Pippi rocked out to “The Greatest Showman” all night. She had moves like no other. We loved when she climbed the pole, and danced from the top!
But her dancing did her in.
Two hours later, she was hot and ready to throw up.
But like the greatest sick person…she never misses the bowl.
Pippi got in the car as happy as a little girl can be! First off, she made this whole apple headband by herself! Yep..she glues the whole thing. But that doesn’t even comprise 1% of her excitement! The 99+% is because she got her school pictures!
She went through the several options they gave her, and rated them favorite to the worst.
Let’s start with the worst…
She doesn’t really like the boring gray or blue background. And she doesn’t like her smile that much.
This is her very very favorite, because she loves the American flag, and she thinks her smile is much better in this patriotic one!
(I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it is the same picture, just different backgrounds!)
I thought they were all darling!
So darling, I took a picture of the mini sample ones they sent, and returned it to school the next day.
Welcome to the Fun Run 2018…where Dash ran his little heart out, but didn’t make any money for the school, because I refuse to pay for laps the size of a small pool.
And where Navy ran in her sandals because her burn won’t let her wear any other shoes, but she still dominated, and used her spray bottle to douse herself and her four closest friends.
Dear Bergeson,
Make your laps legit, and I will pay. I will even let extended family pay. But don’t shortchange my kids out of a real run! All while stealing everyone’s money!
Pippi loves to be inside her imagination almost more than anything. Between her dolls, her stuffed animals, and her kitchen…she is far away in her imagination at some point each day.
But lately, there is something that takes her away from her imagination, that she might even like more. She is sounding out letters, and trying to read! She is getting through the Bob books, and getting to be a decent little reader. She is even recognizing sight words, and reading smoothly. Good work Pippi! Keep reading!
One of my favorite things about Scout is that he is so low maintenance. On this pretty cold day, in the fog and mist, Scout cruised into the waves with nothing but a rash guard.
My kind of guy on my kind of day.
Navy is learning about the moon, and gets extra credit if she turns in a picture of herself with the moon.
Good thing we have this one of an eclipse a few years back, with Scout and Dash in their unders!
I think she should get extra extra credit for that one!
I have a real aversion to all electronics for kids. I think it diminishes their quality of life. So when my kids have to open their laptops to do their homework, I kind of cringe. But I have seen the beauty in it a bit lately. At least from school, there is no forgotten homework, because it is all online. You can also see their up-to-the-minute grades in each class. (This is a double-edged sword) And you can voice-talk into the microphone to have any and all Chinese tested for annunciation. So although I may be the leader of the resistance, I can see a teeny silver lining.
And a huge silver lining for us…is that Scout no longer has to write down his “homework”. It is all digitally assigned, so we know when we are getting the whole story, and not the partial story with a little bit of “i am not going to tell my parents, because I can finish it during first recess”.
Navy is about 99% awesome. But every once in a while those upcoming hormones creep in, and make up that other 1%. Today was one of those days. She was just being ridiculously dramatic about everything. If someone looked at her funny, she was almost in tears over it. It was a bit overkill…but par for the beginning hormonal course. By the time dinner was over, and I was ready for all of my kids to get to their rooms, she had a meltdown.
Her meltdown took place at the table where we were all sitting, and half way through, I said, “Oh Navy….Check your hormones at the door!” She looked back at me with huge eyes, and blurted out, “I don’t even know where the door is, because I never get to get outta this place!”
I looked at Scout at the same time he looked at me. We started laughing so hard, we couldn’t stop. Then Scout repeated the amazing one liner.
And then Navy started laughing.
And for the next ten minutes, everyone — including Pippi — was talking how we don’t even know where the door is, because we never get to get outta this place!
Poor, good-sport Navy!
—
(Update: It is still a one-liner in our home.)
These three turned five!!!
So naturally, the three of them shared a birthday party…
A camping party!
Their party was complete with their own tents.
Ladybug catching.
Chubby Bunny.
Hot dog roasting.
Duck Duck Goose.
And “scary” campfire stories…where the swamp monster came from behind and scared them!!!

Micah took his hood off to make sure they knew it was him…but there were a few who wouldn’t trust him the rest of the day!
But not these three…well, maybe Goldi.
Then we played “Find the Swamp Monster”, and the kids actually loved it! They would all cover their eyes and count, and then Micah would go hide and blend in somewhere. Then the kids would search in a group to find the monster, and as soon as the first one spotted him….they all screamed and ran for safety!
This girl had the time of her life.
And I personally can’t believe that they are all five!
Holy Cow that was fast!!!
When Scout and Navy were little, they were best buds. it is so fun to see a repeat of the two oldest in the two youngest. Dash and Pippi are best buds. Dash is so sweet to Pippi. He takes care of her, he sacrifices for her, and he adores her. And he just might be the most handsome big brother around.
One example from today of exactly what kind of big brother he is…when I volunteered in Dash’s class today for Art Masters, Pippi tagged along. He went and got Pippi a chair, he also asked if she wanted to help color his turtle. She declined, and helped Elodie color hers instead. And the whole time, he made sure she was comfortable and enjoying her time while she was at his class.
Now the trick, is to get them to remain this cute together forever. Scout and Navy started the tease/react movement about this time in their lives. And yes, just like her older sister, Pippi is a tease. But she isn’t professional like Navy. And Dash has a sweeter side than Scout…so I really counting on getting this whole brother/sister thing right this time around!