Still here

You would think in a family of 7 children, there would be more to blog about. But, aside from the cute comments from children, which I'm pretty sure only J and I find interesting, and my ongoing battle to make my children responsible and organized, not much is new around here. We get up, we learn some stuff, we fix and eat meals, and we make costumes. I know that last one isn't normal for most families, but it seems to be for us. The last costume event was M and her friends' murder mystery party. Thankfully, I had nothing to do with these...aside from finding B a new sports coat at the local thrift store. (His coat from last year was, predictably, several sizes too small.) B sprang for the dry cleaning cost himself. The party was a success, though I think the level of committedness to costuming was surprising to those for whom this was a first-time event. The girls also discovered the lack of importance that many people attach to the letters 'RSVP' these days. While not a happy life lesson, they managed gracefully and covered the needed parts. Probably the cutest part of the evening was watching the four 10-year-old little sisters who were allowed to participate by being given the role of 'servant'. They worked their little tails off running back and forth from the kitchen to the other rooms carrying drinks...the options being sparkling grape juice or lemonade. I wish I would have put a pedometer on one of them to see how many miles they actually logged. But I have a feeling it was worth it to feel a part of the 'big kids' party.

Our other costuming event, one which I should be working on at right this very minute and not typing about, is our history feast which is this Sunday. It should have been held at the end of the school year last May, but we were in Vietnam and our house (the party house) was still under construction. So we postponed it. Consequently it won't be quite the grand affair it usually is, but I still find myself making 4 costumes...two princesses and two knights. It's for the Middle Ages, don't you know. I find the later we get in history, the more fabric the costumes require. It's a shame I can't talk anyone into going as a peasant. It would be a lot less work and I bet we could use the same costumes for multiple time periods.

I'm also realizing that today marks the 4 month anniversary of arriving home with K. He continues to be an absolute joy. His therapists love him and are head over heels at how much progress he has been making. K now babbles (and babbles and babbles). It sounds to me much like my 18 month olds did right before they started having a huge explosion of words. I'm thinking we will have the same thing from him in the next few months. He is quite adept at making his wants known even with the few words he has, though.