An Apology to My Sister Emily

Last time I visited my sister Emily, I made fun of her because she had all the clothes in her closet organized by color. Then one day I decided to try it myself, and I absolutely love it.


Jared told me I was neurotic, so for a few weeks I didn't dare touch his side. But it was bugging me more and more that mine was all organized and his wasn't. So this morning I did his clothes too.

 

Ellie's First Meal

Ellie's been awfully fussy lately, and I wondered if it was because she was hungry and ready for solids. So last night I dragged out the high chair and scrubbed it down. She looked pleased to sit in it.


Then I ground up some brown rice with a baby food grinder, watered it down a bit, and spooned it in. Most of it came right back out at me. Joey said "She looks like Saint Nicholas, Mom!"


Honestly, she was much more interested in the spoon than in the rice.



It was a quite a mess, and she only ate maybe a teaspoon before she started refusing it. Then she was fussy all night long. I'm not so sure she's ready to really start eating "people food" yet. I think we'll wait a few more weeks before we do it again. 

Progress

My Master Bedroom still isn't Better Homes and Gardens, but at least now all the bedding matches and there are some pictures on the walls with coordinating frames. I put away the ironing board too. : )

Don't ask why we have two queen mattresses next to each other on the floor. It's a long story.

 

Muffin Discovery

I should probably start a separate food blog, because it's fun to write about what you cook and eat.
I made blueberry muffins this morning. I didn't have any milk, but I did have heavy cream, so I used that . OH MAN..... these were the richest, most delectable muffins I have ever made. It really made a big difference.

Just for a Moment

It's not quite 8 am, the boys are still asleep, and my house is Totally clean. Jared's sister stayed with us last night on her way from here to there, and while I was waiting for her midnight arrival I vacuumed, mopped, cleaned bathrooms, etc. The toys are put away. The faucets shine. There is nothing sticky on the kitchen floor. It feels very peaceful.

Any minute now the boys will wake up and that will be the end of it. In ten minutes there will be suction darts stuck to my windows, strawberry jam on the carpet, and smelly things in the bathroom.

But there will be hugs and laughter and happy boy voices too.

More Cute Ellie Outfits

Ellie loves the camera. She grins when she sees it. And when I took these pictures in the green outfit just now she was posing for me.



 

Sam's Artwork

This is what Sam did with the permanent marker-- just ran it up the corner. Unique, isn't it?

 

Broccoli Trick

If you soak broccoli from your garden in salt water, it makes all the bugs come out. This works really well.

I was very excited about this because a couple years ago I grew broccoli and it got totally infested with aphids. I tried and tried to get them out. I called a friend who is a seasoned gardener and she told me that it's impossible to dislodge aphids from broccoli, so I basically threw away my whole crop.

It was actually Janice, my midwife, that told me about the salt water trick last winter. She's the reason I even tried to grow broccoli again this year. I couldn't wait to try it. I cut some broccoli today and dunked it in the salt water-- up came all the little creatures that had taken up residence inside. We had broccoli for dinner and it was yummy. Hooray for Janice! Hooray for broccoli!

One of those Mornings

Just in case you think you're the only one who has days like this:

While my oatmeal was cooking, I went out to water the garden. A large and possibly poisonous spider has taken up residence in the place I have to reach my hand in to turn the water on. On my way in from battling the spider, I discovered that Sam had pooped in his underwear. I turned off the oatmeal and took him upstairs and made him help clean his messy underwear, which made his scream, then bathed and dressed him. By this point Ellie was screaming continuously, so I went and picked her up and discovered that she had had one of the worst blow-outs I've ever seen. I bathed her and scrubbed out her clothes. Then I rocked her to sleep and left her on my bed. I went down and ate my oatmeal, cold, at 10 am. (I think I got up at 7:30?) Ellie woke up and wriggled clear over to where I had left some photos on my bed that I was going to put in an album. I was really excited about this little project. I heard Ellie noises so I went into my room and there was Ellie in the middle of all the photos, drooling on them and crumpling them in her hands. Just as I was getting the photos resorted, the doorbell rang. On my way to the front door I discovered that Sam had colored on my living room wall with permanent marker. Anyway, it was my friend Eve at the door because I had told her I would watch 3 of her 5 boys for a couple hours. She said, "the older two want to stay at your house too, can you keep all of them?" I just threw up my hands, "whatever!"

Actually, the 7 boys did pretty well together. There were only a few minor incidents. Then when Eve got back and we'd had lunch we all went swimming at the YMCA, where Eve used one of her membership guest passes to get us in. My kids loved the Y pool. So things didn't stay totally rotten all day.

I Get a Point for That!

Feeling frustrated with my boys' behavior, a couple weeks ago I instigated a point system. Every time they do something kind, obedient, helpful, or loving, they get a "point" (toothpick in a jar). Then we have "reward time," where they get candy or ice cream or dollar store toys if they have enough points. It took a couple days to catch on, but now it's working amazingly well. Most of the time now my boys are helpful, courteous, kind, and obedient without being reminded. It is giving them good habits. Some people might say you shouldn't bribe your children to be good, but until they're old enough to understand the finer points of the subtle benefits of being good, this more immediate gratification seems appropriate to me.

So, I was in the bathroom and Ellie was screaming her head off (she seems to think I should hold her all the time these days). Sam heard her and came upstairs to cheer her up. I saw him and told him thank you, then he said, "I get a point for that!" Sure, Sam.

 

Ellie's New Hobby

Ellie likes to stick her tongue out lately. It makes her even more adorable.


 

Just to Make You Hungry

Here is Jared cooking sausage, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast.


 

Ten Minutes After Arriving

It's truly amazing how quickly a three-year-old can get totally filthy....


 

Camping Trip

Jared really really wanted to go camping. I truly do like camping, but not with babies and toddlers, so I tried to talk him into taking the boys and going without me. It didn't work, so off we all went. Other than Ellie being freaked out by the tent and Sam pooping his pants twice, we had a pretty good time. It was really nice to be in the Great Outdoors and the boys loved the river next to our campsite. In the morning Jared inflated his little raft and took them on a little Excursion downstream. They also did a little fishing, at Joey's request. Joey just ate everything up and so Jared plans to go again in the next month or so and just take Joey.



 

Apprentice to a Pirate

We were on the way home from Walmart. Joey said, "mom, I'm going to be a doctor." I'm thinking, great! Wouldn't that be so cool? Just like my brother Joe, his namesake. Then he says, "And a fire fighter. And a pirate." I explained to him that pirates were not very nice people. So he said, "I won't be a pirate with the pirates, I'll be a pirate by myself." A few minutes later he added, "If people lost their treasure I would give it back to them."

We'd better get a copy of Pirates of Penzance. I bet the boys will like it as much as they like Chariots of Fire. (How do you explain a three-year-old whose favorite movie is Chariots of Fire?)

Chirp Generation II

When my brother Charles and I were little my parents used to call us "the Chirps." Now I've got this baby daughter who makes the cutest noise that can only be described as a chirp. So, Mom and Dad, I thought you'd be amused to know there's another little Chirp in the family.

Babies are Strange

One thing I love about babies and small children is that they sometimes do the weirdest things. Like when Ellie sucks her binky sideways. My children are very good at keeping me amused.

 

Snuggly Droids

Joey's friend gave him little stuffed R2D2 and C3PO for his birthday. You can see from these pictures what the boys think of them. Darling, eh?


 

Joey's Birthday

There are pictures of Joey's birthday on his blog.

Sam's Birthday

Here are some pictures from Sam's birthday.



 

Sarah the Artiste

I really ought to take up cake decorating someday. Look at how cute my boys' birthday cakes turned out-- freehand!-- and I was even in a hurry and had weird frosting colors. I made just what they asked for and they Loved their cakes. It was fun.


 

Brothers

They give me headaches during the day, but at night what's not to love?

 

Old dresser, New look

When we got married, Jared's parents gave us a couple of well-worn dressers. We're still using them. Jared says we can't get rid of them because they're family heirlooms, but when my father-in-law last visited, he saw them and said something like, "you're still hanging onto those old pieces of junk?" Well, new dressers are still down pretty far on our financial priority list, so I finally decided to do something about the fact that half the knobs on this thing were missing, and the ones that were there were not terribly attractive. So, Evan, here's that old dresser from your childhood with new knobs from Home Depot. Looks almost Shabby Chic, huh?

If you're not sick of me yet...

You will be! We just got cable internet, and my sister Emily clued me in to Picasa, so now I can blog easier and faster than ever. No more shrinking pictures by hand and slowly uploading them. Now I can get really serious about this blog!

Sweet Sweet Girl

Here's Ellie sleeping in my arms...

 

Loves of my Life