Shining

Saturday I went with Pepper to her awards banquet for Gateway College Prep.  Following the banquet was a dance for the kids and after that, the high-schoolers had an "after party" at IHOP.  The whole day was a treat.

Pepper slept in a bit and then spent the whole day getting ready for the evening.  By the time she was dressed in her floor-length formal and we were walking in, she looked and felt like a princess.  Because of the expense of the banquet tickets, we made it a girls night out and left all the wild and crazy people home with Daddy and Sunshine.


Like every mother in there, I was thinking, "please give my child an award."  Of course she got three!  The first award was a Citizenship award in Geography.  This award goes to a good student who is also considerate of and helpful to others in the class.    

The second was for track, "Most Improved."  She earned this award by shaving 38 seconds off her mile time in a single meet.  Coach Eno said, "When she came off the track and I told her that she had cut 38 seconds off her time, she cried and so did I."  Isn't he wonderful?

Finally, she received highest GPA in Pre-AP Biology.  This from a child that previously was not a fan of science.  She appreciates Mr. Boggs and his teaching has made her love science.  Her GPA in that class is over 97.

Pepper and a friend

Pepper and I sat at a table with the group I call her "Posse."  It was such fun to see the kids hanging out together.  All the girls were sparkling and the boys were spiffed up and great company.  After the awards, the parents left the kids to dance.  When I went to pick her up at 1:30 a.m. (!), she was all smiles.  She was shining, truly. 

Sparklers

Photo credit:  Quinn Henderson

Surrendering

Yesterday Puddin' went to breakfast with her soon-to-be forever parents.  Yesterday was the first Mother's Day that her forever Mommy got to celebrate Mother's Day.  I'm an old hand now -- it was my 15th -- but looking at the joy and disbelief on her soon-mommy's face made it all new again.

We have been talking a lot to Puddin' about her new family and her new home. As adults, we can see that permanence -- that magic word -- is what she most needs.  She however, is anxious and ambivalent right now.  In two consecutive sentences she will say "I go to Mama/Daddy's house" and in the next, "I love MeMaw house."  She wakes crying in the night.  Last night she was restless and could not sleep.  Finally we just brought her back out to the sofa and let her drift off out here.  She truly is so sweet and I do love her.

Herein lies the challenge in fostering.  I think that I am the kind of person who can get along with any child, and I seem to have a knack for getting all the kids moving in the same direction.  The hard part for me is in handing over those reins of parenting completely to someone else.  Even when, as in this case, it's a happy ending. It's hard to not give advice or tips.  Although I know full well that a child who eats green beans or watermelon in my home may never eat it in another.  And although our bedtime routine works for her, it is mostly because it works for me, and another routine all together may work equally well.   I think it is something I will grow into with experience. 

Tomorrow will not be easy;  we get teary just talking about it. We will all miss our Puddin' Pop -- and The Captain will surely miss his now-best-friend.   Yet there are many things to be grateful for, like the wonderful parents and future awaiting her.  It will be good for Sunshine to have her room back and  the logistics with 25% fewer "Littles" will be simpler.  In all, I am  surrendering to the experience of loving and letting go.  I am so grateful for our springtime together and am curious as to what the summer will hold! 

Thrift or Craft? You Decide!

There are a lot of girls in this house and we are all fond of pretty things, particularly pretty hair things.  I don't know if you've noticed but pretty hair things are expensive.  The local discount store wants $3 - $5 a piece for these little treats.  Since most hair clips around here are either dissassembled by Puddin' or end up in The Blitz' mouth, I am loath to spend that much; might as well throw the money directly in the trash and save a step!

Yesterday my number one crafter, Pepper, asked for a stop at the fabric store.  Since we only had The Captain in tow, I acquiesced.  I found plain hair clips for 10 cents a piece and grabbed some super-cheap  self adhesive ribbon, and took flowers from the sale bins.  Last night Pepper and I sat down in front of t.v. and created these guys for about $0.15 each.   I figure the whole tray cost less than $2.50. 

Please consider this my May Day offering since for the first time in my life I forgot to commemorate May Day by leaving flowers anonymously on my neighbors' doorsteps.  Oopsie.
 

Tinker-isms and Other Oddities

Tinker-tot

Tinker has been talking a lot lately.  And some of what she says is pretty darn cute.

She has decided that if you give her several things, like 5 jelly beans, she says, "Thanks."  But if you give her one thing, like a cup, she says, "Thank."

If you help her a lot, or she wants something a lot, she will "Thank you too much."   However, if you help her to something she doesn't really want, like hand her a cup of milk or put her in the high chair she says, "Thank you little bit."

If she doesn't want something, she says "I can't want it.

She always wants Pepper to do her "ponytails."  That's "toenails" to you and me!

Tinker Post Makeover

"Boo-boos" are "boom-booms."  Boom-booms are apparently contagious because now everyone gets them.  Grandpa taught us that in Czek, a belly button is a "Pupek."  So all of us have pretty much started calling that strange bit of humanity, "pupek."  But Tinker contends that they are actually "Belly butts."

Today The Captain -- who has recently learned to put words to his personal authority -- kept saying, "Tink, I don't like that."  I finally said, "Tinker.  What are you doing to your brother?"
"I tantrum him, Mom, sorry!"

All the kids love cabbage.  Too bad they think it's "babbage."

The Captain is definitely getting better command of language.  He cannot process "Why," "Who" or "what" questions much of the time, however.  Therefore, you never know if his answers to such questions are true.  Yesterday I told him that his teacher had called me.  (She told me that recently when he loses control, they go for a walk outside.) He looked sad and said, "Yes.  I have fit at school."
"Why did you have a fit, son?"
"I want to go for walk."

It's impossible to tell if this is truly the reason or it's just that the question stymied him.

Puddin' has a new, extended nickname -- you have to say it with a little beat.  I call her "K-K-my-puddin'-pop."  It's really sweet -- whenever she feels insecure, she says "I your K-K-Pop, Mama"

One day we got in a conversation that went like this: "Mama, You funny!"
"You're funny, Puddin'"
"You funny, Mama."
To which, I said, "Well, I'm funny looking!"

This conversation has now morphed into a silly ritual:
"Mama, You funny!"
"You're funny, Puddin."
"Well, you funny 'yookin' Mama!"

The Blitz

The Blitz is using lots of words -- about half of them to tattle!  Yesterday when he woke up at 3:45, I put him on the sofa and insisted he go back to sleep.   He actually talked in his sleep and said, "No, mama, I need (blah-blah)."  I didn't catch the last word but am so impressed he talks in his sleep.

He has recently decided that I am "Honey."  This reminds me so much of Pepper who, at his age, called Daddy and I "Honey" more than anything else.  Her famous saying is when she noticed it was a very gray winter day said, "It's a gloomy day, honey."

Sunshine showing off her Mother's Day tooth accident - Age 2

Sunshine, at two, thought all 3 syllable words began with the syllable "to" as in, "to-bana" (banana) and "to-bony" (bologna) and my all time favorite "to-betty" (spaghetti.).  I often wish I'd had blogs when the "bigs" were little as I'm sure so much of their sweetness has been forgotten, although I swore I'd never forget.

Pepper at 4

When the "bigs" were little, I was very careful about germs.  I never would let the girls play with toys at the doctor's office because I was sure they were covered in yuckiness.  One day when Pepper was 4, I was signing in at the desk.  She pulled on my shirt to get my attention and said, "Mom, can you not look at me while I play with the dirty toys please?"



Hope this gave you a smile!

Egg-Stravaganza

Egg work

On Easter Saturday, the Littles' godparents took the Littles--while Dear Hubby and Pepper kept Puddin'-- so the Easter Bunny could get organized.  What a blessing!  When I returned home, Pepper had started the egg dying and when Sunshine came in from a night away, she finished the job.  I have really great kids, don't I?

And it gets better!  On Easter Monday, both girls got out to clean off and rearrange the back patio.  It looks really great.   They did this totally on their own, folks, I swear.   I feel so happy when I look out there.  They even used SOAP!

Evidence of the Easter Bunny

We had a wonderful dinner at Grandmas.  It is so nice to know I don't have to cook in the midst of all the festivities.  We missed my niece and sister though.

All the kids had fun Easter-egg hunting.  The Blitz was uncharacteristically laid back about it.  Good thing we gave him a head start.  He wandered slowly out, picked up an egg, examined it, exclaimed over it, opened it, and then talked about it.  Funny!  Puddin' was the egg collecting star.  She just flew out there and scooped them up like her shoes were on fire.  But she is extraordinarily fond of candy.

Speaking of Puddin', we finally filled her up.  Yesterday for the first time since she's been here, she said, "I'm full," and handed me back a couple of chips.  She and The Captain are getting very attached -- there is going to be grieving when she leaves.  I would venture to say they are best friends.

I don't have a lot of pictures I can post because a certain little blonde is in a lot of them, but here are a couple shots of the fun. Dear Hubby was so busy trying to get clear shots of the Littles, he somehow missed the Bigs.  We'll all wear our Easter finest to church this week and see if we can get a family shot.  

4:00 AM Free-for-All

It doesn't sound true, but I swear it is.  At 4:00 a.m., Dear Hubby thought he hard talking.  And "Hoo-rahing."  So he went to the Littles room and there they all were.  4:00 AM and they were all on The Blitz's bed -- including Puddin' -- lights on, a free-for-all. And it looked like The Blitz had hit; every toy they own was in the middle of their floor.

He was so shocked, he yelled at them. "Get back in your beds!! It's the middle of the night!!"

Puddin' - who cries if you even look at her crossly -- started wailing and headed for bed.  We actually suspect she was the instigator as I cannot imagine the others waking her up without waking up Sunshine.  She has had quite a few adventures of wandering around the house in the middle of the night, but this tops all.

Of course, it didn't end there.  A few minutes later I heard the Tink talking.  The good (and bad) thing about her is that she never does anything without talking so she gives herself away.  Sure enough, she was in the pitch dark room in the middle of the toys, playing.  By now I have given up and gone to work on my blogs.  20 minutes later, I hear their door opening and closing.  It's the Blitz.  Goodness gracious.  They finally all went back to sleep. They'd better sleep in!

I realize I haven't posted any photos of The Blitz's birthday so here are a couple for you.  He thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention.  I have a cute video of him opening Gram and Grandpa's gift but can't post it here because Puddin' is in it.  I totally missed the blowing out of candles -- thought I was recording and wasn't.  Drat.

Clothes from Mamaw and Papa

Present from Grandma

You know he loves cake - had to edit out the little blonde!

Who's Your Mama?

Yesterday I shoveled up and moved 13 wheelbarrows full of dirt by myself.  Dear Hubby estimates it was about 6-1/2 cubic yards.  It is a big pile of dirt.  I have absolutely no idea how I am going to keep the Littles out of it!  I think I had better buy some more fencing today.

The new sidewalk is working out great.  As I moved all that dirt, the Littles rode their various toys back and forth from the patio about 50 times.  The Captain needed a job, so I put him in charge of sweeping. He swept the sidewalk after me and got pretty good at it.  I remembered why I did so much yard work when the "bigs" were little.  It forces them to play outside and make their own fun.

One time Dad told me that boredom is good for kids.  The "bigs" will tell you that I have fully embraced that theory.  As a result, we don't have a DVD player in the van, although we have taken trips as long as 10,000 miles!  Our kids are allowed limited access to TV and video games and toys that make noise have the sound removed before use.  Kids need to make the noise for the bouncy horse and the trucks.  On that 10,000 mile trip, our daughters discovered that there are at least 5 kinds of desert between central Texas and California; I myself began to see the desert as a thing of beauty.

Yesterday Tinker, who is becoming a fantastic communicator, said, "Mom.  I got nothin to do."  I smiled.

"Well, think of something to do!  Look at all this yard to play in!"

Within minutes she had engaged Puddin' in a game of tag and soon both boys were in the fray.  Kids really do need to be bored.  And they need to  get dirty.  The boys, in particular, are enjoying the opportunity to dig in the dirt.

Both the "bigs" have been helping in the landscaping.  Sunshine gave me about 45 minutes yesterday of raking the dirt into a pile so I could more easily shovel it up.  Both she and Pepper helped me with planting before the sidewalk and I am happy to say with all the extra dirt moved, I could get back to the job today.  Ah, earth.