Happy Birthday, Marie Claire

Marie is two!

So much has changed in the last year. She has gone from a quiet bald baby teetering around the house to a rambunctious talkative toddler who wants to do everything 'the boys' do even if that is chucking herself off the end of beds in an attempt to fly onto one of the pillows.

Here's a quick look back over the past twelve months of baby joy.

Since Marie is still gluten free, we had a gf cookie pizza for her birthday. Even though she didn't know that this was what she wanted, she enjoyed it tremendously. How can one not like sugar cookie spread with cream cheese frosting, topped with cut fruit, and drizzled with melted chocolate. Ooo, that was sweet! As you can see, by the end of a full day of playing and swimming and eating forkfuls of sugar, she had had enough and threw herself on the floor for a good cry. Two is rough.

Marie Claire Right Now

1. Her skin is amazing. I finally, finally took her in to see an allergist who said she has no allergies and prescribed super strength steroid cream. While I did not want to cover her prescription medications, she is so much happier now that she is not bleeding from all the scratching. We also made the decision to keep her gf because we witness a tremendous difference in behavior when she is exposed. Two days of crying tantrums and tummy aches are not worth a bowl of pasta. I don't care what the prick test says.

2. She can climb out of the crib. Yes, that now means midnight visits from stealthy little feet. I have trouble getting mad though, because she is so darn cute.

3. She talks continuously- complete thoughts in a soft squeaky voice toddler voice. Oh, how I love toddler voices.

4. She loves to see pictures of herself especially in hats.

5. She has boundless energy. This translates into lots of bouncing, jumping, and running. 

6. She loves to color, thank goodness. I don't don't know how we would homeschool without a pack of little squeeker markers and a stack of scratch paper.

7. She has decided that almost all fruits and vegetables are yucky. Sigh. 

8. She loves the boys and runs with joy when Daddy comes home. 

I absolutely love toddlers. I love the high highs and the crazy lows. I love the sense of wonder and joy that permeates their very existence. I love the abandon with which they give hugs and kisses. 

I do love love you!

Happy Birthday, Marie Claire

Summer Fun

We have already started school and are in full fall mode. I really want to share our school pictures, so the summertime photo march continues! I will finish this, I will!

Independence Day 2013

We had our annual red, white, and blue photo under the oaks. This year the boys desperately needed haircuts. Quinton's bright idea was to leave them cut at the mohawk stage and spray on some patriotic color. Xavier was all in, but Dominic shied away from the sticky gel and color. That was definitely too much for his sensitive nature.

Besides the water slide, the other yearly highlight was the cake walk. Personally, I cringe at the whole event as the cakes are generally those super bright grocery store cupcakes. I could not fathom what was in the frosting that would make it that red! Still, the kids were free to choose as they wish and Xavier went straight for Martian Red. Yuck! That stuff even stained his skin for a few days. I think he would have glowed under a black light. The happiness factor was pretty high, so I guess it is worth it.

Summertime Bingo
One of our 'new to us' summer activities was bingo. This was a highlight as the kids cleaned out drawers and did some fun and some odd jobs around the house to earn their bingo. They could then choose a prize. I think nearly every drawer in the house was vacuumed and wiped out. How cool was that? One of their fun activities was face painting which had spectacular results. Marie Claire just could not get enough!

Summer Camp
Our year is divided into the time before camp and the time after camp. Before camp, the children talk continuously about last year's fun. After camp, they talk non-stop about this year's fun.

Olivia and Collette headed off to Big Bear with the Sacred Heart Sisters. These amazing sister just exude pure joy. As this was Collette's first year, she was excited but definitely a little nervous at the thought of being so far from home for a full week. Fortunately, she ended up bunking with a sweet friend from our homeschooling group. All was well, home sickness stayed at bay, and she looks forward to another fun filled week next summer.

Quinton returned again to St. Michael's Camp. Oh, how he loves the abbey! Frater Vianey led his council in what he considered the best camp yet. That is pretty high praise considering that the Father in charge named everything for the week after cheese. (He's from a Wisconsin dairy family so I guess that is far more exciting than, say, a week devoted to the Hobbit. :-) Again, this is a place of pure joy. Those boys play hard and pray hard, a perfect combination!

Stay-cation
Another new event for us was a stay-cation. As we live in southern California, the vacation destination of so many, thus we thought we should take advantage of some of the sights- the inexpensive ones. So, while we did not venture anywhere near an amusement park, we did have a an absolutely wonderful time riding the ferry to Balboa Island, eating on the pier while watching a shark hauled up, playing at the beach, riding the trolley, chatting with the sea lions, exploring a new children's museum, and sharing root beer floats in old town. Somehow, I think we did something else but, for the life of me, I can not think of it now. Oh well, it such a lovely break from our usual routine. I can't wait to do it again next year!

On to the summer birthdays!