Ironically...

...she screams when I try to rinse her hair.

Seriously, she acts like it is water boarding to get her hair rinsed by her mother, but when SHE is in control...

Big Flowers

We planted sunflowers in the garden

this year

just for fun

and to give the sparrows

something to eat besides chicken food, I guess :)

.

.

.

They grew REALLY TALL!

Funny Kid

Sunday morning is always busy, even with church starting two hours later this year than last. As I was rushing around,tying up loose ends and trying to get myself ready this morning, I saw a piece of Michael's pajamas on the floor. It was easier to ask the closest big girl to pick it up than to track down the errant boy and Heather was in the wrong place at the right time. Or the right place at the wrong time? Anyway, this is how the conversation went -

Me - Heather, could you pick up Michael's pajamas and put them on his bed, please?

Heather - Where are they?

Me - Right there behind you.

Heather - That is only the top. Where are the bottoms?

Me (anxious to move on to the next task) - I don't know! Put those away and then look for them.

I didn't follow up because I was running late and worried about other things. As a matter of fact, I forgot all about Michael's missing pj pants until after church. Everyone was busy changing out of their church clothes when Michael hollers at me (with sheer delight in his voice at the stunt he pulled) "Mommy, you didn't know I wore two pants to church today!"

Silly kid, I just had to take his picture.

He was enjoying the photo session so much he said, "Take a picture of my funny face!" So, I did just that for a couple of minutes and was just putting the camera away, when Naomi, not wanting to be left out, came up and asked, "Piture hunny hace me?"

Here are my favorites -

I have decided to admit...

...that my thumb is black as night and to give up on houseplants, at least for a while.

I know I have a dangerous optimistic streak that could hit any time as I walk past the plants on display for sale, so I don't dare promise that I'll never hope again to keep a houseplant alive, but for now, I am admitting that bringing a plant into my home means certain death.

I've had this wheat for a while and the worst it does it get dusty. Dust, unfortunately, does not cause conniptions in my home, just discouraged inaction, so being dusty is not a capital offense. The wheat stays.

I've converted the few places I used to have plants (may they rest in peace) to completely dead decorations. I expect they will get as dusty as the wheat (or worse), but oh well. I had some ivy in the dining room windows, but the dead eucalyptus from the flowers Stan gave me for Mother's Day made a handy substitute.

For a while (six or eight plant replacements worth) I've had a house plant in the living room. I just replaced it with a rock/glass garden. I expect I will water it less than the plant, but not by much, since that was part of the problem :) The green plate is my homage to the color of life, even if it is only a sad stand in.


Is anyone wondering why I don't do silk? Or polyester, or whatever it is?

Now THAT (unlike deadness and dust) is a capital offense - I live with a botanist after all :)

Very Sick

A couple of days ago, Naomi informed me that she was,

"Hick, bery hick."

(Sick, very sick)

Even though she made it sound terminal, she only had a mild cold. She stayed home from church today mostly to keep from sharing her illness with the entire nursery. At any rate, she was well enough to play outside this afternoon.

At one point, she rushed in, exclaiming, "Mommy! Picked mine flowers!"

Happy Belated Birthday Kelly!

Kelly's birthday pictures were lost in cyberspace for a while, but we are ready to send her a belated happy birthday on the blog.

Happy Birthday Kelly!!!!

She turned seven last month and had the good taste and highly developed sense of fun to ask to go to the beach for her big day.

We swam.

We sat and...

...lay around.

Michael crawled around on the sand and...

...Stan and I kicked some sand around playing Frisbee.

Naomi loved the Cheetos!

Dancing the School Day Away!

Gwen danced Two Step with her dad at the fourth grade dance recital last Friday and Heather competed in the Dance Club end of the year shindig on Monday.

Here are Heather and her partner getting ready to dance.

Gwen was there Monday, too, even though she was too young to compete this year. She was one of the lucky students chosen to put the signs up for each dance.

A line of dancers waiting to hear where they placed...

...and Heather and her partner receiving their third place ribbons.

Applause

If you are feeling congratulatory, why not add to the applause for
Rachel (promoted from junior high),
Heather (honor roll) and
Gwen (honor roll)?

Congrats, girls :)

Dessert

Today for dessert, Summer made brownies. She garnished them with strawberries stuffed with sweetened cream cheese and milk chocolate chips. Yum!

Spring Concert

The school district had their Spring Orchestral Concert this past week. Gwen played violin with the Elementary Strings, Heather played viola with the Intermediate Strings and Summer played cello in the high school orchestra.

Here are snippets of each one of them. You can see the top of Gwen's head in the first one, Heather's elbow in the second and Summer's bangs in the last one. If you listen at the beginning of the last video, you can hear the Mo singing along.

The Littles are Getting Big

I took Michael and Naomi to the park the other day. I had my camera with me, so before we left, I had them stand by a tree to get their picture. I must have taken 15 or 20 shots of those two and there wasn't a single one where they both -

1.were looking at me, and

2. had their eyes open, and

3. were smiling.

So...here are two pictures with the funny looking sibling cropped out.

Thanks, Sandra!

Kelly went to birthday party last Saturday and her friend's mother posted some pictures.

I thought Kelly was so cute, I am sharing my favorites.

I really should have...

...taken a picture of it. It was so pretty! I guess I was too busy eating it...

Last night for dinner, Summer made a salad out of the following -

lettuce

avocado

craisins

bell pepper

parmesan cheese

nuts toasted in sugar

radishes

grapes

sugar glazed rose petals

homemade olive oil & balsamic vinegar dressing

Well, it has been a while...

...and I really wanted to catch up today, but I was also sad to replace the backyard picture of Naomi. So here's another version, in multicolor, with some Beethoven in the background. Enjoy!

Hodgepodge Part 1

It is the end of the school year and our calender is overflowing with concerts, dance recitals (more on those later), piano recitals, school plays and all around fun, fun, fun. Here is Gwen dressed up as a volcano...

...and Heather as an Iroquois.

Snippets from the older three girls' spring piano recital...

Hodgepodge Part 2

While the older kids have been developing their brains and discovering their talents, there have been exciting things going on at home. Naomi, aka "The Caboose" has been learning to use the potty. One of the selling points I used with her was pointing out that her panties are so nice and soft. She really took it to heart.

She loves her panties!

Also, I have been honing my skills as a dish drain sky high stacker. I wish it was an Olympic event.

Hey, that's a good idea, the Mom Olympics. Any suggestions for "sports"?

After-Snack-Face, End-o-the-Day-Hair, Cheesy-Girl

Happy Mother's Day

I love being a mother. Even though some days it seems like a thankless job, today it sure doesn't. I am being spoiled rotten.

I said that out loud when I wandered into the kitchen while Stan and Summer were cooking dinner and Stan said,
"No, you were rotten when we got you."

The spoiling started Thursday when Stan brought me flowers. Being a botanist, he has superior taste in flora :)

Then, on Saturday, he said he would take care of everything and I could do whatever I wanted - bliss! I sewed. I wanted, optimistically, to finish my entire mending basket, plus a couple of projects. I didn't get all the way there, but I had a lot of fun trying. I made a curtain for the little bathroom...

...a pillow from some embroidery Heather made for me , a skirt for myself...

... and everything from the mending basket that took thread that wasn't white.

Mr. Amazing really did handle everything AND he painted the laundry room purple, with the kids' help, for a Mother's Day gift.

Today, Heather made pancakes all by herself (they were delish) while Stan made bacon and eggs and everyone brought me breakfast in bed. Stan bought real maple syrup to go on them, which I haven't had in years. It is a treat that brings me back to my childhood in New Hampshire.

For dinner this evening, Stan and Summer did all the cooking. I wandered around the house taking pictures for the blog. Summer did not want me to take this picture, but after much negotiation, she agreed to let me blog it :)

They made Ham a la King...

...and cranberry almond salad...yum!

All the kids gave me cards, Heather and Kelly each gave me books of artwork and the kids gave me one box of chocolates and Stan gave me another one. See what I mean about being spoiled?

Thanks, family, I love you all!!!

Mo Colors

Naomi is pretty good with her color names, especially when bribed with candy :)

Date Night

Stan and I take turns taking each of the kids out for dessert and maybe somewhere else they want to go, if there is time. Michael and I went out the other night and had a ton of fun.

First, we fed some ducks. Michael wanted to go to the place with swans, but since the spot he was thinking of is 6 hours from our house, we compromised and stayed closer to home. After that we went to the mall. I let him pick out six or seven different kinds of candy and we shared them. Next, promising him I'd be quick, we went to H&M and I bought sweaters for Summer, Rachel and myself. Lastly, we went to the puppy store and played with a two month old Boston Terrier. It was so cute! I always get tempted to buy a dog when we visit the puppy store, but this is the first time I have actually played with one. Even at that young age, it sure smelled like dog! It sort of cured my doggy dreams for the moment :)