Stories and poems

This picture was taken pre-Buttercup.
This is not what all of our homeschool
mornings look like, but a few of them!

We've been studying poetry and writing some of our own. So we thought we'd share! But first, one of Naomi's favorite stories from Grandpa Les and Grandma Jan's recent visit. Naomi adores this story and requests it often, and I tell it as often as I can manage, usually to the accompaniment of giggles and ear-to-ear smiles. For this reason, I try to make it as cute as possible, so some of the details may be a bit fluffy:

Once there was a soft little grey and white bunny. She lived in the bin of a gift shop on a children's farm. There were many other soft animals with her in the bin, including horses, cows, sheep, pigs and even roosters! One by one, the other animals were all chosen by children and bought, and taken out of the gift shop. But no one chose the little bunny.

The little bunny really wanted to be chosen, and she used to dream of who she'd like to be her owner. Most of all, she wanted to be owned by a nice little girl who would take good care of her, and play with her, and read books with her, and cuddle her, and take her out on adventures, and sleep with her. She also thought it might be fun if there were other stuffed animals to play with, too, and especially other bunnies. But day after day, she wasn't chosen.

Then one day, a family with three girls came in: a bigger girl, a middle-sized girl, and a littler girl, who was still pretty big. The bunny became excited: this looked like a lovely family to belong to! She thought the littlest girl looked like she would make an especially nice owner, and she hoped the girl would pick her up and choose her.

She watched as the girl walked right over to the bin and then she felt herself being lifted, and carried in the girl's arms! The bunny was delighted--would the little girl choose her? She heard the girl say something to her mommy, and then saw the mommy shake her head. The little girl put the bunny back down into the bin, nestling her in with the other stuffed animals, and slowly walk away.

The little bunny was disappointed, but knew there would be other children in the store. Someone was sure to by her sometime. She nestled in among the other stuffed animals and took a nap.

The bunny was just finishing her nap when she felt herself being lifted again. The little girl was back! But why was she back? She wasn't able to buy the bunny, so what was she doing? The little girl tucked the bunny under her arm, and went up to the counter. She set the bunny on the counter, and the bunny could see the girls' grandma paying money to the cashier. Then, the bunny was returned to the little girl, who tucked her under her arm again. Soon, the whole family was leaving the store.

And the bunny realized, I've just been bought! I belong to this little girl! The bunny was couldn't believe her happiness! And the adventures began right away, as the little girl showed the bunny around the farmyard--pointing out real bunnies--before bringing her home.

At home, the girl named the bunny Buttercup, which Buttercup thought was the most perfect name in the whole world. Just as she'd hoped, there were other stuffies to play with, including bunnies. And they all lived happily ever after.

__________

As you can see, Grandpa and Grandma's visit was magical, in so many ways--not the least of which was that they managed to see three end-of-year events and several activities the girls are involved in. How nice of everyone to plan everything the same week! The week was possibly even busier than the one before our wedding or any of the weeks after bringing a new baby home from the hospital, but the girls relished the chance to show off their stuff to their grandparents.

___________

To finish out the school year, the older girls and I have been doing a poetry unit. We've read famous poetry, turned at least a couple poets into household names and written some of our own. Here are some of our favorites:

The Cow, by Kalina
There was a cow who wouldn't moo.
The farmer said, "What should I do?"
So he gave it a scare,
And tickled its hair,
And then it gave him an "achoo!"

The Stream's Song, by Kalina
The stream has its own special song.
It sings and sings all day long.
When it rains, the stream's song increases,
When it's dry, the stream's song ceases.

Grandma's project: wool felt
snakes! How perfect!

The stream sings and sings like a bird,
It sings so it can be heard.
It flows and whooshes along,
While the rocks take part in its song.

Haiku by Kalina
Looking up so high
Leafy branches spreading out
Dancing in the wind

A clerihew poem by Kalina
Tommy, the fixer,
Got caught in a mixer!
He's still stuck in there,
And he's caught by his hair!

Ready to perform!

A diamante poem by Kalina
Music
Full, amazing
Drifting, floating, inspiring
Violin, conductor, artist, paintbrush
Beautifying, coloring, amazing
Bright, peaceful
Painting





An acrostic by Kalina
Kind to mice
Animals love her
Loves her family
Ice cream, her favorite!
Never forgetting friends
Always ready for fun.

The Squirrel in the Tree, by Elise
There once was a squirrel in a tree
He said, "Oh hehehe!"
Then he climbed down
And made a big frown
But then laughed a big "hehehe!"

Flowers, by Elise
Seeds are fun because they grow so big
When they're big they turn into a flower.
Maybe they grow an inch a minute,
Maybe they grow an inch an hour.

Watch them grow day by day,
It's so great.
They're so big and colorful--oh how fun.
Many shapes, riffles and smooth petals
And at the flower contest, I won!

Tadpole, by Elise
Tadpole
Black, little
Splishing, splashing, swimming
Resting on the bottom
Polywog.

Naomi, by Elise
Naomi
Silly, little
Running, shouting, singing
Makes us laugh
Little sister

Enjoying a good story together.

Acrostic poem, by Elise
Energetic Elise
Loves to climb trees
I love to explore the stream
Swimming is great
Everything's fun with Elise

Beautiful Giants, by Elise
Trees are like houses,
Dear and strong,
Except for our animal friends.
Their big, sturdy branches
And long limbs are great,
For the animals' beautiful nests.

And finally, a narrative poem (kind of?) by Naomi
The bunnies hop
Between the grass
They see some carrots and hop over them.
They have so much fun hopping over them.
And they eat some, too.

A little girl comes outside and the bunnies hop into her arms.
She doesn't notice that there are bunnies in her arms.
She goes inside.
Then, the bunnies start playing with her and jump on her head and say, "Ready, set, we'll go!"
And they were all babies.
And the bunnies all took good care of her.

In return for all this work, I wrote limericks for the girls!

Naomi "teaches" Grandpa
Les how to play Candyland.
Lots of giggles, mostly from
Naomi!

All day, Naomi happily
Each one of her sweet, furry friends.
She gives them her best,
Pretty blankets for rest,
And ice cream, for breakfast, intends.

Elise, who climbed everything high
Just felt more at home in the sky.
With the squirrels and breeze
She perched in the trees
Even when people called out, "Oh my!"

Our beautiful ballerina danced
as a flower in Alice in
Wonderland!

There once was a girl named Kalina,
Who danced as a sweet ballerina.
But she liked piano too,
And wore out her shoe,
As she danced, and played a sonatina.

Will you play with me?

Very neat color mixing. Elise
would have had it all the way
up her arms by now.

When the question is asked by a cheery, hopeful three-year-old, looking up at you with big brown eyes, there's only one answer: of course I do! Even if dinner is burning on the stove. Even if she was melting down about the color of her cup earlier in the day. Even if planning one more birthday party for Biscuit might put you over the top. Yes, Naomi, let's play!

And then, off you go. You might do circle time (the bread and butter of preschools) with a group of stuffed animals, asking them each their favorite color. Or create a birthday tea party picnic on the floor. Or draw endless people and animals (usually family members and stuffie family members) until either she's satisfied, or the drawing doesn't live up to her standards and playtime crumbles into a pile of accusations (you didn't draw it right!).

Yes, this is all very elementary, but it's not without its actual amusements (other than spending time with sweet Naomi, of course). For one, it's fun to watch her draw. Not only is her pencil grip beyond reach of many kindergarteners (and has been for years), but she concentrates so heavily, bending nearly double over the paper and taking every stroke seriously. Sometimes too seriously, driving herself to perfection far beyond her 3-year-old capabilities (or Mommy's 30-something capabilities). As frustrating as that is for both of us, it's not without its sweetness, as she then cuts, shreds, scribbles or crumples her paper into oblivion, and then shoves the remains into the trash can or as far back under the couch as she can reach (so, not too far).

Naomi wore the fawn mask
all evening, even at dinner,
pretending to be sisters with
her deer, Annie.

Most of the time, she confidently turns swirls and amorphous shapes into actual figures (something her big sisters didn't do until they were Elise's current age, Kalina preferring me to do all her drawing for her and Elise preferring to see what scribbles looked like on the paper), adding eyes, noses and frowns, as well as bodies and limbs. I'm trying not to read too much into the frown thing. Fortunately, many of those frowns have been turned upside down since I taught her to do smiles--but not all of them. Why???

Of course, there's quite a bit to learn when you play with Naomi. Her posse of stuffed animals usually includes a dog family, a fawn, and a few other random ones. She likes to dress up as Princess Sofia, but it's important to know that Sofia's sister, Amber, is mean. Sometimes she's nice, but she definitely started out mean. For some reason this is of paramount importance and we make reference to it all the time.

Naomi enjoys pretending, so sometimes I get to be an owner while she's a baby puppy or a baby bunny or a baby fawn. Occasionally I'm her mommy and I'm taking her to a pet shop to pick out any pets she wants (this is fun because it's something I actually want to do in real life). Sometimes she's the big sister for her baby doll, and I'm the mommy. Occasionally she's a crying baby who needs to be picked up. And fairly often, she's a princess. Sometimes a little too much of one:

Me: "Oops, Naomi, you knocked that off the table. Once you pick it up, we can keep drawing."
Naomi, very rationally: "But Mommy, I'm a princess, and princesses have servants."

Naturally, I explained to her that princesses still have to do things for themselves, but she wasn't at all convinced until I cited an example or two from her princess books. She complied, but I get the impression that she only did it because Princess Grace did. Even then, she wrestled with the question, in a very logical, and not explosive, state of mind, for the next couple of days.

"Mommy, why do servants cook princesses their dinner?" She's just about got me on that one--the inconsistencies are evident, and it's certainly a slippery slope from cooking dinner for princesses to cleaning up their messes. If Naomi keeps the princess phase going until her teen years, we may be in trouble.

Naomi made a Valentine
decoration!

Of course, Naomi knows that in many princess stories and fairy tales we find mean stepmothers and stepsisters, wolves, foxes and other creatures that mean harm. She always hopes they're only pretend:

"Mommy, are wolves in this world?" she asks, worriedly. "Mommy, are monsters in this world?" "Mommy, are stepmothers in this world?" Um, I hope not for you...

We have a lot of little games we play as well: for instance, I always forget how to turn off the lamp in her room. We try all types of buttons, but only Naomi can find the one that actually works. Or, occasionally I "run out" of Naomi and have to find more of her in the pantry (where she almost fits quite nicely!).

I think our favorite playtime, though, has to be when the big sisters are out at their Friday classes. We gleefully escape home to bake together (with tastes), paint, do special craft projects, ask and answer lots of questions, do lots of circle time and read stories, all on Naomi's terms and uninterrupted. It's during this time when Naomi's personality shines the most: sweet, and yet serious (and a little silly, of course).

Which is why when Naomi asks, "Will you play with me?" the answer just has to be yes!

Two new posts in one day?!? Yes. Don't miss the one about what Elise has been up to, below.

Elise's first preschool! And so much more...

Elise the preschooler!

About a month ago, we bought Elise a backpack. It's just her size and looks like a puppy. She (reluctantly) takes it off to bathe and sleep, and also to pack and repack several times a day. And last Tuesday, for the first time, she wore it to preschool!

Elise's teacher had requested that a parent accompany each student on the first day, and it almost killed me not to be the one to attend. Considering, though, that the germs in a 3-year-old classroom could do quite a number on the newborn, it wouldn't have been responsible. So Daddy got to go to preschool instead!

Here's the official report:

No, I did not bribe them.

Elise's version: "We had cookies for snack! With sprinkles!" It took a lot of prying to get anything more out of her since all other activities paled in comparison, but I did learn that she made a friend (Margot), and they did circle time, went outside and read stories about cookies. They did not do a craft.

Matt's version: "I have no idea how the teacher will be able to wrangle all those kids by herself."

Elise, for her part, was a step ahead in that she already knew how to stand in line without wandering away. This is a learned skill; it comes instinctively to very few toddlers, apparently. Matt couldn't blame her when she saw the other kids dashing off and considered, for a moment, joining them. I am already imagining the other bad habits she will have the opportunity to pick up.

Three sisters! Two smiles.

Elise has been yearning for the preschool playground ever since we first dropped Kalina off a year ago. As an official student herself, she finally got to play! She loved the tire swing, and had no interest in the sandbox for whatever reason.

Later in the week, I learned that the kids actually did do a craft--they'd glued paper chocolate chips onto a paper cookie. It fell out of her backpack, and that's the only reason I know.

Happy and awake at the same time?!?
Another one of those little-celebrated
milestones.

The girl can't wait to go back, and nearly cried when she learned she couldn't until the next Tuesday. ("Mommy preschool," which included baking cookies with m&ms and chocolate chips, however, proved to be an excellent diversion--and Naomi miraculously managed to sleep through the entire project). I'm not sure she knew, though, that Daddy won't be coming with her every time, and this revelation rendered her, in her words, "scared."

Elise's initial preschool success wasn't completely out of the blue. After all, she had a big sister to reassure her ("We can wave to each other if we see each other, and I'll play with you on the playground, Elise!"), and we'd played "circle time" at home, complete with backpacks and cubbies. (Playing preschool will be convenient, as I can already tell, since they let me be the teacher and they do whatever their
"teacher" tells them. "Now, class, it's cleanup time!" and, "Now it's teacher naptime!" I'm imagining the possibilities.) We've been taking turns and waiting patiently since birth. And really, what more do you need to know when you're not even three years old?
_______________________________

First day of pre-K for Kalina:

No tears. No tears!!! NO TEARS!!! Need I say more?

(Yes, I do need to say more: Kalina has a lovely teacher, and has had lovely projects already--like finding a nature item and writing clues about it, and getting every family member to trace their hand on a piece of posterboard. She's starting Spanish after school, and will continue piano lessons after school, too. Fortunately, school only lasts 2 1/2 hours three times a week, so we're not overdoing it.)

_______________________________

Tummy time on a blanket made by
a friend.

Second day of preschool/pre-K:

I knew I'd have my work cut out for me today. Not only would it be my first day completely solo, but I'd have to get Kalina to preschool, pick her up, rush the girls home for a quick lunch, rush out to the pediatrician's office, and return home in time for a late "downtime." All while dodging germs with a newborn. And letting the 2-year-old "help" carry the carseat through crowded hallways.

Yup, it was too much. We were early for Kalina's drop-off (yes, you read that right--early!), although we had forgotten her backpack and the favorite book she was supposed to bring. The book that she had remembered to pack all by herself. We were right on time to pick her up--with one exception. Spanish had already started! I wasn't the only parent who didn't realize they'd be starting Spanish on the second day of school when we'd only signed her up the day before. It threw me for a loop, I won't deny. Nevertheless, I was glad they were already digging in, and I reasoned we could still make it home in time for me to fix a proper "car lunch" of cheese, cracker and apple. Kalina was happy to see us, and we accompanied her to the Spanish classroom.

Naomi's first bath! The big sisters
helped make sure she had a few toys.

Naomi was hungry! No matter, Kalina's sweet piano teacher (who works at her preschool) whisked us into her classroom and let us hang out there. Elise spotted the large blue rug the kids sit on for music class, and immediately became a baby duckling. She swam and splashed quite happily while I threw her food (mostly Goldfish crackers and cake), and didn't want to leave when it was time to go get the diapering supplies from the car.

Clean diaper in place and dirty cloth one stashed safely away, we waited for Kalina's class to end. And waited. And waited. Don't get me wrong--I'm glad she's getting plenty of Spanish education. But by the time we'd returned to our van, we had exactly enough time for me to dash into the house, grab some crackers to toss at the big girls and refill my water bottle, and dash back.

Thank goodness Naomi loves to nap in the car, is all I can say.

By the time we returned home from the pediatrician, we were all ready for a good long nap. No one, of course, took one (except the baby, who was by now so stressed out from all her adventures that she spent the next day and a half sleeping, nights excluded.).
___________________________________

Does it look like Naomi's
smiling while Elise pets
her soft head?

Pediatrician visit for Naomi!

Naomi is growing cuter by the day (which is saying a lot--she started out pretty adorable!), and growing bigger, too! At her 2-week appointment, she weighed 6 lbs., 7 ounces (well over her birth weight!) and had grown an inch, to be 19 inches long. It's astounding to me how a baby can grow an inch in two weeks.

After we verified that Naomi does not like the scale any more than her Mommy does (or her big sisters at that age), we discussed the fact that Naomi was cosleeping because she won't sleep alone in her crib at night (and only on occasion during the day). The doctor frowned a bit and we discussed other options, but wouldn't she have frowned more if I'd told her the baby was crying by herself in the crib all night? Any veteran parent knows that the crib is where you put a baby to wake her up for feedings! Nevertheless, we're certainly making an effort, as Noami is no longer the quiet, peaceful sleeper she was last week.

We learned that the cute but sometimes alarming squeaky wheezy noises she makes are simply her vocal cords adjusting. Better get them primed and ready, Baby, because you'll have two big sister chatterboxes to keep up with!

And that was all! We'll see the doctor again in a couple weeks for the 1-month visit.

At home, we've learned that Naomi might be a bit sensitive, but (new this week!) is content to calmly scope out her surroundings for a good five to ten minutes when her needs are met. She's starting to like lights, and loves being swaddled and riding in the car. She makes the cutest little almost purring/cooing noises when she feels the need to make noise, but not unhappy noise. The baby also seems to enjoy tummy time, which has been known to calm her down more than once. I believe she'd like to sleep on her tummy, but the mean doctor (who we actually really like) says she can't. She actually does not like pacifiers, however, so that might change up our sleep journey a bit, for better or worse. Stay tuned, because you know I'll keep you posted.

Naomi can also recognize the word milk. Twice now, I've mentioned the word to her and she's stopped mid-cry. She smiles in her sleep, and laughed in her sleep for the first time today.

As for sleep, she's getting better at sleeping in her crib during the day, but either she's scared of the dark or we're simply not patient enough to give her a good chance to sleep there on her own at night. Occasionally she has lots of trouble settling down to sleep, and will be awake and fussy for hours, but often when she does she'll sleep for a healthy amount of time and even settle herself a bit. Except when she doesn't. And other than dealing with pacifiers, I anticipate exactly the same ups and downs we've had with the previous two, despite the fact that we really are working to instill good habits from an early age.

Big sisters are still in love with her. What do they love most? Seeing the contents of her diaper. But they also enjoy keeping her company during tummy time, singing her little songs, and climbing on her crib and handing her toys while helping me put her down for her nap.
___________________________________

Nothing is ever quiet at our house! But it is very, very cute.

An Interview

We raised a luna moth!

The kids have so many great things to say, every hour of every day, that I thought I'd see what they do in an actual interview. I had to interview them separately so they wouldn't give all the same answers/fight over answers. I also occasionally tried to get more clarification, but, perhaps because of the pressure, the girls were a bit less prolific than usual. Here's the transcript:

Elise:
If you could be any animal, what would you be? A penguin. Because I like penguins. Because they're black and white, some of my favorite colors. Because they go in water.
What would you like to be when you grow up? A mommy penguin that has baby penguins in her tummy. Anything else? No. [Previously, she'd wanted to be an astronaut mommy--the person who cooks for all the astronauts. Because even astronauts need mommies, right?]
What does Mommy do all day? Work.
What does Daddy do all day? Work.
What would you do if you could do anything you wanted for a day? Play and do work. Fix dinner, play with toys. Go to the Magic House, and the places where we go and I ride in my carseat. The Magic House, the grocery store.
Where are your favorite places? The Magic House, the mall
If you could do anything right now, what would you do? Go to the mall and bring this snack. [Goldfish]
What makes a rainbow?  The sky
What's your favorite holiday?  All of them. I just like holidays.

Sometimes the girls make me take
pictures of all their stuffed animal
setups. Cute!

What makes you the happiest? Ice cream. What's your favorite flavor? Chocolate.
What makes you the saddest? Being hurt
When are you the most scared? Because of the woods. What are you scared of about the woods? Bears. Sometimes I'm brave. If I was by myself I would be brave. And I would take a flashlight!
What do you do when you're afraid? Pray. Does it help: No. Only being inside.
What will you be doing one year from now? Going to preschool.
What would you do to make the world a better place? I don't want to talk anymore.
[At this point, we took a little break. I managed to get her started again, though:]
What's the funniest thing you can think of? Jokes. A pig having no home! [smiles--this is a classic joke from a few months ago] When Kalina gets hurt I'll think of some jokes. [To cheer her up]
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Ice cream
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Read and eat ice cream.
What do you love about Kalina? Playing with her.
What are your favorite foods? Goldfish, eating strawberries and chocolate and fruit bits and cooked carrots if you give me them, and Feta cheese.

Matt and the girls like to dig for
worms in the compost pile.

Kalina:
If you could be any animal, what would you be? A kitten. Because I love them.
What would you like to be when you grow up? A mommy. Anything else? No. [Just a couple weeks ago she told me she wanted to be a piano teacher for kids ages 3 through 7 1/2.]
What does Mommy do all day? Work and play with the kids.
What does Daddy do all day? Work on the fish tank and sometimes play with the kids. Today he went to Lowe's with me and Elise stayed home. [Matt has been building an aquarium stand!]
What would you do if you could do anything you wanted for a day? Eat ice cream, go to Grandpa's, have all the treats I wanted, and then take some naps, and then play with Legos. [Elise was listening in and mentioned that she would do that too.]
If you could do anything right now, what would you do? Play with Legos.
Where are your favorite places? Piano lessons, the Magic House, Home, Anna's house. Have you ever been to Anna's house? No. Why do you like these places? They're so fun!
What makes a rainbow? When it rains, there's a rainbow!
What's your favorite holiday? Easter and Christmas and Valentine's Day. Why? On Valentine's Day we get treats, and people love us. Christmas, because there's snow to play in sometimes and a lot of people come over, and there's a Christmas tree!! And Easter, because we get to search for Easter eggs.

Look how big I'm (not!)
getting! 37 weeks.

What makes you happiest? When I'm eating treats!!! What kinds are your favorite? All of them! Except the really spicy ones.
What makes you saddest? When I get hurt.
What makes you the most scared? When I go to bed, because I'm afraid that monsters or something scary will come into my room.
What do you do when you're scared? Pray. Does it help? No, but a little. What helps? Being with Mommy, or Daddy.
What will you be doing one year from now? Playing with Barbies if you allow me, I don't know. I hope to be learning how to sew, and sewing a bunch of stuffed animals for me and Elise. [Sure, she can play with Barbies, just not at my house if at all possible. Blech.]
What would you do to make the world a better place? Eat treats more often. How does that make the world better? Just because treats taste good.
What's the funniest thing you can think of? If a giraffe went running around in the hallways.
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Do Dashy and Mountain King. [This is where we play two specific classical music pieces, and the girls run around in circles on the rug. There's some choreography to it, too.]
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Build with Legos and play the zoo game.
What do you love about Elise? That she's my little sister, and that she is a baby penguin. I love that she is a penguin.
[Kalina got a few extra questions because her attention span was a bit longer.]
What's your favorite memory? When I was in my wedding. What did you like about it? That I looked pretty. [She's referring to being a flower girl in Aunt Laura's wedding, just before she turned two. Not sure if she remembers the wedding or the photos from it...]
What do you like to do with your friends? Play fairies and look for black rocks.
What would you do if you had a million dollars? Buy treats. Buy stuffed animals. That's all.
What are your favorite foods? Applesauce, beans, strawberries, watermelon, pancakes. Favorite for snack is Goldfish.

My observations:

1. Treats make quite the impression.
2. So if both my girls want to be mommies (even if a different species), and mommies work all/much of the day, then why is it so hard to get them to help clean up? Sheesh.
3. If we're ever relying on my girls to make the world a better place, we're probably out of luck. But we will have plenty of ice cream.
4. My children could stand to dream a bit bigger. You could do anything you want for a day and you'd work and fix dinner? And you could do anything you want right now and you'd play with Legos? Or, maybe, they're being raised with realistic expectations? At least their dreams are achievable?

We'll keep up with them as they grow. Stay tuned.

Kalina is 5?!?!!!

Kalina and her girls! (Minus a few.)

Kalina is 5! In fact, she is very 5! Sometimes it seems as though she's been 5 for months, but it's now official. Five is the age at which you take on more "big-kid" traits, like fixing your own breakfast, perhaps (and with any luck, your little sister's, and then gets you both ready for preschool, while Mommy takes care of the new baby), and fewer "little-kid" ones, like needing to be told to say "thank you," hopefully. It's a strange thing, having a "big kid!" But just in time, right?

Actually, Kalina has been acting "big" for a long, long time now. Not only is she ultra-responsible about everything from bedtime to removing her shoes each and every time she enters a house (LOVE that!), but she's an amazing big sister who has trained her little sister well in similar areas. And equally "big" is her heart, which has her playing sweetly with babies (whether animal or human), attending to her sister's needs (especially the purple ones), praying whenever we hear sirens and usually preferring "having conversations" with people over playing. I do not remember how this all happened, I'm just gratified that it did! She's incredible.

Birthday Girl and Birthday Girl's
Sister headbands!

And there are milestones, of course. Kalina is now, officially, a reader--and has been for some months! Actually, probably since her early fours, but she really took off a couple months ago with a series called the Bob books and now not only can read, but likes it! I look forward with mixed feelings to the day when she can pick up a book and read it cover to cover--we may never see her again!

The girl can add, subtract and divide within reason, count far past 100 and talk in depth about the life cycle of a butterfly. She knows all her planets, in order, including which ones are gaseous and which ones are rocky. Kalina can now cut shapes out of paper and bites out of a pancake. Her attention span is unmatched in her age group (and even among some adults). Perhaps best, and hardest, of all, she knows how to be patient.

If you look closely, you can see how
the cake has rainbow colors!

Kalina is clearly amazing--so we did our best to have a birthday celebration to match!

Her special day landed on a Friday this year, and Kalina was in our room the second her clock turned green. Happy birthday, Sweetie!!! We started the morning with "rainbow" cereal (Lucky Charms happened to be offering extra special rainbow marshmallows last week at the grocery store), and moved quickly to opening a couple presents, one of which was Elise's.

I knew we needed to open Elise's present early, because otherwise the surprise would be (very good-naturedly) spoiled. In fact, it had already been spoiled once or twice in the week prior, although I'm not sure Kalina noticed. Besides, Kalina loves keeping things as a surprise, so maybe she was able to deny what she'd heard. The truth is, Elise was very excited about her gift for Kalina: ponies like the ones she has! She came up with the idea herself, possibly motivated by the fact that Kalina had been borrowing her ponies for quite some time. Amazingly, I'd recently seen a new pony book set, like Elise's but different, at a reasonable price, so I quickly purchased it. Just as I'd hoped, Kalina was every bit as excited as Elise. She dug right in, and the girls nicely combined their herds. Brilliant thinking, Elise!

Next on our agenda: a surprise big-girl outing for Kalina. It just so happened that the local theater company was performing Cinderella that morning. Cinderella...5-year-old girl...birthday--we had to be there. I bought the tickets and surprised Kalina with them. Elise, for her part, was happy to stay home with Grandpa--making a rainbow birthday card for Kalina, no less!

Kalina dressed up in her princessy Easter dress, and we headed to the show. Albeit a bit overwhelmed (there were some rather loud activities beforehand) and not wanting to let go of my hand for a second, she managed to win a "beautiful" plastic ring as a prize, and we got our picture taken! The performance was amazing, and well-suited to kids. Wowed by the fairy godmother, Cinderella and her prince, Kalina even helped the rest of the audience call the fairy godmother in Cinderella's moment of need. Her favorite parts? The magical parts, and watching Cinderella dance with the prince. After the show, we took her picture with the fairy godmother--and near Cinderella, who was utterly swamped by a posse of pint-sized princesses, of which Kalina was the most patient.

Painting a suncatcher!

Back at home, it was time to make Kalina's birthday cake(s), including an "official" family cake and cupcakes for the party the next day. Her theme was rainbows, so we carefully mixed the batter and divided it into six bowls, one for each color. Then we layered cakes and cupcakes until all the colors were used up. We'd tried this before, and have not been disappointed in the results--pretty and pretty easy!

Soon, Daddy was home, early, from work and Elise was awake. Grandpa arrived and we dug into presents! Our 5-year-old did, in fact, need to be told to say "thank you" after every gift. Maybe next year...? I believe each present was considered the "best ever," or possibly it's just really fun being five and opening a bunch of fun stuff.

Kalina had asked for crafts, books (that she could read herself, and also chapter books), pets, room decorations and big-kid toys. "But not little-kid toys, Mommy, and I'm going to be giving all my toys to Elise." This pretty much describes what our big girl received. Daddy gave her a butterfly house (five baby caterpillars arrive by mail), Grandpa and Uncle Tom provided some craft kits (already highly popular), Aunt Nancy got her a piggy bank shaped like an owl (Aunt Jeanie provided $5, and we also started an allowance for her!) and some books, and I found some Lego sets for her (one from my childhood!), some books and some paper dolls. We've thoroughly enjoyed slowly getting out each of them, except for the Legos, which she dove into with gusto.

The rainbow walk game.

Speaking of Legos, I had never noticed before that they are their own language. It's not a spoken one; it's visual. For instance, we wouldn't all have the same name for the 2-bump x 4-bump chunky block, but we know exactly what it is (it's a classic). I can proudly say that Kalina has made great strides in her fluency in the past few days. Bewildered at the start, I witnessed her expertly fly through some instructions yesterday for a pony stable, needing little help from me. Quite a sight to see! But I'm off topic...

We enjoyed homemade pizza for the birthday dinner, followed closely by rainbow birthday cake. But how do you convince a birthday girl she needs to go to bed? Fortunately, we had a rainbow party with friends the next morning to look forward to!

Look! 5 candles!

Giddy hardly begins to describe Kalina's enthusiastic mood in the morning as she welcomed her party guests. Tidal wave? Pack of screaming monkeys? The guests may have felt a bit overwhelmed, especially since a mini-tidal wave mimicked Big Sister's every move. After some hyper playtime and dancing to rainbow-themed music (and sunshine and lollipops), we painted rainbow suncatchers. Then it was time for games (pin the sun on the rainbow, anyone?) and a highly popular rainbow walk. As it turns out, when you randomly dish out candy and stickers for walking around in a circle, kids will play for a long, long time. Fortunately, we had plenty of candy and stickers (still do).

We then sat down to cupcakes, and I lit four candles. We were all inhaling to sing the first note of Happy Birthday, when I was kindly reminded by a friend that my daughter is now five. Oops!! We quickly remedied the problem, took a new picture, and soon Kalina was beaming while all her friends sang.

A rainbow lunch.

And then the girls all clustered around, but patiently watched, as Kalina opened her gifts. Again, each one was the best ever (although she did, unfortunately, at one point decide out loud that the birdhouse craft kit was actually the best). We've continued to enjoy getting out new crafts and toys. In fact, we're still doing it. (We also used her birthday money towards a Cinderella doll for Kalina--Mommy fielded half the cost--handing the purple Rapunzel princess she received to Elise--both girls were quite happy.)

Then it was time for everyone to go, and Kalina graciously waved them all out the door. Technically, the birthday was over, but we still had an afternoon of crafting and Lego building to keep us quite contentedly occupied.

What a fun party!

What a lovely birthday it was! But it's important to remember that Kalina's still not entirely grown up. She still very much believe in fairies, still calls me Mommy most of the time, still wants to cuddle up for story time, still makes up songs and dances, still plays with stuffed animals (thank goodness!) and still pronounces penguin, "pingwing." Kalina at five is every bit as precious as the day she was born, and we're still every bit as proud of and enraptured by her.

Happy, happy birthday--and a happy year ahead!

Ballet and lessons

Kalina in dance class.

The other day Kalina and I were listening to some lovely classical music while coloring. "Just a second, Mommy, I have to go dance," she told me before twirling around on the rug. I've posted about ballet before (see January), so you can probably already picture this.

Kalina was soon placed just left of center in the line of dancers for her class's performance piece (Bippidi Boppidi Boo from Cinderella, which happens to be the only Disney princess movie suitable for a 4-year-old)--a fact that I interpreted to mean she's really good. Which she is. She watches her teacher and can generally follow along, and in Predance 1, you don't really need more than that to stand out (other girls chose more negative methods, which I would sneakily ask Kalina about after every class).

At the dress rehearsal, waiting for
their turn.

Soon, Bippidi Boppidi Boo was running through my head day and night, and apparently Kalina's and Elise's, too, because they've both been singing it frequently. And getting the lyrics wrong, I might add--it's pretty cute. They have also each independently asked me for their own fairy godmother. I am not one, so, much to their disappointment, I couldn't grant this wish.

I got to watch Kalina make progress each month during observation, and then sometimes every day as she practiced. I also learned the dance, as did Elise, who learned the hard way not to get in the way of Kalina's wand. For some reason Matt never did (or at least never admitted to).

Isn't she great?

We did have at least one mishap: the ribbon from Kalina's wand unraveled in the middle of their routine one time during an observation class. I didn't notice the wand--I only saw my girl barely succeeding in choking back tears (a skill I have to commend her for, honestly, because she certainly never did that in the first 3 1/2 or 4 years of her life). As I rushed to her side, I did notice the wand and as I consoled her, her teacher noticed too. Soon a triumphant Kalina was being upheld as an example for what to do if something goes wrong on stage: just keep dancing! This became a mantra of sorts at our house.

Kalina's excited audience!

Kalina's success has been due to her own hard work--but we should give at least a little credit to an enthusiastically supportive little sister, who mimics her every move (or tries her best to) and encourages her big sister in every way a 2 1/2-year-old can. It had been strongly recommended to me that I not attempt to bring Elise to the performance--"it's just too long for little ones! Take her to the dress rehearsal instead!" But the girls were adamant: this arrangement would break both of their little hearts. Elise desperately wanted to see her sister dance in the real performance, and Kalina desperately wanted her sister to be there. We arranged a system in which Grandpa Tom would take Elise out when she needed to go home for bed.

The star of the show and her
flowers!

The last month or so of class time was devoted mostly to recital happenings (to my minor annoyance), and Kalina moved gradually from quite nervous ("What if I mess up?") to mostly excited. All the moms learned, more or less, how to do a high bun in an unwilling 3- or 4-year-old's hair (not sure who enjoyed that experience less--the moms or the girls). And then, after a "dress parade" and a dress rehearsal, it was performance time.

Grandpa Les and Grandma, who didn't want to miss the show, traveled down from Minnesota for a long weekend (and a happy 10th anniversary for Mommy and Daddy, and a happy Father's Day!). We all, along with Grandpa Tom, found seats in the front row of the balcony--which turned out to be a good thing as Elise had plenty of room to squirm, and wasn't the only one who occasionally forgot to whisper.

I'd gotten Kalina prepared in the large dressing room earlier, and torn myself away from my slightly nervous--but mostly brave--little ballerina, having been on vacation when the signup sheet for "helper mommy" was posted. What was she most scared about now? That Mommy and family wouldn't be in the audience watching her! Poor thing, I think it's hard for her to comprehend how much it'd take to get us to miss it. I think we both blinked back a tear or two, but another kind mother had given Kalina a Mento, and in the midst of all the chaos, she placidly watched me leave. We've come a long, long, long, long way, haven't we? I have been traded for a Mento.

Early birthday brownies!

Shortly afterward, Elise was perched on my lap and we were counting down the minutes until the show started. Fortunately, Kalina's class was third on the program, because Elise carefully searched for her sister in each piece (whispering frequently: "But I don't see Kalina!"), and probably wouldn't have lasted long if she hadn't spotted her soon. Thank goodness the little girl could pick her big sister out in an identical high-bun Cinderella crowd, from the balcony. Or at least she thought she could--good enough.

It's quite a feeling when your tiny little 4 1/2 (nearly 5)-year-old marches onto the stage, adorable and confident, and gives it her all. Her actions were confident and enthusiastic, the mishap of having her wand accidentally stick to another Cinderella's was quickly fixed, and by her own admission, she belted out the "Bippidi boppidi boos" louder than any other girl (I think we really could hear her even from the balcony). She seemed to be quite enjoying herself, and she was quite good.

Birthday Girl's Sister gets a
present, too--a purple pony
she will love forever (she told
us).

There were more than 2 hours of performances, with dozens and dozens of dancers. But my mommy bias has rationalized that Kalina herself--my own little girl--was the star of the show (a truth I can justify logically, just ask me sometime! I dare you.).

But the second star was sitting far from the stage (only because we weren't crazy enough to get in the line for seats an hour before the performance). Almost as important as a star of the show is a star of the audience. From the beginning of the performance, I enjoyed watching Elise almost as much as Kalina. The girl was riveted for nearly the first hour. I caught a whispered, dreamy: "I just love ballet! I wish I could take ballet lessons!" "You may, when you're a bit bigger," I whispered back. "Oh, good!" she beamed at me before turning back to the show. Her favorite part, other than Kalina? The music, she said. But I imagine she also liked the colorful lights and costumes.

Kalina and Grandma work on her
fairy house craft.

Elise sat on my lap almost the whole time, switching to Grandpa Tom for a portion (to Mommy's lap's relief--it's a little crowded there nowadays, especially when both little girls are fidgety). We kept asking her if she wanted Grandpa Tom to take her home, or if she'd rather stay--the answer was always the same. But after the last dance was danced, and they'd started in on the loooong credits, Elise happily allowed herself to be carried off by Grandpa, and then put to bed, long after her usual bedtime, but still earlier--and drier (they very narrowly avoided a massive downpour on the walk to the car)--than the rest of us. The rest of us yearned to join them, Kalina included, I'm sure.

Finally, we were rushing toward the stage to scoop up our own little Cinderella and help her enjoy her success. She was overjoyed at the beautiful flowers Daddy and Grandpa Les had picked out for her (including a couple purple blooms for Elise to see when she woke up the next morning), and not at all whiny about the looong wait she'd had to endure after her performance (she wasn't allowed to see the rest of the show, but did have to appear in the finale). What a trooper!

And what a success! When you consider she had to not only remember her dance routine (with a little help from her teacher), but also appear on a bright stage to an audience of hundreds, with virtually only strangers for support--I'm not sure I could've done it! But if you ask her, she'll tell you she loved it.

Will she continue? She's not sure--she doesn't like changing clothes and the fact that her hair feels funny when I take her ponytail out after class. Hmmm. Do I tell her that those aren't exactly real reasons, or do I let them conveniently excuse us from next year's high bun (or whatever they think up for us?).

Although there won't be a high bun next year in any case--we've potentially located a simpler place that we'd take her to instead. Several other moms from her current ballet class have asked for the number--it turns out that many moms share my dread of bobby pins and hair gel on their little girls, and  would rather focus on simple fun than stardom. I'm pretty sure Kalina will agree.

Meanwhile, Kalina has started piano lessons with her preschool music teacher for the summer, and perhaps the fall, and then eventually full-time (once Mommy has her energy back from the impending newborn). She loves it, as evidenced by her 35- or 40-minute attention span at her first lesson, a feat that barely surprised her mommy, but I believe astounded her teacher.

It fascinates me that Kalina is already making good progress. She's a lovely little student: she soaks up the one-on-one attention, engages and participates, and incorporates her vivid imagination. She loves her lessons, and even willingly practices--for now.

But again, we'd be remiss not to mention Elise, who has taken it upon herself to begin piano lessons, and has already successfully copied Kalina's finger positioning. When do you start a 2 1/2-year-old who has already started herself? During Kalina's lessons she watches intently, participates in conversation and munches her snack. "Un-involved" is simply not part of Elise's vocabulary. One of these days, I imagine, she'll sit down and play us a song.

And finally, a lesson that I didn't attend, but heard about later and thought was well worth noting. Grandpa Les used to coach girls' softball! So with my girls practicing their throwing, he pitched right in (pun intended).

Elise had the habit of throwing a ball at about a 45-degree angle from where she intended it to go. So Grandpa Les carefully showed Elise how to step with one foot and throw with the other. They practiced, and sure enough, the ball went straighter!

But some things are lost on a 2-year-old, who does not yet know the value of throwing straight. The girl looked straight at Grandpa and said, "Now I'm going to do it without all that stuff." And she happily went back to her original methods.

You can teach, they can learn, but will they use what they learn? I'll tell you in 20 years.

Triple the fun!

Baby Girl #3!!!

What's more fun than two little girls in the house? Three!! That's right--the big sisters are extremely happy and relieved to announce that a baby sister is on the way, and not a baby brother, for which it seems that Elise would've never forgiven me, and Kalina would've held a grudge for a while, too.

Do you see her face and nose?

We toyed with the idea of not finding out, but none of us could stand the suspense. Not the kids, and not us. This is what makes us a family! On the way over: "Mommy, what if it's a boy?" -Kalina. You know I was thinking the same thing, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure we would've muddled through just fine.

The baby is as healthy as can be, and supposedly average for size, in the 47th percentile. So were my other tiny 6-lb. newborns at this point. She moved quite a bit for us (surprising to me, as I'd only felt the occasional kick), and even seemed to strategically point her thumb toward her mouth. What a sweetie!

The girls seemed to enjoy the ultrasound, only getting feisty toward the end. Kalina "helped" the tech count all the picture, and Elise jumped over the lengthy printout of them. As I was out of the room for a minute afterward, the tech even gave them each their own picture! When I came back in, I happened to ask Elise what she had in her hand. "It's a picture of Baby Ellie in my tummy!" she exclaimed. (Baby Ellie is her baby doll.) She insists on this story to this day. 

And so we're to have three girls! Kalina and Elise didn't seem surprised--I think we couldn't picture much of anything different. I, for one, am looking forward to extra years of sweet dresses, animal tea parties and pink, not to mention seeing the amazing person our littlest girl will grow to be. 

Elise insists she has Ellie,
her baby doll, in her tummy.

And even though we can't do an outer space theme in a little boy's bedroom (not that we couldn't do it in the girls', just that it isn't likely to happen), Kalina has decided that she's fascinated by the solar system. I'm getting more than enough of rockets and planets, a welcome change from princesses, honestly, and Kalina's learning so much that she's sleeping an extra 1 1/2 hours every night and asking for lima beans before supper. (Elise, for her part, can define gravity and name at least a couple planets!)

My little astronauts!

Every day, the question is the same: can we do a space craft? Even if we've already completed three. Or a million. We've also made stuffed felt planets, visited the library's space section twice, emailed a friend at NASA for more information, dressed up as astronauts in homemade costumes, built a rocket and turned our family room into the surface of the room, complete with craters (Kalina's idea--necklaces spread out in circles!), painted a solar system model using styrofoam balls, made shadow puppets to help learn about the sun, and much more. We're kind of exhausted, but still going strong. Next week: a planet suncatcher, constellations with star stickers, rockets with Uncle Tom, a possible trip to the planetarium and astronaut ice cream. And then, it's onto dinosaurs, also by Kalina's request. I'm already getting ready, seeing as her enthusiasm often exceeds my energy (but I'm also very excited!)

It seems that life will be an adventure no matter what, and even more so with three little girls! We can't wait.

P.S. Excuse the formatting of this post--I don't know what the deal is.

Krista visited and took the girls' pics!

There are more--but I love
these expressions!

Awww!!!

What do we do with winter?

Although Elise doesn't like
cold weather, she sure does
look cute prepared for it!
And she knows it.

Before I had kids, I loved winter. The fresh, deep snow, mugs of hot chocolate, cozy indoor activities and an excuse to more or less hibernate. Plus, the memories of giant snow tunnels, sledding and snowmen of childhood--what a season!

Loving winter, as Matt often reminds me, is not to be confused with loving going out into it as an adult. Sometimes I do--don't get me wrong--but the refrigerated sections of the grocery store can give me enough of a chill to send me as quickly into the canned goods aisle as possible, so you can imagine what actual sub-freezing temperatures do to me.

Now that I have kids, and young, easily chilled, whiny ones at that (hmm, do you think they take after their mother?), winter is no longer the wonderland it used to be. Instead, we need strategies to manage winter. Otherwise, we all end up stir-crazy and not very nice to each other.

Winter always starts off well enough: we have Christmas to kick it off. Besides, we've spent Fall playing outside in the beautiful weather, and are ready to hole up and bake something. But then there's January, and February, and occasionally even March.

What to do? Don't let boredom get the best of you! There's plenty of fun to be had indoors! Or so the magazines tell me.

Kalina cut out paper heart valentines
for all of the princesses in the house!
And their horses, ponies, prince, etc.

Crafts will keep away the winter blues! Pinterest practically shouts at me: You should be making snowflakes out of melted crayons! And snowmen out of old socks! Haven't you made play snow yet?!? The possibilities are endless, but the energy and supplies are not. 

But sometimes we get brave and we do attempt something more than coloring, or painting or stamps. It goes like this:

Finding a project that doesn't require a trip to the store, let alone expensive, hard-to-find materials, and that doesn't require 8-year-old skills: 30 minutes.

Gathering materials: 15 minutes.

Prepping project: 5-20 minutes.

Helping both kids do the project at the same time: 15 minutes working at a frantic pace as glue gets waved in my face, scissors get misused by the 2-year-old and components nearly get smashed, even while they're begging me to "Help me put this on!" or "Oops, I messed it up, waaaahhhh, Mommy fix it!" and the like.

Cleanup: 20 minutes.

Now the kids have the rest of the afternoon to fight/play/fight while I try to catch my breath for a minute before starting dinner.

And believe me, the final product is nowhere near Pinterest-worthy. But, in my defense, those kids are probably all spoiled.

I'm not, actually, a craft hater--I rather enjoy them--but I think an "I'll grab this, and this, and this" 2-year-old and an "I want mine to be as perfect as yours, Mommy, so can you just do it for me?" 4-year-old can make any craft more chore than charming.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we do crafts. 

Elise had been dreaming of this
cupcake all day, and nearly
exploded from anticipation. The
girls helped me bake, but not
frost. I am only human.

Baking. When Kalina was 2 or 3 and Elise didn't yet know how to say, "Let me help!," Kalina and I did a lot of baking. That winter, we each probably put on five pounds, because even homemade granola bars add up. Then, Elise started helping and the pressure of having a kid on each side of me, somewhat precariously balanced on a stool or chair, fighting over raw eggs and full bottles of oil seemed to ruin my appetite for oat muffins. Now, baking is a pretty special treat--as it should be.

Other moms make sure every snack his balanced and in the shape of an animal or smiley face. Those kids, too, are spoiled.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we bake. 

Our Valentine's party! 

Celebrate the mediocre, because at least then you're smiling. Groundhog Day has never been bigger than in the houses of preschoolers. In all fairness, sometimes it's hard to get them to care, despite the fact that kids will generally celebrate anything. "Why does the groundhog come out?" "How does it know what the weather will be?" "So if it sees its shadow, that means more winter? Or spring?" These are all legitimate questions. And while Mommy is about ready for either a really good snow or spring, the kids don't seem to care as much. But that's all we've got until mid-February, when it's finally Valentine's Day, an entirely Hallmark-created holiday (and so far, Hallmark has barely touched Groundhog Day, with good reason. Because what do you put on the card? "Hope it's spring for you soon?"). We go all out for Valentine's Day, because it's bright and cheery--everything we need. Kalina has cut out about four dozen hearts (which means I've drawn about six dozen as Kalina improves her scissor skills--which I'm very proud of her for, by the way), and stuck jewels and stickers on a dozen more. Elise has glue-sticked her way through quite a few herself (it's her favorite writing utensil). Look, we're doing crafts! Heart crafts are about the easiest, so we do a lot of them. Then, for lack of anything better to do, we plan a Valentine's Day party. And look, we're all smiling! Love is in the freezing cold air.

With cousins Hailey and Teagan!
Since Teagan kept escaping unless
she was held, Kalina and Elise
decided that Elise needed to be
held, too.

Getting energy out. Elise already knows the meaning of this phrase. In fact, sometimes she'll run circles on the rug, telling onlookers that she's "getting her energy out." If my poor toddler has to run circles on the rug, however, it's a sign we need to go to a park! Except, usually, it's too cold for any of us to tolerate that for more than 10 minutes, and that's not worth the fight to get everyone's shoes and coats and hats on. So we go other places, but there's nothing like the park--either running is barely tolerated (although I think even the harshest employees know that it is, in fact, winter) or a hundred other moms had the same idea, which means there are two hundred other children competing with yours for floor space.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we go out anyway and temporarily remove a portion of the pent-up energy. 

Why not just go outside? And why not, really? It might be cold, but it also might be fun. Especially in St. Louis, where the temperature sometimes gets above 40! In all fairness, it also has gotten up to 60 once or twice, at which point we borrow any necessary groceries from the neighbors so we can play outside instead of spend a sunny afternoon at the store. These are the good days, because the neighbor kids are out too and all of a sudden Mommy is not the most popular playmate. On the 40-degree days, if it's sunny, we still might try to play outside in the afternoon, but it's a forced play. Elise is usually ready to head inside within 10 seconds (yet refuses all offers of mittens). Kalina does seem to have fun, and sometimes they even have a little fun on their own so I can sit on a short, cold cement step and watch them and shiver and dream of the day, kind of, when I'll be inside folding laundry while they're outside. Not that I don't like the outdoors, and all the whimsical good-mommy things we can do out there, but we've done all of them already and my motivation to be outside is too weak to do anything but grin and bear it. Creativity will wait for warmer temperatures.

And I agree that we're rather weak when it comes to temperatures, by the way. I blame it entirely on North Carolina. And yet, sometimes we play outside anyway.

Of course, snow is a special case. I've noticed that for the most part, it snows on weekends and holidays when Daddy's around. I'm not sure to what I owe this phenomenon, but I appreciate it, because Daddy likes the outdoors even more than the girls do, so I don't feel too bad sending the three musketeers out together and sitting inside with a mug of hot chocolate, or even a pile of laundry, I don't really care, because I'm warm and the kids are getting lots of good-quality outdoor play. Plus, Daddy is MUCH more fun than Mommy outside, trust me. 

Who wants to watch TV? The real question is, who wants to watch it more than Mommy does? No one! Nevertheless, while other good parents allow as much as 1-2 hours a day, I feel guilty if mine see that in a week. Even in the winter. Because they should be outside, or doing crafts, or getting their energy out! But sometimes I relax my standards and we turn on the tube. I'm just grateful they both enjoy it, because when we're all cranky with each other after the little one hasn't napped the past six days, and yet no one would ever consider willingly playing alone in their room because that would mean being out of sight, hearing and grabbing distance of Mommy, we just need to tune each other out for a bit. 

Hot chocolate, anyone? And of course, there's hot chocolate. Hot chocolate that's always a little too hot if it's a degree over lukewarm, so I end up blowing on theirs while mine cools down to a not-so-cozy room temperature. Not that I serve it to them as anything more than medium-warm, I just harbor a strange notion that hot chocolate should, actually, be a bit warmer than slightly chilled (or, in my case, nearly boiling). It must just be me. They've also discovered that marshmallows often go with hot chocolate, so it's no longer a nearly innocent treat (the way I make it involves only a spoonful of sugar for several servings). It always gets dripped on clothes, tablecloth, floors, you name it, finding its way even out of a sippy cup.

And yet, sometimes we have hot chocolate anyway.

No, not everything about winter is miserable. Nevertheless, I think we'll all welcome Spring with open arms.