We made it to the Renaissance Festival last, last weekend.  Brishen spent his annual fortune on another weapon.  The boys each got a wooden shield.  We thought that was safer than handing them each a wooden sword, and I do believe we were right.  Basia bought a bow and arrow, and Cassia got a princess wand.  Yes, I have quite the variety of kids.

Edison is my next chef.  He reminds me a lot of Basia at this age in his obsession with the kitchen.  He wants to help cook any time we are in the kitchen.  He pretends to use the lower oven all the time.  He knows right where the potholders are, and the toaster gets a lot of action.  

Cassia loves practicing what she knows.  She is constantly pointing out words that she recognizes.  When she walks by a sign, she is trying to sound it out.  She thought it was great fun to put this alphabet in order and then match the lower case letters with their capital ones.  The kids then all lined up for an exciting (to them) game where I would say a letter.  They would jump over my legs and then run and point to the letter.  Cassia did the same thing with sounds. 

And now for the other random thoughts and news that is not accompanied by a picture of some sort:

1.  A local news crew is coming tomorrow afternoon to interview our family about our adoption experience.  I'm hoping Edison leaves his pants on and that no one hits anyone else and that I don't cry and that Jon does most of the talking.

2.  Brishen started basketball tonight.  His next practice is at 7am tomorrow...35 minutes away.  I never would have tortured my parents with early morning practices far away, right Mom and Dad??  It will be fun to have to bring along all but the school kiddos so that Jon can get to work on time.  We also will have to find something to do on the other side of town, in the early morning, when it is cold outside.  Hmm.  Good thing we love you Brishen.  

3.  Tomorrow marks the one month left point before the final hearing in Roo's case.  I am still nervous that something will change in the next month to allow an extension to be granted.  No matter how many times I do this, I still wonder and worry.

4.  I have blocked most people off my Facebook news feed.  It is very nice to have it so pared down, but it is also fairly boring seeing such a small amount of action on there.  Simplify. Simplify.  I decided that I don't really need to spend time on an average day reading about the goings on of various high school friends who I haven't actually seen in real life in 20 years.  My brain doesn't need to be cluttered with that much useless (to me) information.  They are welcome to do the same to me.

5.  Roo has become a horrible sleeper again.  Ugg!

6.  I found out who Sir Smiles is staying with, and I have too much back information to find peace with the situation.  I pray for him and his baby sister and for the rest of their family.  Our agency has everything ready to get them sent to us if they do need a foster home.  I am keeping their beds up until this weekend since I know there are some drug tests pending, but after that I will pack them up again.  My kids think every call means they are coming right now.  

7.  I am going to start a new study next week that is all about simplifying.  I can't wait.   I hear there are all sorts of tough weekly challenges, and I am ready.  It's based on this book:

8.  I was invited to a party where we will all cook freezer meals together for two hours and then leave with ten complete meals to take home.  It sounds like so much fun, and I'd love to hang out with the other ladies.  The problem is that he meals are meat-based, of course.   I still think I will probably go. 

9.  We took the kids to get their feet measured since I noticed that there were some changes.  Cassia's feet always matched Soren's, and Zade's always matched Tobias's.  I noticed last week that Zade's and Soren's are now the same size and that Cassia's are bigger.  Here's the current breakdown:

Brishen;  size 13 or 14

Basia:  size 2.5

Soren:  size 10

Cassia:  size 11

Zade:  size 10

Tobias:  size 9

Edison:  size 8 (actually 1 foot is a size 7 and the other is an 8!)

Roo:  size 4

I see biology at work here!  Roo and Zade both have big feet for their wee sizes.  I can get rid of all the shoes that Edison wore when he first started walking because Roo has already outgrown them.  Since Roo is below the 10th percentile in weight and height, that must mean he just has big feet.  

10.  I don't think I am going to buy the kids individual ornaments this year even though it's tradition.  Our tree is already packed with ornaments.  I'm pretty sure that we don't actually need 8 more ornaments a year for the next 18 years or so.  The cost of the holidays adds up quickly, and I want to make sure we are not getting sucked into all the traditions that cost money instead of the ones that are meaningful.  

This blog post amuses me because of how utterly pointless it is to most of you.  Maybe it will be interesting to me in 15 years, but I do realize how mundane it is to the average reader today.  What possesses me to type on and on about things like the sizes of shoes worn by my kids or what my Facebook feed is doing?  It must be bed time!