Selah

Yay!  I have a few moments with internet access (which I don't have at home, except for my phone... and trying to type a blog on my phone, with my thumbs is, well, frustrating.)  I'm not lsure where to start, so I am going to start with baby Selah.  She's growing up...

 

 Selah and Mommy- I tend to get a new baby carrier with each baby as I search for the most comfortable one.  I believe I found it. My ERGO. Even at almost 2 years old, she's still easy to carry in it.

 Selah got chicken pox in late spring or early summer.  Both she and Nathan were exposed several times, and finally got it on the third exposure.  She cruised through it as most of my kids seemed to.  Only very slight crabbiness on a couple days.   

Selah is getting spunky.  She was so sweet and mild when she was a baby.  Rarely cried or fussed.  She'd just pop her thumb in her mouth and was content.  She's breaking out of her shell, and now that she's talking, she's giving her opinion more and more (and loudly).  On the opposite side of that, she has an incredibly cute laugh when she's tickled or playfully chased by one of her brothers.  I LOVE hearing it =)

 The differences in the girls have been interesting.  Ellie is more inclined to like stuffed (and real) animals.  Grace has a natural way with babies (and loved baby dolls).  Selah is definately taking after Grace in that area.  She loves her baby dolls...

 ...and, like Ellie, is very girly.  She loves to be prettied up by her sisters.

Selah also just recently graduated out of being a "baby", into family chores.  As with each kid, her first chore is sorting silverware. She sits on the counter and sorts the forks, knives and spoons from the dishwasher into their holders.  Not only is it teaching her that she is an important part of the family by taking part in the morning chores, but it is also helping her learn a preschool skill (sorting by shapes).



Gardening

It's that time again!!  Spring is such a busy time around here.  The weather warms up and it's all I can do to make the kids finish their school before heading out to play.

The girls and I planted about 30 tomato and 25 various pepper plants within the last few weeks.  To that we've added green beans, zucchini, acorn and butternut squash, cukes, pumpkins, watermelon (which I can never get to grow right), cantalope, tomatillos (a mexican tomato), cilantro, basil, a new strawberry patch, a couple new grapevines, a raspberry bush (more like a stick right now), and a blackberry "stick" bush.  Nice, huh?  Yes, we have been VERY busy.  I need to put on a current picture.  The garden looks beautiful.  All plants and no weeds (til the hot weather hits).  We lined it with haybales in hopes of eventually building up some really good, healthy soil.  I've heard that you can plant things in the hay bales and they'll receive adequate nutrition, so I'm trying it.  I have tomatoes, peppers and a couple tomatillo plants in them. I guess the only thing different is that the haybales tend to dry out faster than the ground, so I need to make sure to keep them watered regularly.  

My three girls helping plant the tomatoes.

Caleb, Seth and Noah each have their own garden this year.  They cleared the weeds from a patch of land and got to plant whatever they wanted in their patch.  Caleb is working on  a 200 pound pumpkin.  He feeds it milky water almost daily.  Noah has an assortment of plants.  A sunflower, a couple green beans, a pumpkin plant, a few cucumbers, and a marigold.  Seth has, well, nothing... except for the grapevine that I planted in his patch yesterday.  He worked hard to pull the weeds and overturn the dirts, so maybe he's just taking his time to plan??  One thing's for sure, if he doesn't get it planted, he'll be harvesting nothing but weeds pretty soon.

Tooth fairy

Right now around the Larson house, teeth are falling out like crazy and the tooth fairy’s about to go broke! Noah, Ellie, and Grace have all lost baby teeth in the past two weeks and I believe they each have at least one loose one hanging in their mouths.

Gracie just lost her first tooth today. She was so proud. She’s had two teeth loose for about a week and earlier today I heard a delightful squeal on the stairs, followed by a “MOM, I lost my tooth!!” As each of the kids do, they proudly displayed their tooth to me and go on to oogle and gawk at the new-found hold in their mouths. She smiled a big smile and pushed her tongue as far as it would fit through the little opening in her bottom set of teeth.

Later this morning, as we were driving I heard “happy sounds” coming from the back of the van. I thought it was the baby, but it was coming from Grace’s side. I said, “Grace, is that you?” She replied with a big grin, “I’m can’t wait to show dad my tooth!”

　

Ellie has lost quite a few teeth in the past couple months. She’s missing both of her top teeth (although one of her permanent one’s started coming through before she even lost the baby that it’s replacing). She’s lost a few bottom teeth already (with big ones growing in) and has another loose one about to pop out. I am always both sad and excited when they lose their top teeth. Sad, because I know it is a step out of babyhood and they will no longer look the same. Excited, because their smile has outgrown their baby teeth, and I love to see how they look with their grown up “beaver teeth”. I think they are so cute during those years that their teeth look just a bit too big for their mouths.

We have been doing the “tooth fairy” thing since the beginning. I used to be right on top of it, but now the kids usually have to remind me (several times) to “call or text the tooth fairy” and tell him or her that they’ve lost a tooth. Sometimes they’ll wake in the morning to find their tooth still there and they remind me once again.

Recently, we were at a friend’s house when Ellie lost a tooth. Out of the kids hearing distance, my friend mentioned how she puts a little “fairy dust” (glitter) on their pillow, under their pillow, and on the windowsill. She even suggested planting a wet spot on their face (without waking them up) and sprinkling a bit of glitter there (the tooth fairy gives kisses, you know). I thought, “What a great idea! It sounds so girly and Ellie will love it!” So I did. The next morning she found her money, but didn’t comment on the glitter, so later, as she was getting ready for bed, I excitedly pointed out the “fairy dust” on her pillow and on the windowsill. She was amazed and bewildered, and I was proud of myself for being so clever. After the lights were out and everyone was tucked in, Ellie called for me. When I went to her room, she had tears welling up in her eyes and told me that she was scared of the tooth fairy and “fairy dust“. “But you knew that she came, didn’t you? How come you weren’t scared before?” She replied, “Because… I thought the tooth fairy was YOU.” She had already caught on to what the older kids already know. I had to confess. She wasn’t about to go to sleep knowing that some creepy fairy was getting in through her window. I took her to the bathroom so Grace wouldn’t hear (wouldn’t want to spoil her childhood fun, right?). Grace followed close behind anyhow and refused to leave… so now they both know. I even showed them my stash of freshly lost teeth to confirm it. We worked out a deal, though. I can still be the tooth fairy and they’ll pretend with me so I can still put money under their pillow… Who came up with this tooth fairy business anyhow?

A new nephew!

A wonderful couple from our church, Mick and Helen, came over to watch the kids so we could attend our Dave Ramsey "Financial Peace" class. Since we were out sans kids, we thought it would be a good time to visit our new nephew!   Paul's brother, John, and Carrie had Ty Thomas earlier in the week.

He's an absolutely adorable baby! Perfect chubby cheeks.
Big Brother Jay is adjusting to the shared attention, but LOVES his baby brother. He introduced us to Ty as soon as we got there.

And I was able to get my baby fix :) Thanks guys!

Easter at home

This year, Easter was a little different for us. Usually we make a trip to one or both of the Grandparents. Since Easter was in April, both of the Grandparents were in Cancun, Mexico enjoying their annual time in the sun. We, on the other hand, went to church, had an Easter ham dinner, egg hunt, and then in the evening we settled in to watch "Ben Hur".

After church, the kids all found their Easter baskets. At the time, we were all on a health kick, so they got "exciting" things like a bag of homemade trail mix, apples, oranges, a bag of shelled peanuts, a pack of sugarless gum... and a couple Cow Tail candies (supplied by Grandma). They were happy with the "mom's weird, so we get healthy stuff" stuff and I felt much better about saying, "Go ahead, dig in, eat your heart out!"
When the kids start learning to sound out words, and are ready to start reading with the rest of the family, they get a bible the next time gifts are given. Usually Christmas or Easter. Ellie was SO excited to get her very own bible, and she loves reading it with me. I read the big words and she sounds out the short ones. She's very careful to keep it in the box that it came in "so no one can ruin it". It's very cute... both her AND the funky, sparkly bible.

The week before Easter, I got the urge to make the girl's Easter dresses. I had seen this really cute "pillowcase dress" tutorial on someone's blog and thought, "That'll take no time at all. I can do that." Um, hello? Anytime something involves making apparel for THREE kids, it's not that easy. Not only that, but I couldn't make the same exact thing for each girl, could I? I've outgrown "matching" and am much more comfortable with "coordinating", so after a few searches on how to add ruffles, make a "tiered" pillowcase dress, and found how to make a top with matching skirt, I got to work. I have to say, they turned out ever so cute and my girls LOVE wearing things that their momma made just for them.

Selah had the true "pillowcase dress" with the added ruffle at the bottom. Unfortunately, she was the only one that I got a full length photo of.

Nathan and Selah. He truely adores and spoils her... most of the time.

Nathan, decked out in his dress shirt and tie.

Nathan and Grace

A friend stopped over just in time to snap a picture of the whole clan. No, Caleb is NOT that tall. He looks like a 6 foot lanky kid. Nope. I think he's standing on a haybale or something. Although his feet have, his height has not passed me... yet.