Fools

Let's give some back story here before we dazzle you with crappy photos this week. I was totally stumped as to what to shoot for the theme of Fools. I am not big on April Fool's gags and I didn't want to take pictures of someone else with the label of 'fool' on them. So naturally I turned to the only person I feel extremely comfortable making fun of; my husband Me. I do stupid things all the time earning myself the title of 'fool.' In fact, just recently there have been some doozies. Let's just say that I have learned this wise process: Wash, then hem. Shall we repeat that? Wash, THEN hem. Do you think I have it figured out now?

Photos of the week:

Those lovely pajama pants were given to me for Christmas. They fit perfectly in the waist, but I could not figure out why they were six inches too long for me. I have short legs, but come on...I could have made some footies with the bottoms of these pants. So, I hemmed them. Then I washed them and instantly knew why they were long. Oops.

Next, my lovely curtains. See, I bought those back when we moved in. Seven. Years. Ago. And I hemmed them because they were too long. And yes, I hemmed them unevenly back then, but I swear I measured. Whatever. Next, this is where I admit that I don't wash curtains all that often. I have heard you should throw them in the dryer now and again to get the dust off, and I have done that, but more like every two five years or so. Well, these particular curtains hang right by the high chair. So, many little grubby hands have made successful attempts to grab said curtains, and the back splash of several meals decorated the bottom. I figured it was finally time to give them a good wash. Yep, let's all say it together again. WASH, then HEM.

So, you know who the fool is this week. I kinda like the new look though. They are capri curtains that let light in at the bottom. They will be all the rage any day now. And you know who should get all the credit. Yep, that's right peeps. You saw it here first.

Tidbits

I am busy like always, but I need to throw some stuff on here so I can pretend that I am caught up in one area of my life. And so I can avoid reading the last 30 pages of the Lord of the Flies.

Tyler was up to his old antics, but it made me think that Spiderman should branch out and try some new colors.

June had another book report project due. We really have a good time putting these together. Or at least taking pictures at the end. I drew the outline of the crocodile and June added the detail and then I made her color the whole thing so I didn't feel like I was doing her project. And then we stuffed him. I think I shall name him 'Crunchy.'

I promise I didn't help her write the paragraph about him.

Today I went to the school to participate in the school Walk-a-thon. I really just strolled the girls around and cheered on the kids. We did have one very scary moment in which the stroller stopped abruptly; and Ivory, who was perched on top, fell on Pearl, who was sitting inside. (You have to get creative when you have three kids that don't want to walk.) However, it could have been much worse and I am thankful that no one was hurt. Ivory actually caught herself fairly well, saving her face from the concrete and Pearl from real harm. I gotta give her some serious props. Daisy was fine since she was in the basket underneath. There was a photographer at the event and I wish I could get some of her pictures. (I was not brave enough to stroll three kids and try to take pictures. I am not that much of a supermom. Apparently I should have brought Captain Underpants.)

Anyway, that is all for now. I guess I will go finish the book. Too bad I know it doesn't have a happy ending.

My Two Main Monkeys

My older two girls are at school most of the day, and Pearl is still just a baby in many ways, so that leaves Ivory and Daisy to keep each other busy day in and day out. They go back and forth between playing fabulously and driving each other up the wall. And Daisy is picking up every bad Ivory habit in the book. Oh well, she will figure out someday that she doesn't actually want to be her older sister. (Probably.)

In the meantime, they make me laugh. Daisy learned at an early age that the computer is fascinating and desirable. She would fight for her right to move the mouse around, even if she didn't know how to click on things. Well, recently, she has figured the mouse out. She plays the simple games and navigates the internet like a pro. Should I be scared since she isn't even three? Here they are on a day when I was vacuuming. I had taken away the stool and chair but that didn't slow them down. (Notice Daisy in her favorite attire.)

Daisy has learned to be a little 'Mom'. If I ever give an order to one sister and it isn't obeyed immediately, Daisy will repeat it for them. My favorite is at dinner time when Daisy will not touch her food but will order Ivory to, "Eat your peas." She is such a character.

Ivory puts up with a lot being the oldest sister at home most of the day. She is such a great helper when she wants to be. If you can make a chore into a game, she will be the first to play. She came up with this one by herself the other day. Here she is being Cinderella.

Pretty good huh?

I think we will try trays next week.

My favorite exchange between monkey 3 and monkey 4 happened at lunch the other day:

Ivory: (to Daisy) You're a goose.
Daisy: You're a goose first!
Ivory: You're a goose.
Daisy: You're a goose FIRST!

Mom: Girls, if you can't say anything nice, just don't talk.

(Long pause)

Ivory: (to Daisy) I love you.
Daisy: I love you FIRST!

They keep things interesting. I already feel sorry for Pearl who will end up being stuck at home with just me someday. I am sure I am not half as fun as the monkeys.

Walk with me

So Pearl has her sea legs now. She prefers walking as the main mode of transportation and she can turn around and go the other direction without falling down. These things seem to tell me that my baby is kind of a toddler now. She really likes to try and pick up many awkward objects and then go for a stroll. Why one shoe when three is MORE.

It only lasts for so long though.

And then she notices Mom and walks fast enough now that I can't back-up in time. But I love to see her little toes and bloomers.

I also heart the pictures where one foot is raised and you can almost see her little body in motion.

In other news, Spring threw us a teaser yesterday. It was gorgeous. So I didn't even bother the kids with homework or chores. We just played until the sun went down. We even ate dinner in the backyard. Daisy is especially fond of frolicking outside.

She asked to go out again today and could not understand why her mother is so fickle about her playing routine. It's not me kid. If you have weather questions, please consult Utah. As if I have any clue why it does what it does.

Pearl was especially fun to watch. She loved the grass, rocks, sun, swings, everything. I followed her around and took a bazillion pictures, but this was by far my favorite.

Planning

Photo of the week:

I really have been planning this since before I had children. I grew up going to Disneyland and I knew that someday I wanted to take my own kids. This summer, it will finally be a reality. Granted, we are only taking the older three, but that just means we will have to go again another year. Yay!

How Does She Even Know About Donkey Kong?

During a battle about making Robyn work on spelling, she wrote me this note:

I hate selling word's by Robyn

I think this proves my point. So back to practicing we go.

She has said some funny things recently. We were reading a book about homes in different countries. The name of each country or city was listed next to the pictures. We reached a certain page where Hong Kong was listed and Robyn's eyes lit up. "Oh, it's Honkey Kong."

Also, back when Tyler posted the onesies, Robyn looked at the background and said, "It looks like we found them in a desert."

I sure love how their minds work.

Robyn has also gotten into Legos a bit more from watching June's example. She built this dinosaur (with a little help) and wanted her creation documented. You can't argue when they ask for pictures, right?

Pigtails and No Point to Go On

My besty Tricia came over last week and brought along her cuteness Annalise. Annalise is about three months younger than Pearl and you can already tell they are going to be lifelong friends. (Read: They don't poke each other in the eye too often.) This time Annalise was sporting pigtails. She was so cute. I was inspired. I figured Pearl's samurai tail should be good for something. And what do you know? It is.

I am still lazy and don't do her hair often, but at least I know I can now. (This is the result of having four other heads of hair to work on. Okay, five if I get organized enough to do my own hair.)

Speaking of hair and the like...on Sunday I was in full swing. I french braided Robyn's hair and curled Ivory's. June somehow escaped through profuse begging. Daisy wasn't going to church since she had been up coughing the night before. And yet, she did not want to be left out. (Daisy does not want to be left out of anything at this age.) She came bouncing down the stairs looking so proud because she had on a dress and her hair was curled as well.

HOLD ON!! I didn't curl her hair!!!

That's right. Mr. Perfect did. (a.k.a. Tyler.) I was pretty sure that the girl's hair was the last thing that I thought Tyler couldn't do. Nope, he does it all. Really, I am superfluous now. I think he will probably keep me around since I work cheap. (Ha, that's a lie.) Maybe he's just grown accustomed to my face. Whatever the case, I now have no doubt that his man can do anything he puts his mind to.

You Don't Always Need a Rainbow for a Pot of Gold

Our Leprechaun came back this year and he was up to his old tricks. Most of his messages were in code and June jumped on that and even made up her own codes for Seamus to decipher. The majority of his letters were just reminding us that he wanted gold and how much he desired. (Broken record if you ask me.)

But we did give him plenty of gold. And we wished on our gold pieces as tradition demands.

Pearl's gold coin stuck to her head for quite a while. She didn't let it get in the way of counting the coins for our Leprechaun.

Seamus was good to his word and he left us trinkets in return for his treasure. We got nail polish, soap (Irish Spring—cheesy Seamus—or do you really use that kind?), chapstick, and a bandanna. My favorite were the glittery shamrocks he left on the wall. Very festive.

Seamus McDermott,

You certainly are a clever little Leprechaun. We promise to keep giving you gold if you keep the luck flowing at our house. Until next year...

Spring/Autumn

Photos of the week:

Pretty much the only thing budding around here. (p.s. I love how I used a High Contrast Blue Filter to wash out the sky and make the tree much darker)

The sunrise was beautiful this morning and thanks to Daylight Savings, I was actually up to see it.

This month has given us some beautiful days so far, but Spring is far from here, as evidenced by the lack of anything colorful blooming. The last few days it has been very chilly in the morning which almost makes me forget those few glorious days of 60 degree weather we had recently. However, the girls and I managed to go out and do our traditional spring shopping.

Every time I see a pair of flip flops in the entryway, I know Spring isn't far away. (p.s. The biggest pair is mine. Ivory picked them for me this year. They didn't have any in Pearl's size, but I bet I have some baby sandals somewhere in the house for her.)

You Could Still Smell the New on This One

There is something amazing about seeing a baby before they are even a day old. It is spiritual to think of where they just came from and what their journey in life holds. I'm fairly sure that I won't be having any more of these experiences in the near future, so I sure jumped at the chance to go snuggle the new off someone else's baby.

Behold this cutie. Actually, who am I kidding, the whole family is good looking.

You may not be able to tell, but I actually caught baby Savannah with her eyebrows raised. She was probably wondering who let in the crazy lady with the camera?

Tyler spent some extra time and designed some onesies for her. We both had a lot of fun creating them. Here she is sporting one, although since they are sized for 6-9 months, I'm betting there is room to grow right now.

Here are some of the others we came up with.

So, change of narrator. I told Maleen I wanted to write a little something on the onsies. I mean these designs look small, but they're all growed up now. I'm so proud *sigh*.

As a preface, these onsies are for Savannah Jett. No spelling violence is being perpetrated against the noun (or verb) "Jet."

We call this one Jumbo Jett. On the front, you'll see a chic, modern "Mini Jett" with an airplane. Sharp, clean, minimal...ah. Then, as a surprise, when little Savannah turns over, you get a "Jumbo Jett" on the rump.

 


This piece is titled cleverly, Gotta Jett.  We've all said it on the phone once or twice, and this phrase will now be attached to Savannah just as she's getting ready to crawl. We purposely got these onsies a little bigger--about the crawling size.

For anyone who's been out of the country, this work conjures smokey recollections of arriving in a humid airport, somewhere on the other side of the world. Everything clamors around you as you wait for your luggage to float up the carousel, and catch these nifty stickers all over your luggage: a semi-permanent reminder of all the places you and that trusty bag have been. We call it, World Traveler.

I must admit that I have an affinity for retro design. It's fun, it's clean, it's coming back into style. Anyone with kids out there has seen Disney's Cars.  This logo is a shameless knock off, which is probably a shameless knockoff of a really old sign from the 50's. I call this one, Retro.

 

And this is my personal favorite, hearkening back to a simpler time when good was good and bad was just dark. If you have no idea what mind trick hatched the phrase on this onsie, don't be surprised when your planet explodes. See it clearly in my mind, I can, Yes.

 

And there you have it. My onsies, all spiffed up and ready for the ball. Conceived in brilliance, executed in magnificence, and given away with love. 

I'm obliged to mention that this post has been brewing for several weeks now. Maleen had wanted to post this when Savannah was born. But, she's been waiting on me to get the images workable for the blog. "Better late than never," most people say. I say, "You can't rush perfection."

—Raging Stallion

Spring is in the Air

Spring is coming soon. Grass is green and flowers bloom. (That was Ivory's line for the Spring Program.)

I hope she is right. I am really ready for some flip-flop-wearing-jacket-discarding-sunglass-doning-warm-sunny days. Ahhh. Just the thought makes me smile.

The kids sang some cute songs. I think this one has something to do with the sun. Just a guess.

Here is Ivory with her carpool buddies. I get to see these three sweet faces in my back seat a couple times a week. They make me laugh, often.

There is some chaos in the this picture, but one girly is very aware that I am watching her.

Yep, Ivory, I only have eyes for you.

Loving Advice

A  conversation between Robyn and me tonight:

(Tyler and I do not have a side of the bed, but I have been sleeping on the left side more often recently.)

Robyn: Will you sleep on that side tonight? (Pointing to the right side)

Mom: Why should I sleep on that side?

Robyn: It's just good luck.

(She starts to leave the room, but she smirks and runs back over to whisper in my ear)

Robyn: Well really, this side is wet.

She had fallen and hit her face earlier and we had given her a damp washcloth to hold on her bruised face. She had left it on the bed for a while and was apparently giving me the heads-up. I guess we know who her favorite is...

I was going to put a picture of my cute Robyn on here, but I have noticed that I do most of my picture taking while the older girls are at school. So, this is the most recent picture I have of Robyn. Look how smart, she is getting ready for a bath while she finishes her chores. She can already multi-task.

Do you think I will still be her favorite after posting this picture. Probably—she doesn't check the blog much.

Not the Red-Headed Step-Child After All

Look, a stack of presents...

Um, and there was a balloon that was popped very early on by an unnamed fourth child. So, if you look closely, we wrapped the upper left present in the leftover balloon. Waste not, want not.

Let's be clear though. I still did not get her any presents. My mother (also known as Grandma) came to the rescue. And although I reminded the girls multiple times that all the presents were from Grandma, I couldn't stop them each from choosing one to give to Pearl. They really wanted to feel like they were in on the process. Thanks Mom for making that possible.

Pearl was so focused. She hefted gifts and unwrapped gifts and grabbed gifts and concentrated on everything. I loved every minute of it. There were so many, she had a hard time choosing.

Look at her little hands trying to get a handle on these big boxes.

June did her hair that day. I had to include her awesome Jiu-jitsu style.

She didn't smile much because she was so amazed by everything.

I like this one because she is standing. She likes to try and stand up while holding awkward sized objects these days.

I think we made up for our slacking on her actual birthday. (Not that she cared.)

If you can't tell what she was unwrapping, here is our bunch of ducks.

(And for the record, bunch is an official term. I guess you could also say brace, badelynge, team, paddling, or raft but those all sound really weird to me. Not to mention that I have no idea how to even say 'badelynge'.)

Underneath

Photo of the week:

The true miracle is that I could actually see under my bed to take that picture. I decided one Sunday that perhaps it was time to clean under there. I enlisted the help of my slave labor children and we got it all cleared and vacuumed in no time. Then they had to play in there because I guess it looked all cool with the sectioned areas. They brought their pillows and covers in there and played some kind of game where I was the mayor and I had them trapped in there? Who knows, I just answered in a British accent when I was required.

But in the end, I now have proof that there is no monster under the bed. Just cute little feet on the other side.