~Happy 7th Birthday~

to Jordis Li Meng! Happy Birthday to you!! It is very hard to believe that this little girl has only been in our family for less than two years. It seems like she has been with us forever. She crawled in my lap last night to give me a hug and kiss goodnight and she whispered to me, "Mama, you know it's my birthday tomorrow?" Of course we remembered! We surprised her at school this afternoon with cupcakes, fruit punch and all the utensils! (BTW, I cropped this photo as one of the little boys in the background had his finger up his nose!)



She is still tiny but mighty. She seems to blossom before our eyes! We love you Jordis Li!! XOXO



Today



Fall 2008



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Our four-legged kidz

So I have been a bad blogger lately. I actually had plans to add to our blog, but things can get hectic around here sometimes. I took some photos of our four-legged kidz lately. Oreo is the "old" lady of the house. She was pretty overwhelmed at first by our family. She spent a lot of time in the basement and would come upstairs after the girls went to bed. She has decided that maybe we aren't so bad after all and spends lots of time in front of the food bowl (hence the big belly) and lounging around. Of course, when your belly is so big, it feels good to lay on your back in the chair!



Eegan is starting to get along with Oreo and Pugston now. I wish there was a way that I could get a great shot of his eyes. Unfortunately, all I pick up is the glow when I try too. He is not 100% siamese, but he definitely looks the part. His eyes are very blue and crossed! I sometimes wonder if he really can see very well. Eegan sleeps with Jordis every night.



Then there is Pugston! Pugston was given a second chance at our family by an icestorm. I had a new home all lined up for Pugston and the day that I was going to take him there we awoke to a ice covered outside. Of course, I didn't think that it was a good idea to try and drive on ice, so Pugston was reprieved. He took his opportunity the evening of the ice storm to suck up big time to me. And they say they are dumb animals! He has really turned out to be a good dog. He does have his days though. Ever since the Fourth of July night, he will NOT go outside when it is dark. He was scared by fireworks and seems to think they are waiting for him outside! Then he will only come home when he is good and ready too. I let him out one morning and when I started looking for him so I could go get Kendalan from pre-school I found him at the neighbor's house playing with their dog, Hank. I had a treat for Pugston and was doing everything in my power to coax him home, but he just looked at me like "Who is this crazy woman?" Hank is getting pretty old and our neighbors house is now for sale. I don't know what Pugston will do without Hank to play with!





You will notice in the first photo of Hank and Pugston that the neighbors black cat is laying on the bench. When I started coming closer the cat decided to peek at me from behind the bushes! The dogs just kept looking at me. Hank is chewing on a tennis ball and Pugston was trying to get him to drop it! Boys and their toys!

School & Sleep

Other than missing the photo op to get all four girls' photo before school the first day, school is off to a great start. All four girls announced after the first day that they were excited to be back in school and everyone is happy with their new teachers. We are still having issues with the early morning wake up call. My take on bedtime is that it should be early. The girls think that 8pm on a school night is too early. I really think that they should be IN bed at 7:30pm so they can be asleep by 8pm at the very latest.

My girls have THEIR bedtime routine down to a science. I start telling them at 7:15 that it is almost time for bed. They automatically kick into slow motion. Getting pajamas on is stretched out to a 20 minute process. I didn't know the girls could move so slow! In the mornings before school tooth brushing is done almost before they put the toothbrush in their mouth. In the evening they have to brush EVERY tooth at least 5 minutes! I guess this could be a good thing, but it is just part of the ploy to drag out bedtime.

After they brush their teeth it is off to bed.....whoa! Now everyone is thirsty! Sorry girls, you just brushed your teeth you can't have anything but water to drink. My former water haters all of a sudden can't drink enough water! Of course, they can only take little, teeny tiny sips! They then head toward the stairs, but OH we forgot to give you hugs and kisses! (Do they know how to suck up or what?!!) At this time they want to give extra hugs and kisses and maybe if they work it just right they will climb on a lap and get to stay up at least a couple of minutes longer!

This is a typical morning pose after the girls have finally drug themselves up the stairs. They barely make it to the love seat and have to become horizontal again!


Then after all the love is passed around, they are down the stairs to bed, right? WRONG! Minutes after the thump, thump, thumps are down the stairs we hear thump, thump, thump right back up with someone telling that "ZoraLin is in our room!" Or "I forgot my (insert any stuffed critter here)." Back down they go...YES! Mom and Dad head off to the freezer to get a popsicle (the good kind that are reserved only for parents!) A head pops up from the stairway. "Mommy, what are you eating?" "Can I have a bite?" Of course, if they go to bed and don't come back up at least a couple of times we sit up here thinking "Maybe we should go see what is going on?" "Could they really be asleep?!"

Then on the weekends we wind up with a bed full of girls. We love family bed time! Lots of tickles, hugs, giggles, dog piles...you name it!