Tea Party, and other randomness

The other day, Samantha called to me excitedly, "Mom!! You HAVE to come in my room, for a VERY special surprise!" I was secretly a little worried, considering some of her recent "surprises" have included a big blanket fort, some stickers on the side of her dresser, a huge mess of dried clay on the floor, marker masterpieces on the kitchen counter, etc. But she was adamant that I would LOVE this surprise FOR SURE. So, I obediently followed her, and found her darling miniature tea set arranged on her little IKEA table, set up perfectly for a tea party.

I happened to be holding Natalie at the time, but was quick to show my enthusiasm by grabbing some chocolate graham crackers and juice for the party. Then I asked Sammie if it would be okay if Natalie joined us... What a fun idea! You can probably imagine how Samantha squealed in delight. And so, we had ourselves a little tea party, with Big Bear, and Natalie...

Natalie got her own special seat in Samantha's doll stroller (my idea, actually). She was very solemn and non-conversational, and didn't even pretend to taste the tiny graham cracker crumb I put on her lower lip.

I couldn't stop laughing, she just looked so cute/funny, sitting up to the table like a big girl. She really looked just like one of the dolls Sam is always strolling around the house...

I just hope Samantha doesn't try for a second round when I'm not around, eh?!

Some other random pics I thought I'd share just for fun...

I'm not sure what these three cousins were up to, but they each got one of Natalie's bottles and filled it with water that they were dripping into their mouths "without sucking on them," they told me. Must have been some kind of game. Betcha it was Seth's idea, he comes up with some fun and crazy stuff!

Another cute Natalie picture, just because I can't resist...

And I love this one of Sammie and Natalie together. Sweet smiley sisters!

Here's one of my grandma, holding little Natalie. She always says she doesn't like to see herself in pictures, but I think this one's a great one...

And this last one, I thought it was funny when I took it, because Spencer just curled up on the kitchen floor while I was making dinner one night and fell fast asleep...

Turns out, it wasn't quite as funny as I thought. The poor kid had a really high fever and was sick for several days after that. We had to take him to urgent care two different nights, and eventually made a trip to the ER. No fun! They never got a clear diagnosis of what was wrong with him, but the ER doctor prescribed some antibiotics that helped knock his fever down and get him back to normal.

Only, the antibiotic also messed with his digestive system, and he's still recovering from that. Sigh. He has a bad diaper rash and it stays bad because... well, if you want to talk poopy talk with me, I'll tell you over the phone. But I'll just say, the reason I'm STILL up at nearly 1 a.m. again is not just to blog. In the time that I've been writing this and checking craigslist and overstock.com for deals, I've also been in and out of Spencer's room probably 10 times since 10 p.m. (the time I put on my pj's and VOWED I would be in bed by 11 tonight). I've been comforting him, changing him and... there he goes again. Sigh.

Well, just a few more pics to put up while I have the time. Then hopefully he'll calm down enough that I can sleep. I thought I'd add a picture of our Christmas morning, after Santa came but before the kids woke up...

It was a great Christmas, and these two pics may be the only ones that end up on my blog, unless I get some spare time here in the near future (not likely, with 10 days till our move). Here's some of the cousins, at our Christmas Eve dinner/party. They all got their pajamas on, except Connor. I think they looks so cute all together...

And here are a few of the only pictures of our New Year's trip to visit with my parents and sibs...

Kind of a funny story, this series (above and below). My mom got some of those metal brainteaser puzzles, where you have to remove the small silver ring from all the hoops and loops of the bigger rings. You know what I'm talking about? Well, we had all seen them sitting around, but no one was really too interested in them. Then, one afternoon, my mom and dad left for a few hours. But my mom called on her cell phone and I answered...

Mom: Hi Kam! I was just thinking, your brothers are just sitting around there, visiting. Maybe they'd like to work on those little metal brainteasers that are up on the counter, if you wouldn't mind telling them.

Me: Okay, I'll let them know. (Thinking that was an odd request).

Mom: I especially think Blaine might like them. He's really good at figuring out those kinds of things.

Me: Yeah, he is.

Mom: And Trent. He is great at puzzles and problem solving, you know?

Me: Uh huh. I'll tell him, too.

Mom: Oh, and even Lisa might like to try them. She's really smart like that!

Me (just starting to think to myself, "what about ME being smart like that?" while at the same time thinking, did she really just call to tell me to tell them to play with her metal puzzle things?"): I'll tell Lisa, too, Mom.

Mom: You know, even Brian might like to try those. He's so good at figuring things out!!

I waited again for my own invitation. Nothing. So finally, Me: Yeah, Brian's really smart. (pause.) Um, Mom? Did you really just call to tell me to tell them to work on those brainteasers?

Mom: Well... yes. I just think they'd really like figuring them out.

Me (feeling slightly defensive, in a joking way, of couse): Ummm... what about me?

Mom: YOU?? (longer pause) I, uhh, I don't think YOU would like those puzzle things, would you??!?

Ha! I got the picture. And I passed on the message. And, they all laughed, and then proceeded to play with her little brainteasers for more than an HOUR!

I tried working on them for about 5 minutes. My mom was right; I'm not smart like that. heh heh.

Welp, I think/hope Spencer is finally sleeping. Whew! And it's my same ol' bedtime again... 1 a.m. Like clockwork. So off I go, ready for another night of a few blessed hours of sleep.