Lisy, Rachel, Benjamin and Samuel showing off their St. Patrick's day finery.Hello! Yes, I'm still here. There's really no reason I haven't written lately. So here's a summary of the last 2 and a half months (and a whole lot of pictures for the fun of it):
-Valentine's day was fun. During dinner we turned off the lights and lit candles, and Lisy started singing the happy birthday song. Then we went around the table saying what we liked about each person. The kids really enjoyed it and fell into a fit of happy giggles.
-We visited the zoo, and I took too many pictures. I was surprised at how small the Boise zoo is compared to Hogle zoo, and yet we didn't see everything. I look forward to going back.
-Spring is extremely windy around here. Naturally we flew a kite. The boys each had a turn flying the kite, and they both did a decent job keeping it up in the air. Lisy was very excited and hopped around as she watched the kite fly.
-We visited Devin and Maran to celebrate Courtney's first birthday in March. It's always fun to visit family. At church someone asked if Rachel and Courtney were twins - nope, just cousins. The adults played many games of "Settlers of Catan," while the kids played with the 6-year-old neighbor girl.
-Thor the guinea pig can now run all over his cage, and he sprints around in circles whenever anyone enters the room. You'd think he would be used to me, but he is still skittish when I feed him. Whatever was wrong with his foot is now better, so it was probably a broken leg. He is also quite large - I hope he stops growing soon.
Samuel is feeding Thor a dandelion stem. Apparently Thor doesn't like the flowers or leaves.Who know a guinea pig could be so picky?
-Rachel now has 6 teeth and cruises everywhere. She has developed an off-beat sense of humor for a baby. She can climb up and fall down the stairs, for which we now have a gate. She makes a beeline to my laptop whenever I open it up - she likes hitting the keys.
-Lisy is laissez-faire about potty training, which has stalled, but at least 
she hasn't reverted back to diapers. I've upped the reward system: she can now earn up to 5 M&Ms per bathroom visit. She's slightly more interested now. Almost every day she has to wear a beautiful dress because she's a beautiful princess (or boo'ful, in her words).
-Benjamin's creativity is really obvious now that his speech has gotten clearer. His speech therapist says he picks up the sounds amazingly fast. She says his behavior is better, too, and that he's ready for kindergarten now. He is the self-declared watchdog for his younger sisters. He is quick to take away something they should not have, which usually leads to someone crying. He yells "choking hazard!" if he sees Rachel holding anything small.
-Samuel lost his second tooth. He now has a huge, gaping hole in his bottom teeth. I recently attended a parent/teacher conference. It was so much fun! 
She said that he makes her day better when he's there; he shows leadership qualities; he is very intelligent; and he can be anything he wants to be when he grows up. The only problem is that kindergarten isn't challenging enough for him.
-Dominic's job is going very well. As a matter of fact, he has a new client because someone requested him. They're also paying him the higher bilingual rate, because he has 2 Spanish-speaking clients. He put up shelves in the office, and he is going to build a bunkbed for the boys.
-I finally got back on my thyroid medication, and I don't feel tired all the time anymore. I'm currently working with the Cub Scouts. My boys are very excited to become scouts one day and to do fun things like the pinewood derby. I am also trying to get the paperwork together to buy the house; being a cluttered and disorganized person, this is a difficult chore for me.Well, that's our life in a nutshell. We're happy, mostly healthy, and life if going in the right direction. I'll try to post a bit more often, but I give no promises.
Double pigtails! I love it!
