Pigtails.

Big thanks to big sis Mary for doing a fabulous job!

Suddenly, there was a change in the discussion. A change that I believe needs to be shared with other moms who are sitting back and thinking of their dream home. I think Mary has stumbled upon the perfect dream home.

Hershey’s Kiss House. Mmhmmm. You read that right. A chocolate house. You buy your gigantic Hershey’s Kiss and you eat out your doors and windows. Once that is completed you eat out rooms, hallways, stairs and secret passages, of course.

Won’t we get sick from all this eating, Mary?

Oh, no. We are specially made to be able to eat the chocolate without getting sick.

Sign. Me. Up.

Brilliant, yes?

I did not burst her dream home bubble. I was enjoying it myself. However, in the South, it would be more of a chocolate pool than a house. Sigh. Back to dreaming……

When we were house sitting several days ago, she gave into shoe temptation again.

The family kept rubber boots on the back steps. While watering the tomato plants, Mary couldn’t resist slipping on a pair. However, she was hot, barefoot and the boots were apparently not her size.

When it was time for her to come in, she couldn’t get the boots off. Hold on. I must have another fit of giggles…..

I heard her cries for help. As soon as I saw the problem, I ran and grabbed the camera. She was so happy about that.

Breaks your heart, doesn’t it? At least she was color coordinated.

Poor Mary. Just makes me want to hug her. But look. Here comes her rescuer. Caleb handed me Sam and helped Mary pull the boots off. I really should find the girl a pair of boots.

What did this girlie desire for her birthday? Strawberries, chocolate and to decorate her own cake with a dear friend who has decorating skills. Strawberries, chocolate and yummy cake? Yes, Mary, we can make your birthday dreams come true. (Many thanks for our dear friend who “helped” with the cake.)

One wonderful thing about Mary is that she is a gal who can flex or go with the flow. We have a special “celebration” plate that is used for birthdays and other special occasions. It isn’t available right now but Mary still managed to have a celebration plate. During the first day or two of house sitting, Mary discovered a treasure among the stack of beautiful white plates. A lovely red plate. Mary adores red. I might need to make sure it didn’t accidently come home with us. She felt it was the perfect plate for her homemade strawberry muffins.

Mary wasted no time in utilizing the card making supplies Grammy sent.

As we were preparing to bake the cake, Mary discovered heart shaped cake pans. Her birthday was only getting better!

Mrs. L encouraged Mary to try her hand at cake decorating. Can you see the excitement?

I told myself about 53 times to take a picture of the cake before we put the candles in. Oops. Guess I should have told one of the girls. Beautiful cake? Yes! Mrs. L did an amazing job and it was absolutely delicious. On Thursday there was a huge chunk of it left. I was all alone in the house. It was too much temptation. I called Mary out of the woods, handed her the plate and a fork and told her not to come back until it was gone. I miss that cake.

I love this one! Her face is priceless.

We love you, Mary!!!!!!!

Oh, Mary had one other request for her birthday. She asked me if I could make her a red tie jumper with matching bloomers and a secret pocket. The fabric just arrived this week so I’ll be making her “birthday dress” a bit late. I’m also still trying to figure out the secret pocket…. Thanks to Mrs. H for the fabric!

So, we live in the South and we have bugs. This is just life. I have an unrealistic fear and dislike of bugs. I do not, however, want to pass this along to my children. I haven’t done such a great job, lol. They have seen my reactions. Oh, well.

Caleb, however, is my bug killer. He is more than happy to grab a shoe and smash a bug. Unfortunately, he is not always around when I need him so I decided it was time to stretch the girls a bit. (Not including myself.)

A perfect opportunity arose a day or so ago. We had brought a crate from outside into the bedroom. A bug joined us. Mary jumped up and let us all know there was a bug. (Please insert high-pitched girly scream.) Caleb was in the middle of a hair cut being given by Daddy Bug Killer. I felt this was a wonderful opportunity for Mary. She did not agree and kept quite a distance from the bug. Fine. Next in line: Bekah. I tell Bekah to come kill the bug. She looks at me for a moment as if she might refuse and then she finds her inner bug killing gene. She shrugs. Grabs a shoe and then smashes, violently I might say, the bug. Then to reward her for her willingness to save Mary (and me) from the gross, icky bug invader, I pulled a dollar from my pocket as her reward.

Mary was not impressed. Apparently little eyes and ears were paying close attention.

Today a spider somehow became trapped in our oscillating fan. How fun! Mary was keeping a close, but not too close, eye on him. Bam! Suddenly he fell out of the fan and fell dead on the base of the fan. Or not. He was just faking. Sneaky old spider. Mary sees him move. I am “busy” rocking Sam to sleep. (I love being a mom. Really. I do.) I delegate and instruct someone to kill it.

Who do you think jumps up to help? Mary? Oh, no.

Hannah. Yep. My adorable, sweet Hannah. She grabs the closest shoe, steps toward the spider and says to me, “You going to gimme a dollar?”

Um, no.

Thankfully, she still smashed it to little itty bitty pieces and all was right with the world.

She’s persistent. A few hours later she requested a dollar again. I told her I’d give her a dime. She didn’t seem convinced that was a good thing.

Isn’t she a cute little bug killer?

***During the typing of this blog post, guess what happened? A bug flew/crawled/invaded my desk. I squealed, jumped up from my desk and called for Eddie. As he laughed at me and shook his head, he bravely grabbed the bug and squished it to death. I told him I’d give him a dollar when I was done posting. God knew I needed to laugh. And yes, I know I am pathetic and it works for me.

Copywork is a wonderful way to practice perfect penmanship, spelling, writing and grammar. Oddly, copywork is a favorite among the Tribe. Bekah and Mary LOVE getting their copywork assignments each day. I found a little way to make it extra fun.

We have a bit of a literary contest. I go to AO Copywork, I find two books we have read and selected a passage for copywork. I print the selections out and call the girls who are eagerly waiting. Then I read the passages. However, I don’t tell them what book it is from. They have to tell me the book. Whichever girl is correct gets that passage for her copywork. If one girl gets both passages, she gets to pick which one she wants to keep and which one she passes along.

For some reason they love this “game”. I love seeing how they remember all these wonderful stories!

Here is an example:

#1 – The bureau was crowded with caterpillar jars, and the shelves with birds’ nests and cocoons on twigs, and on the mantelpiece there was a procession of minerals. Mounted specimens of butterflies and moths hung in cases on the walls, and over the bed five tacked-up snakeskins were tastefully arranged. The turtles occupied a tank cozily situated beside the wastebasket.

#2 – “A little girl – coming here, Miss Harrington? Oh, won’t that be nice!” cried Nancy, thinking of the sunshine her own little sisters made in the home at “The Corners.”

“Nice? Well, that isn’t exactly the word I should use,” rejoined Miss Polly, stiffly. “However, I intend to make the best of it, of course. I am a good woman, I hope; and I know my duty.”

Do you know these books?