Milestones

 We don't hit restaurants very often.

(Dad's a bit sensitive about causing a "scene" with our rowdy ones.)

But we thought we'd give it a whirl for Kenna's birthday dinner. After a nice pep talk in the car about "public places" and "manners" we walked in - cool as cucumbers. However, this irresistible water window called out like a siren beyond our table, so you can see how successful the exercise was...

 Great birthday celebrations though.  Kenna had an ART PARTY - very fitting. Drawing, coloring, painting, ironing beads, Pictionary, chalking the circle (which got a little out of hand, resulting in me out there the next day with a bucket and a broom) but a good time had by all. (HIGHLIGHT: one gal tromped a glob of paint all over the living room while mom had a heart attack, shouting "Sit down! Everyone, sit down and show me your feet!!" Nothing like blue & yellow footprints on the carpet of your rental...)

Happy 7th, special little light of my life!

I feel like our whole family's growing up. We all officially play instruments now. Well, minus Summer, of course, unless spitting into the harmonica counts...

Another milestone: Angel's picked up running.

Hmmmm.

Not sure I'm liking that.

She's also entered that awwwwwwesome stage that allows us to go on mini-treasure hunts every day! Our recent finds:

socks in the toilet

remote control in the trash

slippers in the (full) bathtub

homework in the shower

shoes in a kitchen drawer

You get the drift- it's delightful. 

(Particularly all the empty tp rolls and tissue boxes.)

Lastly, Annie's a big girl now! Another round of training wheels all packed away (sniff, sniff)

This girl falls more than anyone I've ever met (except maybe her cousin Katie - wink) so there's always a variety of gruesome scabs, bruised lumps and bandages decorating her appendages. Fortunately she's super tough, 'cause she trips on air and is a magnet for corners. (She's a regular at the school's sick bay, most recently for literally running into a pole.)

So, I'm sure there are serious wipeouts in our future, but for now, she's feeling pretty proud of herself. :)

check out that little grin

Ninja City

 Safety First! There's no missing this guy on the side of your lane at dusk... I couldn't help laughing at D all decked out in his winter gear for those cold morning commutes.

Summer found the "ninja" mask very disconcerting.

 Will, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of it and some awesome ninja scenarios unfolded. Quite a pair, those two. (Did you catch those sweet Gandolph eyebrows??)

"New"s

Moves are fun. Even if you don't get to experience a new country or culture, you still get a new house, new yard, new neighborhood, new schools, new friends, new ward, etc. A few of my favorite "news" involve the house we were placed in. It backs up to a picturesque little walkway with weeds and steps and eucalyptus trees galore, meandering up the hill past houses on one side and clumps of rock and various shrubbery on the other. Then past a wooded playground and up through a nature preserve full of dirt paths and wildlife. I mean, come on! It's the perfect end to the day - walking up to visit the roos that invariably hop across the fields before you. (Which is always a thrill except when you're extremely alone, like the other night when I rounded the bend at dusk to a mob of 12 on my left and 6 on my right, less than 10 yards away, staring me down as if deciding whether to charge or not. Back...away...slowly.)

The other is our new arrangement of bedrooms. The three kids' rooms and ours all surround the top of the stairway on the upper level, with a little sitting area beside a window. They've had a grand time owning their own space and lately we've fallen into a pleasant little bedtime routine where mom helps them all get tucked in and reading while dad strums the guitar to mellow the mood. Then once they've all been kissed, prayers said and rooms darkened, mom joins dad by the window and we sing until they're snoring, or beyond. Top three requests: "Pony Man" (Gordon Lightfoot - click to listen), "Hallelujah" (Leonard Cohen, but Jeff Buckley & Brandi Carlile versions are stunning - Jeff here), and "Dragonfly Races" (Ellis Paul - click to listen). Engaging lyrics and moving musicality. How cool is it to discover music you AND your kids love? It has been years since we've done this regularly and a nostalgic throw back to our late night recording sessions in Maryland. Last weekend we kept the candles lit long after Earth Hour ended, the kids all snug in bed, and sang looking out at the stars. Magic, I tell ya.

Which leads me to another happy discovery. The STARS. (Well, the whole sky actually. The brilliantly vibrant hues of blue in this sky are hard to find words for.) Did you know the constellations are upside down here? We finally figured it out that night, googling some images and comparing against the window to see that Orion was upside down and backwards (see above - his 3 star "dagger" is usually below his "belt"). So fascinating. The stars are bright from here, but as you may have read, D actually stayed up most of the night researching photographic telescopes to take with us on camping trips in the Outback. Definitely the start of some new family traditions.

When Dad walked in from work the first time in this get-up the kids were like "Where are your pants?!"

And in final "new"s, we are officially a one-car-family now. I admit, I was skeptical at first. And we're still working out the kinks. But D has been biking to work and arriving with some fresh morning air in his lungs and a spring in his step. And although it's a longer commute, I'm not complaining about the years he's adding to his life by getting the regular exercise. Sure, we haven't made it through a winter yet, but at least it doesn't snow here, right? (Unfortunately, we can't claim our motivation was the lofty goal of decreasing our carbon footprint, but rather the financial savings... if these "bike gear" purchases ever peter out, that is. But with gas prices like this, that was motivation a-plenty.)

P.S. All those wonderful savings are now labeled "Photographic Telescope Fund." Yay! I'm considering renaming it "Banana Fund" though after looking at my grocery receipt to see what I paid for 10 smallish bananas... ahem... $22.05.