I can't believe how big all these kids are getting. Seneca is rolling all over the place, thank goodness for baby gates. She is a lot more pleasant now that she has some mobility. If only she would let Jess hold her...a girl can dream right? She loves her toes so much, she is constantly playing with her feet. She was half awake the other morning but was too tired to open her eyes, she lifted her little foot to my face and grinned with her eyes closed when I told her she had stinky feet.

Katurah thinks she is a dog most of the time now. She is the cutest pup I have ever met, and her little puppy voice is adorable. Adorable until she is supposed to be talking to her speech therapist and she will only talk like a dog. She loves the game "This little piggy" and will pull off your shoes so she can play with you.

Amari got a magic wand for her birthday. She uses her powers only for good. Like the other morning when she waved it at me and said "Bibbidy bobbidy boo, make my mom beautiful! Mom, pretend your beautiful ok?" Thank you Amari.

On our way home from preschool Amari was complaining about how hot it was. "Mom it's so hot in here, there is no air!" Zeke chimed in "And no internet!" Air internet totally interchangeable.

Zeke informed me that he needs to do his "beauty reading" I asked if this makes him beautiful and he said "No, there is beauty sleeping and beauty reading. Beauty reading makes me handsome, and I've been reading lots of days." True story.

Pantera is counting down the days til 4th grade. Apparently in 4th grade all the teachers give out candy and pet unicorns while never giving homework. It's recess all day and all the kids are always nice. At least that's what you would think was going to happen if you talked to her. I keep trying to tell her to enjoy the rest of this year but 3rd grade is tough so good luck with that.

Jess and I have been married 10 years today! What the heck?!? When did we get old?

Easter pics!

I let a friend borrow my photo lights a while back, so these were all natural light...because I know you were wondering why my background is shadowy.

Amari 4

 

 Amari turned 4 this week! I can't believe she is this big already. I know everyone says it but it really does seem like she was just born, of course I could be confusing this with the twenty other kids I've birthed over the past few years;) She wouldn't be a four year old if she didn't smile like this...

 Amari has more personality then she knows what to do with. She is constantly cracking us up. She informed me that this year she is turning 4 and on her next birthday she will be 54. I asked her if she thought she should be all the numbers in between and she thought that was a terrible idea. I guess middle age does seem pretty fun. So to sum it up she has 12 years til she retires...I sure hope she outlives her savings.

She loves her big sister so much. She would follow Pantera everywhere if she were allowed.

She also loves to play with Zeke and Katurah. She is just all around easy to get along with. Amari you are such a blessing to our family. You are so fun, funny, and sweet. I hope you are as awesome at 54 as you are at 4! I love you Amari girl!!!

April Fourth

I took all the kids with me to the grocery store earlier this week. While we were waiting in line Pantera got really upset while looking at the magazines on display "Mom, that's pornography!" it was a picture of a lady topless with a black sensor bar over it. So she went about turning all the magazines so the other kids wouldn't see the porn. I'm glad she recognizes when something just isn't appropriate. She made this super cool king pig out of play dough this morning.

 Zeke and Seneca are the best of pals. He is constantly in her face saying silly things to make her laugh. Sometimes when she is really tired and crabby this makes her cry, which in turn makes him cry. "I was just trying to make her smile, but she did not smile." Zeke you make me smile everyday. In other news, miss Seneca got her first tooth in!

 This week we celebrated April Fools day. Because I am such a nice wife I convinced Jess that I was pregnant. I have never heard someone sound so relieved as when I told him I was just pranking him. So when he got home Amari decided to prank him with her own joke "Dad, there's a baby in my tummy. APRIL FOURTH!!!" Yes, April Fourth indeed.

Katurah has been a little pill. She has missed her daddy who has had to work a lot this week. She even lays in his spot in bed and invites me to snuggle under the blanket with her when he is gone. Usually she only snuggles daddy and papa so she must be feeling pretty desperate.

Reps

 Dear little Amari is going through what I love to refer to as the "you have to say" phase. Whenever we play together she has to direct the game and tell me exactly how to play and what to say. Pantera did this all the time when she was younger (ok she still does), and it always made me wonder why I was even involved with the game. Sometimes I can even sneak away and she doesn't notice for quite some time. She got a super pretty dress the other day and while wearing it she asked me to put on her tiger tail because "that would look perfect." So there is my cute little girl in a dress fit for a princess wearing a tiger tail and leopard ears. Then I found her fast asleep in said ears the next night. She told me last night "I am feeling fain! (pause here to swoon a little) so will you catch me?" I sure will cutie.

Katurah is little miss attitude these days. Everything is "No" and "Why!?!" When she gets in trouble she flattens herself out on the ground like a pancake, but she does it so fast it looks hilarious. She loves to put on concerts for me and the other select few she chooses to talk to. Her favorite jams are "When we're helping we're happy." and "Roll your hands." She does a cute little bow at the end of each song in anticipation of the rampant applause she is bound to recieve...I'm glad because due to her speech I would have no other way to tell when the song was over.

 

 I found this bowl at the table one morning and was deeply disturbed by its contents. Isnt that one of the first signs of a sociopath? leaving the marshmallows but eating the mateys? Who 
does that?

Seneca has officially been dubbed "the Happy Falcon." Whenever she is really excited she lets out a high pitched squeal that sounds much like a bird of prey. And she is very likely to peck your head into a nub, just sayin'.

 The life of a model is not easy...

Sometimes you just have to let your hair down...

Amari was kind enough to share her glasses with Ray...I mean Zeke. He was really happy after he put them on and said "Oh wow, now everything's not blurry!" He is doing really well on his reading, but only likes to read from a notebook I wrote sight words in. I bribed him to read from Hop on Pop, but he has most of it memorized. I was trying to get him to slow down and really look at the words and he was, until he got to "Three fish in a tree, how can that be?" He said "Three fish in a tree, how is that even possible?" So cute Zekie!

Pantera is looking over my shoulder as I type so I must be careful. She informed me that "In third grade you have a reputation. It can be a reputation for being mean to everyone like Bridget. Or it could be the kind of reputation where you make people shoot milk out their nose because you're so funny. That seriously happened mom."

 

Fast poke

Amari and Katurah playing "Ring Around the Rosie." Katurah is catching up to Amari in height pretty quick, which doesn't help with the whole "Are they twins?" thing. Luckily Amari doesn't mind yet, and they are both super cute.

Zekiboy is such a little cutie. I love how literal he can be. He was looking very bothered on Thursday and I asked him what was wrong. He said "I didn't know Jessie was the best show ever." I asked who told him it was and he said "The tv said it was." So we learned about opinions and how it is just fine if he doesn't agree that Jessie is the best show ever. He looked like a load of bricks had been lifted from his little shoulders...few that was close!

He asked me last week "Mom, what's a slow poke?" I explained it is someone who goes really slow at something, it's just a silly name that you might call someone. He replied "Oh, I'm a fast poke!" You sure are Zeke.

 Pantera is getting all ready for her state standards testing this week. It's pretty much all she has talked about for the past several days. I guess they aren't allowed to read if they finish testing before the other kids, this really, really bothers me. Why in the heck would you discourage 3rd graders from reading like ever??? There are definitely days I see why people homeschool, but I know I am not nearly disciplined enough for it. She discovered Disney Infinity this week and has been playing this (acting it out) with her sibling at night every night. It always ends with a big brawl on my bed and me somehow missing my pillowcase.

 I made Katurah a treasure box (yay pinterest!) and she loves it. She filled it with her most prized belongings AKA pacifiers. She is going to be so hard to wean off of these things! She always has at least 2 with her and has to sleep with about 10. She just switches between them as she goes about her business. She still steals the baby pacifiers constantly which drives me nuts (I just can't figure out why we are always sick;)

 Amari threw another amazing fit this week. She got so mad at me and said "I, I, I don't like (pause here to think) YOUR MAKEUP! You don't even deserve makeup!" I am so bad and had to egg her on a little bit "Amari what do I deserve?" "Nothing!!! You deserve nothing!" Then later she apologized and said my makeup was pretty and can I please do hers.

Seneca was sick again this week, mostly a cold, but showing pre asthma symptoms. I have been doing breathing treatments with her, which she HATES. I went grocery shopping without her for the first time on Monday. I came home to a very frazzled Jess, I guess she cried pretty much the whole time I was gone. As soon as I took her from him she was all smiles. Little turkey, looks like 6 months is too young for any time away from mom, we'll try again at a year I guess.

Seneca 6 months

Seneca is 6 months old today!!!