Love Bug

This is Warren's "Love Bug" he made to hold his Valentine's at school. I thought it was so cute, and so cute that he named it that himself. He missed Valentines Day celebrations at school, but friends brought his box home for him, and this is why.
Thursday and Friday, our family caught the "love bug"--you know, the germs you share because you love eachother so you all end up throwing up and nauseous? Well, just me and Warren and Abigail. The whole situation was exacerbated for me because I made a new soup for dinner. It was a bit of a gamble: it had lamb, apples, curry and coconut milk, among other things. Beside that, it was a recipe that was part of a children's book we checked out from the library, so who knows if it really had ever been made before? But I like trying new things, so I made it, and didn't like it at all. I usually like everything. I don't think that in our almost 8 years of marriage and cooking that I have ever completely thrown a meal away. Friday I did. Well, technically, Andy did it for me, because by that time I was lying sick on the couch. He liked the soup. Warren said it was gross, Avery tried a few bites, and Abigail said, "I hate this. It tastes like dog." To which, I replied, "Lamb, acutally." :)
So Friday, I kept Warren and Abigail home from school in case they were contagious. We all felt fine by then, so we had "home school," which means I repeatedly set the timer for 10 minutes and we did "work." This meant spelling tests, making words out of the word 'valentines', silent sustained reading, singing time, group reading time and a chore for Warren. For Abigail, tracing and stenciling, handwriting cursive words and sounding them out, singing time, story time, coloring, a chore and using hand-held letters to spell 3 letter phonetic words. Avery colored and worked along with us. It was delightful.
Later in the day, I was working at the computer and turned around to see this:

Yes, those are the curtains. Yes, I told her she could keep doing it as long as I took pictures. I'm not sure what kind of message that sends. A funny Avery question from our snuggle time tonight: "Mom, what if I slept in the toilet and got sucked down the drain and came out in a different house and it had flowers on the wall?"

Determination Personified

Just before Avery's nap, I snagged a mini cupcake from the kitchen and carried it back to Avery's room to share it with her. (I know, what a healthy choice). Madeleine, who was also in my arms, saw it in my hand the whole walk down the hall, so I knew she'd want some. I decided I'd give the cupcake top with the frosting on it to the girls, since I didn't like the frosting. So, Madeleine and I sat down on the bed by Avery, and I took the tiny cupcake wrapper off, and set it on my knee, and went about the business of breaking apart the cupcake.

Well, it was too much for Madeleine. She snatched that wrapper--all covered in yummy crumbs--and stashed it in her mouth before I could intervene. I tried to trade her for a piece of real cupcake, but, no, she would not have it! I tried to gently pry (can those words go together?) her mouth open, but to no avail. Madeleine has 5 razor sharp teeth that stand sentinel to her digestive tract, and nothing gets by them without her notice.

So, I gave up, Avery and I split the cupcake, and Madeleine ate the wrapper. Yum.

Madeleine at 11 Months

(I don't have any current pictures, so these are from October when he had our family pictures done. You want family pictures? tiffanyannphotography@live.com)
I think the cutest thing in the world might just be watching Madeleine walk down the hall to me. After a full month of being able to walk, she has gotten so fast, but she still is not very steady or graceful. I love, love, love it. Of course when she gets to me, and I don't pick her up and she bites me on the upper thigh to remind me she is the center of the universe. . .not so cute.Maddy is definitely in a moving phase. She especially loves to escape our bench at church, and bear crawl--necessitated by her dress--up to the steps leading to the stand. Or this week, she kept going about 10 benches back to hold on to the Palmers' baby seat, in hopes of seeing the baby, I imagine. Her favorite escape though, is to the backyard. There is nothing like the beckoning call of mud, a wet sandbox, dried leaves, garden dirt, the trampoline and her swing. So, her knees, bum and feet are pretty much always filthy. (This might be a good time to mention that stains on clothes have never really bothered me.) Often I find her outside, alone, on the back porch, standing next to the riding lawnmower, or just sitting, playing with some random-ness that has found it's way to our porch. I don't think that ever happened with my first 2 children. She also loves to play in the front yard, where she usually can be found tangled up in a stroller--we only have about 3 sitting on the front porch, in addition to several more in the car, laundry room and backyard.Still an eating, pooping machine. Still breastfeeding. Still taking 2 naps, but only a very short morning one. Still loves baths. Still getting ear infections. Still [sigh] teething. She is getting good at mimicking sounds back that I ask her to say, and using signs when she really wants something. Sometimes she joins us as we sing, and that is really cute.
Madeleine is also into climbing. As mentioned, she tries to get in the stroller, but she also can often be found stranded on the step stool in the bathroom. She can get up, but not down. She also climbs into the frog potty a lot.
I love the feeling of holding Madeleine--like captured energy, but still so soft. She fits so nicely snuggled against my shoulder. She sleeps all night in her crib, but every morning, about 6:15, joins me in bed to eat, and I love to be snuggled up next to her warm little body. She adores her siblings, and whatever parent has most recently walked in the door.
I love you Maddie!

Ouch

$350. That is how much a root canal, laughing gas and metal crown are going to cost to replace the cavity filling that fell out of Warren's tooth, causing a huge mess and lots of pain. I don't know what feels worse: his tooth or my savings account. Add to that the $58 office visit that lasted all of 8 minutes, and I am cringing in pain.

The dumb thing is, I have the money, safely tucked away in my Health Savings Account. Money in this account doesn't even figure into our bottom line, so when I spend it, it's not like I even have to see it come off that figure. Still, I cannot keep my mind from looking around and translating that $408 into other, more desirable outcomes, like, a couch without rips, money toward a bathroom remodel, an entire month of groceries (usually not even that much!!!)...This is not a healthy way to spend my mental energy.
I did try to think what else I was getting for my $408, and realized that I got to spend a lot of time with Warren, since he had 2 dentist appointments today. We didn't have any monumental conversations, but we were together. We talked. If the whole mess didn't involve dental issues, I probably would've even bought us ice cream to add to the special-ness of the day. But that would be like rubbing salt on an open wound. I got an opportunity to practice being a big girl at Relief Society tonight by not whining to anyone about it--I'm saving that for here. I got to practice my bravery, calling back the dentist to ask several questions I'd been too embarrassed or too sticker-shocked to ask when I was in office. And I now have an iron-firm resolve to floss my kids teeth every night, and teach better brushing skills. We are good with the quantity, but maybe not so much the quality. No more!
Just think, for $408 I bought: motivation to brush and floss my kids teeth without slacking, a lesson in people skills, a lesson in accepting defeat gracefully and a day with my son. What a deal. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Wishing You a Happy New Year

This is why: bekahjennings.etsy.com

Avery's wish. My wish? If only I would have found my camera 2 minutes earlier, before I hosed off the blue acrylic paint all over her hands. You might still be able to see the pink heart she stamped on her lips, though. Avery is loving "Hi Ho Cherry-o" and new dress-up clothes. And any time she can bake with me. Yesterday we made sugar cookies, just because she wanted to make cookies and I was out of chocolate chips. It was fun.

Warren started soccer. He really likes it. He had one practice, and then a game, and they exceeded my expectations. He was the kid who had his jacket with the faux sheep fur collar underneath his jersey for the first 3 quarters. Warren is a fast runner, and wants to commemorate every "first" practice, "first" game etc. with a Blizzard from DQ.

My family brought back snow from Flagstaff a few weeks ago, so naturally, we built a snowman, maybe a snow midget. Abigail had a carrot nose for it, too, but it wouldn't stay in. Lately, I've been putting curlers in her hair after her twice-weekly baths (I know, I'm hygeine challenged.) It makes her hair look so much better and is so easy and lasts for a few days. Yeah for simple solutions!