Odds and Ends

In an effort to make my blog current (I hear the snickering...) I

am posting random pictures in one post.

 

 

When Sarena was in town not too long ago, we got the annual "slide" picture for grandma. All 7 kids squished together.

 

The girls love sidewalk chalk. I don't like the mess it makes. But I have loosened up some over the years. :) I let them do it on the driveway while I mowed the yard. One night I went out and saw this drawing by Maisie. Can you tell what this girl is doing? Yep - going potty. Lovely. Simply lovely.

 But that daughter also redeemed herself with this drawing.

 The girls' school hands out "High 5, ask me why" bracelets to kids at school who are caught doing something good. Maisie's teacher tries to hand out a few each week. Maisie came out one day with the bracelet, and she was SUPER excited. However, her oldest sister was less than thrilled. It was yet another opportunity to encourage Analise to not compare herself and to celebrate the success of others. Why must some things be so hard to learn?

 And then a couple of weeks later - Analise came home with the bracelet. She was excited, and Maisie was excited for her, too. Well done sweet Maisie.

 I had to get a picture of Maisie in this outfit because it was THE outfit this summer. Her "catch a wave" shirt and her beloved pink shorts. If she was really into it, she always wore the same undies with that outfit. There were days she would grumble when she couldn't wear it. Or other times I would hear her apologizing to the shorts because she couldn't wear them.

 Maisie has learned how to do cartwheels. And most of the time she does a really good job. This was another area where the older sibling really struggled. She couldn't do them. She would try and try without much progress, and Maisie was doing them all.over.the.place.

Again a lesson to be learned on celebrating the differences.

 We had 2/3 of the boys over one night for a movie night. We had lots of fun and laughs while they watched an Ice Age movie.