Shoo Shoo

It's been almost another whole month, but before he gets any older I wanted to post a few fun facts about the cutest kid in the crew while he's still 9 months old:

• Thanks to a HOT and HUMID summer, we have discovered that Isaac has some crazily cute curly hair.

 That hair though.  Hahaha.  He was rocking that swoopy floop for a good week or two after our air was out.

• The sugar baby LOVES watching the washer and dryer.  He could wander back and forth between the two for hours just watching the clothes spin.  Hahaha.  

 Hahahahaha.

• Some of his newest skills over the last month include climbing in and out of cupboards, racing up the stairs, and standing (if balanced JUST right) for a few seconds at a time.

•  I'm still trying to make fetch happen with his stuffed lion, but I'm not sure how well it's working.  Sometimes he seems like he's getting attached, but other times I think he knows that it's the harbinger of sleep time and he tries to get that thing as far away from him as possible.  Hahaha.  He's a smart little cookie.  

• The last couple of weeks saw an exponential increase in fussiness as his top two teeth finally popped through, but I think we're in the clear now that they've emerged.  

• He's learned how to make a clicking noise with his tongue and it's adorable.

• I think he's starting to associate his "mamamamama" babblings with ME.  :)

•  And finally, he's still happiest when there's a lot going on around him.  Whenever we're out and about, people always comment on how easy-going and content he seems.  Well, that's mostly because he's got interesting, new things to see and do.  When we're home, he gets pretty fussy when there's nothing or no one to entertain him.  Hahaha.  I guess we're just good at creating high maintenance children.  .  

{On our walk this morning, Isaac enjoyed kicking back, relaxing, and watching Alex throw rocks in the river.}

And that's a wrap.  We sure do love our cute little Shoo Shoo, even if he has been a little fussy face for the last few weeks.  ;)

A Rite of Passage

You know what's my favorite thing about "free" ear piercing at Claire's?  How expensive it is.  Hahahaha.  Seriously, though.  When the fine print reads that the piercing is free after purchasing the starter kit, you know you're going to have a problem. Let me walk you through the rite of passage for every girl in this family...

• Squeezing the Claire bear seems to help with the nervousness that comes from having a hole poked through your ears.  Even if both big sisters assure you that it really doesn't hurt that much.  (SPOILER ALERT -- it did hurt that much.) 

• Other sisters will invariably tag along.  And want to buy stuff, too.

 Our little fashionista.

 Direct quote at bedtime tonight -- "Every night, before bed, I brush my hair, change my clothes, and put on lip gloss."

• Picking out the earrings is fun.  Waiting to be pierced -- not so much.

 The tears kind of broke my heart.  I had a feeling this would be harder for her than Grace and Sophie.  They downplayed any pain or discomfort so much, that it lulled her into a false sense of security -- even though I tried to even things out by letting her know that it WOULD hurt at least a little, because a hole was being poked through her ear.  Poor Jane.

• Since Claire's always has some sort of "deal" going on, extra stuff was inevitably added onto the tab.   

 Rainbow crystal daisies for the win!

 An extra set of earrings, a bracelet, and some lip gloss helped dry her tears.

• Everyone goes home happy!

So, to recap -- between paying for the starter earrings, adding on an extra pair for "only $5!", and letting all three girls pick out junk (because "buy 3, get 3 free!", duh), the grand total for this "free" ear piercing was around $75.  And that's fact.  Hope these earrings stick!  Hahaha.  Happy Birthday, Jane!!!

Jane is 7!

My cute little half-birthday twin celebrated the big number 7 yesterday!  Well, technically we CELEBRATED on Saturday, but Sunday was the official day.  And while she was initially disappointed that it wasn't a "friend party" year, I think we made a big enough to-do about her day to make her happy until NEXT year's 8th birthday extravaganza.

The partying started Friday evening when Scott took the middle four to the movies for Jane's special request of "Pete's Dragon."  Ethan opted out and stayed home, having his OWN movie night watching whatever he wanted, while Isaac went to bed, and I ran to Michael's and Target to procure all the items for Jane's special request "Cheeky Chocolate" Shopkins birthday cake.  Jane LOVES searching Pinterest with me, and after watching a tutorial we found on YouTube a few different times, I decided Cheeky Chocolate seemed like the perfect cake to add to the repertoire.  :)

{Devil's Food chocolate cake with "creamy cocoa frosting" for the filling and the top part of the cake, and cream cheese frosting for the bottom part.}

After running 10 miles on Saturday morning, I came home and got to work on making the cake while Scott took the Grace and Sophie to the store to pick out the birthday presents.  A few hours later we were ready to get the party started!

The kids knocked it out of the park with their gift choices for Jane, and everyone was excited to see what she got and wanted to play, too.  It's always highly entertaining to me to see what strikes the kids' fancies based on the power of advertising during the shows they watch on TV, and this birthday's requests were no exception.  The only two things Jane has been asking for this birthday, are Num Noms {???} and ear piercing.  I had never even heard of Num Noms, but Alex assured me that series 2 just came out and that Jane really wanted them.  And that they have something to do with lip gloss.  Or something.  Hahahaha.  Seriously, though.  Who comes up with this stuff???  

{I just love that little face.}

I had promised Jane she could get her ears pierced for her birthday, and she was super excited to go and get it done as soon as possible.  I was hoping to postpone the outing until next weekend, but after she told me that her wish when she blew out the candles was to go that evening to get them pierced, I couldn't let that dream slip away!!  Hahaha.

{Alex's gift}

{Ethan's gift}

This is her "Miley" face/imitation of the emoji pillow.

{Grace's gift -- another marketing wonder, the "Flip-a-Zoo"!}

{Sophie's gift (and the piece de resistance) -- the Num Noms Lip Gloss Truck}

Isaac was LOVING the Flip-a-Zoo!  It was so hilarious to see him going crazy for it.  :)

"Not one, it's two! It's Flip-a-Zoo! The toy that flips for you!"  Hahahahaha.

And that was her big day!  I think it was a good one.  ;)  Stay tuned for the breakdown of her ear piercing coming up...

A is for Anarchy

Anarchy or Acting Crazy

{What it means: Doing whatever you want; chaos}

First day back at school is in the books!  And how awesome is this paper that I found in Alex's backpack after school??? Hahahaha.  My favorite thing about it -- other than the fact that the behavior system in his Kindergarten class is Leveled A, B, C, and D, with A equating to anarchy -- is the fact that chaos apparently makes Alex feel all the smiley faces.  Hahahahaha.  Oh Alex.  

But before we get to the After School debriefing, we have to cover the Before School tableau.  Highlights of the morning include everyone waking up with more than enough time to get ready to go; having plenty of time to eat breakfast, make lunches, get dressed, do Scripture Time, and take pictures before going to the bus; and having Scott home for a bit to help send them off.  

Ethan -- 8th Grade

(That's his bus -- it's still so dark when he leaves!)

(Check out that sunrise, though!)

Grace in particular had lots of extra energy this morning, and spent lots of time pacing around the house and the outside and taking pictures with my camera.  Some of them turned out pretty good!

Once it was FINALLY time to head over to the bus stop, I managed to keep everyone still for a couple of seconds while I snapped some pictures to document the day.  They were all so excited to get going that I had to make it quick!

Grace -- 6th Grade

Sophie -- 4th Grade

Jane -- 2nd Grade

Alex -- Kindergarten

Isaac -- School of Fussy Face Teething

A few weeks ago, when I took Grace in for her annual check-up, the doctor asked her if she was excited to go back to school.  Her response cracked me up.  "Yes," she said, "because it gives me a purpose."  Hahahaha.  She's heard me tell Ethan one too many times to "find a purpose," when I'm trying to keep him from unraveling and antagonizing everyone around him.  The phrase and the concept must REALLY resonate with her, though, because since she's gotten home from school this afternoon, I've heard her say at least 5 different times that she really likes school because it gives her a purpose.  Hahaha.  Those kids!

Waiting for the bus!

Our first day send-off was divided into three parts, as Ethan left at dawn, the girls left in the morning, and Alex boarded his bus at noon for afternoon Kindergarten.  As we killed time all morning long, I could tell he was excited but nervous.  While walking back from the playground before lunch, he confessed that he was feeling "a little nervous and scared," and then followed that right up by saying that Jack (his friend and our next-door neighbor) was nervous and scared, too.  So, I guess they had a conversation about that this morning while sending their big sisters off to school!  Hahaha.  How cute is that?  After walking back home, and making sure he had enough to eat, I said a little prayer with him and then we headed across the street to wait for his bus.

By the time the bus got here, he seemed more excited than nervous, and I think having his good friend riding the bus with him and being in the same class did a lot to help the butterflies in his stomach.  ;)  Once he was off to school, it was just me and Isaac for a couple of hours on our own, before Ethan got home from school.

We ran to the library really quick for me to pick up some books on hold, and then got home just in time to put him down for a nap and then clean up the kitchen and pop some cookies in the oven for a special, first-day-of-school, after school treat.  Hearing all about their day was the highlight of MY day.  :)  Everyone seemed to have had an awesome first day, and I think all of their teachers are going to be PERFECT for them.  Grace is excited that she has at least one class with every single one of her friends; Ethan is looking forward to actually doing real school stuff starting tomorrow (as opposed to sitting and listening to class rules and syllabi); Jane says her teacher is SOOO nice; Alex enjoyed shooting some hoops during recess this afternoon; and Sophie was stoked to have a homework assignment tonight of gathering 3 items, to put in a paper bag, that describe something about her.

The after school hubbub was a pleasant one, and after eating some snacks, they scattered off for screen time while I went for a quick walk and then started dinner.  The evening eventually descended into anarchy -- tired, hungry, and over-stimulated kids will do that -- but thankfully the little ones all got to bed on time without too much of a fuss.  Here's to hoping the momentum of back-to-school excitement will get us through the earlier mornings for the rest of this week!