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School Debt-Free!

I haven’t been able to post as much because our new computer came with a new operating system that is quite literally the most frustrating piece of technology I have ever had to deal with it.  To say I loathe and despise it is an understatement.  I hate it more than Apple products, which, as you know, is breaking new ground for me.  I have been tempted to use profanity.  I have screamed in frustration and punched things.  The simple act of downloading a picture from my SD card, which took me one click before, now takes several minutes.  Derek arrogantly insisted today that I just didn’t know what I was doing: “Watch and learn, Em.”  I told him to go ahead and try to figure things out.  A few minutes later, he ruefully chuckled in acknowledgment of my frustration.  I might not be blogging as much anymore, because this system is as bad for my blood pressure as vaccine debates.

But in the meantime, this weekend was very exciting for us, as Derek sent off our final payment on his law school loans!  We’re school debt-free!  To celebrate, Derek spent all day creating a steakhouse meal for us: steak, creamed spinach, cheesy potatoes, and chocolate cake.  It was the kids’ first time having steak, and all four were big fans.

steak dinner

finger guards

We’re trying to get Elizabeth to stop sucking her finger.  It’s been rough so far.

finger guards

The guards effectively prevent sucking on the fingers, but she went back to her thumb.  We now put on a glove under the right thumb and nasty tasting stuff on the left thumb.  Hopefully she’s slowly breaking the habit!  Her reward for total success will be a lunch date with Mommy at the American Girl Place cafe, so she is (mostly) trying…

Motorhome

The girls turned the bunk bed into a motorhome this weekend.  They and their dolls and I had a nice vacation trip!

motorhome

motorhome cuddle

Today the little girls wanted to do history with the big kids!

family tree2

family tree3

family tree1

My Backup Reader

It’s been a really, really rough week around here.  Sick little girls=not much sleep=crabby mommy=naughty children=depressed, discouraged mommy.  School has been so difficult, and we just got this new computer with an operating system unlike anything I’m used to.  This morning was going so poorly that I suddenly decided to take a long reading break, let everyone pick two of their favorite books, and piled on the couch for an hour.  Then my voice gave out, but fortunately, Tommy was able to be my backup and continue on…

backup reader

Janie at 22 Months

Poor Bugaboo has been so sick this weekend.  She looks like death warmed over.

Janie 22 months1

Before she came down with this cold, though, she was delightfully spunky.  She is saying so many words that I can’t keep track, echoing everything the big kids say: “Thank you,” “Daddy home,” “Jesus Amen.”  Recently, when she wakes up, she stands at her crib, calling, “Mommy!  MomMY!” until I come get her.  She still points to tell me she wants to get out into the living room and join in the action NOW.  Her favorite breakfast foods are pancakes or yogurt-and-oatmeal-with-mini-chocolate-chips.  She’s a chocolate lover after my own heart.

She loves playing in the play kitchen and helping me cook.  She loves her new doll, Tib, and tries to play with the big girls with their dolls.  One day when I didn’t get in to get her out of her nap fast enough, I found her sitting back down in her crib, giving Tib a bottle.  I swear she was telling her, “milk.”  She loves her new bike helmet, and now that I finally got them to sell me a replacement chin clip, she loves putting it on and going outside to ride her scooter.

She’s still napping 2-3 hours a day, now delightfully flexible so that I can put her down anywhere between 11 and 2 and she’ll sleep.  Busy mornings at CBS or church wear her out, though, and she’ll fall asleep in the car no matter how hard Tommy tries to keep her awake on the way home.  Fortunately, she transfers well.  She’s going down at 7:30-8 with the big kids and sadly is still waking up at 6-6:30.  I miss the 7-7 pre-Christmas schedule.

She really likes sitting in Susie’s booster seat at the table with the big kids.  I still generally put her in her high chair because it’s easier and out of the way of the school chaos mess on the table most lunchtimes, but we’re going to move her up permanently to the booster soon.  She knows that her plates are pink and acts as incredulous as her siblings if I accidentally give her the wrong color.

At nighttime, Janie loves being a part of family worship time.  We just have to say the words, and she runs for the bookshelves, pulls the Big Picture Story Bible off the top shelf, lugs it (“heavy!”) over to the couch, and settles on someone’s lap to read.  She inexplicably hates her hymn (“Amazing Grace”) but likes it when we sing anything else, especially Hallelu-Hallelujah (She stands up for the Praise ye the Lords along with the big kids).

When she’s not sick, she’s either cheerful or whiney (Noooooo and MMMMooooooooooooommy are her special whine words).  She doesn’t like much meat and is extremely picky, loving zucchini one meal and refusing to eat it the next.  She does always love spaghetti and anything baked with sugar or chocolate.

Tommy took a couple of pictures of her last week before the cold hit.  They showcase how much Jane-Bug loves to CHEESE for the camera these days!

Janie 22 months2

Janie 22 months3

Gingerbread House

Yep, we didn’t get around to decorating ours until last night.  It was a big hit, even if it was a month late!

gingerbreadhouse1

gingerbreadhouse2

gingerbreadhouse3

gingerbreadhouse4

gingerbreadhouse5

Wild West Field Trip

Since we had to head over to Burbank yesterday to bring friends a meal, I figured we might as well make a field trip of it.  Turns out the Autry Museum of the American West is free on the second Tuesday of every month!  The kids liked it, though it was a quick hour-and-a-half.  There’s only so much old western movies memorabilia that small children can handle, and by the time that we got to Native American beadwork, the little girls were losing it.  Still, we had a fun morning!

west museum 1

hands-on exhibit on all sorts of cool leather things that cowboys made

hands-on exhibit on all sorts of cool leather things that cowboys made

The biggest hit was the dress up clothes you could put on before sitting on the fake horse.  Everyone had several turns.

west museum

west museum 3

west museum 4

Saturday Morning Puzzles

It was so wonderful to have a free Saturday–just a leisurely morning of puzzle-rama, books, snuggles, and relaxation!

puzzles1

puzzles2

puzzles3

puzzles4

Last Pictures of Missouri

I apparently forgot to take pictures most of our last week in Columbia.

We managed a quick trip to the Magic House after Derek flew out, and John and Kathryn and Elsie met up with us in STL in passing.  (St Louis friends–we weren’t there long enough to see any of you, but we’ll be back this summer!)

MO1

MO2

Note the attempted facial hair on our favorite Marine.  Yeah, I know.

with J and K

Once the kids and I were back in Columbia, I sewed with Cammy, had tea with Martha, and went out for dinner with Katie!

Em and Katie

Janie only slept 25 minutes the whole way home, the kids are still on Central Time and getting up at 5 am, and I’ve taken until now just to unpack, get Christmas decorations put away, and start to organize our new stuff.  Hopefully more pictures next week once we get a bit more settled!

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