Mundane and Magnificent

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Many Faces of Claire

Claire's facial expressions are revealing and funny. My guess at what they mean...

"Deedle deedle do." [Her head moves back and forth.]

Touchdown!

I am tired of taking pictures.

Donuts!

Cheese! I am a HAM!

Look at me. I'm C R A Z Y!

Oh my goodness!

I am the center of attention.

Plllbbbbhhhhh

Oh nooooooo.

W A C K Y

Sunday, January 23, 2011

We've spent the last week operating an infirmary. Chad had the flu, Kate had the flu and strep throat, Claire had strep throat, Charlee the flu and an ear infection, and I had strep throat. It's been a very long week with most of us at home most of the time. We were hoping for massive improvement in time for Kate's birthday, but it didn't happen. We postponed her party until next weekend and celebrated quietly at home.

Kate's just getting to the age where she understands that she'll get gifts on her birthday. But she's not quite old enough yet to make a list or be disappointed if she gets something she hasn't asked for. Since we were stuck at home, we focused on doing whatever Kate wanted for the day including: donuts for breakfast, watching Tinkerbell movies more than once, playing puzzles, rubbing Kate's back as much and as often as she wanted, and not taking a bath.

We asked her many times what she wanted for her birthday dinner, but all she would say was "cake." I think she was too sick to really want to eat much. We ended up getting Mexican takeout thinking she'd eat chips and queso, but even that wasn't appealing. Chad and I enjoyed "boat drinks" aka margaritas in celebration of 4 years as parents.

Despite the fact that she's been sick, It's been very fun to be around her for 9 days straight. She has been concerned about Charlee's illness, patting her head and talking to her softly. Her interest in letters and reading is strong--she often asks what things "say." Her imaginative play takes her from being a mommy to taking airplane trips to being a princess and more.

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting in the shape of a heart. Kate's been talking about wanting a heart cake for about 6 months. I didn't bake a cake last year and suffered major Mom guilt as a result. My Mom always made our birthday desserts from scratch. I've decided I'll give up lots of other things, but cake baking's not one of them. We're calling this cake "flu cake" since it was coughed on multiple times (as you can see). Don't accept any chocolate cake coming out of our house anytime soon.