The furthest we've been away from each other

I believe in the five months he has been with us on the outside this might be the furthest we've been away from each other.  I take  107% of the full responsibility for the condition my babies have known as velcro.  They love me and let's see, oh yes, that would be me and me again.  He will tolerate his father and his siblings for a little bit, but don't get crazy. 

There we go.  Much better.  We are now touching cheeks.

Kapaun is developing his repertoire of nicknames quickly.  I've mentioned that I am a master nicknamer and song developer extraordinaire.

His current nicknames are as follows:
1.    Francis Scott Key
2.   Franky Scott Key or just Franky
3.   KJ or Cage
4..   Ka-PON.  We put a heavy emphasis on the PON.
5.  Daymond John (This is John's favorite)  Have you seen the Shark Tank?  We thought he looked like a lighter version of Daymond John, the fashion mogul.
6.  For short, we call him DJ.
7.  Kape
8.  Diddle

Dominic calls him Boy and refers to himself as Big Brother. 

Dominic just told him that Gilbert Blythe was dying.  I know, we all felt the same way.

Just tricking. Gilbert lives!

I couldn't leave wild woman out of the post.  This picture screams many captions.  Teenage rebellion.  I am going to the roller rink and you can't stop me.  Rink Rat.  You can't make me wear more than a onesie.  My hair is a disaster. I just swallowed 13 Lego heads.  How you like me now?

Well, look who pulled it together?  Boots and Sassy jean jacket in all.

I couldn't leave out Zellie either in her daily hat of choice.  She always has a hat on. 

This was taken after her second bath of the day due to a run in with peanut butter and jelly.  It was bad.  Look at her darling curls.

This is her face when I ask her to Smile.  She just keeps her thumb in her mouth and squints her eyes.  It is by far my favorite thing she does.

Irish Click

The constant tapping should drive me bananas, but I love it.  I love the Irish Jig.  They attend Irish Step Dance class on Wednesdays.  So after today's class, Zellie asked me "Why are you always smiling while we are in class?"   I told her, "I just love watching you dance.  It is so precious to me."   I stand behind the mirrors smiling at them dancing.  I stand their smiling at the beauty of my three oldest girls together in one room.  I am a rich person indeed.

I love how Zellie comes in with Kapaun around the 28 second mark.

Vianney lets in loose around the 18 second mark.
 

Oh Delly!

Zellie and I have a language that we speak to each other to Kapaun. The concept probably doesn't make much sense, but it makes sense to us. She will say in a deep voice as if Kapaun is talking, "Oh Mama. I really need to nurse." I always rhyme back to her, "Oh Delly or are you Zellie? Sometimes your feet are smelly especially after you eat jelly." Oh, she laughs and laughs each time.

Zellie is really good at playing for extra long periods of time. 

I thought it was just precious how she set all the guys up at tables eating together.

These fellas had a few too many.

These two are buddies. I have groupings of children that play together the majority of the day.  Rose and Dominic play together.  Zellie and Vianney always play together.  Clairvaux and Damaris get in trouble together.  Lillie is the floater. In fact, just tonight we went roller skating and sent everyone to bed around 9:45. I went upstairs to check on the crew and these two were playing a game of chess together.  Cute...but go to bed.  How did the chess board get upstairs without me noticing?

She is still pretty much enamored with Kapaun. She always ask to hold him.

Rose and Lillie are pretty unaware of their appearance.  Not Zellie.  She copies anything I wear or notices others and what they are wearing.  She sheepishly asked last week if I could find her a pair of jeans stating she's always wanted to wear a jeans.  Our girls always wear dresses not for any reason beyond we think it is cute and ladylike.  I like a great pair of jeans too!  Zellie desired a pair of jeans.  I found a pair at Target on clearance one night so I bought them for her.  She was up when I came home and I pulled her aside and told her that I had a little treat for her.  She pulled out the jeans and put them right on and hasn't taken them off since. She often can be found wearing small rubber bands as rings on her fingers.

Notice the pearls.

Rose's First Penance

Rose received the Sacrament of Penance for the first time yesterday. Rose Boever. You really are a perfect child. You are as sweet and perfect as could be. Goodness comes naturally to you. You are as helpful as a grown woman and have a unique way with little children and people in general always offering a pleasant smile and greet all you meet with, "How are you today?"

As pure as could be!  You told me you about cried when you went into the confessional.

Few things delight the hearts of Christian parents more than to see their child advancing in the spiritual life and walking with God.  We desire so greatly for them to know that they are a child of God, the princess of a King and an heir to the throne of heaven.  We pray they feel that in their heart. 
I came downstairs last week to find the dishwasher empty.  I said, "Someone here loves Jesus very much. Who did this?" 

Rose remarked, "I did.  I wasn't going to, but I asked myself what would a saint do so I did it."
Thank you Rose for being more mature than I am.  I was speechless.

The crew on our way to get Rose's ears pierced. 

We started the ear piercing tradition with Lillie on her First Penance.  The girls have the option of getting their ears pierced after they make their first confession if they want to. We wanted to incorporate our faith somehow into this little rite of passage of a young girl.  Just as sometimes it is hard and painful to go to confession, the grace received and the beauty of the soul are to resemble the small pain received when getting the ears pierced, but LOOK how beautiful your sparkly earrings are!  The courage it takes to endure that small amount of pain is always worth having a sparkling soul for Christ.

The crowd watching with much anticipation.  Zellie is up next year.  She has stated for months that she is NOT getting her ears pierced because she just wants to be Zellie.  Rose was on the fence also, but decided to go for it.  Upon seeing Rose's sparkling blue earrings, Zellie has crossed the line and is going for it next year.

She wasn't quite sure at all.

She said it didn't hurt at all.  Nothing.

My beautiful Rose.  She has always been beautiful since the moment I first saw that perfect face although when she was born she had a head of black hair.

A fun game of chess with Vianney.

Augustus Gloop and his nursing habits

Dominic called Kapaun Augustus Gloop yesterday and now it has stuck.  Our little Augustus has a serious nursing problem. He loves to nurse and has developed several cute pre-nursing habits that resemble Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory's Augustus Gloop.

 Kapaun clears his throat before he nurses. He hums continuously until he is hooked up. It cracks John up. It is like he is getting ready to devour the best meal ever and he isn't going to miss one tasty morsel. It is rather darling.

Augustus Gloop in his new rocking chair

"Did somebody say "Nurse?"