#stuffthebabiesdo

The sibling rivalry is starting to ramp up

Lily was sitting in the tupperware closet with the door open and Theo tries to join her. She gives him a massive shove and knocks him over. Does he cry? No. He gets up, looks at her for a second, then starts to close the door on her. She screeches, he stops and tries to join her again. She shoves him again with two hands, fully throwing him back against the opposite cabinet. So he immediately closes the door on her again.

Repeat 2x times. I was trying so hard not to laugh.

#stuffElliedoes

They asked to do math so after some workbook time I pulled out the buttons and told them to sort them however they wanted, but I wanted to hear what they were doing. After a few minutes Ellie walks over with a cup full of buttons of all different sizes, shapes and colors.

Ellie: "Look, I sorted!"

Me: "Hmm, how did you sort them dear? I see all shapes and sizes in there."

Ellie: "No, I'm doing that next. I sorted all the colors this time."

And sure enough - she'd pulled out every color and left the blacks and the whites neatly in two different piles.

#stuffElliesays

When told that her watch doesn't work anymore

Ellie: "Oh. That's a disappointment to me" (big sigh)

#stuffElliesays

How Ellie asks for whipped cream

Ellie: "Can I have whupped in my hot chocolate please?"

Week recap

It's been a full week, and I'm shocked the weekend is already here again. 

There were a lot of messes, and Lily was practicing her mopping by the end of the week.

I love our driveway. Big enough for all four kids to play on without crashing into each other.

Lily starts each day now by bringing me a jacket to wear (let's go places Mom!). This time, she brought me two jackets, both her sisters'.

Toddler time! Babies are definitely big enough for this now.

Annah came to visit, and the girls played a rousing round of hide-and-seek with her. Here's Ellie and Annah counting behind a pillow.

Lily trying to take her bottle while Theo trolls her from the side.

Playing peek-a-boo under a blanket!

Big-girl hairbrushing. It's only a matter of time before the hairstyles become elaborate....

Pillow fort! Mom didn't want to go anywhere in the morning (dance class in the afternoon) so we built a big fort for the big girls and a small fort for the babies. There was peace for Momma for a while due to that choice.

Ellie practicing her moves for next time Aunt Kiwi's in town.

Waiting for the girls to get out of dance class.

Daddy's a softie, couldn't make one of them wait.

I don't know what this picture is besides cute.

#stuffAvysays

The girls were discussing who was taller at breakfast, and it was degrading to "I'm taller!" "No, I'm the tallest!" so I pulled out a napkin, and drew a bell curve.

Me: "See girls, you're way over here on the curve. Most 3 1/2 year olds are over here on the curve, shorter than you. You are taller than most people!"

Avy: "That looks like an octopus. I'm taller than an octopus!"

Chores at home

We had a wind storm a few weeks ago that blew branches all over the backyard. I've been mentally reminding myself for days to pick them up in some moment of free time... then today I had an epiphany. Sure enough, the girls delighted in putting on their warm clothes and going outside to pick up branches. The babies were furious at me for leaving them inside... so they came out too!

Working together to get a really big branch over there.

Theo: I can't walk in this rough terrain!

Not shown here is the girls unloading the dishwasher again while I played with/distracted babies.

Ellie doing a gypsy impersonation

Yea, he just walks all the time now.

And this. This too. Like he wasn't tall already.

Ellie loves to take care of her younger siblings :)

Saturdays

are sleepy days. We tend to keep them light, going grocery shopping, doing chores around the house, etc. It wasn't raining this weekend, and not too cold, so we ventured out!

Lily girding her head (she loves anything on her head).

A morning activity for the girls while Momma and Daddy get their act into gear.

An intimate moment?

No! Attack!

Lunch on the go.

Hi bugs :)

#stuffElliesays

While playing with her toy phone:

Ellie: "I'm writing an email and it's called H-I-G and it's on schedule."

It's not me, I don't do anything on schedule any more.

#stuffElliesays

We've been reading a lot of The Magic School Bus.

Ellie: "I need my dournal so I can write down my ana-le-sees from our smearament."

(Translation: I need my journal so I can write down my analysis from our experiment.)

#stuffElliesays

After watching Daddy shave his face:

Ellie: "Momma, can I shave the top of my head?"

Burning off energy

The kids have been cooped up a lot recently between the rain and the cold, so the last couple days have been all about running the puppies.

First we took a walk in the rain to splash in puddles. The girls were very thorough.

Then we went to the Funtastic Playnasium, a giant indoor gym for all four kids.

Theo loved building with these foam blocks. Lily loved knocking them down ;)

Back at home we did a water play activity. This was surprisingly effective - the girls played with pitchers, bowls, and pipettes for over an hour and when they started getting tired, I added coloring. Renewed interest!

Unloading the dishwasher has become the privilege of the morning. Avy's unloading the dishes here, and Ellie joined her in short order for the tupperware and silverware.

I marched the four down to our local park one day and ran them around for close to 2 hours. The babies did not like these leashes, but they can both climb on the play equipment now.

"It makes noise Mom!"

Warming up and munching bell peppers.

The pretend play is starting to ramp up. Avy's showing off her abandoned fort here, that she's going to fix up for the local giant she was chasing through the woods earlier.

Back at home, some well-earned hot chocolate. Then I bundled them all up again and took them to dance class. All five of us slept really well that night!

#stuffAvyandElliesay

The girls have little pretend flip phones they like to play with.

Avy: "Set a one minute timer. SET A ONE MINUTE TIMER. Why isn't it responding?"

Ellie: "... it's not real, Avy!"

Avy may have picked up that particular line of "play" from Momma...

The reading of this will change in 10 years

The girls are fighting over who gets to unload the dishwasher.

#stuffAvysays

Avy (to Ellie): "I got you a cup of water and I took a sip to make sure it was still wet."

#stuffElliesays

Me: "Ok girls, you've eaten great today. You can have whatever you want for dinner as long as it's not just fruit."

Ellie: "Can I have bell pepper? We need to have a ve-ge-te-ble!"

#stuffAvysays

Avy: "Mom! I have to cut my hair right now! Otherwise it'll be long like yours!"

It's a rainy day pt 2

I posted too fast, got more from today!

Lily is preparing for the snow

Sassy!

Theo: I want to wear it too!

Theo: Am I wearing it?

A boy and his hideyhole.

He's practicing putting on hats ;)

Hi sweet boy :)