Anna and Her ToothBrush

Anna has been best friends with her toothbrush ever since she misplaced her Ipod.    Poor girl still has not located it.   SO why would this make her friends with her toothbrush?  Well, because her toothbrush is a Justin Bieber toothbrush and plays 2 songs. :)  I saw her go on a walk with her tooth brush, and right now, Erika is doing her hair up, and they are listening to her tooth brush.  (that is the little red and white thing on the counter)  LOL
I love kids. :)

A 14 Month Update

Last year

This Year

Alli has been home now for 14 months and I wanted to give a little update on her.  She is doing awesome.
Her one year anniversary passed and it seems that she went through a threshold of not turning back!  I wasn't sure what would happen, as she stressed about getting to that one year and rejoiced after she got there.

What I HAVE seen is her pressing into her studies more.  She is learning to comprehend English better and better which makes it MUCH easier on me.  When I ask her if she understands, she no longer gets defensive, but says yes or no and knows that it is not a test of her worthiness.

One of the biggest changes we have seen is in her ability to cope with dysregulation.  She is ACTIVELY seeking out her tools ON HER OWN.  I rarely have to remind her.  Instead, she will catch herself and immediately apologize without being asked, if she has been snotty.  And being snotty lately is rather rare. :)

She is writing in her Mom Dad and Me book regularly.. and her latest note was sooo sweet.  :) 

Alli has grown 4 inches in a year and gained over 10 lbs.  And she is not showing any signs of slowing down! She may wind up being the tallest girl we have around here.   I asked her if her first mom and dad were tall and she said VERY.... But I'm not sure if that is just a perspective, because she was a very tiny for her age 7 year old. LOL  Everybody is big when you are little. :) I remember one of our boys thinking his dad was HUGE when he was little.  He really wasn't. :)

Easter memories were all from Easter last year and she didn't stress at all about the Easter Egg Hunt.  She fully knew it was going to happen! 

Her relationships with her sisters are secure! She is firmly bonded with each of them and regularly tells them that she loves them.  She in on a daddy daughter date tonight, and before she left she hugged everybody goodbye. 

Morning routine has been the hardest transition for her.  But she is now getting up happily and getting her grooming done before school 80% of the time.  Sometimes she brings  a brush when we are starting to finish her hair. 
I have to say, our new baking soda wash and  apple cider vinegar rinse has made her hair much more manageable in the tangles department. :) 

Right now, she is very interested in all the bugs she can find.  She loves taking jars outside to catch them. She loves climbing trees and making fake cookies on the front porch.  She and Sarah are always playing some spy game, and eventually get Anna to join in the fun. :) 
Overall, Alli is LOVING being a kid.  She is going through all the stages she missed at a younger age, but catching up fast.  We have gained a HUGE amount of ground in 14 months. 

Honestly, I am not seeing signs of RAD anymore.  I'm am seeing very little of the PTSD symptoms, and I am seeing a whole LOT of the Real ALLI.... My heart bursts with joy over this.  This is nothing short of a real life modern day miracle.

She would LOVE to have another sister and has asked about it a few times.  She said, "Mama, we can help somebody else! I'm ready!"  LOL  
At this point there are NO PLANS for another one.  So she is our baby. :) And I think she likes being that baby.  She needs to be the baby for a while longer. 

Did I say I was proud of her? :)

He Thinks He's a Person

Kit Kat...... is used to being treated like a person by the girls, so why not! :)

My Summer Head Covering

I have written about coverings  here.

 I have one in black and one in white. :)
This is a Mennonite pattern.  I am not Mennonite,  nor am I Amish,  but they have loads of experience in comfortable head wear that doesn't get in your way.  This way I can wear my hair up during the hotter months and keep it covered. :)      I used one of these coverings a long time ago and then it disappeared.... I still have never found it!  The last line of this post makes me wonder if a certain 5 year old may have confiscated it for play. LOL  Inquiring minds do wish to know! :)

I ordered it from THIS SITE.    The lady makes her coverings and is very delightful to communicate with.
Here is a front and side view....



The girls want to get one for dress up too. :) 

Erika Is So Artistic!

She takes great photos! :)

Miss Olivia

5 Days Old!

Proud brothers and an especially happy Charlie! :)

Guess Who Just Graduated To A New Math Book!

YES SHE DID!

 Alli has worked really hard through her Rod and Staff book.  She is now ready to switch to Saxon!  She couldn't do Saxon last year because the word problems were too complicated for her to understand.  So she has improved in Many areas!

 She is proud, and so is Mama. :)

Alli Meets A Hard Head!

Yep, Saturday night, she was helping Erika stand up.  Erika swung her head back and got Alli right on the cheek bone.  It must have been a perfect bone to hard head match.  A bruise started to show up right away!  We put ice on it, arnica ointment and then watched it turn blue! Just in time for Easter Sunday AND passport photos. LOL

 OUCH!

So here they are together..... even if Erika does have a HARD HEAD! LOL

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter Weekend.  Here are few pictures:

Sponge Curlers.... Can't wait to see how it turns out! :)

 My lovely ladies. They are growing up before our eyes! WOW! (In 2 months we will have 3 teenagers and 1 12 year old)  YIKES!

 Anna's hair do. :)   Anna wanted to try curlers.  I thought her hair turned out darling!

Erika wore a new shirt.  She doesn't care for dresses....they are hard for her to feel lady like in. So we concentrate on tops instead. :)

Two peas in a pod. They love dressing alike. I'm glad I found new outfits for them ON SALE!

 I really enjoyed being a part of the Trio to sing Easter Song, on Easter Sunday!

Miss Joy helping peel eggs

Miss Joy is just so precious to us.  She is more like a gramma to the girls.  Miss Joy never had children, so she loves being around the girls.  She really liked helping peel the eggs. She doesn't get to feel very useful at the Nursing home.

Helping Mom get dinner ready

Making Deviled Eggs.  We really like deviled eggs a LOT.... So everybody helped make them.

We had a wonderful feast. :)  And a lovely celebration of the resurrection of our Lord.  And all in all, this weekend was just so relaxing and enjoyable! We didn't plan anything over the top hard. I made a bbq brisket on Saturday, so we could have it on Sunday. 
The girls were all so helpful getting things ready for our dinner. 
This year Miss Alli knew what to expect, and her memories of Easter, were from OUR HOUSE from Last year! YEA! 
The girls did have an Easter Egg Hunt.  They still like to do that, and that is OK! (except Anna. She was feeling especially grown up) :)   This year I bought a laundry basket, instead of 4 individual baskets. How is that for practical? LOL    I put all their things in it together. :)  And now, I have a laundry basket that we really needed too. :)