My Marian

Yesterday was Parent Teacher Conferences.  I got to meet with both Joshua and Marian's teachers.  I really like Joshua's teacher.  She seems like a lot of fun and like she really understands the kids.  She said that yes, Joshua talks a lot in class,"But he's a boy!"  And he's doing well in class.

I was concerned that Marian might not be on grade level, but her teacher said she was. She is meticulous in the work she wants to do and with the stuff she does not want to do, Marian either doesn't do it, or makes up her own version.  Marian may not do the work, but when she does, apparently it is done correctly. I am a little concerned, because I'm not entirely sure her teacher is dominant enough to deal with Marian.  I am at a loss myself sometimes with this kid, so I don't fault the teacher for being perplexed as to how to work with her.  The teacher told me that when she asked Marian to do something Marian did not want to do, Marian hissed at her.  Am I a bad mother for laughing?

Halloween Festivities

Something truly disturbing is happening to our house.  A few weeks ago, we woke up to find that something had dug up the front lawn.  We decided it must have been a dog and left it at that.  Unfortunately, the lawn is getting worse.  Something is pulling up chunks of it.  I think it may even be crows.  I don't know what to do about it!  Fresh dirt clods appear daily.

This is the sad lawn.  It use to be so beautiful, and now it looks like this.  Ug!

School today had "Crazy Hair Day".  I colored Joshua's hair blue for him. He loved it! And it did wash out.

This was just too cute.  (Its the skeleton at the chiropractor's office.)

See, no more blue hair.  Joshua did his own pumpkin this year and did a surprisingly good job of it.  And Callie cracks me up!

Delaney is sad because I said no candy before dinner.  Could she BE any cuter?!

The Ward Halloween Party was tonight.  Rylee was a corn on the cob!  She was very good and slept through most of it.  And she was proclaimed the cutest.

Joshua was a Pirate and he won this jar of candy corn for guessing closest to how many there were in it.  (316, I think!)

After trick-or-treating through the building, Callie and Delaney sat right down to devour their loot!
Yep, there was  even a pinata there tonight!  Go Marian!

She was a cowgirl, but left her horse in the car.

The cutest little unicorn is telling me not to eat her candy.

And here is my littlest cutie.  She is getting bigger every day!  She is 5 weeks old now.

Fun at the commissary

Today I took my 3 youngest girls to the Commissary with me.  I thought it would be a good day, because payday isn't till Friday and its drizzly out.  I figured it would be pretty quiet shopping today.  Perhaps part of the problem is that we didn't get out the door till after 11am.  I had a friend stop by and we visited for 45 minutes, and then my neighbor dropped by with Halloween donuts!  Hard to complain when its good reasons that keep you home.

The commissary was busier than I expected.  Mostly it was retirees.  I honestly don't mind it being busy, I just mind the oblivious people, and it was full of them today.  I know that I try to keep my cart out of the middle of the aisle, and if I need to scan the shelves for what I need, I'll pull off to the side and keep out of the way.  Nope, I didn't see much in the way of situational awareness and courtesy today.  I saw a lot of blocked aisles, a lot of large bottoms bent over checking out stuff for long periods of time, and I saw a lot of slowly meandering couples aimlessly wandering the floors, seemingly to look endlessly for something.  It was a bit annoying.

I did get my chuckle for the day though.  We had cleared a particularly crowded aisle, and Delaney was howling because I wouldn't let her out of the cart, and we came upon the next aisle, which was empty.  Empty, but for the woman blocking the way into it.  She was standing directly in the center of the aisle, looking vaguely down it as I pulled up behind her.  Again, Delaney was crying (loudly!), so she couldn't miss that we were right behind her.  I waited.  She didn't move.  I waited.  She was still there.  I decided to squeeze past her, so we sidled to the left, where there was just enough room for the nose of the cart to fit.  And then, yes!  We could move by her.  She evidently saw the desire to ram her in my eyes, because she actually gave ME a dirty look and a very rude "Excuse ME!" (the kind that really means, "excuse you, ya jerk!").

And I had to laugh.  Here she was, blocking the aisle, and she's mad at me for squeezing by?!  I suppose I could have loudly shouted "excuse me" before we tried to get by, but I figure everyone should be polite enough to be courteous of others in the store.  I am.  And if I am in the way, I smile and beg their pardon.  I can be nice!

We made it though the chaos and got all our groceries. I only had one elderly lady tell Delaney to stop jumping in the cart and express concern that she'd tip it over.  That was a new one for me.  We did have the usual concern from the old ladies as she climbed all over it, and she spent a few minutes "riding" the cart, with one leg draped on each side of the cart. I figure if she falls, she'll be more careful next time.  I am not going to spend the entire time trying to keep her sitting quietly.  I spend too much time doing the minimum of it, and I don't need the exercise in futility.  In case you were wondering, I do smile and politely thank each person for their concern.

So that was my day.  And since Rylee slept cozily in the front pack, she has no desire for an afternoon nap, unlike her mother who would LOVE to go lie down for a bit!  And now I shall end this with a few pictures of my darlings.

So cute when she sleeps!  Actually she's not sleeping- she's playing "possum".  You can tell from the ninja hands.

Dan had to pull out his dress blues for a funeral detail and Joshua tried on part of it!

Here is Callie's chin.  She bashed it pretty good and has been quite concerned that people would notice it.  She's quite embarrassed by it, so I have assured her that no one can even see it.  Don't tell her otherwise, please!

Crusty, open eyes, and she is so cute! Her baby acne is getting better, but still a little icky here.  She's still adorable!

Funny/Not Funny

My family cracks me up sometimes.  And other times, not so much. For example:

Delaney with her baby is pretty funny.  She dresses her baby and carts her around.  As a matter of fact, last night as I was up at 2:30 (NOT funny!) I could hear Delaney talking.  I checked on her and she was playing with her baby- putting underpants on her.  So silly!  I laughed my way to bed.

Not so funny is how she wants to hold the real baby all the time too.  Sure, it is cute, but it gets exhausting.  I try to say yes as often as possible, but that's still quite frequently.  I appreciate that she loves her sister, but she is not as gentle or baby-savvy as an older kid.  

Here is her baby again.  Very funny that Delaney needed her hooked into the car seat for our outings today.  I was quite amused.

Very not amusing is this baby.  This is what she does in the car.  Not funny.

This child of mine is a treasure.  She is full of surprises and keeps life interesting.  

This is the desk work that came home yesterday.  It was the correct direction when I uploaded it, but you can still see, even sideways that she has drawn little pictures all over it.  If you look very closely, they are pretty well-done and quite cute.  

However, her teacher did not find them funny!  I wasn't really thrilled about it either. Dan and I had a talk with her about this, as we were also unamused by it. 

Sorry this is blurry.  I find it quite funny that Dan's method of leaf removal is to mow.  It is surprisingly effective though!  Less funny is that it does not pick up all the rotten prickly gum balls that the tree drops.  Those do have to be raked. 

Callie and Me

We'll start with the must-have picture of Rylee:

She has reached the nasty phase.  She has awful baby-acne and is splotchy and pimply.  Although the moron doctor who saw her yesterday said it was heat rash.  (Um... yeah, in my 68 degree house, and the only place she has this "rash" is on her face?!) She also has dry scalp and her hair is falling out.  Add that to her already crusty eyes, and she is just a mess!  Poor thing. 

I love this kid!  Her joy and zest for life make her a delight to be around.  Her sweet, giving nature is touching, and her smile is contagious.  She really cracks me up sometimes!

That's my cutie Callie!  She's my big helper and she loves to hold her sister.  She has had some wide emotional swings lately, but life has shifted a bit, and that's what happens.  

Yeah, big cheesy grin from my girl!

And here I am, with my sweet Rylee.  Well, sometimes she is sweet!  She is quite adorable when she's awake and alert during the day.  Not so adorable at night.

And not so adorable when she's doing this.  The kid must be sleeping or held.  Sometimes I can get 10-15 minutes where she is content in the swing, otherwise it is 5 minutes increments when I can put her down, before she cries.  She doesn't like other people and cries when they hold her.  Anyway, Callie took my picture for me, and you can see that I am wearing the lovely purple heart necklace that she made for me!  Callie is such a sweetie!