Micah Loves His Toes

My Friend

I just love this. Danilo told the girls they could not have a treat, despite about 100 requests that day. Olivia found Hannah eating something that looked very much like a treat. Hannah insisted up and down that she was not eating a treat (some trick of semantics, I'm sure). Olivia to Hannah: "That's a TREAT, my friend." So, McCain's "my friend" phrase is being put to good use in our house. To create some balance, Hannah could have responded "yes we can [eat treats all day long], my friend."

Have a great week!

(Once I can get a semi-decent night's sleep I will post something more substantial with pictures. Micah is now 5 months old and so unbelievably cute that I can hardly stand it. His smile is pure joy.)

Micah's New Year's Resolutions

1. Stop sleeping in my car seat at night.
2. Stop eating 4 times a night.
3. Stop making Mom wake up every 30 minutes all night long.

Tu Cumpleanos Es Mi Cumpleanos

You know the saying "mi casa es tu casa"? Well, when it comes to my 6-year-old, Hannah, it's tu cumpleanos es mi cumpleanos. Olivia just celebrated her 4th birthday, and it sure ended up feeling a good bit like Hannah's birthday. A year or so ago, I taught Hannah the art of negotiation. I was quite proud of myself when I saw the concept click and glee shine from her eyes with the realization that she can get what she wants with persuasion instead of force. Her first victory was to convince Olivia (on Olivia's 3rd birthday) that she should trade coloring books. In exchange for Olivia's brand new Disney Princess coloring book, Hannah would give Olivia a priceless coloring book in which Hannah had already colored every page. I was disturbed but impressed when Olivia ended up making the trade and feeling like she had just gotten the deal of the century. This year, Hannah convinced Olivia to allow her to blow out the candles and unwrap the presents. Danilo and I stepped in to prevent this usurpation. But after the birthday, I had to intercede countless times to re-establish that this new thing or that new thing belongs to Olivia and not Hannah. And it's not that Olivia is a complete pushover. She is generally a kind child, that is true, but she's also pretty stubborn. Hannah just has a way. She's pretty good with a highlighter too, so perhaps she should become a lawyer.

Here are a couple of recent pictures:

The lapse in my blog entries is a sure indicator that I'm back to work. I only have a quick minute, but wanted to share a website that I'm pretty excited about. If you (like me) do your shopping on line, you really should check out www.retailmenot.com. It has on-line coupon codes (giving you everything from free shipping, to discounts to free samples) for many websites. I have used the codes with success. Enjoy!

Micah smiles (a lot)

Just a quick post to share a few recent pictures of Micah. While I'm of course biased, I must say that he's a handsome young man. There's something about his smile that makes your heart happy. I couldn't resist taking a few shots of him that can be used for future teasing. The one with him in the tiara and a propped bottle is all Hannah and Olivia's doing. I was rushing around trying to get ready for church and found him like that (with Hannah and Olivia close at hand). Despite the Sunday-morning frenzy, I had to stop and have a good laugh.

Halloween in the Desert

In Arizona, October is like Spring. It brings everyone out of hibernation. For Halloween, all the neighbors decorate their homes and then have parties on their driveways and in the street. For us, Halloween means pulling the "pumpkin man" out of storage. The pumpkin man is tacky, but we love him. I remember driving up to our house as I returned from work at Halloween time a number of years ago and, upon seeing this large blowup creature, being horrified that we (all Danilo's doing) were displaying such a monstrosity. But he has grown on me over the years, and now Danilo and I both associate the start of the holidays with the installation of the pumpkin man. Who knew it would bring our children -- as well as countless children who (I'm not joking) come to see the pumpkin man and even have their pictures taken in front of it -- such joy?

This year, Hannah and Olivia were both ballerinas (I couldn't believe my good luck, when they agreed to wear ballet outfits that we already owned for costumes!), and Micah was a pumpkin.

Here's a picture of me with my little pumpkin:

At Hannah's school, they had a Fall Harvest Festival (no "Halloween" celebration), and all the kids brought jack-o-lanterns to display -- there were hundreds of them all glowing and lined up so that you could walk along a path and see them. Here is Hannah's "winking" pumpkin.