A Year In Review

I think 2020 is over... which would make a year-in-review appropriate, although I'm not 100% sure we're not just stuck in the vestibule of Hell from the Inferno.

 

At any rate, here is a summary of what we did last year (assuming it was actually a year ago).  Surprisingly I have remarkably few pictures.  I guess we weren't very busy for some weird reason.

January

The year began as usual, with the disembowling of the gingerbread monstrosity house.

this would be Day 2.

The First Pickles Graduate!

So despite The Plague's best efforts, Miriam was able to have a high school graduation ceremony.

Three, in fact.

The first was at the end of May and was very informal; since everything was still up in the air and we weren't sure when or if there would be a graduation for our homeschoolers, some friends sweetly hosted a little event in their backyard.  It was the first time in months we had been with a group of people, and it was SO. GOOD.

Katie at 14

Had some time in between turkey bastings to get this post up!

So my baby girl turned 14 two weeks ago.  Whenever I look at all our baby girl clothes stored away I get a little nostalgic, but really I'm enjoying this stage with two teenage girls in the house, too.  It's nicer now that Katie has passed the age of 13, and we'll just leave it at that. ;)

For her birthday she simply wanted to spend it in total leisure: staying in her jammies, playing video games, writing stories, chatting with friends, eating special birthday foods, and not having to go anywhere. 

She is a woman after my own heart!  Since as a homeschooling mom I have the power to determine when school breaks are, I have decreed that all birthdays are family holidays, which everyone appreciates.

One of the things I am appreciating most about Katie is that she loves baking, so she insisted on making her own birthday cake: cupcakes in cones.  She had a particular artistic vision for coloring and swirling the batter.  I was happy to leave that in her charge.

she was cold

We had to postpone her birthday party because of a virus that was taking its sweet time to make it through the family; but she's planning on having a spa night sleepover with friends.  I gave her a strict budget for supplies so we wouldn't go bankrupt over face masks and cuticle oil.  (It's actually been fun taking her and her best friend shopping for the supplies.)

Here is a good representation of Katie these days:

except usually she's in jammies.  (one of the very best things about homeschooling!)

She is never without her binder of stories and pictures.  I am going to start making her purchase her own paper.  She already went through 3/4 of the looseleaf I bought on sale in August for SCHOOL purposes.

And here, to shock everyone, is Katie-at-13 vs. Katie-at-14:

13-and-change

14.  aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

So that's our Birthday Bear!  Still as creative and hilarious and sarcastic as ever, and we wuv her wots.

Bling!

Guess who got her ears pierced!!!

At 13, Katie finally decided she was ready to have holes drilled in her earlobes.  And look how pretty they are!

Audition Season... again

When you're practicing 16 bars of music for an audition, your siblings get to know those 16 bars reeeeeeally well.

Keep in mind that Miriam is not singing at her best -- she actually sounds better than this.  I can't imagine what could have been distracting her....

So even though she's currently in the middle of rehearsals for Elf Jr., to be held in December, auditions are going on for The Music Man, to be held in June -- thankfully rehearsals won't start until the New Year!  She actually got a call back to try for Marian the Librarian -- which surprised us all! (although it probably shouldn't have!)  Keep your fingers crossed!

Drama Queen

...literally.

So this fall Miriam was part of her first official community musical theater performance.   Since we're not participating in the Charlotte Mason coop this year, Miriam needed another outlet for her dramatic energies.  And this particular theater group is specifically for homeschool families (the rehearsals being from noon to 3 a couple times a week).  We had seen a couple of their productions before and were really impressed with the quality and professionalism.  So Miriam auditioned in August and got in -- and we signed over our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to the all-consuming enterprise that is Musical Theatre.  Since she had been singing in our parish's church choir for a year, her voice had grown really strong and confident, plus she was able to sing harmony which landed her her specific role:

"Isn't it time for the lovely Boylan Sisters?"

So the company performed Annie Jr.  Do you remember the scene where Annie goes with Daddy Warbucks to the radio station to announce a coast-to-coast search for her parents?  Well, the Boylan sisters were the backup singers for the radio program.  A small part, but a fun one -- they were supposed to act ditsy and had to wear those ridiculous wigs.  (You can't tell in the photo, but they all had splitting headaches from them.  The show must go on!)

For the rest of the play Miriam was in the ensemble scenes.

Hooverville (not in the 1982 movie)

"Cecile will pick out all your clothes..."

I would like you to take note particularly of those amazing black skirts.  Aren't they just the best part of all the costumes?  Truly daring and revolutionary costume design.  (Why yes, I did make them all!  How did you guess??)

"You can't explain/ their yen for NYC......." (also not in the movie)

The performances completely took over our lives for two weeks in November, what with daily rehearsals and weekend shows.   (Miriam even had to miss Katie's birthday party!) :(  But it was great fun and a really positive experience, and Miriam made a lot of good friends.

One of the really fun things about the show was all the people we knew who came to the show.  A lot of our neighbors came to see Miriam in the show, which was so touching!

Some other VIPs who came: Grandma and Grandpa!!   They were making a Grand Eastern Tour, visiting friends-and-relations along the way.

Dad B celebrated his birthday with us

It was great to have them here, of course.  The grandkids were eating up all the attention.  One day we all went to our favorite toy store and the grandparents let the kids each pick out something.  (To Miriam they gave $$ for new skates, bless them!)

Andy bonding with Grandma

Dominic LOVED Grandpa.  My dad is a baby magnet.

yours looks yummier than mine.

Grandma also had glowy toys, which made her popular among the small male set.

like moths to a flame...

Unfortunately I was super-busy while they were here (looking at you, Tech Week!), so I personally didn't get to sit down with them much, but I was glad the grandkids got to spend so much time with them and build up those important relationships.  We don't get to see each other nearly as often as either party would like, so the times we are able to visit are precious.   And it was special that they got to see Miriam perform in her first honest-to-goodness stage play.

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!

Daniel is Two picturefest!

So, even though it hasn't been over a month since the event yet, I thought I'd post about Daniel's second birthday. :)

I can't believe our baby's two.  Even with another baby on the way, I still think of Daniel as "the Baby."  I catch myself calling him that all the time.  I'm trying to train myself out of it, so that Daniel doesn't get confused.  However, whenever I ask Daniel where the baby is, he always pats my belly, so maybe I needn't worry.  I always go through premature anxiety when the baby is about to be displaced by a newcomer.  Although there are so many siblings now that I really needn't worry that anyone will go neglected or feel left out. :)

Anyway, here's our new big boy!

doesn't he look all growed up?  sigh...

The day started off right, as far as Daniel was concerned. I took the kids to Mass -- a birthday tradition that I'm trying to get started. (There's no tradition like a new tradition! ...sorry, MST3K joke there) After Mass we bought donuts and a helium balloon for Daniel, and idea for a toddler birthday that I got from another mom. He was very happy. Donuts are his favorite thing in the WHOLE world.  Then we just had fun the rest of the day, declaring it a family holiday.  (i.e. no school, hooray!)

since we were having his party the next day, I didn't do a special dessert for his birthday dinner -- he got birthday ice cream which was just fine by him

got that whole candle-blowing thing down!

mm-mmm -- good to the last drop!

I like buhdays!

the morning of his party he got an extra-special pancake -- I think he wolfed it down in less than a minute

gotta get this boy a bigger chair!

We had a great time at his party!  We invited a couple families, which means in our circle of friends that our house was full of kids everywhere. :)  It was awesome.

opening a Lightning McQueen car -- definitely the hit toy of the party! (you can tell what's the hit toy b/c that's the one all the kids fight over)

 Daniel loved all his presents -- they were all something a 2-year-old boy would love, even the clothes:

Batman jammies!  with a cape!

even Joseph picked out something Daniel would love -- a mini flashlight of his very own!

I have the power!

So, now Daniel is very two!  He throws the occasional tantrum when the planets don't align according to his wishes, but all in all he is very easy-going, compliant, and oh so affectionate.  He's developed a special relationship with my upper arm -- he is always coming over and giving me mini-hugs. :)  It's very cute, before the bruising sets in.

His language is also developing by leaps and bounds.  I haven't noticed if he's at the new-word-a-day stage yet, but he is definitely trying out lots of new words.  And the words that he can already say he is now perfecting, particularly adding final consonants.  For example, he can now say "bonk" instead of "buh."  His "hello!" is also very clear -- I'm fairly impressed that he's already mastered the "l" sound -- that's a tricky one.  We still have lots of frustrating moments of miscommunication, such as when he's trying SO HARD to tell me something Very Important about how one of his siblings wronged him, and I just Don't Understand and so he collapses on the floor into a puddle of angst.  Once again I wish I had learned more Baby Signs to teach him.  Oh well, next kid!

Daniel is such a gift to our family.  We're so blessed and grateful to have him!

we love you, Chunkles!

Miriam's Holey Ears (more wedding)

So as I pointed out earlier, Miriam now has holes in her ears!  Edy's mom and I discussed the matter beforehand, and since both the girls had been begging for pierced ears for a while, we decided it would be super fun to surprise them with a joint trip to Claire's for Aunt Katie's wedding!

We arrived in Steubenville Thursday before the wedding, so the next morning I told Miriam what we had planned to do. She was SO jazzed! Another little cousin (secret code name "Little") who was going to be the flower girl, decided she wanted to join the party, too, so Friday morning we all met up at the mall. We were quite a group -- 3 girls, their moms, MY mom, and Aunt Carlin (my mom's sister-in-law)!

Miriam was the only brave soul who was willing to go first. :)

snuggling with the Claire bear, all excited and nervous!

"Little" was so brave -- she was only six, but she did really well, and held the tears in after the first punch. "No pirates!" Aunt Carlin said -- once you do one, you've got to go through with the other!

yay!  so sparkly!

The lady who did the piercing was wonderful. She lied through her teeth -- she told the girls she was using a numbing solution to wipe their ears (it was just alcohol), and then she would pretend to pinch their earlobes and ask if they could feel it. She even had me convinced -- until I saw her fake pinching, the cheater. Well, howsome'er it was, it certainly helped Miriam endure it. I'm still deciding whether or not to tell her. :)

Aunt Katie was privy to the secret, so for her gift to the girls at the rehearsal dinner she gave them sparkly jewelry -- including new earrings!

Six weeks later (to the day) we took out the studs and Miriam tried on every single pair of earrings she has.

Since then there has been daily drama involved with taking them out or putting them in (after all, she is a nine year old girl), including a scary brush with infection, but all in all she's enjoying her new bling, and we're trying not to regret letting her have them. :)

Daniel Walks!!

Daniel took his first steps while we were on vacation.  Miriam (who is the Family Memory) informs me that we were in Akron at the time.  He took more and more exploratory steps, for funzies, throughout the trip, but preferred crawling because it was so fast.  Then when we returned home, he would always begin by walking until he fell down, then continue his journey crawling.  About a week before his birthday he decided walking was his preferred method of transportation.

I don't remember giving him permission to grow up like this.

From Baby to Boy

I'm not ready for Daniel to grow up.  I want him to be a baby forever.  He makes such a sweet baby!  Time however is against me, marching inexorably on as it does.  So to force myself to accept the knowledge, I did something drastic.

I cut his hair.

Before

During

all slicked down and supplied with O's

...aaaand After

I don't like it Mom!

He still looks very cute.... just not like my baby any more.

Pardon me while I go weep.

(At least he's still nursing, thankfully, and doesn't show any inclination to give that up any time soon!  So I still get to pretend for a little while longer.)

Family Dental News

So!  Tooth news!  I went to my dentist this week to get the permanent filling put in over the root canal. (Since it's a front tooth and not caused by decay I don't need a crown -- just a filling.)  That part was quick and painless -- the routine cleaning he had just finished was more uncomfortable.  I asked him about the need for root canals on all those other teeth, and glory be to God, he's even more conservative than I am.  He recommended against it -- he actually hinted that letting the canals calcify might actually protect the dead nerves from invading bacteria.  He said the endodontist is just planning for his own future convenience, and thinking that it's easier to do a root canal by drilling down than by operating through the gum, so why not take care of it now while we still can?  The main flaw with that, particularly from the patient's point of view, is that there's no guarantee that a root canal would even be necessary in the future.  So it would all be a lot of time, expense, and inconvenience for most likely no reason.  My dentist said if it were his teeth, he wouldn't have it done.  So no more root canals, huzzah!

Hey, anyone looking for a good dentist in the Springfield/Burke area?  We can recommend one!  We'd LOVE to recommend one!  We'd love to send more business his way!

In other family tooth news, Daniel has sprouted two teeth!  They're still itty bitty, but as soon as I can get a good picture I'll post one.  They're very cute.  (And sharp!!)

At the other end of the spectrum is Katie, who now officially has teeth falling out of her head!

I still can't get used to seeing her with a gappy smile.  It was only a couple weeks ago that Miriam lost her first tooth, wasn't it?

Katie seems to be on the fast track to Orthodontic Land as well -- her new tooth is already visible, coming up behind her baby teeth.  Her mouth is so itty bitty, I don't know how any bigger teeth are going to fit in there.

Big Day!

training wheels...

tool kit...


two wheels!



(with obligatory crash landing)

Monkey in the tree!

Miriam is shaping up to be quite the talented tree-climber (like her father before her).