Mavis Is Six Months

Mavis is six months! Still the best baby ever...even though she is still awake up the six times a night. She is sitting up by herself and getting more busy. I see crawling in the very near future. Right after Mavis gets a bath and her hair washed, her hair does the cute little Kewpie Doll thing. It only lasts a day and it is so cute! I sort of love it...

As I tell Mavis daily...this is your life and you are stuck with all of us whether you like it or not.

Rhett Had a First Day Too

Before I get to Rhett's first day I wanted to tell a story about Rhett from the summer. Rhett is maturing quick! All of a sudden he takes showers all by himself and wipes his butt by himself (everytime!), but he is still so innocent. Over the summer he had some play time with a little girl friend of his. They bonded over a treasure hunt. They spent 2 hours searching for clues for a treasure. A trashed straw pointed in a direction was a clue, a gum wrapper was a clue, a piece of old gum on the blacktop was a clue...this went on and on. When it was time to leave they made plans to search for the treasure next week. Both Molly and Rhett couldn't wait. They were sure they would find a treasure. So, Molly's mom gathered a treasure and on the day of the playdate she hid a clue and the treasure. The treasure was a brown bag of foreign coins with the word "treasure" on it. Oh, the look on their faces when they found the treasure. Absolutely priceless. I wish I could have videotaped it. They were sure the treasure was left by pirates. They never suspected us. So sweet and innocent. Now, Molly and Rhett made plans to ask Santa for a metal detector for Christmas. We can't wait to see these two searching for "treasures" at the park together with their metal detectors.

First day of first grade! He heard it was "the best grade," so he was super excited to start. Thanks to whoever told him that...

Rhett is loving first grade. He is such a good boy at school. A substitute recently said to me, "I hardly even remember Rhett, because he was always sitting and doing what he was supposed to be doing." Rhett told us, "Well, I would be good at home too if WE had a principal like at school." Apparently, the threat of going to the principal's office is enough to scare him straight. If only we had a threat that powerful...

Mezmur's First Day of Preschool

Mezmur's first day of school!

I might have the smartest preschooler...the evidence...

Just in case you aren't schooled in the area of the snack sign. The idea is for the children to look at the sign and know how many of each snack they get. Obviously, my sign makes the idea very clear...but check out Mezmur's sign. Notice the number 10 and the 10 orange lines? Those are the lines for the pretzels. I didn't even know she did this until Teacher Sam pointed it out to me later. Oh, she is so bright.

Mezmur had a great time with her friends. When I ask her who she liked playing with she said, "Teacher Sam." She is her "favorite girl" after all.

Mezmur had a great time at preschool today and I got to parent help on the first day of school! Sure, I am the parent scheduler, so it may have been planned.

This is Mavis' "ooops" face. While finishing up the cleaning, I heard a loud bang. Mavis pulled down a potted plant. I didn't even know she was capable of such a thing. But, who could be mad at such a cute face...

Sure, it was another mess for me to clean, but at least no baby was hurt. That would be a very sad cartoon episode when the potted plant lands on the baby's head.

Here's to a great preschool year!

Summers End

This was the summer of survival. We didn't get out too much. We didn't even have one trip to "the farm." Crazy for us. A 7:30 bedtime, avoiding melt downs, and just keeping the peace was our survival this summer. A few weeks of summer camp for Rhett and one day a week school for Mezmur was also survival. This gave me some "one on one" time with the big kid and the baby.

All of these photos I found on my phone. I figured they told a good story of our summer of survival.

Smoothie date with the big kid and baby. When Mezmur is away...Rhett can be a real pleasure to be around...and the same goes for Mezmur. I remember this was a real peaceful moment. Rhett holding the baby while I sipped on coffee after playing at the park and a long walk.

Mezmur and Adi. I love this photo...it just says "summer" to me.

Happy hour play date! This was my favorite day of the week. Us moms would indulge in a delicious beverage and the children would run wild around the street going from house to house to tree house. The kids thought it was a play date for them and the moms thought it was the perfect way to get rid of the kids for a couple hours. Even though I still have two little girls stuck to my hip, it was all about the adult conversation and cocktails...survival.

Snow cone Friday. We had four weeks of swimming lessons. On Friday we got snow cones. While I thought maybe I was being a strict parent by not letting my children indulge everyday after lessons...I had to set a boundary, otherwise this would be all they would talk about all week! Snow cone Friday was a great thing for us to look forward to all week. What possessed me to sign the kids up for four weeks of swim lessons five days a week? Survival. It was a great way to separate the big kids from the fighting and give me a "break" in the afternoon, which is the toughest time of the day with the fighting...and they thought it was all about them. They loved it!

Summer finally came two weeks before school started. Although, I must say I'm more of a spring and fall kinda gal. The kids know when mommy gets grumpy she is either too hot or too cold. We spent a lot of time at parks this summer. Although, it was tough. I would go to big parks with water features with Dan and the low key parks I could handle by myself. I never wanted to be the mom who was afraid of how her own kids would act when it was time to go, but alas...this summer, that was me. We would usually go to the park with friends and make a deal to leave together to make my life a little easier...survival.

Luckily, our "third wheel" was mostly enjoyable company on our eleventh anniversary date. Dessert was her favorite, because at the "adult" restaurant she was so bored. We were wishing there was a doorway with a Johnny Jump Up while we were trying to enjoy our focaccia with butternut squash butter and Pinot Noir.

I'm sure a teacher or two would say...this punishment might instill a dislike for writing, but this is the new discipline in our house. Not only does it teach an important lesson about how we treat people, but he also practices his writing skills. Oh, and gives me a 30 minute break from the drama that is Rhett...survival.

I'm proud to say that I survived the summer. Who is with me to bring full year school to the Portland school district?

P.S. I love my kids and love to be with them, but sometimes they are very hard to live with.

Mavis Is Five Months!

I mean, seriously, isn't Mavis the cutest baby on Earth? We love Mavis so much and she is starting to let her personality show. She is quick to laugh and smile, adaptable, easy going...no, she isn't sleeping through the night, but I can deal with that. A couple weeks ago at her 4 1/2 month appointment she weighed in at almost 19 pounds. She is a big, fat, squishy baby. Even Mezmur loves the squish, because she loves to bite and pinch Mavis. That's another story...

Sorry for the wind in the beginning, but here is our happy, easy going, sweet baby Mavis.