Back in the Saddle

3 weeks into school and all is well.

Marin, 9, 4th grade
Jack, 5, Kindergarten (Yippeeeeee!)
Ell, 6, 2nd grade

Dynamic Duo

"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Special thanks to Aunt Jo at The Piano Studio. Best piano teacher ever!

The Big 8

My eldest turned 8 in May, and in our church this means you can be baptized and confirmed. Marin was super excited to have her dad perform this ordinance. I think there were 9 other people baptized that day...all boys besides Marin.


Some things I love about Marin...
1. She is always happy in the morning. I need this because I am not a morning person.
2. She can make breakfast for herself and her siblings. Although a bit messy at times (especially when the milk jug is full) it buys me a bit more shut eye.
3. She shares my love for reading.
4. She plays with her younger siblings so well...and they love her so much.
5. She is not a perfectionist.
6. She doesn't stay mad.
7. The way music touches her soul like her dad's. From infancy her mood could be easily altered by music. (Yes, I exploit this.)
8. Her laugh.

I feel blessed to have this "little" spirit in our home.

Love notes

I have a love-hate relationship with these beads.

I love that they occupy my children for longish spans of time but they inevitably end up littered about my floor.

This particular project took more than one sitting thus the very "polite" note.

"Do not tuch the beads!

If you do, I will not be glad. (mad face)

I probly wont forgive you.

It took me a long time to make!

Marin (hearts)"

Fortunately no mishaps occurred and the finished product was stupendous.

Party Time

This girl is having a birthday soon. It's a very exciting 8th birthday. But that's not the point. The point is she wants a party...a full blown, invite every friend I know party. I usually give my kids a choice. I can spend money on a party or money on them. This year I was really hoping for something smaller and more intimate...like presents and cake with her siblings.

What I need are some ideas. What can I entice her with that will seem as fantastically exciting as a gazillion friends running around like mad men?

Appropriate Road Trip Activities

Dear children of mine,

Here are some examples of good road trip activities.

Smiling...quietly

Playing on the computer...quietly

And my favorite sleeping...quietly

(This is the newest member of our family, Mark)

So that I can spend my time doing this...




and this...

Compliance will ensure a happy and rested mother upon reaching our destination and who doesn't want a happy mom?

Is this a good activity?

Never know what you'll get when grandpa's incharge.

First Day of School Eve

School starts tomorrow.

I'm ready.

The kids are ready.

It has been a hectic summer and we will all be glad to be back on a schedule. This year I have two kids to get ready for school each morning. To cut down on the morning madness I've decide the girls need to chose their clothes and lay them out for the next day before going to bed. I told them this and here is what I got.

My favorite part...the drawing of themselves. Did you notice Ell's hands? So cute!

I'm glad they're excited for school. Let's hope it lasts.

Mother/Wife of the Year

Why I deserve the award.

First I agreed to host a birthday party for my 7 year old and all her classmates in the middle of our potential move. Next came the making of this pinata. (I'm very sad I forgot to get a picture of the finished product. It was the head of the alien from Monsters vs Aliens.)
Then came the construction of the B.O.B cake. (Watch for me on the next Food Network Extreme Cake Challenge.)

There was fun had by all.

And to top off my wonderfullositi...I got up early the next morning to prepare breakfast for this group of 25 teenagers. It was like trying to satiate a swarm of locusts.

First Born - no longer so little

My oldest has turned 7. She used to be so little...

...and so cute. (can you see jack in this picture?)

She's still so cute just not so little anymore.

Happy Birthday, Marin!

Music to My Ears

"Mom, let's snuggle on the couch and read books."

Marin has always loved books. We used to sit on the couch together and read and reread everyone of her books. This was a daily occurrence. A bit painful I must admit but the payoff has finally arrived. We still sit together on the couch only now we each have our own book.

It will be a happy day when Jack and Ell can join this little party.
I can just hear the blissful quiet as we each enter our separate worlds. (quiet and separate... those words make me smile)

Singing in the Rain

These kind of days take me back to my childhood. Nothing could be more fun than an umbrella on a rainy day except maybe a warm blanket and a good book on the couch.

Did you notice how cute Ellinor is with her little crossed legs and raincoat?

The Doctor is In

I love listening to my children play together. The other day I overheard them playing a game I thought was called Doctor Narian. I asked where the name Narian came from. Marin said, "Nobody is named Narian, Mom, I'm a doctornerian...you know...an animal doctor." The only thing cuter than that is this sign they made for their door.

Tooth Fairy

Dear Mr. President,

I understand that you are currently going through a Bail Out phase and was hoping you might consider my situation as bail out worthy. You see I have a 6 year old who is loosing teeth left and right. In fact she lost 4 teeth in one week. The tooth fairy was not prepared for this financial squeeze and is in dire need of your financial backing. The state of our household economy and the reputation of a very prominent figure is riding on your decision.

Sincerely,
Marin's Mom

first day of summer break

Marin tried to teach me a math lesson today.

First day of summer + New Cable TV Service = TV 24/7

I made an attempt at luring the children away from the TV and computer screen today and took the kids to McDonald's to play and have an ice cream...

...they spent the whole time glued to the computer at McDonalds. Granted the play structure was a bit overcrowded with this being the first day of summer break. I tried.

brownies

Last Friday Marin bridged from Daisy Scouts to Brownies. If you listen carefully you can hear Jack....and it only went down hill from here.

boy crazy

I'm pretty sure I didn't like boys until I was 30 so I don't know where Marin gets her boy craziness from. Here are her latest crushes.

The first is Prince Caspian from Narnia. Chris and Marin have been reading The Chronicles of Narnia together. Once they finished reading Prince Caspian Chris took her to see the movie. Marin has secretly drawn pictures for Prince Caspian which are hiding under her pillow. Don't tell her I told you.

Second is Jon or as Marin likes to call him "Funny Guy". Jon is one of Chris' theater students at Heritage High School. He is sitting to the far right of the picture. I have to admit that Jon is a pretty neat guy and he is also very funny. He made Marin's day by playing dinosaur-go-fish with her, which she won by a landslide.

hair cut

Marin gave her first haircut last night. She and Ell were creating art in the playroom when they came running out saying, "look, mom, Ellie has short hair". This did not immediately register with my brain and I just stared at them blankly. Then as reality set in and I looked closer at Ell it appeared that she no longer had hair in the back. I can only imagine the look on my face as Marin quickly stopped smiling and jumping about. Then I remembered that Ell had been wearing a ponytail...was it still there?! Phew, it was. Thankfully Marin had only cut Ell's bangs and she hadn't done too bad of job. I'm just a bit disappointed because Ell's bangs had finally grown out. But it could have been much much worse.

the after shots

Judging from these photos the curlers worked. And the girls slept just fine.

marin turns 6

Yesterday Marin turned 6. We actually celebrated a couple weeks ago at Kadie's house and instead of a cake Marin asked for pumpkin pie. Yes!!! I'll take pie over cake any day. Yesterday we decided to do a little more celebrating on her actual birthday and went to dinner at Taco Bell with one of Marin's school friends.

...and then bowling. We had a great time however it was more work than we expected keeping all the kids corralled and we only managed to take one picture and it was of Ellinor. It is a really cute picture though.

Does anyone else remember those pink foam curlers? My sister and I wore these every Saturday night so we would have curls for Sunday. Now it's Marin's turn. These curlers were one of the gifts Marin received. She's really excited about having curls....just wait until she tried to sleep tonight.