Blossoms

Several times over the last few years, I've had portraits taken of the younger girls, but Sarah has always been excluded - partly because she's always off somewhere, partly because I just didn't think (and justifiably so!) that she'd be interested in participating. 

April 2009

September 2010

 But each time she's seen the results, she has protested, "Why am I not in this picture?!?!"

This landmark photo may be the first time we've gotten a picture of all of our daughters, together, at the same time.  Happy Mother's Day to me!

May 12, 2013

Sarah, 22 holding Regina, 2.  Clare, 11; Theresa, 9; Noelle & Natalie, 6.

Not Today, Lawnmower!

Today while cutting grass, my husband ran over a small hole filled with dead grass, only to find that it was filled with more than grass - six baby bunnies!  They're only about 4-5 inches long and competely adorable.  They capture the heart of everyone who beholds them.

This Just In . . .

((What in the world am I going to do with a baby boy???))

Stuff.

As a homeschooling family, we are experiencing what I like to call the Fourth-Quarter Pinch.  (Fourth-Quarter Panic Attack is more like it.)  In Pennsylvania, homeschoolers have to keep a log of 180 days or @900 hours of documented schoolwork.  For the high school program we're using, we have to log 120 entries per subject to qualify for a credit.  

As February turns into March turns into April, I find myself in a minor tizzy.  Some of the kids are not as complete as we'd like them to be at this point.  All I've been doing is pushing the schoolwork, hard and heavy.  Everything that calls me out of the house is viewed as a major irritation and inconvenience; this morning's doctor's appointment, for instance. 

In lieu of actual blogging, here are some photos taken in the last quarter that I want to remember.

Regina, modeling the new Easter dress her Nina sent from El Paso.  She is currently very much into "pitty" dresses, and wants to change clothes several times a day.  She turned two in December.

She also learned how to jump yesterday.  For the first time, she figured out how to get both feet to leave the floor at once!  It was a pretty cool little moment.  Of course, then she demanded, "Watch me jump!" for the rest of the night.

We found neighbor Ruthie's Cutout Sugar Cookie recipe in an old fundraising cookbook.  We've been drooling over her cookies for so long and she would never hand over the recipe!  We were thrilled to be able to try our hand, but our results were NOT the same.  We need practice.  It was a lot of fun, anyway.  It's a huge treat to do anything with Sarah when she's home.

Yeah, that's Conor looking in my bedroom window.  My third-floor bedroom window.  I also caught the 5yo twins sneaking out the third-floor windows once last summer, although I was too horrified at the time to blog about it.

Natalie being goofy.

 Noelle being goofy.

What would we do without a toddler on our school table?  

Hmmm, maybe actually get some work done?

I don't remember what she was writing, but she was so intent on it that I had to take a picture.  This must have been before Christmas; after Christmas it was impossible to see the floor around the tree.

Aunties Clare and Theresa meeting their niece Scarlett for the first time.

Granddaughter Pics.

A few pics of our granddaughter, Scarlett, at 2 months old, pictured with mommy Britt and daddy Scott.