Friday, February 29, 2008

Liquid Nitrogen



My friend, Debbie, is a local science teacher and brought one of her experiements to the house to show the kids. Lucky for the kids, it involved liquid nitrogen and ice cream, a winning combination! Apparently, it is okay to ice cream after it's been frozen with liquid nitrogen. Anyway, I haven't died, yet, from eating the ice cream!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Sunglasses R Us


She knows how cute she is!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Goal Attempt #1...



Why can't they all just look in the same direction at the same time? I mean really, is it that hard for them to do? Well, maybe so. But I am determined to keep trying. They really are quite the bunch and I love them all.


And how do you like my shoe in the photo? I guess I'll be editing that one...


Monday, February 11, 2008

The Girls and their Boy

As you can see, there is no lack of love in this family. Not only have we not seen any evidence of jealousy (yet...) but my girls are also madly in love with their boy. Peanut is especially happy to hold him for just a few minutes. Not too long, mind you, but just long enough to say she did and then pass him off.

And Kiki sees everyone else holding him so why can't she? She also sees Peanut holding dolls so this baby thing must be easy. Except, wait, we aren't allowed to poke out his lovely eyes. Sorry, sister!

What I need now is a photo of the 4 of them together. I'm not sure that's possible but it's nice to have goals!


Sunday, February 10, 2008

Brothers


It is very exciting to me that my Bug now has a brother. I've wanted him to have one for ages and now my boy has a brother to love. Don't get me wrong, he loves his sisters. And he's especially in love with Kiki. They can often be found playing happily together noticed only by Kiki's giggles of delight. In fact, no one makes her laugh like Bug does. They are 2 peas in pod. But now he has a baby boy to dote on and he could not be happier. As usual, all he wants to do is smother him with attention. Thankfully, in the next few weeks he'll be able to do just that.

I'm just so thankful that my son loves his babies!


Saturday, February 09, 2008

Another beautiful baby enters our family!



I truly believe that all women who birth more than one child harbor self-deprecation in the depths of their psyches. Yes, this includes me! Since labor and delivery are so close to the forefront of my mind right now, the mere idea of doing this again is horrifying. After numbers 2,3 and now 4 came into the world my wonderful husband looked at me and said, "I can't believe you were willing to do that again."

With all that said, I truly was willing to do it again. Why? Because as hard and terrifying as labor is, those precious little babies are so worth it. Just looking at these photos that my friend CJ took will show you just how true that is. He is a beautiful boy and I'm so thankful he's finally out!

Stats:

Born on Friday, February 8, 2008
6:09am
20 3/4" long
7 pounds 14 ounces
14" head

Sadly, he is still unnamed. We keep going back and forth about this because neither of us have a name that we just love enough to fight for. But in the next few days we'll have to make a decision. Hopefully, it will be the right one!

The In-Laws Save the Day

For Baby #4, my wonderful in-laws again come to my rescue. I'm thrilled to have them here and I think they also enjoy being here, as well. My mother-in-law attends to the daily rigamorole and the kids absolutely love being around her. She takes them on walks to the park and isn't too picky about school work. What could be better than that?

My father-in-law is a wonderful mix of my Husband and myself. He does the grocery shopping and runs all kinds of useful errands around town. But he also fixes all kinds of little piddly projects as well as finishes the big ones! He (mostly) singlehandedly switched the beds from the basement all the way up to the top floor of house. One was a bunk bed!!!!! And his next project is going to be hanging some pictures in Peanut's revamped bedroom. I love that he loves projects!

My house is running without me quite well, thank you very much. It's nice to not be needed but on the other hand is a bit strange to have a nap, awaken to a too quiet home, and then wonder where the children are! As odd as it is, I do have the consolation that it's taking extra effort on my wonderful Husband's part as well as both of my in-laws to accomplish my duties every day. Granted, they get more done quantitatively, but it still takes 3 of them to do it! Watching from a distance also makes me realize how much I love my kids and how much more work I need to do with them. I'm also very thankful that I've got all kinds of daily routines so when I have to jump back into the saddle again I'll know what to do when. And it won't be too hard for the kids to get back into our boring routines.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

My Little Kiki!


Have you seen a more grown up girl? She just started pulling herself up without an object to hold onto and we are all oh, so proud! She even took 3 steps to her Papa and we all applauded raucously. I don't think there has ever been a girl as loved as she is!


And, no, no baby, yet. Trust me, no one is more depressed about this than I am. But when there is, you will all be quite tired of the photos! :)

Friday, December 21, 2007

Christmas Letter 2007

Well, it seems to me, after perusing my own blog, that my life is really quite boring. I don't have amazing travelling adventures or an overly cynical viewpoint on life. I don't spend too much time kevetching about things going on around here (and that makes for interesting reading).

But, to tell you the truth, to live this mundane life is fabulous. I have a wonderful hubby who brings home the bacon so I don't have to go to a job every day. There are 3 amazing children in my home who make me belly laugh at least once daily and who snuggle at the slightest whim. And, if all of that isn't good enough, I get to homeschool my children and sit in awe of them as they grow and learn.

So, how was my 2007? Similar to 2006 and probably pretty close to what 2008 will bring but absolutely joyful!

For those of you who like the details, I will say that the bakery is going along quite well. Hubby has 2 full time employees (a baker and a decorator) that allow him all kinds of time away from the shop. And that is great for me! We love having him home more and more. He's also figured out some ways to make money in the stock market and he just loves crunching the numbers and doing the stats so he's happy, too...except when the market does something it's not supposed to do. And it's been doing quite a bit of that this year. However, I told him that if he gets an ulcer, he earned it and I won't feel too sorry for him!

As for the kiddos, they are everchanging. Bug started kindergarten this year and it reading like a pro but his handwriting is atrocious. We're going to start hitting that a bit harder 2nd semester! He goes to a public school program designed for homeschoolers one day a week and he just loves it, being his mother's social child! I'm not sure he has a favorite subject because, so far, he just enjoys everything. And I like the day "off" of teaching.

Peanut is 3 1/2 and a homebody. She is most certainly her father's daughter. I love to watch her because she plays contentedly alone and has the best of times. But she hates the days Bug is gone to school. He is her very best friend and she can hardly stand for him to be gone so long. Of course, when he's here they fight and bicker then quickly make up again to go on to the next fun thing to play. Thankfully, I stay out of most of those fights.

And little Kiki is a dollbaby. She is loved by her brother and her sister but especially her Papa. There is just something between Kiki and her daddy that I cannot explain but they love each other. It is so precious to watch. I'd like to say she's growing like a weed but she's tiny despite the fact that I try oh, so hard to fatten her up.

And so was our family in 2007. I do pray that God blesses your families the way he has blessed ours. We are thankful to Him for what He has given us and we certainly do not deserve it.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Gingerbread House Time, Again...

Every year, as is our family tradition, I march the troops to the Bakery and we decorate a gingerbread house. This year was no exception. Each child got a side and this mama got the front. Needless to say, I loaded up my sid with all kinds of chocolates and I fully intend to eat them all! Papa did the hard work helping while I took the photos. Someday our house will be decorated with lovely aplumb but right now it's just fun for them to slap the candies on the house.




Every year, as is our family tradition, I march the troops to the Bakery and we decorate a gingerbread house. This year was no exception. Each child got a side and this mama got the front. Needless to say, I loaded up my sid with all kinds of chocolates and I fully intend to eat them all! Papa did the hard work helping while I took the photos. I love having a papa around!