Molly was making out birthday invitations yesterday so that all her friends will come to her party. (Her birthday’s not till October, but she thought making invitations yesterday was very important.) Here’s what she “wrote” (she narrated as she scribbled):
“Dear Lukey,
You’re so special. I want to see you. Please come to my birthday party.
love, Molly”
Our priest has talked about how as a little boy he’d watch his daddy walk and try to walk like him. I think Tucker has been watching Austin run, because they have some striking similarities!
Molly: Will you hold this? [Giving me a dandelion seed head.] I want to save it for Christmas.
We’ve been visiting my mom in Cocoa Beach (which is why I’m finally catching up on our winter activities). It has been so fun to be in the warmth. Florida has been showing off, and even Austin remarked he can see why people live down here.
My kids never had any doubt why people live down here, and are pros at making themselves a home at GoGo’s pink house. Their routine seems to be to try to fit in the ocean, the pool and hot tub, biking, and feeding the fish in my mom’s pond… every day. They try to squeeze in as many restaurant outings as they can finagle, dress-up parades around the house, a horrible game they love called “night-night”, and as many sweets as they can talk themselves into.
The highlights this trip have been Tucker flying a kite on the beach (I’ve never had a kite that really worked before, and this one is awesome), seeing alligators on an air boat ride, and going to the Brevard Zoo (best zoo ever). At the zoo, Tucker had a giraffe take a cracker out of his hand, and had birds land all over him to get nectar. (The birds freaked him out with their claws so I got to take over….) And the beach. Both kids have been really into the beach this trip and have played in the water like little maniacs and have been industrious little sand castle builders.
I keep telling myself it has to be spring, that we’re seeing the light at the end of this long (snow) tunnel of winter. I think this time it really may be the truth. The winter got off to a slow start with snow, but Tucker’s school managed to cancel a lot anyway. Then when the snow really started in February and March, the snow day tally just got ridiculous—I think he’s had 12 days off so far, not counting probably that many days with a 2-hour delay.
So we have had a lot of time to enjoy the small skating pond that formed in our field…
Our river that iced almost completely over for the first time since we’ve lived here…
Big snow piles, snow forts and snow men…
And lots of time inside to make forts on every available surface in between a strenuous schedule of seeing how much winter Olympics it’s possible for a person to watch.
I’ve been wondering half-heartedly recently how Clarence has been getting into the trash in the kitchen. Since it has a tight lid on it, I was guessing he was dragging things out when the trash gets close to the top and a little part of a bag started to stick out. Wrong! I caught him in the act just now of stepping on the level to open the lid so that he could help himself to the contents.
What a cute dog. Grrrr….
Molly: I smell something, Mama?
Me: What do you smell? The bleach Daddy just used? The coffee I’m making?
Molly: I smell the paper towels.
Hmmmm…
I just don’t think to blog anymore now that I’ve stopped regularly updating my other blog Growing Our Green Beans! But the kids continue to be funny, cute, and sweet… and wildly infuriating on occasion too.
We have had a wonderful Christmas, with my mom here and Austin’s sister’s family in town and of course, Henny and Papa as well. We also went up to DC to see the sights (the zoo was the biggest hit, well, after the hotel). We are very spoiled!
We have all been relatively healthy this fall/early winter which is awesome. Tucker loves school. I hear a lot about gym, lunch and the playground and significantly less about everything else. He is already ready to go back to school, even though his winter break has three more days! Tucker does everything Austin does now, and frequently checks in on what Austin’s choice is before making his own (i.e. food for lunch, clothes for church, etc.).
Molly is more ambivalent about preschool, but is surviving. She makes the most of it by wearing ridiculous outfits—tutus, Minnie Mouse dresses, fairy princess dresses, mismatching shoes…. I pick my battles and clothing is not one of them. Molly has the most delightful laugh, and is the most ambitious and stubborn girl in the house. When asked what they wanted for Christmas, Tucker wanted an elf—he waxed eloquent about this elf, and about nothing elf. Molly, on the other hand, in the same time it took Tucker to request an elf, listed off dozens of items that she would like. This girl has big ideas! She also hates bugs and refuses to use the bathroom if it has a ladybug. The other day she saw a spider on her carseat; her blood curdling yell made me think we were being car jacked.
Clarence continues to be a very good bad doggy. When we forget to watch him like a hawk, he enjoys stealing things from the sink… the counter… the table… kids’ hands… the bathroom… and everywhere else in between. He is currently sitting on top of the coffee table in front of me, staring me down. Apparently, it is time he got some love. (So good he lets me know this….)
Tucker and Molly play amazingly well together. About 20% of the time it degenerates into screaming, but generally they are each other’s favorite people. They put on lots of shows, do lots of crafts, and well, just about everything else as well.
Happy New Year!
Molly: I have to pee.
Me: Why don’t you go potty?
Molly: No, thank you, I go after Thanksgiving.
[Considering we had this conversation on 10/30, she has a long time to wait….]
Molly: My milk is frozen.
Me: No, Molly, your milk can’t be frozen.
Molly: My milk is frozen.
[I go over and look, and realize I’ve given her the mug of hardened bacon grease that was in the fridge, since we were at a State Park and didn’t have any place to put it…. Oops.]
