Gigi's First Food

We finally put Gigi in her new high chair last night and fed her a few bites of rice cereal! 

One would think with our fourth child we wouldn't need a new high chair, but I have hated each and every one of our high chairs and hope that I finally made a good purchase.  This one actually sits in the dining room chair so it won't take up much room in our small house in Japan.

The leaning tower of Wagoner girls.  :)















She didn't love it....it only lasted a few bites, but it was start!

Check out those eyelashes!!!!  And Judy, I'm sure you don't remember, but you gave this cute little outfit to Audrey.  It was always one of my favorites.  :)

The Renaissance Fair or Faire to you Renfair Snobs

This past weekend was one of those seminal events you hope your kids remember as much as you did. Brother-in-law Curt and his family proposed the idea a while ago and Sue found some Groupon deals so it was off to the Elizabethan mayhem that is the Tampa Renaissance Fair. I must admit first off that I have consulted numerous historical texts such as the Book of Google and Wikipedia, the novel , to check my facts as my C- history GPA was clearly challenged by the historical, nay hysterical characters we saw throughout the day.

Most historians place the actual European Renaissance between the 14^th and 17^th centuries with the Shakespearean era clearly the high water mark. Our fair(e) was similar in its British Isles centric view. Also in the mix was the never ending Tampa fascination with the Pirate. It was pirate weekend at the fair so those not as inclined to dress as jesters or snow queens, recycled their Tampa Bay Buccaneer/Halloween/Gasparilla costumes and came into the woods of North central Tampa to party. I’ll admit I was a bit suspect of said named pirates, with their ply and trade outlawed by the international community of nations as jus cogens since the 19^th century but historically the case can surely be made that Sir Francis Drake and his like were licensed by the crown in the 16^th century to raid Spanish new world trade at will and did so. Those pirates dressed as Drake’s crew are hereby validated as periodically proper at Renfair. Those however dressing as Lafitte, Morgan, the Beards, and the U.S. Marine Corps fighting, notorious, Barbary Pirates of North Africa, were later in time and clearly ruined any chance of teaching my daughters anything proper about history. Stay in school kids.

If the pirate issue was it, I could reasonably have shaken that off, however with any true RenFair, remember this was our first one, you clearly have to have some additional folks who really, really…really like to dress up. Included in this cast are literally the casts of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, any dragon movie not in animation, Robin Hood, Shakespeare in Love, Braveheart (minus the catapults) and of course Star Wars. I must admit the two best costumes however were this guy, from a galaxy far, far away in the past and the Black Knight from MP and the Holy Grail who I regrettably missed a photo shoot, his costume was SPOT ON!

As a curious sort one can only wonder where the RenFair folks work during the week and how those conversations must be at the ol water cooler on Monday.

You : “Hey Steve, how was the weekend?"

Steve: “My Lord, was it ever an enchanting time, I quaffed mead and downed mutton until I could have no more, My lady was voluptuous and was given the honor of the joust’s wave, a glorious time was had by noble and commoner all”

You: “Uh wow, you didn’t pick Butler either huh?, talk to you later.”

You can clearly see that Steve knows how to party. The mead, a.k.a. Corona, Bud/Bud light, and others was clearly flowing but the one thing Sue wouldn’t let me get was a wooden ale tankard. So we will head to Japan with $ 15 more in our pockets but alas no craftsman’s hewed wooden goblets of glee. Audrey did get some Elf ears though and Olivia purchased some spectacular earrings.

There were many carny games that rip you off just like the State Fair/Church Festival/Strawberry Fest carnies that rule Hillsborough County, but at least these carnies faked an accent and gave you a sticker or set of beads when you failed at your quest.

There appears to be a fine line between Ren Fair aficionados and those folks who appreciate the darker arts or darker social scenes. I don’t want to besmirch the whole crowd but one can definitely see how a Ren Fair after hours party could get pretty freaky after the kids go home. Not a bad thing, actually more of a potential marketing ploy to college age kids to look for fun outside the usual bar scenes in their towns. In closing I would absolutely recommend taking the family to one of these fairs for a day. Couple things you might want to fit in better than we did.

1. A1. Walking stick, the place wasn’t that big but it appeared to be a must.

2. A2. Furry tail, yes most “hipster” Renfair folk seem to wear a raccoon/furry animal tail. The blogs don’t have a good answer pro or con on the subject.

3. Tattoo’s. If you got em’ show them off, if not try the henna ones for starters.

4. Huge Breasts that look even bigger in Bodices, once again, if you’ve got em….

5. Elf ears/ fairy wings/ Merlinesque hats. The purists will scoff and call you RenFair names like Danes..as in mundanes (I guess in RenFair talk that is really biting) but I realize most of you don’t have leather and felt tie up boots/hats/clothes and striped pants so this may be the only thing the kids can dress up with.

6. Any cup with a handle, there were many Renfair folk who had regular tankards/mugs but they must have handles. If you want to have a rope or string to tie them to your belt loops even better, they can match your tail.

7. We did bring a camera, it is a MUST! We tried to ask most Renfolk politely, hence we didn’t want to be making fun of them but most, if not all, gladly pose, they were real good sports.

8. Cash, it’s just like the county fair, minus the confederate flags, mostly. But you need some bling to play the games and buy the drinks.

9. Don’t wear that belly dancer outfit, unless you can pull it off.

We really did enjoy this thing. We’d love to hear your stories next. Love the Wagoner 6.

Good Day Kind Sirs and Madams

Will Olivia be my Math Girl?

Olivia really enjoys school and loves learning, but will deny it when Audrey teases her.  (We're working on that teasing part!)

She is a beautiful artist (her flowers are awesome!) and wants to read well SO BADLY (Mom-guilt here....I went through Lesson 34 with Audrey in "How to Teach Your Kid to Read in 100 Easy Lessons....I got to Lesson 6 with Olivia).  However, I hadn't noticed an interest in math until yesterday.

I walked into our bedroom and she had taken all of the coins out of her wallet (that's another whole post...Olivia and her love for purses and wallets and just general organization and prissiness) and lined them up on the ottoman by size, smallest to largest.  There were the regulars (dime/penny/nickel/quarter) and foreign money that Daddy brought us from various places and one Charles Fromage token and then she made a graph, showing the coins by squares on a bar graph and then putting the number at the top.  She had me write what everything was named.
 

I was really proud of her!  Perhaps she'll follow in her Aunt Tracy and Uncle Curt's footsteps!  :)  (And I guess me too!)

We Miss You Already, GrandDad!!!

Mick, Audrey and TWags went to Lakeland on Saturday for the Phillies at the Tigers.  Stubhub screwed up their sweet, 2 rows up from the dugout tickets, gave them a refund, but alas, there were no such seats left.  They sat in the grass and got there early for batting practice and autographs.  Audrey, Mick's Lucky MLB ball charm, was given a foul ball by some guy who caught two in a row!  And she got Victorino's autograph and was completely stoked!

When Claire saw Mick in this sweatshirt she said, "Daddy, I like your Texas sweatshirt!"  He said, "It's actually a Creighton sweatshirt." And she replied, "HOOK 'EM HORNS!"  :)

It was an awesome weekend and we wish he could have stayed longer!  Thank you for coming!!!!!!

Mick tells me that Tom's favorite story of the weekend was Claire announcing him to her preschool class.  Hey!  Pay Attention!  This is my Granddad!!!!!  :)

Tom did homework with Olivia, which makes him very popular with us!  He was really impressed by her reading too! 

I'm so glad that Audrey loves baseball.  I had them pause their game of catch to snap these photos. 

And Gigi heard that she wasn't going to get a solo photo shoot with Granddad so she was mad.  ;-)


What a GREAT visit!!!  We ♥ You!

Claire Loves Her Little Sister

I mentioned before how Claire will bust into the room  yelling "MY BABY SISTER IS CRYING!" and climb into Gigi's crib to soothe her.  While yes, sometimes (!) I would she rather not do this, it really is the sweetest thing and she does help too!  :)

Like last night, I put Gigi in her crib while helping the other girls do things and Claire took it on herself to help Gigi.  Look how happy Gigi is with her sweet big sister!  Claire is singing to her.

Often times I bring my roommate in my bed at the end of the night, beginning of the morning and she and I will cuddle each other up and sleep some more.  All the girls come in our bed when they first wake up and Mick came up after morning mass with his Dad and saw me, Claire and Gigi watching a little Special Agent Oso.

 Claire is a wonderful big sister!!!!!  We were so worried about her being dethroned as the baby of the family, but she has adapted so well!

And speaking of the morning mass, Mick was wishing that it was a bit later than 8:00 on a Saturday morning last night after they came home from their day of baseball.  Our friend Liz was over and I told her how Tom went to mass every day during Lent and has done so for as long as I knew him and asked him how long this Lenten promise has been going on.  He said about THIRTY YEARS.  Wow!!!!   And I can't bring myself to give up Diet Coke.

Friday at Park Square

Ahhh!  Friday and 70 degrees in March!  Time to head to Park Square, thanks to my friend Julie, who knows how lousy I am at leaving my house.  :)

First Claire snuck in the water, then Audrey and her friend Connor and so I couldn't really say no when Olivia asked, could I?  :)  After they were done, I insisted they go back in for a dip so I could get some pictures.

NO MOMMY!  It's too cold!!!!!!  

Alright, but I'm going to pose! 

Let's go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Connor.

And here's Audrey, not posing or trying to
look cute AT ALL.  ;-)

And then, my very favorite photos of the day.  Claire is being potty trained at her school.  I'm not so great at it at home.  So today, when I picked her up and took her straight to Park Square, surprise!  She had an accident.  But she was also playing in the water, so we went to the big girl potty, took off our panties and went about our day.  Claire's favorite thing to do at Park Square is to run as fast as she can around and around this ledge.

But she was wearing a size 3T skirt (one of Olivia's favorites from the year when she would only wear skirts) and it was a WEE big!  








And I couldn't stop snapping!

Love the butt crack.  Such an odd statement, but it's true.  :)










Gotta go run some more!!!!!

Hey Everybody! This is my GrandDad!!!!

Claire, while being the most "two" 2 year old I've ever parented, is also the most chatty and funny 2 year old I've parented when she's not locking the door to my bathroom and causing havoc with my make-up and perfume.  (She's fortunate she's so sweet in between the um, episodes.)

Mick and Tom have been getting all of the girls off the past two days, heading to mass in between getting the big girls to elementary school and the little girls to their "school."  Yesterday, Tom was quite amused by Claire, who LOVES her school and everything and everyone about it, announcing his arrival.

"Hey!  Everybody! This is my Granddad!"  Her friends didn't take much notice at first, so she started calling them out by name.  "Stephanie! Nicholas! Nathan! Giovanni!  THIS IS MY GRANDDAD!  MY GRANDDAD IS HERE!"  To which they gathered to meet the illustrious Granddad. 

I made sure they took the camera this morning.  :)

Oh and on the March Madness front, be a little careful with Mick this morning.  You might want to avoid the words "one and done" and "Texas."  And while I committed a marital sin and had Texas losing the first round in our pool, I took Georgetown to win it all.  A friend told me on Facebook that he appreciated that I was rooting for the Jesuits, but even God goes with KU and Duke at tourney time.  :)

Baseball and Steak

Mick's Dad is visiting us for a Baseball Extravaganza Tour!  They are going to two games today, two games tomorrow, one on Saturday and the final on Sunday. 

Today at the Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays game (in Dunedin, near Clearwater), Mick was gifted a foul ball caught by the 1st base coach because, in Mick's words, "He saw my glove and there were no kids around."  Tom said it was a pretty cheesy way to get a foul ball, but another MLB ball nonetheless!  :-0

They're on their way for steak for dinner (shocking, I know), then tonight will see the Rays at the Yankees (in Tampa).  Tomorrow is the Red Sox at the Pirates (in Bradenton) at 1:05 then the Orioles at the Phillies (in Clearwater) at 7:00.  Some sort of fish in between.  That darn Lent.  :)  Saturday they are taking Audrey to the Phillies at the Tigers (in Lakeland) and then either the two of them or the three of us are going to Bern's, Tampa's greatest restaurant, for some more, you guessed it, steak.  Sunday is the Mets at the Astros (in Kissimmee) and then we're going to have, wait for it, steak for dinner. 

Mick is ALWAYS in charge of Sunday dinner and 9 times out of 10 it is steak, potatoes, bread and salad.  :)  Mary Frances and Judy sent us a big box of Omaha Steaks as a get well gift for Gigi so we'll be breaking those out for Tom.  :)

All in all, I think it's a dream Father/Son weekend! :)  Welcome Granddad!!!!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!!!!!

I must admit that twas the night before St Patrick's Day and Mommy was tired and Daddy was drafting his Fantasy March Madness team.  But the girls couldn't be dissuaded and still made two traps!

Here is Olivia's.  Shiny beads and lots of green!

And Audrey made one too.   :)

I was impressed with Audrey for her trap and also her behavior this morning.  We were laying in bed and I told her to get up and get going and she whispered, "I have to pee really bad, but Olivia hasn't seen the green potties."  Good Big Sister Points!!!!!

Audrey's trap was adorable.  The post-it says "Lucky Sticklers Dance Studio" and then there's the dance floor, with a shiny gold arch anchored by some aluminum foil.  There's round scotch tape links around the paper where she can catch him like a kindler, gentler mouse trap and then some glue too.

And here's my Olivia all dressed up.  We love our goose!  (She gets changed every month.)

And here's my naughty Leprechaun, Claire!  :)  Last night we started a sticker (incentive) chart for motivation for her staying in bed because losing my temper and yelling doesn't seem to be working.  She was fired up for it, but it didn't work instantly, to say the least.

I went downstairs to help the Big girls with their traps and she went into our room (I had taped the door handle in her room so she couldn't lock it), locked OUR door (not locking doors is one of the things on the chart), got down my pretty gold plate display of perfume and proceeded to experiment.  At least it smelled pretty!

She was able to put two stickers on her chart this morning (not going downstairs and falling asleep, although it could have been a lot sooner, I gave that one to her), but not four (she missed staying in bed too), so she didn't get a treat this morning.  Perhaps tonight she'll get four?  

Claire with her fabulous teacher Miss Sara, who is  potty training her without much, if any, help from me and her friends Emerson and Stephanie.  It's SO CUTE to see the whole world, and especially a huge bunch of kids, in green!  :)

Claire's class is having a St Patrick's Day party with green grapes, green punch, etc.  :)  I'm looking forward to green poop soon!  ;-0

And here's my sweet Gigi with her green collar.  This is one of her fabulous teachers, Miss Molly.  It is the NICEST daycare I've ever seen and she probably gets held more there than when she is home.  (If you know how much I love to hold my babies, you will know what a LARGE amount of time they must hold her!)  :)

I didn't have makeup on this morning yet, so no pictures of me!

Mick's Dad is coming in tonight and we have quite a feast planned, so more pictures and stories later!  :)

Many, many traps in my office, St Pat's 2009

The Higgins' stayed with us last year over St Patrick's Day while they were househunting for their impending move to Fishhawk and Audrey and Casey set many, many traps up in my messy, messy office!  :)


Casey and Audrey try to trap Paddy

St Patrick's Day 2009 and the Lochness Monster

We had these delightful pictures taken last March.

I had this idea to get these shirts and wanted a picture by the one of the ponds with the Lochness Monster looming in the background.  To which Audrey replied, "MOM!  The Lochness Monster is in Scotland!"

So many cute ones of the girls.  Here's Audrey.  Almost 10 years old.

Here's Olivia.  5 1/2 years old.

And here's Sweet Claire.  (Before she got as ornery as a leprechaun!)  21 months old.

And Mick being so proud of his handsome dog Spike.  He's 5 1/2.  :)

My favorite story of the day is Claire's emerging personality.  She sees Audrey get on her Daddy's shoulders here.

  And then Claire absolutely claws up my body to get on my shoulders as quick as you can say monkey see, monkey do!

But to further clog this blog with pictures demands another story.

Mick proposed to me on December 22nd and we went back to our favorite bar, Barry O's in the Old Market (Omaha), to celebrate with our friends. As I recall, we bought champagne for everyone (even those we didn't know) and they made an announcement and good fun was had by all.

At one point I was behind the bar (days before cell phones) calling my Mom and Dad or someone, telling them the good news.

I was wearing a very festive Christmas sweater (which I adored,as I recall it had ornaments for buttons, very fashionable!) and some guy at the bar asked me "Were you wearing that when he proposed?" When I nodded yes, he replied "HE MUST REALLY LOVE YOU!' :)

I think you'll agree that yes, Mick must really love me! :)

So, Happy St Patrick's Day from the Wagoner Leprechauns!