Malia has Earrings!

I'm a little floored by it, honestly... I always said I would let them choose, but I really did expect it later. Especially from her, she is not usually one to put beauty ahead of comfort. They were important to her though, and despite all fair warnings about them hurting and all the things that could go wrong, she decided it was worth it.





being silly

Baby Party!

So long ago when Eliana was just one, sshe picked up the most adorable little baby doll. She carried that (for her massive) box around our favorite toy store (Dilly Dally) for so long. Normally she would eventually drop the box in favor of something new that caught her eye. Not this time, she was not letting go of her baby. "Baby Beh" (it is more of a sound than a word, if that helps make sense of her name)

So we took her home that day. She's been Eliana's favorite baby all these years. She's literally falling apart from love. One leg and one arm both hanging on by stitches, matted hair, and a fair bit of dirt. We decided it was time to buy a new baby, so we went to Dilly dally again yesterday and got the exact same baby again.

She's officially been named Valentina, but I secretly imagine it won't stick. She calls her baby beh more than Valentina for sure. Time will tell.

Yesterday we had a little party to welcome the new baby and retire the old one. So far she hasn't really retired the old one. haha.

I'm sure you can't really tell which baby is new and which is old...


With her babies

First Time with Staples!

We've done stitches, we've done glue... but we had our first time with staples this week.

on Friday Eliana was running across the living room and fumbled over her feet and ran straight in to our (soft, padded) recliner. She didn't even hit a corner. It was really surprising, she must have hit it with a whole lot of force because it split her pretty bad.

She was so brave to, I'm telling you... I have the strongest girls. She fell asleep on my lap around 9, and we didn't get back to a room until 2. I could barely move by then I was in so much pain, they brought a bed out to me to lay her down and then wheeled her back to the room. She continued to sleep until the DR came in and talked super loud and woke her up.

He meant well though, he wanted to make sure she knew what was going on and what he was doing. Which is awesome.

After he did the first staple he said "this will sting for a few minutes" and she boldly replied "well, it doesn't hurt me" and she laid still without needing any restraint for the next two staples as well. After they left she said it hurt a little and her little eyes were teary, but she said it was ok and not to bad. Oh, sweet girl.

Ongoing Fever

Sasha has been having a bit of an ongoing fever. We've alreayd ruled out it being infection based, so we're not really sure how or why she is struggling with this. She seems to go 2-3 weeks healthy and then have a fever for a day or two. it is really sad.

She went for a blood draw yesterday and I was just so proud of her. I told her that they tie a ribbon around your arm, and then poke a needle in to the blue vein (showing it to her) and told her how it pinches for a minute. She asked if they will take the needle back out (haha) and once i answered she said "ok, I'm brave enough for a pinch" and she was. I gave her a lolly right when he started tying the band around her arm and she just watched. Asked a couple questions and afterwards said it was no big deal. Tough chick!

I'll keep everyone posted on how the results come out. They are testing for long term viral infections like mono, epstein barr, parvovirus. They are really the only thing that makes sense right now with how long it has been going on. Everything "dangerous" would have progressed by now.

Ice Storm

We had quite the ice storm here... I hear our state was even declared a federal disaster area. Our particular town faired well, but the county just south of us was hit really hard.

When we were without power we went outside and grilled eggs, biscuits and breakfast meat on the grill in my cast iron pans. We had a big sleepover in the living room around the fireplace. So it was a bit of a fun adventure for us really... we wish it had been as fun for all of our friends.

Our trees weighed down by the ice



The position from which I took most of these pictures


tree Limbs


Being Cute


Sasha was, as expected, the last to go out and first to come in asking where her hot cocoa was.


notice how their feet aren't sinking in at all? Solid sheet of ice dusted with snow.


My poor van was stuck and sealed shut by the ice.

Monkeys Stink

Dad: "ok, let me put that on my shopping list"

Sasha: "and what else?"

Dad: "Monkeys!"

Sasha: "No, not monkeys. They throw poop. They are toooo stinky to buy!"

hahaha

Sorry!

My laptop was at the shop getting some repairs done, so was having to sneak turns in on the kids computer... and then it quit working on me. I think our desktop is dying a very slow and painful death, we'll probably have to buy the girls a new computer soon.

It has been hard to get online and keep you all updated, but now that my laptop has returned home I will try not to get behind anytime soon!

Malia is a bookworm

Seriously, she can't get enough to read. She has moved up from the thin chapter books like rainbow magic and is reading thicker books like Ivy & Bean, and she starts reading and finishes off the entire book in a matter of hours.

Her recent favorite is this 5 book series called Sister Magic. It it a bit thin for her these days, but she was in love with the story line. The story is written from the perspective of 8 year old Mabel. Mabel is a straight laced rule follower who likes things to go according to plan. The trouble is, Mabel has a very whimsical and free spirited 5 yo sister named Violet. If that isn't bad enough, she discovers that Violet has magic. The dynamic between the two is so endearing. Malia can relate so much to Mabel, and yet is enchanted with Violet's nature. Such a cute little series.

She's recently started to get in to Ivy & Bean. If you know of any chapter or series books she might like- do let us know!

Recent Sasha-isms

We recently got a coffee table and the girls thought it was quite neat. So one afternoon I had to tell them "I don't want to see you girls climbing on that table".

In her most serious conflict resolution voice possible she sayd "then don't look!" without even the slightest drop of defiance in her voice.

Then the other night at bedtime Sasha is having a hard time transitioning so I'm holding her and rubbing her back. She very tearfully tells me she wishes she were a grown up so she could stay up "all night yong! And if I were a grown up I could have a BIG cup, and I could cook. With hot food. Because I want to be a chef when I grow up and I don't just like to cook with cold food"

There you have it... grown ups have it made because we can stay up later, use big cups, and use the stove.

My Little Techie

Last night Sasha asked Dathan "Dad, will you log me out of swimming classes?" hahaha

on an unrelated note the other day Sasha announced "I want to live only here. Because you guys make the best food!" Well, ok then.

Malia's Poems

Malia's homework was to write a poem based on the groupings of rhyming words given by the teacher. I thought she might need some help, but all I had to tell her was to put just on line of the poem per written line. She came up with the lines themselves completely alone. She only needed to write one, but she enjoyed it enough to write two. Not bad for first grade.

The Earth
Birds fly in the sky.
The wind blows by.
The sun is bright.
The night is a big sight.
Look what I found!
I live in the ground.

Outside
I am flying.
I am crying.
It is night.
I am filled with fright.
The birds sound,
all around.

Kitty Kitty

Sasha has decided she is a cat. A cat named Cherry Blossom. Kind of cute considerng last week's kitty was named ice-cream-chocolate-bar-sunday-cat.

Yesterday she stripping her clothes off and I asked her to please keep them on since it was kind of cold. She was really serious and replied that she couldn't... because "I am a cat. Cats don't wear clothes!" of course, silly mama.

Don't forget and call her Sasha... this is quite insulting, don't ya know.

Walton Arts Center

Don't tell the kids... but we just ordered pictures to a show based on the Eric Carle book series. It is done by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia. Black lights and puppet like creatures. It looks so cute. Here is a picture of the show-



I love that they are old enough to go do things like this as a family. It has been more of a one parent-one child thing in the past... so it is awesome to be going as a family.

Pumpkin Patch

Malia is lucky enough to be going again today with her class. I had planned to go, but Sasha isn't feeling well so we're going to stay home. Here are some pictures from when we went though.

On the hayride
Eliana ready to get going


She fell in love with this "white" pumpkin


Everyone liked it, actually.


Enjoying the ride


"actually, mom...." Her expression cracks me up here.


We got to actually wade through a field and pick our pumpkin


Eliana spent most of the time running leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of us


Or pulling the wagon




Of course she needed the occasional rest


I don't think any of those orange pumpkins quite compared to the "white" one.


Sweet sisters


Thinking she may have found the perfect pumpkin




She might be sick of the camera, I can't quite tell...


Looking for the perfect pumpkin


Goofing off in true Sasha form...


Found her perfect pumpkin


In the end Eliana went back and found the gray pumpkin and asked if she could buy it. We found out that the seeds are not nearly as good as the typical pumpkin's are. It also had tougher skin and flesh.

The whole way home they contemplated whose pumpkin was the best... their reasoning was hilarious. I am really enjoying these girls lately, they are so much fun!

Eureka!

Waiting for Daddy while he's in a store


Experiencing salt water taffy for the first time


Ana's "pose"... my camera sees a lot of this one right now. haha.


Malia checking out the paintings




Waiting for Daddy again (haha)


Sweet Sasha matching a bench... don't get that opportunity every day

Busy Week!

We had such a fun and busy week with Malia out of school.

We went to the pumpkin patch, Eureka Springs, Fun City (kind of Like Chuck E. Cheese plus a playground), and the art festival. Not to mention lots of little activities like picnics, parks, and libraries. Tomorrow Malia has a party to attend with some friends and then we're back to a regular school week.

I'll post some pictures in the next few days of Eureka and Pumpkin Patch. The girls got to actually go out and pick them off the vine and then we scooped out and roasted the pumpkin seeds. It was the best pumpkins we've got yet. Eliana fell in love with this lone greenish-gray (or white as she calls it) pumpkin variety I'd never seen before.

Eliana is Reading!

I honestly thought it was going to be harder than that. Eliana hasn't realy had the internal drive to learn and write her letters. She's picked them up over the years, but she didn't actually seek them out with interest.

We got her on readingeggs.com, which she had so much fun with. She really liked it. Then we started working on basic principles and some of those little easy readers "Sam sat on cat" and such.

She took right to it, no struggle at all. I'm insanely proud of her, and she is just beeming after reading US a book for a change.

Paka & Rochelle for President!

The other day we were listening to NPR and I was explaining the presidential election to the girls. Upon learning that Barack Obama has a daughter named Malia and a daughter named Sasha, Malia announced from the back seat that SHE wanted to vote for Barack Obama. Eliana quickly followed, agreeing. Sasha replies "I'M gonna vote for Paka & Rochelle".

So apparently my Dad and his wife can expect at least one write in vote.

VANTISTIC!

That is what our van is.

The other day we got a new toy, so I told the younger two they could play in the back of the van while waiting for Malia to get out of school (we have to get there early to get a parking space).

From the back I hear Eliana announcing "This Van is VANtastic!" and giggling wildly. It was so adorable.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?

Sasha "Caaaaan't"

I think she has read and watched enough Charlie and Lola, because I swear she sounded british in her response.

"He can go like a bee.
Mr Brown can BUZZ
How about you?
Can you go BUZZ BUZZ"

"I caaaaan't"

"He can go like a cork...
POP POP POP POP
He can go like horse feet
Klopp klopp klopp"

I caaaaaan't"

It was hilarious. She didn't like the book, but I read to the end because it was just that funny.