Four and Five

Landmarks, that I intended to have great pictures for, but all I'm going to do is talk.  Today little Katie Bug is four years old.  To start the morning off we had to wash her mouth out with soap for biting her sister.  We had invited two friends over for a little party around lunch time and I suddenly realized this morning that meant I needed to have a plan for lunch for not just my kids, but the others and and moms hanging out.  Considering most meals I'm happy to get food done for the three and I'm often an afterthought, not to mention my husband, this put me into a bit of a panic.  Along with realizing I should probably clean the house and have something for them to do while they're here.  This is why I don't plan parties.  

So the girls played with sidewalk chalk on the driveway, ate lunch, ate cupcakes, opened presents, and called it good.  We had a minor rerun tonight with Jeremy home.  I think she had a good birthday.  I may have to hire out one of my more creative friends for future bigger events if it should involve more than quesadillas and sidewalk chalk.  

For the current update on the little lady, she currently weighs 37 lbs, loves to ride the two-wheel bike with training wheels that the neighbors left behind, loves to dance and sing all kinds of songs to herself (that she usually makes up and will sing absolutely anywhere), loves to draw people and cut paper with scissors, loves to play with ponies, loves any story you read to her, will tell you if she thinks a song isn't good to listen to, is now swimming in the deep end and jumping into the water by herself as long as her life-jacket is on, cannot talk fast enough or long enough, loves and misses her best friend Jane (the neighbors that moved away), loves her new best friends Maddy and Zoe (quick turnover time), loves to participate in Primary, help walk Pele, spend time with her mommy or daddy, play with her sisters, fight with her sisters, and talk to her grandparents for brief moments on the phone.  

Just a few weeks ago in July, Jeremy and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.  We didn't do much until the Saturday before Jeremy took his boards.  We decided to hike Mt. Washington, the second highest peak in New England, part of the Appalation Trail, and one of the record holders of worst weather recorded in the world.  The peak is 6,288 ft, and you make just over a 4000 ft ascent up steep, beautiful terrain.  It was a great hike, though we were surprised at how many people were there, especially once you reach the top.  There is a train, and a road that can get people to the top, so I guess it's not exactly the place for solitude, but it was beautiful and nice for us to spend a whole day hiking.  

As for looking back over our first five years of marriage, I think sometimes we both feel like it's been ten for how different life has become.  In the time we've been married we have both graduated from school, started and finished residency, started Jeremy's fellowship this year, moved to Spokane, Washington, moved here to New Hampshire, had Katie, had Sydney and Cora, adopted Pele, got a new car after we had Kate, bought a house in New Hampy, learned how to care for three little people (OK, that never really stops), dealt with an ankle fracture, stitches, hospitalized child on vacation, diapers, vomit, and sleepless nights more than I'd ever dreamed, learned a bit about gardening, and a lot about ourselves.  It doesn't sound like as much written out as it feels as I think about how drastic each change has been.  I think we can both look at each other and say - man, this is hard sometimes and I sure love you and wouldn't want to go through all this with anyone else.  We've both been richly blessed from our decision to marry and more so to have kids.  

So here's to many more anniversaries and birthdays to come.  Katie told me today she won't make it to her 5th birthday during one of her tantrums.  Sometimes, I wonder about that too, or if I'll make it another year.  Last week they dumped our maple syrup all over the pantry floor, then a few hours later got the regular syrup and put it all over the living room floor and our couch.  Both bottles were up pretty high, they just helped each other get up there.  For the life of me, I don't know if I'll ever figure out how to feed everyone without a major fight, a catastrophe, or multiple fights and catastrophes happening.  Oh, well.  That will be a post for another day.  Tonight, we'll just celebrate our four and five landmarks.  

And That's Why We Lock Their Door....

As always, there's so much more I wish I were posting, but we'll settle for this right now.  Last night, we set up a tent in the living room to let the girls have a "camp out."  It was too much fun for the twins and they had to go to bed in their room, but Katie seemed all right, so we let her sleep in the tent.

However, this morning at 6:20 am I heard her just outside their bedroom door.  I came out to see what she was doing and she started telling me how she was looking for me and couldn't find me.  Then she went on to tell me how she'd already been in the back yard, then out the gate to the front yard and around the house looking for me.  She said she'd checked our bed first and didn't see us (that's interesting since we were there asleep), which if you add all that up she'd been awake for quite a while.  She got herself out of our locked doors and gave herself a tour of the world.

So no more camp outs.  We may need to keep a lock on their door for years.  I'm just glad we live in such a mellow neighborhood!