Kalina is 12!

Happy birthday, Kalina!!!

Kalina has gained the distinction of being the first coronavirus birthday of the immediate family! Woohoo! Or, not so woohoo?

Fortunately, many of Kalina's interests are simple to fulfill and often take place outdoors, so her personality aligns well with pandemic precautions. We celebrated with kayaking, a Dairy Queen ice-cream cake, opening presents, enjoying the presents, and a deck dinner (Jason's Deli delivery) with Grandpa. She thanked me profusely at the end of the day for such a nice birthday.

On Monday, a few friends came over for stream exploration and a cookie cake outdoors. We were super grateful to be able to do something fun with friends that was still relatively safe.

After our adventures in
lighting the ice-cream cake,
we had to take pictures
pretty quickly.

Plus, there are kittens.

Kalina is 12! The year has been nothing but sweet. She's fun to be around, easygoing, imaginative, and usually very accepting of her little sisters (although everyone has their limits).

Kalina is noticeably able to work hard without complaining--which usually shows up in her schoolwork. She's more focused than ever before (although the kittens are going to pose her biggest challenge yet). And she's more of a box checker than I would have imagined. It's not that she likes work--and I'm never allowed to forget that for long--but she likes it better if it can be erased from the board when she's finished. Don't we all?

She's super organized, too. With a nightstand and shelves looking much better than her sisters', she's already saying she needs to reorganize them. I think she enjoys it, she's great at it, and I am secretly hoping she'll tackle a few of my drawers and cabinets. Will trade dinner for organization.

Birthday girl sisters make the day!!

Kalina's mind is sharp and she is quick to point out contradictions or things that don't add up. Despite being abstract, she highly values logic and reason. She has no patience for gimmicks or tricks, and can spot them a mile away.

Still dreaming of walking on the ceiling (there's all that empty space!), designing unnecessarily complex systems, and creating whole rooms with specially made shelves for kitties and other critters, Kalina's imagination only seems to be growing. I can't wait to see where it takes her. Her art teacher has noted her creativity, but Kalina still only takes on art projects in a group setting. Kalina's piano teacher has also commented on her musical abilities and the way she always not only nails her scales and arpeggios, but also builds on them. Logic + creativity. When she hears classical music, she's laser-focused on it.

We didn't get pictures of us
canoeing, but we did get
pictures afterward in the
really fun tree we like to
climb. This time, we got to
hang out with baby robins.

At 12, she's not super outgoing, but gets along well with and enjoys people she's with. She's a loyal friend, although she definitely needs alone time to process. Books are still very much her go-to, and she never minds re-reading a book, even a half-dozen times in close succession.

Kalina enjoys big group projects--she loves working with the food pantry, setting up a campsite, building a pet enclosure, or anything like that she can be immersed in. And she's an idea person, so if there's a problem to be solved, she's likely to come up with creative solutions. Not all of them practical, but sometimes.

Kalina can memorize like nobody's business--words, facts, or music. In fact, she'll often do her piano lessons muchly from memory, not always opening the book until after she's played the piece and they've talked through some of the details.

She's taken on the viola this year, which she plays nicely but is getting burned out on because she's not yet part of an orchestra. We're really hoping that happens this fall. She's proud of all her musical abilities, including her perfect pitch, but gets frustrated with the daily work involved.

She flosses daily without being told. To the point that even the dentist had no words for her.

Kalina dug right into building tracks.
They're getting increasingly complex
as she learns all the techniques.

What she likes: puzzles and games, watching the funny things animals do, all our outdoor activities, logic and sudoku puzzles, vacations, camping, places that look like enchanted forests along the trail, guacamole, science fiction/fantasy, the number 64, long and complicated words, making poison dart frog tanks, chaos that she creates, telling elaborate stories, volunteering, birds of prey, Lego minifigures, the globe, the Periodic Table of the Elements, black holes and other astronomy quandries, hard-boiled eggs, quotes from books or famous people, marble tracks, the Archimedes screw, and cats, still.

What she doesn't like: pink, technology/screentime (except the occasional high-quality movie), picture books that are written in terrible rhyme, shopping, jewelry, doing her laundry, the thought of driving someday, work that's not her idea, pop music, sports (except the occasionally family game of something), a page full of math problems, contradictions, busywork, and bananas, unless they're on a peanut-butter sandwich and accompanied by marshmallows.

Kalina is a rare treasure of a girl--firmly down to earth, but with her head soaring in the clouds. Love you, Sweetie!

The traditional picture that I wedge
myself into every year.

Naomi wiggled her way into Kalina's
birthday blog thanks to her wiggly
tooth, which she saved for Grandpa
to pull, having heard stories from Elise.
Turns out, she didn't need to worry
about saving it, as it was more firmly
in place than we thought! She was so
brave!! Way braver than I was, not
being able to watch or listen.

The kitties liked Kalina's
new camp chair, too.

Okay, so we weren't 6 feet apart the
entire time, but we were for most of it.

Our traditional Jason's Deli meal
without the deli.

Outdoor gifts!

Kittens!

In a rare, still, together photo. Posy,
with color on her front paws, is in
front. She usually is.

We're a kitten house!

I actually never thought this would happen. I believed that all of our caged pets had crowded out any chance of owning cats again, and I was resigned to that probability.

But if I didn't think this would happen, Elise REALLY didn't think it would, especially once she first laid eyes on the kittens who were destined to become "ours." If you ask her, full centuries turned over between Sunday evening, when she first found out about the kitten possibility, and Wednesday afternoon, when we brought them home. [Which is ironic, because when we asked her how long we should wait before bringing home a kitten, she thought 2 weeks sounded about right.]

We cleared out a cabinet in the
bathroom for the kittens to call their
own. We removed a door and put a
beach towel in the bottom, and it's
one of their favorite places to sleep.

It's not that Kalina and Naomi were less excited; they were simply less laser-focused, with emotions not super-glued to the idea of receiving these little furballs into our home. There are benefits to both types of personalities, for when we need varying levels of enthusiasm in our world. Which we do.

Thanks to COVID-19 regulations, it's difficult to visit adoptable pets right now. To do so, you should:

1. Always remember to choose a pet based on its personality, not its looks.
2. Peruse a database of adoptable cats/kittens and their photos. Or possibly only their names.
3. Fill out a detailed application form. Submit it.
4. Line up a meet-and-greet with the foster family (in the case of kittens) and the shelter.
5. Drive 20-25 minutes, preferably without kids to minimize contact and, well, what poor Elise went through.
6. Meet the one or two kittens you arranged to see.
7. Repeat for each additional kitten/littermate pair.
8. Choose based on personality, if the one you decide you want is actually still available. Or, just take the one you're currently holding to save yourself a lot of trouble.

After "unboxing," the kittens
explore their new room. Their
horizons wouldn't be much
expanded until the following
day.

Matt and I did manage to skirt a lot of this by visiting the SPCA shelter, which actually had adoptable kittens in-stock. It's like the Target of kittens, whereas the other places are more the fine furniture store. We didn't visit the other places--we tried to, but learned the above rules the hard way, by showing up for our appointment with 0 kittens to meet and not even a cat, as the only one present didn't like people. I realize people are very busy at these shelters, right? And that's why they didn't call me to let me in on all this after I scheduled the appointment, right?

Fortunately, the SPCA had plenty of kittens, including several sets of littermates. All of these had been fostered until a few days previous, so that they'd grow up social. And pretty much all would be adopted within days, so none would be spending more than about a week in the shelter. Because kittens.

Sister picture!

We were initially interested in Poppy and Posy because they are sister kittens, but we were introduced to others as well, including their sweet brother, Bud. (Get it? Get it? Poppy, Posy and Bud?) We liked them immediately due to everything from their cute/unique markings (true!), as well as to their reputation as being "not quite as crazy as these other kittens," who, apparently, cause complete chaos in their cages overnight. Plus, Poppy cuddled up so sweetly with me, and both seemed okay with lap-sitting (we weren't allowed to let them roam the floor). We interacted with other kittens as well, but were quickly sold on the orange-and-white sweeties we'd held first. All three of them, because you can't leave one alone, right? And Matt's more of a softie than people give him credit for.

Look, Mom, I'm holding
one, I'm holding one!

After we arrived home and had dinner, we revealed what we'd been up to. The girls, who'd lately been petitioning for guinea pigs because they get along with bunnies and had written off kittens as being an impossible dream, could hardly believe their ears, but actually did seem to sleep at night--something we wouldn't have predicted. In the morning, I showed them the pictures of the actual kittens we were considering, and from that point forward, all conversations led to kittens.

Somehow, Bud got adopted between Sunday late afternoon and Monday late morning, which honestly was probably fine. But Wednesday afternoon, after an agonizing wait ("I honestly don't think I'll survive." -a totally serious Elise), the last part of which, in the car outside the SPCA because they weren't allowed to enter, was possibly the longest hour of the girls' lives, the kittens came home with us, meowing all the way.

Each girl was dressed in a cat-themed outfit, something that had caused us not a little stress that morning as the only short-sleeved cat gear belonged to Kalina (with a whopping 4 shirts!) and none fit Naomi in a way she deemed acceptable. Fortunately, another girl in the neighborhood, whose family owns three cats, was willing to pass down a Hello Kitty dress to Naomi, which she accepted out of sheer desperation (the girls no longer like Hello Kitty, although they really should because the cartoon kitty single-handedly got Kalina through her long "everything I wear must have cats on it" phase. Which apparently hasn't quite wound down).

Possibly the happiest girl in the world.
Because that's where enthusiasm
sometimes lands you.

We unboxed the cats in the girls' bathroom--their new "safe room," where it was recommended they spend the next few hours or days, until they're comfortable exploring further. As a side benefit, this whole concept got the girls to uncomplainingly deep-clean the room anticipating the arrival of its new occupants.

The bathroom made a great safe room while we got to know the kittens--but a rather cramped "Let's all hang out together in here in the summertime" room. Especially when we added a large litter box, a scratching post, food, water, a couple toys and some hyper, overstimulated kitties/kiddies. It wasn't exactly my worst nightmare, since my best dreams actually do include kittens, but I admit I questioned a lot of things in some of the most intense moments.

Does it get any better than this?!?
Poppy actually began her sleep
journey on the other side of Kalina,
and migrated across in her sleep.
Kalina missed part of lunch to
soak up the fact that a real, live
kitten was napping on her lap while
she read.

The kitties immediately spotted the one secretive place in the room--a cabinet we'd cleaned out for them--and made a beeline inside. From there, they were fairly quickly tempted out by the toys we'd picked out at Wal-Mart the night before. Play therapy worked, and soon our kittens were allowing themselves to be petted and occasionally hoisted up a little off the ground by an inexperienced pair of hands (but more often by mine, because I'm actually a little selfish when it comes to kittens).

Possibly more stressful than introducing two freaked-out kittens to a crowded bathroom was introducing three finally-my-dreams-are-coming-true-in-this-very-moment children to the two young cats. I do believe we waited more than 10 minutes before a plaintive "I haven't gotten to pick one up yet!" was whined, but it couldn't have been much longer. Nevertheless, despite emotions upon emotions, dreams slowly did come true, as everyone felt as though that had at least one bonding moment with the kittens. Eventually, I was able to convince my girls to give their pets a little rest in their safe room. And then we could all finally breathe again, because we stepped out into the rest of the house, and left at least a few emotions in with the kitties.

Poppy went from playful to
zonked. This is one comfy
kitten!

The kittens, who'd been used to a cage, were delighted to have the run of a room. We could hear them chasing homemade and store-bought toys all over the place. We visited them often. Fortunately, the first night went perfectly, as have all the rest--so I think we're out of the woods.

The next day, the kittens ventured out a little, carefully supervised. They haven't seen much of Andy bunny, but the unofficial visit left both animals scared (Andy and whichever kitty crept in to his room). Eventually, we allowed them downstairs. Posy showed more confidence than Poppy, who returned to her "safe room," or simply meowed for help if she didn't know how to find it. But soon, both were tearing around as though they owned the place. Don't tell them, but they kinda do.

Kitten watches bunny. It was
only later that everyone
started freaking out about
each other.

We decided to keep their names, Poppy and Posy, at least at the writing of this blog. Although I still want to change them to Charlotte and Fern (of Charlotte's Web fame), and I reserved the right at the outset of this grand escapade to name the kitties. The girls are in negotiations for moving that right to middle-name rights, due to unfairness claims, but the jury's still out.

Their personalities have begun to shine. Poppy, who was so cuddly in the shelter, acted a little more shy and skittish with us at first. Posy, however, was the perfect mix of friendly and curious, virtually from the get-go. (I can speak this way because they're not my actual children.) Poppy eventually warmed up, and is intensely playful, but often in need of reassuring cuddles. She's also now the most likely to cuddle up next to us on a couch, even traveling across a lap as she sleeps (just ask Kalina!).

Matt built a giant cat tower that allows them to climb, and will hopefully preserve our couch. I'm sewing a cat bed and, eventually, a cat tent and hammock. And the girls keep making cat toys out of pipe cleaners, feathers, and yarn, especially Naomi who is delighted to have someone to craft for.

Matt's cat tower, with two
kittens set to conquer it!
They only made it to the
top today!

For at least this week or so, "kittens!" are an excuse to stop whatever we're doing and come look at the cute thing they're doing. Having a kitty on your lap is a well-accepted reason to be late to a meal. 

The girls LOVE the kittens. No really, they LOVE them. Sometimes overly much. The kitties can barely walk through a room for being scooped up, sometimes just for the sheer novelty of being able to scoop up a kitten. They are learning to deal with it patiently, because they also get played with, and petted and, of course, fed. And despite the fact that they occasionally kick each others' heads while holding them in strangle-holds, they kittens seem to love each other, too.

The infinitely quotable Elise

If you've ever talked to Elise you know that, well, Elise likes to talk. Fortunately, she also has a way of putting smiles on our faces, unless, of course, she's lawyering us. But we'll save that for another post. Over the years, I've kept track of some of her choicest gems, preserved here, along with quote from Kalina and Naomi afterward. I'll continue to update this but the best ones are a little fewer and farther between.

Age 4: "It's quiet in here except for us!" amid lots of chattering as we made our way through an office building to the dentist.

Age 4: "Mommy let me tell you something. If you climbed this tree you would get a free ride to the sky." (spoken about a tall tulip tree)

Feb. 6, 2013: Kalina told Elise the following story: Once upon a time there was a little girl named Elise, and she didn't have a big sister, so she went to look for one. She came across a girl named Kalina, and she said, "Will you be my big sister?" and Kalina said "Yes." And they lived happily ever after.

*sniff*

Age 5: "Mommy, Jesus and God have to be different, because Jesus died and God didn't." 
Me: "Wow. That's something people have been talking about for hundreds of years." 
Elise: "And I already figured it out!" (super proud, and told Matt later that evening)

December 2015: "My  name is Elise, I'm a cheerful girl, and I love ballet!"

February 2015: "Mommy, how does Santa get all the money to buy the toys?
Me: "Doesn't he just have his elves make them?" 
Elise: "But he said in his letter that sometimes he sends his elves out to buy toys." 
Me. "Oh yeah, that's right." 
Elise: "How about all the parents can send Santa Claus some money for the toys he buys?" 
Me: "That sounds like a good idea." 
Elise: "Or maybe he could just get the toys from the store without paying." 
Me: "Wouldn't that be stealing?" 
Elise: "Well, he'd do it at night and make sure no one saw so it wouldn't be a big deal."

February 29, 2015: 
Matt, changing an air filter in the car: "Elise, I want to show you how to put in an air filter--you might have to do it someday!"
Elise: "That's okay, Daddy, I'm planning to get married."

March 2016: "Dad, the only problem with my swimming is that I can't float."

March 3, 2016: 
What Happens in Winter, by Summer Odegaard
Down fall the snowflakes
The wind rustles in the trees.
Squirrel has a nest
But what about me?

I have a nice, cozy home
That I sleep in every night
And I have toys to play with in the morning
And I have everything I need.

And best of all, parents and God.

Spring 2016: Elise's recipe for Blueberry Bread
"How? Make normal bread but wait, I'm forgetting something. Before you bake it, put blueberries in the dough that you have made. Now you may bake bread, a little less than normal temperature--you don't want your blueberries to get burned. Once you have baked it for one minute less than you normally do--or half a minute if it's a minute--then take it out and wait til it cools. Then you can all have a piece if your mom says so. All you need is this recipe--I don't know how to make bread, but that's fine."
Sell our blueberry bread
 $10 per loaf
We will have to taste our loaf
It's true that it's delicious, true, true, true. 
Only $10! Give samples to assure them, and lemonade.


Late April, 2016: "I accidentally smelled the flowers, but I'm glad I did!"

After Easter, 2016:
How My Kitten Got it's Chocolate Paws
One time my kitten got off its shelf in Target and the door was open. The Kitten walked our and walked into a factory and went along with a tour. It dipper its paws into the chocolate and somebody noticed her and the person chased it out and the chocolate dried. It entered Target again. Much, much later, while I was at piano lessons, Mommy bought it with Naomi and I got it for Valentine's Day. The end.

May 2, 2016: Bean juice spilled on my clean kitchen floor, and a couple Corn Chex crunched on it as well.
Me: "Oh wow, I just cleaned the floor and it's already quite dirty again! I'd better clean it up."
Elise: "That's okay, Mommy. We're used to a dirty floor."
Me: "Oh no, I suppose I need to clean the floor more often!"
Elise: "No, we're used to a dirty floor, Mommy."

June 29, 2016: A proud announcement: "Mommy, I think I'm beginning to be able to smell pheromones. Whenever I'm around ants, I smell a smell that I don't smell anywhere else!"

Elise's wishes in her own words (winter, 2016):
1. Go to Fairyland
2. Help people
3. Dance in the Nutcracker
4. Be a scuba diver
5. Lose teeth soon

Personal, not as big:
Be a bike and scooter star
Sail around in the ocean and float in outer space

Winter 2016"The funny thing about me is I love pies, and they're not my favorite!"

1-6-17
Elise: "Mommy, most people don't seem to know that fairies are real."
Me: "It sure seems that way."
Elise, whispering: "I'm smarter than most grownups!"

1-8-17
Crouching down so her bear hat seems to sit on the table: "A bear has come for dinner!"

5-9-17
Trying Havarti cheese for what she believes to be the first time (although it probably wasn't):
Elise: "It's like when you go down a super-fast slide for the first time. And you know it will be more fun the next time you do it."
Me: Would you like another bite?
Elise: "Yes, please."

6-27-17
(With a piece of paper in her mouth like a duck bill). "Mmmph, mmph, mmph." Me: What's that, Elise? (Taking the paper out): "It's my duck bill. Now I know why ducks can't talk."

7-13-17
Me, prepping the girls for a playdate with friends who don't all know each other: "Make sure you do something so everyone's included. Like put on a show, or play hide and seek."
Elise, laughing indulgently and rolling her eyes a bit: "Mom--really? Hide-and-seek? I think I'm a little old for that!"
Me: "A lot of kids play hide and seek, it's fun!"
Elise: "Um, Mom, I think I'm a level above hide and seek. That's, like, Naomi's level. I mean, do the moms get together and play hide and seek?"
Etc. 
I never convinced her--although very recently (2020), she was open to the option of playing hide and seek in our backyard.

7-26-17
Dejectedly, while making a sweet birthday heart card for Matt, "There are so many birthdays to celebrate that aren't mine."

10-3-17
"Mommy, you don't know what it's like to be friends with a tree."

November, 2017
"Yeah, it really was an awesome trip to Florida, and the third bite [sting] wasn't the jellyfish's fault."

12-19-17
Elise was talking about her beloved stuffed hamster. She's been making felt hamsters for her sisters, and was listing their birthdays. She purchased her stuffed hamster, which shares her birthday, with her allowance money the day after Thanksgiving, and has played with it daily ever since.
Me, totally expecting a resounding yes: "Elise, would you still have bought Furble if it didn't share your birthday?"
Elise: "No, it was so expensive. Five dollars! Are you kidding?  For a hamster?!"

12-21-17
With a heap of made-from-scratch chicken pot pie on her plate.
Me: "How's the chicken pot pie?"
Elise, trying to be polite: "Mmm, I don't not like it as much as I usually don't like what's for dinner."

1-3-18
At the tail end of a great discussion about genetics and ethics (i.e, why we can't make actual mermaids using fish and human DNA).
Kalina, somewhat seriously: "How would a mermaid poop?"
Elise, confidently: "In seaweed bundles."

After making her own recipe of cupcakes: "They're even healthy, with one cup of sugar but two cups of flour!"

7-5-18
The girls found and captured a box turtle.
Matt: "What kind is it?"
Elise: "We don't know."
Matt: "It's not a snapping turtle is it?"
Elise: "No!"
Matt: "How do you know?"
Elise: "I touched it."

5-12-19 (Mother's Day)
Me, stuffed: "I'll try my chocolate tomorrow."
Elise, sighing: "It just seems as though if you get two packs of chocolate, you should at least try one."

Summer 2019
After trying sauerkraut. "It's disgusting! But I still consider it a valuable experience."

April 2020
Me: "Hey Elise, what did you think of the corn and beans?"
Elise (smiling sheepishly): "Well, um, it's just that, I can tell it's a good recipe and it's the type of thing I would probably like if I were an adult. But I'm a kid and, well, kids like sweet things."

Naturally, Naomi and Kalina have had their own share of delightful quotes (and others have been preserved in other blog posts). Here are a bunch of my favorites:

9-7-11 Kalina

Kalina's pinky finger was "painting a garden," along with signs for the garden. The signs said: "Don't fly in the sky unless you have a bird with you," "Don't fall into holes unless you have a friend with you," "Don't hang kittens from high places in trees because they might get stuck and a fire truck would have to come get them down," "Don't light a fire when the baby is in the chimney."

12-10-11 Kalina
Drove around with Kalina to look at Christmas lights.

Kalina: Mommy, are there 100 lights?

Me: I bet there are even more than 100!

Kalina: How many are there?

Me: I don't think it's even possible to count all of them!

Kalina (quietly): One. Two. Three.

A few streets later she quit counting after about 76. Too many to count, I suppose.

3-28-12 Kalina

Among Kalina's morning ponderings: What do squirrels have inside them? What would happen if a raccoon ate a flower? What would happen if a shadow went all the way into a deep, dark, hole? Can God count to a trillion? Do kittens lick up water? Kittens? Water? Cats? Water? (I guess she just wanted a lot of confirmation on the last one--it's very important to know for sure when it's your job to care for kittens.)

9-6-12 Kalina

Kalina: Mommy, I'll grant you any wish with my magic wand. What do you wish for?

Me: That we could all take a walk after dinner.

Kalina: No, I will not grant that wish.

Me: Why not?

Kalina: Bibbity Bobbity Boo, your eyes are now teal!

9-9-16 Naomi
Me: "Naomi, do you want to help me empty the dishwasher?"
Naomi: "I have chores to do." (as she plays near her toy kitchen)

10-21-16 Kalina
Kalina: "Mommy, Elise discovered something!" (Excitedly)
Me: "Wow! What is it?"
Kalina: "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure it's something that has been discovered before." (Dreamily, sitting down with a book, ending the conversation.)

Naomi Late November, 2016:
N: "I don't like the rain."
Me: "Why?"
Naomi: "Because it falls from the sky."
Me: "What would you rather it do?"
Naomi: "Come from the ground and go up to the sky."

Kalina 12-1-16:
*sigh* "Time is so precious." (Being asked to come in and clean up after she plays outside)

Kalina 5-6-17
Matt and I were talking at dinner about how we were going to go to Lowe's on our date.
Kalina: "Is that what you call a date?"

Naomi: Spring, after we found out we were moving, and with tears in  her eyes.
"Will we get a new Grandpa in Kansas City?"

Naomi: 6-21-17
Talking about who she's going to marry.
"He has to be nice, and I have to like him, and he has to be a boy." Concerned: "But who am I going to marry?" Me: "You might not know him yet. You might meet him when you're older."
Naomi: "I have to love him, I have to like him, and I have to know his name."

Naomi (age 2-3): "No I amn't" (pronounced em-nt--she made her own contraction!)

July 2017
Naomi: "Squeak, squeak"
Me, looking up: "Was that you Sweetie?"
Naomi: "No, it was my dolphin."

7-23-17
Me: "Naomi, don't run at the pool." (Naomi begins to skip)
Me: "Naomi, please don't skip either."
Naomi: "Skipping isn't running, it's happy walking!"

August, 2017
Coloring a Mayflower picture:
Naomi: "What color should I color it? I'll do orange, that's a cross between a good color and brown."

August, 2017, playing a game
Naomi: "What color of bear would you like to start with?"
Me: "Yellow."
Namoi: "Um, yellow doesn't go with any beautiful colors."
Me: "Isn't yellow beautiful?"
Naomi: "Well, it's the color of the sun, and the sun burns my eyes."

December, 2017
Naomi: "Daddy, get me out of this itch-dress!"

1-25-18
Naomi: "I like it when kisses stay on other people."
Naomi: "Why do snaggles like to have tangly fun?" (When I was brushing her hair)

2-22-18
Naomi: "Mommy, Bella [the purple stuffed bunny] wants everything to be perfect. But don't worry, because I'm perfect."

2-22-18
We celebrated Naomi's half-birthday yesterday. Because nothing else was going on and we happened to be making chocolate muffins. She knows she's now 4 1/2
Today, me: "Here, Naomi, how about these socks?"
Naomi: "Um, Mommy, I feel like those are kind of 4-year-old socks."

2-1-18
Kalina, responding to a "hopes and dreams" paper assignment: "All my dreams are disasters and all my hopes are unlikely!"

6-1-18
Naomi: "If I don't have my fairy wings on, I'm only halfway dressed."


6-25-18
Leaving the library through automatic doors, Kalina pretended to "magically" open the doors with a wave of her hands. "I might be able to make dogs and toddlers believe it," she commented matter-of-factly.

7-7-18
Kalina
"When I go off to college, I'm going to get a chameleon, so I don't have to worry about hiding it. It'll hide itself. I'll have it in a terrarium with fairy statues, like a fairy garden."

7-10-18
Kalina, after emerging from an air-conditioned house into a pleasantly warm evening: "There doesn't seem to be a temperature."

5-1-19
Me, talking about a math assignment: "How did you get that answer?"
Kalina: You know, I just added the way people do when they're supposed to be subtracting.

5-11-19
Naomi, wanting popcorn because Matt and I were having some after her bedtime: "Waaahhh! You and Daddy always have popcorn without me!"
Me: "Naomi, you'll have some soon, now I'm done talking about it"
Naomi: "Waaaahhh!"
Naomi, through her sobs, "Mommy, why did people grow victory gardens?" And then we proceeded to discuss the ins and outs of victory gardens and ration cards.

4-4-20
Naomi, quietly crying during a movie: "When everything turns out well it's always the end, but when everything turns out well is when it ought to keep going!"

4.22.20
Me: "What should we do for Earth Day?"
Kalina: "Put up a bat house!"
Naomi: "But then we might get coronavirus!"

Crafts and Rafts

Named "The Mistake," the girls' raft
actually proved seaworthy! Mostly.

Even as a family of introverts, we have displayed a few differing reactions to our self-isolation. Or, as the trail behind our house becomes as busy as an interstate highway on nice days, "isolation." 

It's been two weeks, and we're no closer to boredom. This would be a good problem to have, except now I'm starting to wonder if boredom exists, if maybe our lives are still too packed with projects and education, and meals that take 45+ minutes to consume [eye roll], or if maybe I'm the problem because I can literally always spot something that somebody needs to clean up whenever they get a minute. What would it take to make us bored, if not this?

Meanwhile, life goes on. About 4 days in to our stay-at-home order, we did have to have a real talk about what isolation means, plus a slightly awkward text conversation with a neighbor. We measured out 6 feet. And on threat of not getting to even be in the same vicinity as friends even when they're literally in our backyard, the girls have actually done an awesome job of complying--except Naomi, but I'm usually out there with her if there are other people around. 

Naomi spent the first 5-7 days of our self-imposed, and now city-imposed, stay-at-home order crafting. She makes so many super-creative crafts with literally no help from me that, before this whole thing came down, I had started a post about that--which I still intend to get to. So I won't expound on her crafting binge right now, except to say that it really did last her the better part of a week, probably at least 5 hours a day, and she's often still at it, when she's not reading picture books to her stuffed bunnies. She continues to be happy as a clam not going anywhere, and meanwhile, our house is fully decorated for Easter, 6-year-old style (lots and lots of bunnies). I do, however, need to order more tape.

Naomi's worm phobia eased temporarily (Matt at one point offered to give her a marshmallow for every 10 worms she spotted), but came back with a vengeance during our 6-foot-away walk with Grandpa on wet trails. Granted, it was a worm-haters worst nightmare: at times we nearly had to tiptoe to avoid stepping on any. She opted to walk in the very soggy grass, instead (because...um...no worms there, right?), crying the whole time and wetting her shoes, socks and leggings halfway up to her knees. Not her best day.

Matt has reacted to our stay-at-home order as though every day of it is his birthday. He made two banana cream pies, one after the other, to celebrate, and has been baking bread, raising seedlings, pushing ahead with the frog-cage project, checking headlines, joining us for lunch and wondering how he can make this last forever. Except for the times he remembers there's a brutal virus freely roaming our planet and mutating at will--then he gets nervous and angry at anyone not taking it seriously. He's also grateful to have a job, except when he needs to go in to it. So, along with probably thousands of medical and food-industry professionals, he's conflicted. 

I have been teaching, cooking, cleaning, enforcing chores and music practice, spending a lot of time outside, deep-cleaning and decluttering in small amounts, managing the emotions of little people, and taking on extra writing work as the parenting expert I work for has her hands full of parents who are completely freaked out about both spending time with their kids and educating them. I've managed a couple baking projects and have been making Matt play Pandemic with me--because, pandemic.  Same old, same old--although I'm grateful to get a couple projects checked off my "to-do-one-of-these-summers" list.

We've also entered the phase of "now everything is online," which meant that one or more of us spent hours last week in various forms of video chatting. We got creative, playing a card game with Aunt Nancy and even hosting Nature Club online, aside from theater class, piano lessons, and more. It's a great option; I'll still take in-person any day (although not driving has been amazing).

Kalina and Elise reacted to isolation and the warming weather by building a raft with a neighbor girl (6 feet away) out of small logs. They lashed the logs together using the paracord they'd been storing in their survival backpacks for a year. Naturally, they wanted to test the raft as soon as the weather was warm, so one sunny afternoon last week we hauled it down to the spot in the stream they'd identified as a workable launching place.

The neighbor girl arrived with two long ropes. Present only to observe and film, I watched them promptly get the raft stuck as they launched it. After they'd problem-solved and wrestled with it for a while, I got it free. In a flurry of excitement, a life-jacketed Elise hauled herself onto the raft, to which they'd tied a long rope to each end so it could be pulled around by the older girls.

And it floated...just barely...under the water with a jubilant Elise perched on top (yet also half under water). Naomi cheered her on. Passersby with nothing better to do stopped to watch as Elise, floating on air every bit as much as on a raft, was pulled from one side of the pool to the other. Kalina declined a ride (and the neighbor girl, who's older than Kalina, decided we needed more logs before she'd try it).

After about 20 minutes or so, the early spring water chilled even Elise's delight, and we called it good, with promises to try again. Immediate hot showers/baths for everyone, and then for the next several days Elise began every sentence with, "We built a raft and I floated on it." 

I asked Kalina if she wanted to tour a Lewis and Clark landing site. Her eyes got wide, she got really excited, and she said, "That'd be so cool! But it's also nice just staying home." 

COVID-19 Self-Isolation Day 1 (or 2, or maybe 3)

I only took this picture
because I wanted to let Matt
know how hard I was trying.
:)

Today was a day of crises. Of pajamas that weren't washed and won't be wearable tonight. Of bumped arms, of people not liking bunnies enough, of brown paper Easter basket crafts that didn't turn out right and now the smooth dark brown paper is mostly used up and there's only "fuzzy" slightly lighter brown paper left. Of worms, scattered across the sidewalk on this damp day, frequent enough that with almost every step you could see one. Oh wait, those were only one small person's major crises (and, by default, mine). But you'd have thought they were the whole world's....

Anyway, I'm counting today as Day 1 of our coronavirus lockdown, even though Elise's musical last Friday was postponed, and we watched church from home. This is the day when it feels real, facing a week of cancellations, cold and rainy weather, and not much hope for things improving anytime soon. Plus the very real worry that people might actually get sick, jobs might get lost, and we might be in this for a long time.

We took a moment to celebrate Pi Day
in the middle of everything. Yes, we
did have some delicious banana cream
pie, in addition to the angel food cake
Kalina and I were already planning to
make. No one is suffering as we self-
isolate.

Thankfully, one thing stays the same in our household: we can still do school!!! While my heart is light that we won't have any major interruptions, and we can in fact buckle down and possibly even be finished with school when the weather is warm again, lockdown is eased, and the worms aren't as plentiful, the girls, who were anticipating a bit of a break this week as we welcomed guests, don't whole-heartedly share my feelings. They've also caught word that most schools are cancelled for the near future and possibly the long, and can hardly believe their bad good luck that they get to continue, even while their peers conquer whole video games and watch movies until they are unable to function without screens.

As an aside, I have to admit I'm delighted that the general public gets to try their hand at homeschooling! Maybe this makes me an evil person, but I'm at least a real person who gets very tired of hearing, "You must be so patient, I could never homeschool my kids." Now everybody gets to do it! And guess what--they totally can. Patience is a skill we all have to build and besides, if we're too patient our kids never get their math done. The fact that they're all now asking my advice on homeschooling schedules and such makes me feel relevant for about the first time in a decade. Thanks, coronavirus!

You can see how important it
is to Naomi that her Easter
baskets are just right.

Matt's always up for stockpiling, and so, several weeks ago I found myself forcing needing a "wide load" sign for my shopping cart as I heaved it up and down the aisles of Wal-Mart, cheeks flushed from both effort and embarrassment as I realized that for the first time since college, I was the crazy person in Wal-Mart. Why, oh why, did I begin with canned goods?!? Don't worry--we didn't buy more than we would use within a couple weeks. We homeschool, stockpile and own a lot of weird pets, but we're not that crazy.

On Thursday, in a rush to buy yogurt (after Elise's recent orthodontia work, this was one of the only things she felt comfortable eating), I brought Kalina to the grocery store with me, hoping to show her the life-altering, drastically reduced shelves I'd seen at Wal-Mart that morning (yes, I had to go to the store twice in one day--super annoying). But they were fine. I consoled myself that this was an expensive grocery store, and I probably saved an easy $100 by stockpiling at Wal-Mart instead.

Better memories than today:
a field trip to this amazing
reptile zoo where they open
all the cages and wake up
the critters! Matt told me
after that this wasn't safe.
But I didn't know at the time,
and look how happy she is!
The second time she held it,
it thrashed its tail, and Kalina
couldn't have been more
delighted.

But back to today. It's always a rude awakening that while I love cracking open the books on a fresh Monday morning, getting ready to check some boxes, the girls don't share my delight. Nowadays, Kalina puts on a good face and tries hard to focus, sometimes managing, and Naomi complies as long as she can turn every number and letter she writes into a bunny. Sunny Elise acts as though her pet has died, her mouth is full of uncomfortable metal that makes it hard to eat with no end in sight, she hasn't been getting quite enough sleep, and she's turned into a sea slug in a polluted ocean, when only three of those things are true. This morning, however, Naomi completely melted down over brown paper while Kalina and Elise helped each other with spelling, amazing children that they are.

Amazingly, it was not the ultra-productive day I'd dreamed about, and we were excited to break it up with a walk, and then quick outing to go pick up some science supplies from our co-op. The girls were hoping others would've brought their kids, and so were super disappointed to find only a group of moms standing at arms'-length from each other, chatting. No one lingered long.

Matt also said (later) that this wasn't
safe.

Back at home, we quietly finished our work before ending with a typical evening, minus music practice because technically we're on spring break from piano. Kalina listened to classical music, Naomi played with bunnies and crafted, and Elise read--plus they all helped Matt with the frog cage they're building.

Elise liked it too, although
even she had her limits and
didn't hold everything.
Naomi touched some
animals!

The girls are starting to get tired of hearing about coronavirus, but aren't super worried--except for Naomi, who's worried someone will cancel Easter. Unfortunately, there's not much else to talk about, so we find ourselves rehashing old memories, which isn't the worst way to spend our time.

And this, also, was not safe.

What's ahead for the next week or two? Movie nights, game nights, some online school with one of our co-ops, flexible cooking/baking with our stockpiled goods and whatever else we pick up, outdoor time whenever we can, and some creative schooling so no one gets burned out. I definitely plan for us to head to outdoor spaces for walks in new surroundings when we can. We'll also run across neighbors, but not run away from them, and we'll need to go to the store at some point. We can certainly use a few quiet weeks, although we may run out of construction paper entirely even before we run out of another type of paper everyone's concerned about....

We saw Swan Lake on
Valentine's Day!

Way back in January, but
worth mentioning: Kalina
and I performed in a multi-
piano performance! Lots of
pianos and pianists played the
same duets all at once. It was
so fun, and she got a trophy!
(Where's mine?!?)

Bucket list: watching
penguins waddle freely!
Dampened only by the fact
that Naomi didn't want to
be outside because she was
so cold. She had a point, but
by the time I figured that out,
it was too late to watch from
inside. Besides...penguins!!