Dress Up

Annie discovered dressing up this week. The revelation was prompted by receiving a pair of hand-me-down ballet slippers. She then made the connection between the ballet slippers and the "tutu" in her drawer and the set has been a permanent fixture on her body during almost every waking moment since. As you can see, her fancy duds don't prevent her from her duties as vigilant mother to a brood of babies.

Trading Cards

The boys have discovered the world of trading cards. Pokeman, no less. Although Jakin and Corban have never and will not likely ever see the show, the enthusiasm of their friends is enough to excite their interest. After seeing all of their friends feverishly trade cards after soccer a few weeks ago, the boys determined that they must have Pokeman cards. Trading cards in general, and Pokeman trading cards in particular are not a thing I especially want to encourage. But, I decided this wasn't a hill to die on and the cards themselves weren't likely to be a negative influence. So, on a recent trip to Walmart, we tracked down the Pokeman cards. The boys were warned that they would be spending their own money to purchase the cards. When we found the cards, Jakin and Corban were confronted with their first lesson in the harsh reality of trading cards. $4.00 for 10 cards. Jakin made the immediate decision that he wasn't going to shell out the few remaining dollars he had for the cards. Corban (who didn't even have $4) still wanted to take the plunge. After a quick thought about what it would be like for one boy to own this precious commodity while the other still pined for them, I caved and offered to pay for half of each pack. The boys were so excited that they wouldn't even open them in the car less they should lose one of them on the way home. The next hours at home were spent in happy bliss, examining and pouring over their new treasure. Jakin could barely wait to take his to soccer that evening to begin trading. Jack took Jakin to soccer that evening and when they returned Jakin was practically in tears. He had been slapped with another aspect of the harsh world of trading cards: no one would trade with him. His cards were either "no good" or the boys who had already accumulated 50, 60 or 70 cards already had those Jakin was offering. Jakin's broken heart didn't immediately discourage Corban who clung to his belief that "trading" was synonymous with "multiplying"; he was still looking forward to magically turning his 10 cards into 20. Since the first disappointment, the boys have had opportunities to trade cards. And while I worry that their lack of knowledge of anything Pokeman means that they are getting fleeced out of "good" cards in return for"bad" cards, they seem happy with the new hobby. The problem they now have is that I'm not going to buy any more cards for them and Jakin is perplexed as to how to get more money for more cards. "How do I get more money? I never get more money!" The happy days of $5 stuffed in birthday cards won't come around again until next May and June. And the boys are stuck with parents who not only believe that they are too young for an allowance but that chores are part of what they are expected to do as members of our family. Meaning, they won't get paid for the normal jobs they do. I guess these are all good life lessons, right? Aren't we all still trying to figure out how to "get more money"!

Outer Banks, North Carolina September 2008

We experienced the blessing of a week in the Outer Banks with my family a few weeks ago. Despite too many windy days that kept us off the beach and out of the water, it was wonderful to be at the beach and to spend (too rare) time with family. We're spread out in Missouri, North Carolina, Kentucky and Massachusetts, so we don't get to see each other nearly as much as we would all like. And a week of vacation at the beach is always a great thing. Here are a few of the many pictures I would have liked to post (it's no mistake that there aren't any beach pictures of the 20 week pregnant lady):

Jack may be 35, but he still likes to play! He thoroughly enjoyed a week away from work. He plowed through all of David's McCullough's biography of Teddy Roosevelt this week.... no small undertaking...


I love this picture of Corban being like his dad.


On the days he could be in the water, Jakin spent every minute on the boogie board. He didn't stop. No breaks. As soon as he rode one wave in, he was up and on his way out to catch another.


Every kid loves the beach and Annie is no exception.


The family at the dunes.

It's a ......

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My recent ultrasound revealed that we are expecting a very healthy, very active little girl. I'm just thrilled. I'm so glad that Annie will have a sister. Someone to be her room buddy and hopefully her very good friend. I just posted an entry about what the boys do together. I'm anticipating Annie and her sister doing "girl things" together - playing with babies is one of Annie's favorite things to do. Two boys and two girls. YAY! The picture below was taken yesterday. I'm 19 weeks, still running (slowly) and still feeling really good overall. We have so much for which to be thankful.

What the boys do

Almost every day, this is what Jakin and Corban do. They build a fortress using the blocks Grampa Miller made for Jakin for his first Christmas and a bin full of "guys" - pirates, dinosaurs, lizards, farm animals and Star Wars galatic heroes. I think the fun is in the building. There never seems to be an actual battle. I'm glad they have each other to do "boy things" with all the time. And I'm glad they understand that they are in charge of cleaning the fortress up at the end of the day. Then, since everything is cleaned up, they have an excuse to build another fortress the following day!

First day of school

It has become a family tradition for Jack to bring home Dunkin Donuts for the first day of school. So, instead of the traditional first day of school pictures with the kids in their brand-new clothes carrying backpacks and lunch boxes, we home schoolers have pictures of kids in pajamas eating donuts. We did have a successful start to a new year. Corban has started kindergarten and Jakin is in 2nd grade. Today is the second day of school and I am a big softie... the boys are playing at a friend's house this afternoon since the friend starts school next week and the boys won't get to see him much after that. And the boys will be on vacation in North Carolina for 2 weeks in September. But, really, home schoolers really do school.... I have big plans for this year.....

My flower child

Annie loves flowers. Her pathetic mother hasn't planted any at our house, but we can pick them at our CSA. Each week when we go to pick up our veggies, we slowly make our way down to the pick your own field, and I cut the flowers and hand them to Annie. She insists on carrying them home, clutching them so tightly in the car that half of them are wilted by the time we get home. Then I get out the vase and cut the stems. She fills the vase with water, pulls off the leaves, arranges the flowers and proudly carries the vase to the table. It's sweet. We're house-hunting, so I don't know where we will be living next spring. But, when we settle in somewhere, Annie and I are going to have to plant some flowers. Oh, by the way, when I was taking this picture I was asking her to smile. On every take, she replied, "I am". So, this was the best I could get!