He is Risen! (and an update on the kids)

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!!!

There are better Easter pictures, but I loved this one because everyone is being their weird self

Sorry for the long silence. We moved to a new apartment, and things have been busy. Also we don't have internet at home anymore. I've been decorating the apartment to be kind of elven & medieval, pictures pending soon.

And I've been melting down about the state of the world a lot. We've had a lot of adventures, including me dragging all 4 kids out by myself to stand in line for almost 2 hours at the polls for the primaries.

My county decided to have only a microscopic number of polling places, with 2-1.5 hour waits. I kept turning away, thinking it was lunch line, etc. Finally I realized what was going on, and at 4:45 I loaded up the kids in the car armed with cookies, apples, a double stroller, and a vow to the kids that the bad man was not going to see mommy go down without a fight, that is, standing in line with 4 kids and a double stroller in a primary that was probably decided.

We had to park 2 streets away, as all the parking was jam packed. With the help of another civic minded kind stranger, I struggled all the way to the polling station, and arrived at the line wrapped completely around a huge parking lot, right to the sidewalk, and resolutely stationed the double stroller. Isaiah announced loudly "TRUNK IS A BADGUY!" and I had to shush him before were ejected for electioneering.
At the end of that hour and a half people in the line were helping me holler out "Jenny!" and "Isaiah!" because everyone else knew their names by that point...

(I have no pictures, since I was kind of maxed out. Imagine a double stroller with toddlers running around in a line of 500 people, and you get the picture)

Isaiah did some painting. Alas, he seems to be into "performance art" as he covers the paper in more paint and water than it can hold in a frenzy, and then crinkles it up to trash. But there's still paint on him and a smile on his face....

So....this no internet thing is really good for me (more on that later) as I had become a bit of an addict (the thought of giving up internet, even on just Sundays, was too much for me), so this is helping this distracted mom focus.
Alas the blog has suffered, as I haven't yet started on my routine of checking in 2x a week at places that do have internet. I am changing that, and also, have decided to write up my posts in advance, and then just post them when I do have internet.

Jenny continues to decode the world.

“Aunt Sawah got me this from Pennsylvania. Pencils are in Pennsylvania. That's wheah pencils come fwom, thats why its called Pennsylvania.” 

I tried to sing a rendition of “Jenny had a little kraggle, everywhere tha tJenny went the kraggle was sure to go” Jenny looked very disturbed “It doesn't have legs!” watching me laugh “Mom, you are teasing me” 

I got some baskets at dollar tree with visions of my kids scurrying around helping me pick up the house. They were transformed into medieval helmets.

Isaiah lovingly arranged a basket on my head (the handle properly lined up with the chin) (wearing a basket himself), and then put a wooden sword into my hand, closing my fingers around it. I wasn't really paying attention---2 seconds later I had a resounding wallop on my head from his wooden sword.

This is an attempted selfie of Isaiah putting my helmet on (while wearing his own). He does it a lot.

 Isaiah believes in fair fight, if you aren't wearing a helmet, he won't hit you. Plus, the object of the game is to knock the helmet off....

Puzzles has a very just little soul. She is very particular about the “pantheon of stuffed animals” as Josh calls it, in their proper places. “BEEBEE” (Sweatpea) her doll, “wainbow sta” her stuffered horse, and “Panta” her panda, must all be resting around her before she can sleep. But she is equally distraught if “Foya” (Flora) and Mewudee (Melody) are not properly arranged around Jenny.

The other day, I couldn't find her purse, so I took one of Jenny's many purses for her to use. She took it, and then went and found Jenny to give it to her. She also breaks the precedent of her older siblings, by actually sharing when she's asked nicely.

Puzz is very proud of herself for helping mom out. At first it was just awful and cute, as she beamed up from sprinkling salt all over the countertops (got there by shoving a bucket thatweights as much as her for a stool) and industriously pouring water from the sink all over the floor. She looks so proudly up at me, I have to thank her. When I didn't, she just cried, it was so sad. She really wants to help. 

Late one night, I had the energy to sweep everything to the center of the room, but didn't have it in me to put the stuff away. Then puzz gleefully runs up (long story as to why she's still awake), and takes indiscriminate armfuls to dump into the toybox. Her enthusiasm and eagerness to help gave me strength for the last mile :)

Mariam is quite adept at movement without crawling. She has excellent “yaw” as Josh would say.

She is the baby diaper comercials are made of, who actually rattles a rattle for 15 minutes of amusement, instead of throwing it disinterestedly away aft 20 seconds and tearing apart sunglasses instead. She wakes up from her nap, and instead of immediate howling, bats at the baby mobile for 20 minutes. I thought her kind were a myth propagated by rattle and mobile manufacters, but it seems they do in fact exist. And then she beams at me, for just showing up.

She does like nightly feedings, or really, nightly playtimes,and goes through her cluster-feeding and don't-put-me-down phases. But she doesn't cry while making you sleep deprived, as long as you are with her, she giggles and coos and laughs appreciatively.

She is the most easygoing with all her siblings, laughing when Isaiah merely walks into her line of sight (she seems to really really like him). She smiles and puts up with all sorts of “roughly expressed love” of being carried, or moved, or hugged, or even sat on, by her sisters, all with that little friendly grin that grows more and more longsuffering, until finally, sometimes, she detects malice, and then she will cry. But as long as no offense is meant, she takes none (as I type this, Kuzzles playfully stuck her foot on Mariam's face. Mariam made eye-contact, ascertained motive, batted it off gently, made some friendly chirps, and rolled away from the foot)

Happy Easter, everyone!

Our "good" Easter Picture....