Poofers and Doo Doo

I've said it before, and I will say it again, "A well-loved daughter has a thousand names."

Our girls are well-loved.

And Kensington has picked up my habit of using pet-names. She calls Raleigh "RaWa," Madeline she calls, "Matt-O" or "Madge," and Emery . . .

She calls Emery "Poofers" or "Poofie."

I don't know why. There are no origins to the name.

But I guess that's okay. Because Emery calls Kensington, "Doo Doo." It's her baby-fied way of saying, "Choo Choo," which is what I call Kensington.

Would anyone like to be enlightened on the evolution of the nicknames around here?

Kensington used to make a sound like this when she was a baby: "BRWAAAAH." Like a train engine. So I started calling her "Choo Choo." Of course, that evolved into Choobie, Choobers, Kensington Lou Choo, and all sorts of Chooberlicious names. Most people, adults and friends at school and church included, call her "Choobers." The best was when we first moved here, and I was registering the older girls for school, and I called across the room, "Choobers!" as she was running away from me, and two people looked at each other in disbelief, and one of them mouthed to the other, "Choobers?" My mom and I were laughing so hard we were crying. It was funny. And of course, there's Miss Erika over at Creekview Elementary who calls out "Choobers!" as soon as we'd walk in the door, and she would make Kensington her own tardy slips like this: "Chubbers." I never had the heart to correct the spelling. I mean, how can you really determine the spelling of a nickname like that? Would I be like, "Um, no, actually, it's spelled like this . . . "

Raleigh's first nickname was "Turtle" because of how she would stretch her fat little cheeks out from her neck. It was the cutest! One time we were having family prayer, and Dallas accidentally called her, "Crawleigh," which was actually pretty accurate since she was learning to crawl at the time. I busted out laughing, and teased him for a long time. I just do that. So her name evolved from Crawleigh to Kroggies to Krogs and then on to Miss Krogsworth and other names like that. It just fits.

Madeline is our Miss Murfle. Dallas wanted to give names to all of the girls' Little People in a train set that Aunt Trina gave us (before he knew they already had names.) He named the brown-hair-and-glasses girl "Miss Murfle." Madeline had this wild curly red hair, and our good friend and next-door neighbor Chris started calling Madeline "Miss Murfle." It was hilarious, and it stuck. She's also our Miss Middle Critter.

Emery began as "Sister Sue" because she was the new sister. That turned into Sue Sue for short. Don't you love nicknames for nicknames? Sue Sue became Shoo Shoo and then Sushi Pie. We still call her that sometimes, but the most recent is Moo Moo, which is short for Moo Cow, which is what I started calling her for awhile. I don't know why.

And now she is "Poofers" to Choobers.

Quick sort-of-related trivia . . .

What name did the kids use to make fun of Dallas when he was little?? (Those little meanies . . . ) I will tell you tomorrow!

A Bunch of Somethings

When the girls were younger, if they called each other "a bunch of nothing," that was the ultimate insult. "You're a bunch of nothing!" That is mean. Good thing they're past that.

Here are a bunch of everyday somethings.

I've mastered the waterfall french braid. Here it is on Raleigh's hair.

Madeline, did you forget to put your napkin on your lap??

Choobies and Dallas enjoyed some bonding time during Valentine's Day week over a homemade apple pie (homemade crust!) that I made with love for Dallas.

Raleigh and Madeline loved their little cakes and treasures for Valentine's Day. (I will never buy the "Red Velvet" cake mix from ALDI again, even though I still love ALDI. It causes cancer - I just know it - because there was hardly one recognizable ingredient in the whole thing, and it tasted terrible. Don't ask me why I bought it in the first place.)

Food just tastes better when it is a monkey food face.

Grammy and the girls enjoyed looking at my old scrapbooks. We couldn't believe how much Emery looks like me when I was her age. I love your new haircut, Mom!

Raleigh can do the splits! Dallas can, too. See him in the back?

Dallas and Madeline changed the brake pads - woot woot! I love a man who can take care of his family!

Raleigh put Emery's swimsuit on over the top of her sleeper, and she felt beautiful. She went into the living room and spun in circles.

Mirror tricks . . .

Raleigh

Choobers

Madeline

Raleigh's always up to something. Emery is clueless here.

We had a really FUN, well-done talent night for the Activity Day Girls called "Talents, Skits, and Banana Splits." And that's what it was - a night showcasing the girls' talents, mingled with corny skits, and then we had banana splits for dessert. It was such a low-key, great activity, and our wonderful group of girls did an amazing job! Raleigh and Madeline performed on the piano, and here is Raleigh with her friend Caroline.

It's been awhile since I worked on a creative project, but last week, a couple of hours before a baby shower, I made this:

Outside

Inside

And this:

She had a nautical theme, so I went all out - down to the packaging:

The label is from The Graphics Fairy.

Lue Lue had a big-girl birthday . . . she's TWO!

She's holding a cute dress that Grammy made for her.

But I have to say that this owl (also made by my mom) is even cuter. And so is Kenda's new haircut!

Emery had some good bonding time with BoBo. Can't get that girl to hold still sometimes.

The birthday beauty.

I thought I was such a cool mom that I had to take a picture of this one. We had our first warm-weather-Saturday with nothing scheduled, and we were all home all day long. The girls went outside to play around 9:00 a.m., and to encourage them to stay outside and BE KIDS (and not have to rely upon Dallas and me for entertainment), I brought them and their friend Priscilla a picnic on the trampoline. They devoured it all and stayed outside until 5:00, even helping our neighbor prune trees and bushes and haul branches out into the woods. Those Matthews girls know how to work!

And that's what we've been up to.

Not So Super Tuesday

I had a doozy of a day today - one of those days where the unexpected happens, and it just doesn't match up with what you had in mind. Like when Kensington woke up with a fever today . . .

. . . and threw up in the car right as we drove into our parking spot to vote. We came back an hour later all fresh as a daisy with Emery nodding off to sleep in her car seat. I tried to keep her awake with all sorts of mean-mom tactics, but nothing worked. She slept through the entire voting process and then for another hour-and-a-half once we came home.

That was nice.

And I spent the rest of the afternoon taking apart the car seats and washing the covers, making dinner (which was not-so-good), randomly making strawberry jam (because strawberries were 79-cents-a-pint at ALDI), and other things I can't remember now.

One of those kinds of days.

I do remember taking these pictures of the girls doing homework in random places in the house:

The Storage Closet

The Shower (on top of a car seat, which was also up for a bath)

And now everyone is gone to Scouts, Activity Days, or off to sleep.

And I am enjoying the quiet.

Kensington's Study of Proportions

Lunchtime

These girls make me smile because they make each other smile. When Kensington comes home from preschool and we all eat lunch together, it is a happy time of day!

And one of the blessings I have right now in life is providing good, healthy, colorful, nutritious food for them. It really makes me so happy to put good food into their little bodies.

Unless you're like Emery and prefer to eat your plate.

Sweet Cousin Love

Valentine's Boxes

I love projects.

I do not love messes.

I love my girls.

I do not love their mess.

I decided to be a cool mom Friday afternoon, and this is what we made with potato stamps, red, pink, and white paint, cereal boxes, and craft paper:

Turns out it was a success!

Even little Shorty here got into the action even though she couldn't see anything going on above her. But . . . she had important business to attend to.

Lil' Scrumptious.