Sunday, May 17, 2009

Dabney turned 6!!





Obviously, when a person turns 6 years old, the only sensible thing to do is invite a hundred other six year olds over and stuff them all with processed sugar. Dabney liked this plan:





















Mister "All-the-girls-in-my-class-are-in-love-with-me" is FLANKED BY GIRLS. (oh, my).

















Wild, wild fun.








Saturday, April 18, 2009

Henry Turns 7

Henry Turned 7 on Friday, April 17. Saturday, April 18, we were invaded by First Graders for a party.

After Cake, Ice Cream, Candy, Rice Krispy Treats, Jello Jigglers, Cheetos and soooo much more, we played games. First, we played pin the sticker on the Transformer.


Then, we went to get the party favors out. What we found was HORRIBLE!!!!
JUST TERRIBLE I tell you!!!
Where I left the party favors we found this:


The symbol of the Decepticons. This is what they said:



Inside the envelope:



Then:

Our Autobot party guests ran down to the basement to find:


There was a stampede up the stairs to find:


Another frantic rush up another flight of stairs to find:


Down the stairs:

Up the stairs!
Down the stairs....again....to finally find their party favors!!!
Those nasty enemies, the Decepticons, really know how to get first graders to burn that energy!
The aftermath:
The way parties always end:


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Our Newest Addition

As some of you may already know, we have welcomed our newest addition to the family.



Date of Arrival: February 9, 2009



Her Name: Elyan Jeanine



Length: 67"



Weight: (undisclosed)



Our Girls:






I posted our announcement three months after our latest addition was added. This should probably be explained. To do that, I have to go all the way back to the day I found out about Elyan Jeanine.In church on a distant past Sunday, while the service was wrapping up and the children were wrapping themselves around my neck, announcements were being made. I rarely hear announcements. What I hear are heavy whispers and whinings about how hungry little boys are, how hungry the big boy is, how the little boys were all naughty during sermon time, or how someone has started undressing themselves. The end of church is a general unraveling of ropes.

On this particular Sunday, one announcement caught my attention.

"....she needs a place to rent short term. She just needs a room, she's from Alabama, she's a Christian, and she likes big families."

Could this be for real? Someone who is a certified adult, who shares our passion for the Southern way of life, WHO DOESN'T MIND CHILDREN? I found this mythical creature difficult to believe in. I saw other mothers perk up and respond immediately. Church was over and they were moving quickly towards the announcer. I instantly knew that my position in the sanctuary made it impossible to get to her in time. I leaned over to my oldest child, a 6 year old boy, and said, "Henry, go tell her we're interested."
"What?"
"Don't worry about it! Just go to her and say we're interested! RUN!!!!!"

I shoved him off in order to speed up the rate of acceleration. It worked. I saw her look down at Henry and flash a knowing smile at me. Yes. I am definitely interested, my expression screamed.

That week, I received a phone call from a Miss Elyan from Alabama. We set a date to meet. I suggested she keep her options open before she met the whole collection of Peters and saw her possible accommodations. It was agreed.

She came skipping and dancing up the sidewalk. She burst through the front door with a huge smile and an easy laugh. It was hatefully cold outside. I introduced her to the children. Violet leaned over and peered at her upside down through her legs. The boys giggled goofy and silly and performed ridiculous stunts to impress her. Someone ran into someone else and they both started crying. She got to know the kids.

I showed her around the house. I showed her the room she would rent and the bathroom we would share. So there it is, I said. Remember, we only have one bathroom and we have four small kids. She said, yes, but you also have a bathroom downstairs too. Sure, I said, but we would be sharing this one up here and we have four small kids. She merely smiled. I thought this meant she was simply terribly naive. I urged her to think carefully about things before she committed.

And this is why I waited three months to announce her. For several weeks, I expected to see her running for the hills screaming frantically for help. She didn't. She stayed.

And we're so happy she did.





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