Olivia and Little Ben

A few weeks ago, we got to try our hand at having 5 kids (5 and under!) for ten days.  Our good friends JoDee and Brandon went on a family "grown-ups only" trip to Mexico, so Olivia and Ben got to come and join our family for a while!

For the most part, we tried to keep everything really low-key, because I learned pretty quickly that buckling 5 kids into car seats gets a little exhausting.  This was our biggest outing (when Ben was there to help, of course) -- to do a hayride at Wilson Farms.

Ben and I were very self-conscious that people would actually think they were ALL our kids.  Some people saw Little Ben and Ellis and definitely thought they were brothers.  Do you think they could pass as our kids?

Mostly I just think this gourd display is awesome.  Maybe someday that's how I'll decorate my house for fall.


[Here's the one obligatory cute Sammy picture - for the grandmas!]

Olivia and Little Ben are really good kids.  It was pretty much a party in our house the whole time.  The kids all got along really well.  Sam loved the extra attention!

We got a kick out of Little Ben.  For one thing, he's very advanced compared to our boys in the climbing/opening/getting-into-stuff department.  I learned a lot of things, like HIDE the baking soda!  We also got a kick out of the funny things he says and the way he says them.  Ben, Henry, Ellis, and I have been quoting Little Ben ever since they left.  Our favorite thing is the way he adds extra letters to words, like the word "peanut" is "peeka."  Not sure where the K came from.  Our favorite quote is (in a VERY high-pitched voice) "No!  Not peeka butta jelly!  PEEKA BUTTA HONEY!!!"

And these two just might be BFF's.  They get along SO well.  They are both on the same page as far as reading, imagining, exploring, crafting, and being silly are concerned.  Olivia rejoiced every afternoon when the "time to pick Henry up from school" timer went off.  HENRY!!!  

And as long as Henry was at school, Ellis sufficed as a playmate.  They actually had a lot of fun together!  It turns out that Ellis is cool with playing with paper princess dolls, and Olivia is a REALLY good page-turner when it comes to listening to Curious George audio books.  

And I must admit, I loved having a girl around.  The world of boys is just slightly different from the world with a little girl in it.  Olivia is a little ray of sunshine and just gets excited about everything.  She was constantly saying things like, "Oh, Candy Land?  I LOVE Candy Land!  Just LOVE it!  Can you please play Candy Land with us?  Please, please, PLEASE???"  We don't normally get that level of enthusiasm or affection from our matter-of-fact boys.  Olivia also showered me with compliments repeatedly.  She always told me I was pretty and that I was an excellent cook ("It's like you have a cook book in your head!").  I didn't mind having someone like that around.

Admittedly, we were pretty glad when bedtime was over each night and all five kids were tucked away (in the same bedroom!), and after ten days, we were exhausted.  But we survived.  And now, of course, we're looking back on it fondly.  And some little part of me kind of felt like Super Woman by the end of the week.  Let's just say I'll plan on spreading out my own kids a bit more than this bunch was!  :)