Messy Faces; Smiley Faces

You'd think we never wipe this kid's face! I will admit it is getting wiped a lot less frequently of late, and it shows. Sigh.

She's extra messy here after lunch because she discovered she does not actually have to eat the graham crackers to get the Nuttella in the middle. Unfortunately, I think she is wearing a lot more Nuttella than she managed to eat.

Charlotte ate the graham crackers and the Nuttella, but she's still a messy-faced girl. I'm just happy she's covered in chocolate and not snot.

Marian actually cracked a smile! She's been fairly quiet lately. With all the noise and demands from other children, she fades a bit into the background. She's going to need some one-on-one time once there are fewer kids in the house.

Callie has become obsessed with doing her own hair. The results are occasionally quite interesting. But look how happy she is with it!

This is Delaney's smile-on-demand. She is such a hoot and loves to get her picture taken.

Matthew is a cutie-pie, but he does not like having his picture taken. He is having a ball with all our toys. Well, in reality, he has a ball till Delaney or Rylee tries to run off with the toys.

Most crazy-making moment today:

Me: Matthew, how many chicken nuggets would you like?

Matthew: I don't LIKE chicken nuggets!

Me: Fine, would you like a sandwich?

Matthew: I don't like peanut butter!

Me: How about just jelly?

Matthew: Okay.

Me: Delaney, how many chicken nuggets do you want?

Delaney: um....3!

Matthew (in a screaming and crying utter whine): But I WANT chicken nuggets!!!

Sickies and Sleepies

We've been having a vomit party at our house. I am incredibly lucky in 2 respects with this. First off, the girls (other than Rylee) didn't puke much. Secondly they are very good when they are sick. Marian and Callie have a near 100% success rate at keeping all bodily fluids contained. They are so funny as they wander around carrying their puke bowls with them.

Marian and Callie stayed home from school today. They spent they day laying on the couch and chair and I almost didn't even notice them. Delaney was more subdued than usual, and only tossed her cookies twice. She looked so pathetic though, when she would come and ask, "How do I get my throw up to stop?"

Doesn't she look so sad?!

Marian has been vomit-free for 24 hours, but she was quite listless and complained of being cold all day.

Callie has such a great sick face. Check out the trusty bowl next to her.

Emma said no to a picture. I really just wanted Kera to know I DID wash her hair and brushed it and put it up. My goal is for it not to be a matted mess by the time Kera comes back to collect her!

Now, being home all day long with 3 certifiably sick girls, plus 2 incredibly snotty, croupy-coughing babies, and an additional 2 toddlers (is 4, almost 5 considered a toddler still?) is a little daunting. I confess that I was not looking forward to the day. I was less enthusiastic since I had been wrested from my bed no fewer than 7 times last night. (Rylee woke up twice and needed a snuggle, Delaney peed through and needed new sheets, Callie puked and needed a cleaned up bowl, Emma was coughing and sometimes that makes her cry so I had to check on her, and Delaney puked on her bed and again needed new sheets.)

I figured I was not going to get a nap, but I managed to get Rylee, Emma and Charlotte all down and asleep at the same time. By the time I got the other 4 quietly entertained, I thought maybe I had a few minutes before one of the babies woke up. I lay down for a short snooze and actually fell asleep for 30 minutes. Charlotte woke me up (after she'd taken a 3 1/3 hour nap!!) and we went downstairs to see this:

Callie asleep on the chair with her bowl.

Marian sacked out on the couch snuggled under her blanket. Just for the record, she was also wearing wool leg-warmers on her legs, socks on her feet, and arm-warmers on her arms.

Matthew, sound asleep in the basement while watching "Go, Diego, Go".

Also in the basement, was Delaney, also drooling asleep on this beanbag.

It was a surprisingly quiet day around here. And I was really glad. So far, only my 4 girls have had vomiting issues and I cross my fingers that it ends now! The problem is, that when I know one kid is sick, I can't sleep well at night. I'm waiting to hear that gagging noise and to have to get up to clean up ickiness. I'm also listening extra hard to hear if anyone new is sick. Every bump in the night triggers a heart attack and wakes me up wondering if someone needs me. And I'm living in fear that there will be multiple vomit geysers and I won't be able to deal with it. I'm just really grateful that the girls weren't very sick at all.

And for no other reason than I find her very amusing, I leave you with this picture!

This is Rylee's new way to sit in her booster chair to eat.

Perspective

Matthew had a meltdown right before Family Home Evening tonight. He so needed a nap today and didn't get one, so I was really tempted to just let him cry in his room and hope he would fall asleep. I think it must be hard to be him right now, so I went up and cuddled him and asked if he would come down for FHE. He said, "I don't like Family Home Evening."

"That's okay," I said. " You can stay here and go to bed, or you can come down and join us. We do have cupcakes for refreshments though."

He thought about it and asked for a cupcake. I said no. Then I thought to ask if he wanted to help with the lesson. He said, "Yes, but only if it is about Jesus."

What a cute kid!

And when we finished Family Home Evening, which nearly ended early (with lots of tears and drama) several times, I told Delaney she only got half a cupcake because she was not obedient. She grinned with delight and exclaimed, "Yay! I get half a cupcake!!"

Oh, to be a kid

You wouldn't guess that this kid spent all night throwing up.

Oh, yes, this morning she is gallivanting around having a marvelous time. She stacked the stool on the chair and hopped up on it and thought she was hot stuff. Good mom that I am, I got the camera and took a picture first. She still smells like puke and some other nasty things, but eventually I will get her in the tub. Her being up all night meant I got to be up all night too, so I'm not moving very fast this morning.

This was the crusty girl last night. Still cute and mischievous.

I actually just went to see what she was up to. She went upstairs a few minutes ago and all was quiet, so I thought she might be in trouble. Nope, she was sound asleep on Marian's blankets on the floor of my room. Poor baby. Wait, now I need to run and get a nap!

Let the Good Times Roll!

This is what life at our house is like right now. Note Rylee. Note Charlotte.

Yep, Charlotte is happy and content and then Rylee has to go poke her with a fork. Check out the first picture again and see how happy Rylee is? She's thinking I'm about to ruin her fun in this second photo. She's right.

The kids get along pretty well and everyone is happy and then suddenly they are not. Morning is a little insane, and the getting to school to pick up kids is nuts, but aside from that, I refuse to leave the house, thus its not too bad. Well, its not too bad if Rylee would leave poor Charlotte alone! Rylee is a dreadful bully and I think Charlotte would be perfectly happy all day, but Rylee's new mission in life is to torment her. Rylee takes her toys, shoves her down, and pushes her. I have to watch her all the time!! This makes it difficult to do anything productive.

However, it also gives me a decent excuse as to why the house is a mess, despite the fact that I have spent every unaccounted for minute sweeping and picking up stuff. Other benefits to having Andy and Kera visit and leave behind some children are:

1. Andy installed our Wifi and we can now stream Netflix to our tv! Hooray! That alone would have made it worth it!

2. Andy also changed out our awful, ancient thermostat and put in a lovely digital one. Now I can set the heater and know what the temperature will actually be. I am quite giddy about this.

3. Joshua is learning that having a brother may not be all its cracked up to be.

4. Andy's kids go right to bed and take great naps. I have had 4 children down and quiet the last 2 afternoons and its my favorite time of day!

5. They are awfully cute kids.

6. My mom called from the Nairobi market to ask what I wanted them to bring back for me. (I do have a few things I wish I had gotten more of when I was there.)

7. I'm hiding in my house and therefore I am not spending money at Walmart. This is a good thing.

8. Getting hugs and kisses form Matthew and Emma somehow makes me feel more special than when I get them from my kids.

9. It is a lot of fun to look at our kids and try to figure out what traits might be genetic and from whom.

10. When they leave, the house will be so quiet, I won't know what to do!

And how fun are they really?

We had a gorgeous day and played outside after school. Charlotte had fun eating all the snacks on the table.

Rylee got in trouble for stealing Charlotte's snacks.

The neighbor kids came over and we busted out the sidewalk chalk.

After a few sample nibbles, Rylee decided it worked better on her sister's picture of a trampoline.

And Matthew got to ride a bike. He thought it was the greatest thing ever and he sure thought he was hot stuff. I love Delaney there behind him. She looks like she is having so much fun too.

And lastly, this one is very quiet. She kind of does her own thing and flies under the radar. She's very self sufficient and doesn't want help. I hope she doesn't get comfortable enough here to be the pill I have heard she can be! So far we are getting along nicely, and hope that continues.