Flusterated

Lavender: [Screams into a pillow]
Mom: What's up, Lali?
Lavender: I'm just so flusterated about the cat's bottom that it doesn't have panties on it.
Mom: ...You're frustrated that the cat isn't wearing panties?
Lavender: Hyeah.

She may be setting herself up for a lifetime of misery and stress here. But it sure is funny!

Two Hours of Pie

Geneva: Mom, can I have your pie?
Mom: No, I haven't had any yet. And you just finished yours!
Geneva: But I didn't get enough of whatever I want, and what I want is more pie. [Repeats this to herself several times to enjoy the way the words sound. It's kind of like preschooler rap.]
Mom: Well, sweetie, you can't have unlimited amounts of pie. That wouldn't be healthy.
Geneva: What does "unlimited" mean?
Mom: What do you think it means?
Geneva: It means there's not a, um... there isn't a...
Mom: I think you're on the right track. "Unlimited" means "without a stopping point." So you can't eat pie without a stopping point. You can't have unlimited pie.
Geneva: But Mom, I have a stopping point! It's two hours from now.

A Warm April Day

Usually when I bathe the kids there are three of them and I need to get them all clean. The tub is full of soapy water, I can't take my hand off of Ari, and the bigger two tend to spend more time bickering than washing. It's still wonderful, but also kind of stressful. On this particular morning I put Ari in the tub by himself with a little bit of warm water and epsom salts to help with his diaper rash. Lavender asked to join in, and so with no agenda other than to let them play and relax, we had bathtime-- and it was magical. No soap, no squabbling, no water in the eyes. Just a brother and his big sister.

 

After I picked Geneva up at school we went to the park to enjoy the sunshine. This particular park has a barbecue area that lends itself easily to being a stage, and tends to inspire a lot of theatrics. Today Geneva was giving us her most heartfelt rendition of "Let it Go" ever.

 

We eventually made our way home, but couldn't bear to be inside.

By the end of the day they needed a bath again, which in my book makes this a day well spent.

Spring Break 2.0

This week is Spring Break for Geneva's school, and it was meant to be a week of outings and friends and adventures. Unfortunately our pinkeye adventure has more or less negated the option of outings and friends. I had to take a moment to look back at last year's Spring Break pictures and mourn the loss of sunny gatherings before moving on and appreciating what I've been handed: a week at home. With my kids. And no one else. 

Guys, it's so awesome. 

We may not get to take a day trip out to Granger to look at the dinosaur statues, but we can read about dinosaurs and practice biostratigraphy (dating fossils relative to one another based on the layer of dirt and rock in which they are found). Taking friends with us to the museum is out, but writing letters to J. K. Rowling is so in. Today we painted using the pointillism technique (which Geneva calls "dottillism," to my immeasurable delight, considering she doesn't mispronounce many words these days besides fjord). We baked appelkaka and brewed glogg. And dear little Ari-- sweet, sick-again Ari-- has been able to nurse and cuddle around the clock. The best part, though, is the dress code: I haven't even considered wearing a bra today, and it's four o'clock in the afternoon.

I'm kidding. That's not the best part. But it's not the worst part, either.

This was Geneva's response to my question, "Who do you think Hermione would pick for a partner when she grows up?" I transcribed her answer, then she wrote out the first sentence herself and illustrated it.

I think Hermione would pick Ron for a partner because he's funny, like when he said "why couldn't he say 'follow the butterflies'?" He is brave. He went into the Forbidden Forest and he followed the spiders even though he didn't like them. And he's nice. Like, he likes his friends and is kind to them. He sent Harry a sneakoscope. All these things she might like and want to pick him for a partner. She doesn't have to. She can if she wants to.

We decided to mail the picture, with her entire answer on the back, to J. K. Rowling. Recently she admitted that she regretted pairing Ron and Hermione at the end of the Harry Potter series. She might be happy to know that there's a four-year-old out there who thinks she made a wise decision.

And here is Lavender's biostratigraphy puzzle! Each dinosaur was "found" in layers of colorful sediment. She matched up the sediment layers to figure out which fossils were oldest and which were the most recent. Considering I designed this activity with Geneva in mind, I was very impressed. Jordan, if you're reading this please forgive the extremely crude nature of these, ahem, fossils.

And here's the creepy crawler! He's back on a couple of different medications to help his breathing, but is still such a trooper. And I think if he were any cuter my head would explode.