Christmas Photo Dump

Really it's for the Grandparents. It's a weak effort but when you consider what I have done since Emery was born (oh, you mean you didn't know about her because I never blogged that baby #4 actually arrived? yeah, she's almost 14 months old now.) it's quite an improvement.

So, here is our December in not particular order with no explanation.

I tried.

Christmas Eve

The title of the post pretty much says it all.

There are four of them.

I have no expectations when I attempt to take a group picture.

What are the odds?

Really, what are the odds that I would be inspired (i.e. temporarily insane) to take my four children to the zoo on my own in the first place? I wasn't completely on my own though. I did go with a friend and her three children.

But seriously, what are the odds that as soon as we let the three two year olds out of their strollers that a zookeeper would inform us that a monkey had gotten loose and we would have to evacuate the zoo. Fortunately as we were headed to the gate they decided to let people into the carousel and gave free rides to pass the time while everyone waited. And I'll admit, I did find it amusing to be on the inside of the zoo receiving updates from the workers; they had him cornered, he wouldn't go back in on his own, they would have to "dart" him. Come on though, what are the odds?

Fall Festivities

October was basically pumpkin patch mania with a little candy gathering at the end. I think I was the only one that really felt the mainia. Three seperate pumkin patch trips was almost more than I could handle but the kids had fun and that's what is important. Right? (If I keep telling myself that I may actually go to one next year.)



First, Ella had a preschool trip to The Farm. She survived the hay maze, pet a kitten, journeyed to the fields via tractor, picked a pumpkin, watched a pig show and ate an ice cream bar in the freezing cold.




Eli got to come too. (I thought that he would enjoy seeing himself in this picture but I can't get him to believe that it's not his friend Calvin. There is no winning with a one year old.)

Next, we took our traditional family trip to Craven Farms. We ate kettle corn, visited the animals, played on the farm and picked out our pumpkins. We were lucky enough to visit on a beautiful day.

Finally, I was a chaperone for Emilia's kindergarten class trip to The Farm. She rode a school bus for the first time, survived the hay maze, pet a rabbit, journeyed to the fields via tractor, picked a pumpkin, ate ice cream in the freezing cold, watched a pig show and the duck race. Then refused to ride the bus back to school with the rest of her class and rode back to the school with me.
We put our pumkins to good use by cutting them up. Emilia loved every minute of it. Ella wanted nothing to do with it. And Eli was beyond disgusted to discover what the inside of a pumpkin looks like.

Emilia removing the pumkin guts.

Eli the spectator.

Ella avoiding the pumkins completely. She did want to show off her chosen pattern.


Our little witch, cat and dragon collected far more candy than I will ever allow them to eat but had alot of fun doing it. We Trick or Treated with friends and even let Eli out of the stroller. He caught on quite quickly at one point running up to a door to get "mo cani".

Eternal Sunshine of the 5 Year Old Mind

Background: A couple of months ago I was driving in the van with the kids. The bar exam was soon to be in the past and we were looking to leave apartment managing behind.



Emilia: Our van is really big. We could sleep in here.

Me: Sure.

Emilia: It's OK if we don't find a house. We could just sleep in our van. We're really lucky that we have a van that we can sleep in.



That's every parents dream. Graduate from college. Daddy goes to law school. Live in a van.

All I Want For Christmas. . . .

She may have lost her two front teeth, but never fear, she received replacements at her school's Fall Festival on Friday.

Quick Update

So, I've neglected blogging a bit lately. Here is what we've been up to. Fletcher studied for the bar exam. Who knew something could make him busier than working full-time and attending law school. He also decided to apply for a LLM program at UW (one more year of school) to which he was accepted. By the time the bar exam was over we decided that we were finished with school. He can always go back to school for an LLM. By the way, he passed the bar. It really is over.

Here is what the rest of us did.

Ella finished preschool for the school year.

Later that same day, Emilia finished preschool-forever.

Eli stopped grunting like a caveman in order to communicate. He then developed his own language that we've been trying to master. He has finally begun to convert to English, i.e. airplane is no longer bama it is now ah-pane. He did become a huge fan of Barack Obama (Baka Bama) during the campaigns and I think he just didn't feel right yelling bama at planes any more.

Roller skates were made.

As well as knee pads.

Surprisingly, no bones were broken.

We hit Diego Live once more. Yes, you would think I would have learned the first time.

Eli became an artist. While he enjoys painting, he seems to prefer his creations be in ink and on the wall.

We moved! We gained a third bedroom, a fenced in backyard and left an apartment management job behind. No tears shed over the loss.

Emilia began kindergarten.

Many tears have been shed on both our parts.

Ella began preschool.

No tears shed. Quite surprising since she cried every day (and I am not kidding when I say every day) last year.

I resumed my role as full time chauffeur.

Emilia turned 6!

And child #4 is on the way. I intended to blog about this months ago but since I haven't blogged in months. . .

We have been told it's a girl. But after two strikeouts with Emilia and Ella, I've become a "see it to believe it" girl when it comes to ultrasound predictions. I am due on Thanksgiving day. Two days after Eli's 2nd birthday. Since the first three came early I've been counting on this baby to come a little early as well. And I am fully aware that I am setting myself up to be in a really bad mood the week of Thanksgiving by possibly giving myself false hope.

Grocery Shopping With Daddy

Let me just say that a trip to the grocery store is so much more enjoyable when it isn't just me and the kids. If I am going to do the awful chore, I might as well have someone to keep me company, other than the three tornadoes I bring with me.

Fletcher's reaction to the experience: "Are they always like this?"

No. They don't always do "ballet" moves as they maneuver the isles. And no, I don't let Eli out of the cart to walk halfway through the trip. There is usually no joy to our trip. I rarely have a smile on my face. Usually, through clenched teeth, I am issuing threats in an attempt to keep the girls from destroying the store and am doing everything to keep Eli from escaping the useless seat belt on the cart. And by the end Eli is screaming his head off because I am shoving him back into the cart wondering if I can get that belt any tighter and the girls have apparently gone deaf because they don't hear anything I say to them.

If he thinks tonight was bad, he really should take them grocery shopping on his own.

My Little Gumby

We have been making up for lost time by cramming every activity possible into Fletcher's first week out of school. Is is sad when you feel like you are on vacation because your husband is only working 40 hours a week? So, on Memorial Day we hit the aquarium and Emilia hit the bin of scuba diving gear.

Getting a little help from Daddy.

Here she is! Our little scuba girl! Thanks to "Finding Nemo" Emilia and Ella spent a period of time thinking divers were evil.

Down she goes.

And she's not getting up.

This is better.