Strong Resemblances

My Aunt Patti calls Avery "Little Jennie" and my mom is always telling me that Avery reminds her so much of me when I was her age. I have always thought that they were having some kind of nostalgia issues.

I was cleaning the closet this morning and opened a box of notecards. And found this picture:

They might have been right.

One Year Old

Technically she is 13 months old. Nearly 14 months old. Better late than never, right?

Long past time for an update on sweet, sweet Kendall.

She is a happy, funny girl. Who started walking a week before her 10 month birthday, and can now RUN fast enough to keep up with the big girls.

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.

One year stats:
28.5 inches (25-50%) My TALLEST BY FAR
16 lbs 5 oz (Below the 3%)

She's long and lean. Well, long for my family...

Daisy Scouts Out and About

This past Saturday we headed out to Hiram to see a Lady Terrier's Volleyball game. As close as I live to my Alma Mater, I rarely head out there, and this was the first time that I was in the new Sports Complex. Quite an upgrade from the when I was in College there and taking Ballroom Dance for my gym credit.

Ellis' Daisy Scout leader is a Professor at Hiram and arranged for the girls to meet and greet the players after the game and get autographs. Just this morning on the way to school Ellis was reading the autographs and telling me who her favorite player was. It was a win for the team and a win for the girls... I guess you call that a true "win win."

And I had the pleasure of an in-person bleacher visit with my friend Heather, who brought her daughter to the game and to participate with our Daisy troop. Heather may be starting a Daisy troop out in the wilds of West Farmington. She is a brave, brave woman.

And yes, we do look tired. It had been a long, long day for the both of us.

Sidewalks and Broken Toes

Two summers ago I was offered a pile of patio stones. My uncle's friend pulled out a driveway and was going to throw it away.

I was happy to rescue it.

The simple pattern

 But it took a long time for me to actually DO something with it. You know... there were all those winter and muddy months, and babies being born, and then more winter months, and life's complications.

Walk past the porch to the upper patio

BUT I FINALLY DID IT. I have a sidewalk! No more gravel and mud path!

These are just some work in progress shots. I will try to get one that shows the angle, bends and add that later.  It's exciting stuff!

I got to borrow Justin's giant wet saw. It cut 4 inch thick block like it was butter. I love using big power tools, even when I am terrified every time I hit the "on" button. My own kind of roller coaster high.

Walk to the porch and possible fire pit

Chase startled me and I dropped a block on my foot and broke the toe next to my pinky. It has been broken before and will likely be broken again. I seem to break a toe or two every year. And yes Aunt Roly, I WAS wearing boots. These things sometimes just happen.  A small price to pay.

Why is this so complicated?

Google has taken over Blogger. It's taken me days just to figure out how to log into the dang blog. See, my blogger account is different than my work gmail, my phone gmail, etc, etc, etc. And, it doesn't like it any more than I do.

WHAT. A. PAIN.

And now that I am in here, it all looks differently and acts differently and well, I have issues when things change.

But I am going to try. Try to post some new things.

I tried to add the app to my phone, where all my pictures live. That was an epic fail. Again the issue with too many gmails. Sigh.
So bear with me. If you are even still out there... I know it's been crickets here...

Summer

Life has been flying by me. In the summer swelter. It's been crazy. Many of you know exactly how crazy... so I'll just leave it at that.

This summer Chase joined the Four Season's Swim team. She committed to swim practice 5 times a week and swim meets 2 to 3 nights a week. She amazed me with her commitment. She LOVED it.

Twinsburg Meet.

Solon Meet

10 and under team mates

Chagrin Falls Relay. 8 am to 2 pm. She swam 3 events for a total of 90 seconds of pool time.Killing time.

Lake in the Woods Meet. Helping a team member.

I watched her develop commitment, determination and a dose of bravery. I see this being a part of many summers to come.

Summer Gems

I downloaded some pictures from my mother's camera. Here are some gems from last summer.

Chase, Ellis and Avery picnicking and learning at Hale Farm and Village:

Look at the stylish bonnets!

Hanging at the Zoo:

A rock near the reindeer

And, just enjoying time at Grandma's:

I LOVE Zinnias!

Yep, She's 9!

Prepare yourselves folks. Pictures are coming at you!
You know this baby?

Chase at 5 weeks old.

 She's changed just a wee bit.

Her shirt says it all... "I have all the answers."
She really thinks that is true!

She had her first sleep over birthday party. And, we all survived.

We played Pin the Tail on the Donkey,

 Played with balloons,

Or tried to eat them, as the case might be.

Walked the Red Carpet,

Opened presents and ate cake,

 Did crafts, watched a movie.

AND even eventually SLEPT!

If you are wondering, she had her Well Check and the answer is NO we are not yet 4 feet tall. She is 47 inches tall. Maybe wearing thick shoes she'd be able to ride some rides! Not that she'd want to...

Stay Tuned

I found the camera cord. Now I just have to do something about it...

Monkeys

My monkeys with the brass monkey at the zoo.

It was a perfect sunny 76 degrees yesterday and we wanted to enjoy the day doing something fun..

It is now overcast and 40. More like the Ohio we know and love... and it is Spring Break after all. Can't have nice weather for that!

So glad me made the trek.

I've Got Pics BUT

I don't have a camera cord. Nowhere to be found. Making me CRAZY. I even tried to go buy a replacement but the one I need is proprietary to Sony and would have to be purchased from them. Gee Thanks.

I have Kendall's first food. There are some really funny ones in there... The Destination Imagination tournament... among other things.

And if I don't find it soon, I won't be able to document Chase's 9th Birthday and first sleepover. She has invited 6 little girls to come party. 5 are spending the night. AHHH. She wants them to come walk the red carpet and have me take pics. If we survive the sleepover, we will NEED to show pictures.

Now if Avery will just tell me where she put it. I know she has to be the one to blame. She takes and hides everything. So stay tuned.

Just Can't Stop

Seems like we are constantly on the GO. Just can't stop. It is crazy around here. And this weekend was no exception.

On Friday Chase had her dress rehearsal for Destination Imagination and a pizza party. Followed by a Girl Scout Fancy Ball for both Chase and Ellis (and Natalie came along).

Chase's Troop

Natalie, Ellis, and Chase

On Saturday we headed to Barberton for the regional DI tournament. Both girls are on teams that were competing. Chase's team, Drum Roll Please for the V.I.Ps were participating in a challenge to write and perform a movie trailer. Ellis team, DI Rocks, were participating in a building challenge and made puppets out of candy so there would be no clean up! Each team also participated in Instant Challenges, which are so secret that parents were not allowed to watch and kids had to sign a pledge not to tell until after Globals in one month. We didn't get home until 7pm and were all beat!

On Sunday we were hit by exhaustion and illness. Mostly colds for all of us, baby included, except for Avery--who had a high fever, refused to eat or drink and had swollen tonsils. She is feeling much more herself today.

Leap Girl

Kendall Virginia is 6 months old.
Today.
February 29, 2012.
Leap Day.

I owe her some pictures. Real pictures. Not sub-par cell phone shots like the one you have here. And I will get some of her, as soon as the camera is charged. And the planets align.

I have been looking for the camera for days. It was last seen in the hands of a certain toddler who chooses to remain nameless. This morning I asked her where the camera was. She laid down on the floor of my room, peeked under the bed and ran down the hall. "Uh Oh!" Giggles. I should have trusted her, but a quick glance under the bed showed nothing. Tonight I realized that the day had gotten away from me. No camera. No pictures. I offered a $5 dollar reward to anyone able to find the camera. A mad search ensued. Nada. I grabbed a flashlight and decided to give the under bed one more look. And tucked WAY back against the wall I saw a silver glimmer. There is was (much to the chagrin of two older girls who have both asked to share in the reward). My guess is that Avery was looking at pictures (she loves to turn on the camera and look at the pictures) and dropped it down between the crack that is between the mattress and the headboard. And she knew it. Hence the "Uh Oh!" and the looking under the bed. The running and giggling? That is just her maniacal sense of humor.

When you drop a camera in a crack when it is on? It is found with no charge. Which probably didn't matter, because during the time that I was smashed under my bed trying to reach the camera, Avery was busy drawing on Kendall's face with a pen. Which, after much scrubbing, left Kendall with a marked up face and a bad attitude. Not the lovely one you see above.

And with a sister like Avery, Kendall is lucky to have reached this milestone. And will be luckier still to reach a year. Avery tilts her head to the side and makes the sweetest sounds of "Aw, baby." While whacking Kendall over the head, burying her with pillows, sitting on her, or trying to stab her eyes out with a pen.

Kendall will just need to learn to get up and RUN. And she needs to do it soon. It is a matter of survival.

6 month stats:
Height: 25 inches (50%... Say WHAT? Can this be??? Here is our TALL one. No one else has ever peaked over the 10% for height.)
Weight: 14 lbs even (5-10%... the words long and lean were used. Considering the thighs on this girl, I laughed)
Head: 15 3/4 (5-10%... Smallest head of any of my girls. But she is already smart enough to get a look of terror on her face when approached by Avery.)

She is already scooting herself around. On those rare occasions she actually gets put down. She must know that her survival depends on movement. She babbles a lot. Some days more than her big sister. I hear Mama A LOT. Again, learning to call out to the one person who can rescue her. She is sweet tempered, cute as a button and downright charming. She is the fourth chamber of my heart. The one that beats outside of my chest. I cannot imagine my world without her.

And so, we embark on the next 6 months with a great big LEAP of faith.

006 Standing Tall

Monday we had a Well Check turned Sick Visit for Ellis.

We went to get her 6 year old stats and left with the bubble gum medicine for Strep throat. (which she hates and I have to give it to her like you would a cat. Every other kid on the planet seems to like it. I can't test it out myself, due to allergy, so who knows.) Bummed that for a girl who had never been on antibiotics before Kindergarten, that she has been on them 3 times in 3 months. She had only been OFF of them for a week (she had a double ear infection last time and Strep the time before. Sigh)

We also left with a prescription for Zantac for her to use at bedtime. The dentist was concerned that Ellis has acid reflux. The doctor didn't want to treat her because she doesn't cough, or have sleeping issues. UNTIL she looked at Ellis' back molars. She has severe acid wear pitting on her back teeth. The dentist took x-rays and assured me no cavities. But it does look FREAKY. I guess the acid has been pooling in the back of her mouth while she sleeps. Now that her 6 year old molars are coming in we need to protect them.


Ellis 6 year old stats:

Height 42 inches (3-5 percentile)
Weight 36 lbs (3-5 percentile)

Perfectly proportionate. And able to chart.

Secret Agent Princess 006

I am horribly behind. Must catch you up on December.

There were a few birthdays. (and by a few, I mean MANY, MANY)

One girl I know, who is choosing to remain nameless as to protect her life as a secret agent and princess, turned 6.

We went out to a family Hibatchi dinner and ate cake and ice cream.

 Later that week, the Princess had a few select friends in for High Tea...

and ate more cake and ice cream.

Squirrel-hog Day

It's Groundhog day and Punxy Phil has predicted 6 more weeks of Winter. Call me crazy, but looking at a calendar there are 6 and a half more weeks before Spring hits. I think his power of prediction are seriously overrated.

We started our day out with some serious cold. As in no furnace. The "it must have stopped while we were sleeping" cold. The thing is that I knew that this might happen. I had been warned. Earlier this week there were some loud banging noises that sounded like an animal in the furnace room. There is a door from the furnace room to the garage and it was ajar so I thought maybe something came in that way... I opened the garage door and gave it some time. It got quiet. Figured we were done. Fast forward to that night, my mom had been watching the girls and said that she heard some noise in the furnace area, too.

24 hours later. No heat. Ellis dressed for school next to a roaring fire. It had ambiance. But did nothing to heat the rest of the house.

Figured that a bird or a squirrel had fallen down the flue. Phil (not Punxy in case you were wondering) and Jessica to the rescue. They came over and Phil took apart the flue near the furnace and informed me that that indeed there was a squirrel. It actually sounded like "OMG! Ugh. Get me a plastic bag. And gloves. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. He's wedged in here good." Jessica was laughing hysterically. Chase, who was home sick, was gagging just from the thought. And I was just hoping no one would make me look.

So, for us it was Squirrel-hog day. Punxy Phil may have predicted 6 more weeks of cold winter weather, but the squirrel removal has made it possible for us to stay warm during that time.

Public service announcement to all the squirrels running around on my roof. The furnace flue is not a good place to try to call home.

In unrelated news: Kendall is now 5 months old. Here is a shot of her playing with Chase this morning.

 Could she be any cuter?