Hello again!

Wow, this blog is suffering serious neglect! I just haven't felt that I've had much to say, or when I have, I haven't made the time. I think the only way I'm going to correct this is by setting out a plan. I will blog here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I try to post on my public blog every weekday. You can still catch our (but mostly my) antics over there, but this blog is just for private audience, so it will be more specific and personal about the girls. Given that today is Thursday, I'm already starting off schedule, but we'll ignore that and press ahead!

Mimi arrived safe and sound this past Saturday. We are thrilled to have her here! She hasn't seen the girls since Stephanie was five months old and Ellie was the age Stephanie is now (2.5 years old). That's amazing. We all know that our lifestyle takes us far away for long stretches, but you can really mark that time in the children. They are completely different from the little creatures she last saw, and they are all having fun together! They go visit her in her room each morning and at just about any time she's in there throughout the day. Ellie has commented on how much she likes Mimi's sweet, nice voice. The girls have been completely charmed! Needless to say, I've been over the moon to have her here. I may be forced to hide her passport in a week's time. Don't tell her it was me.


Ellie is excitedly gearing up for her birthday party this weekend. Five is so much different from four! She is really her own person in a new way lately. She is so composed, so much older somehow. This is all completely unauthorized, of course, but I do marvel and enjoy it. I'll write a separate post just about her soon.


Her birthday party will be on Saturday. It's hard to get her to narrow down her invitation list. To simplify this, our guideline has been the number of kids is the age of the birthday child. This year, that means five invitees. While three of the names of that list were fixed from day one, the remaining two slots rotated on an almost hourly basis until the invitations were handed out. I worried a little that she would be upset about the omissions, but she was remarkably logical and diplomatic about the process. I wasn't convinced about the remaining two she settled on (she plays with others a bit more frequently), but she assured me that anyone who didn't come this year could come next year or the year after. "Actually," she calmly and matter-of-factly told me ("actually" is very big in the vocab of both girls these days), "next year I can have six, and then seven and then eight...so everyone will get a chance to come to my party sometime." So true (yet remarkable for a child of her age, don't you think?!).