Why I Am Not Happy Tonight

My little Marilla just threw up drastically twice in a row. While having a little sick kid is never fun, there are reasons this is even more awful than normal.

1. We weaned Marilla from her pacifier Friday night. It hasn't been a popular move. Now, when she's in need of comfort, it's so tempting to give it back to her. The thought of going through the last three nights some other time, though, is terrifying.
2. She just threw up on the back-up blanket. Now that the pacifier is gone, this blanket is even more crucial. And the two blankets won't be out of the dryer for 2 hours.
3. Evan and I have hotel reservations for Thursday night. It will be our tenth anniversary Friday, and, for the first time in 7-8 years, we are going away for a long weekend. Without our children. What are the odds we won't get sick at this critical juncture.
4. It's just awful. I can't think of another concrete reason, but three reasons doesn't do this justice.

Anyway, she is in the mood to cuddle at least. And now Daddy has the brains to have a little bowl handy should she erupt again. We're low on sleepers at this point, so hoping she manages to keep it all inside, or at least in the bowl if she needs to vomit again.

I hope no one was looking for a happy blog post here! ;-)

Thanksgiving 2009

Here's one of the main reasons I don't update my blog more. Rilla believes this is a legitimate way for Mommy to use the computer-- reaching around and through her legs to reach the keyboard.

Cheyenne's class put on a program for a school assembly the Friday before Thanksgiving. They told the story of the Pilgrims.

Here is Cheyenne, saying "The first winter in America was long and hard." I was impressed-- she was loud and clear. During their songs, I could hear her voice from the back of the auditorium. I guess she does have some Vaughan blood in her!

On Tuesday, they had a program for the parents. Cheyenne told a joke-- "What's the best thing to put on pumpkin pie? Your teeth!" Ha, ha, ha!

Marilla, enjoying the hand-me-down scarves from Grandma Jill.

I guess we don't really need to buy clothes-- that is quite the outfit!

It was gorgeous weather for Thanksgiving weekend up at the farm! Thankfully, this picture, taken Wednesday, paints a pretty picture of the day. Good thing the camera wasn't out Wednesday night. That's when I burned a pie crust in Mom's terrible oven (more on that later!), inadvertently sprayed myself with the kitchen sink sprayer (making Owen's day) and covered myself in turkey juice. I came this close to crying over exhaustion and frustration.

The next morning, though, was pretty relaxing. Elliott chilled with some stuffed animals from Aunt Emma.

Cheyenne observed Auntie's knitting lesson for Tori.

Rilla had purple polka dot legs.

Cheyenne got a little snuggle time with Gilbert, who is fat and adorable!

Playing Fluxx. (Hint: don't buy this for Lisa's birthday-- I don't think she likes this game! :-)

Elliott had a great time playing with blocks...

And reading with Daddy.

Marilyn used her artistic talent to color in the Barbie coloring book. Although I don't have pictures, Ashley also did some coloring in that book-- seemed to be a popular pastime, and all the kids were impressed with their technique!

Silly kids playing together.



Finally, we started eating some appetizers and cooking!

I am the picture of purpose and resolve. I had forgotten my apron at home, so I borrowed one of Mom's. I have a sneaking suspicion it was accidentally stolen from convention one year, but I tried not to be overwhelmed with guilt.

Not a lot of marks for elegant presentation of the appetizers, but they sure were yummy! Olivia made clam dip.

Lisa made this-- a block of cream cheese spread with some sun-dried tomato pesto. Super yummy.

And Ashley's guacamole, made even better by being served in a cow bowl!

The stuffing being made.

Clementine oranges, disappearing fast.

The Cooking Cottens.

Bethaney deals with an onion...

while Justin halves brussel sprouts. It was my first time trying them-- not to bad, but I'm not sure they're worth doing a lot of work for!

As my shutter clicked here, little Gilbert's eyes closed, and he fell asleep!

Lisa's handiwork-- fancy place tags!





By the time we were ready to eat, the kids were getting silly.

Orianna. She wore pink tights with polka dots as a counter point to Rilla's purple stockings.

Yup, Elliott and Orianna are still the evil twins.

As per usual, there was obscene amounts of delicious food.

Bethaney's turkey. We all made fun of Bethaney, because she was going to start cooking her turkey while it was still frozen. Well, it was done before my carefully thawed and brined turkey. (I think that oven bags don't work right in those stand-alone roasters!) Anyway, we had two huge turkeys, so plenty of meat.

And rolls, and sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes...

And zucchini bread, and cranberry-orange relish, and cranberry horseradish relish. (Mom has a weird attachment to the last item-- none of the rest of us can stand it.)

The kids' and (some of) the ladies' table.

Digging in!

They all look like they're finding enough food.

At the kids' table. Note Bet is standing up-- there's not much peaceful eating at this table.

Olivia finds turkey hilarious.

I got to sit by Orianna Grace!

Lily giving Grandma a big hug afterwards.

Ashley, with her festive pumpkin-colored scarf.



I don't know what was in that glass, but the pictures are funny!

The kids getting ready to go for a walk with some of the aunts!


Justin provided the after-dinner music.

And, after everyone had time to let things settle a bit, there was pie! Blackberry, raspberry, pumpkin, apple, lemon meringue and pecan!

(And Evan teasing Orianna. But that's a constant.)

My lemon meringue pie wept. I can never bring myself to care about this, but I know it's a culinary no-no.

Yum, pie crust!

Lily dug into the peanuts for supper.

She's very protective of her peanuts. She didn't really trust Olivia when Olivia took this picture.

"Step away from the peanuts."

There was lots of to-ing and fro-ing, as 20-something people moved around all the extra tables.

Lily's comfortable seat.

I think she was getting a little tired by now.

So was Elliott. Though he was helped by the coffee he was sneaking from various adults.

Dad burns the baler twine from the hay in his furnace, so he brings it in after chores. A whole new level to the usefulness of baler twine was discovered, with the electric blue twine their neighbor uses. Cheyenne and the other kids loved and used it for all sorts of games.

Olivia's Black Friday purchase. Particularly beautiful when paired with these pajama pants.

Elliott was into pink, too.


Making pizza Friday night.

I did the heavy looking on while Bethaney worked on them.

She was really impressed with having her picture taken, apparently.

Remember Mom's awful oven, the one that cooked 60° hot and shocked you when you used metal spoons to stir pots on certain burners? Well, on Saturday she got a new stove! Since they paid $10 for the other one, used, 15 year ago, I'm not sure it was necessary, but it is pretty.

The greatest thing, of course, was the stove box.

It got a little crowded in there with five kids, but it kept them contained. Cheyenne was quite distressed that the other kids didn't share her decorating vision and attention to detail, but they were quite happy just crawling in and out and poking their head out the windows.

Especially the sunroof.

Saturday night, sleepy little cousins read books together.

All the kids' favorite spot-- the window ledge behind the love seat.

Gilbert chilling on Mom's lap. Look at that neck control!

A good time was held by all-- even my weird son.

Halloween: 12 Pictures, 22 Days Later

I was too lazy to put up Halloween pictures before now, but I decided they were too funny to never put up. So here they are, even if it is SO Thanksgiving instead of Halloween this week!

Elliott and Cheyenne were quite excited about going trick-0r-treating.

Cheyenne was an old-time princess, Marilla was a bumblebee, and Elliott was a giraffe (again). Cheyenne's outfit was a hand-me-down she loved, but it lacked the snappy answer to the question, "What are you?" She was quite disgusted with having to explain to people what she was, but she loved looking glamorous!

Marilla actually kept her hood on the whole time. Of course, with the curls hidden, everyone thought she was a boy.

Elliott is REALLY excited by all this.

I asked Cheyenne to squat to get Rilla in the picture better-- so of course, Rilla squatted, too!


With the loot!



Marilla puts her few teeth to good use!


Cheyenne is NOT pictured with her candy, because she was out on the porch, officiously passing out candy to the kids who came to our house. I turned the lights out after 105 people-- kids come from all over to go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood!

And now it's Thanksgiving, which is another excuse to eat lots of food!

For Lindsey, With Love

This post is for my sister, Lindsey. She has been rather forceful in her thoughts about lazy mothers who don't post pictures of their kids for lonely aunts in Alaska. So, we'll give her a dose of kids right off the bat.

Rilla actually possesses visible teeth now. She also likes posing for the camera.

Cheyenne has red hair. And she's not averse to the camera, either.

And Elliott really likes posing. Ask Olivia, who took approximately 200 pictures of him this weekend, in direct response to commands like, "Take a picture of me running!"

We've been playing with K'Nex lately. This was Cheyenne's "tuba." Points for creativity and engineering ability, but we may have to check a book out of the library on musical instruments soon.

On a slightly sad note, our van rolled over 200,000 miles, and we decided it was time to part. (Parting hasn't exactly happened yet. Anyone want to buy a van, cheap? The previous owners were nice to it, at least! Not us-- we offered benign neglect. Marilyn and Dana treated it nicely.)

The good news is that we have a new van, courtesy of Mammy! It has 8 seats instead of seven (very useful when you're going to have four kids and you already possess umpteen siblings) and only has 114,000 miles on it! It is a very spiffy van, and we are all excited about it.

This picture really needs a drum roll! Evan is finished siding! Well, at least the parts of the house that we were planning on doing-- the back of the house is next year's project.

It looks spectacular.

So does the girl slouched in the doorway.

Actually, the siding is finished-- but Evan still has to caulk around the windows. And put the cap shingles on the porch roof. And re-do interior trim. (Evan, are you reading this? Go outside and get busy!)

That's not even funny. Poor Evan had to pour a slab in a four-foot crawl space today. Imagine someone who is 6'4" having to push a wheelbarrow full of heavy concrete around for hours, never being able to stand up. I feel very sorry for Evan tonight. Tomorrow night, though...

Mom and the girls were here for the weekend. Here, Mom tries to stop Marilla picking her nose so they can pose for a picture.

Here, Mom has given up a losing battle, but still gazes lovingly at her nose-obsessed granddaughter.

Olivia and Elliott chilled together.

Poor Rilla already has chapped lips. Could be a long winter.

But, when you have rainbow boots and a Bob the Builder book, you're ready for any kind of winter.

Rilla likes reading books.



This was Tori and Cheyenne's cooking session.

Varied and visually appealing! I'd hire them!

Cheyenne, a lady of leisure, reading a book.

Tori was reading, but decided she'd rather be immortalized as a raging psychopath. Boy, Tori, I'm sure glad you saw me before I snapped a picture!

Two pretty girls.


One of the aforementioned "Take a picture of me!" pictures.

And another. Good thing I don't have to buy film anymore.

This is kind of a cool shot, when Olivia was playing with my camera on the trip North Sunday night. What's better than a picture of Rilla? A picture with TWO shots of Rilla!

We got to see The Gilbert Monday. And Ashley.

Cheyenne, playing with the coolest Little People camper. Dad and Evan had gone down to Pennsylvania over the weekend, to pick up some leftover furniture from my aunt Hopie's move. We got a lot of great stuff (thanks, Hopie!) but the thing that made Bet and I squeal the most was the Little People. There was a ferryboat, camper, and A-Frame, plus assorted people. It's re-ignited my kids' passion for the old Little People.

Lily reading. But really, this was about getting a picture of those edible toes.

Elliott playing with cars from Hopie.

Dad staring distrustfully at the computer.

A perfect little egg-head. He liked his Aunt Clover. Or else he thought I was funny looking. Either way, he gave me lots of smiles.

This kid really knows how to rock the Reading A Book picture.

Although Ashley rocks actually reading a book. The only NY cousin not there is Rilla, who was taking a nap. They were all pretty fascinated with Ashley when she came over after work.

Okay, I have LOTS of other pictures from further back that I haven't posted, which I may get around to at some point. For now, though, this should give Aunt Lindsey a glimpse of life in the White household. Or at least the White kids, which is the important part.

My Month Off

I haven't posted on here for a month! I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats wondering why... :-) I actually have a plausible reason for being so lazy lately. We're expecting Adorable Baby #4, and this first trimester hasn't been a whole lot of fun! When the kids are finally plunked in bed at night, I've been plunking myself down on the couch and reading books. My housework and blog aren't getting a whole lot of attention, but I have gone through some pretty good books lately!

It's been a busy, normal month here. Evan's had a lot of work (good financially, not so great for being home much!) Cheyenne's settled into kindergarten fine, I volunteer in her classroom every other Wednesday. I trade babysitting with Alex's mom so we can both get in.

Hmm, seems hard to summarize a whole month! Here's some of the few pictures I've taken lately.

Marilla as a little old lady. Mom gave the kids a bunch of hand-me-down scarves a couple of months ago, and they get used for all sorts of things. A lot of them were given to Mom by older ladies, and they are really retro! I love how Marilla is wearing an old lady scarf, AND clutching her purse in the approved old-lady style.


Cheyenne is also getting an A+ in fashion.

This was her get-up while helping wash apples for applesauce.

Marilla is definitely my daughter. How are you supposed to eat breakfast without reading material? Marilla and Elliott are both entranced with reading right now. It means the bookshelves get dumped on the floor pretty frequently, but it keeps them occupied! Cheyenne and I have been reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books together. Evan's been listening as I read "Little House on the Prairie," and I think we both agree we have it pretty easy in this day and age! After listening to the work to build a house and dig a well, Evan's grateful for his nail guns and truck!

This picture is from tonight. Since I was pulling the "I'm a pregnant mother who's about to puke" card, Evan was making supper. I guess it wasn't coming fast enough, so Marilla hunted down the raisin bran box and started eating fistfuls of dry raisin bran. While I salute her choice of cereal, eating it dry is a bit much, even for a raisin bran fanatic like myself.

Elliott with a puzzle he did all by himself! Cheyenne's been doing this one a lot, too-- she has it done in about a minute! It took Elliott quite a bit longer, but I was impressed he persevered.

Of course, half the time, they start doing the puzzle on the kitchen floor while I try to cook supper or unload the dishwasher. Handy!

Sweet face!

And another sweet face. Wow, what a charmer!

I like this kid!

My African violet has finally ended the strike it started when I divided it in May, and has grudgingly pushed out one bloom. There are more buds there, though, so I'm hoping it starts blooming again like it used to!

My house looks like a bomb went off in it. I have managed to get all the kids' winter clothes and coats out, but now I have four overflowing laundry baskets of summer clothes that need to be dealt with. I still have 2 1/2 bushels of apples to make into applesauce, and my fridge is full of stuff I've been ignoring in my present queasy state. I'm hoping I can make a dent in it all this week-- or I may just get some more books read! :-)

Swing Days (A While Back)

We were supposed to head north last weekend for Lily's birthday party. Some coughs and colds at the Cotten household, combined with the drastic need for Evan to get some work done on the house, meant we didn't get to go. After bawling for half an hour, I got over it and had a nice weekend! Dana and Marilyn came out, and Dana helped Evan tremendously on the house. Marilyn did my dishes all weekend, played Polly Pockets until I'm sure her eyes bubbled, and went apple picking with the kids and I. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for the trip to the orchard!

Thankfully, even though I didn't get any pictures of Lily on her birthday, I still have lots of pictures of the cousins. These pictures are all from the week Gilbert came home. I had posted pictures of him, but hadn't gotten around to putting up pictures of the other cute little bugs!

Tori earning stars in her crown, being Super Aunt!

Happy girl.

Elliott's grin.

Marilla is holding Lily or Orianna's baby. They were a gift to the girls for being new big sisters, but Marilla doesn't really recognize their ownership. They were graceful little girls and let Marilla carry the babies around the whole time.

Olivia (once again) was taking pictures for me with my camera, and something funky was going on with the light metering. Makes them look sorta artistic, though!

Especially with a little wind-blown Lily!

While Aunt Clover was watching them, Bet's poor girls did NOT get the cool hairstyles and outfits they normally have. I pulled it together enough to do their hair on the day Gilbert came home, and that was about it!

I was an equal opportunity neglecter, though. Cheyenne's hair obviously hadn't been touched that day.

Pensive beauty.

Playing in the muddy tarp.

Much nicer when they played in the green grass.

Sturdy Cheyenne legs.


The trapeze was everyone's favorite swing.

Exposing pinchy legs.


Elliott had his turn...

As did wild-haired Lily...


And Marilla.


Not only were the kids gorgeous, the day was spectacular.

As was the farm.

I love North Country skies!

Marilla with the doll-- definitely a theme of this weekend.

This tent was also key.

It was set up in the garage, so Elliott could play in it without having to contend with Dogs.

Gauzy Orianna.

Cody's Bronco. I didn't get a shot of the open flames shooting underneath whenever he started it. Cody's friend, Tyler Parrent, and Owen were checking it out for him.

Heading out for a walk, even though it looks like she's about to fall asleep standing up.


Marilla's fashionable outfit. I hadn't really brought up warm clothes, and it was quite nippy, so we resorted to blanket sleepers.

Mother Cheyenne, soothing Marilla as we wait to start out on our walk.

While we were gathering up five kids for a walk, Owen was going up to check hay. Checking hay is way more fun if you can drive your motorcycle there.

Tori and Olivia, Hay Girls Extraordinaire.

Yeah, the girls are actually unloading hay; the three guys are talking and standing.

As big a dork as Cody's friend Tyler is, his son is cute. Ethan and Elliott were due just a couple of weeks apart, but Elliott jumped the gun by a few months.

The 886 in a field of hay that I raked. First time I had raked hay in 16 years!

Sorta, kinda, straight rows, too!

Archie, The Dumb Dog.

Cheyenne and Elliott both thought they were the only ones allowed to push the strollers, which meant we didn't make real good time.


Cheyenne with some grass she thought was pretty!

Dad coming, towing a wagon.

Rocky, the Belgian.

Lily and Grandpa.

Lily's luscious cheek in profile.

Lots of guys checking out the barn. (That's an old sign for the farm from the former owners, not the current name!)

The pig, Roast, checks out his new accomadations. (This is the same pig that we all ate happily Labor Day weekend).

Suzy's piglets, Cheyenne's favorite things about the farm at the moment.

Rilla is ready to be a farm girl.

Right down to the hat.

The next evening, we took the kids over to the playground at the elementary school.






Myself, pontificating on something to Mom.

Rilla liked throwing wood chips.


Olivia, gracefully rising from her fall!

Even the big girls got turns on the swing!










It's just as much fun to climb up the slide as it is to slide down!

Of course, the highlight of the weekend was Mr. Gilbert coming home.

Code-Man.

And the Mom.

Now I'm hoping we can get up soon to watch the cousins have fun together!

Life In A Routine (We Like It!)

Cheyenne, who started out for the first day of school with such joy, was not happy when she came home. I think it may have been because she had to cross the street in front of the bus, which terrified her. Anyway, whatever started it off, there was lots of tears that first night.

There was also the phrase, "Nothing. It was boring." to the the question, "What did you do today?" I tried asking specific questions like, "What did you have for lunch? Did you see Alex? Did you read any books?" But the school day was not up for discussion.

Thankfully, since then, each day has been easier, as Cheyenne gets used to the routine, and isn't quite so tired at night. She wore her hair in a bun the other day, and it fell out halfway through the day. Her hair is getting so long.

And full of ringlets. And redness, though it doesn't show it in this picture.

These coy pictures are as she's telling me about the boy, Alexander, (not to be confused with Alex, her friend that's also in her class) and how he thought she was so pretty and wanted to kiss her. She told him "no" thankfully. Alexander seemed particularly smitten with the long, loose hair. I think I will braid it tightly every day until she is 31.

She has a best friend now, Tess. I'm glad she's found a girl to be friends with, this boy thing was getting fraught!

Tess came over to play last Saturday. She lives right down our road. Elliott got to eat lunch with them, which somewhat salved the hurt over me not letting him in the room while they were playing Polly Pockets.

"Um, Cheyenne, your weird mom is taking pictures of us?" "Yeah, that happens all the time."

Tess and Cheyenne are just nine days apart! (Tess is younger).

It's interesting to see how the kids have adjusted to Cheyenne being away all day. I think Elliott likes being the big boss.

They enjoyed the sandbox all through this gorgeous week. I'm not sure I enjoyed the amount of sand that was spread through the house as a result, but it was worth it to keep them happy.

Rilla relaxing in a lawnchair, singing away with her "hymnbook." All books are hymnbooks. She likes books.

Elliott, getting S'Mores for a snack. Do you know, I never had a S'More until Labor Day Weekend? I'm not a huge marshmallow fan, so I didn't think I would care for them, but mmmm.... they are GOOD! (Note to self: put marshmallows on the grocery list... again.)

Elliott, reacting to sticky marshmallows.

That hand blur seems to be his signature move while being photographed.

Elliott spends lots of time reading. Richard Scarry is a favorite right now.

When Cheyenne does come home, Elliott and Marilla are ecstatic.

They were into art this day.

Cheyenne displaying Elliott's artwork-- she had written his name on it. She told me, "He did a very beautiful job."

This displaying-art gig is serious work.

Daddy got into the trains last night.

"Evan, you can play with the trains by yourself-- I really need to put the kids to bed!"

Tonight, Auntie and Rosemary are here. Alex's family also brought over a bag of goodies for the kids, which contained bubbles!

Auntie kept them all happy for a long time, blowing bubbles for them to chase.






Rilla kept trying to lick and/or kiss the bubbles. Lisa was laughing at the difference between boys and girls-- Elliott was running around, seeing how quickly he could stomp on lots of bubbles. Rilla would squat down beside a bubble and delicately stretch out one finger to touch the bubble!




I like taking picture of my kids.

And taking pictures of random objects.

Random Object #1. My African violet. I divided it to give half to Mom on Mother's Day. Her half is blooming extravagantly, but mine hasn't bloomed since. It had bloomed continuously since I got it in 2005 or 2006, and now I don't have a single bloom. I wonder if Mom would notice if I switched them next time I went up there.

Random object #2. We got a Coca-Cola glass from McDonald's the other day. And my husband uses it to drink Pepsi. I'm surprised the glass doesn't shatter in protest.

I want to post pictures and status updates on the porch, but maybe there'll be tons of progress tomorrow. And I won't be so astoundingly tired then. So, goodnight!