Pretty, Pretty Princess

Whoever invented this game is a genius. A game in which little girls win jewelry and the winner is crowned the Pretty, Pretty Princess? Absolute genius.

Dora has all the jewelry because she was the only one playing.

She won, which is the way she likes it. :0) Don't let the "cute" fool you; this kid really plays to win, which can be tough when there are 7 older people in the house!

Three Sites I Enjoy

Two I just found today, through friends. The other I have been following for some time. I hope you enjoy them.

http://www.sizzlebop.com/index.htm

http://frugal-fabulous.blogspot.com/

http://www.celebratecalm.com/
Join his email list, it will change your life!

Twins!

Introducing our newest additions!  Please welcome...

Abraham Delacey Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley  (Tommy,  on the left) and Jenny-any-dots (Jenny, on the right)

When we moved, we decided Jackie (Juju) should be an outside cat.  She was not too keen on the idea, so we decided to bring her some friends.  A friend was trying desperately to get rid of 8 kittens, so we took 2 off her hands, hoping to fill JuJu's social void.  At first, it did not work very well.....

However she soon warmed to the idea of new little friends.  She has actually become much more affectionate since she's been outside, and since she adopted our sweet little kittens.  The other pets seem to enjoy the kittens, too.  Diego, especially, likes to play with them.

I especially like this picture.  It really shows the family resemblance, doncha think?

We have moved

Sorry I haven't posted in so long.   We moved to a nearby city and have been crazy busy!

We were completely exhausted from all of the packing, moving and unpacking...
...but we're finally finished!  We love our new home, it's nearer to our activities, and we were able to put all five girls in one bedroom!  Yay!  I really wanted this, hoping it would help them really bond tightly.  So far, so good.  The girls are already growing closer.  We have an empty bedroom that we use as a playroom, so their room just has 2 bunk beds, a twin bed and two dressers.  And it's not even crowded in there!  Thank you, Jesus!

I have uploaded lots of pictures onto this computer and will try to post more frequently.  I will post some pictures of what we have been doing the past few weeks.

Updated Happenings

We had our first week of co-op on Friday! We all had a great time! The kids so enjoyed getting to see all of their friends again. Our newly adopted kiddos did very well, I was a little nervous about how they would respond to all of the classes, but they actually did great! Three of their five classes were taught by me or their grandma, so they felt pretty comfortable. Plus they see me after each class, and we all eat lunch together. We are very excited about this semester, and everyone loved their classes! Yay!

We also moved last week. We only moved 25 minutes away, but we are much closer to our regular activities. The kids are loving the new house, and one of our bedrooms is big enough for all 5 girls to bunk together! I am very excited about this, as I have always wanted a "girls' room" and a "boys' room." With five girls and only one boy, this was not possible in our old house. Already I have seen the girls grow closer, in just a week, by bunking together. Thank you, Lord, for answering even our small prayers. We now have a "playroom" which is nice because they don't have to have all of their toys put away perfectly, all the time. The house isn't "custom" like our old one, nowhere near as "nice," but it is perfect for our needs and we are all loving it. We only had 3 weeks to move, so we feel very blessed that the Lord brought us such a great house so quickly!

During this same time frame, we also attempted to breed our little chihuahua with a friend's dog - we'll know in a few weeks whether it worked.

We kicked our cat out when we moved, she did not take very well to being an outside cat. So, we got 2 kittens from a friend, to keep her company. I have warned the girls that they may not make it to adulthood, what with the coyotes & hawks out here in the country. So far, so good, though. I think all little kids need to take care of a baby animal, so we really got these for the benefit of the new girls, as all the other kids have been through this already. Outside cats are really very easy, and the girls have spent every possible moment outside playing with those kitties! Once I find my camera (haven't seen it since the move) I will post pictures of our new little sweeties.

As you can see, we have been very busy! I will try to update more frequently. We are getting into a routine with all of our activities, so hopefully I will be able to do so.

Fall Co-op Schedule

We registered for our fall co-op on Saturday! We were able to get many of the classes we wanted, and we are very excited to start next week! Below are the classes the kids have chosen:

Baloo: Physics, Liberty or Death, Chess, & Whose Line Is It Anyway
Because Physics is an extra-long class, he only gets 4 classes. He is taking Spanish I at another co-op, and all the rest of his credit classes will be taken at home.

Padme: Dance, Watercolor Painting, French & Italian Foods, Cheers & Cartwheels, Made by Hand (a crafts class that looks really great)

Lil Yoda: Adventures in Africa (Grandma Lori's class), Dance, Sewing, Cheers & Cartwheels, Body & Bones

Because this is Wendy, Angel & Dora's first semester at co-op and because they tend to be shy in new situations, I decided to put them in classes all together. Next semester I will probably give them a little more free rein in choosing their classes. They are taking:

Adventures in Africa (with Lil Yoda, taught by Grandma Lori), On the Ball (P.E.), Acting Out (taught by me), Math Games & Tricks (also taught by me) and Lego Creations.

This should be a fun semester at co-op! I am only teaching 2 classes, both 1st-3rd grade level. I normally like to teach high school, but wanted to back off some this semester so I can spend more time with my new family. The other 3 classes periods I will be assisting in preschool.

Locks of Love, Take Two

Wendy, Angel and Dora decided they wanted to cut their hair, and donate it to Locks of Love as Padme and Lil Yoda did last summer. Actually, Wendy wanted to get her hair cut first, in honor of her ninth birthday.  She thought short hair would make her look older (she was right, don't you think?).  When Angel & Dora saw how quickly she was able to brush her hair in the mornings (10 seconds, max), they begged to cut their hair as well!  I think they all turned out pretty cute!

Angel donated 14 inches!  She also cut bangs, which has been great because she had all of these "baby hairs" that were just long enough that they were constantly in her mouth! 

Doesn't she look so cute with bangs?

Dora donated 11 inches!  She was not even scheduled for a haircut, but our sweet hairdresser had an open time slot after Angel's, and Dora begged and begged to have hers cut as well!  

Doesn't she just look adorable?

Wendy cut 14 inches, too!  Of course you have seen her haircut already, in her birthday post.  We think she looks so beautiful and grown up, and she really can have her hair fixed in 10 seconds!  This is a great hairstyle - it just won't mess up!  Good choice, Wendy!