Tag Archives: Charlotte

Bedtime at our house

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I did my rounds checking on the kids and thought I’d just snap a fairly typical scene about an hour after formal bedtime.

Isaac read a LOT, and had come out to tell Kathleen all about the book:

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Charlotte was asleep. Often she’s awake with her cat or just thinking, but sometimes she falls asleep quickly. Usually her bed is a mess; I fixed her blankets for her so she’d be warm.

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Nicole almost always falls asleep looking at books. This is a huge Curious George book from the library.

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Ila is often in a very silly mood when she ought to be asleep.

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Student of the Week/VIP continued

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For Isaac’s Student of the week/VIP week we were provided with a list of things we could bring in.  We decided to make two small posters of pictures and bring in a few beloved possessions.  The first one is mostly full of Isaac at different places (Arches, mountain top, Washington DC, Norris Dam, ect) the second one lists things he likes to do.  The middle one you should recognize from my earlier post:5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at schoolHere are the possessions that he chose to bring:5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (3) (He loves maps and wanted to bring the instruction booklet to a set of toys that he has because it had a map of what they looked like all put together.)

He was also allowed to bring in a favorite snack to share.  He wanted to bring in corndogs and chips, but I didn’t want to provide all that for 25 kids so we made sugar cookies in the shapes of things Isaac likes and frosted them in his favorite colors.  After we made them, I thought it would have been even neater if we made them in the shape of little gears.5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (1)On Thursday, Charlotte and I went to Isaac’s class just before lunch for his VIP presentation (many thanks to Jess for watching the other girls).  He demonstrated how to build a snap circuit and showed the class how it worked.  He seemed flustered and nervous.  He stumbled over his words a little, but he was happy to show off his things.5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (4)
He showed them his posters and talked about them: 5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (6)After the presentation, the kids got a chance to ask questions or give compliments, Isaac called on students with their hands up.  Then he got to pick 4 kids to join us for lunch at a table in the back of the room.
5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (5)After we ate, Charlotte and I stayed for recess.  Isaac was very excited to show Charlotte all the things he liked to do on the playground like here at https://www.playgroundmarkings.org.uk/playground-games/snakes-and-ladders. It also has playground markings and it’s similar to those at https://www.playgroundlinemarkings.co.uk/designs/traditional which makes them quite happy. 5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (17)

5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (16)
Charlotte had a blast.  She ran from one set of equipment to another and attracted a small group of followers (a few girls that followed her around and tried to help her). 5.9.11 Isaac's VIP at school (12)I also learned that I was not allowed to take pictures on the playground because I didn’t have permission from the other kid’s parents.

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Sisters

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Charlotte and Nicole are learning to appreciate each other.  They like to be together and they like to hug.  I would still rank Isaac #1 in Charlotte’s choices for a playmate, but I can see the bond growing between my two oldest girls.  Nicole looks up to Charlotte and tries to imitate her and wants to wear Charlotte’s clothes.  It brings joy to my heart to see them love each other

3.30.11 Charlotte and Nicole (1)

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I cut Charlotte’s hair

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Perhaps I was a bit hasty.  I realized halfway through the haircut that I was in over my head.  I have cut my girl’s hair before with no problems, but as I cut, I realized that I had IMG_7468 been gradually slanting downwards.  I tried to fix it and ended up cutting it shorter than planned.  I had a terrible time trying to even out the back and the front.  I almost Just quit and took her into a salon with her hair half cut (looking like it does in the picture to the left).  I tried sitting her in front of a mirror and a movie, but she kept turning or tilting her head just as I was going to cut.  Anyway, it took way too long, end ended up shorter than I had planned, and it looked choppy. And they have also said to me that Vampire Hair Treatment is not that costly so people with baldness or frequent hair fall can avail that treatment at affordable price.

When Ila woke up from her nap, I fed the kids and took them to a grocery store that had a salon next to it, but Nicole had a bit of a meltdown as we were leaving the store because I couldn’t fit her and my groceries in the cart and I decided that taking all my girls in for a haircut was just not going to work at that moment.  So I still haven’t taken her in to fix it, but here it is.

Before:

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After:

IMG_7476IMG_7472 Charlotte looked in the mirror and shook her head from side to side and announced:  “I like it because it has lots of angles!”  She said her father would get home and see all the angles and laugh and laugh.  That evening she proclaimed herself “angley hair Charlotte.”

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Pictures

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Zach has made some good arguments in favor of switching our online photo storage from Flickr to Picasa.  I have not uploaded any pictures to Flickr since he has made this recommendation and now I’m woefully behind.  I thought I’d share some recent shots here with commentary as I mentally prepare for the switchover.

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Many more videos

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So I’ve taken a few fun videos recently, but neglected to share them, so here they are:

This video of Ila saying the word dancing and dancing was taken before the first step videos that I posted yesterday:

This is a fun one of Nicole falling asleep at the table:

At the end where it looks like she bumps her head and wakes up, she actually stayed asleep and I carried her over to the couch where she had a proper nap.

Here’s some of Charlotte’s dancing (and some singing):

Here is one of Nicole spelling her name:

This one features Ila spelling her name:

Here’s the longer version so you can see it in context:

Ok, I think I got that out of my system.  I promise that next post will not be full of videos!

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Charlotte’s 5th Birthday

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I usually get really excited for my children’s birthdays, but sadly, this move put a damper on everything.  I did my best to make her birthday special.  I took a break from trying to pack and tried to find ways to spend time with her during the day. 

School was cancelled for bad weather, so Isaac was home all day with us.  He wanted to start teaching Charlotte school things since she was turning 5.  He started making worksheets for her as soon as he woke up and then helped her work on them.12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th Birthday (3)When Ila went down for a nap, we made chocolate ganache for her cupcakes.  12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th Birthday (6)After frosting the cupcakes, we used the leftover ganache to make a graham cracker/banana/ganache birthday treat.12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th Birthday (8)We blew up 5 pink helium balloons with our helium tank.  12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th BirthdayI tried to spend time with her as much as I could during the day.  In the evening we had the dinner of her choice (pasta) and cupcakes.12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th Birthday (33)She also opened her presents. 12.14.10 Charlotte's 5th Birthday (15)The following Saturday we had a little party for her with friends from her primary class and her second cousin Jackson. 12.18.10 Charlotte's 5th birthday party (32) They played games, had a snack, played with dress-ups, opened presents, and had cupcakes.12.18.10 Charlotte's 5th birthday party (13)

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Happy Birthday Charlotte Rose!

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Today Isaac was building Lego creations and wrapping them in paper11.27.10 Sunsphere adventure (100) for Charlotte’s birthday tomorrow.  He said “I love Charlotte more than anyone else because I made her the most presents.  I love her more than Grandma Bunny, Grandpa Bird,  uncle Bryan, Grandma Cochran, Grandpa Cochran, . . “

I thought that was sweet.  Isaac and Charlotte are the best of friends.

Ila seems to really like Charlotte, too.  They are roommates and Charlotte is a good big sister to Ila.  She likes to try to sing to her and comfort her sometimes at night when she cries.  Here is a video of Charlotte making Ila laugh:

I am exhausted right now, but I expect to write more about Charlotte soon.

I love you Charlotte!

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Stop Drinking!

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Isaac loves to read.  He enjoys reading books in bed, 10.24.10 Snuggiesreading scriptures at night with the family and pretty much any words he sees.  He has started reading billboards and signs everywhere we go.  He’ll read the name of a restaurant or other such place and ask me what it is or say something like “what does see red, save green mean.”  Our most interesting billboard conversation to date was on Sunday when he saw a sign that said “Stop Drinking.”  He didn’t understand why they would want people to stop drinking and thought it meant to stop drinking anything (including milk and water).  This sparked a rather lengthy conversation where I described all the ill affects of drinking alcohol and  tried to be as honest as I could and he asked a lot of good questions like “why would anyone want to drink that” and “do you know anyone who drinks alcohol.” 

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Zach: There’s a bus coming

Isaac: If it’s 279 don’t hit it. . . Actually, if it’s going out to pick up kids or coming back from the school full of kids don’t hit it either.

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Charlotte (after learning about/eating a fortune cookie): I knew they had cookies, but I didn’t know they had cookies that could tell the future.

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Happy Birthday Grandpa Bird

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From Isaac:image0 Isaac was originally going to write a chapter book about Grandpa’s birthday in which he surprised his grandfather by jumping out of the cake.

From Charlotte:

image1image2 image3image4image5 I wanted her to write her name on the back.  She refused to write it and said that if she wrote her name on the back then her book would be fiction and she wanted it to stay nonfiction.

From Nicole:image6 Nicole sang happy birthday as she colored, but stopped coloring when she recognized another opportunity to eat.

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Letters to Grandparents

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Here are some letters the kids wrote to their grandparents.  I had them in an envelope to send, but before I put them in the mailbox, we booked some flights for grandma and decided to just give them to her in person.image0 Isaac was going to write a letter to each grandparent, but then he realized how much work writing is for him and decided just to have grandma tell him he loves him too.image1 This is the longest letter Charlotte has hand-written to date.  The pink person in the red box is Charlotte.image2

And this one is from Nicole.

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The hugging spot

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Charlotte insists that she walk along the rocks along the sidewalk.  When she gets to the highest spot, she announces that she is “as tall as she can be” and I give her a big hug.10.26.10 walking on rocks

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Feeding the 5,000

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Charlotte drew this picture in primary today: image0There’s something artistic about the picture to me.  She said it was a picture of Jesus feeding the people the fish and the loaves.  (Can you find Jesus?  He’s the one holding fish and loaves in his hand.)  She said they were at church and they were hungry and he fed them.

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Grandmas just like Red!

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Charlotte insists that her Grandma Cochran’s favorite color is red.  9.30.10 outside the gymThe funny thing about it is that grandma’s favorite color is actually blue-green.  Charlotte refuses to believe anyone who tells her that red is NOT Grandma’s favorite color, including Grandma herself.

Today she told me that Grandma Bunny would really like some red framed mirrors because red is Grandma Bunny’s favorite color.  She proclaimed that all grandmas’ favorite color is red and that when she becomes a grandma, her favorite color will be changed to red too.

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Charlotte and the December Girl Book Club

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Charlotte’s favorite book lately is The Night Before Christmas.  She “reads” it to Ila every night and has been teaching Ila all about Christmas.  I often hear Charlotte in her room singing or talking to Ila. 

10.3.10 December Girls (1)

Ila seems to really like her big sister, Charlotte and Charlotte seems to like having such a sweet adoring sister.9.13.10 roommates (2)

9.13.10 roommates

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A Visit From my Mom

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My mom came down to Tennessee to help while Zach recovered from his surgery.  She 4962941161_a4991147b3_b arrived on Friday night and was able to stay with the kids while I picked up Zach from the hospital and then got his perscriptions.  Zach was miserable all week and barely emerged from our room.  He ate almost nothing and mostly just wanted to sleep the week away (perhaps he will post more details about his torturous recovery). His reclusive recovery meant that my mother and I spent the entire week taking care of the kids together.

Charlotte really enjoyed lots of one-one time with her grandmother.  They played games and read together and Charlotte invented several new kinds of hugs just for Grandma.  On Thursday when I asked her if she wanted to go to the library with me for some one-on-one time she said “no, I like grandma Bunny more than you, mom.”  Charlotte is generally always eager for time with me, so I could tell that she was loving every minute with her Grandma (and I wasn’t worried, I know deep down she loves me more).4980163876_c490863cbe_bNicole was charming and cute, as always, and she took to her grandma right away.  Nicole gave her Grandma great hugs and Grandma enjoyed hearing her cute funny vocabulary.  When I took Isaac to school in the morning, Nicole came with me a few mornings and was very worried when Grandma didn’t get in the car too.  She’d start to cry and call out “Grandma, where are you?”  On Friday Grandma followed us to the gym in her car instead of riding with us.  Nicole fell to pieces when she saw Grandma get into her own car.  She screamed and cried and called out “Grandma, where are you?” and didn’t calm down the whole drive.4979529591_ff9f0bf1e9_b (1) Ila is still mostly a mommas girl, but on Thursday when I went to Isaac’s school, Ila finally let Grandma hold her and play with her without crying and was good the whole time I was gone.  She even ate the green beans that Grandma fed her.  Grandma was especially impressed with Ila’s great skill in playing with toys with her feet.4979542515_ce9453b834_bIsaac really enjoyed reading with Grandma.  He read some books to her and listened as she read to him.  Grandma remarked on how neat it was to read with him because he asked such thoughtful and intelligent questions and he really seemed to be enthralled with every topic they read about.  Grandma’s visit also gave me the opportunity to spend some time with Isaac at school which he was very excited about.4979568185_40fb3389c5_b

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For Grandma

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Because we miss you a lot and wish you were here.

Charlotte and Nicole Dancing:

Informative little Nicole:

Ila eats, claps, and “talks”:

Sorry, no Isaac video, I’ll have to capture one of him afterschool sometime for you.

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