Halloween Preview

Today was just for practice, for school. Tomorrow we will all costume up and hit the streets (60% chance of rain) for some candy. Here's a little preview...

Our Black Eyed Pea:

Our Little Mermaid:

Our Vampire Ghost:

Our Tinkerbell:

And, last but not least by any stretch of the imagination, our Spiderman:

It's a Love Hate Thing

Cupcake cannot stay away from Princess Eee. Cupcake cannot be gentle with Princess Eee. Some kids bite, some kids hit, some kids kick, some kids shove. Cupcake PINCHES. Hard. It is so much more subtle than any of the other nasty, aggressive options she could have chosen. It might look like she is gently touching Princess Eee's arm or caressing Princess Eee's cheek. Maybe for one second she is, but the intent to hurt her big sister overwhelms her within the next second and her little nails dig in and her grip is intense. Princess Eee does not fight back; she just shrieks and then whimpers. It might help Cupcake to realize that she cannot keep this up if Princess Eee would either pinch her back or just haul off and whollop Cupcake. Although I'm pretty sure Cupcake would not shriek or whimper in return. She'd just pinch even harder. And all Cupcake wants to do is be near Ali and vice versa. Every time I separated them today, Cupcake would yell her big sister's name over and over. (Yes, she can actually say it now!) I guess it's a love/hate thing for Cupcake.

We are all gearing up for Halloween. Costumes are being arranged and fitted. For now though here are a few more pics that I had yet to post from our hike the weekend before last...

Papi Moco Loco urging Princess Eee onward.

You can't really see Princess Eee, but she is there right in front of J. Seven little ducks went out to play.

One Month Home

At a party Saturday eve:

On a hike Sunday afternoon. Princess Eee's first hike. She has a ways to go to get in shape for living in these mountains with this family. And, yep, that's Cupcake throwing a fit in her PJ's & refusing to wear her jacket.

At the same Saturday eve party (mucho progress has been made recently in bonding with Papi Moco Loco):

Hula-Hooping Sisters at same party:

It has officially been one month since Princess Eee first stepped into our home. Things that I never would have thought we'd have worked through by now have settled in. If you had told me a few weeks ago that she'd sleep in her bed by herself and tell me proudly every morning that she slept well with The Spark ("with" meaning in the same room, The Spark still won't share her bed), I never would have believed she'd be doing it by now. If you had told me a few weeks ago that she could skip a bath every few days and not have a complete meltdown about it, I never would have believed you. If you had told me a few weeks ago that she could gracefully accept the fact that one yogurt + one yogurt squeeze + one yogurt Smoothie per day was sufficient, I never would have believed it.

However, if you had told me that Princess Eee would still not really use any English other than "Hi, Bye, Thank you, and watch out," I also would have been surprised. It'll start soon though everyone tells me.

Both Cupcake and Princess Eee had their first swimming lesson today. Even though Cupcake can pretty much jump in and swim around, she was the non-compliant one of the duo and therefore appears to have further to go in the learning process. I think they both had fun though.

Sister T's

Thank you, Amy D. from Louisiana, for the awesome sisters' T-shirts!!!! They all wanted to wear them right away. And yes, they all still fit. Cupcake would not take hers off, so she also slept in it that night.

Hay nieve!

Even though we always get an early mini-dump of snow in mid October, it never fails to catch us off guard as far as where are everyone's appropriately sized boots, snowpants, water proof gloves/mittens, etc.????? And how was I supposed to know ahead of time that my 3 year old's feet would be the same size as my 5 year old's feet so there will be no hand-me-down boots this winter? Yet we managed nonetheless to get the kids outfitted in something wearable and out the door to welcome the first snowfall of the season before breakfast this morning. (Cupcake was still in her crib sawing logs after being up much of the night yelling "No!" and "Mine!" and "No! Mine!" in her sleep.)

I think the three big kids were more excited for Princess Eee to experience her first snowfall than Princess Eee was. They all ran into our room with its full backyard view and almost breathlessly waited for Princess Eee's reaction. First she told me she needed something to eat which is almost always the first thing she says in any situation. Then she looked out the slider and yelled, "Hay nieve!" (There's snow!) That was followed with again asking for something to eat. She did love the snow though. She got suited up again after lunch for more outside in the snow time. It didn't amaze her like we all thought it would, however. She really takes most things in stride. She might think that this was it for snow since it is all gone now, but she'll learn the truth soon enough.

There's your goodnight story for tonight, Aunt Joan. :)

Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS to our former babysitter/nanny of three years (!?) who gave birth to a healthy baby girl this evening!!!!!!! So happy for you, Jana!!!!!!!!

How many nails?!

I trimmed 80 nails tonight, and that's just because The Spark did her own fingers and toes. And because mine were recently trimmed, and J takes care of his too- thank goodness. If I had tackled the dogs' too, that'd be 36 more nails to trim. We have 176 nails to trim in this house!

All fevers are either down or have yet to rise. Zippy was couchbound all day today and learned to knit in his legarthy. I don't think there are many toys left unturned or un-strewn after a full weekend of all seven of us staying home. Tomorrow we might clean.

Looks like flu season has opened early in Northern NH. Half of the boys' school is down for the count. #1 included. Thank goodness for Children's Motrin! One down, 6 of us to go.

Maybe I'll do a one-month-home post next weekend and fill everyone in on how Princess Eee's adjustment is going. Right now I am going to fight off germs in my sleep and leave you with some photos from last week and today...




What was that, KJ, about being a New Hampshire girl?!!? Let's peel (and eat) some more apples! Notice the jacket worn indoors over a wool sweater. Yes, this one's blood is still a bit thinner than the rest of us. And right now, she LOVES tights. Every day, must wear tights. She does not know a spanish word for them since they are not common in the Land of Eternal Spring, so she calls them pantalones (pants).

Zippy's estate:

The Bookends, kindred spirits.

The sisters, waiting for brother's soccer practice:

Abuelos visit

Princess Eee loved having her maternal grandparents visit. (I don't think she remembers meeting Grampy Dude and Gramma Ramma on the night of her arrival in the USA. So she will be thrilled to meet and re-meet all of her other grandparents too.) When her sib's got home from school the day Nonnie and Bobo arrived, she ran to all of them to excitedly introduce HER grandparents to everyone. Not sure if she understood my explanation that the rest of us already knew Nonnie and Bobo, but she shared them fairly well the remainder of the visit. The photos below all need to be credited to "abuelita" Nonnie.

A very rainy day at the orchard:

These two are starting to be pretty good friends (phew!)

This girl LOVES her bubble baths!

A Good Time Was Had by Some

Fun times were had today. Rough times too of course. We are not even at the two week mark yet so let's be realistic. Cupcake and Princess Eee had a jogger ride to the town playground and no one cried. They played very nicely together the whole time we were at the playground. We only had to go inside for the potty once. Neither one asked for food the whole time we were on the little journey. It was a very nice outing. Then later at home when all the big kids were home from school, they raked leaves into a good pile for jumping. They had fun together for a few minutes. I do not think all five of them, however, were having fun at the same time at any given moment. Princess Eee is extremely sensitive right now (who can blame her?!?!?) and believes any accidental bonk or bump was fully intentional and that we are all out to get her. This made for tough times in the leaf pile. But she LOVED the turkey meatloaf for dinner (thank you Mary Jo!!!) and ate her three helpings happily. She even went outside to play with Papi Moco Loco and the other kids for a bit after dinner while I cleaned up inside AND let J help with bathtime again tonight.

The washing machine repair man might trump our visit to the pre-school tomorrow morning, but it quit halfway through a cycle so the stinky, dirty clothes have been sitting in stinky, dirty water since Tuesday. I cannot miss the repair man for a pre-school visit that can happen any time before Princess Eee's birthday. It's the 8am-5pm "window" they gave me that is the bummer.