We've Moved!

Well, just the blog.

I've jumped ship on over to www.webe6.wordpress.com.

So if you're so inclined, check out our goings-on over there!

Big Girl Beds

Now that we're accustomed to the idea of staying in this house for the indefinite future, I'm doing all I can to help us fit here better. And while having a crib and toddler bed in the girls' room was a good arrangement, MaraJade kept asking when she could get a big girl bed. And once her feet started to hit the end of her bed (and she turned 6!), I couldn't put it off any longer.

Putting aside my fears of Eowyn being loose (no!! we just got her sleeping alone!), we jumped in and got bunk beds for the girlies. One full, crazy Saturday of assembly, room rearranging and cleaning later, and they're in! And the girls love them. MaraJade spends hours playing, drawing, imagining on her top bunk, and Eowyn sleeps the whole night!! Really! Thank heaven for small miracles!

Happy 4th!

The 4th was a great day. We skipped the church breakfast, as 8:00 just seemed waaaayyy too early to everyone that day. Had tons of family over, had some awesome pulled pork (man, we just seem to make it better each time! :)), good food and tons of fun.

MissE and her Daddy

Auntie Nanoo (The Hoveenator)

The Pyromaniac Gang

Papasan and Nate the Great

Miss Zoe

Can you guess what Mace was imagining this sparkler was? If you guessed a weapon of any kind - you're right!

Auntie Auntie

Grandpa Joe as the Statue of Liberty

Besties

No, that is absolutely not a mortar shooting into the air, Officer. Cuz they're illegal here!

The Grandmas

MissE and Auntie RaeRae

Don't know why, but almost all my pictures of her end up looking like this.

My Daddy

The Princess is 6!

MaraJade is such a joy. She's girly, she's funny, she's a great friend, she's independent and not afraid to stand up for herself.  She's also emotional, stubborn, occasionally defiant and unwilling to share. But all these traits together make up one amazing girl!

In her Princess wedding dress. Grandma Joleen spoils her! And she LOVES it!

Happy birthday, Jadie!

And here are pics of her Princess Party with her buddies:

About to get "done up".

Buddies

My able assistant.

Happy Birthday, PJ!

Again, I'm late with this. (Does 9 months really count as late, or am I now 3 months early? Hmmmm...) Yeah, yeah - I know!

Anyway, we had to postpone and change some dates until a decent contingent of family could be rounded up for one day, but it finally came together and we had a lovely passle of people over to celebrate PJ's transition to the big 3-5. We smoked some excellent ribs and gorged ourselves on yummy food.

The only *ahem* "slip-up" was the cake. I made his favorite chocolate cake with caramel frosting. However delicious that frosting is, it's kind of persnickety. It's quite soft and loose. So I frost the cake and place it in the fridge right away to firm up. An hour later, PJ's sister opens the fridge and asks if I meant to have the cake fall over. *sigh* Sad little cake's 3 layers had slid right off one another, creating a lovely pile nestled amongst the lemon juice and soy sauce. I peeled everything out of the fridge, smushed it back together, and we had cake mush.

The kids were horrified when they saw it. We tried to get pictures of their faces as they came in the house, but couldn't quite capture it. Every one said, "Oh my gosh! What happened?" It was rather funny, after it wasn't.

But we were there together, and that's what matters - right? Happy birthday to my children's favorite person and my rock.

Well hellooooo, there!

Ha! Came back to the ol'blog and noticed that I started this draft back in May. Got as far as the title. Also found a draft post from PJ's birthday back in July - I think I was waiting to add pictures. *sigh*

I don't know what I've been doing lately that has kept me so very busy that I can't be bothered to blog at all, but here are some of the mitigating factors:

• My Kindle Fire. I got it for my birthday and I LOOOOVE it. iPad snobs can knock it all they want, but it does everything I want and I can have it with me all the time. That said, I get on the actual computer far, far less now that I have it. And there's no Blogspot app, and their site is totally not mobile-friendly, so there you go.
• Pictures. I love to take them, love it even more with our new DSLR, but once I've taken the pics, I have to a) find the cord that magically disappears all the time so that I can, b) transfer the pics from the camera to the computer, then c) look through the 857 pictures and sift out the obvious rejects, then d) whittle down the unnecessary/duplicate/not-so-good ones, then e) take the good ones from each event/slice in time/noteworthy experience and whittle those down to just a few great moments, then f) crop/Photoshop/de-redeye/fix, then g) write a post and upload pics. Hmmmmm.......why don't I blog more?
• The Computer. It is and always has been a giant sucker of my time. I get on to do one (or two) specific things and.......suddenly my day is gone. So now I kind of avoid the computer.
• Time. I just can't seem to find enough of it in my day (like most people, I'm sure), so I find myself avoiding known time-suckers even more.

That said, I'm going to try to do better. Promise. Because it's important that I capture these small moments for the family's posterity, to augment my own failing memory, and to share with family and friends.

Just gotta get myself a leeetle better organized to do it. Ha. Hahahaha. We'll see how that goes.

Dance Class!

After much fretting about whether to start MaraJade in dance now, and where and when and how, we decided to try some classes for the summer. A local studio had unlimited classes for July and August for a super good price, so I signed MaraJade up for ballet and jazz, thinking to get a feel for how/if she enjoyed dancing.

Well, she loves it. I, unfortunately, am less than impressed. I truly don't know if it's just because I danced for so long and am now a bit of a dance snob, or if my childhood dance studio had much higher standards, or if I'm just getting old and crochety, but I'm really not feeling this place. First, it's run completely sloppily, with no real order or instruction anywhere - from behind the desk to in the studio. The teacher doesn't introduce herself, can't remember the girls' names, doesn't have anyone line up, etc. It's kind of a slightly organized free-for-all. Jazz and ballet classes are only distinguishable from one another by the music they play. Foot positions are "open book" (first) and "penguin" (second). Freeze Dance is employed for much of the 30 minutes. Hmmmph. Gripe.

(Oh! Oh! And the pictures of their dancers on the wall! Holy cow! The pre-teen and teenage girls are wide-legged straddling chairs and giving the camera a full-on "come hither" look. Ewww!)

Then I talked to a friend who had a similar experience at another little studio I'd been looking at. Paying for running around and less-than-impressive dancing, even from the "veterans" in their studio. Hmmph. Gripe. Worry.

Then I had a little light bulb moment. I danced for a few years (like 13). I helped coach dance team for 1 year. It's possible I could teach my 5-year-old the basics of dance. Duh!

So I'm going to start our own little studio in the living room, setting aside 30 minute class times at set times each week. I think it might be fun. It'll certainly be cheaper than $40-65/month for 45 minutes of class time, plus costumes and such. It'll be less stress for me since I'm already going 3-4 different directions with the whole family's various activities. And I think she might get a better foundation this way. I can teach her all the basics in more detail and cover more ground - I hope. And in a couple of years when we maybe have a little more money and it becomes more important to be in the studio, we'll shop around for a higher-caliber studio. But we will dance nonetheless!

Miss MaraJade is 5!

So I'm totally behind on this one, but I kept forgetting to get the pictures off the camera, etc., etc., etc., and suddenly it's August! Eek! So here's to you, my favorite 5-year-old!

5 years. Such a long time when you're a child. Such a short time in the ever-increasing, speeding-by timeline of your own child. I truly can't believe that a little over 5 years ago, I didn't know what it was to have a little girl. Was quite certain, in fact (in my Debbie Downer, self-pitying moments), that I would never have a daughter. But against all the odds, and after a bit of trouble (and a bit of hurrying there at the end - we had a deadline to meet, after all!), she was here. She brought a whole new spirit and - well, vibe - to our family. After 2 crazy little boys, whom I loved dearly and came to understand, it was amazing to finally "get" one of my kids. When she developed a passion for shoes at under 1 year, I got it. When she mommied her baby dolls and animals all around the clock, I got it. When she preened in her little toy vanity, I got it. When she had to wear a dress or skirt every single day, I got it. This didn't necessarily make her easier to raise, just not so foreign - more familiar. The boys - I still don't understand why they have to throw everything instead of just handing it to me.

I love that she loves Barbie movies and princesses and everything girly. I certainly wouldn't love her any less if she were a tomboy, but I sure do identify with her this way. And we get to share such special moments because of our very girlness.

She's sweet and loving and bossy and sassy. She's fiery and aggressive like her namesake (and, well, maybe her mom). She's almost a teenager (in her own mind), and already scaring her daddy with thoughts of boys chasing after her and her big blue eyes. She still won't talk to strangers (or, heck, sometimes even people she knows), but she's learned to speak with those eyes, if only you know her language. She brings us joy and flowers, sunshine and music every moment of her life.

Happy Birthday, my MaraJade!

Quorra

As most everyone probably knows, we used to have cats. Lots of cats. 7, to be exact, over a 5 year period. By the time Tristen was born, we had 5, and (for various reasons) by the time MaraJade came alongs, we were down to 3. However, when she was around 1, we discovered she and Mace were likely allergic to them, and they were being constantly harassed by Wild Man Mace, and otherwise ignored by the rest of us since we were so busy just running our little family. So we sadly said good-bye to the last 3. It was very sad, but also kind of liberating.

Then we got the Ronan when Monster was 1 1/2, and we said that was it! But Tristen was constantly pining for a cat again, so we promised him we would get one when he turned 10 - but were kind of hoping he'd forget and we'd be off the hook.

So, as I've commented, MissE was totally obsessed with the kittens at the farm in Idaho - along with all the other kids. This sort of softened PJ toward the idea of getting a cat again next year. Well, coincidentally, some free kittens were chanced upon in Idaho. They were quite cute, and PJ consented.

So little Quorra (pronounced just like Cora) came to us. She rode home with Grandma and Aunt Jaime and the kids were just beside themselves waiting for her to arrive. It was about 9 at night when I got her home, and a funny thing happened. Eowyn lost. her. mind. over the cat. Literally. She was absolutely hysterical over the cat, and would scream and cry and shriek if anyone else held or petted her, then would instantly calm down once she could hold her. Then it would start all over again. We were seriously wondering if this would work if MissE was going to act like this. Luckily, after a day or so, she calmed down (for the most part) and let little Quorra settle in.

I'd forgotten what it was like to have a kitten around. The middle-of-the-night insanity especially. We eventually moved her to the girls' room to sleep at night, but she really loves to squeeze in through the bars of Eowyn's crib and play (attack) her head in the middle of the night, waking up the child I've so painstakingly gotten to sleep in her own bed. Grrrrrr.

Ronan was very ingtrigued with the lovely little snack we brought him, then puzzled when we wouldn't let him eat it. But he quickly caught on and wanted to play, much to Quorra's furious indignation. But 6 weeks or so later - they're coming around. It'll be fun when they really start to play together.

So that's it. 1 dog, 1 cat. The kids are happy and I'm not totally insane. I can do this.

Classic Maceism

I frequently find myself unable to capture the true Mace-ness of his questions sometimes, so since one just happened, I'm writing it down.

Mace: Who was the President in 1985?
Me: Ronald Reagan.
Mace: Huh?
Me: Ronald Reagan.
Mace: Who's Ronald Reagan?
Me: Arrrggghh!

Idaho! ~Edited~

We set out the day after school ended for Boise to stay at PJ's aunt and uncle's bird farm. And despite some pretty rotten traffic luck (and my many fears), the kids were great!

Everyone had a fabulous time, jumping on the trampoline, riding the 4-wheeler, playing with cousins, visiting the many many birds, swimming in the ditch, playing with the dollhouses, and just laying about. Definitely our favorite place to hang out for vacation.

The boys especially loved visiting with their teenage boy cousins and just running around like maniacs, MaraJade spent 80% of her time in the living room with the giant dollhouses, and Eowyn was pretty much in heaven all around. She was obsessed with the little kittens and birds in the house and easily doubled her vocabulary in the time we were there. By the end of the trip, she was constantly saying, "outSIDE!", "Kee" (kitty), "bieete!" (bite), "wheeng" (swing) and much more.