A Gaggle of Girls!

Life is never dull with the girls in this house! See how fun they are, just from today......

This one is so funny. She is learning and trying new things every day. And she does it with such delight, such relish, such joy, I love it!

Look at that happy face. I hope she keeps this joyous spirit as she grows.

This one has kept her silly spirit. Look at that face. She is wearing her biggest sister's swimsuit, and is having a wonderful time!

This girl is trying out new faces for the camera. It is slightly better than her "no-expression" face, and this one in particular was much better!

There was a period this afternoon, when my 3 older girls were happily playing outside in the pool. It was so wonderful to see. By the time I finished what I was doing and grabbed the camera though, they were mostly done.

This one was in the house in her Scooby Doo towel. Isn't she adorable?!

Since they were dirty from the grass and dirt, the girls wanted a bath. Rylee desperately wanted to join them and they really wanted her to come in. After Rylee saturated herself while outside the tub, there didn't seem to be a good reason for her not to be in the tub.

This picture cracks me up! These girls are such a hoot!

Somebody drank out of the cup and thought she was pretty darn clever!

And I must say, that with this gaggle of girls, I am so glad I have my BOY! He is such a great brother. And except for Rylee, all the kids cooperated with this picture. That's impressive.

I thought this was so sweet. I asked Joshua if I could take a picture for the blog and he said yes. Delaney rushed to stand right next to him, and she was looking up to see what he was doing. So cute. She really does worship her big brother. And he is a fantastic big brother!

Birthday, Bitterness, and Cuteness!

Callie had a birthday. She wanted a horse cake. Or a Unicorn Cake. Or a Puppy Cake. Or a Kitty. Or one that looked like her. I went with the Horse Cake. Since I like Chocolate, I went with that. And it was yummy!

Here is the cake. Pay no attention to the unattractive pan it is on. The cake is lovely and it was tasty too!

Here is the happy birthday girl. (She and Delaney had been outside in the kiddie pool, and I did not make them get dressed.)

Callie was so sweet. She told Delaney that she could help blow out the candle. It was adorable to watch them do it together. I love Callie's tender little heart.

This needs no words. Which is good, because I have none!

And on to the Loot-Fest!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! Although it has caused some contention as Delaney coveted it and stole it. Today they sorted it out and both girls were playing happily together. I love to see that.

So Callie had a good birthday. She was pleased with her presents and was only a little disappointed that she did not have a big party with friends. And now you may ask about the bitterness. I am a little bitter. I should not be, but I am. I confess it and confess I know I ought not to be, but I am. I am cranky because Dan is sick. He got to work this morning, and then felt so awful (vomiting was part of it) that his boss actually drove him home. He came home and went right to bed. He spent most of the day in bed, except for the 2 hours he came downstairs and sent ME to bed to take a nap. (Rylee was rotten last night and that 2 hour nap was the longest stretch of sleep I had in 24 hours!)

I am a horrible person because even though my sick sweetie made me take a nap, I am still grumpy that he gets to spend the day in bed. There, I said it. I'm mad that when he is sick, he can go to bed. He can sleep all day and do nothing. What happens when I am sick? I puke and feel dreadful and I still have to get kids out the door to school, and I still have to feed them and make sure they are supervised and taken care of. So, when I am sick, nothing really changes, except I feel rotten while I do what I normally do. And when Dan is sick, he gets to lie around looking pathetic. That's the bitterness. I am working on being a better person, and someday, I shall conquer this feeling. But not today.

And because we must end on a happy note here.....

Cuteness!

Rylee was laughing hysterically, and I wanted you to see her 4 top teeth. She is 8 months old and has 6 teeth! And a great gut laugh.

Just a Quiet Weekend at Home

Joshua mowed the Lawn.

Callie helped Daddy clean the gutters.

Rylee looked for as much mischief as possible and tried to look as cute as possible.

Delaney lay on the couch, hot enough to fry eggs on, and vomited occasionally.

The 2 girls who did go to church. Delaney (for the aforementioned captioned reasons) did not.

The 3 children who accompanied me to church. I LOVE the different expressions on each face. Life is never dull here!

Marian's hair today. So cute!

Callie's hair today. We taught ourselves to make hair thingies, and this flower is one we made this weekend. It's Callie's new favorite.

Yep, that about sums up the weekend. Rylee is currently paying with the dishes in the dishwasher; Delaney is trying to tie balloons to her sock monkey; Callie and Marian are "wrestling", which means someone will be crying soon; and Joshua is making Lego Creations.

Emergency Preparedness: My favorite Things

We lost power last night. Twice. I hate that. Fortunately, we are pretty well prepared for minor outages. Anything more than 48 hours would not be fun. Actually, in the 90+ degree summer heat, 4 hours would not be much fun. Anyway, I thought I would share some of my favorite items that we use when there is no electricity.

I love these lanterns. The little one is about $5 at Walmart and runs on 4 AA batteries. It has 3 settings and is great for the kids. They also sell another kind that is similar, but this one is superior because it has the LED lights. The larger one is $10 or $15 and is great because it puts off enough light to read by, and you can see more than a 3 foot radius around yourself.

I LOVE these! They are $1 each, just about anywhere. I got these at Walmart, but you can certainly find them other places, and while some are better quality, they all last just about 24 hours, so why pay more for military grade? Just don't leave them in your purse for 3 weeks. They might get a leak and ooze (nontoxic) green goo on everything. Why are these great, you ask? You are correct, they do not put off much light, but they are the best night lights ever. I actually bring them when we travel and stay in hotels. They give enough light that the kids aren't scared, but not so much light that you can't sleep.

This is a great deal. For about $5 at Walmart, you can have a fan when there is no power. Granted, it is a small fan, but it gives enough breeze that I was not miserable last night as I was falling asleep. This one runs on 2 D batteries, and if you happen to have a cord, you can also plug it into the wall.

This is a head light. You can pay $14+ for the grown up version. We have that and it is super-deluxe, with a padded brow and tiltable light. Dan uses it for running when it is dark and loves it. However, for a power outage, the kid's one is a mere $5 and works just as well! It is so handy too. Just put it on and you can see where you are going. I wore one last night as I hunted down the candles and stuff that I keep in the (very dark) basement!

I know you have been wondering what to do with your old vases that you never use. Or, if you haven't got them, you can pick them up at a thrift store cheap. I like these because fire scares me. I live in terror that a candle is going to burn my house down. So I'm a little fanatical about high sides around my candles. This type of vase will fit a mid to large size candle. I also like to keep a box of matches in there too. Of course, I remove the matches before I use the candle!!

This is my favorite way to keep candles in the house. An empty salsa or marshmallow creme jar is perfect. They have the wider lid, so you can fit the candle and matches inside.

Then you put the lid on and you are ready. I have these candle jars in nearly every room in the house. I don't like leaving them on at night, but I usually keep one in the bathroom out of reach if there is a power outage at night. These are my staple for no power. They are cheap, easy to keep around, and when the power comes back on, I just screw on the lid and the flame goes out. When the candles melt down, I just put another on top. When it gets too icky, I toss it in the trash.

One last item I really like is a flashlight that you can plug into the wall. I got one for about $10 at Lowe's and I think I need to get some more. You plug it in the wall and it charges while in the wall. It works as a nightlight while plugged in, or you can turn it off. So its a rechargeable flashlight and nightlight. I like that it doesn't need batteries, and that you always know where to find it... unless some children have run off with it. We tend to have issues with flashlights getting played with and when I need them, the batteries are dead. So this flashlight is a plus for me. The downside would be that an extended power outage would make it useless eventually.

And, this is the grumpy girl I have today:
Rylee is cranky, but isn't interested in a nap. She doesn't want to snuggle. She does not want to eat. She just wants to be held while she whines. That's a lot of fun, let me tell you!

Its fun to have girls!

Sunday morning, all 3 girls let me do their hair. Delaney's was so cute, but she ran away from me every time I pulled out the camera. Stinker. Callie and Marian were much more cooperative. Callie is easier to get pictures. Marian puts on her stone-face, so that's less fun.

Here is my sweet Callie.

I did her hair into 3 ponies to the side, and braided the top and bottom ones and then added that to the big middle pony and then tried a messy bun. I've never done a messy bun before and it was quite difficult!

It came out nicely, but the bun part did not hold well through church. Part of the problem is that my girls are not demure and they do not sit quietly. They are rough and tumble and they roll around the pew and rub their heads on the seat, the back, or the floor. It makes it tough to keep their hair looking nice!

This was the best shot of Mimi. This hairdo was really cute on her. The picture actually doesn't show you how nicely her hair came out. I split it into 6 sections in front, did tuck-under knots with them and then pulled them into a half pony. Pretty simple, but wow, it really looked good on her!

And now onto the perks of being the mom! Delaney was up at 3am, and I put her back to bed. I'm not sure if she stayed there, but she was up at 5 when Dan got up. She was one cranky cookie! And she fell asleep on the floor about 2:30 this afternoon. I moved her to the couch, but she still was not safe!

I looked over to see this.

Hey little Pickle!

Rylee ignored me and went back to excavating Delaney's mouth.

Hee, hee, hee! She thinks she is so clever!

And then she came to see if I was any more interesting than her sleeping sister.