After-school Dance Party

He may not graduate from kindergarten...

...but I think he's ready for middle school.

(Notice Logan in the background pursuing his favorite pastime: hassling Mom.)

Researchers

Two of my boys are showing the compulsion for research that drives their dad.

Levi has become a huge fan of Greek mythology, now branching into Egyptian as well. He checks out stacks and stacks of books and studies them carefully. For weeks he's been working on the computer writing his own book on gods, heroes, and their adventures. His plan is that he and I eventually collaborate to prepare it for publication.

His recent research interests have also included ankylosaurus and weather patterns. The other night at dinner Levi asked, "Mom, what's your favorite kind of rock?" I began thinking about alternative versus Southern 70s. Then Levi continued, "Igneous, metamorphic, or sedentary?"

Jesse comes to me every few days with a research question. One of his first was when he said kind of wistfully, "I've never seen a real platypus." I think he was thinking about Perry the Platypus on Phineas and Ferb. So we googled photos and videos of real platypuses. Platypi?

Since then we've learned how chickens hatch from eggs and how Sesame Street puppets work. (Jess had come to me with a theory that Sesame Street puppets were robots in costume.)

I, however, did not take the bait on the day Jesse said, "I still don't really understand how babies come out."

Making 'em fit

Back when Mark and I were each growing up amongst five siblings, a family of eight was only mildly largish. I have nothing against families who opt for a a more streamlined headcount, but I do object to the misconception that you have to have a huge house with a spacious bedroom (plus expensive lessons and electronics) for each child.

Our house is not huge, and there are days when I wish for more elbow room. A bigger dining area, a basement rec room, bigger bedrooms, a writing shack... But I love our home and a part of me is grateful to live a bit more modestly. And generally, all it takes is a little creative thinking to make a small space work well to accommodate all the children you care to have.

Our upstairs bedrooms are very small. (So small, in fact, that we always had to kind of flub our foster care home inspections since the room don't quite have the square footage technically required to house two children.) Haley's bedroom has a set of big, study bunk beds--leaving no room for Betsy's crib. After a few sessions of strategizing, we finally hit on a solution. We took the doors off the closet, put them in the attic, and turned the closet into a nook for the crib.

When my mom came to help when Betsy was born, she helped paint the inside of the closet the same color as the rest of the room. This helps it looks more like a nook and less like a there's-a-baby-in-the-closet. She also sewed the yellow curtain along the top, which hides the boxes of outgrown clothes still stored on the high closet shelf. (More storage under the crib behind the dust ruffle.)

It's a very cute little solution, I think. In fact, once Betsy graduates to the bunk beds, I might install a table inside the closet and turn it into a craft desk for the girls.

Our dining area is probably the most crowded area of the house. We could really use a larger table, but the room is too small to accommodate one. Our table built for six must seat seven, and once Betsy's out of her highchair it'll need to seat eight. Haley and Jesse used to sit at two of these little toddler chairs on one of the short ends of the table. It was a great solution because the chairs were small enough to fit side by side. Now that those two are a bit bigger, the chairs were uncomfortable. So we came up with a new plan to seat eight at our table.

Mark and I bought two dining benches for about $30 each using a Groupon to a local discount furniture store. The benches were made for the long side of the table, so we cut the seat to size before assembling and attaching it to the apron and legs. I mixed white paint into some of the teal paint from my bedroom and painted the seat blue. We sanded the cut edge to match the other curved edges.

Now there's a short bench on each short end of the table. Haley and Jesse sit on one and we've got one slot to spare. Betsy also uses them as a snack table.

Turn on a Dime. Or a cookie.

One, two, three, four, five, I sent people out into this dreary, grey day. Oh the luxury of getting to stay home on mornings like this. By 8:15 it was just Jesse, Betsy, and me in my jammies, finishing our breakfast in the kitchen. Jesse snacked on a little bag of cookies like the ones the kids packed in their lunches. He kept setting two cookies aside and promising to save them for later, but next thing we knew, those two cookies would be eaten and he'd have to get two more from his bag.

As I did some morning Internet surfing, Jesse came and climbed up onto my lap. In no time, Betsy was at my knee wanting to claim her spot. So we hauled her up, Jesse on my lap, Betsy on his. Jesse faked sneezed for Betsy's entertainment, and she tried to follow suit. I wrapped my arms around my two youngest.

It was one of those magical moments of domestic perfection.

Then Jesse realized that he had accidentally eaten the Very Last Cookie.

His dismay escalated into yelling. And threats. My efforts to distract or appease him failed. "YOU HAVE TO GIVE ME ANOTHER COOKIE!" Within moments, I was dragging him kicking and screaming up the stairs. "You don't want to do this," I told him. "You and I love each other." Just then, he landed a karate kick--his form well-honed after all that superhero practice--on my stomach. Now Jesse is locked in his bedroom, occasionally shouting, "ANGRY!" down the furnace vents for my benefit.

It was just like this Huff Post article. The majestic Mount Everest vista out of view for the moment. Back to the one-foot-in-front-of-the-other slog.

(And no, Jesse's behavior is not morally or developmentally acceptable. Our boy is struggling mightily. His behavior in many ways getting worse not better. I'm still holding out hope that he's in one of those awkward phases that precedes a big leap in maturity. While brainstorming Plan B should that big leap not arrive.)

Betsy, 9 and 10 months

This month Betsy has blossomed. She used to be the silent baby whose chuckles were hard-won by dedicated siblings who tickled and danced mightily to pry them from her. Now she babbles and smiles and laughs all the time. She's a busy bee, always grabbing, holding, dropping , moving, crawling, standing. She has a little sense of humor and loves to tease and play. When Logan growls, "I'm gonna get you!" she squirms away in fear and joy.

(In fact, once he said, "I'm gonna get you" and she promptly threw herself over the edge of the couch.)

Just in time for her grandparents' arrival last weekend, she put her to-do list on hyperdrive and started learning a new trick each day. 

She often sits with her knees tucked around her like this. Look at those toes!

Day 1: Crawl down stairs. Those of you with babies know that this is always a tricky one. To crawl down stairs, you have to turn your little self around and put your feet down first. 

Day 2: Walking holding hands. One day her little feet just didn't have that stepping-out action. The next day she was chortling with pride as she pitter-patted herself across the room.

Those plumpy legs and ankles!

Day 3: Speech! She dropped something and said, "Uh-oh." Now she worries "Uh-oooh. Uh-oooh" all day long. Of course she loves to play the gravity game, where she drops something over and over. Fortunately for us, she's willing to do her own pick-up.

She's been working on standing unsupported and standing from the ground (as opposed to pulling herself up on something). I'm sure once she does these, she'll be walking in no time. Betsy is much more a toddler than an infant these days, and so she and I had a little heart to heart. I told her that she could grow up if she would promise that we would be friends forever. She agreed.

Double Header

Saturday was an amazing day for our family. In the morning, Little Miss Haley was baptized.

More pictures to come--Jessica used her camera (and skillz!) for us at key moments and I'm awaiting the files from her--but here's Haley with two of the four grandparents who came to celebrate. Mom made this fantastically gorgeous dress.

Haley was luminous, as you can see. I've written--perhaps too much?--about my struggles as Haley's mother, but the flip side is that my joy over her accomplishments is even more poignant. I'm so grateful that she is living this life in this family, no matter our flaws. Watching her broken wings unfurl and fly makes me very happy indeed.

Later in the afternoon, Roscoe and several of his friends celebrated earning their Eagle Scout awards. Roscoe personifies Eagle Scout values in so many ways. He's handsome and talented, sure. But more important, he desires to do good, to be good, and to keep doing better.

We hired an Eagle show for the occasion.

The best part of the day was all the family members who attended. Here you see my mom, Joe and Jessica, Mark, Haley, Levi, and some of our ward family members. The Flemings, Ken and Vanessa, and the McGee grandparents were also there.

So many people help support and nurture our children. Thanks to you all.

New Year

Oh my goodness this house was well used over the Christmas break. Huge quantities of food and guests and children and Target bags surged in and out. But it felt like a real holiday, with plenty of rest and festiveness. Today I'm recuperating. Slipcovers have been bleached and washed. Cobwebs knocked down. A million things scattered here relocated to there.

Last night for Family Home Evening, we used this printable--found on Pinterest, of course--to reflect on our year. For me, the most difficult challenge, the greatest accomplishment, and the dearest joy were all one and the same--Betsy. She's been out as long as she was in and if I had to pay one long, horrible day of pregnancy for each day with Betsy in arms, I would.

This year each of the kids needs to grow out of a few things and into a few more. But by the end of 2012 we'll be thisclose to Roscoe graduating from high school and flying the coop. My fondest wish for the year is more of the same.