Girls, girls, girls!

I love my 4 little girls. I really do. They are loving and sweet and sometimes even helpful. They can play nicely with each other and the other children in the neighborhood. They occasionally let me do their hair and they love to dress in cute clothes. Keiffer could care less what he wears.

The other day the girls found a pair of Robson's shoes and tried them on. Pretty soon they were wearing not just my shoes and Robson's shoes, but our clothes as well. I was treated to a little impromptu fashion show. It didn't matter that the fashions were all strait out of my closet. They were having fun. Even Giulia wanted to join in. At least I think that is why she was trying to get into my closet.

I love it when they are creative and having fun. They all love to read and regularly give me kisses and hugs. I must say that Keiffer does that as well.

Sometimes, however, they drive me nuts and I wish I had all boys like Robson wanted. They are picky about clothes and food and I am dreading them being old enough to date. Oh, the drama that goes on at our house on a regular basis. Camilla was getting ready for school this morning. She was dressed but we still needed to find some shoes and eat lunch and fix her hair. She has a particular pair of shoes that she likes to wear alot. The velcro was worn out and the straps kept coming undone. Grandma had put some new velcro on them a few weeks ago (Thanks Grandma!) but the glue was not holding. I suggested several alternate pairs but nothing else would do. Other shoes didn't match or were uncomfortable to walk home in or just weren't up to snuff for some reason. I decided to take a shower at this point and let her figure out what to wear. By the time I got out of the shower, Camilla was in tears sitting on the floor next to her closet. I finally offered to sew the velcro on the shoes while she ate her lunch.

This is the kind of drama that you get with girls and it is only going to get worse.

Happy 6th Birthday, Camilla!

Another birthday has come and gone. Camilla just turned 6. Because her birthday is on a holiday weekend, we usually don't get a huge attendance at her parties. A lot of people going out of town or at family picnics, that sort of thing. So this year I let Camilla invite whoever she wanted, no limit on the number of friends. She invited 6 little girls from her kindergarten class, 2 friends from church and 2 friends of the family. Of course, almost all of them showed up. So we had eight 5 and 6 year olds running around the basement and making tons of noise. But it was lots of fun and turned out just fine. I even made her a cake. A double layer chocolate cake with teal cream cheese frosting and chocolate sprinkles. Everyone thought it turned out great. The decorating needed some work but I did the best I could without any decorating tips. Where is Suzy when I need her?! Oh yeah, she is in Czech with that tall guy who stole her from us.

Camilla looking like a mini-Suzy.

Am I having a senior moment?

For the last month or so I have been having acne break outs around my chin and nose. It usually doesn't get too bad and only lasts a few days. But the pimples just kept coming. I finally had to get some new face wash. It finally seems to be clearing up. I thought that maybe I was regressing to my teen years. Then this last week some other things happened and I know I am not a teenager anymore.

We decided to movc the computer downstairs so the kids wouldn't always be in our bedroom. Robson has a friend from work that does some computer stuff on the side and he came over Saturday morning to help us do the rewiring. He parked his truck in the driveway behind Robson's car. I had to leave and get my hair done. I didn't want to take the gas guzzling van for just myself. Robson's friend was parked kinda far back in the driveway. I thought I could crank the steering wheel and get around his truck with Robson's smaller car. I found out that I couldn't. I ended up running over the sensor for the garage door.

So now we are opening and closing the garage door by hand until we can scrape together the money to get it fixed. I was leaving the other day and had opened the door. Then I got the girls in the car and started to back out. Camilla shouted and said the garage door was too low. I tried to stop but my reflexes aren't what they used to be. I ran into the garage door. I wasn't very low but just enough to hit with the top of the car. The door survived but one of the rollers came out of the track.

I am glad to know that I am not the only one breaking things around here. We have a little carousel that we keep the numerous remote controls in. One of the kids (no one confessed) broke it into a million pieces. Well, maybe ten. I still haven't gotten around to gluing it back together.

But on the bright side, my hair looks great! Thanks, MarJean!

Happy Birthday Anna and Giulia!

Happy 4th Birthday Anna!

Giulia trying to get off Grandma's lap

Where did that balloon go?

My favorite color!

Parabens!

Mmmmm, ice cream cake.

Everybody dove in!

Papai and Giulia

We had two birthdays a week apart. I can't wait till they are 7 and 10 and have to have their own parties with 10 of their closest friends. We are just starting the birthday season in our house. All the kids are born between April and September with 3 of 5 birthdays between April 24th and May 26th. I hope I can make it.

Robson asked me to get the cake and some balloons for Giulia's birthday. I guess that is fair since he did Anna's. The problem was that Giulia fell asleep right before dropped Camilla off at kindergarten. I took her and Anna to the Dairy Queen anyways and of course Giulia woke up when I took her out of the car. Then we went to the party store and got the balloons. I went home and put the cake in the freezer. I figured since Giulia was awake anyways, I would run to the mall and do something I have been meaning to do for about 9 months. We got her ears pierced! She looks so cute and even more little girl like.

Well, now we have to plan a party for Camilla. Maybe to the pool if it is warm enough? It has been so cold that I don't know if it will warm up by Memorial Day.

New vs. Old

Why do kids have to wear their brand new clothes out to play in the dirt? Is it a biological compulsion or are they all just plain crazy? Will they eventually grow out of it? At least by the time they are 16? Please, someone tell me yes.

For example, Anna got some new clothes for her birthday from Grandma Kathy. She begged me to let her wear them yesterday. She said "I promise I will stay in the house." Yeah, right. But I gave in like a sucker 'cause she is just so darn cute. An hour later, one of her friends came over and she was headed outside. I headed her off at the pass and made her change into some old clothes after some crying and whining. Along the lines of "I promise I won't get dirty." She actually didn't get too dirty but I know that the second she steps out of the house in new clothes, she would be covered head to toe in dirt.

All the kids do this to me. Beg and whine and cry until I give in and then come home muddy/dirty/wet or spill something down their front at lunch.

Of course, the opposite is also true. They put on their oldest, rattiest clothes when going out somewhere nice or to school. Keiffer puts on old t-shirts that are stained, have holes in them and are just plain too small to go to school. Then he wears his nice polo shirts out to play. Last week, I noticed his shirt had a big hole in the back. The next day, he wore another shirt with a hole in it. Of course, I noticed the holes when he came home from school.

Please, please tell me they grow out of it eventually!

Anna-isms

In honor of her birthday.

While trying to buckle a seatbelt
“I can’t concentrate when you are talking.”

“That is hilarious”

When she does something wrong
“I’m grounded.” and then she sends herself to her room and crawls into her bed.

“Meanie meanie pants ‘n feanie”

"Crowns" instead of crayons.

Hoje Anna completa 4 anos e para a nossa surpresa, a aniversariante quis como presente sair de compras. Depois de 3 horas e $115.00 voltamos com as roupas e sapatos ela escolheu por si mesma. Aqui algumas fotos novas.