Got Fish?

It is mainly Katie's responsibility to feed the fish, and she does a great job, hardly ever having to be reminded. As she was feeding the fish this morning, she began to talk about baby fish....The conversation between Katie and Beth hit my pre-coffee ears something like this, " Babies.....blah blah blah.....fish....blah blah blah.....Mommies, fish, babies.....blah blah blahblah." It wasn't until they began squealing with delight that I finally took notice. Of the baby fish in our tank. All 28 of them.

Who was the Mommy and Daddy? We're not sure, but the babies look more white-ish and brown-ish, so we're guessing that Strawberry (the brown fish with scary pink eyes) and Vanilla (self-explanatory) are the culprits. Unless, of course, another 28 fish appear tomorrow looking black-ish, in which case our fish tank is a baccanalia.

So, anyone know what we are supposed to do with over 30 fish in a tank that is supposed to hold less than 10?????

What am I complaining about?

On the way home from school today, Katie brought up something that she has been thinking over.

"I know a way that Mommies get a break," she announced.

She had overheard Chris, just last week, explaining to Becky that we desperately needed her to babysit because we "needed a break." So I guess Katie began to think over whether we were really entitled to said break, and her conclusion was a resounding, "No."

"Mommies put their kids to bed very early," she explained to me, "and I always hear you and Daddy laughing downstairs when I am in bed. So see -- you DO get a break. And you get it every single day."

Oh. Problem solved, I guess.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Consider this a big, grubby hug and kiss for all of you! :) As you can see, our morning began with a lot of candy (with some pancakes and eggs thrown in for good measure, but mostly it consisted of chocolate.) I'll maybe post more pictures of the other girls once we're all cleaned up and looking more respectable.

V-day around here is usually pretty casual and low key. We gave the girls little buckets filled with candy, and some mini coffee cups (for hot chocolate, of course.) Later on, I'll get some chicken nuggets for the girls, and Chris will pick up sushi for us while Claire is in ballet class, and we'll probably eat it while watching some season 2 Battlestar Galactica. We tend to feel overdosed on big holidays this time of year, what with three birthdays, Christmas, New Years, AND our anniversary all coming within a few weeks of each other. So we all just try to be especially considerate of each other today, and pig out moderately on chocolate. :)

This and That

Some random stuff:

The Lobers had their baby! Her name is Isabella (Ella) and she is beautiful! I had the privilege to hold her just over an hour after her birth, and let me tell you......it is a dangerous thing to let any woman of childbearing age hold a newborn! But never fear, I immediately recollected that this tiny darling would not be waking me up in the middle of the night.....and there's a few already living in this house taking up that position. But, anyways, we are just thrilled for the Lobers, and we are honored to have been asked to be her godparents! This means I now have 2 "godchild" ornaments to missplace every Christmas. :)

On an unrelated note: Guess what? Katie and Beth are in ballet class with the daughter of one of the Ravens. (One of the pretty important ones) This, of course, was not discovered until Chris picked them up from class one night. Pretty cool!

SNOW!!!!!!

We love snow! Snow days are one of the things that live up to all of the "magic of childhood" hype that everyone always expects life with small children to provide.

Katie and Claire both woke up in the pre-dawn, because they were so excited about the snow. It was then a loooong few hours for them as I had to wait until I could let them out without waking up all of the sleeping DINKs in the dozen or so houses surrounding our "common area." So to keep them preoccupied we made about a million valentine's day crafts. Katie even constructed some kind of paper-house, complete with cut-out animals to live in it. It's actually really cool. Then we had a huge breakfast (that took me a proportionately huge amount of time to cook, to the girls' frustration). Then, once the kitchen was straightened up and the girls were all bundled up, Chris took the older three out to finally play in the snow. And they loved it! Snowball fights, snow chairs (which they, for some reason, are obsessed with), and an unfortunate dog-attack later (no one is hurt, don't worry!) and the girls were cold, tired, and very very happy. Abbie and I, who had been napping during all of this, were also very, very happy. :) Then later that afternoon, I went out with the girls again (Abbie stayed inside and watched from the window) and we completed the snowman begun that morning. I love making snowmen!

So, it's been a good day. Chris just read them two chapters from the current book, and they are now headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Mmmmm, snow days, You just can't beat it!

Catching up on anticdotes

It's been a while since I've really updated this, so here are a few gems from the mouths of my children, for your reading pleasure.

Beth, from under the covers of her bed, upon being asked why she was crying: No-one takes care of me. I have to take care of myself.

Katie, watching the snow coverage on the news: Why do they talk about how much snow there is? Everybody already knows that, it's not really news.

Abbie, with a wicked grin when she should be taking a nap, "Poopie." (She was not poopie -- it was a ruse to trick me into taking her out of her crib.)

Claire, after having a rough day getting along with Katie, "Beth is my best friend! I love Beth!"