You can call him . . .

. . . Ice Dog.

He no longer answers to "Jonah."

Easing My Conscience

Yesterday I bought Ruby a Thumbelina doll.
Partly because she chose a Thumbelina Halloween costume,

but mostly because I feel so awful about her hair cut.

Because it was my fault for leaving the scissors down.

Honestly, I don't think she really cares.

She told me today that her hair is beautiful.

But buying the doll made me feel a little better,

and she was pretty happy to get a gift, whatever the reason.

Here she is this morning, with her new toy and her new 'do.'

I made her a really wide (to cover the mullet) headband
to wear to church today. She was thrilled.

Okay, she wasn't thrilled after I put it on her,
but she agreed to wear it until Nursery.

In news unrelated to Ruby's hair,
the boys' Primary Program was today,
and they were awesome.
These kids seem to have no fear of audiences.
They do NOT get that from me.

It will grow back . . .

This week started off as a good hair week for Ruby.

She let me comb her hair each day,

she wanted me to put bows or clips in it,

and she left them in all day.

I think she looks so cute!

But today, we took a few steps back in the hair department.
Just as I finished trimming Ruby's bangs,
the oven timer went off, and I ran to get the bread
out of the oven. I didn't give the scissors a
second thought until I was just about finished
with the bread. Right about then,
Maxwell shouted that Ruby had the scissors.
By the time I got back to the kids,
the damage had been done.
Ruby's cute little bob is now part mullet and part mess.
(these photos don't do the cut justice, but will give you an idea of the damage)

She seems pretty happy with her handy work,
and Jonah backed her up, telling us how pretty his sister is.
When Ruby realized that I was sad,
she told me she was very sorry, and that
she would "never do it again."

I really hope that she WON'T do it again.
I hope that I can find a really cute hat for her to wear
in our family pictures next month.
And I hope that e v e n t u a l l y,
Heidi can work some of her magic for us.

Krispy Kreme Part 3 (and some freelance photos)

Today the Joy School kids went on a field trip to

Krispy Kreme. Jennifer was teaching this time,

but Ruby and I tagged along anyway.

Here's the group, plus a couple of siblings.

Jennifer and I expected the field trip to be pretty easy,
after all, we only had 5 kids, as opposed to the
humongous group that we took last year.
However, this little group was super active.
I think the two of us earned our doughnuts.

When we got home, I hurried to get ready for my
dentist appointment, while Ruby and Jonah
made off with the camera and staged a
photo shoot in our basement.

Go here to see the first Krispy Kreme field trip, and to find
out WHY we go to a doughnut shop for educational purposes.

Thank You FB

Facebook seems to get a lot of flack, but

I think it's so cool to get on there and to find

friends that I haven't seen or talked to in years!

Not too long ago, I connected with a cousin that I

hadn't seen for 7 years. He and his family came to town

last week for a wedding and they stopped by our place.

It was great to see them, and to catch up a little.

We managed to get a few group shots of all the kids
(not without a bribe, but still . . . getting 9 kids in one shot isn't easy).

The biggest difference that I noticed between our

reunion last week, and seeing each other years ago

was the number of distractions and interruptions.

7 years ago, we each had one little boy,

and while we talked, the two boys mostly played or

sat happily on our laps. Trying to have a conversation

with 7 little people running around is really difficult.

I think maybe next time, we'll have to snag some

unsuspecting babysitter and go out to talk. :)

31/52

Holding Milo and talking to family this week.

photo by Ruby

Baby Bentley

I found this photo of Bentley and his Grandma R*

while I was looking through an old album today.

Usually I think Milo resembles Maxwell or Jonah,

but 5 month old Bentley and 5 month old Milo

really do look a lot alike. Don't you think?

30/52

John caught Ruby and me cleaning out

our garbage can last week.

Glamorous, huh?

It's fun when John takes a picture on his own. :)

Walking Man

Milo is finally old enough to enjoy The Walker!

Some of the other kids were ready at 4 months,
but it's just been this week that Milo
has been happy playing in The Walker
while I work in the kitchen. It's wonderful!

The Walker seemed kind of expensive when we
bought it for Bentley, but I think that we've more
than gotten our money's worth out of it.

(Bentley, Maxwell,
Jonah, Ruby)

Treating them Right

After school today, the kids and I made these treats.

The process was really messy, but the kids loved them.

Even Mikey made a couple of treats!

Milo didn't get any of the goodies,

but he did take his 4th consecutive morning nap!
What a great way to celebrate his 5 month milestone.

29/52

Saturday afternoon multitasking:

working on a lesson for church,

supervising Milo's nap,

and holding Jonah till he fell asleep

(he fell asleep around 3:30pm and slept till 7:00am -

camping out in the backyard the night before really wore him out).

Ruby Loves Milo

Two Peas in a Pod

Jonah and Ruby have been spending a lot of time

together lately. Ruby likes to chase Jonah, and

he likes to tease her. It can be cute, or annoying. :)

Yesterday, John took the two of them
swimming for the second/last time this summer.

Their fashions sense is similar:
swimming suits and snow boots.

Today was Jonah's first day of Joy School.

Last year we had 8 kids in Joy School,
this year we have 3 - and Ruby.

Who really isn't in Joy School,
but gets to help me when it's at our house.

The Best Thing of His Life

Jonah had his first piano lesson yesterday.

He told Mikey that taking piano was going to be

"the best thing of my life!"
After his lesson, he told me that his favorite part

of piano lessons is jumping on the trampoline.

Hmmm . . . that's not actually part of the lesson.

It's what he was doing in his teacher's backyard

while I was waiting, and waiting for him

after the lesson in the front yard. Nice.

Maxwell is almost as excited as Jonah.

He asked me, "Is Jonah going to have to practice

piano every day from now on?"

Yes, he is.

Maxwell, "YES!"

Now Jonah won't get his chores done quite so fast.

Maxwell is a fan of equality, and it really

bothers him that Jonah has fewer chores.

I'm glad we could make a couple of our kids happy. :)