Do not disturb

Sam and Elena each got new notepads today, and were eager to put them to use. One of the first things Sam did was to - in typical boy fashion - make this sign for his door.

In response, Elena made her own sign. Fitting to the "girl stereotype," hers included a more detailed explanation as well as an exception clause in case she should change her mind. (I'll write out what it says underneath in case you can't read it)

"NO BOYS
 P.S. If you do you will be sorry!
 P.S.S. You can come in only if I say so."

Father-Daughter Dance night

 Seth and Elena got to go to their first ever father-daughter dance. Fortunately the trend towards making these illegal has not reached our part of the world yet, and Elena was able to celebrate her good fortune of having a wonderful Daddy who loves her with a night of dancing. (Don't ask for details on the dance bans. I didn't have time to find out the details. I just know it's been happening around the country - something to do with gender stereotyping that apparently will horrifically scar children for life and not wanting anyone to feel left out.)

Anyway, they came home on cloud nine tonight. I think this will definitely be a night that goes down in Elena's bank of "super good memories" from her childhood. She was just beaming afterwards and said she never wanted the night to end. I'm pretty sure she still had a smile on her face after she had fallen asleep. She also liked that she didn't have to "share" Seth with any sisters! (There were a few dads there with 2 or 3 girls.) They danced the night away - even getting in some swing dancing. At the end of the night, she was basically Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady. Here's a clip for those of you who haven't seen it:

Charlie practiced dancing with her a bit before they left. He pulled out several spins and moves that he has seen us do, and then he turned to me and said, "Mom, how do I flip the girl?" I told him he probably needs to find a girl who is not twice as tall as he is before he tries that, but I'm glad to see he's eager to learn!

Charlie had to get in on a picture, too

 Frankie was having fun dancing with her, too - so much so that he wouldn't let go of her when it was time to leave.

Here he is refusing to let go.

Bad parenting tips (or genius, depending on your perspective)

Charlie had a dentist appointment this week in a town that is 1 1/2 hours away. Frankie did great on the trip there, but on the way back he started crying less than 5 minutes into our return trip. And he wasn't due for a nap for at least another hour so, out of desperation, I handed him a sucker that I found in my purse to keep him happy.

It worked quite well for about an hour. The only drawback was that every time I checked on him in the rearview mirror, he was getting yet another part of his body sticky with the sucker. By the end of the trip, his the tops and bottoms of his feet (bare because he pulled off his shoes and socks) were completely covered in sucker-sugar, as well as the entire front side of his pants, his whole face, hands and most of his hair.

I knew it was bad when I noticed him falling asleep (an hour later, right on schedule), but he looked a little funny. I couldn't quite tell if he was asleep or not. He was still and breathing like he was sleeping, and one eye was shut. But that other eye was throwing me off. It was staying half-way open even though his other eye was closed.

After a minute, I pulled over to help the poor guy. His eyelid was so sticky that his eye was stuck in the open position, and I had to pull his eyelid down for him.

Oh, those poor 4th kids. I hate to see what sorts of situations we'll find any future kids in.

Happy 4th Birthday, Charlie!

Charlie turned 4 today! He was very, very specific about what kind of cake he wanted, and once he had decided, there was no changing his mind. He asked for a green mint cake. I suggested green mint frosting on a chocolate cake, but that wasn't good enough. It had to be green mint cake with green frosting and mint-chocolate chip ice cream. Poor Grandpa Myhre, who doesn't like anything mint.

The "icing on the cake" though, was that when we started to dish up the cake, Charlie just wanted ice cream with no cake. Oh well. Most of us really enjoyed the cake.

And here was our conversation this morning.

Me: Charlie, are you excited to be 4?
Charlie: Yeah! Because now I will be nice.
Me: You were waiting until you turned 4?
Charlie: Yeah, so now I won't get punished!

I hope he follows through with that! So far four has signaled major improvement in behavior and temperament for our older two kids so my hopes are high. I'm sure Coco's are, too, as she seems to carry the brunt of Charlie's misbehavior.

Night Owls

None of us in our family are morning people, which suits most of our schedules just fine. Sam and Elena are the only ones who regularly have to get up before the sun, but just barely.

It became apparent just how infrequently Charlie wakes up before dawn when we had to wake him at 6:45 today to get ready for church. We were staying in another town and had to get to the 8:00 am Mass early so Seth could set up some of his Knights of Columbus information before it started.  

It was still dark when we woke him up, and as he was eating breakfast Charlie asked, "Why are we getting up in the night?"  Although I explained that it was just a bit earlier than we usually get up, he clearly wasn't convinced.  The sun was coming up by the time we went into the church, but it was still a bit dark outside and he must not have noticed. 

I had forgotten all about his earlier comment until we were leaving the church. Charlie stepped outside, looked around, and exclaimed, "Hey!! It's morning!" Apparently he was so convinced that we were going to Mass in the middle of the night that he was surprised to realize it was daytime when we left - kind of like when you got to a matinee at the movie theater and remember it's still mid-day when you walk out.

Christmas 2016

A visit from our TX friends: Charlie was so happy to be able to see Thomas again! The other kids were all so busy cramming as much fun into our short time together that I never did get any more pictures.

                              

Reading their new book with Papi

This was the best family xmas picture we could get without a photographer

Enjoying our Christmas eve meal: leg of lamb. True to their nature, it looks like they're mostly enjoying the side dishes.

Charcuterie trays put together by Seth - he even made the trays out of the walnut leftover from our kitchen.

Our new kitchen with handmade decorations

The main problem with a gingerbread house: figuring out how to eat it.

Santa brought a karaoke machine....

because anyone who's ever been to our home or met our children knows that what our house really needs is something that will amplify all the noise.