March

Highlights: 

These pictures appear to be in reverse order, so if you prefer to see them chronologically, start at the bottom. :)

We took a trip to Florida to visit Bryan's parents. The beach was a sadder trip than last year because Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers directly, so the infrastructure was all decimated. Also, we managed to arrive just after red tide, so there were dead fish washed up everywhere. The children were not impressed. The rest of our trip was fun, though.

Shortly after our Florida trip, several of my siblings came to visit with their families. We all got to meet Michael, who I'm sure was not at all overwhelmed by the abundance of new faces. We also celebrated Julian's birthday, wherein my children learned  that while Aunt Justine decorates cakes, Aunt Jacque sculpts them. My kids definitely got the short end of the cake making stick. A request for a dragon cake at his next birthday was promptly filed by Matthias.

At some point there was a discussion amongst my family about which uncle was the tallest, and someone asked if Josef was allowed to fluff his hair up before measuring. Then it was pointed out that if hair counted, James could gel his and gain more height than Josef could. Jillian entered, claiming that if all the title of "tallest uncle" required was having taller hair then she stood a good chance. But she forgot about how long my hair was. Bryan taped my hair to the ceiling to measure, and I'm pleased to announce that at 100.5 inches (8'4.5") I am officially the tallest uncle. Yes, there's a picture. I look like a steeple.

Pictures:

Two boys reading together:

"It's a train!"

These dance moves :) Theodore usually dances on the rug, and he didn't let it being rolled up against the wall stop him!

Kaitlyn turns 8:

Gretchen's new pixie cut:

Smiths dancing in the kitchen:

Theo and Sam looking similar:

Train set gets a lot of use when cousins visit:

Playing in the curtains:

A board game:

Proving that I am the tallest uncle:

Our trip to Florida:

Playing on a super long escalator:

The packing grid:

Olivia and Elaine play at the nursing home:

Florida pictures:

February

Highlights:

All of Theodore's pants have holes in them, probably because they've been through at least one other boy before making it to him (and that's best case scenario). Pajamas I just lop off above the knee and call them shorts, but for regular daily wear he needs long pants, so I've started patching. I don't have jean patches on hand, but I do have a fabric room! I went downstairs, picked out some scraps he would like, and started carrying around a sewing kit to patch tiny pants while I'm waiting for lessons.

Apparently making elaborate Valentine's Day boxes is a thing. In the past I've been able to get away with giving the girls some heart wrapping paper and a cereal box, but this year Kaitlyn had dreams. She wanted a flamingo. In the name of using up even more fabric scraps, I convinced her to do a patchwork thing using shades of pink. We painted glue on the box and stuck scraps on and then made some wings and a head out of more cardboard and scraps. I think it turned out pretty neat! I am not sure I want to have to do this every year, though.

Pictures:

Theodore's patches: 

Olivia looking very grown up playing piano:

Dinosaurs!

Picture with the boys:

The best toy -- a broken necklace chain:

Kaitlyn's valentine box:

Gretchen school photos:

January

Highlights:

Grandma came over to stay with Theodore while the rest of us went snow tubing with Bryan's siblings. It wasn't too cold, but that didn't matter because they use mostly artificial snow anyway. The kids had a great time, especially when their lower weights meant they flew a little going over the hills. Matthias needed help getting out of his tube because he didn't have long enough legs to leverage himself out. The moving sidewalk back up the the top was an exciting adventure to navigate with children, but we managed. By the end they were even getting pretty good at maneuvering themselves and their giant tubes onto the belt without slipping. Two hours of tubing is a long time, so we were pretty ready to go by the time our reservation was over. We got some hot chocolate before we left, which was a popular decision.

Catholic Schools week was at the end of January, and Gretchen and her friend Ava saw some blue fuzzy fabric and decided to make matching pajamas for pajama day. This was a bigger project than anticipated, and we did not leave nearly enough time for it, so Gretchen and Ava's parents ended up doing most of the sewing. The self drafted dream included facing the fuzzy side in -- for comfort. I got to add a strip into one arm that was cut a little to skinny, and did some makeshift gussets in the armpits for better movement (thanks to Ava's grandmother for that suggestion!). Both got done in time, though, and they proudly wore them to school.

Pictures:

Trying to make creepy crawlies:

A visit from Rudy and August:

Justine wanted pictures to put on Dad's mug:

Trying Jacque's fitted sheet mess containment method:

Snow tubing at Mad River Mountain:

Gretchen (with some help from me) made this nightgown for pajama day at school:

Euphemia does not trust Kaitlyn:

Video games:

Bryan turned this candy cane into a carrot and was very proud of his creativity:

Happy (scary?) Kaitlyn:

We got Kaitlyn tattoo pens for Christmas. The first thing she did:

More snow tubing pictures:

And hot chocolate afterwards:

Bonus Post: Sound Bites 66

Matthias: Can you get me a stick?
Me, still asleep: I'll do it when I get up.

Matthias: Or I could ask dad to do it since he's not the laziest.

Irene: Oh, my present is a da-car.

Matthias: Not a da-car. A ka-tar.

Irene: Oh. Dacar.

Matthias: Katar.

Irene: Katar.

Me: Guitar. It's a guitar.

We were in an Airbnb in Colorado. Bryan was not with us.

Josef: Where's your dad?

Matthias: In the basement.

Me: If you're unhappy about it, I can set up a rotation so everyone is unhappy once a month.

Matthias: Why do people always measure dinosaurs with elephants?

Matthias: Can I play a S-G-R-E-E-N?

Me: It's S-C-R-E-E-N.

Matthias: It sounds like a G.

Me: It does when we say it, but it's spelled with a C.

Theo: Well, have you heard of N?

Josef: Are you the strongest of your siblings?

Kaitlyn: Probably. I have a 4 pack. But daddy's stronger.

Matthias: Mom, is there any emergency?

Theodore: We are superheroes and superheroes kill people!

Me: Superheroes save people. Supervillains kill people.

Theodore: Oh, we are supervillains.

Matthias: Mom! Emergency?

Me: Sounds like there's a couple of supervillains running around.

Theodore: No, we are superheroes and we will kill the other people with swords!

Kaitlyn: What can I say, I'm really good at rinsing things.

Bryan: Between Matthias mishearing me and Theo's three-year-old speech imperfections, we are currently watching the Cincinnati Bagels play the Pittsfart Smellers.

Matthias: I'm bored.

Theodore: Oh! We can play the drinking game!

Kaitlyn: You should get Euphemia to do dishes like my mom has me do, then you don't have to do any work.

Theodore, drawing his sword: Mom, I'm going to cut you! But then you're going to be fixed!

Me: How does that work?

Matthias, wielding a hammer: Hehehe.

(Jillian: He's Fix-it Felix!)

(Justine: No, he's Fix-it Fias.)

Matthias: Dad, when you go to work, how many quarters do you get?