Resurrecting the Blog

With Facebook and various other social media, this blog has been neglected and idle for some time.  While I've gotten out of the habit of lengthy posts and don't know if I'll use it the way I did before, I very much miss having this resource to look back on for updates on the kids' progress, antics, and milestones.  So I'm going to attempt to resurrect it with more frequent short updates and anecdotes.  We'll see how it goes.

Here's one short one.  I was filing my nails the other night and Zae wanted to use the file.  She proceeded to stick in into her sock and declare that she was using it as a "honk-shoo," which is our onomatopoetic snoring noise, and also, apparently, confusingly similar to "shoe horn."

General impressions of the kids these days:

Mazie:
9 years old, 4th grade, loves writing, has two close girlfriends (Mae and Tia) who are similarly good kids, school-focused and creative.  Caring, kind, and helpful big sister.  Got Zae all ready for bed tonight.  Independent and self-sufficient, but also social and great company. 

Athena:
6 years old, 1st grade.  Doing great with her reading and writing.  On our recent trip to California and Washington, she kept a little journal with notes and drawings of our trip.  Loves school and lights up when she learns something new.  Still strong willed, but less volatile than a year or two ago... growing up.  Loves her sisters... plays creatively and in different ways with each of them.  Read Zae a book at bedtime tonight.  Best friend is Lucy (although they "break up" sometimes, but always get back together.) 

Zae:
2.5 years old, preschool (Patchwork, aka "Paige's House.")  A riot.  Goofy.  Like her sisters, super verbal and confident.  If we're at a restaurant or a park and there's a kid her age or a little younger, she'll walk right up to them, sometimes as close as nose to nose, and see how they react.  Recently pottytrained, still takes a bottle (bad / lazy parents), moved out of her crib to a toddler bed (briefly) when we moved out of our house a couple of months ago for our remodel... now sleeps on the bottom bunk with Mazie while Athena has moved to the top.

Some pics...