Thrifty Ice Cream

The name of the game is bribery, and usually it works just fine. Sure, there were still puddles of Ever tears on the floor and T hid underneath the big chair in the corner, but we did the deed and then we got our reward. The deed = flu shots. The reward = Thrifty ice cream at the Rite Aid next door. And Quinn should have gotten a double scoop because she was a straight up boss. She sat in the chair, got the shot, let just a tear or two fall from her big browns and then asked for a Batman sticker. You can tell she has brothers because she doesn't want a princess sticker even though they have those in plenty, but she does ask for Batman on the purple background, so there's that. Ice cream choices should you care to know: Black cherry for the baby. Birthday cake for the boy in the middle. Cookie dough for the T. And for some reason I got mint chip even though I don't even like mint chip (why did I do that? I'm serious right now.) So then I tried to trade my mint chip with Quinny's black cherry, but she refused to trade. "No! No fank you! I wan, mine!" I didn't get a flu shot with the rest of my lot so I had little bargaining power and just ate the darn mint. Next time I'm letting my little girlfriend order for me.  

Our today

I have so much to catch up on documenting. We went to Disneyland for the last time with our annual passes a few weeks back. Jordan and Madelyn came to visit with the sweetest Lu. Our Cora Nicole was blessed at church. The kids are busy looking cute, saying witty things and being involved in awesome things, all of which deserve deliberate documentation. So much from yesterday I need to remember, but I'll worry about back-tracking on a more boring day (tomorrow, most likely). Because today...today was a wonderful day and I want to write about it right now.

{In all honesty I kind of want to be sleeping right now, not writing. I'm so tired all the time these days! But if I must write (and I must--Wigginton's are not quitters) then I want to write about today. Just keeping it real.}

A while back Everett won tickets to the Santa Monica Pier for our whole family--rides and food included--and since James was off of work today we decided to make it happen. The kids were over the moon thrilled. We stayed for four hours, ate greasy food in all it's varieties, went on a slew of carni rides, played a game as a family and did not win a prize and left feeling very satisfied. Things I learned about my children at Pacific Park today are as follows: 

• Talmage now loves to take pictures and asks me repeatedly to take photos of him at various locations, but he is either not looking at the camera or purposely being ridiculous in all of them. His future wife and their wedding video will not be happy, but he doesn't seem to care! 
• Everett, who is notorious for crying at theme parks and being a little bit of a wet blanket, LOVES fast rides that spin. This was news to me since he despises nearly every ride at Disneyland and would usually weep when we even mentioned going, but sure enough his favorite ride today was called the Scrambler and boy was it crazy fast. You learn something new every day.
• You can expect Quinn to look like she's in pain, scared and miserable through 90 percent of any ride she goes on, but the second it's over she's clapping, cheering, asking for more, and fighting about having to take off her seat belt and get out. The process had me seriously LOL-ing. That girl is just so, so fun. 
• Cora is a saint of a baby. As long as she's not in the car, she's not out past bedtime and she's not being put down, you literally will not hear a peep from her. That girl is along for the ride in all the right ways. I love her!

After the pier we hit up Salt & Straw, the fanciest and yummiest little ice cream shop in Venice. Ice cream for dinner is definitely the right way to finish off a day of healthy eating choices, cough cough. But believe me, this place was worth every calorie and has now made its way onto my tourist list when company comes a-knocking. The flavors were so interesting. For example, I had almond brittle and sea salt, James had lavender rocky road, Ever tried bone marrow and black cherry and Quinn had cinnamon toast with apple butter. T had ooey gooey brownie, which while not totally weird was amazingly good. We ate ice cream, then headed to OSH to pick out flowers for our new house. Life has changed so much in the last month, and I'm still breathing in the beauty of it. 

Shake Shack, baby, Shake Shack

My love for Shake Shack runs deep. Not as deep as my love for that grumpy Gus of a Cora Nicole, but close! In fairness, she is a serious soul but usually not all that grumpy, making this photo all the more hilarious and pathetic. Also to note, she looks like Talmage when she cries, Quinn when she smiles and Ever Knight when she's doing neither of those. So basically there's no denying that they're all Wiglets. Yum, I love her.

And yum brings me back to Shake Shack. I reeeaaa-he-he-healy love a Shack burger and cheese fries. I thought moving back to the West Coast would remind my taste buds that I was raised on In 'N Out, but every time I eat a Double Double Animal Style I think, meh, and start daydreaming about our next trip to Hollywood. Last time we were there the manager emptied his pockets full of coupons onto our table when we struck up a conversation about how obsessed we were with his establishment. I'm talking lots and lots of coupons! He also gave the boys hats, the girls t-shirts (Lucy was visiting this weekend, so she got one too) and Coco this adorable little onesie. I mean, you can't make up that level of niceness.

In a few months a new Shake Shack is going to open up right down the street from our home. Not as close as the Natural History Museum location was to our apartment on West 70th, but not much further either. If you have any doubt about whether or not I'll be at the Grand Opening then you really don't know me at all. Just look for the fan-girl and her four crazy fan-babes in tow, we'll be wearing our swag and singing our Shake Shack song (because we really sing songs about the Shack in our family). For everyone's sake I hope that Coco isn't pouting as loudly as she was in that picture, but she told me it all depends on whether I agree to let her guzzle down some cheese sauce. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

The First Day of School: Kinder and 2nd Grade

Ever Knight would not go to Pre-K without a fight. Ever Knight through a tantrum of epic proportions when I took him to check out the Kindergarten classrooms last year at T's Open House. Ever Knight kept telling me all summer long, "Actuawy Mom, I am not going to Kindergarten." With some kids you could just laugh that statement off, but Ever Knight is not afraid to make a scene and shows no mercy. I knew he would "actuawy" go to Kindergarten because like it or not I am still the boss, but I knew it could get really ugly. And yes, I was scared!

With exceptionally high maternal anxiety I woke up on the morning of the first day of school to two little boyfriends who were more excited than I could have imagined to meet their teachers, make new friends and learn interesting and exciting things. I kept waiting for Ever's grand protest, but the little boys walked hand in hand to school, hugged us at the door, smiled as they walked into their respective classes, and never looked back. I chalked it up to being first day enthusiasm and figured it would fade, but we're going on week three now and both of them are rockstars. Hallelujah! And maybe a little sad that they were so anxious to get away? But mostly hallelujah!

At the dinner table after the first day of school we were debriefing on all of the minuscule details of their days and I nonchalantly asked if they had seen each other at school (but didn't think they would have because they don't share play yards, recess times, or anything else!) T got really excited and said, "YES! When I was walking to library and he was walking to the Kinder-yard for recess I saw his class and I ran really fast, gave him a big hug, and then ran back to my classes line. It was so cool!" Ever Knight was beaming and said, "Yah, I tode evewyone dat he is my big bwutho." Talk about a heart-melting mama moment. I've asked myself a million times why the transition this year has been so much smoother for our baby brother than it was last year, and I think I've finally realized that the answer is with T. Those boys are so lucky to have each other and I'm so glad they're at the same school and can sneak in some mid-day loves. Here's to another successful year at school! 

My Snow White Cottage

We weren't looking for a home. In fact, we had all but given up the idea and signed another year lease at our apartment (not without some tears, let us be clear). We kept getting outbid on homes in the neighborhood and everything was above our price range and sure, there was a house or two that we probably could have rented but we figured that if we were going to put ourselves on the line financially then our new pad better fit nearly all of our criteria, or at least most of it. We felt stuck. We were stuck. We signed another year lease and told ourselves that we'd be good little savers and next summer we'd move out and move up.

Isn't it funny the difference a week can make? Or a month? Isn't it amazing to see how God works in our lives? Isn't it a fabulous experience to not only witness a miracle, but recognize it as such?

I like to say that we moved into Snow White's cottage. Sure, I only have four little dwarfs (not seven!) but they are filling these walls with laughter and joy and it's hard not to feel like we're living a fairytale. Tell me that this is the cutest house you've ever seen. Do it. DO IT! Then come and visit and I'll take you on a tour of the inside, then you'll really be singing it's praises. I'll show you the original hardwood floors, the curved and vaulted ceilings and the original and darling door knobs and windows. Then I'll let you see the completely updated bathrooms and kitchen, because old is charming except for when those two rooms are involved! I'll walk you into our backyard paved with brick and show you where Coco and I lay on a blanket in the grass and watch the other three kids play games with a backdrop of blooming bogenvelia. Geez, it seems this house was prayed into existence just for us.

And maybe it was?

As the story goes, I was driving T to cross country practice two weeks ago when I saw that this charming home I had long admired was up for lease. Luckily my Mom was in town so she wrote down the phone number to call, and within the hour I was on the phone with the owner. This was a Tuesday. On Wednesday we toured the house and although it was out of our price range, the owner told us how emotionally connected he felt with this property and said it was more important for him to find a good family that would love this home than to make more money. On Thursday morning we made an offer. By Thursday afternoon he accepted. On Saturday we signed the lease and one week to the day later we moved in. And as if there are not enough things to be grateful for in this story, our property manager was able to resign our lease to a group of UCLA students within two days of us telling her we had found a new abode so we don't have to pay any extra rent. And all this happened just days before a new person was set to move into the previously unoccupied unit below ours and my stress levels were high trying to figure out how to keep my circus quiet. My parents came down to help with the transition, friends came out in plenty to assist with the move, and although I am a notoriously weepy individual not a tear was shed as we waved goodbye to that apartment and said hello to our cottage--I was too busy smiling. Beaming, really.

So if you need my new address, let me know. If you need a place to stay in LA know that my sleeper sofa has your name written all over it. And if you need me? I'll be rocking my baby in my Bop's chair while watching butterflies dance and hearing wind-chimes twinkle through those single panes. I'm so glad this is my life right now.

Jesus, Hode You!

September will be a month of writing for me. At least that's the hope. The goal? The plan. I have a lot to catch this bloggety-blog up on, I have a need to feel like a grown up, and I have no time to spare. Oh wait, that last thing actually is not in the pro column, but I've told myself that 10 minutes a day with my fingers on these keys is worth the sanity to my brain and the peace to my soul that it can bring. So wish me luck as I embark on this journey. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

My 10 minute piece of the day:

I always thought my Mom was slightly exaggerating when she said my favorite toddler phrase was, "I do it!" but Quinny has taught me the truth in that tale. It seems that my eldest daughter and I are cut from the same cloth because if I try to put on her shoes, give her a bite of my treat or help buckle her into the carseat she shakes her head vigorously, scowls with pursed lips and says, while wagging her finger back and forth, "No! My do it." or "I do it." or "Stop it. Minnie do it." She calls herself Minnie. Actually, she calls herself Coco whenever someone asks her name, but when she remembers that she's Quinn and not Cora she calls herself Minnie. Confused? It's quite adorable and hilarious. All this to say that my Quinner is an independent little friend, as fiercely independent as they come.

But lately, Quinn is helping me remember that independent people need lots of love too. She wants to be held by James (always) and me (more than ever). She sits on T's lap when he gets home from school, she begs Ever for kisses, she walks with outstretched arms to friends in our congregation (and random men taking walks at the park), inviting them to pick her up. She asks me to put my phone down, to sing the "I love Quinny" song and follows me around the house like a duckling saying, "Mama. Mama. MAMA!" until I give her the attention she seeks and deserves. It's a lot to handle right now if I'm being honest. So many littles with so many needs that I often fear are not being met.

A few weeks ago I took the four littles to the Visitor Center on a Monday for Family Home Evening and Quinny was completely entranced with the Christus. While a group of Chinese tourists were listening to a lesson from the sister missionaries about the love of the Savior my Quinny ran to His feet, climbed up the base and repeatedly said, "Jesus, Hode you! Jesus, Hode you!" The Chinese friends oohed and ahed over the blonde pig-tailed beauty, and I beamed at the incredible scene before me. The missionaries message was powerful, but I couldn't help but think that my baby girl without the name tag really taught our lesson of love that night.

There are so many things that independent, capable and brilliant "Minnie" will be able to do all by herself in life, but when she does need help there may be times when her earthly friends fall short of fulfilling her needs. In those times, and at all times, I hope Quinn always knows that Jesus Christ loves her. He knows her personally and will never leave her side. Jesus will "hode you" through good and bad baby girl, He will always hode you.

Bears and boots and baby besties

A few little randoms from the last week that I don't want to forget. 

After completing the scavenger hung and dropping our name into the raffle at National Night Out along with a million other kids, Everett's name was drawn and we won that big bear and a family pack to Santa Monica Pier. I don't think I have to tell you how excited these two were and are about their spoils.

Somehow this little lady has outgrown almost all of her 2T clothes. 22 months going on 5! I can't believe this little lady will soon be 2 almost as much as I can't believe this little lady isn't already 2!

After swim lesson shaved ice at Blockheads. My absolute favorite Taiwanese treat shared with my posterity--and they LOVED it!

Quinny and her baby bestie Annie. We hear about Annie all day, eryday. She loves that girl!

Those cowboy boots though, all the heart eyes!

My boy's not much for face paint, but pretty please color all over his arms!

Quinn is constantly following those brothers of hers and doing exactly what they are doing. This was in the doctors office at Coco's check-up. I can't believe how big these three are looking!