A Yummy Fresh Start

 Today I woke up around 5:30 am and felt almost ready to get out of bed! During this stage of my pregnancy--well, probably for most of it--I have taken my time getting out of bed after waking up. It takes a lot of energy and willpower to do so, and I have been grateful that I haven't had to push it for any external reasons. What a blessing!

The weather is cooler, so my bike ride pulling Liesl behind me in a trailer was very pleasant other than the fact that it takes a lot of energy to get me and her going any where...which is why I was out: exercise ;). She was super cute, pointing out flowers and animals with excitement and calling out "hello!" to many people who passed.

Papaya was excited to get all of her jobs done this morning because I have a new math game on my phone to help her with her multiplication and division review before school starts. Hava has been enjoying it as well. Right now she is out in one of her favorite places: riding around with Lily and Hyrum while they drive comps for Quinn and listen to music. And she is playing the math game. Heaven! She totally deserves it after making french toast for all of us (with Xai!) for breakfast. I made myself some "fancy eggs"--sauteed mushrooms, chive and zucchini with some parmesan on top since I am trying to minimize my white flour and processed sugar intake. The Shazaam topping we made for the french toast, though, was irresistable and so I indulged with one for "dessert." My tummy is super happy already!

Piper has been very adaptable this morning to changes in schedule and additional expectations she hadn't anticipated. She and I share this struggle! She is so fun to be with and watch mature as she works through things. Right now she is playing on the piano, which I love! I teach them lessons and try to find music that they enjoy playing so they tend to gravitate to it often :D.

Papaya is upstairs playing with the two little boys....imagine. I love when she takes the lead like this and plays so well with them! I came up with a "School" system for the boys, where there are a bunch of popsicle sticks with the subjects I have ready to teach them that day. That way, when they decide they want to "do school" at random times, I have an activity or lesson prepared but they get to do it when they are ready and choose to...and I don't have to scramble to think about what I have ready or on hand. I am excited to try it! We are also using "Well-educated Heart" curriculum to read and study from and they have some beautiful classic pieces of history, art, science and literature for all ages. We used "Good and the Beautiful" for math, too, which I also love. I am so happy to have little systems in place for all my kiddos right now.

Until the next big change, right? ;)

Drawing Pictures for God

This morning, Papaya was drawing a picture.  It is full of hearts and has a lovely girl in the middle.  She told me about all the love that was in that picture. I told her, "Your heart must be full of love right now!"

She smiled and kept drawing.  Spooner came up to join me in watching her.  I had a thought.

"Papaya, do you know that when you are drawing pictures you are serving people?" I told her.

She thought about that while she was coloring and had an almost immediate response: "So when I am coloring pictures for you I am coloring pictures for God?"

Oh, I love these little ones.  They teach me so much.

Jesus Loves Cantaloupes and We Love Cousins

Binks loves to climb on the table.  This morning he found all the place setting stuff on it and enjoyed throwing them on the floor and saying, "Uh-oh!"  He still had a spoon in hand when I lifted him off and found out he was poopy.  As I changed his diaper, I forgot about his spoon.  He didn't.  He used to try and reach his poop. I guess it must be a mystery to him what happens down on the other end of his body out of sight, because the look on his face was determined exploration.  Nasty.

Papaya was so pleased with her Primary pic, she wanted to model it. (The cantaloupe will be important later.)  Notice Spooner lining up cars in the background.  Classic Spooner.  Sigh...I miss Isaak, my first car-liner-up.

Back to babies and diapers, we started potty-training Spooner yesterday.  And stopping. I have read and been told that you shouldn't start and stop.  We did that with Lek, poor chap. It was another year of frustration and tears for the three of us (parents and son).  We had started too early for any of us (18 months) but I was do or die!   I know this mercenary method works for many children but we learned with Lek and Spooner is just not emotionally ready for it.  He likes his world a certain way.  And soiled underwear is just not in that world.

Fun getting Amish donuts with cousins

Liliputian set up a beautiful FHE Monday night.  It was simple.  We did our song, prayer, two brief "sharing times" and a testimony.  Then we all gathered up our notebooks and pencils and headed out to the stream behind our house.  Liliputian had three of us read scriptures about the wonder of God's creations and then we notebooked: drew, wrote down impressions, etc.  During part of the time, people in the park behind us blared rap music.  We compared that to the "noise of turtles" that was referenced in one of the scriptures we read and just ignored it until they stopped.

I was grateful for that reminder of the beauty of the moment in which we lived. I loved looking around at my family that was with me and seeing them all peacefully notebooking and reflecting.

Thanks, Liliputian.  Totally inspired. 

Papaya and Our Sunday

I love waking up to see Papaya's feet dangling over the side of her bed.  Her cute little toes remind me that behind that big personality (and big determination!) is just a little girl. I need that reminder some times :).

Yesterday, she climbed half way up the light pole at the church, holding on with her hands and pushing with her feet.  So amazing!  She also helped take care of Binks for a minute for me when I left the bench at church, although he ended up coming after me anyway.  Papaya then proceeded to go to a different family's spot and somehow, in the mix, paper airplanes were being thrown while I was away from the bench.  Sigh.
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I think I counted 7 poopy diapers yesterday, between Binks and Spooner.  Binks has discovered that he likes grapes and so maybe that is part of the problem since he had four of the diapers. At least that mess is contained, though, not like the dumping of a huge bag of cheerios all over the floor during our second round of church at the Medina meeting.  Binks was already out in the hall with Chugger-dude, Papaya was sitting by a friend behind us (with permission this time), and you'd think I could handle just one.  Nope :).  Spooner had his bag almost completely dumped on the floor.  Wait!  Binks was still there, because I remember him wandering over to try and eat them as fast as we were trying to throw them into a throw-away bag.

It was an active Sacrament Meeting day, to say the least.  Chugger-dude, Liliputian and the Goob all shared their testimonies, though, which was particularly fabulous.  I love to hear them.  Chugger-dude is so concerned with getting things accurate.  When he finished his testimony, he leaned over and asked me if what he said was right about getting baptized and how it makes us a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Yep!" I assured that sweet, tender soul.  Great kids.
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It was a good and busy Sunday, with a few naps squeezed in for good measure.
-cooking and prep for the Medina meeting in the afternoon
-a bit of "Charlie" for the kids to watch while I had my little nap
-quick game of "Warriors of the Promised Land" with the Goob, Liliputian and Chugger-dude
-good and busy service at church (I even got to teach a YW lesson!!  So fun!)
A day of peace, that is for sure. I learned a lot.
Now it is Monday and I get to hear from my missionaries!!!  Woohoo!
(And try and finish dry-wall by evening so we can go to the drive-in.  Wish me luck!)

Puff and Release. Puff and Release.

Woke up and started bread.

Remembered the oven wasn't working.

Planned a quick drive over to the Zackie's to drop Chugger-dude and Liliputian off to help with the dogs...and stick the bread in the oven so it would be ready before Lek's big test today.

Remembered their oven isn't working so well.

Prayed.

Returned to the Zackie's 30 minutes later to bread that was overcooked on the top and doughy on the bottom.  Lowered the rack, grabbed the kids and returned to send Lek off with smoothie and cereal.

Realized that I would need to bike back to the Zackie's to get the bread because Lek took the van.

Got ready to bike (numberless little "emergencies" crop up) and left 15 minutes later.

With Hava and Papaya in tow we showed up at the Zackie's 10 minutes after that.  Realized I didn't know where the extra key was and didn't have my cell phone.

Borrowed the neighbor's phone to call and find out where the key was and successfully got into the house to get out the...very black loaves of bread.

Sigh.

On the way home, blackened loaves in the bag dangling from my handle bars, I had a few thoughts:
--the center of the bread is probably still delicious.
--I am grateful for Sundays and their peace and rest. (I had a the recent ah-hah that the rest of my weeks are not meant to be smooth-sailing, no matter how much I try to make them perfect... so I can learn. Sigh.)
--I should enjoy my two girls who were with me.

The last thought awakened me from my melancholy mood and I looked around.  Hava was steadily biking next to me, a look of contentment on her face.  I smiled at her and a warm reply smile spread across her face, lighting up her big brown eyes.

Papaya was behind us a ways, winding aimlessly back and forth across the street.  At first I went to raise my voice and call her attention to moving faster forward to get home sooner...then something told me to stop.  I watched her, noticing that she was looking upward more than forward, cheeks puffing in and out.

What in the world...

Then I noticed the pattern.  Whenever she passed under a telephone wire, she would hold her breath with puffed out cheeks.  At the next wire, she would release her breath.

In and out.  Puff and release.

All while weaving back and forth across the empty street on her little bike, pedaling her own little speed.  In her own little world. I am so glad I didn't interrupt this magical childhood moment.

A Papaya Tree

Yesterday, Q-dawg took a very tired and very fussy Binks outside for a walk while I tried to find an email that would tell us if Avot had passed her FBI screening. (A frustrating process.  Sigh.)  As he walked around the house, he noticed that there was a crowd of people gathered by the bushes by our house, looking into our backyard.  He walked closer and saw that the people in the skate park next to us were gathered up by the fence, also looking into our yard.

Puzzled, Q-dawg came near them and followed their gaze...up.

There was Papaya.  Perched on the top of a tree the boys were trimming and removing.  Sitting there. On the cut-off top.  Just chillin'.

I will try and find a picture later of how high this is.  I would guess 15-20 feet up.  The Goob was doing a manly job (a Dad job) working on cutting down branches and had cut off the top earlier that day.  Some people at the skate park called out about what a bad dad Q-dawg is.  A classic case about how appearances can be deceiving, right?

Later that night, we were talking about how our dear Aunt Jackie had hurt her back.  Papaya was particularly sad for her, saying, "Aunt Jackie loves me."

She doesn't say that about a lot of people, recognizing the difficult relationship she often has with people. I am so grateful for people who can see beyond her perhaps excessive exuberance and self-will to her happy, pixie heart!

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Last Sunday with Avot, Lek ordained an Elder, and Papaya's solution to the hunger of fasting

"I think I am feeling a little emotional and sad about Avot leaving," I whispered to Q-dawg this morning as I was debating getting out of bed.

Gross understatement.

"Me, too," he whispered back.

Sad time.  Good time.

We are so happy for her.  She is ready. I remember my own leaving and how exciting it was...to be on my own, taking care of myself--the thrill and risk of it all.  I knew my mom and dad missed me, but I just felt so ready.   Looking at it from their perspective now is definitely bitter-sweet.  Little things already remind me of her, from seeing her tax forms next to me here at the computer to the bug puppet up in the bathroom that she used for hours and hours to tell stories to her younger siblings and torture her brothers.  Sigh.

Yesterday she spoke at church about not judging, about realizing our own capacity and worth despite feeling that what we are doing is not enough. I will have to post her talk later, but for now I at least want to share a poem she included:

“Father, where shall I work today?”

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then he pointed out a tiny spot

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh no, not that!

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done.

Not that little place for me.”

And the word he spoke, it was not stern; …

“Art thou working for them or for me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”2

We sang the EFY medley of "Armies of Helaman/Sisters in Zion" (by Hicks) as a family and the kids were awesome supporters of that even though I forgot to ask them if they wanted to :). The Spirit was strong.  

Lek also was ordained an Elder in our church yesterday with a beautiful blessing from his father to accompany it.  He went to his first day of Elder's Quorum and almost fell asleep and joined the fellow behind him in snoring :).   Welcome to Elder's Quorum, my son :)! We had a warm and wonderful day together, re-packing Avot's suitcases, napping, eating yummy food, enjoying the warmth.  Good times.  I feel that everyone is drawing a little bit closer, knowing what is to come and I see more snuggles, games and laughter.  The Goob and Lek took each other on in Memoir 44 and we played a rousing game of Catchphrase.  

Family scripture study and reading were memorable as always:  people took turns reading their verse and then (depending upon the child) that same verse in another language: the Goob-French, Chugger-dude-Swedish (or "Swaddish" as he puts it :)...), Liliputian didn't have her German one on hand that she normally reads from, Lek and I-Hungarian, and Avot-Spanish.  So fun!

Little ones drifted to sleep as we sang, prayed and then Q-dawg read a couple of short stories/jokes.  We also had a brief family council as challenged by our home teacher, to ask Avot and Lek what advice they would pass along to the younger ones.  

"Keep an eternal perspective and so you can let a lot of things go." Avot

"Stop and think before you punch your brother...and then just don't punch him :)." Lek began and then finished with, "take a deep breath and be more patient."

I am grateful for my kids.

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On the "Sunday" note, last Sunday was Fast Sunday for our church and I overheard the following conversation in the car.

Papaya: "Here Pipalicious, I will share my snack with you!"
Pipalicious: "Oh, thanks. But I am fasting!"
Papaya: "Oh."  "But aren't you hungry?"
Pipalicious: "Yes."
Papaya: "Okay, then I will just pray to Heavenly Father and tell Him you are hungry so you don't have to fast anymore."

Little People and Night Time Fun

Papaya is so big!  She is learning to do jobs.  She sees the older kids get their allowances, which helps, too.  In our family, the little ones "help" all the time and have little responsibilities.  When they turn five, I start having them help more regularly and more out of their comfort zone.  When they are eight, they are officially in the rotation.   So Papaya has been showing more confidence in her little areas. Her favorite job--no big surprise--is taking care of Zsa-man.

Spooner is still at the table after everyone else has left, stuffing his little tummy with Daddy Rice. He needs to stock up for all the other meals he refuses to eat more than what I make him eat.  He is starting to show a little resentment towards his little brother, who loves Spooner and likes to "love whack" him.  Spooner understandably doesn't understand this mode of affection, nor Zsa-man's tendency to reach out and grab everything near him.  They will get it, I am sure, but in the meantime, I try and get some "love vibes" going between them, as Zsa-man doesn't understand the resentment and anger being fired his way by an intense three-year-old :).

Last night, sigh...what a night.  It actually went really well up until 5:20 am, unlike other nights.  Zsa-man awoke after sleeping all night long, ready to nurse.  When I went to pick him up, he had leaked out of his diaper with diarrhea because he has been sick off and on for the last few days, poor guy. I changed him and then started nursing him, hoping to get it done quickly. I had arranged with several of the kids to go to the gym at 5:30 and knew that wasn't going to happen, but thought I would still try and shoot for it.  5:40 rolled around and I stood up with the baby, heading into the other room where Q-dawg was sleeping so he could take the little guy.

Vomit.

Everywhere.

Two, three times.  Covered.

"Q-dawg!" I whispered loudly, standing in one spot to minimize the "drippage" all over the carpet.  Poor guy stumbled in for the rescue, grabbing a towel to wrap around the sickie after sponging off the worst of it and then holding the baby so I could get cleaned up before cleaning the baby up.  As I passed Zsa-man off, I remarked, "At least he slept through the night!"

Q-dawg paused.  "Did he?  Isn't it still night?"  Poor guy.  He has been staying up late regularly to finish up appraisals and stay on top of things and gets to bed after me sometimes by hours.  I hesitated to go, also hearing Spooner's cute little voice chirping from the other room and knew it wouldn't be very restful for my friend and husband.  Trooper that he is, he murmured a response to my hesitation, "Yah...it's alright," and headed back to bed with two little boys on either side, both of who went back to sleep nestled up next to him.

As Q-dawg described it, it was sweet but he didn't get any more sleep after that since he couldn't budge. :)

I actually wrote a poem dedicated to my nights for Author's in the Attic last night. Avot said I should include it here. To set the stage, you need to know that Q-dawg and I sleep on pads on the floor right next to the kids's triple bunk bed, where Spooner, Papaya, and Hava and Pipalicious share the top bunk.

Night time
Cars rain down from over head
"Drink!" "Blankie!" a little boy said.

Try to sleep
Little fevered body nurses some
Nursing...more and more to come!

Turn over
Blanket sharing with a baby makes
For lots of wiggles, squirms and shakes.

Watch out!
Now two feet dangle overhead
Oh no...has she already wet the bed?

Feel around
She is still dry...whew!
Hurry  off to the bathroom with no more ado!

Resting back:
A song drifts from the girl where she goes pee:
"I love you and you love me!"

Close eyes
Could it be I can get some sleep?
Sigh, feels so good...oh no! Another peep!

"Mom, I'm scared!"
Having children sure is great,
But that full night's sleep will have to wait.

Our trip to the Erie Canal

 Hava just "crashed" on our beautiful little hike on the Erie canal, causing skinned palms and bloody knees, not to mention volumes of anguish...so sad!  I put her in the stroller and we turned around, heading back home. When I told her that she would get better, she wailed, "No!!!! I will never get better!!!!"

"Okay," I replied, "I guess the leg will have to come off at the knee then."

"No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Love Drama Hava.

Along the way, Papaya was dancing along the edge of the Erie Canal, as close to "danger" as possible...as usual.  Chugger-dude came up to me.

"Mom, look at Papaya."

"I see her."

No response.

"Mom, don't you think we should have her come on the other side of the railing?"

"Nope," I replied, smiling, "I think she is fine."

Walking.

"Mom, how about we set some boundaries...like a line that she can't go across?"

"She is just fine.  The worst that will happen is that she will fall in and I will have to jump in after her."

I have to make these decisions every day with my dear Papaya.  So many times, the feeling is "let her explore the limits of what she can do; you will be amazed."

I pick those "boundaries" with care and bless cautious Chugger-dude's heart for his tender concern for his sister!

"Tent is down!," Secret Beach, and Papaya's fish hook wound

Hallmark week: we put the tent down and we are all living in the house!!

Lek has been busy mudding in one of the rooms, two rooms are painted after literally building the room from bare beams: electric work, insulation, sheetrock measured, cut and put up, mudding and sanding done and then the paint!!  Whew.  We have had many friends come and pitch in at different points, helping us along, and our kids spend a lot of time right now holding Baby Zsa, making and cleaning up after meals and maintaining "life" when I try to take some time to work on the house.

Q-dawg is crazy busy with appraisals (blessing!!) and literally spends every waking moment either working on appraisals, on the house or serving in his church calling.  Fortunately we can do some of those things together and it is fun to see it unfold.

Some views of Lake Ontario from what we call "Secret Beach" (a Zy-borg favorite): ("Zy-borg" is the fun way our local church members created to tell our two families apart.  We are "Quinn-lings.")

Lek took all these shots.  Beautiful, eh?

 A view of the older kids' former "crash zone" in the Zy-borg's basement.

 Fun with the Zy-borgs at a local park...

 We observed the "adult supervision" part, at least :).

 Back in Utah, we had an incident with Papaya at the lake during a family reunion for my mom's side of the family...fish hooks, no fun!  She was very brave as they had to push the hook in more to cut off the prongs and then drag it out.  Sorry if this is a re-post.  I couldn't find the previous one and wanted to document her bravery.  She didn't yell or scream...just let them do it while she cried, poor dear!

A brave smile!

Nasty!!!

Bathroom exchange

After church today, Lek had a batch of laundry he needed to get going because they were damp and might mildew...ox in the mire?  Anyway, while he was in there, Papaya raced into the adjoining bathroom.

"I gotta go potty!  I gotta go potty! I gotta go potty!"  After dancing frantically around for a few moments to gather up her dress, she hurriedly sat down...and then sighed deeply.

"Ahhhhh...that feels good," she declared with a smile of relief on her face.

"What, to go potty?" I asked.

"No, to go pee."  Her facial expression transitioned to a slightly red and focused state as she followed up her comment with: "...but not to go poo."

Because of the set-up of the laundry room and the bathroom in our friends' house where we are staying, you have to go through the bathroom to get to the laundry room.  Lek was trapped and upon hearing her last comment, hurriedly finished up getting his load started and raced out...right behind me.

Out in the hall, Lek and I sighed with relief, smiles on our faces at the cute little girl.  All of a sudden, Lek's expression turned to one of chagrin as he blurted out, "Oh crap!  I forgot I have a pen in the pocket of my pants!" He hurriedly turned to go back in and realized what he would be entering.  Tortured indecision showed on his face as he considered the choice: deathly odors vs. destroyed wardrobe. 

It didn't take him long.  He manfully pulled up his shirt to cover his nose as if entering a war zone and headed back in to save his laundry.  Courageous choice.  I left, good mother that I am, laughing.

Papaya's chitter-chatter

"Mom, can I have some bled?"

"Sure, Papaya, you can have some bled?"

"Okay!" Papaya runs over to the bread we have on the counter-top, pulling some of that delicious 6g fiber per slice bread out, and declares clearly, "Grace is my flend!"

Well, we are making improvements apparently!

Power to move the sun

This morning at breakfast, I glanced over at Spooner who was gesturing determinedly with his cup, "Go! Go!! Go!!"  I looked back to where he was looking and it was at the steady stream of sunshine that was shining directly at his face.  Apparently, he expected the sun to move :).  I scooted his high chair over and he went back to eating contentedly.  The "sun" had moved.

Chuckling inside, I shook my head and thought, "Oh, these children of mine and their strong wills!  He is just like his sister..."  Just last night during Daddy reading time, Papaya kept trying to communicate with me on the side.  I would just shake my head and point to Daddy.  The determined little miss kept going, so I finally whispered, "I won't talk about it while Daddy is reading."

Undeterred, she changed her tactics.

"Daddy?  Daddy?" Papaya repeated until he came to a stopping place.  "Yes?" the unsuspecting father asked, looking at her. 

"You can start reading again when I am done talking to Mommy" and then without further ado, she turned to me and started talking.  Q-dawg was a little taken back at her forward usurption of family reading.  Oh boy. Hopefully this is not a prelude of things to come. Just this morning she matter of factly informed us at the dinner table that my seat was actually not supposed to be next to her father (where I have sat for as long as I can remember) but was in fact at the other end of the table where she was sitting.  I think it is the authoritative way that she has been issuing these little edicts lately that is a new twist to my strong-willed four year old.   My little sun-moving goddess...heaven help me. :)   The big blue eyes sure do save her!

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Practicing dictatorship: Later that morning, I happened to glance out Lek's window and saw Spooner backing out of the chicken coop.  Apparently he had gone to check on the chickens and decided they weren't all where they needed to be.  He came out into the run and seemed to be admonishing the chickens.  At first he looked cornered, but he confidently pointed into the coop and they went! Ever heard of the phrase "it's like herding chickens" meaning "it's a lesson in futility"?  It's because it is so true, but somehow Spooner has figured out how to defy the odds.  Some stragglers just took a little extra peremptory gestures on Spooner's part and then they quickly fell in line. 

Today, chickens.  Tomorrow, the world.

Peppers and Potty-training

Avot was searching through my posts and found a couple drafts that never made it to posting. I imagine this was last year, since I don't ever start potty-training my kids until they are 3 or do it themselves.  Before then, it is just "training mom" for me and not worth the length of time.

I started and Papaya stopped potty-training yesterday :).  Apparently, sometime during the time when I left for a quick errand, she decided to quit because when I came back the Goob reported that she refused to put on her panties, insisted that he put on her diaper, and that was that!

She came out, deliberately showed me her "nice diaper" and said, "no more potty."  Oh dear.  And I thought we were doing so well!

Last night we enjoyed an evening with a family in our neighborhood. It was dinner Cafe Rio style and it was fabulous, the home was delightful, and the family so sweet.  Unfortunately, I have a little more than just warm memories of the evening. I just rubbed my eye and felt the sting of jalapeno oils...still on my hand!!  Does that oil ever wash off? 

Still, when all is said and done, I would rather have jalapeno pepper juice in my eye than potty-train an unwilling three-year-old.  The latter is more painful.

Big brother: super hero or nemesis

I got a call about 10 minutes ago from the neighbor:
"Hi, I just wanted you to know that Papaya is up on your sheds in the back and my wife is worried that she will fall down and break her neck."

Sure enough, a quick confirming look out the back window told me Papaya was exactly where he said she would be, sitting calmly on top of our rickety old "lean-tos" (animal shelters), stroking one of our cats who had joined her. 

"I'll send someone out right away," I promised, more for his benefit than ours. (Q-dawg pointed out that the lean-tos were more secure than the many branches of trees she repeatedly climbs to insane heights and wasn't worried :).)

Time for super brother Goob to come to the rescue.

He came back a short while later with this report, and his sullen sister in tow:
"First, I went back and saw the neighbor coming. I told him thanks for telling us about Papaya.  I made my way back to the lean to and as I was climbing over the fence, I heard Papaya shout, 'Don't make me hit you!!!!'

"I continued coming and she yelled it again, even more threatening, 'Don't make me hit you!!!'

"I ignored her threats (brave man) and kept going toward her.  When I got to the lean-to, I started climbing up to get her.  She yelled down, 'I'll blake your leg!!!' (Yes, that is 'blake' and not 'break.')

"When I started climbing up, she began running away from me across the rickety boards, yelling, 'Don't! Don't! Don't get me!'

"'Come on, Papaya,' I told her.  'Look, I see giants, Papaya, and I see their big faces and their sharp teeth!' Her brave reply? 'I don't see them.'

"'They laid down in the grass.'  She looked at me skeptically, looked again and said, 'I see their axe.'

"'Come on, Papaya.'

"She brightened, "Do you remember the game when I am your daughter princess?'"  Things went better from there.

Papaya is now safe inside and the Goob is a super hero in my eyes, if not in his sister's.

"He's not in charge of me" Papaya just protested, hearing the retelling of the story.

"Yes he was," I informed her. "I told him to go out and get you."

"Humph."

...until next time...

Swimming in January?

Papaya just asked me if we could get the swimming pool out.  Does she not see the snow on the ground?

When I told her it was too cold, she thought about it and responded: "We will do it when it is not on Sunday, then?"  Talk about mixing two ideas and coming up with a crazy conclusion!

Our little honey gatherers

Last night at the dinner table, Hava and Papaya proudly reported on their day to their father as part of the evening accountability.

First they saw a "honey bee hive" up in one of our trees and decided that they wanted honey.  They gathered a whole bunch of rocks and started hitting it down so they could get honey.

They were disappointed to find no honey in the "beehive."  Someday they will know the difference between a wasp's nest and a beehive, but for now it was cute :).

Sunday funnies

This morning, Papaya was trying to get into our room as we were trying to savor a last few minutes of Sunday morning laziness. I had done everything I could to distract her.  She had even sang an absolutely adorable rendition of "Do you want to build a Snowman?" under the door.  She left for a short time, then came back, insistent that it was time for us to get up.  I said, "Papaya, do you want to build a snowman?"

She hesitated, then started singing, "Do you want to hide a body?"

One guess who she gets that from...

Spooner joined us soon after, both of his beloved Kangas and his fawn tightly embraced in his arms.  Through a series of gestures, grunts and smiles he got his way up onto our bed and settled in, making all sorts of interesting sounds, including clicks and even some teeth grinding.  Q-dawg commented on the newest expanded version of Spooner's communication methods: "Maybe we should call you R2D2, buddy."

Maybe he should learn how to talk :).

We do all sorts of rewards, practice, baby sign, and insistence, but he just happily smiles and waits for us, confident that we completely understand what he wants.  It would be different if we were throwing tantrums because we didn't understand him.  Instead, he just gives up if we don't understand or smiles and gives us a big hug.   However, I am sure he will talk when he cares enough, saying more than the "mom, dad, go, and no" that he has mastered for now.

Little Spooner is just like big brothers Isaak and Chugger-dude.  He loves his blocks, stacking cups over and over, and organizing the card games that keep falling out of their place in the closet all over the floor.  He is pretty talented!

...and completely content.

Papaya's wound, Spooner's emergency visit, and other fun recent pics!

 When it rains it pours, and when the Bomb finally gets all her ducks in a row and downloads pictures, you get a bunch!

Spooner loves to organize, but I think this is beyond even his capacity to organize.  I see this all and remember carrying all my weekly groceries in Hungary.  Sigh.  We can miss the craziest things!

Papaya slipped and fell on our tile floor while dancing in her tights.  At first she insisted that she hated the doctors but by the end, after some fun "tent time" with Mommy (a paper over her face while the doctor did the stitches) and a sucker, she decided she loved him.  I sang songs while under the paper with her and told stories, trying to keep her mind off of the tugging.  It was a deep cut, with two layers of stitching necessary...yuck!

All stitched up!

...and ready to go and dance some more, apparently :)

 The even sadder thing about the whole experience was that just after gettting home, I discovered that Spooner was favoring his right arm and crying a lot.  I neglected to mention that I had no car (Avot and Q-dawg were both out of town with them), so my good friend Genevieve came and took me to the doctor the first time.  The second time, I called my friend Angie, who let me borrow her car.

As I pulled up to the doctor's office with Spooner, the doctor and nurse who had worked on us with Papaya saw me and thought it was me, but I had a different car and different kids (Liliputian had come with Papaya and watched them stitch her with her 7+ stitches, and this time it was Chugger-dude who was along for the ride).

No...it was the same lady. :S

It didn't help my feelings about coming in the second time that he had bruises on his face from crashing on his little bike just days before!

The nurse who x-rayed his arm ended up relocating his elbow.  The doctor showed me how to fix it next time it happens...if it does :).  The sucker was a good test to see if his arm was hurt.  He wouldn't move his hand to pick it up...yep!  It hurt!

So sad...

And so happy!  The mercurial faces of Papaya...and her crazy siblings :).

Pipalicious before the tooth fairy struck

Hava and Papaya having fun at Liliputian's girl's group picnic

Okay, maybe a little too much fun :).

Here are the girls at Sports Day.  They started this mud project about 20 minutes before we were going to go...I had no idea how efficient they were going to be.  Fortunately, the park employees were fixing sprinkler systems and some had flooded to give us a place to rinse off.

 

Fun at the Zoo!

Lek graciously consented to stand with his little sister to give her a reference point of where to stand.  In her hands is one of her favorite things to eat: the whole apple.

Guess who my buddy at the zoo was?  We all split up and she was our leader, with Lek and Spooner graciously going along with her every whim :).

Selfie!  Yes, I actually know what that word means now.  Spooner wasn't on board with the plan, evidently.

Is it really any wonder she split open her chin?

I had to include both so you could see them both look at the camera.  Taking turns is not always the best answer :).

These two were also buddies, when they weren't "breaking" and eating with us :).

My friend, previously Rachel Masters, was helping with the bird show at the zoo.  She was pretty proud of her bird, but my camera would only pick up a few things, so I picked my priorities :).

Papaya in the basil...who could ask for a more comfy and fragrant bed :)?

Spooner's turn ticklin' the ivories

Liliputian got to ride horses for one of her activity days activities.  She was in heaven!

Liliputian's Activity Days Daddy-Daughter Date.  They were going to do it outside, but it became the night of one of the biggest rainstorms of the year, so they had to try it inside...with water games :S.  Poor leaders!  The girls still had fun, though!