Yes Siobhan

I have always been so grateful that Siobhan and Oscar have such a close bond. They fight just like all siblings but they are very loyal to each other and very loving. No matter who they are with or where they have lived they have always had each other which has been an endless source of comfort for me. Siobhan is able to talk Oscar into doing just about anything she wants and scenes like these are not unfamiliar. I was a little worried about them being in two different schools this year for the first time. But I also thought maybe Oscar will learn to say no to her when she asks him to do silly things.

Apparently not.

Photo Finish

We had a Williams kind of weekend this week. Luisa and the kids had yet to come over and see the new house so I picked them up on Friday night. They seemed to have fun. We had pizza for dinner and man does it take a lot of food to feed ten kids and three adults. Saturday we had some calamari and I was amazed that every single kid LOVED it. Uncle Pete was the only one who doesn't have the taste for it. Must be a Sheppard thing. So before I took them home I wanted to get a picture of all the kids together. This one I liked. This is what I had to take to get to that......

And this................
A little of this.......................
and lots of this..............................
Previously not pictured, baby Malachi. According to Olive, he is not a toy,
he is a baby and he belongs to her.

Random post

My poor little Olive is swollen head to toe so I will make this a quick post tonight so I can tend to her. I thought I'd post a picture from Hans' 4th birthday. I particulary love this photo because of Oscars face in it. I would love to hear any caption suggestions.

Maybe he was wishing for an awesome mohawk like Malachi's.

Or perhaps he was remembering a past birthday of his own.

Country Cousin meets City Cousin

Well, I am now posting from our new town of Auburn. Our house is awesome and Washington rules. There are so many things I want to talk about but I think I need to start with the Lindgren/Roche kids entry into the Williams territory. After talking with Dad about some exchanges between the kids he clued me in that what we are witnessing is the re-enactment of the classic country cousin meets city cousin story. Here is an example of a real conversation I recently overheard between Oscar and Silas.
Silas: (looking at something in Oscars room)"Man, that's filthy!"
Oscar: " No, my mom just washed that."
These two are super close ( in city talk 'tight") but I love how much they confuse each other. I am so happy that these kids will grow up together. It takes all my willpower to not drive over and see them EVERYDAY!

Olive and Saul have a somewhat different relationship where Olive talks his ear off and Saul will occasionally utter something back. Olive is preparing Saul to someday have a Mrs. Kravitz type wife and is constantly nagging him and bossing him. She really enjoys to repeat any directions I give to him slowly and at a close distance. Really though Saul is my buddy and I would love to someday steal him and bring home to live with me. For now I have to settle for sleepovers.
The one universal rule that transcends background is that all the Sheppard girls kids would rather be naked. Or at least shirtless. Well, I think I will try and pace myself. Maybe I'll save the girls for tommorrow. I am glad to be back on my blog. I have missed it and I have missed you.