Sunday was Michaela's 5th birthday. We celebrated with a traditional back-yard birthday party complete with Duck, Duck, Goose (played to the words: Hannah, Hannah, Montana) and water balloons.
Later, after everyone had gone, we asked her what her favorite part was. She thought for a moment and then answered, "Pretty much everything."
Funny, that's what I was going to say about the last 5 years.
We love you Layla-Belle.
As you can see, Michaela is my sporty one.
Last summer when I would go for a run she would make me come back to the house before my final lap to get her and we would run the last .8mi loop together.
After the boys quit swimming lessons she insisted to be able to continue even though the teachers were complete WITCHES and I was horrified that I'd ever put my children in their care.
And on Sunday she begged me to take her out to learn to ride the new 'big girl bike' that our neighbor has passed on to her - the one without the training wheels.
The running is going well. The swimming lessons are going well. The bike lesson appeared to be an abject failure with both of us ending up screaming and crying - but I've talked to some friends and apparently it was more successful than a lot of other bike lessons.
It was much better than Danny's (7) and Doug's (6) lessons apparently because they still can't ride their bikes!
Anyway, when Michaela wanted to quit trying to learn I told her that if she quit she wouldn't be able to compete in the triathlon that the YMCA puts on. So she kept going.
I don't know who is more of a role model for whom.
None of my children can push Dan's buttons like Doug. And this, I like to tell Dan as often as I see steam coming out of his ears, is because they are exactly alike.
They are both opinionated.
They are both stubborn.
They are both redheads.
They are both picky eaters.
They are both very picky about what they wear (although it is not always obvious.)
They both hate the beach because they don't like to get sandy.
They both hate the ocean because it is cold.
They are both second sons.
Neither of them listen.
But they are both sweet.
They both love sunsets.
They both love the mountains.
And they both love and are loved by me.
One morning this week Michaela bounced into my office with pink frosting on her face. "Is that pink frosting on your face?" I asked her.
She grinned from ear to ear and nodded. "Daddy took us to get a donut." she told me.
I gasped! "You got me a donut?!?!? Where is it?" I asked.
Without missing a beat she said, "No! I got you something even BETTER than a donut!"
I was stumped. I thought, coffee? bagel? I looked at her just in time to see her leaning in.
"A kiss." she said. And kissed me.
She was right. That WAS better than a donut.
One morning last week when I was particularly exhausted from, oh you know, having 4 kids, a full time job and this soon-to-be-award winning blog(!) I slept in until 7am instead of getting up at my typical 6:45.
While I was brushing my teeth Danny yelled up, "You guys are sleeping late!"
Dan and I went downstairs.
Danny was putting a cereal bowl into the sink.
I looked over at the list I keep on the refrigerator, the list of things we need to do EVERY MORNING to get the kids ready for school. You'd think that doing the same thing every day would negate the need for a list - but no, the list is CRUCIAL.
"Get dressed," I read and looked at him. He was dressed. "Check." he said.
"Eat Breakfast?" "Check."
"Vitamin?" "Check."
"Pack your snack?" "Check."
"Water?" "Check."
"Homework?" "Check."
"Shoes?" "Check. I'm way ahead of you mom."
So I asked him, "Then why'd you wake me up?"
Last night while Emily was waiting for her turn to take a shower she found a ladybug. She announced this by GIGGLING loudly and saying, with a little giggle still in her voice, "She wanded on me."
She played with the ladybug for 10 minutes before it was her turn to get into the shower, much, I'm sure, to the ladybug's chagrin.
She swapped the ladybug from hand to hand as I helped her disrobe for her shower.
"I want to bring the ladybug into the shower with me." she told me.
Figuring that the ladybug was either already dead or had sealed her own fate by landing on a vigorous 3 year old I said, "fine."
Emily and the ladybug hopped into the shower. I leaned in and washed Emily's hair. I soaped her body. And then I nudged her under the water to rinse.
At which point the ladybug was washed off of her finger and into the swirling vortex below.
"No!" Emily cried watching the lady bug circle around a few times before disappearing into the drain.
Emily froze for a moment and then burst into tears, crying "I WEALLY WOVED THAT WIDDLE WADYBUG!" over and over.
Lucky for me, the kids bathroom is LOUSY with Ladybugs this time of year so by the time Emily had gotten out of the shower the ladybug had "Come back."
Above is a picture of Danny riding a see-saw bull. Here is Doug's version...
Michaela stuck to the swings...
When we got home from the park the kids wanted to play in the back yard so we let them. At this point Emily was awake and she went out to play too. Dan and I were watching them play when we saw Doug walking across the back yard with two ENORMOUS steel rings in his hands (they were from the whiskey barrel we used to have.) Dan went out to tell him to put them back before he got hurt. (They were Huge and Heavy!)
I told Dan how at the park I had looked up and seen Doug walking across the playground dragging a tree limb that was 15 feet long and 6" thick. After I told Doug to put it down I tried to move it out of the middle of the playground and I could barely pick it up.
"Yeah," Dan said. "When that kid is determined, he can move mountains."
"It's true." I nodded and then added, "But if he gets distracted, you're left with a mountain in the middle of the street!"
We celebrated Doug's birthday this past weekend. We always celebrate it late. Partly it's because his birthday falls during February vacation but mainly because I am always in denial of the fact that I need to invite 20 children into my house in the middle of winter and put it off until his birthday has actually passed.
This year he compounded the dilemma by insisting on a MAD SCIENTIST birthday party. I envisioned this to be me, surrounded by 20 children, each with their own exploding baking soda and vinegar volcanoes and this caused even more party procrastination. UNTIL, my wonderful husband was flipping through one of those advertising brochures that they leave in doctor's office waiting rooms and found - get this - an ad for Mad Science Birthday Parties!
I called them up and they were VERY, VERY reasonably priced. SOLD!
The Mad Scientist came to his party this Saturday and did a bunch of experiments. Her name was Sylvia. I was (unreasonably) surprised and excited that she was a she. She made things disappear, she set things on fire, she lit fireworks. She even taught us what that mysterious material in Pampers is! She had all 20 kids RAPT with attention. She even had the kids make SUPERBALLS to take home - their own little science experiment. It was Great.
But don't take my word for it. See for yourself.
