Excitement

Photo of the week:

No lie, I have been off the map. I have a ton of pictures sitting on my computer just dying to make it to the blog, but I have been busy. Visiting family back to back is killing me. (In a good way, obviously.) My family visited from Washington, and then we left to see my nephew baptized up in Idaho. I took the camera out of the car right before we went, so I don't have any pictures. Are you kidding??? You think I would have learned by now. Kathryn, I am sorry that I did not capture any pictures of that amazing day. We had so much fun. But in the meantime, you do get to see how excited Pearl was to be traveling in the car. (see above) Okay, the car isn't her favorite, but she did a good job both ways. In fact, we tired her out so much that she took a three hour nap on the way home. I heart long naps. (For myself mostly, but I can't remember the last nap I took.)

Anyway, I am going into repentance mode. Even though it is Spring Break, I promise a post each day this week. Although don't expect posts about Spring Break, because I can not hold Pearl and the camera at the same time. Period. Those two are like oil and water. So when I took the kids to discovery park today, I didn't even bother to bring the camera. Which is good because I held P the whole time and followed Daisy everywhere, in which I still managed to lose her among the throng of kids and hit my head really hard on a low beam. Seriously, my teeth hurt after that one. Post concussion, I admit that I glanced longingly at the lady on the bench reading her Kindle who obviously had older children or didn't care that she might leave with one less offspring that day. Yikes, what a zoo!

So, anyway, posts about something coming your way soon.

Blogging Fast

I have family in town, so naturally that leads to less time on the computer. I instead spend my time stomping them at games. Well, I have actually only won Scrabble, but I pride myself on that being a more-intellectual game so it counts for more, right?

Anyway, I didn't want to leave you hanging in limbo out here in cyber space. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure while I entertain the fam.

This is Grandma's head as designed by Robyn. Grandma actually has more hair, and not such big teeth, but besides that, it is a good like likeness. (If she looked like Elmo.)

Peace out for a time.

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!