January Deep Freeze

As I type this, Will has had two cold days, two ice days, and four snow days.  We even had a one day week of work in there.  I will say that we are always happy to have Will home with us, but on that fourth day in a row of severe winter weather, the natives had grown quite restless.  In fact, it almost felt like a hostage situation.  Because unlike regular snow days, filled with lots of outside snow play, hot chocolate and shoveling the driveway, these four days were spent hibernating and praying that our power didn't go out, as well as finding ways to keep our chickens and our outdoor cat safe and warm.  Needless to say, the cozy aura had worn off and we were ready for a regular routine again - one in which we could safely go outside.  I didn't think to screenshot my weather app until the temperatures had started to warm up, but even still it was way too cold when I did screenshot the temps.  On the first day of the month long cold snap, we did our winter tradition of filling balloons with water and food dye to create beautiful ice gems on our front porch.

On days that were above 20 degrees, we made sure to get outside.  Here are the kids below, skating in their boots on a parking lot by our house that was a complete sheet of ice.  We also found a little stream completely iced over that I knew was shallow enough to be safe to skate on without worry.

I do love a good winter hike, as there are no bugs and you can always peel off layers if you get too hot.

 For most of the month of January, we had to find ways to entertain ourselves indoors, however.  Here we are below with family and friends.  In clockwise order from top left: the kids with family friends eating lunch, Grandma T. playing a game with the kids, my friend's 40th birthday party, Lucy and her cousin Ellen deep in conversation, and finally, a pile-up of Aunt Jenna, and cousins Violet and Maryn.

 My sister Jane and her boyfriend Isaac were in town from the East Coast this past month, and I'm realizing that I didn't get a single picture of them.  I did however get photos of our time with the family when they were here.  In clockwise order from top left: cousins Lucy and Maryn in deep conversation, another pile up with this time Aunt Jane, Aunt Cate, and Violet, and finally, portraits done by Isaac of Violet, and then Emma.  The likeness of the portraits were striking!

We attended a library event on making pom-poms which the girls enjoyed and was a perfect start to a perfect winter Saturday.

 After the library class, we headed to our town's winter festival where we enjoyed our first meal out with Opal as an entire family.  Take-out has just been so much easier since Opal was born!  So it was a real treat for us to sit in a restaurant, and Opal did a great job.  Our plan after lunch was to tour the winter festival, but the wind was so brutally cold that the older three girls and I ended up walking a few blocks to see ice sculptures while Will went with Opal to pick us up in the car.  It was still a lovely day out, to break up our hibernation.

 We also enjoyed a day at our local science museum, and caught the very last day of a traveling exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci.  We had studied Da Vinci this year in school, so it was so great to see the connections being made and new discoveries about the artist, inventor and scientist as well.  One of the things that stood out to the kids was the fact that Da Vinci wrote everything mirror image, so to read his writing, you needed to use a mirror.  In the below pictures from top left: so many connections were made at the museum from things we have been studying this year in school - agates, which the girls had just learned about and were excited to pose in front of a giant one, a room of mirrors, Opal riding for the first time in our umbrella stroller (as opposed to the many times she has ridden in the doll umbrella stroller), Emma standing in front of an American bison that she had just learned about in school, and finally, using a mirror to decode some of Da Vinci's writing.

 That was the extent of our time out of the house.  The rest was spent at home, and for the most part, we enjoyed the arts, crafts and nesting.  Below are the girls and I making two varieties of cookies one Friday in January for our poetry tea time later that day that we shared with Aunt Jane and Isaac.  The older three sisters took turns pushing Opal in a doll stroller so that each of the three oldest could take turns with me rolling and cutting out cookies.

 Below in clockwise order from top left: Will making pom poms with the girls, Violet enjoying mini marshmallows in her hot chocolate, Emma organizing our junk drawer to earn back the TV she had taken away, Lego versions of Aunt Jane and Isaac that the kids made and I thought were pretty spot on, and finally, a selfie that Emma took of her, Violet and Opal.

 I taught Emma how to sew this past month and we made pillowcases together.  Lucy continued to make her herbal eye masks...

...and we all enjoyed some great watercolor painting.

 The girls did yoga, and put on many shows for us in the basement.

My heart could burst with joy and pride when all four girls find a way to play together, and in the below photos, I was privileged to see them all working hard to make Opal laugh with play silks.  Opal loved it, and the great big belly laughs and smiles were so rewarding for the big sisters to hear, that they kept on with this game for quite some time.

 It has been hard for me to find uninterrupted quiet time these days, and I crave it.  I am so much more patient and happier when I can start the day at least an hour before everyone else wakes up.  Sometimes Opal has other plans and gets up too early, or was up all night and so I need the extra hour of sleep, but when I can, I love to read or journal or do yoga while the house is quiet.  I try to avoid any phone usage or computer work as that doesn't recharge me like a book, pen and paper, or gentle stretching does.  One morning Violet found me nestled on the floor in a corner of my room with the bathroom stool as my desk and the window shade up just a crack so as not to wake anyone else up.  Without a word, she went and got her own stool and quietly joined me.  We sat in silence, each with our own books and I knew that this was a moment I would remember for always.

Here's to peaceful morning starts, warmer temperatures and more moments with my girls that I will remember forever!

Opal at 11 Months

It's amazing how much a baby grows in one month, and this month was no exception for Opal.  She is cruising the furniture, and crawling everywhere.  It has been challenging to take Opal out in public these last couple of months as I don't like her crawling on the floor of public places.  Of course this is all she wants to do though.  We lucked out the other day at church when I found the small chapel had a freshly vacuumed rug.  Opal was happy to crawl around on it while I listened to the service in the main church through the doorway.

 You could say allowing her to crawl in public places is immunity building, but lawn chemicals and toxic floor chemicals do nothing to support a healthy immune system, and that is the reality of floors in public places these days.  Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa's house is a safe crawl zone, and they even have carpeted stairs, unlike our own house.  Opal can now climb stairs like a pro, making it very important for us to remember to close the baby gates when we go up or down stairs.

Playing outside is difficult too when you can't walk yet and there is a lot of snow and ice all over the ground.  At this point in the winter, Opal almost tolerates her snowsuit.  Almost.

She does love her little sled though!  Her sisters fight over whose turn it is to pull her in it.  It's so adorable to watch her, she's like a little princess riding in a chariot.

Her sisters definitely spoil her.  In the below photos, Opal is enjoying a play house that her sisters made.  It was not created for the entertainment of Opal, but once the girls saw how much Opal loved it, they couldn't refuse her advances.

Even after almost a year of having a little sister,  the big sisters have not grown tired of their real life baby doll.

Opal has discovered that she can reach the keys of our piano, which is so cute until her older sisters can't practice the piano because Opal is "piano bombing" their songs.

Right now there is no free horizontal space, as anything and everything that Opal can get into we have put up high.  This includes wastebaskets, toys, choking hazards, paper, books, and anything else that Opal could get hurt on, or destroy.  Here she is below, playing.

The girls and I made Opal some arrowroot teething biscuits this past month, which Opal loved.  Of course her sisters loved them too, so Opal only got to enjoy a few of them before they were all gone.  Opal now eats three meals a day with us, and after each meal, can be found under the table looking for her dessert.

 Opal claps now, does a cute pow wow with the back of her hand on her mouth, smiles for photos, and enjoys reading a book in my lap as she can now turn the pages herself.  In fact, most of the "reading" is her just methodically turning the pages, over and over again.  She now says phrases, which include "Hi Dadda," "Hi Mama," and "Bye Bye Baby."  She refers to herself as Baby, and any other kid she sees is also a baby.  The best is when she wants something out of her reach she will yell, "Baby!" As in, give that to the baby, now!

She is so very lovable, and I can hardly believe we've been enjoying our Opal for almost a year!

Taking it One Thing At A Time in December

December was quite busy, and I managed for the most part to keep my head above water by taking our schedule day by day and focusing only on the very next thing.  My priority list kept a walk a day in the number one slot, followed by as many home-cooked meals as possible and keeping school on schedule.  After that, I let the rest fall where it may.  Unfortunately for me, that resulted in no Christmas card this year, which is one of my favorite things to do.  It wasn't more important though than the above mentioned priorities and so I have no regrets.  Here we are below, enjoying the mild weather that we had in December, and in the right hand picture below, Charlie even managed to go on a walk with us one of the days.  By the time we realized he was with us, it wasn't too late to turn back and lock him in the garage.  He wants to go for walks with us, but he meows at us the entire time and refuses to walk at a steady pace.  Instead, he chooses to dart from safe object, to safe object and at a certain point, I get concerned that we are too far from home and worry that he may get too tired and refuse to let me catch him.  So, we walked (ran - see photo below of the girls running with Charlie keeping pace) him back home, locked him in the garage and continued on a different path, down a street we rarely walk.  Interestingly enough, a woman came out of her house and asked if we were okay and if we needed help!  When I said we were just out for a walk, she looked surprised and said that she was worried when she saw us with the baby on such a cold day and thought perhaps our car had broke down.  While I appreciated the care (glad to know there are strangers that are willing to help another stranger out), I have since avoided that street.  I guess a mom and four young kids taking a walk in the winter is a strange sight on that street!

Here we are doing school - some of it provided by my brother and sister in law as a Christmas present for the girls.  In clockwise order from top left: the girls studying geodes from their Christmas present, Emma and Will cracking open a geode, Lucy mixing a crystal solution, the girls and I making homemade slime for a preschool science experiment, our crystals that we grew and geodes that we cracked open, and finally, Violet and I enjoying a game of Alphabet Go Fish, because yes, preschool really is that fun.

 The girls had their Christmas Benefit Recital this past month, my taking it "one thing" at a time was quite helpful in managing this big event.

 

They danced to a song from The Nutcracker, and did an amazing job.  Their hair had to be curled for the performances and dress rehearsals and it was the first time I have ever curled their hair.  This was a big deal for me, and of course, I only began the day before they needed their hair curled for dress rehearsal.  After several failed attempts and some texts to our cousin who is a hair stylist, we settled on these new-fangled curlers that ended up being a Godsend!  The downside is you have to sleep on them, but the upside is there was no risk of damaging their hair (or Lucy's fear of me burning her ears or neck) and after several nights of having to use them, I figured out how to put them in their hair in such a way that their sleep disturbance from them was greatly minimized.  Here they are below in clockwise order: another dance mom took this photo of Lucy and Emma backstage, watching the performance before theirs - my first thought was how sweet and it is quite easily my most favorite photo ever but don't worry, Emma told me later that Lucy had her in a choke hold because she thought Emma was getting too close to the curtain, Lucy with her beloved dance teacher of almost six years now, Lucy and Emma in the "new-fangled" curlers, and Emma with her beloved dance teacher of almost six years.  I'm so grateful to have dance in their lives - for the confidence, for the work-ethic, for the exercise, and most importantly, for the girls to know what it's like to be a part of a team and the feeling of pride and accomplishment from working together towards a common goal. 

Here are the girls biggest cheerleaders below.  This was the first year they had friends in the audience, and I can't even begin to describe how loved it made them feel to know that their friends were out there watching and cheering them on.

 

We spent a lot of time indoors playing.  In the top, left hand picture below my sister was over one day and played Duplos with the kids.  She's a great sport, and the kids adore her.  The bottom, right hand picture below shows the girth of our pantry one evening when I decided I was tired of things falling out on me and I needed to completely clean and organize it that moment as this was clearly the next "one thing". 

The girls put on an adorable Christmas parade with their Legos this past month, and I just had to photograph their creativity.  The best part is that they all three played happily together.

 The official start of the Christmas season for our family happens on December 6th, or St. Nick's Day.  The girls put a note for Santa in their shoes of what they would like for Christmas, and in return, St. Nick takes the notes and leaves them oranges and chocolate coins.  This year he also left a Lego Advent Calendar.  I just couldn't get over the cuteness of the clementine orange in one of Opal's little shoes.

The very next day is Will's dad's birthday, so we had fun celebrating with him.  Note the curlers in the kids hair - they had their first dress rehearsal in the morning.  We also celebrated Christmas with my dad's side of the family at the same restaurant we've been renting out for over ten years now.  It is always a good time to see family, and in the bottom, right hand picture below, one of my kids must have taken a photo of Opal and my niece playing peek-a-boo together.  

We made ornaments this year for Luke's Grave Blanket from plastic pony beads that we filled in metal cookie cutters and then melted in our toaster oven that we put outside (so we wouldn't breathe in melting plastic fumes).  Besides the fact that it took FOREVER for the beads to melt, they did turn out lovely.  

This was Opal's first Christmas on the outside of me, and it was nice to have her with us at Luke's grave.  If you would have told me ten years ago when I had empty arms and an aching heart that I would be standing there ten years later with Luke's four little sisters and Dad, I would have hardly believed it.  Although I would love to be standing anywhere else with Will and all FIVE of my kids, I will take what I can get and I feel so grateful to have Will and my four girls with me on earth. 

We celebrated Christmas at Will's parents house a few days before Christmas when his brother was in town.  We decorated gingerbread cookies, opened presents, and had a lovely afternoon.  

The bottom, right hand pictures above show my kids with black olives on their fingers as I taught them the rhyme, "Little Jack Horner".  This was a favorite memory from my youth at my grandma's house.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on another day, and although we all missed seeing nieces/nephews/cousins, it was a lovely day too.  Violet got a cable knit sweater for Christmas and insisted that my Dad had one too and asked that I text Grandpa to make sure they could be matching. When we got to their house, my mom was the one with the matching sweater, and Violet was proud to be matching (see center photo below).  In the bottom, right hand photo below, we spent time over the holidays with friends of ours who are like family too.

Emma was the head angel in our church's Christmas Eve pageant, and proudly showed us the ornament on the church Christmas tree that she had made in one of her catechism classes as well.

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year, and after church, we spent a sweet evening at home eating a special Christmas Eve dinner of sloppy Joe's, cheesy potatoes, green beans and sparkling cider and then sampled some of the chocolate chip cookie bars we had made to leave out for Santa.

Christmas morning dawned bright and early (but not too early, thank goodness) and it was a happy morning with Opal with us for her very first Christmas.

Having the joy and magic of Christmas through my kids eyes helps to fill up my energy for all of the hard moments of parenting the rest of the year. 

I encouraged the kids to make homemade gifts or gently used items for each other this year.  Violet found some of her sisters' favorite books at a library used book sale, Lucy made bracelets, and Emma made flower presses with Will's help.  The girls and I made homemade garlic salt for Will as garlic is one of his favorite foods.  I thought I had ruined the surprise when he found my not so careful hiding spot in the basement but he revealed on Christmas after he opened our gift to him that he thought it was foot powder when he found it!

Since Opal loves paper, she loved opening presents!  And her sisters loved helping her open her presents too.  I have to say that Opal is my favorite present this year, and to see the gift that she is to each member of our family.  

Highlights of the girls gifts include: Lucy got the Polaroid camera she thought was too expensive to ask for, a doodle pad that magically erases with the touch of a button, a new backpack and of course Legos, Emma got the Shopkins and Lego set she was hoping for, and Violet got the bow maker and LOL's she wanted along with a surprise Lego watch which she was thrilled about.  Opal got a push behind walker, some baby dolls (that I found on eBay to match the ones her sisters have and are no longer sold in stores), some Little People and furniture the girls bought her on eBay to go along with the hand me down Little People Doll House Opal has from her sisters, her very first Duplo set and my favorite, a balancing hen with eggs to stack on her back. 

Will makes the kids a present from wood each year, and this year he made each of the girls a letter to represent the first letter of their name on a piece of repurposed barn wood.  We had handmade our wedding invitations together 15 years ago, and had used a brass stencil that spelled LOVE to emboss the invitations.  I found the brass stencil when we were pregnant with Opal and I couldn't believe that our wedding invitations were a precursor of the four beautiful girls we would have whose initials would spell out LOVE.  Will was able to enlarge the letters and use them as a stencil to paint each girl's initial.  I haven't decided where I will hang these letters yet, but am so excited to have them.  Here we are below, playing with our Christmas presents.

Will's parents came over in the afternoon on Christmas and we had Christmas part two with them, and enjoyed a dinner of ham and more cheesy potatoes.

New Year's Eve we spent at home, and decorated gingerbread houses with the girls.  Our neighbor had found two gingerbread kits on clearance after Halloween at Trader Joe's and thoughtfully bought them for our kids.  So, all we had to finance was one more kit and the girls were each so happy to decorate their own adobe, and the Halloween candy of bats and ghosts blended right in with the Christmas candy!

The rest of our Christmas break was happily spent making crafts that family and given the girls for Christmas...

...and enjoying lots of walks and even some hikes.  See below the piece of ice I found that was shaped like the beautiful state we live in - a mitten.

The weather was so mild that one morning we even ate a picnic breakfast outside of the natural food store by our house.  We walked our towns main street and took in all of the Christmas sights, including a giant train made out of gingerbread, an abdominal snow man made out of cake, and lots of twinkly Christmas lights.  Will figured out that Opal fits inside of his winter coat, and thus became the best and warmest place for Opal on our excursions.

Will and I are in such a special time of our life right now.  It is going by so fast, and it is so much work, but spending our days with our favorite people on earth makes all of the hard work and sleepless nights worth it.  I just want to savor every happy moment with my kids while they still think of Will and I and their sisters as their favorite people too.  Slow down, time!  Someday they will go out in the world and find their own favorite people, but I hope they will always remember our time together with smiles and laughter and love.

What Opal Loves at 10 Months

Opal loves her mama!  In the below pictures: Violet and I, each with our babies strapped on us, and the other photo shows the first time Opal searched me out and pulled herself to a stand at my legs.  I'm almost done with the dishes, baby!

Opal loves her sisters!  In the below photos in clockwise order from top left: Lucy can get Opal to sleep on her, which is more than I can say for myself with Opal most days, Lucy cuddling Opal, Opal with a chocolate kiss mark on her cheek from Emma, and finally, Violet getting a kick out of using one of Opal's pacifiers together with her sister!

Opal loves being outside!  She also loves Charlie, but I'm not sure he returns the affection.  Fortunately we've had a mild winter for Opal's tenth month, and she was able to be outside almost every day.

Opal loves paper!  She loves to eat paper, rip paper, and crumple paper.  She also loves books, but at this point I think it is just because it's a nice stack of paper.

Opal loves Daddy!  And Opal loves playing with Daddy!  In fact, although it pains me to say this, she may prefer Daddy over me right now.  If Will is around, she only wants him.  The good news is, although I've always relished being my babies' number one, it fills my heart with pride to see the father of my children be so loved too.

And finally I can say that Opal loves food!  This past month she finally started eating food with a passion.  We determined that she does not like baby food purees, and doesn't like slimy things like bananas and avocados.  She gags on them every time.  But, this past month her pincer grasp has developed quite nicely, and now that she is able to pick up soft finger foods, she LOVES eating skinned and cut up grapes, cut up blueberries and ripe pears, tiny pieces of cucumber, steamed carrots and green beans, organic "Cheerio" type cereal, and little pieces of cooked pasta, oatmeal (that she can pick up) and sticky rice (also that she can pick up).  Offer it on a spoon to her and she won't eat it!

Opal, we love you and are so happy to be a part of your list of loves!