Quickie

It's been a while since my last post, so I'll just do a quick update on our family:

 Doug - the worker bee and handyman extraordinaire;  he recently put hard wood flooring into our kitchen (it looks amazing!) and is very happy and fulfilled at work.  He has also been in several TV shows, so get his autograph now before he becomes a full-fledged star! 

Keegan - reluctant soccer star and Kaia's best friend/task master/torturer; he complains pretty much every time he has to go to soccer practice, but has somehow managed to be one of the best players on the team.  That's pretty much the story of his life right now, complaining when asked to do anything but then finally doing it pretty darn well.  He loves his baby sister a lot of the time, but the rest of the time he spends aggravating the crap out of her and then wondering why she's mean to him.  He's pretty thoughtful, though, and sometimes surprises me with his observations.  Kaia and I have listened to Adele for forever and he just recently saw a picture of her for the first time and said to me, "Mom, you know what's funny about Adele?  She doesn't look how she sounds."  I'd never thought of that!  It also turns out that he has a  green thumb.  He planted some things at Scouts a while ago and has managed to keep them alive - even thriving!

Kaia - sassy, sunshiny, bossy-pants and boisterous songstress; she's still the sunshine in our lives, always happy and be-bopping around.  The problem is that with all that energy, she manages to make messes everywhere she goes.  She's evolved into a "dumper,"  emptying drawers, book shelves, zip-locs full of food, toy bins or anything else in her path of destruction.  She's constantly singing or humming, just full of music!  She'll sing to pretty much anything, too.  We were in the car and "Guantanamera" came on and she started clapping and belting out the words, even though it was in Spanish and she didn't understand a bit of it!  She's developed quite an ear for Katy Perry, to my chagrin.  Every time one of her songs comes on the radio and I try to change it, she throws a fit until I turn it back.  I guess her music is pretty catchy, dangit!   Right now she's totally obsessed with her nails.  If they're not perfectly clipped or there's any edge to get a hold of, she'll pick at it until she's taken care of it.  She also loves and I mean LOVES to dance.  That girl will jam out to anything and everything, from the Black Eyed Peas to the Gypsy Kings.  She's got moves!  

Mieke - wannabe domestic goddess, closeted salsa dancer and Boggle addict; I'm a baker at heart, but since we can't eat scones, cookies, brownies, bread or cakes every day, I'm attempting to be a better cook. All I have to say is thank goodness for Pioneer Woman, Good Life Eats, Our Best Bites and Mel's Kitchen Cafe - they save my life! I never can tell what my kids will eat, so we have as many strike-outs as successes.  I just gotta keep on keepin' on :)  I still love to salsa dance and when Kaia and I are home alone, I put on Pandora and we salsa our little hearts out!  I feel a need to get Dance Party for the Wii  just so that I can master all the routines so that when my big break comes I'll be ready!!  Also, recently my ego took a total beating when I showed this picture to Kaia and asked, "Who is that?"  She immediately said, "Mama!"  Awesome.

That's all for now.