Silver's 2nd birthday

Silver turned two!

There was a blizzard the day before, so we were still pretty snowed in on January 9th, her big day. Haha, funny story about Silver in the blizzard, for it was the first time she remembered seeing snow: when she got snow on her mittens, she said, "Oh no! Dirty! Wash hands!"

Thankfully we had everything we needed in the house for a party, even the people, for this is one of the big benefits of having a lot of children: having a party always at hand without having to invite anyone else!

From the family journal:
She woke up all smiles, even though she is recovering from a cold--her bangs had been cut for the first time yesterday, so I could see her eyes--her gray-green-blue starburst eyes. The children were really enthusiastic about celebrating her, and we decided to make french toast, not start school after all (it was a Monday), and have a cozy day. Silas and Pippa helped me make the cake--and begged for taste after taste of batter! After which I eventually sent them out of the kitchen. A baker has to focus!

It was hard fore me to insist on Silver's nap, as she really didn't want to take i, but better a happy party girl than a grumpy one, and sleep makes happy.

We had a little tea party when she woke up, which was quickly followed by dinner because Thomas came home from work. We ate the good leftovers from all I had cooked for "crazy cooking day" yesterday.

Then--to finish the cake! I had cut the cake into two layers and put a butter cream in the middle, but the top layer was whipped cream and gelatin for stability, and we colored it pink and sprinkled on some really OLD chocolate covered sunflower seeds we'd found in the back of the cupboard--stale but colorful!

Silver, in a party dress, was so delighted with it and with her present--a new "bathing baby" doll--they played with it for a long time after dinner--Golden helping her get the water into the little tub--she's such a sweet big sister.

Then we watched a nature show all together in the big bed. By the way, they are really into the soundtrack from the movie Trolls and one of the songs in particular, even Silver practically knows by heart. She sings with gusto, " I WILL GET BACK UP AGAIN!"

We are so happy to have this sparkly one in our lives and home. May this next year be full of growth and the Holy Spirit for her. Angels. Keep her safe, Father, show her she can trust you.

April 2016

April 2016

May 2016

May 2016

April 2016

June 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

January 2017

2nd birthday

2nd birthday

2nd birthday

2nd birthday

The Funnies, October/ November/ December 2016

Sparrow, age 10: "I'm definitely an  emotional eater. ...But I only get emotional when I'm hungry." -Oct. 12

Silver said "actually" at 21 mos old. haha.

She also says lots of things with a "P" at the beginning. "Nunu pime," for example, instead of nunu time.

Silas, age 6: The best way of going to sleep is by warmness, and closing my eyes. And thinking of stuff." ~Oct. 8

Pippa, age 4: "The light is so pretty right now, it looks like God." -Oct. 12

Sparrow, age 10: "I'm definitely an emotional eater. Thing is, I'm usually only emotional cause I'm hungry." -Oct. 13

Golden (age 8), breaking into tears because she accidentally let our as yet un-spayed cat outside after dark.
Pippa, saltily, "Hope she hasn't gone out MATING!"
Indeed, child. Indeed. ~Oct. 16

Pippa, 4, talking at 100 miles an hour, "I PUT stuff under my pillow, and then when I wake up, every time, and check, it keeps DISSING appear!" -Oct. 16

Heard myself saying: "Well maybe if we put bacon in it, it will make people want to eat it." ...Which I then realized is the motto of Southern cooking! -Oct. 19

Pippa, age 4: "Mom? I had my alone time on the trash can today."
Me: :Oh yeah? What did you do on the trash can?"
Pippa: "I was trying to kill my pumpkin." -Oct. 21
(Sure enough, later, Thomas told me when he had come home from work, he's found Pippa sitting on top of the large outdoor trash can, stabbing her little pumpkin with a knife!)

The other day I asked Silas after his reading lesson, "Can you make a sentence with the words 'am' and 'seat'?"
Si: "What's a sentence?"
Me: "A complete thought. A whole idea."
Si: "OK... So... you know the little white chair? If you turn it upside down and put a rubber band between two of the legs, it makes a catapult. And--AM--reminds me of HAM. --So if you put a piece of HAM into it, you can CATAPULT the ham." -Oct. 24 (the brain of a child who has not been raised on workbooks!)

Silas: "I can't wait for Halloween AND Christmas!"
Pippa: "Yeah, AND the dentist!!!" -Oct. 25

Golden and Pippa were discussing something and I felt like I had to correct them on some point or other.
Golden: "Mom! We're playing a pretend game!"
Pippa, to Golden: "Yeah, and I'm pretending you're not in the game." ~Oct. 28

I am journaling in bed, but out in the living room it sounds like a trading floor! The children are shouting "gob stoppers!" "Smarties!" "Who wants whoppers?" Yup. Trading trunk or treat candies like Wall Street pros. -Oct. 30

Pippa: "Sparrow! Someone tooted!"
Sparrow: "Oh. Is that so. How do you know?"
Pippa: Because I smelled tootish stuff. And stinky stuff." ~Nov. 1

At Costco, Silver was sitting in the shopping cart and Silas and Pippa were around the corner. I slowly started pushing the cart, and suddenly Silver yelled out with force, in her hoarse little voice (she had a cold):
"SON!!!"
She was calling Silas, the way she's heard me call him a hundred times! Then again:
"Son! Son~NY!!" ~Nov. 1

Silas was the cutest that night. He snuggled up in Sparrow and Golden's bed and asked Sparrow if she wanted to "talk about stuff like what we'll play tomorrow." He looked so happy. ~Nov. 1

Silas: "The only fun thing about pants is throwing them up in the air and catching them." ~Nov. 13

Pippa praying for the food: "I pray this food would make us big and strong, and that volcanoes wouldn't explode or that the devil wouldn't be bad, Amen." -Nov. 14

Poop on the floor.
But at least we saved a diaper!!! -Nov. 17

Pippa, to Silver, "Stop it, you're NERVOUSING me!!!"  -Nov. 22

"Do you know what twice means? Two times. Do you know what thrice means? Super fast." -Pippa Nov. 23

Silas, age 6: "If you want a burned turkey, buy a turkey at the store, and then burn it."
Thank you, son. Always with the helpful tips. -Nov. 29

Pippa: "When is the world gonna end?"
Me: "Nobody knows but God."
Silas, age 6: "I know. When the WAR ends. You know which war? The war of history, World War Two, and the Civil War." ~Dec. 2

On the way over, Pippa explained to me why it was so cold today. "It's cause all the DIRTY wind is coming from here, and the CLEAN wind is pushing it back." -Dec. 15

Pippa, 4: "I know why it's illegal to drink in the car, mom. Cause when you drink, it really makes you go pee in the car, and that's why it's illegal." -Dec. 17

Pippa licked all the frosting off all the cake today, painted her own nails, and scattered Candyland all over the floor. All before 8:30 AM. I love that child fiercely. - Dec. 21