Locks of Love

Maria asked if she could cut 10" off of her hair for Locks of Love so we arranged for her to go to the salon and get a real haircut.

About two weeks before we talked to the stylist
to make sure she knew what she was doing

This was the moment where I held my breath

Her hair is pulled straight because she had braided it in the morning.
Once the curl comes back, we know it will be shorter.

"Maybe I could use this as a beard instead?"

Lovely!!!

40 and 40

40 weeks and 40 years old

Overheard as I was checking birth supplies:

Maria: Is it labor of body more than of the mind?

Bill: Giving birth is not servile work!

Maria on taxes

Maria: "I think everyone should have lots and lots of babies so they wouldn't have to pay so much in taxes and then the world would be very nice. And have homebirths. With midwives."

Odds and ends

Spring, birthday season, Easter. They are coming; they are here. Here are some glimpses into our recent past:

Maria in front of the USS Yorktown

Cecilia was especially excited by the "vendor" machines

Dominic and I got to see the berthing quarters

Look at the relaxed and happy faces of the unplugged, living it up outside, pre-teens!

Charles' valet service

Dominic's first time driving the cart

ready to hit the strawberry patch

7:15 last Saturday Morning

Dad and son going on a Cub Campout
2 Boy Scouts prepared for a weekend of being "grub masters"
at the Snake Farm Campout

2 American Heritage Girls set for a day at the zoo

She loved the bug so much she touched it over and over

This is James' hand touching
the Madagascar hissing cockroach

Maria really liked the albino crocodile

Clone Army: who's who?

One of them rolled over today!

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

Yellow

We repainted the foyer a fresh yellow, and I really like it.

Maria has recently learned how to use my wrap.

Tonight we were super excited when we figured
out how to have her wear Dominic on her back. 

Maria

Maria has been commenting that I never share any memories from when she was little.  I knew this already.  I can hardly remember her as a baby.  Whether it was sleep deprivation, untreated PPD, or simply being in the Mommy Tunnel doesn't matter to her.  She wants to hear cute stories about herself as a baby.  Not the same old one about how used to cry if there was a breeze...or how she used to bang her head on the side of the crib to make her brothers laugh.

Maria, today I found these notes marked "2004" in an old scrapbooking bag.  I gave you the pens.  Here are your stories, some more recent:

Until you were 3 years old, you would not speak in public.

You have always wanted to do what your big brothers were doing, whether it was baseball, scooters, kindergarten, potty training or Harry Potter.  And because you are so mature, I often forget that you are two years younger.

Like the big boys,  you loved the pizza park at the National Zoo and always wanted
to spend the whole day there instead of going to see the animals.

When I was pregnant with Cecilia, you used to call her "pickle".  A few years later, Daddy took all of you to Arlington while you were there you said you wanted to be a nun and Cecilia did too.  "Don't you, Cecilia?" you asked.  "Yes!" she said.

Daddy didn't believe you and said that if you asked Cecilia if she wanted to be a pickle, she would say yes.  Then you asked her if she wanted to be a pickle, and she said "no."  This is notable because it's the last time you wanted her to do something with you.

Sorry, darlin', it took me 8 years to learn how to do your hair well.
This was not that day.

You have always had an affinity for mud.  And though you laughingly resent it, I think you secretly love it when the park ranger at Weymouth calls you "outdoor girl."

You love being the center of attention...sort of.

And finally, to remind you we have a date in 4 years to run the army 10 miler.  You often and with enthusiasm choose big projects.  My job to be sure you accomplish them!

Scouty Stuff

I must get a little caught up since we've had two birthdays already and are about to have two more.  But first I have to share:

Charles came in second at the Pinewood Derby!
He went to regionals but didn't place.

Also, 3 kids and I went "camping" with scouts this past weekend.  Unfortunately we left our house at 6:30 am Sat and were home again by 11:30 pm because of a thunderstorm.  However, we pitched a tent and then unpitched it in the dark and rain, went to Mass, ate s'mores, and had a lot of fun.  What more does sleeping in the tent add, right?

At the Catholic Camporee--Boy Scouts taught fire building, and that's what our kids did all day.

The girls loved it too!  I was in charge of helping kids make tye-dyed t-shirts so I didn't know what they were up to.   Good parental supervision, right?

Our AHG friends loaned us poles and bait so we could fish. 

That is one happy camper!

Don't I look like a star bellied sneech?

Father-Daughter Sock Hop

4pm and the dance is at 6:30

Maria helped a lot with making the poodle skirts.

Her dog's leash says "AHG"

I was less fancy and just did a "C" for Cecilia.

On their way to dinner and a night of fun with Dad.

Who we are this week--the 10 family member version

Bill's quiet and thorough personality have made our new house hunting adventure much less stressful than it otherwise would be.  In a few weeks we hope to be homeowners.  To increase his personal fitness, his new workout plan involves lots of push ups.  He has all the kids participating too, so anytime one of them crosses from the carpet to the hardwood in the kitchen, he/she falls to the floor to do a few.  It's been pretty funny watching Joseph rock on his stomach trying to get it off the floor.

Rachel usual scattered approach to doing all things necessary is getting an overhaul by the Mother's Rule of Life.  She's hoping that in a short time she will have learned to keep the house clean, the kids schooled, the aprons sewed, and the Christmas cards done in a timely and orderly manner.

We have Thomas (11) who is fairly outgoing and friendly and in that preteen stage where he takes things seriously.  He loves legos and reading and taking pictures.  He is a little shorter than Anthony which helps telling them apart if they are together.  

Anthony (11) is the compliment to Thomas so he is a little more serious and introverted and contrariwise.  He is also the one who talks about his faith more and tries to tell a lot of jokes.  He often has two problems with whatever you say and loves to tell you what they are.  He's also very gentle with small kids and seeks out the child that everyone else ignores.  

Maria (10) LOVES babies and will ask about a billion times to hold any baby she meets.  She's artsy and enjoys sewing and singing.  She and Cecilia are involved in an American Heritage Girls group at our parish which is her one activity.  She and Thomas and Anthony look and act like triplets a lot of the time.  They are the "big kids".  

Charles (8) is quiet and social, however those two things work together.  Everyone plays legos  here, and he's probably there in the Lego zone if he isn't wrestling someone on the living room floor and driving his mother crazy.  Charles, Anthony and Thomas are all Scouts.  

Cecilia (6) is sunshine.  Or she is a golden retriever bounding up to you with her tongue hanging out.  When she is tired or asked to do what she thinks is an insurmountable task, say, sweeping the kitchen, she is a very rainy rain cloud.  She's also quite "sporty" and used to take me running when I was 9 months pregnant with Joseph.

James (4) looks either like he thinks the world is going to end or like he just won the lottery.  This week we've had a lot more of the lottery winning face which has been nice.

Joseph (2) compares well with a  butterball turkey.  He and James both wear 4T clothes and play together a lot, often with Joseph as lead trouble maker.  He's also my very cuddly guy, and I love to sit with him on my lap and just hold him.  He has just started to talk more, so if you speak monkey, you will understand everything he says.

and the new baby:
 

Real life

I think I'm done experimenting with the slideshow for a while.  That was a project for the girls' American Heritage Girls troop blog.

In real life my experiment is baking bread.  I've made different breads over the years, but I recently decided to try again in the hopes that we could make a tasty sandwich bread which doesn't mold between the day we bring it home and then next day when we finish the loaf.  If we save money, great.  If the nutrition is better, fabulous. I'll look into those points once I've finished deciding which recipe I like best.

Tonight I'm experimenting with a whole-wheat sandwich bread recipe which yields 4 loaves.  The yield is what I needed since I've making a 2 loaf recipe every two days for the past few weeks.  In addition to French Bread, hamburger buns, banana muffins, and healthy whole wheat dinner bread, that adds up to a lot of baking.  But, hey, with the oven on so much, we can keep the thermostat lower!

American Heritage Girls earning their Aviation badge

I don't have any great bread pics to share, and this is better anyway.

Hair DO!

"Queen Crayola"

Maria's Birthday

Maria does not eat birthday cake.  It just doesn't appeal to her.  Even at her first birthday, there are pictures of her crying because we had given her cake.  God bless her.  I am relieved of any pastry chef cake-master stress and we all get to enjoy some other scrumptious dessert.  This year she chose California style cheese cake.

For her birthday she got a Rip-stick which, as she recently told me with pride, she can ride around the the basement 104 times.  Her doll received a few pretty outfits and we gave her some books, including Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. 

Singing in the Summer

When I tried to learn harmonica, the first lesson was "Be your own biggest fan." Maria has always been her own biggest fan as she developed her own special singing style--something like impromptu wordless opera in tones just lower than those only dogs hear--and it was obvious that she really enjoyed singing. But until my friend Maryan advertized her Singing in the Summer camp, I worried that Maria would remain underappreciated for a long time.



Now Maryan could make a week-long tooth-brushing camp fun, so I knew her singing camp would be the perfect environment for Maria to work on harnessing her untrained gifts. Throughout the week Maria was fairly quiet when asked about how camp was going, but before Friday James was singing "Strike up the Band" and Anthony was singing "I'm Looking Over a Four Leafed Clover" so I knew that it was going well. And now everyone is enjoying her singing as much as she is.







On the last day, the girls did a mini concert. I thought it was pretty impressive considering they had one week of training. Unfortunately, Blogger is fighting all my efforts to upload the little movie I made, so you will just have to believe me.

They sang the Kyrie and then Veni Creator Spiritu (in Latin!). They did hand movements with "Four Leafed Clover" and marched to "The Marine Corps Hymn" and the "Army Song". Maria told me she sang the harmony part on "Lonely Goatherd" which I thought was amazing with only a week of practice. Well, my descriptions will never live up to your actually hearing her sing, but I assure you that it is now something to look forward to.