Okay, so I knew I would think of more funny, clever Violet isms after I posted yesterday, so here they are: Violet is attempting to try and dress herself. She tries to put hats on, and this morning even tried to put a diaper on. She doesn't really like shoes though and is always taking them off, just like her older sisters. (I have bare footed children all year long) Violet can say momma, Dada, hi, and something that sounds like night, night. She can also mimic animal noises and other sounds from her Baby Einstein movies. I can't believe I forgot to mention that she enjoys the delicacy of live escargot, shell and all. As well she has a refined taste for sand and the occasional small rock. So I think I have all the important stuff covered.

Happy 1st Birthday to my darling baby girl. In honour of Violet I am going to write about all the clever things she has learned and accomplished in her first year of life, in no particular order because I really can't remember. Violet has learned to dance. She bops up and down and wiggles her bum just like a girl. she has learned to sing along with her siblings. She has learned to hold the phone to her ear and chatter away. She speaks in the most adorable language. She has also learned to wrestle with Daddy and her siblings, to give big wet sloppy kisses, to wave, to clap, to play peek-a-boo, to crawl up stairs but not down, to climb on furniture, to share her food right out of her mouth and already chewed. So thoughtful, and to give the best snuggles, and the biggest smiles. She has the ability to make anyone she meets fall in love with her. My favorite thing that Violet does is nurse her blankie. She sticks her tongue between her lips in a sucking motion and holds the satiny edge of her blankie to her mouth. It's how she puts herself to sleep. Sweetest of all is when she takes the edge of her blankie and holds it up to my mouth to share her favorite comfort. It melts my heart. I adore everything about my sweet baby girl, and cherish every moment I have with her. I am sad for this year to end, and wish I could keep her a baby for a little bit longer, but alas that is not to be. Instead I just need to relish in every delightful milestone. I frequently find myself reflecting on the words to a poem my Nana had embroidered and framed. "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow, for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs. Dust go to sleep. I'm rocking by baby, cause babies don't keep."

Finally summer arrived this past week. We have put forth our best efforts to make the most of every sunny day, because when you live here in B.C you never know how long it is going to last. Thursday we spent the hottest day of the week at Crescent Beach near White Rock with some other mommas and kiddies. It was a lot of work, but the kids had fun playing in the tide pools, poking at dead crabs, building sand castles and eating sand for Violet. I'm not sure of the appeal, but I was continually scooping it out of her mouth.

Despite my best efforts to keep my gang coated in sunscreen, we all came home with missed sunburned areas. I was relieved that Leif's bottom stayed white, even though his swim shorts continually slipped well below his crack. I won't post that picture, but he did get a fair amount of head turns and chuckles.
  We spent the following sunny days at a free community kiddie pool out in Coquitlam, and several trips to our local Maple Ridge water park. We are still eagerly anticipating mom's pool being ready. It is wonderful to live in such a beautiful area with so many great parks, lakes and beaches. I really think B.C. is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and I feel so blessed to live here.
  A few other things I would like to mention: My girls received their Summit report cards this week. Summit is the distributed learning school we are working out of. They were fantastic report cards, and not because they were exceeding expectations, because they weren't. They were however "meeting expectations" both in all areas but one which was "approaching expectations ". When they were in public school their report cards mostly read "not yet meeting expectations". The best part of their report cards was that their teacher ( The woman who marks their work and meets with them occasionally) referred specifically to the individual assignments they had each done, making detailed comments. This is what I loved. It gave me confidence as their main teacher and reaffirmed why I decided to do this in the first place.
  Christopher was accepted into graduate school this week. Very exciting! He is going to get his masters in clinical counseling. This does mean he'll be going back to school in January full time, for around two years if we include practicums. So it will be back to living off student loans for us, but I will try to find some part time work as well. It is better that he go full time to get it done sooner. I am excited for the end results, when he has a good job and makes a decent wage. To celebrate getting accepted into school he went for a 100km bike ride on Saturday with a couple of his friends. Then he came home and cleaned the entire house, vacuuming, dishes, laundry, washing floors. I was out with the kids. It was so nice to come home to a beautifully clean house. He's still recovering today.
  I am a little jealous of his long bike ride. I haven't run more than 11km since my half marathon. I really want/ need to go for a long run, but my left hip is giving me so much pain. when I run I really favour my right leg, and tend to limp a little bit. I hate it, but I don't know what to do about it. Physio therapy is not at the top of my financial need list. Hopefully it will go away over time and I can get out for a long run while we are still having this fantastic weather.

      Okay, I couldn't resist.

  Before I end for this evening here's a cute little thing Miete said the other day. "Mom, when are you going to sign me and Lilli up for that Brownie or Waffle group that our friends are in?" Maybe it's a "You had to be there moment." It was funny to us though.

Lillias finally lost here first tooth Friday evening. She's been waiting for this to happen for months. For her it is one of those monumental things that makes you a "big girl". For the past two weeks she's been wiggling it incessantly and showing everyone she knows how loose it is. She'd find ways to work it into conversations and get responses from people. "Oh my loose tooth is hurting so much right now." When it finally happened I wasn't here to witness the glorious event. I was however told and retold in vivid detail, early the following morning while I was mostly still asleep. "Look mom I lost my tooth. Daddy wanted to pull it out, but I said no, and then I pulled it out myself. Aren't you proud of me. Isn't it cool that I lost my tooth? Do you want to see the picture Daddy took of me after I lost my tooth?" Throughout the following day she continued to say "Isn't it cool that I lost my tooth" along with frequent trips to the bathroom to admire her gap in the mirror. The tooth fairy left her a total of .30 cents in nickles and pennies this morning, because it's not the value of the money that counts when you are 5, but the amount of monies you can hold in your hand. .30 cents is a lot more than a loonie or a twonie. Besides she then had enough change to let Miete and Leif share in the thrill of depositing it in their communal piggy bank
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 I went to wake Violet from her nap the other day and this is how her dress looked. I don't know how she got her arm out because the buttons were still all done up on the back, and it is not a wide neck dress. I guess we're going to have to have the modesty talk with her a little sooner than I anticipated. But don't you just want to kiss that sweet neck. She really is such a darling, and I can't get enough of her cuteness. Delicious!