This and That

 So, I need to update. It's been a while, and it always seems like I'm apologizing for not posting more often. I'm always waiting for something exciting to happen so I can have a cool post. But, alas, nothing cool has happened. I'll just do an update. Elin is crawling. She is now six months old, and she's a mover. She gets around through a combination of crawling and rolling. But, she has a hard time when she's trying to get to me, and I get up and pass her to go do something else. She's not too happy when that happens. She still loves attention, but doesn't really like to be picked up by the siblings. She's very grabby, and wants to eat everything! Elin is very happy and giggly! We love making her laugh and seeing her pretty smile. She is no longer able to sit in the Bumbo because she's strong enough to catapult herself out of it! Sad...but true. She's losing her hair all over the place! Blonde is growing in right under, but she resembles a thinning elderly person somedays, especially when there's a breeze! Ewan's doing well. He's learning all sorts of new words everyday. His latest is "Stop it". Olivia will sit behind him while they're watching a show and I'm getting Elin to sleep, and flick his ears. She's not doing it hard. It's just annoying. I can hear him say, "Stop it, Yaya! Stop it!" He's doing pretty well in nursery. He's a little possessive of his toys, but he does have two big sister that seem to take most of his stuff all the time. Sometimes he shuts himself in the playroom when they're playing in the living room, just so he can play by himself. Aislee is great! She's full of energy and spunk. She likes to run, jump, roll and tumble. Her jumping caused an injury, however. She jumped from a bunk bed when we were at friend's house and spent the next few days crawling or being carried. We got a doctor's opinion, and tried to take her for an x-ray a few times, but the place closed early each day we tried to go in. I was quite frustrated with the place and called the scheduler who kept telling me it wasn't supposed to be closed, and she would figure it out. Aislee is back to all her antics. We think she'll be fine! Olivia is just funny. She's very imaginative! Everyday we're something new, and we all have to play along. A few days ago I was "Mommy Badguy". She was "Yaya Badguy, Ewan was "Brother Badguy", and Aislee was "Doggy Badguy." It's a good thing Aislee doesn't mind being the doggy. So we all went around with toy weapons (frying pans) and horses. We may watch a little too much Tangled, but we love it! Paul's good. He's busy with work, training, and meetings. He has big plans for the backyard, and we can't wait! We love having Daddy home to run us around in the wheel barrel and push us in the swings. His graduate program starts in January, and he'll no longer get every-other Friday off (for 2 1/2 years...:-(), so we're trying to get as much done now! I'm good. I signed up for two races. One's in a few weeks, and the other is December. I'm running in the mornings with a friend of mine. It's nice 'cause it gets me up and going. I know she's gonna be there waiting. I'm also figuring out how to sew. I ordered fabric for curtains and pillows and can't wait to have our master somewhat resembling a bedroom!

Our swash-buckling rogue!

We made homemade ice cream for FHE a few weeks ago. We had the kids helping until they got too cold. We did a lot of the work!

But it was worth it!

The cats away...

The mice will play! Sometimes I have to leave the room for a minute. I'm learning to wait as long as possible to leave the room, and to make sure nothing "bad" can happen while I am otherwise occupied. We also have locks on the pantry door and a gate on the playroom. One morning, I let the kids play with stickers on some paper while Elin was having Tummy-Time. I thought everyone was pretty well occupied. So, I snuck out for a minute (I drink a lot of water). I was gone for no more than three minutes! It's a good thing she is such an easy-going baby who likes attention from them. She may not survive long otherwise. We are also getting more/higher locks on all the doors to the outside world. They've been able to reach the locks for a long time. They just recently decided that they're going to use their skill. Olivia, especially enjoys going outside while Mommy is putting Elin down for her nap. Aislee likes to open the door, but her irrational fear of buggies keeps her on the door step, while Olivia takes off down the drive way and Ewan hurries after. No one has been hurt. I have suffered a few near heart attacks. We've had a few talks about cars, scary strangers, and the fact that bugs will eat your toes if you go outside without Mommy or Daddy. Olivia hasn't done it for quite a few days! And, I'm getting better at shutting the gate to the playroom when I put Elin down for her nap. Better to have angry toddlers than something much worse!