Monday, November 4th

Our week started off with a Monday full of school, play and a surprise Boo gift from us to the kids.

The kids did their usual schoolwork and then played several games with their color-counting bears and a few other manipulatives.  I love watching what games they invent - modern education does not give enough credit to how important play is.  It's a child-led way for them to practice all of the skills they are learning.  There is also an incredibly valuable knowledge trickle-down effect when the older and younger ages play together.

Waverly was in a very happy, content mood and I needed to clean my bathroom so I laid her on my bed and got to work.  The bathroom is line of sight to the bed and she was in the middle surrounded by pillows so she couldn't make any fancy maneuvers and roll off.  I could hear her babbling happily so I tackled a few things before checking on her and I found this - the new little cat sitting on top of a pillow...on top of the baby!  Waverly was pulling and tugging at her fur and the cat was purring and sitting there totally pleased.  I realized it had been the cat that elicited the burst of "talking" from the baby :-)  When she caught me watching out of the corner of her eye she looked at me and just had the most conspiratorial look, like, "This is so amazing what is happening right here, right now." haha

In her high chair at lunchtime, with a little mesh bag full of crisp apples - she really can't get anything out of them but she loves gnawing around.  I think she is starting to teeth in earnest now, and it seems to feel pretty good on those gums!

Jim had ordered a special holiday boo online for Scarlett (one they had looked at together previously and she had loved), so when it arrived in the mail that afternoon, I made a quick run to pick up one for Victoria and Lincoln while the kiddos napped and Gram stayed home. They were really excited to receive their festive boos!

Jim and I haven't been getting much Starbucks lately, trying to avoid the sugary drinks.  However, as a special treat I stopped and picked up iced coffees for the both of us - I asked them to be topped with whipped cream so that they felt more decadent than they tasted :-)

Salty has been feeling much better since taking his prescription medicines - he's all smiles now and even managed to sneak a little forbidden sofa time with Jim when the kids were in bed!

Monday, October 28th

We had a very relaxed Monday - school went easily and then the girls were anxious to play an elaborate Boo game with their beanie boos.  Lincoln played with them some and hung out with me and Waverly quite a bit as well.  It's been so fun to watch him become much more interactive with the baby now that she's so very responsive... the fact that she thinks anything he does - even walking past - is totally hilarious definitely encourages him to get more giggles out of her :-)

He likes to snatch her little bear-head blanket from her and shake it in his teeth like a dog - sometimes she'll grab hold and they'll play "tug".

Other times he'll make it dance and sing for her which is always a winner as evidenced by that big ol' smile! :-) (kitten photobomb in the back~)

Upside down face!

 But if he gets too close, she grabs hold of his hair with all her might and chuckles gleefully ;-)  Gram, Nana and I have all agreed that Waverly's hair has the exact same texture and feel to it as Lincoln's does.  I don't know if that means it will be curly like Linc's was (and probably still would be if I let it grow out)?  

So Waverly really loves everyone - her siblings, her daddy (she gets so excited to see him always!), grammie and nana and so forth and so on... but I have to confess that I kind of enjoy how much of a Mama's Girlie she is :-)  We love each other so!

Heading out to the gym later that night, I had to snap a quick picture of the girls' boo hotel they had going on, using doll house furniture.  We have SO many wash cloths in this house - I'd bet close to 40; a lot are needed in a household with 8 people!  But sometimes neither Gram nor I can find more than a couple because the kids have them all squirreled away for various Boo-related purposes, lol.  When you have 15+ boos and each one needs a (washcloth) pillow and (washcloth) blanket, it really starts to add up!

Saturday, September 21st - Our 11th Anniversary!

Jim had made plans for us to have an in-town weekend getaway to celebrate our 11th anniversary!  We were looking forward to the time and SO thankful to Gram and Nana for their willingness to take such great care of the kids while we had our time together.  We appreciate you both so much!!

On this day, eleven years ago, I married my best friend.  We have been through a tremendous amount together in the past decade +1 ;-)  Businesses together, home ownership, moves, death of loved ones, open heart surgery, four children... A lot of incredible lows and outstanding highs - far too many to list!  But through it all we choose to do life together, and I'm so thankful that you are my partner.  

I love you~

Before we took off for our 28 hours of freedom, Jim took the kids to karate and snapped this picture :-)

We had a wonderful time with just the two of us - shopping, talking, enjoying one another's company and the ability to do the normal things of life at a more leisurely pace.  Jim had set aside a little bit of money for us to go shopping with, and we had vowed we would *not* spend any of it on the kids... this was going to be for US.  Ahem.  That did not happen at all :-p  We are incorrigible!!  But we had a blast and found lots of good deals, including this super cozy, lightweight and flexible Columbia coat for Waverly for only $8!

Meanwhile, back at the house, Grammie took the kids to McDonald's for a multi-house lunch + play fest.  Our lovely neighbors brought over their youngest's exersaucer for us to borrow, and Waverly took an immediate liking to it (because it is like the cadillac of all exersaucers - it may actually take flight at any moment).

I had ordered special little seasonal Boos for the kids as a surprise - actually thinking that we wouldn't be buying anything for them while we were away (ha!), but that it would be a nice prize for their good behavior upon our return.  After further thought though, I texted my mom to see if they had arrived and sure enough they had... so I let Nana give them to the kids and they spent quite a while Saturday evening sorting out who was getting what, and playing with them.

We had spent most of the afternoon about an hour south of the city, and returned in-town to check out our hotel room at the Melia.  It was beautiful!  We had a suite and it was HUGE, with terrific views of the city.  They also had a complimentary upgrade on our room that allowed us access to their top floor lounge where we had free drinks and hors d'oeuvres. 

Refreshed and ready for our dinner out~

We ate a late dinner at a wonderful sushi placed called Steel - the food was fabulous, and one of the more entertaining elements was ordering ishiyaki beef.  Basically you get the strips of meat and a super hot rock and grill it yourself at the table.  It was fun and unique :-)

Our view of sunset at the hotel!  What a wonderful end to our lovely anniversary day.

Friday, September 13th

Friday we headed to the mall mid-morning - myself, Gram and the kids.  We had such a fun outing, shopping for boos, eating lunch, and scoring some surprise awesome clearance deals on clothes.  Returning home, the kids took a rest time before getting dressed and ready to head to their highly-anticipated Karate Dance Pizza Party where they take their karate lessons.  While the big kids were having a great time, Jim, Waverly and I splurged and had dinner out and did a bit of shopping.  A wonderful day!

Waverly is by-and-large the most contented baby in the world... unless you put her down.  Actually, that's not quite accurate, because throughout the day she loves to play on a blanket in the living room or lay on her changing table and "talk."  I think it's more correct to say that unless she is in the mood to do those other things, she wants to be in someone's arms or at least attached in some way - hence the wonderful wrap.  I had Waverly in this sling, and she's almost big enough to do a hip sit unassisted, but not quite (still need an arm loosely supporting her back).  Gram was doubting if she would be able to use one, and there's only one way to find out! :-)  Sure enough, she was a pro and as you can see from the picture, Waverly was soon zoned out and nearly snoozing. 

I had our whole lesson plan mapped out for Friday... but when I woke up I just felt like we needed an Off Day.  The kids had done such an excellent job with school all week + Science Day, and so I listened to my instinct and decided that instead of doing school, we would pack up and head to the mall to shop for one new Boo for each kid.  Even better, Grammie decided to come along for the fun!  We went to the As Seen on TV store where they have quite a good selection of Boos, and the kids once again poured over their decisions and finally reverted to some classic "eenie-meenie-miney-moe" style choosing, lol.

Displaying their new Boos - a purple leopard ("Glamour"), a pug ("Pugsly"), and a ladybug ("Busgy").

Lunchtime!  I sat and fed the baby in a comfy chair while Grammie took the kids and treated them to some Chick Fil A.  I joined up after Waverly was finished eating.

Time to depart to the party!  Looking awesomely stylish - handsome not cute.  He's started being very particular about this verbiage. 

We had gone into Sears at the mall, as a friend had recommended them as a good source of jeans for Lincoln.  He needs 3T length, but has the most itty-bitty waist - none of the adjustable jeans we'd found would work!  Sure enough, they carried a Levi's slim regular that fit great.  And lo and behold, they were having some remarkable clearance close-outs on summer shirts and really deep sale prices on fall items.  I stocked up, Grammie bought several great summer items for next year for the girls, and I let the girls pick out a couple of accessories - namely these two hats and little matching backpacks (all $1.99/each!).  They also picked out these matching shirts to wear.  You could tell they felt like little fashionistas :-)

One sharp crew!