JennaMae wants a BIG BUTT!

Last week was just fun! Ken and Miss (who shall henceforth be known as Aunt Lissa) and boys were here and we all went to Elizabeth 2. It was beautiful; the sun was warm, but if you were in the shade it was chilly. Well, about Friday, sometime after lunch I think, Lissa and I were chatting in their camper while the monkeys and their cousins played. I looked down at Lissa's shoes and noticed that they were very similar to JennaMae's shoes. You have to understand that having shoes like Aunt Lissa's are a HUGE deal here! Aunt Lissa always looks beautiful and has the COOLEST shoes!
You also have to understand that Miss JM gets very animated when expressing her feelings. I mean her eyes sparkle, her face lights up, and everything else is meaningless and unimportant. She was so impressed to have shoes like Aunt Lissa's that she went into big details telling Lissa all about it herself! "Aunt Alissa! I have the same shoes that YOU have! When I grow big like you, I can wear your shoes and you can wear MY shoes! And I will be big and have a big butt!"
JennaMae got the biggest eyes, and Lissa and I got the biggest chuckles! Yes, she has high hopes and great expections! And has every chance in the world of getting that BIG BUTT!

Here is the puppet mistress and her gang of huligans! What could be more fun than dressing something a million times and making it dance?
Yup, they can run the mouse and get online and mess up Daddy's computer without even batting an eyelash!
The J-Boy also has high expections; he wants to go to God's house and be turned into a dinosaur! And he's no procrastinator either! He wanted to go today! THAT, was a fun conversation!
These eyes don't show the half of it! You gotta see them in action! If only I'd had the video camera on at the time! I'm telling ya, she's got magic in them eyes! Little Miss Magic!

All the girl-monkeys sat on the step eating their poptarts so that when lunch was finally ready, they wouldn't be hungry AT ALL! Ah well, it was good for a few pictures anyway!

I'mah soooah hoppy!

I'm helping JM in the bathroom when in comes Miki, aka: Kiki, Kiks, and even Kikers (with an E sound), and she has a very red, pained-looking face. I ask her if she is going potty, and her response is, "dyup" (yes, with the 'd' in there). I ask if she wants to go on the little potty, and she again says, "dyup'. So I help her out of her pants and diaper and, 'Yay!' first victory is there is nothing in the diaper yet, so we sit her on the little potty and she starts huffing and puffing and pretty soon we have a second victory! Yay! So I had another little bottom to wipe in the squatting position today! And for anyone whose never wiped a bottom, that is definintly a reason toah beah hoppy! And trust me on this one, it's MUCH MUCH better than having them take off the dirty (yes, with presents) diaper by themselves, IN THE CRIB!!!! Oh, and then tossing the whole mess over the side to the floor! You might find pieces by accident when you next go digging under the said crib the next day, ya know!

Kiki at Granny's house, playing along the driveway. And some suprise pix (I'm the suprised one) at home!


It seems that some days are just that way! I'm refering to Madi's face, of course! And where else would one put that pic?

From Superstar, (notice the cool shoes- pink too)
to little Pink Princess! JM loves hats, and with pink in the ribbons on it...well, this one is totally 'princessy'!

What happens when you don't want your mum to take your picture, and she makes you giggle and gets a few anyway?
THIS HAPPENS! No one gets what they want, and everyone gets the giggles! What a pair of goofs!

Duane's recipe for relaxing; it will lull you right to sleep! The J-boy's sharks are now happy as larks in their new home, with some new pals!

my smallest babies

For those of you who are interested, these are the tiny-est babies to have to care for! I had a fun suprise Tues morning when I came down to the basement. Our female molly had released some babies! I have no idea how many she had, but when I discovered them, there were only three. I imagine someone had a nice treat that morning! The mollies will sometimes eat their young, but there are 2 balas (sharks) in their tank too, so...

They are baby mollies; their momma is a black
molly named Boomerang, and daddy is a mostly black dalmation molly named King George. No name yet for the babies; any ideas? The babies are dark, with one of them darker, perhaps black. Makes me wonder if the other two will be dalmation colored! They're way too little to tell at this point! They are in a nursery/trap that is attached to the side of the other mollies' tank.
Here you can see how tiny they are; the pink stuff is fish food, that flake is about the size of half my littlest fingernail! Anyhow, we are having tons of fun with our many fish and soon this tank full will have a brand new home! We finally bought a big tank with the works; including the stand! I think we'll have to eventually get another big tank for the cichlids, they won't stay small forever!

If there are any hobbyists out there reading this, I would love to hear from you!

Well, time to get off this thing! Have a good day!

Whoosh!

Know this fellow? Yes, Miss JennaMae was to busy to be bothered with a picture!

Hello all! We have had a very busy spring. I took the monkeys on a three week 'roadtrip'. We left Kearney (warm and sunny) for Indiana on March 20; stopping for breakfast, lunch (both hour long stops), then to some wonderful friends in Iowa for a long run (literally! the monkeys chased each other around and around the house). Also got to see Jeffers the Butler there! That was sooooo nice! I haven't gotten to see Jeff since before JennaMae was born! Thank you so very much Brenda! The kiddos had fun playing and 'helping' feed the bottle calves and lambs at Doug and Brenda's farm. And I had a great chance to visit and relax!

I noticed at every stop that it was a little (ok, sometimes alot) cooler than the last stop! We eventually got to Duane's brother and family for the night. I say that because I missd my exit and ended up going the very scenic route! Two hours of it! Glen and Becky had freezing rain and by the time we got to my parents, we were into snow!

I am reminded now why I don't do this very often! I have several fighting, hitting, screaming little monkeys (they can get really loud), and this thing (the blogger thing) is really annoying! As you have seen at THE TOP OF THIS PAGE, we had a birthday party for all the kiddos. The birthdays are all from Dec to April so we just had one huge bash. The kids had fun and thanks to Aunt Miss, they each had their own party hat, or beak! My mom made an adorable little snowman cake and six cupcakes- one for each birthday kid!

This was just the first 2 days worth of 'stuff'! Ah.... WHOOSH!!!

JennaMae and the Big Fat Toilet

Hello all! I have discovered one of the true wonders of the world! The amazing Big Fat Toilet! Or perhaps I should say that JennaMae opened my eyes to it! She has been using the Big Fat Toilet lately (all the time instead of every now and then), and one day she decided that she could do it all herself! Now when I say this, I mean that she decided NOT to tell me when she went to use the Big Fat Toilet! So she is merrily doing her business and wiping and flushing (which is the first and only warning often). Well that all sounds groovey and fine, except that then I have to chase her down and see to it that her hands get washed properly, and take her Bob the Builder seat (Justin's actually, but he doesn't need or use it) off the Big Fat Toilet etc... Really, its an everyday thing now, and I'm quite accustomed to it; its actually more like an every half hour thing, but you get the idea. Okay, I know what you're thinking, I should have said JennaMae discovered one of the true wonders of the world. Well, she certainly has, but my discovery is a bit different than hers. On one of those occasions, after the Big Fat Toilet was heard flushing, JennaMae informed me in her proudest way that she had used all the rest of the toilet paper and that I would have to put a new role on. Well, that worried me because I had just put a new one on the day before! So up to the bathroom I charged and flung open the lid (the little monkey had taken the little seat off herself already- so efficient was she, no wonder she was so proud!), and 'Gasp! Oh My Word! This Thing Will Never Flush!!!' Sure enough, she had unroled the entire role of toilet paper and apparently used all of it and put it ALL into the Big Fat Toilet! Have you ever seen how full that makes a toilet? Oh, and JennaMae refers to it as the Big Fat Toilet. To her any thing that is 'bigger' than another of the same thing is a 'Big Fat' whatever. I just new I would have to reach into the stool and pull out most of the TP, and started to- yes I know that's gross- but I was panicked and thought I had no other alternative! I wasn't about to call a plumber over toilet paper either! Well, to be sure, I TRIED to flush the mess down; mind you, there was ONLY TP in the Big Fat Toilet, and water; but I held the handle down when I flushed and it didn't budge. So I thought I'd try just one more time, then start digging. Well by golly! The second time I didn't hold the handle down, and with a mighty roar and 'whosh' it ALL went down! Now that's some Big Fat Toilet! It is really a wonder! I think if/when we move, it will go with us! It's seriously part of the family now, and you can't leave your family members behind! The Big Fat Toilet is very loud and I don't like flushing it when anyone is sleeping, it might just wake them up. And it's one of those older ones that didn't have the low flow thing to save water... Anyway, it is the only kind to have around when you're teaching little monkeys how to go potty! And little Miki has taken to sitting on it a time or two, so... perhaps we'll get several monkeys trained on the Big Fat Toilet this year!

"can you spot the 'fotz' ?"

I know some (prob most) of you will wonder about that word 'fotz'. well let me just say, it is a word from the good ol' Pennsylvania Dutch that we grew up speaking, and I have taught our little monkeys the language from day one. what it translates to is 'the act of passing gas'. somehow, it is more fitting perhaps then the english word (which I hate!), and also more intriguing then 'toot' for the J-boy! speaking of the J-boy, some of his words come out a bit different then intended; such as words beginning with 'sp' and 'l' to name a few. well, several days ago, after we had put the littlest monkeys to bed, I had J&J get some books and I sat down with them and we read. now, I say 'we read', and that is because they can read one of the books quite well. it is a delightful little book called, 'Sung House, Bug House', very catching and sweet. it is about six insects who find a tennis ball and convert it into a house. both Justin and JennaMae can read it, and as we sat on the chair with the book they both read it with me. here is how it goes: "find it, think it, plan it, ink it. scoop it, smash it, push it , mash it. mix it, pour it, smooth it, floor it. roll it, stop it, saw it, drop it. cut it, glue it, nail it ( JM always says 'hammer it'), screw it. stir it, fill it, paint it, spill it. roof it, wire it, finish it, admire it. Ed's room, Fred's room, Ann's room, Fran's room, Spot's room, Dot's room. crazy room, lazy room, sound room, round room. small house, ball house, snug house, bug house." for those of you who have heard Justin's pronounciations, then you can imagine how this all turned out! as I got to the part of 'Spot's room', Justin quite gravely said, ''fotz room". well, I was really tired and it just hit me right and I just sat there and shook with laughter! this naturally got both J&J to laughing and giggling and soon we could NOT even continue the book, short as it was. and every word was hilariously funny after that! why is it that such an 'innocent' thing becomes so outrageously funny and causes little monkeys and their parents to lose it? we had ourselves a very healthy laugh- tho we did get some 'looks' from Duane! he must have thought we were being pretty silly! the laugh was good for us all tho, we really needed to have a good laugh since everyone has been sick.

and speaking of being sick, it seems the monkeys have all recovered nicely, but Duane is home for the second day today with a fever and sore throat! guess he might as well join in the fun! he is trying to rest here and I get to take off for some fun! yesterday I took Justin to the bank, culvers, walmart, and then home to drop off the goods, and then off to the library where we checked out a huge pile of books! he had a blast doing it all himself; he signed the back of his card and even scanned the books! today is JennaMae's day. she unfortunantly has a Dr's appt and isn't looking forward to that, but I've promised her ice cream and something special. what should we do? hmmmm....we will find something fun!

all for now, have a wonderful day from where ever you may be!

yikes aroni!

ok ok! this is absolutely it! i promise! just looked at the posts i added today and LOVE how you can't read what it says next to Miki's pic! what is up with that?! well, if you use your kidneys, you will be able to figure it out i think! something to do with her 'enoying her oreos'... anyway, when i figure out how to publish with pix, and the pix actually end up where they're supposed to, then i might have a decent blog! in the meantime, hope you can put up with my goofs! guess little Madi really gets its honestly after all!

yes, well...

just because i like the different colors, here's yet another!



ever take the laundry OUT of the washer and suddenly wonder if you forgot to add detergent? funny thing is, the clothes were clean and smelled fresh, just not like the detergent i've been using! i dried them anyhow; who has time to RE-WASH stuff anyway? then when i took that particular load out of the dryer, they all 'zinged' with static and well, guess no one will have to worry about allergies! i definintly didn't add softner!!! hope no one gets electrocuted as they go running across the carpet!!!

well, all the little monkeys are 'resting'. i'm sure no one is sleeping, although M&M are no longer chattering up there, and the 'ker-boinging' has ceased; maybe... i am NOT going to go check! :) J&J just went to lay down as well, JennaMae was starting to act tired and 'sick' again, guess its about that time of day! don't know what we'll do tonight about mtg, Duane doesn't seem to be getting this 'thing' yet; my throat is just a tad irritated- but i would love to get out of this dry, statticy house! statticy? is that a word?

hope everyone out there is well and none of you have this nasty bug thingy! you should probably 'fer sure' not come around here! take care!

...no more monkeys jumping on the bed

'...give them tylenol every four hours and motrin every 6, they should feel better soon! let us know if they don't improve in the next several days!' well, this morning i heard the infamous 'ker-boing ker-boing ker-boing' of the mattrasses being pummelled over and over and over... no wonder the sheets are getting ripped at the corners! and... THEY'RE BACK!!!!! well, mostly! the monkeys all are still running slight fevers, but a whole lot better then the last couple of days! Yay!!
just so everyone can see the kind of monkeys we have, here they all are grinning because of 'food, glorious food'! mostly, its oreo cookies, or as the biggest monkey likes to say, 'mint cheerios'! i just can't quite bring myself to correcting him! anyway, the mint oreos are the absolute favorite at the monkey house!

ah, happy little monkeys! Miki really did enjoy the oreos! and Madi was actually (actually?) just being goofy! she's pretty good at that! anyway, these two are in bed, not sleeping, but talking . suprise suprise! they send their smiles your way! 'ker-boing! ker-boing! ker-boing'! :)

Momma called the Dr. and the Dr. said...

well hello all! this has been the most interesting past few days here at the Monkey House! for those of you we haven't talked to yet, we've got some sick little monkeys here. Justin started out with a fever on Thursday evening. I went to town, and after Duane fed the kiddos supper, Justin came down stairs and got on one of the recliners and just fell asleep! very uncharastic for the little J-boy. during the night, before we had gone to bed, he woke up and came back down stairs to us. I let him sleep in our bed so we could find out if he needed anything during the night. when he woke up on Friday, he had a cough and fever again. his congestion kept him pretty miserable over the weekend. Sunday, I stayed home with him and the twins, and Duane and JennaMae went to meeting. last night JennaMae started not feeling good, and threw up all over herself and ME! Duane got her washed up and changed and I got the clothes in the washer, including her precious pink bunny. I ended up sleeping in her bed with her, Justin slept with Duane... totally terrified she'd throw up all over her bed and me again! she didn't, but she's not feeling much better today. she now has a fever as well!

well, Madi and Miki had scheduled Dr. appointments today, and that worked out pretty well, since they both woke up with fevers this morning! whew! what a fun day! this is the first time we've had four monkeys all sick at the same time! just how are you supposed to give each the attention they really need? oh yes, I forgot to mention that Madi woke up around 1am with an ouchy tummy, so I was up with her till she got back to sleep, put her back in her crib, and got up with her again about an hour later. this time I brought her to bed with me and JennaMae. she slept off and on there, but really just wanted her own bed, so finally I put her back in her crib....did I mention that I've got a bit of a sore throat too? this evening all four monkeys still have a fever! poor little monkeys!

we also got some news from home; several from our Michigan meetings have passed away. one, Paul, from our meeting before we moved here, and Ken, from my meeting as a child. the really weird part is this, my two brothers' names are Paul and Ken!! would have loved getting back for the services, but since we had appts and sick monkeys here... well, you know!

ok, you're likely wondering about the pix at the top, and why I put fish on here! just didn't have any pix of sick monkeys to add! the goldfish are JennaMae's fish; Princess and Aerial (yes, she named them), and the shark is one of Justin's ; Popsicle and Icicle, ok, he only really named Popsicle, I'm not sure how Icicle got his name. his remaining snail also seems to have died now, so we are down to the 4 fish and the algea eater, Louie, we just got.

it was a beautiful day today! I went for a quick walk after I got home from taking M&M to the Dr. haven't done that in way too long! it felt wonderful! now I just need to find someone interested in coming and staying with the 4 monkeys about an hour a day while I get out of here! anyone up for it? ah, but the weather is not gonna stay coopperative too long now is it?

hope you all are well! take care.

Mikaela Anne

here is my littlest or at least my youngest monkey!!!! ah, so sweet is the slumber, or maybe just those in slumber! here is my tiny little Miki at just weeks old! remember this Auntie A? i remember those days as not much sleep and lots of feedings! never a break for those who offered their wonderful help either! when they told me to wake them up during the night to burp or change a diaper, i did! thanks to you all!! i could not have kept my sanity without your help!

had to add these pigtails too! and the ever tasty fingers! Miki has them at the ready for when she's tired. good thing they're attached; she can't loose them! this is my chatty little monkey. she's always repeating words we say. she loves horsies and kitties and always says '' 'tank you" after you've helped her get her shoes on... she's very polite and sweet these days. but she also knows the word 'NO' and uses it often! and she sings! all the time! just mention the words 'kite', 'row row' or 'rosie' and off she goes- not too off-key either!

here Miki is wearing JennaMae's brand new birthday tiara and playing with the wand! the look on her face was somewhere between a shy, proud smile and almost an unsure frown: 'can i have this? is it ok or will it be snatched away?' this was while big sis was still opening her presents, so...i smiled at her and she melted into a very pleased and satisfied smile. 'whew! i got away with it!' they know and understand the rules of ownership in these parts!

Miki is my girlie girl; she loves getting all dressed up and wearing her big sis's shoes, boots, and dresses, as well as her big bro's shoes! She saw one of her Sunday dresses the other day and started saying 'dess dess, Momma, dess' and shoving it into my hands demanded that i put it on her! this one will be the piano master one day! she already loves to 'play' it; she's very gentle, unlike her co-monkeys! she is mostly happy- just not when her blue bear is in the washer! Yay!!! the washer's done!!!

Madeleine

here is my little ray of sunshine for this very cold night! what a bright and cheerful smile! we took the highchairs outside for the littlest of the monkeys several times during the summer. here Madi was ready for her after dinner treat: an ice cream cone!

alright, is this a mischievous grin or what? we were on our way east to my Dad and Mom's at Thanksgiving time and the two littlest were just full to busting with the giggles! they get so tickled over things... tonight Duane and i took them up to their bedroom, changed diapers, kissed them goodnight and tucked them in bed then left. 30 minutes later i suddenly realised they were bouncing with delight, not even close to sleeping. what is going on? usually they are 'out' pretty much right away! well, upon investigating, we find that their light is still on! and yes, they were having a glorious time! this one doesn't need a bunch of buddies to have the room turned completely upside down, just an audience of one will do!

aw, remember when....? i had to put this picture of 4 week old Madi in too! how tiny was she? that was almost 2 years ago! that is crazy! she's laying on a bouncy seat, and is pretty well swallowed up by it!

this past fall i gave the little monkeys some sidewalk chalk to use on the slab 'out back'. Madi got right into the art making; she loved it! we had a fun round of 'ring around the rosey' the other day. JennaMae and the twins all shrieking with delight and trying to sing with me as they held tight to each other's hands and twirled round and round the basement. the best part always came a bit pre-maturely, i'd barely get to 'a tissue a tissue' and they'd collapse in a heap, happy and out of breath! ah, life is sweet when you're under 3 feet tall!

JennaMae aka 'The Princess'

hmmm, going backwards is fun! i keep having to add from bottom to top! so maybe by the time i'm done, we'll all be dizzy from trying to figure it out! this is my little 'princess' who loves all things pink and puffy and flowery! she also likes trains and playing in the dirt, so she's a very well balanced princess! this was my little biddie when she was about nine months old; her hair still fit under a hat! as you can see, that isn't the case anymore!

Jennamae loved the little dollies that came 'in the mail' (mail is always BIG-TIME fun :) ) for her birthday. these two are from Mommie and Dawdy- also always a treat to get something from Dawdy's! she imediately took the braids out of the one, and soon had both dollies out of their dresses! all the dolls and barbies here are without their clothes! she has her own favorite 'pink' dress on, even tho the dollies apparently aren't allowed to keep their's on!

now i'm convinced i really don't know what i'm doing on here! guess if you can read it, it doesn't really matter too much? this is my little monkey shine just a few weeks ago after meeting. big smiles! she thinks the pictures are 'WONDERFUL WONDERFUL!'

ah, pink for a princess! little Miss JennaMae is growing sooo fast! i can hardly believe how much she's changed in the past year! let's see if this will come out right! this is JennaMae in the infamous glasses. i thought she looked rather like a librarian - only perhaps somewhat small? you can see what BIG eyes she has! ah, what a sweetie!

Justin

I was looking at my old pictures of this little monkey and thought it might be fun to add a few. The many faces of the Justin Monkey! We had just gotten home from meeting a few Sundays ago and I got the camera out and snapped away. He's getting to like having his picture taken again! Yay!

This is from earlier this fall. The glasses are an old pair of sunglasses that Justin thought should be 'real' glasses; so the lenses came out! He loves to wear them, acting all 'smart'!

Here's the oldest of the monkeys in Indiana, almost two years ago! He was sitting on a stool in the only part of the house where there was no carpet, getting ready for a haircut. I had to take some pictures because I liked the longish hair! Naturally, he was being a MONKEY for me!

And, oh! This picture has always melted my heart! Little cowboy in his first 'real' boots and hat! And so very photogenic! He was all dressed for meeting and Daddy took him out to the back yard. This was in the fall of 2004 before another monkey came to live with us in December. Look how much he's changed!

introducing some little monkeys

greetings to all kin, and kindred spirits! ah, dreaming of the day when all the snow is gone and the grass is fresh under bare toes again! are we there yet? have to keep the coffee coming to stay warm these days! but with plenty of cocoa, it is pretty good! who needs starbucks, anyway? well, uh...actually, I DO! but at least my concoction is too hot for the little monkeys! they wait till it has cooled considerably, and by that time, i'm not too interested anymore; it is afterall meant to keep me warm!

speaking of little monkeys, there are several on the loose here! pretty cute ones! the oldest has started writing his letters and numbers; all together at times then asking me what it says! try this on for size: UANSV . that is the name he gave to the dolphin he drew yesterday. i was instructed to 'say it' for him. he is totally fasinated with sharks, dolphins, whales... and the glorious DINOSAURS!! he can tell you all 'bout them too! i learned yest that the 'long-necked' dino's neck is 'this long (arms outstretched) when he lays down'. wonder how long it is when he's standing up? he just turned five and oh my, how we've grown!

the second little monkey is currently sacked out in my recliner! she is wearing her favorite outfit; a pink dress and her birthday tiara (which she refers to as her 'ring') with the pink 'jewel' and pink fuzz on it! thumb is still tucked in her mouth, but just barely. she is holding her beloved pink bunny and is partly wrapped in her pink princess blanket! oh, and she loves pink! she calls me 'momma patch', why, i don't know! she is very dramatic, and loves to tell stories! she even reads, at least one story. and when i read Dr. Seuss' 'Oh Say Can You Say Dinosaur' book, she repeats every last name back to me! very entertaining! she has the biggest eyes and silliest grin ever! ah, what a princess! yes, refers to herself (in 3rd person of course) as the Princess! she got a big horse (about the size of a half-grown lab pup) for her 3rd birthday, and is finally sharing it!

the last 2 monkeys came as a package deal. but they are nothing alike! the first is all energy and ramblings! blond as can be, blue eyed. sweet smile that just oozes mischief! ah, naughty little monkey! no more monkeys jumping on the bed! but still she bounces! grinning wickedly and giggling hysterically. this one likes noise! she and her partners had a chorus in the tub last night! and this morning they embarked on an adventure of twirling round and round as they screamed 'lets go fly a kite' at the very tip top of their voices! she's very much the instigator of many a devious plot to destroy someone else's stack of blocks (wonder where she gets that?), or neatly laid pencils and crayons; she doesn't want them for play, rather to prevent someone else's idea of play. THAT'S her idea of play! it's all fun and games till someone takes HER pink bunny or special plaything, whatever that happens to be! oh, and be sure that she and the last little monkey have their OWN blankie when they are FINALLY ready to go to sleep!

and that brings us to monkey number 4! she shares a room with the 3rd monkey- they can reach each other over the tops of and thru their cribs. she is all emotions- happy and sunshiny one moment, and oops, SOMEONE took off with her blue bear and so waling and tears the next! this little monkey loves all things healthy: fruit fruit and more fruit! and also the delicious things: chocolate! a monkey after my own heart indeed! very sweet, her smiles. very naughty her 'NO MOMMA' 's and her little chubby fingers as she grunts her disapproval and points at you when she doesn't like the verdict! but so very sweet are her smiles! what is a person to do? ah, when the bouncing in the cribs stops, and quiet comences then you assume the 2 littlest of the monkeys might be sleeping, so very quietly and bravely (or maybe just plain stupidly?) you open the creaky door to take a quick peek and even quicker then the peek you zip back and close the creaky door and heart beating you lean against the wall... wait... were you seen?...chatter chatter chatter... well, even if you weren't seen, they're NOT sleeping! or maybe they are, and when you peek in at them, they are peaceful in their sugarplum slumber, both on their tummys, the littlest with her hair all over as if she'd been dropped and it just 'settled'- maybe she did just drop from being plum tuckered out from all the jumping and bouncing! and then you make sure they have their pink bunny ad blue bear close to their hands, and are warm and tucked in...ah... sweet! then you can leave at a normal pace, close the creaky door and smile a well deserved smile!

tis the life of a parent of four little monkeys!