When the big kids go to school...

When the big kids go to school, Marie takes over! We are usually rushed in the morning, so I'll leave the girls' bowls of unfinished dry cereal on the table until we get back from dropping them off. Then, when we get home, Marie can finish her breakfast. And this, happens more than Grace and Greta, who sit on either side of Marie, would like to know! At least the cereal isn't going to waste! Xander's bowl usually has milk in it, so his gets put up right away before Marie can make a mess with it. How can she stay so little eating 3 breakfasts so often?

First Day of School

The kids had a great day at school yesterday and were excited to go back today! We met Grace and Greta's teacher at Open House last week and they also got to see her and their classroom again the Saturday before school started. They say kindergarten is fun and their teacher is nice. We walked them in yesterday and they didn't talk much but found their seats, sat down and started coloring, and neither one of them cried at all. Today, they said they weren't going to walk to their room by themselves so I asked Xander to walk with them. Hopefully that went ok. He was so proud to help and looked so cute walking them in. He was even carrying their bags for them- he had his backpack on his back and Grace and Greta's in each hand.

Xander's in 2nd grade and his first day was uneventful. We were disappointed that none of his good friends are in his class but I'm sure he'll make new friends soon. Although he has talked all summer about how he wants his friends in his class, he took the news very well and doesn't seem upset. He already has homework and has started right in on it. All of the kids were tired when they got home and were ready for bed by 7! We're going to have to get back into the school routine of early to rise and early to bed!

Here they are last year: Grace and Greta and Xander

And here's the ones from yesterday:

Xander- to cool to stand with the backpack.



Grace and Greta- Yay- We're going to Kindergarten!



Yay- We have our backpacks on like big kids! Because we are big kids, of course.



Whoa. Are we taking bricks to school in the backpacks?
And actually, they did have enough supplies for about 10 kids in their backpacks.

Chocolate Chip Cookie: Fail.

The kids started back to school today. Xander will be going into 2nd grade and Grace and Greta started kindergarten! Which is definitely a big deal and I'll blog about that later. After I dropped them off and Marie and I had colored, played games, read stories, and had snacks, I started feeling a little sentimental about all this free time I had today. (Only 1 kid=free time.) I had the brilliant idea to make cookies for the big kids with Marie. Wouldn't that make them feel all loved and special when they came home from the first day of school? I would be just like June Cleaver!

But I had to hurry because I needed to get the cookies finished before Marie's nap which needed to happen pretty soon. We made those cookies super fast! Marie was so excited! We watched the cookies as they cooked and I could tell right away something was wrong. They were really flat. The chocolate chips were like mountains compared to the cookies in the pan. And the cookies were spreading way too much and running into each other. I knew it was bad. I had noticed the cookie dough didn't seem as thick as usual but has attributed it to me melting the butter instead of using naturally softened butter. But these cookies were way too bad for that. I went back over everything in my head and finally figured it out.



This is what happens when you leave a cup of flour out of chocolate chip cookies. It is the remains of about 3 dozen cookies scraped off of 3 pans. It has been a long time since I have had a classic Melanie recipe fail. I had been in such a hurry that I had made bigger than usual cookies and crammed as many as I could onto three pans into the oven at once. These are all the cookies scraped off onto one pan after they cooled. They actually tasted sort of yummy if you get past the looks. Less flour + more butter and sugar= more yummy. In a greasy sort of way. But I managed to salvage a little of the dough I hadn't used by mixing some guestimated flour in and making it in half a brownie pan. I didn't have enough left for a whole pan and the cookie pans were all used up and way too covered in baked on mess to use. They turned out ok and tasted good but weren't quite as impressive as mounds of freshly baked cookies waiting for the kids when they got home. I guess I am no June Cleaver or Betty Crocker. Maybe more of a Lucy or a Jill Taylor. The kids were very nice and told me they appreciated the effort.

These are the good ones:

Piggies!

Marie's hair is finally getting long enough to put up in little pig tails. They stick straight up unless her hair gets wet, and then they'll curl down like little fountains! I think they are so cute! At first when I put her hair up, she would cry and say it hurt or she didn't like it and she'd rip them out as soon as she could. Now, with peer pressure from Grace and Greta and everyone else telling her it is cute, she likes them and if she sees the rubber bands she'll ask me to put her pretty bow in! She's pretty good about leaving them alone now. I'm looking forward to her getting even more hair to play with! See that mischievous look on her face in the first one? That is Marie.

Scooters!

Some people (Mom) have complained that I haven't been blogging or posting enough pictures. They (Mom) have said June has been a slow month. Upon reviewing my posts...a big 2 for the month, I guess I have to agree. It actually has been a very busy month with lots of good pictures! Early in the month, or maybe in May, Nonnas and Poppas got the girls Scooters for their birthday. (Did you send the check??) The girls love their scooters! They got bikes for their birthday too but they require more work and the scooters are easier for them to just get on and go. Marie doesn't like being left out, so she tried out the girls' old big wheel.

No accounting for taste!

There's just no accounting for some kids' tastes. This is what Marie said she wanted for lunch today. The other kids would try this if given the chance and they were bored, but they never asked for it for lunch! I thought it was so funny, I grabbed the camera and asked her what she wanted again and sure enough, she said the same thing again for the camera!



Just so you know- she doesn't really make a habit of eating that. Really. She's been mostly over that phase for a while. And she had a grilled cheese sandwich, grapes, apples, and a cookie for lunch.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Marie was grooving out singing Twinkle Little Stat, channeling Stevie Wonder, while she was coloring the other day. I think this is the 2023 American Idol right here.

Marie's Problem

Marie has a problem. She just loves to color too much. She can't help it. Maybe she's a coloring addict? I think she knows she shouldn't color anywhere except paper but once she feels the crayon/pencil/marker in her hands she just goes crazy! She will color on paper if you give it to her, but maybe there's no paper around. Or maybe the paper is all colored out. Or maybe she needs a bigger canvas for her artistic expression.

This is one of her masterpieces this weekend. She found the markers in a drawer in Greta's jewelry box which she reached by climbing up onto the table. What you can't see is how she also colored all over the jewelry box and all over some papers of the girls that were sitting there. Luckily everything was cleaned up with a little hairspray. Even the girls' papers had been laminated and were safe. See all the circles? She is in her circle period right now. Maybe we should just be proud of her amazing circle coloring abilities and quit trying to block her artistic expression.

Bed Head

This is how Marie's hair looked when she woke up from her nap today. Her hair gets so curly when it is wet and messy!


I keep wondering if her hair will stay like this and only curl when it is wet or if it will get the Setters' kink when she gets older!

Marie's Tubes

Marie's ear tube surgery went very well. We were in the hospital for about 3hrs for her 10min procedure and she was an angel. She was happy to color, read, or watch some videos in the waiting room. Once we were in the back area she amused herself by putting her red hat on with her gown and her own shoes on her baby doll and she played with her hat and baby. She was sweet and patient with all the doctors and nurses and didn't cry at all. I got to take her back to the OR and stayed with her until she was asleep and she didn't even fuss about the mask on her face. She fell asleep holding her baby and with her hat on her head. I wish I had brought my camera because she was so cute. I only remembered to take a couple pictures with my cell phone camera and I can't take the pictures off of there.

I could hear her screaming in the hall as they brought her to me after she woke up but she settled down pretty easily after that. The only thing she wanted was to get that hospital bracelet off her ankle and as soon as I took that off she settled down and started to drink her water. She wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before the surgery and wasn't allowed to leave until she started drinking. She was still groggy for about an hour but soon perked up and was a mostly happy girl the rest of the day.

Her ears are pretty icky right now and the Dr said she was surprised by how much infection was in there. We are curious to see if we will notice any kind of personality or behavior change now that her ears must be feeling better than they have for almost 6months!

Here are some pictures of her this morning about an hour after we got home! As you can tell, she was already back to her normal sassy self. Notice the blood on her shoulder. She had a lot more bleeding than we expected. I was only expecting a possibility of some bleeding- meaning that maybe there would even be none or just a tiny bit. Her ears bled and oozed all day and were still icky at bedtime!

Strawberry Patch

The girls had a field trip to a local strawberry patch today. There wasn't much to it except getting a bucket and picking the berries! Grace and Greta started out enthusiastically enough but Greta soon learned some berries had mushy spots you don't find until your fingers sink into them and that there are bugs in those plants! She was happier to carry the bucket for us than to pick the berries herself after that. Grace wasn't excited about the mushy berries and bugs either but that didn't stop her from picking the berries. She is a cautious berry picker, however, and liked me to pick out the berries for her to pick off of the plants.




After the berry picking, the girls had some fun with their friends and then we took a class picture.






Marie was not feeling perky. One of the girls' teachers held Marie for me while we picked berries and she never even tried to get down! She did get down and take a look in the bucket just before we left but she didn't get a chance to pick any berries or run around.

Marie's Ears

Marie has been having some problems with her ears and will be having tubes put in this Friday. It should be a short and simple procedure but she will need to be put under so we'd appreciate your prayers for her. Most everyone I've talked to has said that Marie and I will feel so much better after she gets the tubes but I am a little ambivalent. Despite having had an ear infection almost constantly except for about 1 week since at least the first of February, she has had almost no complaints about them. She has not been having fevers, pain as far as we can tell, hearing loss, speech delays, or balance issues. In fact, the only reason we knew she had an ear infection in the first place was because the Dr discovered it during a well check. And based on how Marie's been acting since Feb., it is unlikely I ever would have brought her in to check for an ear infection if it weren't for the well checks. Of course, there's the chance that she really hasn't been feeling her best this whole time and will come out of the surgery feeling even better. Which is sort of scary because I can't imagine her being more talkative, active, and into stuff than she already is! I'm interested to see how or if her behavior changes at all after the surgery. She has her pre-op appointment on Weds and then her surgery sometime early morning on Friday.

Happy Birthday Jon

Happy Birthday Jon! The kids have prepared some messages for you!










And Xander created a special song, "I Want to go to Pluto!" dedicated to his dad.

I'm so hungry I could eat a?

Crayon? So hungry I could eat a crayon? Is that how you would finish the sentence? I guess it is a perfectly natural way to finish it when you are under 2. The other day Marie told me she was hungry and I told her I'd fix her lunch in a minute. She ran off to play with Grace. While I'm fixing the lunches, Grace starts screaming, "Mommy, Mommy, Marie, NOOOO!!" I hurried over to see what the problem was and Grace cried, "Marie's eating all the crayons!!" Marie's mouth was closed, but there were suspicious marks around her face and on her shirt. There were clumps of soggy crayon on the table and floor around her. I asked her what was in her mouth and when she opened it, more soggy crayon pieces fell out. Lesson learned. When this kid says she's hungry? She means it. She really means it.

Cupcakes. Mmmmmm!!!

Doesn't that look good?? Don't you want some yummy goodness? I made the best cupcakes for Grace and Greta to take to school for their birthday. Unfortunately, Greta came down with pink eye the next day and didn't get to share them with her friends but I'll make some for her to take next week. I'll need to find something that won't disappoint after sharing these with the class.

I made the cupcakes all by myself from scratch. The cake was chocolate and while it was good, chocolatey, and moist, it was just chocolate cake. The frosting, was the special yummy part. It was white chocolate raspberry cream cheese frosting and I could eat it by the spoonful. Grace's teacher said it was the best cupcake she had ever tasted! I took that as high praise since as a preschool teacher she probably samples a lot of cupcakes every year! And Grace said all the kids ate theirs and liked them too. So there Mom!!

You all should try them and let me know if they turn out as well as mine did. I found the recipe on the blog, My Baking Addiction and I have become addicted to her recipe reviews and pictures.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes:
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup oil
2 cups hot water
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together and bake at 350 for about 20min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. It made 27 cupcakes for me.

Some notes: I mixed the dry and wet ingredients separately before combining them. It was kind of difficult to mix it because the water made a soupy mess. I'd pour the water straight onto the flour next time. Also, the batter is very thin but don't worry. It will be ok. And notice how everything is either in either 1-2 cups or teaspoons? I thought that was very nice and made it easy to remember. Also, do you see how black the cupcake is? It comes out very black and not typical chocolate brown but it still tastes great!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick unsalted butter (soft)
1 8oz pkg cream cheese (soft)
6oz melted white chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla
2tsp raspberry extract
4 1/2-5 cups powdered sugar

-Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler or something similar. Don't boil the water, just make it hot enough to melt. Stir constantly or it will stick. Once it is melted, set aside.

- Mix cream cheese until it is smooth and then gradually add in white chocolate and mix until it is smooth and well blended.

- Beat in butter, vanilla, and raspberry extracts

- Beat in powdered sugar until it is smooth and it is the consistency you want. I used just under 5 cups.

- Add in any dyes you want and mix until you get the color you want. Grace and Greta wanted it really pink!

Notes- I added in more vanilla after mixing it up. I like vanilla and it seemed to need a little extra for my taste. My estimate is that I used about 3/4-1tsp pure vanilla (not vanillin) extract in mine instead of the 1/2tsp the recipe called for. I made the frosting ahead of time and stored it in the fridge. It was much too hard when I took it out and was still hard after sitting on the counter for an hour. I put it in ziplock bags and kneaded it until it was spreadable because I was in a hurry. I then cut the corner of the bags and squeezed it onto the cupcakes instead of spreading. I'm not very good at that! The frosting is very good but very sweet! If I did it again, I would put less frosting on each cupcake.

For Greta's cupcake day, I'm thinking of finding an angel food cupcake recipe and making this same frosting with strawberry extract instead of raspberry.

Xander's Bell

Xander's class has been working with clay in art. He was very proud to show me what he had finally finished yesterday: A bell. 

The best day.....Again and Again!

Xander's original song. I think he's trying to compete with those High School Musical and Camp Rock boys. Watch out ladies, in a few years, he's going to be in high demand. All autograph requests will be answered in the order we receive them!

Snow!

I was looking through the March pictures to find some good "playing outside" ones when I noticed these- from this month!!





We were completely shocked to see so much snow in March. In Atlanta! It wasn't the wimpy sprinkling flurries we usually see if it snows here, but was coming down like a good Pennsylvanian blizzard! The kids were thrilled to have a snow day the next day were excited to play in the snow. Grace and Greta were in it for the novelty and weren't too interested in staying out long. They helped with the big snowman and then were done. Xander wanted to make his own little snowman by himself. And Marie, preferred to watch from somewhere dry. She was not happy to have any snow actually fall onto her.

The snow didn't last long, thankfully, and they have been just as excited, and Marie has definitely been much more excited, to play in the sun!
We have had some beautiful weather this month and have spent a lot of time playing outside.

Thanks Penny!

Our good friend Penny sent Marie this super cute outfit for her birthday. Although we put it on her a few times last fall, it was too big to take her out and about in it. I'm so happy that it fits great now and she'll be able to wear it this spring! Thanks for the outfit Penny! Sorry it has taken so long to send you a picture of her in it. She got a lot of compliments on it today.

Too cool for Preschool!

Marie is cool. She'll tell you herself!


And she likes to boogie down! Here she is dancing along to Justin Roberts on youtube. It looks like she's getting tired towards the end but she pushes on and makes it through.



This is the video she is watching and rocking out to. Puppy lovers everywhere will enjoy!

18 Months!

Marie had her 18month check up last week and is doing great! She was 16lbs 10oz and 29in so she is an all around shrimp but she's a healthy shrimp. We think she is just the most fun little person around. She is smart- she has a lot to say, and I think she is really intelligible for her age, she is really good about following directions and I know she understands what is going on, and she is the best puzzle worker we've ever had. She is sweet and gives hugs and kisses freely, if one of the older kids is crying, she'll go up and pat them to try and make them feel better, she takes excellent care of her babies, and she will usually share with us when asked. She's not so good at sharing with outsiders, but she is getting better. And she is spunky! She delights in getting into just a little trouble, and will usually wait until she catches someone's eye before doing what she isn't supposed to be doing. With other kids, she seems to want to be a leader. Or is it a bully? She just knows what she wants and isn't afraid to go for it. If a strange toddler takes her toy- she will go get it back! If someone pushes her, she'll push back and then come point them out to me and tell me about it. I guess we should work on getting her to tell me before she pushes back! She is fearless on the playground and persistent about doing what she wants. If she falls, she gets up and tries again. If she can't do it at first, she tries until she makes it work. At her first class at the baby gym, the other sweet girls were sitting nicely for circle time, and my Marie was running with the boys and telling them what to do. She also has some pretty good talent on the balance beam! Her personality is so different from the other 3 kids and it is definitely a change, but we all love her so much and are having so much fun with her.

Some pictures from this month:

Marie singing along with Laurie Berkner- "Marie has a duck on her head, Marie has a duck on her head, Marie has a duck on her he-ee--aaaddd!!! And she keeps it there all day!"
At the zoo on Valentine's Day. She loved the zoo! She liked crawling around on the statues but I think the pandas were her favorite.


And Marie just being cute!

Xander's first teeth!

Xander's first teeth are- gone! He finally lost his first baby teeth. I'm a little sad because I remember when they first came in. They were actually pulled by the dentist on Friday because his adult teeth were growing in behind his baby teeth and weren't loosening them at all. We had no idea! I was very surprised to see that one of them was almost completely in and Xander had never mentioned a new tooth growing in his mouth behind his other tooth. And it is growing far back in his mouth. And there's really no room for it up front even if his tongue manages to push it up by itself. I foresee some orthodontist's child going to college because of Xander's teeth.

Xander was very good for the dentist and very proud of his first lost teeth. He didn't complain much about the procedure or about being sore afterwards so I think it all went well. Here's the last picture of Xander with perfect front bottom teeth- ignore the crazy eyes! And the after shot.