Recent Pictures

Molly is turning into a big girl these days with shoulder length hair, a big girl bed, and very infrequent naps now.  (Personally, it seems like it’s too soon for her to be giving up her nap, but it does have the advantage of her going to bed early!)  She is still a force and it often seems like Tucker is begging her to play with him, not vice versa!  They love to play the “night-night” game where they roll around in Tucker’s jumping nook and don’t sleep.  They also have recently started imitating snakes together, and creeping into the room while hissing.  Tucker’s favorite game right now is superhero, and Molly dons her cape and enthusiastically says “super hero!” too.  Molly is still obsessed with Elmo, she does not like Clarence our new dog (because he steals food from her and because she likes to pull rank and boss someone around), and insists on diapering her dolls and dressing them in sleepers and tucking them in beside her when she sleeps.  She is fascinated by "boo-boos” and has her own box of bandaids so she can apply one to whatever imaginary boo boo she decides she has.  She also likes to put her hand over her eyes and pretends people who are looking at her don’t exist if she feels on the spot.  She loves doing errands with me and will ask to go to the store, totally out of the blue, just because apparently the grocery store and dollar store are so much fun.  Molly is at a delightful age right now; her language is exploding, she doesn’t need quite as much supervision, and she can be so enthusiastic and smiley and happy.

And here are some pictures of Tucker and Clarence digging.  (Tucker frantically went out after church to dig with him, hence the blazer.)

 

  

 

Tucker has brought some sweet things home from school recently, like this paper on MLK day that says his dream is for everyone to love God.  Below, he also states that his chosen profession is to be an ice and water maker.  But he changed his mind recently in a new sheet that came home saying he actually wants to be a priest and that his favorite thing about himself is that God made him.  Awwwwww.

We are reading the Narnia series, and are on our fifth book.  Tucker LOVES this series and begs for multiple chapters to be read at once.

Tucker also is obsessed with super heroes.  He has taken to wearing his super man pajamas over other clothes so it will look like he has bigger muscles.  I saw some paper falling out of his outfit yesterday and asked what that was about—the crumpled paper was also about making him appear more muscular.  Crazy that a 5 year-old thinks like this.

Otherwise, Tucker’s main interest remains crafts.  It takes him eons after his rest time to clean his room because of his propensity to cut paper up into really small pieces, and how hard it is for him to part with any of those pieces.  He also loves to wet paper and make little balls of paper, which he delights in showing us as his treasure.  He recently has been explaining to me that tape turns to plastic under water but turns back into tape after it dries.  The other week he went into the yard and found some bits of paint that had peeled off the roof, a crushed whiffle golf ball and a couple other random odds and ends.  He put them all in a little bag and declared them his treasure which he displayed proudly and has tucked away into a secure location.

Clarence the Chewer

Clarence is on both of our bad lists today.  First he ate all the oatmeal out of the pantry yesterday and experienced massive indigestion two nights ago that resulted in lots of clean up.  Yesterday he ate lots of uncooked old rice out of the compost bin and experienced massive indigestion last night that resulted in lots of clean up.

But how can you not love that sweet face?

It is strange having a young dog in the house after Ben’s 12 year-old mellowness.  Plus, Ben was never as high-energy as Clarence, even at Clarence’s age.  And Ben also came to us fully trained.  Clarence, on the other hand, steals food from kids, counter surfs, pantry surfs, and chews, and chews, and chews.  So far an Elmo spoon has gotten decapitated, many writing implements will never again see the light of day, a doll’s hands have gotten chewed off, superman and batman have both died horrific deaths, a retractable leash has been chewed in two… and more, I’m sure.  But who’s counting?  (Though I do have to say, for all his faults, he doesn’t eat poop, or socks, which is very nice.)

But he is just the best as well.  He chooses a belly rub over his food first thing in the morning, and will curl up with his head in my lap.  Ben had a concept of personal space on the couch… not Clarence.  If I am napping, he will happily nap lying on top of my legs.  He also lies at Tucker’s feet in the car, and will dig holes with Tucker for an hour in the yard.  Boy and dog together is just the sweetest combination.

Clarence runs like a deer, with amazing speed and in leaps and bounds.  He enjoys retrieving a whiffle ball from batting practice and manages to thwart the garden fence and get stuck inside at least a few times a week.  He has also figured out the invisible fence and took himself for a walk to the river today—think we will need to be turning up the voltage on that one. He also has the longest tongue and is partial to giving kisses, so watch out! 

   

Quotes of the Day

“I wish I got band-aids for Christmas like Molly!” –Tucker

Lesson: you never know which Christmas presents will be a hit.

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“Molly’s best friend is Luke.  My best friend is… [long pause while he thought deeply about this] Molly.” –Tucker

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“There is always snow on interstates because the wheels turn so fast that they create snow.”

-Tucker