a perfect Sunday evening

ice cream and a movie:

some favorite quotes

"That's HUGER than a daddy spider--that's a Papa spider!

_____

A: "I wish there was ice cream inside my head."

competition & games

We like games around here. You have to listen carefully to the instructions because sometimes they can be rather complex...

A: "Okay, listen up: whoever is NOT holding a doll loses."

We have also been making use of that childhood favorite of mine, "who can be the quietest." The kids love it, especially BR who has got this competition thing down pat.

me: "On your mark, get set, GO!"
BR: "I lose!"

so much for creativity

there we were, at the library craft hour. L. was making a snake with dinosaur tattoos all over it (of course).

her: "This is SO fun."
me (so pleased that she loves being creative): "Oh yeah? You really like this, huh?"
her: "Yeah, I love snacks."
(sigh)

Then I remembered how she recently told me that lunch was her favorite thing about school.

me: "I guess eating is one of your favorite things to do in the whole world, huh?"
her: "No, actually watching TV is my favorite thing to do."

enjoying each other

these two have gotten close now that they get to spend so much time together alone. A. has taken over the role of main "boss," and BR has (mostly) accepted it.
They are goofy and very entertaining together.

I especially liked this conversation the other day, over lunch:

BR (making an 'angry' face): "I angry."
Me: "What? Why?"
BR: "I angry at Ah-ma-wee."
Me: "Why? What did she do?" (nothing at all...we had all been sitting there happily and silently chewing)
BR: "I [am going to] make her cry!"
A.: "That's not nice!"
Me: "Why are you going to do that? She didn't do anything!"
BR (trying to keep his 'angry' face on, but starting to smile): "Cry!"
A.: "No, happy!"
BR: "Cry!"
A.: "Happy!"
BR: "Cry! Happy! Cry! Happy! Cry! Happy...Pooba!"

("Pooba" is the go-to "silly" word around here). I guess he just couldn't hold up this "angry" thing for very long.

Here they are trying to make"angry" faces (which apparently just means putting your chin on your chest and wrinkling your brow). Whether or not you smile while you are "angry" is evidently irrelevant:

i'm proud of this one

So a few Sundays ago I tried to come up with a fun and easy craft idea, but failed in the "easy" department since it involved so much clean-up.

But yesterday I nailed it.

Here is what you do: take a piece of paper. Cut out the largest triangle you can. Then, with a ruler and pencil, demonstrate to your kindergartner how you can turn one triangle into two by cutting it from one point to another side. Then, show her how THOSE triangles can be made into two more each. Then, make even MORE.

See how they get tinier and tinier but they are still triangles? Endless fun.


Then, guess what she did? She started making stuff out all those triangles. If you glue three together, you can make a fish with a fin and a tail! (we lost it--no photo, sorry). And a mask, if you cut out some holes for the eyes, and so on...
I am so proud.

BR is brilliant

The other day, a lady at the zoo stopped me to let me know she thought BR was "SO smart." I had to laugh because he had just been counting the (two) cheetahs: "One...three...six...eight...nine!"

_______________

moi (at the sight of the second diaper in 2 hours): "BR, you are a poop machine!"

him: "No I not! Baby C. is the poop machine!"

yucky trucks

BR is at that magical age. Always into trouble, never listens to me or his dad, aggressive toward his sisters, and entertained by the littlest thing. That last part is probably the most fun, for me. It means that books called "Trucking" or "I love trucks" are his favorite. Never anything too complex. Here's the first, and last, line of the book: "Trucks, trucks, trucks. I love trucks."

He walks around saying that about everything now: "Shoes, shoes, shoes. I love shoes."
"Mommy, mommy, mommy. I love mommy."

He really does love trucks and pushes the one I bought L. at a garage sale back in Chicago, oh so long ago, around and around and around. He calls all trucks "yucky trucks." We're not really sure why, but usually it's accurate, I guess.

And then yesterday he told me what he wants to be for Halloween. You guessed it: a truck.

(BR with his beloved firetruck puzzle.)

who could be the guilty one, I wonder...

I keep finding the letter "A" all over the walls of the house, in crayon.

new 'do

before...

and after...
it's hard to go wrong with this cute girl.

babysitting for cash...

Look at this little guy! He was so wide awake and happy that we just had to take a bunch of photos. Here are only a few of the best ones...

(and yes, while L. and I were absorbed in our photo shoot, of course BR. and A. were flooding the bathroom floor. Did you even need to ask..?)

After everyone was all cleaned up and pajama'd, we let them cuddle with Baby C. Here BR is playing his version of this little piggy: "this little piggy a'stay a'home, this little piggy a'go outside, this little piggy a'eat a'macaroni and cheese..."

read this instead

I guess that "gross" post has been up long enough. Time for something new.

In the meantime, note that I have a new addition to the page. In the top right-hand corner I will try to post a "quote of the week." There is definitely no lack of material for it, it's just a question of how well I will keep up with it.

gross

feel free to vote for your favorite.

1. 2.
3.

4.

notes & lists

A. is learning to write letters. Well, she is learning to write the letter A, and M and N and H and sometimes T.


I find "lists" everywhere...this one says: "milk"

this note says, "Dear Daddy, I love you":

and what good is writing if you can't label stuff:

i found it under my pillow...

When we traveled to the East Coast, I flew alone with the kids. First to Atlanta where we had a layover for a few hours, then onto Raleigh, NC. I spent the previous two months fretting about it and trying to strategize how to manage any tantrums, boredom, etc. that might arise with a 2, 3 and 5 yr-old. (yikes)
I stuffed the girls' backpacks with games, snacks, a calculator, stickers, that sort of thing. And I made a book for each of them. I stapled some old cardboard and recycled construction paper together and then wrote a story and pasted cutouts from any old magazines I found around the house. Jeremy wrote L's book, and I wrote A.'s book and L. decided to write BR's and instructed me on his favorite images to include (basketballs and trucks, of course). The kids looked forward to the flight so they could finally read their stories.
A's story included a part where a flying princess visited the homes of sleeping children and tucked presents under their pillows. (Hey, it could happen!) Since then L. has informed me that she is very jealous of those kids in the story and could she please find some presents under her pillow when she wakes up every morning?
Well... I can't possibly find a gift for every single night, but, I thought about it for awhile and came up with an idea...I could write a note, or I could give "coupons." Like, "this coupon redeemable for: 3 kisses from mommy." That kind of thing.
And what do you know? L. believes in spreading the love so now she leaves little notes and coupons under her sister's pillow. What a gal.
My favorite so far was this one: "For A: one free puppet show, performed by L."

9 days

Gramom was here for 9 days and even though she really came to visit with our new little cousin, we managed to steal her away for one-on-one breakfast dates with each one of us, and a trip to the Children's Museum.

(we're pretty sure that the children's museum is where BR's love of "bah-ket-boh" began...)