Madeline loves using the camera and she captures some very cute shots. Here are some from the other day:

Mimi was asking to help out in the kitchen. Madeline loves cooking, baking and even cleaning. She is going to be an awesome housewife and mother someday if she continues to enjoy these things. The only things I needed to do were clear the island and wash dishes. Since clearing the island is a large task I allowed her to wash the dishes.

Mimi got the water going and some soap in the water. She put the dishes in the sink and started to wash. I glanced over at her and saw this:

She just looked so mature to me that I had to snap a photo of the moment I saw her in a different light. There stood my little baby, but she wasn’t little anymore. Her hair is coming in and she no longer has the baby hair look. She stands on the stool on her long legs that seem to have grown several inches while I wasn’t noticing. Her whole being seems more mature and it is clear she is growing up.

She washed the dishes and didn’t stop until all of them were done. When I showed her that some were not clean she wasn’t upset with me, she just rewashed them. She had he stamina and drive to get the entire load done and asked if there was anything else she could do to help out. I thanked her for her work and told her she could go play. She walked away and I stood there in awe of the little lady she is becoming.

We were waiting patiently at the bowling alley to inquire about getting a lane. The lady behind the counter was helping a gentleman while another customer stood down the counter from us. I don’t know how long she had been standing there. It seemed like she had been helped already and was waiting to ask a question or get more assistance. The employee finished with the gentleman and started to help us as we were next in line.

The customer that had been waiting exploded. Evidently, she was waiting for bumpers to be raised on her lane and it had taken too long. She harangued the employee who then leisurely took care of her. When it came to be our turn again, she apologized for the other customer and I cheerily said that it wasn’t a problem. I asked for a bumper for our lane and she had it taken care of before we even got over there. Something tells me that the irate customer had been difficult in the initial interaction as well.

The next episode occurred because Annie and Madeline wanted mayonnaise for their fries. We let them go together and continued eating. After awhile, Sandi suggested that I check to make sure everything was alright. I looked over and saw them get passed over by the employee at the counter. They were kind of small at the counter and the employee probably thought they were with the previous customer. They just stood there waiting patiently. Sandi told me that they were too polite and went over to remind them that they should speak up to get helped. They did so and came back quickly.

The contrast struck me. I am proud that my girls are so patient and polite. The bowling alley customer’s children will likely be just like her because they have seen (and will likely always see) outbursts like that. Life is too short to live like that: it’s not worth the mental grief to worry about someone being taken out of turn.

Of course Madeline always has to take illness to the next level, surprising me last night with a 103.8 fever! We finally got it down and were able to sleep some. Although the sleep was not as sound because I could hear her wheezing beside me. I decided to take her in to the doctor today. He confirmed that we all have a virus and that Mimi does have wheezing. We didn’t do a chest x-ray but he felt confident that it hadn’t developed into pneumonia. Mimi has added breathing treatments into her care.

Hopefully we will all be better soon.

Madeline did an excellent job at introducing her Mom and Grammy. We listened as she sang us two songs. Then we helped her decorate her Valentine box. It came out so cute!

Madeline made some yummy sugar cookies that we ate and then we listened to a book and it rained hearts on us!

It was a wonderful evening. I am so glad I was able to share the time with Mimi.

When they arrived they picked out a bear and named it. They stuffed it, put a heart in, and picked out a dress for it. They said it was a wonderful birthday party and that they want to go back someday. It certainly was a neat experience for them.

Mimi and Rosie

Kimmie and Cutie

Annie and Daphne

As you can see from the picture above Annie and Kimberly were overjoyed! They were both able to find the right column and check for the numbers on their own. They got close to bingo once but didn’t win—sounds like bingo to me.

Mimi had fun too, though it was much harder for her to follow the numbers. I had to help her out a bit, but she still had fun!

Paul was not into bingo at all and was fairly hard to wrangle most of the night, with the exception of the 10 minutes he was eating Dippin’ Dots.

Adding to the specialness of the day, Sandi got her a new dress (they tried on “one hundred,” as Madeline later recounted to me):

Then we picked up Papa and went to McDonald’s for dinner. Madeline got a Happy Meal—a rare treat—and wolfed it down so she could play with her Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakquel figurine. (She liked that toy so much that she invented a cool trick with it and took it to preschool it was her turn for the sharing bag.)

The actual evening was unsurprisingly similar to the last one I attended. We played on their activity tables, which contained a bucket of fake snow, finger painting, and some sand to plow. Then we helped her create her popsicle-stick picture frame for a photograph we took in the beginning:

Then we had sugar cookies that the children had prepared for us, got introduced to the rest of the attendees by Madeline, and listened to a story. At the end of the story’s reading, the other teacher turned on the ceiling fan which caused snow-like confetti to drift onto our heads. This caused a wave of delight and surprise for the children, same as last year.

It was very pleasant and I look forward to doing it again in a couple of years with Paul.

I would like to think that there is nothing different about Mimi, but with her history and issues I worry more. Not that her Grandparents aren’t capable, nothing could be further from the truth. It isn’t them, it is me. I had a harder time letting her go to preschool as well.

I am proud of myself that I do it anyway. There isn’t anything different about Mimi, except that she has had to overcome some pretty big hurdles. They are just feelings I have, and she is strong and has passed the obstacles. She is growing up quick and is independent enough to have a sleepover at Grammy’s. She is safe and loved.

I am proud of her that she is able to go and be so brave. She is maturing into such a wonderful person. I know she is over there building memories and having fun.

The amount of time Annie and Kimberly spend at school along with the time they just want to spend playing at home mean that I don’t spend a lot of time with them. I miss them. Having them home all this time has been wonderful. That doesn’t mean that they don’t drive me nuts from time to time and that they don’t fight or annoy Paul to no end, it just means that I like having them here.

I also really enjoy not driving constantly. During school weeks I spend a lot of my time behind the wheel of my mini van, affectionately called “vanny van.” There have been plenty of days during the break where I haven’t even driven. It has been awesome.

I am not sure Paul is enjoying it as much as I am. It is hard for him to have the Girls in his business all the time. I don’t blame him for being so upset with them. They really do have a way of driving him nuts. There are times that I just have to send all three of the Girls upstairs so that Paul can roam freely. He has also become very clingy during this time. I am sure due to the fact that I am spread more thin with all the kids home.

Annie and Kimberly are relishing each moment of their break. They are in no rush to go back to school. Mimi on the other hand is ready. She only goes a total of 7.5 hours a week when school is in session which compared to Kimmie and Annies’s 27.5 hours it is clear why she misses it more.

Break has been going so well. I am really enjoying it. We have played lots of games and worked on lots of art projects. We have had tea parties and played dolls or Barbies. As Kimberly and I always say, “if it were this way everyday it wouldn’t be special.” I am so glad for this special time with them.

(Loved seeing Mimi wear Kimmie’s old Christmas dress this year. I loved those dresses so much!)

The snack was cupcakes and fruit. After the treats we sat down to listen to Mrs. Thurman read a book before heading out to the playground to play.

This year we made some great pies. Each kid got to help stir in one item and Paul even got to help! I am pretty sure we even got all the ingredients in this year. (Some years we forget an spice or add extra thinking we missed something. It all works out in the wash and adds to the fun!)

Kimberly making a pie crust.

Annie pouring in the milk.

Mimi measuring the ginger.

Paul cracking his first egg and pouring it in.

Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving. Life has so many things to be thankful for. Focusing on the positives in life takes skill and practice and isn’t always easy.

It was so neat to be there with the class and interact with the kids. We all have so much to be thankful for.

Mimi’s class made the pumpkin bread to share with the school. It was delicious!

I never want to forget how sweet her little voice sounds when she says “Paulie, Mimi will help you.” And since he doesn’t talk a lot yet she continues to speak to him as a Mother normally would, “you want Mimi to help you do that little man?”

I think she is the perfect big sister for Paul and will one day become a great Mother.

This morning after dropping the older girls off at school Mimi, Paul and I went to get donuts. We were standing in line waiting for our turn and Mimi and Paul befriended the man behind me. I didn’t turn around to talk to him but Paul and Mimi were talking. (I am not a morning person and honestly my kids talk to a lot of people while waiting in line so unless the person talks to me I just stand there.) The gentleman said the above sentence and I turned around to responded to him. I smiled and told him that they are friendly like that. He was a very sweet man and went on to chat with the kids.

I had to laugh when I got in the car later. The guy was a long haired hippie looking gentleman. My kids have a Grandfather who is a long haired hippie so this didn’t startle them.

I am so glad that my children are not judgmental about people’s appearances. There are certainly people out there to be leary of but you generally cannot tell that from the outside anyhow.

The Cousins, Joseph, Wyatt and Damian, came over to join in the fun. Aunt Christina, Ian and Kyle came to trick or treat as well.

We all had fun walking around getting treats and seeing all the cute costumes. Paul wasn’t into the whole idea so he was either getting carried by Daddy or riding in the wagon with Grammy pulling him.

Mimi was so excited to hand out candy. Unfortunately by the time she got around to this idea there weren’t a lot of trick or treaters. She would spin her light stick around to try to get “customers.”

After the bags were full to the max we came back to the house and hung out in the driveway. The kids had a great time running around and playing. We went to a friend’s haunted garage and the kids seemed to like it. It was their first haunted experience.

It was a fun night.

Annie’s cat pumpkin design came out very cute.

Kimmie’s hungry pumpkin was a very good idea and funny!

Mimi had fun gutting and carving the pumpkin that was almost as big as her!

Annie has been obsessed with kung fu and martial arts ever since she saw Kung Fu Panda this summer. Kimmie and Paul love to play kung fu with her, Mimi not so much.

They had the cutest flower girls. (Yes, they were Kimmie, Annie and Mimi. ) I wish I could share pictures with you but we were so busy getting ready and rushing to the church on time that I forgot my camera. The photographer took plenty of shots and I know Aunt Christina got some so hopefully I will have some from today.

Unfortunately, Kimberly has strep throat and was throwing up. Normally I would have her stay home but I couldn’t bear to break her heart. She has been buzzing about the wedding for some time now and all the Girls were excited to be in it. She puked on the way to the church and after the ceremony, but she was able to walk down the aisle and toss flower petals. She refused to go home so we took her to the reception. She perked up later on and danced and had fun. I am so glad she was able to do this. I know it was very important to her.

I almost cried when they were walking down the aisle so confidently sprinkling their flower petals. They were perfect.