Housewarming with Friends

We have lived in our little house for one year. I can't believe the time has gone by so quickly. As we have settled in, I have discovered that the secret to making your home feel more cozy and warm, besides the love that you share with your own little family, is having friends and family in your home.

This morning, I had a Scentsy party and after they all left and I sat in my front room, I was overwhelmed with how much more homey it felt. And it was all because my friends has been there. We laughed, ate and enjoyed one another, my children enjoyed their children and our home increased in homey-ness with each smile, hug and outburst of laughter. A couple of my dear friends from Provo came and it made my day. I love having the mix of "old" friends and new friends.

It's like a bride being initiated into her new chapter of life as a wife and a mother with the symbols of things well known & comforting and new & hope filled. Each symbol is beautiful and carries with it a certain significance. This reminds me of my friends. Each one contributes to the loveliness of my life and I am all the better for it. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who love me despite my squirks and shortcomings. I am lucky to feel safe and comforted in their presence. Even my friend, who was the Scentsy consultant, commented on how much she enjoyed my friends.

You all know who you are. Thanks for coming into my house and making it a HOME.

Lucky #4

Isn't our baby delicious? That is such a sweet profile don't you think? There is nothing like getting a glimpse at the endlessly active little one you've been bonding with all this time. At first sight, it was like imprinting. Yes, I am making reference to Twilight and the wolves imprinting phenomenon. One look at this one and I was more in love than ever. You would think that perhaps this being #4 that it might be routine but that was definitely not true in our case (or any case, I'd imagine.) There is nothing like seeing your baby and feeling the love in your family multiply and expand to encompass the new little one.
However, this was not the first shot we got of creamy baby #4.

This is what we saw at the very beginning of our u/s.

It's a GIRL!! I am incredibly giddy to have gotten a look at our fourth creamy miracle during the ultrasound yesterday. She was cute as ever and we all fell in love. We have been on cloud nine since. All is looking good with this immensely active little chick. We were pleasantly surprised that it was a girl. We just kind of figured it'd be a boy. Both Sam and I guessed it'd be a boy right before the u/s tech put the wand to my belly.

But this was the first shot we got of our baby, I looked closely and I said,"That looks like a girl to me!" and the tech confirmed that I was right. WOO HOO!. I really did want this chickie to be a girl. It works out most conveniently bedroom wise and when and if #5 comes then I like the idea of having a boy at the end because that is what I know from my own family of origin. I suppose I should admit that I am somewhat boy shy too. So,for the time being, Sam and I are the girl factory.

I asked Sam if he was disappointed at all. I thought maybe he could be, although he has remained firm that he isn't babymaking for a boy and that it irritates him when people comment that he must be hoping for a boy. I wish I had a picture of his face when I asked. He said,"No, what do I have to be disappointed about? How can you be disappointed with all these gorgeous girls?."

The funny thing is that I commented during the u/s that while my girls were definitely all girl they fit every description (minus the stinky part) of how several of my friends describe their boys. Afterwards, Maia and Michaela were playfully but really wrestling on the floor and I turned to him saying,"See what I mean?" and the u/s tech dude said," Yeah I was just thinking that. You are right. Your girls do give you a taste of having boys while still being girls."

The girls are really excited. Olivia has said it was a girl from the beginning so she is 3/3 on her predicting streak. At first, she said it was a boy because she was wanting her brother but said she knew it was a girl. From then, she straight out said it was a girl. She's good.

I did have Sam take a belly picture right before we went in but my camera hates me and I am apparently daft when it comes to properly uploading the thing, so I will have to wait until Sam comes home and does it so I can resist the urge to get cranky for the rest of the day and/or throw that dang camera into the wall. But I digress from the happy nature of my post.

Babies. Mmmm, bliss. Baby girls. *Sigh* We are thrilled. I am really ecstatic. Seriously, I did a dance in the medical suite bathrooom after we were done. We can't wait to meet her around Feb. 15th.

The Snack Master

We are supposed to be doing some homeschool but I am a bit distracted at the moment. So, Olivia is making a snack for she and Mik (pronounced "Meek") while I was down here getting ready for Language Arts. She had been up there for a while, and while I am trying to nurture independence, I had to see what she was making. My camera battery is dead but now charging so I have no picture to show of her newest creation.

She is literally writing down the recipe as I type. It is a kind of a salad. It is chopped apples (she chopped those puppies with an Ikea kiddie knife folks). So it is chopped apples, a light smattering of cottage cheese and cornflakes and graham crackers. She made some just for me and I didn't want any initially but then I went up to try some and you know you what? The flavors do actually work surprisingly work together. Who knew?

Middle of the School Day Report

There isn't a word for my current feeling right now. Imagine a sigh of relief in gratitude for finishing Music and not losing it with my Olivia who doesn't seem to want to listen today. Imagine a grumbly "I am shaking it off, I won't let this ruin the day" sort of full body shutter. This is me on my 10 minute computer break before I start lunch.

While I am here I am going to create a plan. A plan that will hopefully get us back on track. First, we enjoy our break. Then I boost our blood sugar with dinner leftovers. Hallelujah for only having to reheat. Then, I will read a favorite book to all the girls after lunch. I will put Mika down for her nap and then Maia. THEN, we will do Math. If we are still moody, I will start with Language Arts and do reading aloud time first.

I am reading "Lady Margaret's Ghost" from the American Girl series right now to Olivia. It's a good story. It was a free book Olivia won for completing the summer reading program at Barnes and Noble. We wanted Whoopi Goldberg's Sugar Plum Ballerinas but they were out of it. But we are into the book, so that will be a good start if we need it.

I don't want to throw in the towel for the day just yet because we need to learn to get thru moody girl moments like this, right? I mean we are only in for more in the future, for sure. If worse comes to worse, we can always decorate the school room for Fall, right?

Cross your fingers for me!

Partying in our Pajamas

Can there be a better way for a bunch of 4 yr old girls to have the benefits of a pajama party without the rigors of the actual sleeping over part? We don't think so. A month ago, my little Maia turned 4 yrs old!!! We had just gotten back from Louisiana and so we quickly thru together a day of birthday fun for Maia and her friends. The girls showed up at 10am dressed in their favorite pajamas. Can you say cute?

We began the party with a guessing game of "What's in the bag?" I had collected some of Maia's things and put them inside a white paper bag. Each girl reached inside the bag to feel the item inside, then, she gave clues to the others in the group until they guessed what the item was. They really liked that one.

After that, we read Maia's favorite book, I Know an Old Lady who swallowed a PIE. This is a hilarious book. If you haven't read it, you should. It's fun to read and sing some parts here and there throughout the book, the girls enjoyed chiming in during the singing parts.

Then, we had cake. But not an ordinary cake...a waffle cake. Do you know that if you put cake batter in a waffle iron you get cake waffles? Well, my friends, you do. It is delicious. We put together a wild looking cake of neopolitan ice cream sandwiches, pink tinted whipped cream and sprinkles. I assembled it the night before on a platter but it kind of shifted and went caddywompus in the freezer at night. I tried to remain calm and not panic as I had to cut, rearrange and use some leftover waffles and ice cream sandwiches to make it kind of presentable again. The sweetest thing was that during the reconstruction of her cake, Maia and Olivia were especially supportive and Maia kept saying it was so beautiful. I could have kissed that girl. I am sure I did. So we had waffle cake and pineapple juice,we sang, we ate. Yum.

Afterward, the girls played for a bit and then we opened presents. Maia's friends spoiled her and she had a fun time with that.

And then to say thank you for coming, we did a scavenger hunt for the treat bags. I did using some common or well known areas of our yard and house. It was so cute to see the girls run around our yard with some of their nightgowns trailing behind them.



So that is that. Maia. She is 4. I remember holding her little body close to me after I had just had her, I kept saying, I can't believe I did over and over again. She was my first homebirth and my only baby with a head full of hair. She was the sweetest, easiest little baby and she has grown into a dynamic, confident little girl. She is the teeniest thing still only 25lbs but she commands attention, is a leader and speaks her mind quite freely. People tell me all the time about the things she says, I really need to keep a record of the things she says. She She makes the most hilarious, surprisingly insightful and of course, embarrassing and mommy dragon provoking comments. She's a strong one, that girl. I am proud to be her mother. I am enjoying her growth and evolution into a young girl.

Here are a few pictures of her on or around her birthday thru the years that I actually have on the computer.


Here is she 10 days old
On her first birthday

On her second birthday and the cake that took longer to decorate than it did to birth her
The pictures of her third birthday are not on the computer but she had a rainbow party that year. She and her friends dressed up in their brightest rainbow colors and I made a rainbow cake. This is the picture I used for her invitations. And this was our family picture from that month.And this is one of my favorite pictures of her from this year so far. It is not your typical favorite sort of picture but I love it and it is the essence of my Maia.
Wild, confident, strong, loving and giving. That's my Maia.

Field Trip to the Coca Cola Museum

Late this summer, we went home to Louisiana to visit family. *Sigh* I love that place. While we were there, we decided to go on our first official homeschool field trip to the local Coca Cola Museum and Biedenharn Gardens. My hometown's claim to fame is that it was the first place where Coca Cola was ever bottled. Cool Beans, huh? So off to the museum and gardens went.


We got to drink Coke out of these cute 6 oz bottles for 5 cents. Can you believe it was the first time I ever got to pop the cap off a glass bottle on a Coke machine before? My mom was shocked. I think she felt old. We watched a video on the history of Coca Cola, it's bottling and the evolution of the Coca Cola glass bottle itself. Let me insert here that I am proud that I remember even that much a whole month later because we did have a few spills during the video. It's a miracle I (or Sam or Mom) left that place without being completely sticky. The sad part of the great 5 cent Coke deal is that we had to return the bottles. I was secretly hoping we'd get to keep them.

Then we got to see the kind of delivery truck they used to deliver the first bottles of Coke. Forget the ice cream man, dude, can you imagine how popular the Coke trucks would be now? I mean, you'd likely see swarms of women running out to that truck for some Diet Coke. I'll have to poll my friends who are avid Diet Coke drinkers on that. But I digress.


Afterward, we went next door to Biedenharn Gardens. It has been about 4 or 5 years since I had been there and even then I didn't go inside. So, things had changed some since I was last there. The neat thing about the gardens besides being gorgeous is that they have these neat garden pocket area with benches and water features where you can sit and enjoy the serenity of gardens. They have have these cool story baskets with coloring pages. The girls picked one about animals.

So, we sprayed on some "Off!" in the middle of the muggy Louisiana day and found a cool garden pocket. We read most of the books from the basket and played with the finger and hand puppets before the girls were lured away by the fountain behind us. From then on, they ran around like little women fleeing for their freedom. It was a magical, like the Secret Garden in the same named movie. It was magical, like I said, until the girls wanted to explore the fountain too thoroughly. We were lucky to have stayed dry enough though.



On our way out, we went thru the garden zoo area where you see all the different kinds of plants with animal names. It was fun to see and touch the Elephant's Ear, Snake Plants, Lamb's Ears and many others. We, then, returned our basket and headed back out to the car that was parked near the levee. So, I took the opportunity to climb the levee and then teach the girls what levees are for. We dug in the dirt and collected shells for an art project that has yet to commence.

And THEN to top off the day, Mimi (my mom), treated us to lunch at Johnny's Pizza. A pizza joint that is home to the "Sweep the Swamp" Pizza. I have sung praises to Johnny and his pizza making abilities but it wasn't until I sunk my teeth into that pizza that I remembered why I revered it the way I do. (We love you Mimi!) It was great day and the perfect way to start off our school year.


I did learn one other important lesson. No matter how lazy you feel, bring your camera. Mom's camera sadly died in the middle of our expeditions at the fountain. I didn't want to bring my big ole camera because I was afraid for its safety while we were out with the girls but I should have brought it. I missed capturing so many moments but I am happy to have to one we did. You live and learn. We sure did, in more ways than one.