Our dishwasher broke. Does that answer your question?
I'm an "everything-goes-in-the-dishwasher-don't-bother-rinsing-it-that's-why-it's-called-a-dishWASHER" kind of girl. I've been spoiled. I'm also the kid who would trick her brother into hitting her so he'd have to finish the dishes by himself--because dishes have always been my least favorite chore. Now, with six of us in the house, dishes accumulate QUICKLY and I've been up to my elbows in dishwater more than I care to think about.
I don't even want to imagine what it was like back in the day before washing machines. I'm pretty sure that would've been a major influence on how many kids I wanted to have. :)
Other than dishes, we've been doing some pretty fun things! Here's a quick recap...in no particular order:
We went to see the Nina and Pinta replicas down on the Tennessee River. They were pretty awesome! The Nina was built to exact specifications of the original, while the Pinta was built 50% larger. Both were equally impressive, and the guides had lots of crazy tid-bits to share. (Such as the cabin boys were aged 7-14 and were at sea for up to 2 years at a time. I can't even IMAGINE sending my sweet Josiah off to fend for himself on a boat for 2 years. Not see him for 2 years. Would I even recognize him when he came back? And, oh, for all the moaning he does about how hard his life is--he has no idea!!)
Ahh, the Dorothy dress worn under another (two-layered shirt), tucked into the front of the pants paired with the Dorothy shoes and two different socks. Now there's a good look.
Let's slide Audra into the picture, too.
Who needs ships when there's a baby to look at?
The kids on the Pinta
Emilia got her first haircut a couple weeks ago. That's right. The girl's 4 months away from her third birthday and FINALLY had her FIRST haircut. She did go through that awful wispy mullet stage about a year ago and I'm sure some parents would've had her hair trimmed then, but just think of all the awesome childhood pictures she would've missed out on? So here she is, 2 1/2 years old, getting her first haircut. A whole 2 inches...from the back only because the front still isn't long enough.
While my mom had her haircutting stuff out, Josiah got a trim, too. Love having a barber in the family. Makes haircuts so easy!
Who IS that handsome boy?
Josiah looks so much like John it's scary...or funny...or crazy...or all of the above!
Audra had a good time making a mess out of one of Nana's windows while we were there. Josiah and I had a good time laughing at her!
The boys have both started playing basketball, too. They got their jerseys last night at practice and were both VERY excited. Their first game is this Saturday. I wonder how much it will resemble their first season of soccer? They've got a great coach who is teaching them about teamwork and passing, so maybe it will be better?
Micah has been making lots of progess in reading. He's ALMOST got it. Any day now, that lightbulb is going to turn on and he's going to take off!
One last thing...we've been studying animals and drawing them in school. This morning we were drawing a pig and Emilia drew one, too! I'm impressed!! She followed the directions I was giving the boys and if you know what you're looking at, it even kinda resembles a pig! Not bad for a 2.5 yrs old. (The pencil lines are the pig. She "colored it in" before I got to take a picture...it's facing the right side of the paper--complete with snout and ears. The big red crayon circles are the eyes...on it's side and butt--she IS only two, you know!)
Here's the boys' pig pictures just 'cause they're awesome kids and I like showing off their work:
