12 Day Replay

Wow, has it really been almost two weeks since my last post?! Shame on me! Please forgive the randomness of my sampling for this update, but here's a bit of what's been going on on the home front over the past 12 days.

Of course there has been the usual stuff; J's work, farm work, portrait sessions, soccer practice, soccer games, laundry, housework and so forth. But in grander news, there has been...

...one trip to the urgent care courtesy of Barbie! Actually, the girls call it a Barbie; but I say it would be better described as a hard plastic Barbie/Little People/Princess Action Figure hybrid. Either way, it's hard...and heavy...and has a pointy crown...and will land you in the Close-To-Home clinic getting stitches when your sister playfully baseball throws it across the room "not-so" past you.

I so enjoyed explaining that one to the triage staff! Especially when my 3yo needing stitches as a result of the momentary indiscretion of my 5yo just so happens to also be the 3yo with a knocked out front tooth. Yeah...

(By the way, if you missed that one click here.)

Also by the way, Big Sis cried longer about her accidental line drive than Little Sis did! She felt sooo bad.

In other random news, we had a gorgeous sunset here last week! This was the view from the boys' bedroom. This is straight out of camera. I intentionally did not edit it in any way to show how brilliant the sky actually was!

Aaaand the #1 reason whey I have been absent from here for the past 12 days...

School is back in session!
As most already know, the M Family kids are homeschooled. So, "back to school" time actually means we have less time, not more. But that's just fine by us. We love it!

And never fear, our children do actually have social skills! ;) In fact, they have a basically normal school day one day a week, on campus, with tutors, and classes made up of other homeschooled kids the same age.

This is the first year that Big Sis gets to go, and she is super excited about it! She's an academic sort of girl. Here she is (above) hard at work learning her states and capitals. :) She is also excited that her little friend with the same unique name as herself is in her class this year. And their class is all girls to ice the cake!

I had to peek in the door and paparazzi Younger Brother and Biggest Brother too of course. Pardon the super high ISO for those who would care. ;)
Younger Brother has 5 boys and 3 girls in his class and his good buddy is with him again this year too!

Biggest Brother has 3 boys and 4 girls in his class. This is his first year doing CC and so far he loves it! True to form, he had no problem waltzing in and making new friends in about the first minute of the first day. He has always been really outgoing like that.

And guess what Mom is loving?

My one shot wonder, that's what!

I take pictures of other people's kids all the time. But when it comes to getting a group shot of my own, I must have on a cloaking device because it becomes impossible for anyone to actually look in my direction...much less look and smile!

So imagine my delight when we rolled up to school, hopped out, took one quick pic and....

TaDa!
And so the year begins!

Do You See What I See?

Okay, so Little Sis has gotten a disproportionate share of blog time recently. But this is a momentous occasion, truly! Do you see what I see? Can you spot what Little Sis isn't wearing??

If not, click here!

We had somewhere somewhat dress/casual to go. Sis was delighted by my choice of sundresses for her; but as usual, she balked at my suggestion for coordinating footwear. After her petition for Big Sis' shoes, un-shoes, no shoes...she finally said to me, "What about these?"

"Why, yes! Yes, Little Sis; those are lovely!"

And thus, a Little Sis fashion expansion was born!

Huzzah!!!

:)

Conversations with Cats

Who wouldn't enjoy a good talk about a good stick with two attentive barn cats?!

Daddy Cam

The girls love their weekend nights! They always talk Daddy into letting them "sleep" in our bed for a little while before relocating to their own room. But as near as I can tell, there is never much sleeping going on! Case in point (see above), last Saturday I walked down the hall to our room to see how bedtime was progressing so I knew how long it would be before I could lay Princess A down in her crib. As I approached the door I kept hearing J say, "Ready?" followed by a pause and an erupting chorus of giggles. I couldn't figure out what in the heck was going on until I opened the door to the bursts of light. They were taking pictures of themselves making faces in the dark, of course. I mean, what better way to get settled down and mellowed out for bed?!

Just Because

...I love this photo.

Hide and Beep

Wing Man

Biggest Brother's best friend/3yr running puppy love interest stopped by our house today with her mom, who was dropping something off to me. We talked for a few minutes while the kids got a chance to catch up and run around the yard. And what does a 10yo boy do around a 10yo girl that he thinks is neat? He goes all Indiana Jones and crashes through shrubbery, of course! And you can only imagine his delight when he emerged with an assistant from Kingdom - Animalia to seal his persona!

Upon seeing this picture, my friend commented on his/her (I don't know, is there a way to tell?) - the mantis'- eyes and lips. I never realized just how many "lips" a praying mantis has! Check it out...

I mean really, what could impress a girl more than a fine specimen like this?!

;)