There is no such thing as an empty week in this household. Snow forts, lots of books, and fun with friends were just some of the highlights.
The girls are often dressing up… here are a few shots of Elsie twirling. Her dream is to take ballet soon.
The ice-caked trees never cease to amaze me with their beauty. Entombed in glass, one day soon they will come back to life.
Betty loves to help shovel snow. Trouble is, there are no shovels her size. My garden trowel is a good substitute for now.
Jack had a small run-in with a shovel one night.
School sometimes includes looking through the dictionary. It’s not hard to believe how funny they found the word “underpants”.
This week we also began nature journals. I love how most of them spoke of spring, while drawing snowflakes.
Betty enjoys playing the little games I find online.
The highlight of my week happened on Monday when my dear sweet friend, Sarah (who lives in England), showed up at my front door. She and I spent a few hours together in the city. We’ve known each other for over half of our lives. It’s a beautiful thing when entire continents and years can’t stop friendship from growing.
fun
Five Little Minions
We have woken up to snow so many mornings this winter! Today’s snow dumped another six to eight inches on top of what was already there. A couple of weeks ago, the kids made a fabulous three-door hobbit home in the front yard. Hours upon hours were spent carving it out of the snow with my garden trowel. I love their creativity!
After hours in the snow, hot tea or hot chocolate are a welcome treat. Elsie is my usual tea-girl and loves it just like her mama.
Last weekend we finally were able to meet the newest cousin on the Weldon side of our family! Taylor Grace fought her way out of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is home and smiling! What a treat to snuggle and love her in person.
We celebrated Christmas Part III, since she was admitted to the hospital Christmas Eve. It was simply delightful.
One of our favorite gifts: five little minion hats, crocheted by Aunt Heidi! They are a scream.
A collection of life through the lens of my phone:
Life At Three
Sometimes when I say our house needs cleaning, what I really mean is that I think we should move some gigantic pieces of furniture. I look at our home like an ever-changing puzzle, the pieces of which fit in different places at different times. This week, a harmless conversation about the little girls’ room staying clean, turned into a gargantuan project. A job requiring paint, a drill, and hours of Matthew’s already full days. I painted over the pink, and he cheerfully took apart bunk-beds, unscrewed shelves and heaved heavy mattresses from one room to the next. The finished product: the girls switched rooms! Nadine now has the slightly larger of the two, with a closet, and the little girls have the smaller one which limits how it can be arranged, but which suits their needs perfectly. In addition, for Betty’s birthday we were able to acquire a fabulous Craigslist deal and get the girls a wooden play kitchen complete with fun wooden food. All week there have been restaurant, pizza shop, and birthday party games going on for hours on end.
Since Betty is now three, we told her she was too big for the pack n’ play. Now she sleeps on the bottom bunk. She also has kept her panties dry at night for almost two weeks! We quit diapers at night, cold turkey, and she rose to the challenge. It is so fabulous not having any diapers in our house, except the few her baby dolls wear. I do believe it’s the first time in eleven years. So far, being three years old is pretty awesome!
Yesterday I had the joy of watching a baby boy come into the world. I drove home as the sun rose, and was once again awed and amazed by the beauty of new life.
You’ve Gotta Take Care of Those Kids
This was the other day in Target:
I was pushing that train of a cart, gently bumping into the corners of aisles as it turned its wide arch. I smiled brightly at the mom with one baby in her cart, sitting quietly on a clean cart-cover. Betty held a receipt, which doubles as a “tag” in a pinch, so she can suck her fingers. Elijah likes to hide under the cart. Sometimes even the extra nearly hundred pounds I’m trying to push doesn’t clue me in on where he’s gone, so I start calling his name and he laughs from his hiding spot. Switching seats, spotting sparkly boots, and constant chatter makes our trip the usual exhausting but profitable excursion.
Last night, armed with four very large containers of popcorn and Christmas jammies, we drove to nearby neighborhood to watch a local light show. The lights were choreographed to a radio station, and it was pretty impressive.
Tonight little miss Betty must have gotten bit by the giggle bug. When the boys got home from grocery shopping with Matthew, it was close to 10 o’clock. The little girls were still giggling up in their beds. Jack looked at Matthew and said very seriously: You’ve gotta go take care of those kids. I’m not joking.
Betty keeps us laughing. The other day she was playing with her little baby. She had been tucked into bed for about five seconds before Betty leaned gently over her ear and made a soft rooster sound. Time to wake up, baby! She would say, after cock-a-doodle-doo-ing into her ear.
Once when Betty was trying to get out of the kitchen, Elsie asked, What’s the magic word? Right away she replied: Betty!
Today, Matthew and I were trying to have a little bit of snuggle time on the couch. We literally had five pairs of eyes glued on our every move. There is a small sensor that goes off when we start talking or kissing. Immediately, all bodies are within touching distance of ours, or there is some urgent sentence that must be uttered. In the middle of our hug, Jack came over, put his arms around us and said, Group hug! Which in turn led Betty to pile on some more love. As Elsie would say: There’s room for more in this hug! Once we started to kiss, however, Betty squealed, Let’s get out of here! They’re kissing!
The other day, Elsie was discussing age order. Apparently, Elijah was of a “medium” age. She then told Nadine: I remember you sucking your fingers! When, in actuality, she wasn’t even born yet.
This is the face I get when it’s time for bed.
It is also the face I am giving, because I am not one who loves going to bed. I’ve been enjoying the sewing machine and crochet hooks this month. Super secretive things have been in the works. There is much more on my mind to write… but it will have to wait. Right now I’ve gotta take care of this mama, who needs some serious rest.
School of Snow
We recently wrapped up our study on Ancient Rome by going to a Roman feast, hosted by our friends. The kids lounged on the floor on blankets and pillows and ate barbarian-style. It was fabulous. Except for the authentic pear and cumin custard pie… rotisserie chicken suits us just fine.
After our homeschool co-op this past week, the kids all went sledding. It was the perfect way to start our Christmas holiday.
Giving Thanks for Twenty-Seven, Road Trips and Scavenger Hunts
Thanksgiving weekend began with our Weldon family gathering. Turkey vegetable tray, dangly earrings, a crackling fire, and games highlighted our time together. We even managed to pull off a paleo thanksgiving breakfast, complete with monkey bread!
Next, we took off for New York. With new tires on the van and every inch packed to the gills, sipping joy tea, we listened to a Thanksgiving history audio book from my dad and enjoyed an almost completely argument-free drive up North. It was delightful!
We were welcomed by a happy sign:
The highlight of our time together was the Mall Scavenger Hunt we did one day. We divided into four teams, according to birth. Various items on the list to find were: “something that smells good, the largest bug, and someone doing the best karate move.” We also had to “plank” as a team and find Grandma and Grandpa who were wandering around the mall. The team who found them first got… the honor of finding them first. As leader of the 3rd-borns, I’d like to acknowledge we found them first. We had one hour to scavenge the mall. The creativity started flowing.
There were the firstborns:
The second-borns:
The third-borns:
The fourth-borns (and Betty):
Besides the fun of the scavenger hunt, the daddies took almost all the kids ice-skating, and we enjoyed snow, games, and many delicious meals together.
Our entire family:
At the beginning of November, my dad reminded us of the news we received as a family twenty-two years ago: Get one small bag packed with all that you treasure the most. Get ready to evacuate Nyankunde tomorrow! As a girl of almost twelve, this was an exciting adventure. It didn’t turn out how I imagined, however. Our “quick” trip back to the United States turned into permanent. It’s hard to imagine how twenty-two years later, our family of six has grown into a family of twenty-seven, with another on the way! (My sister, not me!) God has richly blessed us with a family who loves each other, drives great distances to be with each other, and children who think their other cousins are the absolute bomb-diggity! I couldn’t be more thankful.
Forever Young
Once in a while I am privy to the children’s imaginary games. The other day Elsie was blocking the kitchen doorway so Jack couldn’t enter. Apparently, there was certain criteria for one to enter the kitchen. She began the interrogation:
How old are you?
One-hundred.
Do you have any children?
Yes.
Where is your mother?
At home.
And finally, the kicker. The most important requirement for entering the kitchen: Do you have a grandma?
Yes.
You may pass through.
The other night they requested classical music and danced ball-room style. They carefully choreographed the swing and spin. It was fabulous. 
When they were looking through old photo albums, both received major brownie points for their observations.
Mom, you look so young now, said Jack.
She’s always young, Elsie countered, making my heart feel forever young.
Betty also has her own specific interpretive dance. First, with Elephant:
Next, she likes to close her eyes… almost… and squint while her hands slowly raise into the air and she spins very slowly and purposefully. A little toe raise here and there for good effect.
Then, when the audience starts to touch the rug one too many times, the entire dance is ruined and little ballerina melts into her own arms.
Everyone has been enjoying the new snow. There have been snowmen and sledding galore!
We had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend with Matthew’s family, and then in New York with my entire family. There were cousins, fun, and… of course, Grandmas. I’ll save those pictures for another post soon. I’ve been secretly working on surprises which have taken every waking minute. And even when I have things to make and things to finish, somehow people still get hungry around here and their clothes still get dirty. As I speak, the pizza is out of the oven, and we are ready to eat while the snow falls outside.
Neigh-deen The Horse Whisperer
My horse girl had her dream-come-true birthday when she participated in her first horse show. It’s been a little late in coming, but here are the pictures of our beautiful 11-year-old girl doing what she loves best!
Those chocolate eyes do a much better job of melting than intimidating.
The boys found a friend who shares Elijah’s birthday. They had fun playing together and watched Nadine occasionally.
Nadine won seven ribbons, including 2nd place for jumping! She is so graceful on a horse!
As her brother likes to say, You and Daddy named her neeeeigh-deen because she loves horses! Well, that is not actually the reason, but it’s a fun play on words! Way to go, baby girl!
Veggie Ice-Cream
Some days what is true just doesn’t match up with what I’m feeling. For instance: I am so in love with my children, and think they are the best. However, sometimes circumstances cause something inside me to go “snap!” Like when a voice goes above a certain decibel, or when someone decides to shoot a nerf bullet at someone else’s eye right at bedtime. I don’t feel the love when someone leaves the freezer just slightly open right before we head out the door, and I find out a few hours later. My feelings are pretty much the opposite of warm and fuzzy when puddles of special ice-cream have melted into the peas and corn. My feelings are a simmering pot of hot water when the dairy/veggie mush leads to an entire deep cleaning of the refrigerator and freezer. I am thankful I can go grocery shopping. But sometimes dragging five kids in the rain to my least favorite store makes my blood start a slow and steady boil. I have never had to do this before, but when one of my unnamed children decided to throw their flip-flop as high as they could in the middle of aisle seven, this mama had to climb the shelves like a ladder and pull it out from between the bags of flour on the top shelf. Excuse me if I step on your groceries.
I love being a mom, but there are times I don’t feel it.
The truth is, I am so incredibly thankful for our home. Yet sometimes my emotions start dictating thoughts of discontent over the color of my walls or the state of my sofa. Right now, our laundry room is being refinished. The floor is gorgeous. Soon the rest will be as well.
Until it is finished, I am living out the book, “It Could Always Be Worse”. If I thought my kitchen felt tight or crowded, a good solution is to bring the washer, dryer, linens, and a dresser in to join the chaos. Now I am cooking and canning while maneuvering around a dresser. I plop the kids wherever there is a clean corner of the table, which juts out into the middle of the kitchen. I have to crawl under the table to fetch the parchment paper or griddle. The laundry is quickly piling up, because when there is an average of ten dirty outfits a day (factoring in boys), going on a week without a washer, works out to be about seventy outfits needing to be laundered. It could always be worse.
So since the kitchen is a mess, we celebrated Nadine’s birthday at Hibachi. Their faces say it all:
I am so thankful truth is not based on feelings. I’m also thankful for rescued flip-flops, clean freezers, and laundry-free days.
Eyes Open To Beautiful
Things I’ve been loving about our children:
When Jack wraps his arms around me just because. When he tells stories, his voice gets deeper and he sounds like a little man weaving a tale of seriousness. I love that he is brave enough and has the imagination wide enough to wear a cowboy hat for an entire day all throughout the city of Philadelphia. 
I love how his trusty sidekick wears a pink cast and also a swell hat. I also love that by the time we got home, he had transformed into “Bill” and talked in a cowboy accent and enjoyed his “cowboy soup” for supper. 
I love how they make celebrities out of ordinary people. Like the other day when Jack and Elsie took their mini white erase boards to our next-door neighbor and asked him to please sign his name. They got so excited when he did so, and didn’t erase their boards for the rest of the day.
Betty is so verbal and polite. On Friday we went with some friends on the train to the Franklin Institute. When we got off the train, she said, Thank you for the train, Mommy! After walking through the giant heart, she ran up to me and said, That was amazing! My heart is amazing! Unbelievable.
Jack discovering how polymers work… relieved when the cup of water did NOT dump onto his head!
Nadine did a great job blowing up a balloon!
At the end of the extremely fun day, things melted down on the train ride home. My friend got this great picture of how things REALLY looked those last few minutes. Tired mommies, tired kiddos.
The next morning Betty’s sweet thankful heart was back again after a good night’s rest and she told me: Thank you for the eggs and bacon, Mommy. I’m going to wash my hands. I’m going to do it myself. And proceeded to do so. She is somewhat of a self-acclaimed vegetarian, but she loves bacon!
A couple of weeks of school have finished and I’m thrilled they are still smiling! We even have ninjas who sometimes attend. Elsie wrote everything on her board all by herself. The last line is my favorite, translated: I love God as well.
My fifth student helped me chop a ton of peppers to freeze for the winter. Sometimes she can be very serious about her work, but she is always a really cute and helpful chef!
There are always things I am learning and loving about our children. I always want my eyes to be wide open to the beautiful, amongst the mess and flurry that is life.
Grow Old With Me 