happy birthday charlotte claire!

Sweet little six year old...

Rosie is so jealous when Ashley brings her border collie, Baxter, over to visit.

I just happen to love Mr. Baxter. He is so nice!

Ashley came over and visited, and took Suzanne and Sonja shopping. She got them some nice things, then even stopped on the way home for a Fountain Drink at the gas station, which was IT for them. Jonathan and I got to "babysit" for Baxter while they were gone. It was our pleasure.

Miss Camille is ready to skip kindergarten, and perhaps first grade too. I bought a box of bandaids for her, and one for Char. Char used two of hers. Camille counted both boxes, and said that she has twenty, but Char only has 18. So she gave Char one of hers so they would have the same. Then she sat here and counted how many windows are in our house. Now she is asking if there are muscles in your tongue, and how it knows how to move, and how it makes her talk like a baby sometimes.

Today...ahh, stretched before me like an empty slate. I have to go to the post office and mail something to Ben. I am picking the kids up from school since it is Charlotte Claire's birthday and they hate the bus ride. I want to exercise, and clean up a bit around here. It is sunny today, so I wouldn't mind going outside for a bit. Poor me, home all day. ha. Being a stay-at-home mom is one of the best jobs I can imagine. shh!

Mirielle made the cookies for Charlotte Claire's class party. She made Cracked Sugar cookies, and home made frosting, pink of course, and sprinkled them with really pretty springy pastel sprinkles. I had one little taste of one, and YUM. She fretted about them, hoping the kids would like them. Because when Mirielle was in kindergarten, one of the kids' moms brought in individual cups of green jello, and it didn't go over well. One after another, those brats walked to the garbage and threw out those cups of jello, saying, "yuck!". Mirielle might have been only five years old, but she felt horribly sorry for the poor green jello bringer. And it would break her heart if anyone did that to Char's cookies.

This weekend brings Mother's Day. We are celebrating Char's birthday on Sunday because the kids will be back from Washington then. I will be grilling chicken and making pasta salad. I doubt I will relax and put my footsies up very much. But I will remember MY mother. Springtime and lilacs remind me of her. Sometimes I say things to my kids, like, "if I told you once, I told you a thousand times!", and "stand up straight, Lady Jane", and "children should be seen and not heard", which she didn't really believe, but she said when she was annoyed with us. I remind myself so much of her, the way I always ask the kids about their days, and how I am interested in the details of their lives. She was always my friend, and friends don't like to disapoint friends, that was how it was with my mother. And that is how it is with my kids. I am their friend. I realize that when one is on equal terms with one's older kids, they treat me like they treat each other, but it is worth it.

Camille is cuddled up to me. That sounds nice and sweet, and it is. but. She is a big girl now, and she is on my arm. She keeps asking me why I am typing, and asking when I will be done. I don't mind, I know I will miss her like crazy next year...but. She needs to get interested in something. So. I just offered her a dollar to clean up the living room. She said, "how about two dollars?" We settled on one dollar. She IS the one who made the mess. She had me read her the book, "Cinderella" first, she said it would help her clean.

Tonight we are going to visit Paul's parents, his mom is back from Florida now. When I say, "we", I mean those of us who are not going to the youth meeting. We only have five kids under twelve now. Paul told the kids last night he would take us for ice cream first. Camille immediately asked, "Can I get a large?" I don't know where she got that. She can't even finish a small.

I am going to try to get in a quick swim over at the pool this afternoon, too. Especially if there is ice cream in the picture. I am thinking of skipping dinner so I can have one. Will I ever ever grow up?

Camille-a-rella is like her mom. She got sidetracked in her cleaning. She is reading, "The Princess World Of Fashion". We are wondering where Belle got all those pretty dresses. I suggested she perhaps ordered them online, but she insists the Beast did not have a computer, and that Belle sewed them.

We had an excellent dinner last night, taco salad. I had six lime-tortilla chips with mine, and no more. Mostly lettuce and green peppers and green olives, and taco meat with hot sauce. Dessert was watermelon. It was strange to only have ten of us at the table. The house is so silent without Sam, Margaret, Kathryn, and Evelyn. Seriously. It is like there is a huge gap here, a hole. In the morning, it is so strange for just Suzanne to be going on the first bus all alone. Mirielle is done with nursing school for the year, yay, so, being a nice big sister, she got up this morning and drove Suze to school.

Well, I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I will get moving. Now that Camille is busy coloring a picture of Tiana. So much for earning a dollar.