remi is...

au·da·cious!  [aw-dey-shuhs]

adjective

1. extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless: an audacious explorer.

2. extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive

3. recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, or the like; insolent; brazen.

4. lively; unrestrained; uninhibited: an audacious interpretation of her role.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL REMINGTON...
who makes our lives...
interesting...
and colorful!
We are blessed.
And we love you more than you'll ever know!

on the weather...

Be prepared!

There's a cold front coming.

Thursday's predicted high: 96 degrees.
S#*T!!!

gifting

This weekend we celebrated Remington's upcoming birthday number 5!

There was gymnastics fun with friends.
Then swimming and dinner at Meme's!

So what does gifting entail for a 5 year old girl in 2011?

barbies

make up

princess  wear

scratch-offs

smurfs

build a bear stuff

money

pretty purses

and

an iTouch

(oh my!)

Meme's iPhone 3 (no longer in use) was converted to an iTouch

for Remi.

She loves it

(of course!)

Makes sense, Remi knows my phone

better than I do.

She was definitely surprised:

nine months!

Happy Nine Months Parker Katherine!

You've been in the world as long as you were in the tummy!

It's quite a marker!

So what are you up to at nine months?

You call everyone, and most everything,

"Aaava!"

Ava is the dog's name.

You say "Mamamamama" and "Dadada" infrequently.

And most of the time you are referring to

anything

but us!

You're very curious about the stairs

and would probably

climb them, given the opportunity.

You're perfecting the running crawl.

You give those baby, open-mouthed

kisses.

And "low-fives."

You pull yourself  up on everything!

You'd be walking if your Mommy and sisters would put forth any effort.

But we don't want you growing up so fast.

You love your king size bed and I think we've officially

kicked your Daddy out of it.

;)

We can't leave you on the bed for a second

of waking moments

because you'll crawl to the edge and tumble off.

You're quite the investigator.

What's in this drawer?

This basket?

This cabinet?

You study Charlee's face with intent

while she tries to teach you to call her

"Sissy."

With your 8 teeth,

you still (stubbornly) only eat

pudding,

baby veggies mixed with baby meat and oatmeal.

And boobie.

You play with bottles.

And sippy cups.

But refuse to drink from them.

You love your sisters...

desperately.

You're so happy to see them when they've been gone.

You love your Uncle Chris.

And your Grampy

(good thing since you see them everyday!)

The crinkly nose thing is new.

And very funny.

So while yesterday it took me 30 minutes to get ready,

today it took closer to 45.

Because I was busy keeping up with YOU.

You grew into a mover and a shaker

overnight.

Like you knew it was your nine month birthday!

You're so smart.

I'm not surprised.

So today's a good Friday

to celebrate.

Just like the Good (Black) Friday

you popped into our world!

We love ya Sweet P!

on freckles...

My Charlee-girl seems to have gotten

everyone's

fair share

of freckles.

Love it!

She's continually complimented.

On her freckles.

We spent a long time calling them

angel kisses.

(like lots of people...)

Then one day Charlee

(age 3?)

says to me...

"Mommy, do you know how I think you get freckles?"

"How, Charlee?"

"I think you earn them.  When you do something good. Nice. Kind. You earn a new freckle."

(can't believe all this time I never knew)

;)

So when she'd find a new one

we'd talk about what she did

to earn it.

And I think she may be right.

Because in our house,

She's the sweetest of all!

On my beautiful Charlee I have

a favorite freckle.

(can't tell you which one...our secret...)

On a strange note,

Emma and I each have a matching freckle on our necks.

And where Charlee has one on her palm,

Remi has the matching one

(in the same spot!)

but on the top of her hand.

Love thinking about it;

how we're connected in weird ways.

Can't wait for

 Parker

 to earn some freckles!

shouldn't it be harder to leave me???

Remi's teacher says that

every morning

she comes to class with a great big smile.

It's kinda heart-breaking.

;(

naming rights.

I read The Help a long time ago.

I think before I was pregnant with Sweet P?

Loved it.

(even gifted it!)

Fell in love with Mae Mobley;

who was sooooo remi!

(yes, I used 'remi' as an adjective)

...stay with me...

Naming Baby #4 was not easy!

Oh the pressure!

And  getting 5 people to agree on one name...

diff-i-cult!

We spent months trying to come up with a

gender-less

name we all liked.

And then we found one...
"Mason"...

"Mae"

But I didn't like just Mae.

I liked Mason.

Loved Mason.

Mason for boy,

Mason/ Mae for girl.

So at about 5 months it was quite possibly decided.

Then I got the call...

...a panicked Elizabeth...

"Nik! You cannot name your baby Mae!"

Ever thorough she'd played it out.

And as it happens,

"I'm Mae Payne"

sounds an awful lot like

"I'm a pain"

Close one!

UNbelievable...

...but still true.

This morning...school day #1...

Took Em to school.

Took Charlee to school.

Got Remi breakfast and headed to the elementary

car rider line.

Sittin there, Parker started fussing, so I pulled her out of

her car seat

and nursed her.

Knowing she had a happy tummy, I put Parker back in her seat

(still fussing.)

This time was about Remi!

So I re-did her hair.

Beautiful.

Turned her necklace clasp.

Beautiful.

Straightened her top.

Beautiful.

Our turn in the car rider line.

My favorite car rider lady!

"Good morning Remi!"

(we've been there 5 years...they know her...)

Quick, idle chit-chat between her and Remi.

Then, my favorite lady looks at me...

"Are you okay?"

"Yes..." I say.

(secretly I'm just not thinking about it. because I would cry. for sure.)

"Remi come back for a kiss!" (me)

"Bye baby...have a great first day!" (me again)

And I drive off.

And then realize,

in the midst of nursing,

and becoming preoccupied with getting Remi just perfect,

my top is still up...

Beautiful.

No, I can't make this stuff up.

Yes, I was mortified.

Yes,  I will pretend it never happened.
(cause that's what Mom said I should do!)

kindergarten blues

Emma will be going into 9th grade...high school.

Charlee will be going into 6th grade...junior high.

And My Remi will be going into Kindergarten...which is the hardest...even though I've already done it twice.

What I will miss most is hearing her sweet voice
at the end of the school day
when we were going to pick up Emma and Charlee...

.
"Is it time to go get the sisters?"

--sniff sniff--

vampire teeth

Remi was studying herself in the mirror.

Specifically she was admiring her teeth.

Then all of the sudden she spotted them...

"Oh no!  Mommy!!! I have vampire teeth!"

"Two on the top and two on the bottom."

"They're very tall!"

Now I'd think most kids would think it was cool...vaaampire teeth!

(not Remi)

"But Mommy I don't even like blood!"

(thinks thinks thinks on it)

"Hey I know, maybe red jello will work!"

I mostly blame 'Twilight'...

a quick trip...

To wrap up Summer 2011, we enjoyed a mini-vacation with our dear, dear friends

The King's!

Saturday afternoon we arrived in San Antonio full of excitement and rushed to The Riverwalk for the boat tour.

Which was kinda disappointing.

We've been on it twice before and both times it was great.

Informative.

Historical.

But mostly hilarious!

The tour guide this year had no funny bone.

But the breeze was nice!

And the company!

After the ride, we were super hungry and stopped at the sign advertising

"free fudge sample"...

Oh wow!
The 5 of us with teeth enjoyed a couple of samples each.
After eating so many, I felt pressured to purchase:

Bubblegum and Lemon Meringue.

Crazy good!

Then we had some yummy Italian and crashed.

Sunday brought Fiesta Texas.

It was hot.

Really hot.

The big girls enjoyed lots of big roller coasters with Daddy, Darla and Ian.

My tiny Charlee with her surprisingly big courage loved 'em all!

Remi enjoyed a few kid-sized rides.

Which she loved.

The water park was short lived but great fun.

Scott and the big kids played tag in the Lazy River.

Remi lost an earring in the wave pool. There was a search. No rescue.
She desperately wanted the Supergirl cape.
Which you had to win.
Which I did. 

Which was kinda cool.

At the end of the day everyone got to ride The Goliath coaster once more

(which was goliath!)

At 10am they had waited an hour and a half for that ride, at 9pm they walked right on.

All in all it was a great day!

Monday brought Sea World fun.

All Remi's talked about since we planned the trip was...seeing the dolphins!

We started out with the sea lion show...hilarious!
And followed it up with Shamu's production.

Then we hit the splash pad while the big kids caught coaster rides.

It was a less eventful day of fun in the wave pool (no earrings to lose...)

We enjoyed lounging with Baby under the palm
(perfect baby pool!)

It was near closing time when I realized we hadn't seen the dolphins.
Or the penguins.

We packed up and double timed it over to see them.

Remi wasn't quite big enough to pet the dolphins.
She'd stretch her little arm as far as it would go when they came by.
Charlee got to pet them.
It was kinda sad.
But at least we saw them, Remi'd never have let us live that one down!

The day flew by!

Parker fought her nap until the very end.
Then crashed hard!

We hit Cracker Barrel, then hightailed it home.

Parker slept peacefully almost the whole way...then woke up and thought it was morning time.

We got home about 11:30 Monday night.
Since Sweet P slept so long, she was in a great mood.

A really awake mood.

Until 1:30am.

Tuesday morning brought heavy eyes and sluggish bodies.

But we made it.

With more great memories.

Hopefully next time Remi will be big enough to reach the dolphins.

And Parker will be off the boobie!

;)

Adios San Antone...

back home...

So we've been gone for the past 2&1/2 days.

We had lots of San Antonio fun!

Riverwalk-ing

Fiesta Texas-ing

and

Sea World-ing

(see what I did?  I verb-arized those nouns...)

Can't wait to load up some pictures and share our mini-vacation.

It was tons of fun.

But it was good to get home.

After 2 whole days in very public places, Parker is oh-so-happy to have the boobie back at her beckoned call!

...ahhh...

independent thinking

I love love love it when, from my children's mouths...and minds, I discover thoughts 'not of mine'.

Independent thoughts.

Theirs. Not mine.

Teaching children to think their own way is no easy task.

Not in a land where schools are busy pounding in rules and regulations and society dictates the norm.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the need for rules.

But I don't think holes in jeans or baseball caps are the ruin of manners.

I don't think there's always a black and white, even where school work is concerned.

I think we should be breeding creativity rather than armies of ants...marching a straight line.

Writing outside the box is my idea of good school work...defend the path that led you there!

Remember respect, but stand up for your ideas.

That's just me.

We are trying hard to raise 4 amazing women.

Individual women.

Strong women.

Strong willed.

Strong minded.

Sure.

So this morning I was working.  I was on the phone with a customer.

I sat Parker down on her bottom in the middle of the rug for a few minutes of work.

I gave her a red cup and spoon.

To occupy her.

She left them and pulled herself up on a chair by my desk.

I put her spoon on the chair, to give her something to bang.

(and to give me a few more minutes to work)

She got back down on the floor,

scooted over to the rug for her red cup,

and crawled back, pulling her cup all the way with her.

Independent thinking.

I love it.

It made me so happy.

She wanted it.

She got it.

 And struggled with it to get back to where she wanted to be.

Way to go Sweet P!

summer-time yummies...

(I say summer-time yuckies.)

But Charlee and Grampy are lovin' the melon.

One more than the other...

charlee's enjoying...

...her overalls!

They're on her body practically before they're out of the dryer.

She's barely taken them off.

All. Summer.

Parker kinda likes them too!

safety first!

Okay. So Meme and Emma went on the 8th Grade Trip together.

One stop was New York City.

I'm not sure you can understand the worldly difference between 'them and us' unless you're actually from Texas.
(you know, the southern state)
(...wait...THE southern state!)

Anyway, I was duly worried.

Especially when I discovered they were traveling by subway.

A lot.

Then Meme sent me this picture to put my mind at ease:

Emma. Armed!

(phew!)

I mean, how crazy is this?!:

where's remi?...

I lost Remi this weekend for about a second

...at the mall...at a certain retail shop...

(where they didn't like me taking pictures)

Here's where I found her:

I felt strangely guilty when the guy said I couldn't take pictures in the store.

And was somewhat worried that he was gonna confiscate my phone.

Maybe they don't like you posting pictures on the Internet.

Oops!

tres tres leches

Yes, that is how many tres leches cakes Charlee has had at Pappasito's this year.

Tres birthday celebrations at her favorite Mexican restaurant!

(we finally got together with The Liebendorfer gang)

It's good to be Charlee...

Of course, the girl with the actual 

August birthday 

got to join in on the birthday fun too!

 

When she finished her cake, Remi asked...

"Mommy can I please have a wipee?  I can't lick my fingers cause I touched the strawberry!"
(and she almost caught the sombrero on fire...)

(...it happens)

bringin em home!

TODAY!

The girls will be home from camp today!

Yay!

on toenails...

There are lots of little fingernails and toenails around here to keep trimmed.

It's hard to keep up with where they're all at.

(gotta let Mommy know if you need grooming)

Last night I saw Remi's toenails claws.

Oh my!

...so I told her...

'tomorrow remind me we need to trim your toes'

She crinkled up her nose and said

'but Mommy...then what will I scratch with?'

Really?

keeping baby happy

On long trips, frequently the baby will break ;)

She will get tired of  toys:

She'll get mad and throw the them in a seat where you can't reach...

...and she won't be happy about food.

That's when it's time to stop at Dairy Queen for an Oreo Blizzard...

...which should fix her!

baby travels

Long car trips with Baby.

Sweet P did very well.

(especially well for a baby who's ready to get up and run)

Of course there were lots of different toys involved!