February Randomness

I love Costco! We go 3-4 times a month and stock up. Here are the little girls after one our errand mornings. It's the big kids' job to put all the toilet paper in the cupboard, in both bathrooms. Good job for them.


Feb. 6 we all went to Home Depot just for a bunch of miscellaneous stuff for the house. Home Depot had a free building kit for the kids. All the big kids built a car display shelf. I didn't think Julia would care about it, but she wanted to make one too. The next day, they all painted their shelves.

I got a kick out of the finished projects: Julia's looked nothing like a car display. She made it about as pink and girly as was possible, I think. Lauren's got painted pink, too, but she left the car sticker. She painted a scene on the back, too. And then Austin's shelf looked like an even snazzier display. Forget the wood color--paint it Home Depot orange. He told me, as he painted, "The M&M car is my favorite, then the Home Depot car."

Our little readers: Austin came home from school one day with a Magic Tree House book his friend Kana had given him. He read it that same night! I was shocked! I knew he was a good reader, but didn't know he could handle chapter books without getting frustrated, yet. He then went on to read another Magic Tree House book from Julia's collection--finishing both in three hours. He read another 3? 4? over the next few days.

One of the things we bought on our Home Depot trip was a new faucet for our main bathroom. The old one had green algae growing inside the clear handle. Yuck! Feb. 20 Brian installed the new fixture and cleaned out the drain while he was under the sink. Caroline was his big helper. ;) You can also see what he found in the pipes--ewwwww! He told me to take that picture for my blog, BTW.

Old faucet: you can't see the algae in the handle b/c Brian popped the top off and cleaned it out. However--there was water swirling around inside, afterwards, and we knew the algae would return. I wasn't at all sad about it. I was more than happy to get a new style of faucet. ;)

Oooooooh, aaaaah, pretty! All the kids like it better too! Funny!

Feb. 21 I attempted to get a picture of the girls in their coordinated outfits. Austin was my assistant this time. Riding the stick horse and making the See & Say play music. Most of the pictures turned out something like the first: crooked and *especially* Caroline trying to escape!

We got quite a bit of much-needed rain last month. On one of the dry days, the youngest three went out to play. Austin and Lauren had fun building with his blocks and pipes he got for Christmas. Caroline was so happy being out there! She loves going outside, and had a great time digging in the dirt.

Austin made this hat at school when they learned about George Washington's birthday and President's Day. It was cute; till Caroline ripped it apart, that is. She's a stinker these days! Tonight she put her dirty shirt that was to go in the hamper, in the Tupperware cupboard in the kitchen. Stinker! She is fascinated with all of our shoes. Almost every day she clomps across the floor in Austin or Lauren's shoes. I think they stay on the best since they're closest in size to hers. Plus--Austin and Lauren often leave their shoes laying around.

The little rascal strikes again! She dumped out the entire, just-filled, bowl of cat food. No, no, Caroline!

We printed out our own Valentines this year for Austin and Julia to bring to school. Plus used a few leftover from other years. Austin shared the pirate ones, and Julia brought the pink/brown ones, to their classmates. Cute! They both had parties at school. Austin with his school Valentines:

Julia with her school Valentines and teddy bear from her friend, Megan. And Miss Innocent in her Valentine t-shirt. My sister gave this shirt to Julia when she was a baby, and all the girls have worn it. Cute!

Lauren and Caroline play so nicely together! They have a lot of fun, just the two of them!

My friend Marsha gave us a box of hand-me-downs for Austin, and the little girls played car with the box. Lauren packed it full of toys, books, blankets, a flashlight (see picture above, Ha!), Caroline's sippy cup, and off then pushed Caroline around the living room and hallway in the box. Not easy with all that stuff inside!

Feb. 25 was Wax Museum night at school. Everyone in Julia's class had to choose a biography to read, then write a report about that person. If they wanted, the students could portray that person at the Wax Museum. Julia chose Anne Hutchinson, and also wanted to be part of the Wax Museum. I'm not sure why Julia chose her; maybe because she's interested in the Colonial time period? I'll have to ask her.

At Wax Museum night, the participants were given a gold sticker that was their "button". People came around and pushed the button, and the student would give a mini speech about who they were. Julia wore her Colonial girl Halloween costume and was the only person I heard who had their speech completely memorized. The kids were allowed to use notes, though. We'd never been to Wax Museum before, and it was a fun night. We saw all kinds of people, from Cleopatra, the Wright Brothers, and their sister (!), Shirley Temple, Harriet Tubman, the Queen of Sheba, sports players, Charlie Chaplin, Genghis Khan, Marie Curie, to even Barack Obama! That one I had to keep from chuckling, as it was a blonde, blue-eyed boy saying, "I am Barack Obama. I was born in ..... Etc."

In the second picture, Julia's giving her speech to two boys from her class.

We could vote for our top 5 characters, then those kids got to perform their acts at the next PTA meeting. At least that's what Julia thought. She didn't win for the night, but both her 2nd and 3rd grade teachers told me they voted for her! :) It was interesting, though, 4 of the 5 winners were from her class. She was happy about that.

Double Digits

This little sweetie turned 10 yesterday {1st and 3rd birthdays}.


Some things never change.


Dance class {3 1/2 years}. Last night of Cubbies when she was awarded her Bible for finishing her Character Builders book. She's used that one till now; we gave her one for older kids last night. {5 years}

And now she's 10! Last Saturday I took only Julia out for lunch at Panera Bread. She said, "This is a nice little bread shop..." :) It was the first time either of us had been there. She picked a chocolate chip cookie for dessert. We ran to Target to get some things for her birthday party. And then to Penney's. It was nice to spend some time with my oldest girl.

These were taken yesterday. The second smile is after I said, "There was no talking about boys last night at the party, was there...?..."

Big smile. "Yes, there was!..... We talked about lots of things." (I'm sure they did, not going to bed till 3 am and all...)

Last night we all went to California Pizza Kitchen, so Julia could get her free birthday kids meal and sundae. Olive Garden is her favorite restaurant, but she chose CPK because she said this is the last year she'll get a free meal there (they stop at 10 years). The wait to be seated was 45 minutes, so we went to Barnes and Noble nearby. One of Julia's friends had given her a gift certificate, so she spent part of it. On an American Girl Felicity mystery and an American Girl Smart Girl's Guide to Boys. Or something like that. Boys! Fourth grade has been the first year she's been interested in them!

She's doing awesome in school. {Day before she started Kindergarten, 5 years} She still sleeps with her special blanket. {2 1/2 years}

Julia used to hang around by herself at school. Every year I'd ask her teacher about it at conference time. In Kindergarten, Mrs. D said, "I know they like her. She's just quiet. Sometimes it's nice to have a quiet girl when you have a bunch of rowdy boys! (in the class)"

In first grade, Mrs. S said, "It's a choice she's making. It looks like she's playing, but she runs and hops by herself." (Around the kids, not with them.)

In second grade, Mrs F said, "I've seen kids like her before. They're particular. All of a sudden, around 3rd or 4th grade, they'll say, 'I pick you.', and they'll have a friend. "

In third grade, Mrs. K said, "I don't know why she hangs around by herself. It's a choice she's making. She doesn't seem unhappy."

Julia's been able to entertain herself from the time she was a little, tiny girl. And was content playing on her own. Well, low and behold, 4th grade starts, and Julia is suddenly friends with a group of girls. She's known all of them, except Megan, for years. It turns out, Mrs. F was right. She is close to 80 years old, and has seen a lot of kids. I told Julia's 4th-grade teacher about her "social progress", and Mrs. MS just nodded. And said about Julia's friends, "Those are all good girls, great students!" And they were all very nice at the party. Well-behaved and friendly. Good job, "Particular" Julia!

We are so proud of our sweet Julia and love her so much! Next year she'll have to add a toe to show her age... ;)

Slumber Party

Julia turned 10 yesterday! A whole decade old! This year she wanted a slumber party for her birthday. Her first slumber party. She was soooooo excited. Austin and Lauren were so excited. The girls who came were so excited. There really was a lot of excitement at our house. Hee hee. The girls came, and dropped off there stuff in the family room: a mountain of sleeping bags, backpacks, pillows and stuffed animals. And even a special lovey blankie or two. Huh. I don't remember my friends bringing blankies and stuffed animals to sleepovers. Very cute though.

Our first activity was making mice. I saw the craft in my Family Fun magazine, and Julia liked the idea. Austin made a mouse. He had to have a blue sock. No pink or hearts on his boy mouse!! Lauren made two mice.


The mice turned out pretty cute. Some of the girls had a little extra fun with the Poly Fil. Their mice turned into rats. Or guinea pigs. Or, as in the case of the black one below, a rat-coon (it's maker said!). LOL I said the fat mice looked like opossums. The girls didn't like that idea. Ewwww....! Most of the mice are in this picture. You can also see the pizza and soda we had for dinner. Oh, and some carrots. ;) I also served Caesar salad (Julia's favorite), grapes, strawberries, and chips.


The girls ate in the family room at the card table. They liked having their own little retreat, I think!! It was pure torture for Austin and Lauren, who ate at the dining room table with us, when the girls shut the French doors to the family room. Those two wanted to be in on everything the big girls did! The big girls really were nice, letting Austin and Lauren do a lot of their activities. And they adored Caroline! Too funny! She got to go in the private room with the big girls for quite awhile. The girls changed into their pajamas really early in the evening, at their choice. They put up someone's blankie and over the glider rocker and toy kitchen and used that area to change in! Forget Julia's bedroom. Or the bathroom--rooms that actually have, um, doors... And walls... ;)

Julia opened her presents. It's always interesting to me, at these kid parties, that the gifts always turn out to be different--no duplicates, and there is always a wide variety of stuff given.


Brian picked up the cake from Dairy Queen. The girl told him to bring in butterflies if we wanted them on the cake, so Austin found these in his bug cage.

Kids at the party: Austin, Chloe, Julia G., Julia B., Lauren, Megan, Rachel.

Julia blew out all ten candles in one breath!

Then we enjoyed yummy cake. Well, ice cream, as there was no cake in the cake. ;) Other things that went on at the party:

*Lots and LOTS of silliness! When the Domino's man delivered the pizza, he shook his head and said, "That's too many girls for me...I have two nieces, and they get loud!"

*The girls pretended to put on a movie in the family room. A few had brought flashlights, and they got a bunch of baby dolls and pretended they were doing a movie about finding all the babies that had been stolen in the last ten? thirty? years. ???? They had all the lights off, and all of a sudden we'd see flashes of light from the flashlights. And a girl would come out, running with a baby doll!

*The girls ran races and relays down our long hallway. Austin and Lauren were included.

*The girls took off their socks and ran around in the yard--in the dark, in the rain--barefoot. Oh what fun! What an adventure! They had the flashlights out there, too.

*At one point they wanted to dance. Brian had set up our old DVD player in the family room. It has been in the attic since we moved here. Still works, but clicks periodically, has done that since an earthquake in Dec. 2003. Anyway. The girls wanted to dance to CDs in the DVD player. So I tried to find some dance music. Let me tell you, that was not easy. For one thing, we don't have many CDs, just don't buy a lot. And the ones we do have? Half are Christmas. Then there is a variety of others. I ended up giving them some from Brian's college days that might work for dancing. I told the girls they were old. They didn't care! So off they went with Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth, one of Gloria Estefan's, the sound track to Beaches... You get the idea. They put in Unguarded (Amy Grant) first. Oh my, how I was laughing about them dancing to that. Funny!!!! I guess I used to listen to '60s music with my friends, so maybe that's what '80s music is to these girls?!?!

*They watched our Princess Diaries movies, started with the first, but only watched a bit of it before putting in the second. I think it ended around 1 am, which is when I went to bed. I thought the girls would be sleeping shortly, as they were all in the dark on/in their sleeping bags. But no! Brian and I awoke at 3ish, hearing a couple in the bathroom, not goofing off, just using the bathroom.

The next morning, they said they'd stayed up till 3! I guess our Julia was the first to sleep, then the other Julia, then Megan, and Rachel and Chloe were the last. Chloe slept in the latest in the morning, waking up just before 9 for breakfast. We made pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

It's a wonder anyone was hungry, as they ate plenty of food the night before: supper, then cake. Then they brought two of the soda bottles in their private room, along with the grapes and carrots. And a bowl of M&Ms, a bowl of peanuts, and two bags of popcorn. Plus they'd made S'mores in a bag before their movie. All of that was polished off, except for some of the carrots, the next morning.

*After breakfast the girls painted wood picture frames. They turned out really cute. No pictures of those though, because I was busy, cleaning up, taking a shower. Plus the girls left, one-by-one after that. The last girl was picked up about 12:30 pm.

It was a fun night. The girls were all well-behaved and along great with eachother! I think Julia had a good time and hope she will have good memories of her 10th birthday party.

Austin's 7-Year Portraits, Caroline's 18-month Portraits

I took Austin's and Caroline's pictures, way back--Jan. 23 and Feb. 1. I debated sharing them, since it's so long afterwards, but thought I should, since Julia and Lauren's were shared. It's hard doing indoor pictures, inside, in the winter, simply because there is less natural light at good times in our schedule. And often the weather is cloudier or rainier than usual. I can't complain though; I know we get more daylight in the winter than other parts of the country. And no snow, and probably less clouds and rain. Anyway. Here are some of Austin's pictures:


He's such a goofball, and even though stopping playing wasn't his idea, he cooperated nicely. Actually was very silly the whole time!! He got one of the suckers afterwards for doing such a good job. :)

This little lady was another story. Oh. My. Word.!!! What a little stinker! And busybody!

Does it look like she wanted to sit still? Well, she didn't! Thank goodness I had Assistant Lauren making music with the stick horse and See & Say toy to get Caroline to look. The biggest problem was getting Caroline to stay put! She did have a ball dancing on the fleece, so Lauren would start the music, and we'd say, "Dance, Caroline! Can you dance on the pink?" Ha!

She was having a good time. Dancing and prancing, anyway. Lauren brought out the beads. Caroline brought them to us, giving us a strand, back to the bead pile, back to us with another stand. I kept tossing them back to get her in the right spot again, so on and on this little game went. Dance, prance, share the beads.

Caroline spent plenty of time rolling on the pink, too. At least she was happy, rolling, and would check to see if we were looking. More fun and games with Mommy and Lauren. I like this one.

But this is my most favorite. :)