Double Digits! 1-0

Miriam at about a year

It's hard to believe that my little baby is growing up so fast.  We love her so much and can't imagine life without her.  Miriam is so sweet.  She is so even tempered, kind, and helpful.  She keeps Jesse company on hikes and kayak trips while we wait for Gwyn to get bigger.  She loves her sister and is intensely protective of her.  She is probably the best older sister ever. 

We love and hate that she is growing up.  It's bittersweet to realize she won't be ours forever. 

Miriam this Christmas at Judd Memorial

We love you Miriam.  Thanks for letting us be your family. 

Spring?

Life is getting exciting here in the midwest!  The sap is flowing, mystery bulbs are poking their heads out in the yard, and I changed my hair color from dark brown, to medium brown.  Ah!  Spring is in the air!

We sent Jesse on a spring break trip to see his brother in California.  Solo parenting has me falling on the couch at 8:30.  But pats on the back to me since we did have family night and we have been reading scriptures.  My entire goal this week:  Keep it together.  Anything accomplished is extra. 

And I'll finish with a fascinating conversation with Miriam on the walk to school last week.
"What does the Holy Ghost look like?"
I said that He is a spirit so doesn't have a body like ours.
"Well, you have to think about what his body looks like to think about what his spirit must look like.  I think the Holy Ghost is a girl."
"Hm.  I haven't heard that theory before."
"Why is the prophet always a boy."
"Well, historically there were women who were prophets."
"My teacher said that Miriam was a prophetess.  Have there ever been any women apostles?  I think that women and men should be equal.  Well, maybe five less than equal."
"Or five more."
"Yeah."


PS, if you didn't know, we're Mormon.

A Very Happy Ninth

This is just a touch late.  Not even a month yet.  Yay for Mom's who finally download pictures! 

Spoons was less of a hit than I thought it would be.  Maybe in a year or two.

I'm not sure how it happened, but we can't be super pumped for anything here.  Miriam's party was incredibly mellow, even though there were 10 kids, tons of balloons, presents, and raucous games of duck, duck, goose and spoons.  Two hour parties are short, fun, perfect. 

Pin the carrot on the snowman. 

 I had a mini breakdown because the cake got stuck in the pan.  A whole bunch of frosting, a mess of gummy worms, and no one was the wiser.  Crisis averted, thank you calmingJesse.  He's like one of those herbal teas.  Perhaps we can package him and market him to stressed party planners everywhere.

We ended the party with Lego building.  Everyone made some sort of creation.  Yay for 43 pounds of Lego fun!

Bull-Eeze

I am so proud of this girl.  I want to be like her when I grow up.  Even more, I want her to stay this resilient and amazing forever.

Someone at school says mean things to her.  She says "I am not that way!  You are wrong!" 
Someone at school writes a mean note.  She says, "That made me feel sad.  But I'm not fat.  Actually, I'm quite skinny.  I'm not ugly.  I'm pretty cute.  I'm not mean.  I can be bossy.  But not mean."
I say, "You are slightly above average in regards to your height.  So technically,  you could be considered big for your age."
We giggle.
She says, "I suppose you're right!"

And I'm so proud of the kids in her class.
One says, "She is nice and pretty.  Whoever wrote that note is wrong."
A Quiet One says, "Here is my phone number.  Let's play this Saturday."
A Boy says to a girl, "You have the same color paper!  I think you wrote that note!"
Mermaid says, "Please don't argue about the note.  It doesn't bother me anymore."

I spent today worrying about Mermaid.  But I won't anymore.  At least, not about this.  She is a Mermaid in the middle of a cornfield.  But she can swim anywhere.

My Little Bibliophile Pony

This toy was confiscated two nights ago.
You know why? I'll give you a hint. Someone was staying up late reading and that star underneath her necklace causes little LED lights to flash on her cape and in her horn when you push it.

Wacky Wednesday

I love the days that reaffirm the my decision to stay at home with the kids. I mean, they really don't care that I cook most of their meals from scratch, chauffeur them to school and activities, go to the pta meetings, and scour the internet for apartments, schools, dance and gymnastics classes in the city we may move to.

But here's what they do care about.

The Mermaid's school celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday this week with pajama day, class color day, and Wacky Wednesday. She specified that her hair-do on such a special occasion include a bun, braids, and ponytails. I am proud to say that I accomplished all three. We tried to get her to go a little wackier on her clothing choices, but she was cool with just the hair. Problem is, her little sister didn't get in on the fun this year and keeps asking me if it's Wednesday and can I do her hair like Mermaid's?

Great Eight

This is the Mermaid when she was a fat and strong 10 month old. And here she is at her low key 8th birthday party today. Where has the time gone? Where did those cheeks go?

My brother Pete doesn't have any kids of his own. If he never does, I'd like him to rest assured that some of his genetics will be passed down by her:



And just to re-emphasize:



This morning, her alarm clock woke up Jesse, two rooms away.

Growing Up

Miriam is growing up. She's the big kid now. She's also trying to negotiate the little kids. They destroy her sand castles. They break her toys. They mess her room up (though she does a fine job of it herself).

But she loves them. She wants to hug them, carry them, kiss them, babysit them. It's amazing to look at her and see what a cool person she's becoming.