Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Busy, Beautiful, Spring Days!

One of my favorite parts of spring are the flowers. Just as the tulips start to fade here, the lilacs begin to bloom. Nothing smells better than lilacs wafting on the evening spring breezes. I have planted a lilac bush at every one of our houses and then, moved. I think maybe I should take that as a clue and stop planing lilacs. Since I don't have any of my own this year, my mom brought me a lovely bouquet from her house. The smell is so strong that I think I'm actually getting a headache, but I really don't want to admit that.
 Of our four girls, Kammy is the only one with bad teeth. Poor kid, she tries to take good care of them, but they say sometimes it happens no matter. Over the last year or more, she's gone through several major procedures. She loves her dentist and cooperates so well it's amazing. I asked her this time if she was nervous about it, "No," she said. "It's not as bad as throwing up, and doesn't last as long as a cold!"
 I love cloudy days and rain--lately we have had just that. We've also had a few days that were way too warm for my liking. If you enjoy the heat, be thankful! I'd not mind it so bad, but it seems to make my heart "act up" and that really isn't any fun. Yesterday, we had a real gullywasher complete with thunder, lightning and hail. I was sitting on the front porch and snapped this photo just as the rain was starting.
 Over the weekend, we enjoyed working on our garden spots.
 We have abundant rhubarb, so we made some strawberry rhubarb jam.

 and some pie as well. Both turned out super!

Springtime is so beautiful!
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Party!

 I'm not sure that I remember any of the girls (at 3) being so excited for a birthday~Kaite was just almost to the point of happy tears several times throughout her party.

Kaite chose a Rupunzel theme for her party. Now, before you get on my back about the whole princess thing being bad for little girls, let me tell you this.....I think a little princess is good for a girl. Really, what is wrong with teaching a girl manners, respect, lady-like behaviour, compassion, and how to choose a man based on character traits, not just appearance, social status, or family name?
 I braided yarn into all the girls' hair to give them Rupunzel hair. They thought it was grand! Kaite was at the table long before the others, ready to get a start on the party! =)

 We try to let them choose the menu for their birthday supper, she struggled with the choices, but we pretty much know her favorites. We did corn on the cob, because it's definitely her favorite vegetable, fried chicken (which she requested with certainty) and french fries.
We served the food in cast-iron skillets, fitting with the Rupunzel theme.
We let her open one of her gifts, a Rupunzel dress after we ate, and before cake.
She didn't have any trouble getting the 3 fingers up to represent her age. Daddy just showed her how to hold that little finger down with her thumb, and she had it!
 Several weeks ago, she picked out a little Minnie Mouse play set at K-Mart. Daddy sneaked the purchase, or so we thought. When we got home, she asked me, "Where is my birthday present?" I decided to be honest and just told her it was on the high shelf in my closet. She was content with that, but she literally trembled with excitement when she opened it!
 She got an etch-a-sketch and some clothes from Grampapa. She really loved the etch-a-sketch, but when she opened the clothes, she said, "What in the world!?!?" Her sisters gave her a little barbie doll, Chelsey--the 4th of four barbie sisters. Kammy wanted to give her a gift all on her own, so she sacrificed some little toy puppies that she's had for several years. The real sweet thing was the way she wrapped them in a shoe box and lined it with some or her prized horse fabric!
 We made a little Rupunzel tower out of an oatmeal box and filled it with candy and small $ Store prizes.
 After the party, the girls colored Rupunzel pictures I printed off the internet. We served crayons in their little play skillets. The hanging paper lanterns are from the $ Store and represent the lanterns Rupunzels parents sent off each year on Rupunzel's birthday.
They also played "magnet" (instead of pin) the frying pan on Flynn Rider's head. Their hair doubled for blindfolds. =)
It was a very sweet party. Kaite was so appreciative of everything (okay, maybe not the clothes...) and was just slightly shy. She almost cried when we sang to her, but only in a joyful happy way. She didn't want me to invite anyone--so we kept it a family party. I think sometimes we overwhelm little ones with guests and gifts and then wonder why they are naughty.....anyway, that's just my 2 cents. I always enjoy planning these little parties for my girls about as much as they enjoy having them.

The End.

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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Birthday Pictures!

Kaite Weslee

She is named after her daddy, middle name is Wesley and her Uncle Brian, middle name is Lee.
Her favorite color is purple.
She loves all things princess and calls herself "Princess Kaite!"


 Kaite loves her little blue bed, so I figured why not use it as a prop in her pictures? Kaite was/is, by far, our most difficult child in many ways. She hates to sleep. Always has. She had a very hard time learning to go to bed and stay there, so I really had my doubts that she would make good on it when she told me that if I painted her bed blue, she would stay there. But, it worked--she loves her little bed! She also likes to read in bed. Book after book after book and she's neat a picky about putting them away after she reads them, unless she falls asleep in the middle of one.
 I'm her mother, so naturally I think this, but she is beautiful. She was such a pretty baby too--no ugly newborn looks here! She gave herself a real good haircut about a month ago, and I've had to get creative in attempt to cover up her butcher job. Love her little profile here. She is a bit worried, but that's really not a new expression for her, she wears a "concerned" or should I say, disagreeable look quite often.
 She walked at 8 months and 2 days and has been into things nonstop ever since. It's not as bad as you might think though. She is neat by nature and will almost always pick up one thing and put it away before moving on to another, As mentioned, she loves to cut. She also like drawing. She is  pretty good eater and she loves to drink water. She has 3 water cups who are special to her. They are, bowt wawa, Kaite wawa, and at Grandma's house the special cup is yellow wawa. When going to sleep, she has to have her special owl pillow that I made her and one or more of her favorite animals: Grace, a lamb and Clover, a cat.  
 Kaite is a homebody. Even on a picnic with the family or at Grandma's house, she will soon start asking to go home. She's a real loner. She doesn't like meeting new people and often not old ones. She is very excited for her birthday party, but when I asked her who she wanted to invite, she said "NO ONE!"
 She may well be the "girliest" of all our girls. She doesn't like to get dirty, whether it is outside dirt, or sticky food. She often props her food on the edge of her plate and lifts the plate to her mouth in order to avoid messy hands. She likes to play with her sister Kammy's plastic pole and fish in the bathtub, but has to have someone take the fish off the "hook" for her--she screams and squeals and simply refuses to touch the little plastic things.
 Kaite likes all her family members (most of the time) but she really LOVES her mother. You really can't say I spoiled her though--because she was born this way. In the hospital, we'd send her to the nursery so we could rest and pretty soon, we'd hear her screams ricocheting down the hall. A nice nurse would deliver her to our door saying, "She is just starved!" Kaite wasn't starved though--she just wanted mommy to hold her, then all was fine. In spite of her snuggly nature though, she is not a "rocker." When she was tiny or best luck with getting her to sleep was a car ride. In the first few months, daddy took her on as many as 3 rides a night--all hours of the night. It was so frustrating to sneak her in and quietly tip-toe back to bed only to be awakened within 10 minutes. When I say that she did not sleep well, I mean she did not sleep well. 2-3 hours in a row was a miracle and she's only had the occasional (and accidental) nap since she was 8 months old.
 I've had many people tell me that the above photo looks like me. I think she does favor me the most of all our girls. She is particular and opinionated. Of course that is not why she favors me--I'm sure she got that trait elsewhere. =)  She will not wear jean skirts and does not like skirts with the bloomer type pants attached. I do like them. I love that they keep their little bottoms covered. She is very particular about her clothing and comes up with the most interesting reasons for veto-ing things.

I asked her what she liked best about her birthday and she said, "CANDLES!" Daddy took her to pick out some candles at Walmart while mommy was doing some other shopping and she chose purple ones. If you ask her what she wants for her birthday, she will tell you the same thing 100 times in a row, "Purple cake with purple candles!"
...and underneath are the everlasting arms...Duet. 33:27