Some pictures speak for themselves.

And I could go on and on. I'm pretty pleased.

Survival skills required.

I could hear all the commotion while I was downstairs in the basement. But it was unclear to me what the deal was. So on my way up the stairs I saw a little pair of feet behind the bathroom door..

Ruby's feet.

And then Jane came to try again to bang loud enough so her sister would open up. When I asked Ruby to open the door so that I could see what the coveted item was they were fighting over, here is how I found her.

I say let them work it out for themselves. If Ruby has figured out that she can run into the bathroom and lock her sister out, I say go ahead and give that technique a try. I hope in the end that she we find that singing hymns alone in the bathroom is not as fun as sharing a hymn book with your sister and singing together. But I will admit, every now and then I lock myself in the bathroom too, and it has nothing to do with needing to use the facilities.

Sometimes you just need to let the storm pass before you can come back out. And that is our Earnest survival skill tip of the day!

Life in the fast lane.

I am finally feeling like our time is starting to run out. Now when we do things, I keep thinking to myself, "this is the last time we do this, until we move..." So we are trying to live it up to the fullest before we go!

Saturday was the Primary Developing Talents Show. It was a great idea for all you other primary workers out there. One of the easiest quarterly activities we've planned. We told all the kids to think of a talent they were working on, and think about how they could showcase it at our talent show. We had a display table for all the kids who wanted to make something ahead of time and have it on display. Then we had a little stage, a piano, and we were in the gym to facilitate any demonstration these kids could think of. The displays ranged from a little Sunbeam who got up on stage and buttoned his shirt, to another little boy who brought his bike to show us how to ride his bike. Some kids built things out of legos, some made art. It was a very cute idea!

Here's how we participated:

Henry decided to cook his favorite dessert bars to share with everyone. So we took pictures of him in the kitchen to put on display with his peanut butter bars. Rave reviews for Henry!

George displayed an art book which he worked on throughout the week. And then was convinced to play his recital song. It was his first live piano performance, and he was personally thrilled with his ability to perform in front of an audience. Way to go George!

Not to be left out, our girls volunteered to represent the nursery kids and got up on the stage to sing a duet of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars". I was afraid they would fight over the ONE microphone, so I went up there to be a neutral hand holder on the microphone. I guess I was mouthing along the words, because mid-song Jane stopped them and said to me, "Mom, we don't need any help." That got me giggling through the whole rest of their song. It was too cute. I'm somehow thinking this is a small foreshadowing of our future with these ladies!

Then on Sunday, Darin started auditioning for husband of the year award with some seriously delicious meals! I love Sunday. The pear clafoutti made a come back, and was divine once again!

And then, just to make sure I fell in love with him all over again, he made me a sweet potato stuffed ravioli (every part of it made from scratch). The smell was intoxicating and I ate myself stuffed. To top it all off, after devouring my raviolis, he let me go for a lovely and long walk all around the neighborhood, all by myself! He's my favorite guy, without any competition!!

On Monday, we had our first of three track meets. George performed like a champ. He had a blast. The one lap distance is much more fun for little boys who like to sprint. Notice the weather, we have been blessed recently. Henry unfortunatley broke out in a prominent rash all over his face and arms about an hour before the race. It was so strange, but Darin thought it best to not have him be at the track meet. Henry was quick to agree, so George and I had a fun date to the track. We hope Henry will be able to be out there next week. This is by far my favorite activity that my kids participate in. I swear, I'm not biased at all!

Tuesday night we made a monumental effort to rendez vous with a photographer at a beautiful downtown park. She was outstanding. We'll see how the photos actually turn out, but, by the end, she had over 300 shots. That's my kind of photographer! Best of all, she doesn't have rights over any of them! I hope to post those soon. *Please note, it truly was a monumental effort! Coordinated outfits, an outdoor location, hairdos, full tummies ahead of time, ironing, the whole ordeal. Why do we do this to ourselves, I wonder sometimes? In my case, I guess it's because I just don't want to forget. These have been some beautiful years here in CS, and I hope to have them etched in our memories forever.

About Friday, which was yesterday.

Under the dorky bird watching hobby, we would like to announce the arrival of a new bird. He came once before, but we were nearly out of seed, and a different bird scared him off. We've been anxiously awaiting his return. Yesterday was the big day. I let out a little scream when I saw him at breakfast, and all my kids came running. The picture I really wished I had gotten was that of all four of my children gathered on chairs, the counter, someone was in the kitchen sink as we all tried to get a good look a the new yellow bird. Henry was carefully whispering to everyone to stay quiet until we got the picture so that he wouldn't fly away. We have discovered that even while standing inside the kitchen, the birds are aware of us, so we have to stay quiet if we want to really observe them. Anyway, that was a classic moment that I will always wish I had caught of film. But as you can see, I was too busy snapping away at the American Goldfinch. Welcome Goldfinch, we are so glad you gave us a second chance. We hope you will breakfast with us often. Seriously, enlarge those pictures, that's a beautiful bird.

On Thursday night while being out with some friends, I happened upon these little strawberry sandals in the mega sale bin at Gymboree. TWO PAIR IN THE EXACT SAME SIZE. It had to be a sign that I was supposed to buy them. That, and their $3.99 price tag! Can you imagine the joy that was Janie and Ruby's on Friday morning when there were strawberry sandals to wear?! It was a lovely day.

Move over Crocs, Mom bought us some berry sweet sandals!

And the final note about Friday is in regards to George. It has been a bit of a rough spell lately for George. He has been having frequent tantrums and melt downs over seemingly meaningless things. Some examples have been; when I told him on Friday morning it was time to get dressed for school, he actually screamed at me, "I thought you said we didn't have school today!!!". I replied that we always have school on Friday so he'd better get dressed and come eat some breakfast. But it took nearly ten minutes of yelling and crying before he could get dressed and eat breakfast. Along the way his pants didn't feel right, his socks didn't feel right, and he couldn't find a shirt that was the right size. All of that before 7:30am. And the day just kind of went downhill from there.

Later that evening Darin decided he and the boys needed a little outing, so he took them with him to Target. As they walked in, they spied all kinds of Strawberry Shortcake items in the $1 section. They thought it would be fun to get some stuff for their sisters who had stayed home and gone to bed. When they all got back home, George asked if he could go upstairs and lay the items outside of his sisters doors so that they would have a fun surprise in the morning. About three hours later when I went up to go to bed, this is what I found.

It looked so cute and thoughtful. It was hard to believe that the little boy who could think of this, was the same little boy who had broken down over about 25 little things throughout our day. Oh well, some things in life are just a mystery. I don't know if I'll ever fully understand George, but I was pleased to see a piece of his heart laid out for his little sister last night. And those are my notes about Friday.

The situation.

Here's the deal: there was not enough salmon for just plain salmon fillets, and there was a pound of beautiful asparagus sitting in a cup of water in the fridge, staying fresh and crisp. But I knew it's days of staying fresh and crisp were numbered.

Here's the other deal: Today is Thursday. I think every night this week dinner has either been cereal, or something purchased on our way home from somewhere. I am not proud of that. We generally eat at home every night of the week, so it was time to cook.

The solution ended up being a salmon asparagus frittata, recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com . Sometimes my experiments are not so delicious. But tonight it was delightful.

I'm not kidding, give this one a try. It's great to cook outside of the box sometimes. Darin recently found a blog about a guy who cooked 365 different dinners last year. My immediate reaction was, "he must be single, and have no kids." I would never be so ambitious as that guy, but it's certainly refreshing to mix-it-up every once in a while.

P.S. Don't even bother to ask if the kids ate it...the girls enjoyed a delectable serving of Kraft Mac and Cheese. And I believe my boys each enjoyed a heaping bowl of Corn Chex.

Images from today.

$.99 spools of yarn can literally go a long way in a house full of kids.

To be precise it can wrap three full levels of a house.

It can be laser beams that you are trying to avoid, or perish.

Or it can be food items to be cut, stirred and placed in the oven. Later to be put out on the back porch for the birds.

When they were having fun, I was happy too.

The End.

It's called a "Teacher Work Day"

So all the monkeys are hanging around the house today (as well as Monday. The teacher's needed a four day weekend to do all their work)...

They are occupying themselves by changing their clothes several times! When she walked down in this number, I told her how beautiful I thought she looked. She looked all chagrinned and sighed, "Yeah, but I need somebody to dance with." And I thought to myself, "Too true, too true."

I did manage to get 3 of the 4 kids with me at the YMCA so that I could have a little workout time. But of course, that means I needed to add a shower on the to-do list when we got home. I thought I had found a moment when everyone was occupied. Obviously, there is no such moment at my house. About three minutes into the shower, Ruby's head pops in the shower to tell me that Jane has just spilled the big milk.

You know, from everything that people tell me, and from all the novels I read, I understand I am going to miss this lifestyle someday. And as I methodically cleaned up the 57th cup of spilled milk today, I pondered that over in my mind. How is it possible? How will I miss this? But then it occurred to me, it's perhaps not specifically the spilled milk that I will miss, but perhaps it's the capabilities that come along with all these little kids. Spilled milk is as common around here as the phone ringing, or the mail being delivered. It happens daily. As a result, it's not THAT big of a deal, I'm VERY accomplished at cleaning up spills. Which is why I realized perhaps these days will be missed. With so much going on always, you develop certain skills and capabilities that help you be effective. Perhaps as the kids grow up and leave, your skill set diminishes and what used to be no big deal, or easy to deal with becomes difficult. And that ultimately is what people are trying to say they miss. Maybe. Or maybe I'm just way over thinking these few cups of spilled milk...

Monday was almost three days ago...

But that's how it's going around here, this week. We started swimming lessons for the Ladies on Monday morning. That was nearly as exciting as Christmas. I believe it was 7am when they walked out from their rooms with their swimming suits in their hands, ready to go. The lessons start at 9!

They followed swimming lessons up with a little play time in the child care zone, while I slipped in a non-impact workout (yes, still no running because of the foot injury!).

After the gym we sped over to get George...went home for some lunch. Then it was time for George to go to tennis. That was another hour spent playing outside. Then, we tried to go home to rest, but that mostly didn't happen. By 3pm it was time to head back to the elementary school for track practice. More time for the Ladies to ride bikes and play outside. It was finally a bEaUtiFUl day on Monday!! Thank you heavens for that blessing!

Five minutes after loading up from track practice, Jane was out. And we were all feeling exhausted. I started thinking about how I still had to go home and make dinner. Quickly shifting gears...
I started looking for "FOOD TO TAKE AWAY". That was exactly what this night was calling for. Thank you Pei Wei for providing us with fast, non fast food-like food. That was a good idea!

After getting everyone fed and bathed, I thought if I put the PJs on the day might naturally start winding down. Obviously, I was the only one thinking that way. The Ladies continued on with the party (notice Darin supplying the party music in the background). .

And that's when I have to realize that I'm outnumbered. Rather than fight the party, I have to just grab the camera and embrace the moment. Because, like they say, these moments just can't last forever. Live it up while you can is the lesson my Ladies teach me everyday! Party on.

Spring is on spring break

Since spring is MIA, here is how I found this bird the other morning. All puffed up, pushed up against the glass of the bird feeder, trying to stay warm. And I didn't blame him. It's been freezing!

And also since spring is away right now, there has been lots of time spent indoors. Usually around here that means it's loud, messy and someone is crying. So when I passed through my kitchen to find these three all playing "house" together, I decided to document the moment. It didn't last long, but it was beautiful while it was.

And finally, realizing that spring decided to take a little holiday, I keep having flashbacks to our own spring break trip. Poisonwood Bible was my spring break book selection. It turned out to be another book that I just can't get out of my mind. Before I returned it to the library, I even Xeroxed a few pages that had been so profound to me. So perhaps in an attempt to finally put this book down to rest, I will share a favorite passage. First of all, it's the story of a family. The father is a Baptist preacher who decides to take his wife and four daughters on a mission to the Congo. The girls ranged in age from 5 to 15 when they arrived. The mission was supposed to last only a year, but while they are there the country becomes unstable. The father refuses to give up and leave, and one of their children dies. The historical parts of the book are all true, so in that regard it was a very informative book in terms of the Congolese history. Barbara Kingsolver happens to be one of the most poetic authors I've ever read. Her words are so rich and meaningful on so many levels, yet no word it used superfluously. Amazing considering how many words she uses. Anyway, here was one of my favorite passages:


"A mother's body remembers her babies-the folds of soft flesh, the softly furred scalp against her nose. Each child has it's own entreaties to body and soul. It's the last one, though, that overtakes you. I can't dare say I loved the others less, but my first three were all babies at once, and motherhood dismayed me entirely. The twins came just as Rachel was learning to walk. What came next I hardly remember, whole years when I battled through every single day of grasping hands and mouths until I could fall into bed for a few short hours and dream of being eaten alive in small pieces. I counted to one hundred as I rocked, contriving the patience to get one down in order to take up another. One mouth closed on a spoon meant two crying empty, feathers flying, so I dahsed back and forth, like a mother bird, flouting nature's maw with a brood too large. I couldn't count on survival until all three of them could stand alone. Together they were my first issue. I took one deep breath for every step they took away from me. That's how it is with the firstborn, no matter what kind of mother you are-rich, frazzled half to death or sweetly content. A first child is your own best foot forward, and how you do cheer those little feet as they strike out. You examine every turn of flesh for precocity, and crow it to the world."



As soon as I read this passage it resonated. Anyway, it is a bit of a sad story, but so well written and beautiful that it was a joy to read. Add it to your list, Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver...


Now, weather.com says that this week we're going to see some days in the 70's, so perhaps we will be rewarded for having allowed spring to go on holiday. Let's hope so.

Jane sings...and burps.

I have recently realized that while pictures are great, sometimes a video suddenly brings that person alive for you. I've watched a few recent videos of my nieces and nephews and it's like watching them in a whole new dimension. Along those lines, here's Jane. She wanted me to video her singing all her favorite songs. Here was my favorite clip.

Delicious!

Steel Cut Oatmeal is what can get me out of bed in the morning. With a touch of salt, a sprinkle of brown sugar, some frozen blueberries to cool it off before it goes into the bowl, and of course chopped nuts, any variety, send it over the top! The best part about it is that no one likes it except me. Therefore, as I sit down to eat it, I don't get surrounded by little ones asking for a bite. The worst part about it is that it takes nearly thirty minutes to make. It has to cook slowly on the stove. But that's okay. Sometimes the anticipation of it during those thirty minutes is almost as good as actually eating it. Another wonderful thing about this breakfast food is that it actually fills you up. I'm not hungry again until it's legitimately lunchtime (not the 11am lunchtime that we sometimes declare because we have not had such a satisfying breakfast).

But it got me thinking, what is that you look forward to in the morning? Do you have something delicious that you only eat first thing? Do you do something? Go somewhere? Drink something? What is it? I'm dying to know what gets other people happy about the day...

Little Girls

I've learned a lot about little girls since we had Jane and Ruby. I think they can pretty much be summed up like this: princesses, a lot of talking, glitter, dancing dresses, a lot of talking, horses, tea parties, the color pink (and purple), and a lot of talking. So I was glad to find Ruby this afternoon looking like this...

Of course, at the exact same moment, Jane looked like this...