Cookies, baths, snow, and more

Lots of stuff going on around here.  Last week when I was out with a friend, the transmission went out on B's car, so that was a good time.  ;)  It's possible that it's only some kind of module and not the whole transmission, but it's been at the shop since Monday night when this happened, they didn't get to it Tuesday (not blaming them - it was dropped off around 11:30pm Monday night), and then Wednesday they had to take a look at it and then call B to get the go-ahead to order the part, which they said they won't have til at least Monday.  So he's been taking the gas-guzzling family truckster to work every day and I've been home without wheels.  Not that I drag five kids out to go places all that often (ZP is attending public school at this point, so he's gone til about 2:45), but you know how it is - if you don't even have the possibility of getting out, you can think of dozens of places you want or need to go to.  Anyway, we're hoping it is this module or whatever because that's considerably less moolah than if it's actually that the transmission itself needs replaced.  Guess we'll find out tomorrow or Tuesday.

E is still rocking like mad on his hands and knees and then dropping to his belly and dragging himself whenever he needs to go anywhere.  He just began getting up onto his knees sometimes, so he'll do that in his crib while hanging onto the rail, or sometimes in his playpen he will just sit there sort of standing on his knees.  I guess he's going to do things his own way, lol!  He has changed his mind a few times about the bath; he's liked it, then hated it, then liked it, then hated it, and now he likes it again since I found a decent bath chair and he can get in the tub with one of his siblings.  He also seems to really like having a toy in each hand and his mouth, which keeps him occupied enough that he doesn't holler.  He's so cute when he's about to get in the tub; he sees the water, and he's nekkid, so he knows he's getting in.  When I start to lower him into the water he sort of gasps a few times like he's thinking about working himself into a state, but he seems to have decided that baths are pretty fun.  Maybe all that was lacking before was toys.

L is quite the little adventurer, and pretty mischievous.  She is very much S's mini-me, and in fact I often think of when A used to call S a "mischieful baby" - she was, and L is too.  This happened a few weeks ago but I still just think it's hilarious.  The hubs made cookies, and the kids were supposed to be letting them cool before we had any, but I walked into the kitchen and saw this:

I love how the stool was right there too!  :)  L also likes to have her hair out of her face, which works out nicely since I really like for it to be out of her face, too, ha ha!  This past week I put her hair up in two "ponies" for the first time, and I think she looks super cute!

I haven't had my hair cut since just before E was born, so my cute short hairstyle is a distant memory at present.  Both of the older girls and I will put our hair up a lot, and L always says things like, "Do you have a pony, Mommy?"  She shortened it to 'pony' all on her own and it cracks us up.  Lately she's also been saying "for yours" or "for mine," as in "This is for mine."  She likes to climb into bed with me in the morning and our conversations go something like this:

L - "Where's Daddy, Mom?"
me - "He's at work, L."
L - "Oh, he's at work?  Is Daddy at work, Mom?"
me - "Yes, L, he's at work."
L - "Oh." Holding up her stuffed buddy, "This is for mine, Mom."
me - "Yep, L, that's your baby."
L - "This is for my baby, Mommy."  Pointing to my pillow, "Is that pillow for yours?"

LOVE it!  It's so cute in her little voice, too - she sounds like "Thissis fer mine" and "fer yers" phonetically and it's just the sweetest.  She's the fourth kiddo, so we've figured out how fast time flies and I think it really does make it that much sweeter, and we savor all the cute little things she does - and E - that much more.  I look at our A, going to be 12 this year, and I just can hardly believe how it's flown.  Totally cliché, I know - but clichés abound for a reason.  ;)

Z needs a hair cut pretty badly, and unlike ZP, Daddy can't cut his hair so he has to wait til we manage to get him to a professional.  B cuts his own hair, and he can cut ZP's because their heads are roughly the same oval shape, but Z's head is like a giant grapefruit and the two times B has cut his hair have been disastrous so we just don't go there anymore, lol.  Last week Z slicked his hair back with water ("Look Mom, I did my hair just like Draco Malfoy!") and then when it dried it actually stood straight up over most of his head, which he and the girls all thought was hilarious.

We also had an actual snow event recently, and here in the valley where we live we got almost four inches of snow, which is very unusual for us.  The kids had a blast but it was VERY wet snow - they would come in with their coats and everything soaking wet, they looked like they'd been out in a downpour, and I'd throw all their gear into the dryer while they warmed up with hot chocolate.  They did manage to make a snowman, though, which I forgot to snap a pic of til the next morning.  Hey, just having snow still on the ground the next day is pretty nuts for these parts!  Notice though that Z isn't wearing a jacket - it was almost 50 at that point the next morning.  My kind of snow - infrequent enough to be a novelty, kids had a blast, and 100% gone in about 36 hours.  

I love this pic - S claims this is how she's most comfortable doing her schoolwork, lol!  She's my least cooperative kiddo when it comes to school, so she does a lot more workbook time than the others because she likes having a concrete assignment and being able to get it done on her own; so, for now, that's how she does a lot of her school.

Here is one of the girls when we were playing Apples to Apples one Sunday:

I don't have any new pics of A (other than that one of her above with most of her face hidden) or of ZP, but I love this one of ZP with Santa so I'm going to post it.  I really think it's one of the best pics I've ever seen of him, and I hate that it's a round Polaroid that wasn't cropped too well and is tiny - the actual photo is maybe 2.5" in diameter.  ZP just looks so sweet - when I see this pic it makes me feel really happy.  :)  I'm planning a blog post about our little Amerikrainian soon!