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.

Happy Easter!

The kids were all scrubbed and dressed up for Easter (at my insistence - the boys were even wearing sweater vests!), but you'll have to take my word for it, since (as usual) we were running super late for church and didn't even have a minute to grab a picture before or after. But they looked cute!

Right after church, it was quick cooking/baking/prepping to head on over to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day's activities. The kids had a ball, and the weather cooperated long enough for the Egg Hunt, and all 6 kidlets got to partake. Sadly, right out of the gate, MissE took a tumble, got very muddy, and was done! But they all had a blast and got enough candy to last them until the next candy-filled holiday.

ALL the grandkids!

Falling down stinks!

But these yummy blue eggs make it a little better.

It's the Easter Kazi!

My Posing Princess

!

1 Year Picture Test

It's time for another of my favorite things - Pick the Bocek Baby Test! Here are the kids at 13-14 months old. You may see a resemblance among them. :-)

So.....who's who?








Answers:
M, MJ, T, MJ
T, M, E, T
M, E, MJ, E

Where's My Prince?

Some kind friends dropped off a bag of clothes for the girls, as well as a cute ride-on toy for MissE. She immediately fell in love with the pretty pink car with princesses on it. She really loves the buttons on the steering wheel that play either a princess phrase or a little ditty. Mace isn't loving it quite as much. The constant playing of the song seems to disturb his delicate auditory balance - because of course he never does anything loud or annoying. He's even been seen tossing the toy into the bathroom and slamming the door, telling MissE "No more!" I'd feel bad for him if I didn't remember the many things he does each and every day that are annoying in the extreme.

Anyway, I think this video pretty much sums it up;

My Dancing Princesses

MaraJade and Eowyn love to dance to anything, but particularly the Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses movie. I recently found my only remaining dance costume and let Monster wear it. She loved dancing to her favorite songs in dance costume - usually she's in princess costume with her Superman doll as prince! If you watch closely, you can see she's imitating the video pretty well. I know she'd love to start dance lessons, but I just have to figure out how to squeeze that into the budget!

Spring Break 2011

We had quite a bit of fun this Spring Break. PJ had the week off, and we just stayed in town but did a bunch of fun stuff (thanks to Groupons, Entertainment Book and the like!). As I recall, we went to: Enchanted Playhouse (think McDonald's playland plus Gymboree - fine, and close to home, but not worth the $7.25/kid), Precision Elite Gymnastics open gym, JJ Jump, Pietro's, bowling, swimming, plus dinner at Olive Garden. Oh, and Tristen had his first cavities filled. :-(

Responsibility!

In the interest of preserving Mom and Dad's sanity, instilling our children wtih a good work ethic and sense of place in our "community", and just because I think it's time, we've been focusing on the kids helping out more around the house. We had a pretty good FHE about it, we've instituted Chore Charts for all the kids (the boys had an after-school chore duty sheet before) and we've promised to be more on top of allowance doling. I know, current parenting philosophy is that children shouldn't be paid to do what they are already supposed to around the house - they should do it just because they live there. And part of me definitely agrees. However, I also believe that it's important to teach the kids how the world really works: you have a job with parameters, and when you perform your job as expected, you receive compensation. Don't do your job, no money. I guess I favor realism over idealism too much. And we did explain that there will be things we ask them to do that aren't on the Chore Chart, and they won't receive money every time we ask them to help out. The Chore Chart items are what they receive money for. Anyway, even prior to this, I had started having the kids fold their own laundry. We dump it in a big pile, they sort into their baskets, fold and put away. It's so nice! Here, on Laundry Day:

Of course, Mace needs many, many reminders to stay on task, Monster (if she's in a mood) just wallers around saying "I can't!" to everything I tell her to do, and Tristen is very responsible, but also quite bossy. It's a work in progress. :)

PreSchool

We love our pre-school. We really, really do. MaraJade loves it, the boys loved it (still think it's the best school ever!), we love the curriculum, staff, kids - everything! Our kids all learned so much their pre-school year, and thrived in the loosely structured, child-and-play-led program. This spring, Teacher Kristen and the High School Helpers have focused a lot on plants. MaraJade has brought home and sprouted wildflowers, sunflowers, and even has a grass head! I wouldn't change pre-schools for anything!

Snow Day!

Well, we nearly didn't have one this year, but very late in the season, it finally snowed! Of course, it had mostly melted by the time the kids woke up, but then it started up again in the afternoon. The kids were in the middle of an enforced room-clean, but I released them from servitude to go and live it up while it was white. (Sorry about the many many pics of T, but it's been so very long since he's given me any decent shots of him!)

MissE wants to play!

Hmmm...this is odd...

Taking a test...

%*@! - that stuff's cold!

Oh, and just in case there was any doubt about what makes snow melt:

Tristen is 9!

I truly can't believe my little curly-headed baby is 9 years old. Really, truly can't. I knew so little about anything when he was first born, and have learned so much through being his mother. He's frustrated me, perplexed me, delighted me, astounded me, and brought me endless joy. He's a wonderful big brother (when he's so inclined), very responsible and helpful (again - when he wants to be), a natural athlete and video gamer, quiet and observant, and rowdy and goofy. He's a carbon copy clone of his father - but I'm there in his eyes and dimples. I remember when he was a baby, thinking, "This baby/parenting stuff is easy! I could do this 10 times, no problem!" So thank you, Tristen. Thank you for being first. Because if your brother had been, there would have been no more. You're a tough act to follow.

The Hyrulian Sword (Zelda). The "rock" for holding candles also disguised my super messy spots. No more carved cakes for awhile, kids - please?