible, and our view of her from the doorway was blocked by a dresser. We breathed sighs of relief, then we tried to control our giggles. I think she was trying to escape the light.

Henry has a dance move that he calls his booty shake. I can't watch it without laughing my head off. He gets his bent arms into it, and he drops lower and moves that tush side to side. This is an original dance move on his part. He has been asked to perform it in various venues, and it always delights the onlookers. Yesterday we finally took a walk outside, and I let Henry run. He saw an approaching elderly lady, and just as she passed us he transitioned from a full run to a sideways stance. He gave three booty shakes, then he was off again at a dead run. She missed it, but I got another good laugh.

Evelyn starts kindergarten next week. How is this possible? She has a new embroidered backpack, and she has worn it all over God's creation to show friends and other shoppers her little owls and does. The "pack-pack" as Vivian calls it, is precious. Evelyn LOVES Vivian, and she keeps picking up the baby. This makes Vivian scream. While out yesterday, Henry said to me, "Mommy, I'm so happy we have our baby." The kids really love her.

Vivian's vocabulary is exploding. She turned 18 months on the 8th, and I am in disbelief that my youngest is one and a half. I don't feel "done" having babies, but with my age and our house logistics, we are likely finished. At a meeting at school last night I saw numerous newborns. I got that baby fever wave of emotion. It was just awful. Anyhow, Vivian's most adorable word is cupcake. She says it like this, "cuh-CAAAke." Her term defines anything sweet, from a healthy morning muffin to a cookie or ice cream. She says it like she's from Georgia, Robbie says. She is so cute I could scream.

Well, folks. That's all I've got. Maybe now my racing mind can rest.