Bailey Family

My blog "broke" last fall and wouldn't let me upload pictures - said it was FULL...I deleted just a small portion....and now I have PLENTY of room...not sure what happened, but regardless - it's time to update! So, I'll post the last 4 months, 1 post at time...starting with October 2012 More projects to get the house ready to sell - all of that junk came from  underneath the house!? What on earth? It's like every old project was just dumped under there. Uncle David (my brother) went to the temple for the first time to prepare for his mission. Seth turned 10 - happy birthday (his cake was a brownie frosted) And the usual Halloween spoils - this year was - dress up as whatever you can find in the dress up clothes!

A draft I found from months ago I'd never published.... Carolyn: I wish we could have more girls. Beth: Don't you think we have enough girls? Carolyn: no, I like to have babies all over the house.

If you're coming to check out an update - come back soon!  I'm working on the picture problem so I can resume blogging ....here at the family blog ...AND on our new Edwards sisters recipe blog ....AND on my craft blog  - which is about to undergo some "remodeling" and get regular posts! ...lots of plans for 2013!

You're right, the title's probably a little much. :) SC State Fair - yea for $1 day (wish there was $1 food) but we buy the expensive greasy stuff anyways - because we love it! One man band was a big hit for the kids Pig Races! go pigs! Totem Pole project - the teacher probably suspects we helped him due to it's elaborate nature, but other than sawing the branch to length (which I didn't trust a 9 year old to do), he really did do it himself...this is stage 1 - bark removal and sanding. Probably should get a finished product picture to post... The hair wraps didn't last long - I need to read more tutorials. (No, A didn't have one - she just didn't want to be left out of the picture.) Come on...someone buy our house! :) PTA Oktoberfest - the twins danced with their kindergarten (German) classes - friends are blurred b/c I don't know who they are or if their parents would be cool with their kid's pic publicl...

Here are the few papers I found when I cleaned out my preschool notebook from last year - one week we talked about maps / directions / related things... So, we drew a map of their bedroom (one twin refused to draw for fear it might not be perfect, so I had to draw hers before the meltdown started and she just colored). The other did her own. I printed a map of the neighborhood and we marked on it how to get from home to school and (of course), walked the route to pick up older siblings. One week we talked about Teeth and dental stuff, so we counted teeth (of those that were home) and graphed it. We also graphed other things when we talked about fall and leaves, etc. (This one is upside down, but I'm too lazy to flip it around.) We collected leaves and then graphed how many of each shape. (I made the graph  in publisher based on the leaves I knew we had/were able to collect in our yard.) Same idea as the last, but after they sorted by shape an...

Self portrait by my kindergartner. I still am getting used to them being so 'grown up' and going to school. I found a bunch of preschool papers the twins did last year at home (before I got to the point where my activities got lamer and what I did do, I didn't save anything of), so I'm going to throw all those ideas up here later for others to admire and use. :)

I was trying to wait until the front reached chin length and then give her a nice even bob that could grow all together down to her shoulders...but....as she never left her 'style' in more than an hour or so and it was constantly looking scraggly and mullet like in the back, I decided to go ahead for it.  Even with the front hair still shorter than her chin (and barely long enough to tuck behind her ear), it still looks so much better. Why'd I ever put it off?  It looks like a short/medium cut with side bangs.)   It's hard to tell what it looks like from these pictures - she was my best "first hair cut" of all the kids (as a do-over, I would not have done Seth's myself - boys are hard enough as it is and he was afraid of his shadow...let alone the scissors), but she was totally excited about it - just not the "after pictures". Guess you'll just have to make an effort to see us soon if you want to see it better!

Not a very descriptive title, is it? Probably I should have gone for something like, "Beth and School" or "Trying not to turn this into a soapbox on public schools" or something like that. NOTE: This is a long "thinking" post...more article length than quick update length...so if you're short on attention, might as well skip this one. :) If I had known then what I know now, I would have planned my babies exactly when they came (maybe squished a little closer together in age on the end there, or maybe not - depending on the day). Huh? You say.  What I mean is - I want to keep them at home as long as I can (without homeschooling them), so I'm glad they were all born in the fall, or at the beginning of the year (instead of spring or summer when they turn 5 and then BAM - they're in school.) I do think having as many as possible before the first starts school is a good idea (because a baby and a school schedule didn't go so well for ...

Dear Heavenly Father, We 'sank zee' [thank Thee] for dis day. Pwease bwess Wauren [Lauren] to get out of da hostible [hospital] and pwease bwess somebody to get a job and pwease bwess da food. In Jesus name, Amen. (she forgot someone, so she added) and pwease bwess Memere's finger. In Jesus name, Amen. [again] :) I'm not sure whose job she is praying for (maybe my brother in law?), so if you need a job, consider yourself prayed for by my toddler. I love when my little ones start praying "all by myself".

Whoever said, "Wow, what are you going to do now that you only have 1 at home?" was probably thinking lots of free time to craft and sew and cook and sleep and read and run errands, ..... And while I did get a project done this week, and while it is easier to get just 1 kid out of the van instead of 3 or 5, I still have all the same stuff I did before (minus the time I spent reading with the twins last year during Alee's nap).  However, to be more specific, here's the real answer to the question. I added 2 things to my day (since last school year) 1.) I spend a little 1 on 1 time with Alee after our morning errands, work, etc. 2.) Naptime is mine again - which this week turned into 2 days of cold-recovery naps and 2 days of project (one I've been putting off for, hm, about 2 years. :) (For more details on our schedule/life and how the school year is kept in balance, stay tuned for the next post!)

Mommy: "Can you go put that back? I don't think Carolyn likes people to mess with her stuff." Alee: "I WIKE [LIKE] to mess with her stuff!"

What an exciting year - and a little sad. My twins are going to kindergarten. They are so ultra prepared, but I still miss them...It was easier to let the first two go. I made them special dresses (the smocking pattern was actually chosen for Carolyn's 1st day of school dress for Kindergarten 2 years ago...but with a 9 month old, that never came to fruition!) But I got both done this month (one was already smocked from earlier). And I made up the pattern as I went, pulling pieces from this pattern and that pattern, and following this tutorial here, and making it all up to fit my own way in the end...(thankfully, the flaws are all hidden). (The skirt is a circle skirt...so with shorts underneath, they twirled off to school...) (The dresses last week) The first day of school - story below... Natalie - a little shy, but ready to learn  Kaitlyn - my loud mouth smarty who's a little unsure if she wants to be separated from her twi...