ICK! ICK! DOUBLE ICK!

Fridays are typically the day I go through the kids’ backpacks and remove all the papers for the week. So when Chris brought his home today, I thought nothing of diving right in and pulling everything out.


Now, let me preface this by saying I’ve pulled some weird things out of my kids’ backpacks. Wads of chewed gum. Bits of macaroni noodles which came detached from art projects. Rubber snakes earned as prizes for good classroom behavior. I thought nothing could startle me. I was wrong.

As I pulled out the papers, it looked like Chris had made an interesting art project. The paper was folded in such a way that I couldn’t see the title. It looked like this.

Then just as I was asking Chris what he’d created, the paper unfolded and it was clear what I was holding.

I dropped the paper and screeched. “Mouse bones? Are these really mouse bones?”


“Yeah, Mom. We dug them out of pellets of dried owl puke.”

“Owl puke?” I ran into the bathroom to wash my hands. “I was touching owl puke AND mouse bones?”

Chris affirmed that this was indeed what was now on my flesh. Washing my hands might not be enough. I might have to sterilize them in boiling water.

Next time I’m putting on rubber gloves before I venture anywhere near the boys’s backpacks.

Spring Break Fun

We're back from a week in Virginia.  We stayed out a house near Chesapeake Bay and took the kids to Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown to cram their heads full of historical fun facts.  Hey, our parents tried to make vacations educational and now it's our turn.  Mwa ha ha!

On the drive down, we tried to convince the kids the house we'd rented looked something like this.

Here's the actual house we rented.

The house had kayaks and a canoe, but at low tide, it was mostly mud. 

Chris thinking the mud is the best fun he's ever had.





Lauren wasn't quite so thrilled.




Yorktown had bunches of cannons which were fun at first.

And then, there were lots of battlefields which look to kids like nothing but fields of dirt.

Or as the kids said repeatedly, "Look, Mom.  More historic dirt!'


Williamsburg was more fun.  Probably because Drew got a historic hat.

Really, the hat was so cool he never took it off.


Jamestown was pretty neat too.  There were ships we could visit and learn about sailing in the 1600s.  The boys learned they would have been old enough to be cabin boys. Cabin boy sounded cool until they learned they were the kids who emptied the slop buckets.  Suddenly being a kid on an educational vacation in 2011 wasn't quite so bad after all!

Still wearing that hat.

Chris relaxing in the kayak.

And yes - STILL wearing the hat!

HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Wow, double digits. How did you go from the tiny baby I once held easily in my arms to the girl you’ve become?

I’ve been very privileged as your mother to have a front row seat to watch you mature for yet another year. I love that you’re so thoughtful and caring about others, even me. When I asked what you wanted for your birthday dinner, you said anything is fine.

“No, really. It’s your birthday. Tell me what you want,” I encouraged you.

“Well I love that lobster bisque you make from scratch,” you told me. “You know. The kind with the real lobster?”

“The real lobster I can only get from the grocery store an hour away?”

You must have seen the look of horror on my face because you quickly said, “That’s okay mom. That’s too much trouble. How about you just make me something easy instead? Like the turkey we had at Thanksgiving.”

You’re getting turkey cutlets and a store bought cake. But I know you’ll be thrilled nonetheless.

I love the way you embrace life so fully. Every day is an adventure and you make it fun. We don’t just cook together, we create amazing things which are almost too pretty to eat. Your one kitchen rule is that anything can be improved with a liberal amount of pink sugar sprinkles.

You can turn the most menial task into something so special. We don’t just dance, we turn the living room into the audition site for a dance show. We don’t just do laundry, I fold while you bring me into an adventure from the current book you’re reading.

I love that you still like to read to me. I love that we have our special books that we only read together. I love that we can talk about the mean girls in the book (did someone say, “Cheyenne?”) and you’re always appalled by the things they do.

You try so hard to do the right thing, but I know it’s hard for you. You want so badly to be liked by everyone that you’ll sometimes stand by and be quiet when you should speak up. These moments tear you apart and though I never want to see you suffer, I’m glad that you have such a keen sense of what’s right.

You’re getting bolder and more sure of yourself with each day. You’re no longer afraid to speak up in class. You no longer cry if your best friend is home sick. You’re able to take constructive criticism from your teacher without it breaking your self-confidence.

You’ve come a long way in the last year and I for one cannot wait to see how much you’ll mature and grow as you begin the journey to age 11. Happy Birthday to my precious little girl.

Looking
Angelic before being Baptized.

Ice skating with the boys.

Getting ready for the Christmas play.

Our skating rink...er driveway

The kids woke to a big treat today.  No school and the driveway had the perfect sheen of ice to work as a skating rink.  (We're selling admission tickets if you're interested and willing to sign the "we won't sue you if we die" waiver.) :)

Here are some photos of the fun:

The kids doing their skating moves.

The driveway usually isn't the best place to sled!

Extreme Close Up!

Here's me right before I broke a hip - just kidding!

Fun in the Snow

Look, Mom - it's a purple heart!

Hi Dad!

Look at my Picasso - uh, it's kind of cold.  How about I just make this a blue dot?

Sled Riding with the Kids

                                                              9:50 a.m.


ME: Hey kids, let’s get our snow clothes on and go outside to play.

KIDS: Sounds like fun.

                                                         9:50 – 10:00 a.m.

LAUREN:   Mom where are my gloves? Can you help me with my snow pants? I can’t get my boots zipped tight enough.

DREW:: Chris is wearing my boots. Make him take them off.

CHRIS: It’s the only pair of boots that fit.

ME: Didn’t you tell me in October that you had boots that fit.

CHRIS: Uh….

DREW: He never tried them on. He was playing Pokemon and he didn’t want to save.

ME: Chris, give your brother back his boots.

CHRIS: (Insert lots of whiney complaining about how Mom just doesn’t understand how if you don’t save during a battle you’ll lose your Ompah Lumpas or some such Pokemon nonsense)….



                                                          10 a.m.-10:20 a.m.

ME: Give your brother back his boots now or else… (Insert lots of mom threats like – or else you’ll be scrubbing grout all day and you’ll have to scour the stove and clean out the cat’s litter box and scrub the entire earth.)

CHRIS: Here’s your stupid boots. (via air mail).

ME: Just get your snow clothes on so we can have a fun family moment sledding. (Teeth gritted)

DREW: Mom, Lauren’s wearing my snow pants.

LAUREN: No wonder they were so big. Mom, can you help me unzip the pants, take off the boots, remove my gloves and start the process all over again.

CHRIS: Mom, I don’t have any boots.

ME: Wear mine.

CHRIS: They’re girl boots.

ME: (glaring). Put on the boots.

ALL KIDS: Mom, can you get these gloves on? Tie my boots? Zip my snow suit?



                                                           10:20-10:30 a.m.

ME: Lauren, put on a hat.

LAUREN: I don’t want a hat. They’re itchy.

ME: Your head will get cold.

LAUREN: No, it won’t. I’ll just put up my hood.

ME: (ten minutes of patient explaining as to why a hood isn’t warm enough followed by me giving up.) Okay, go out without a hat then.

                                                                   10:30 a.m.
Our feet finally hit snow after forty minutes of getting dressed.

                                                                   10:31 a.m.
(yep, one minute later)

LAUREN: Mom, my head’s cold.

ME: Get a hat.

LAUREN: But hats are itchy.

DREW: Can we go sled riding?

                                                         10:31 – 10:36 a.m.

Fun sled riding with children.

                                                                      10:37 a.m.
DREW: Mom, my face is cold.

CHRIS: Here. (throwing snow in brother’s face as if a face full of frozen water is just what he needs to get warm.)

DREW: Mom!

LAUREN: My head’s cold.

CHRIS: Here (repeating the snow throwing process at his sister.)

LAUREN: MOM!

ME: Okay, I’ll fix it. (Me throwing snow in Chris’s face.) There, now you're both even.

KIDS: We’re going in.

ME: Wasn’t that a fun morning of sled riding?

KIDS: (glaring and giving me the kind of look I didn’t think kids got until they were teenagers)

                                                  10:36 a.m.- 11:00 a.m.
(inside removing all snow clothes).

                                                   11:00-11:30 a.m.
(mopping up mud and melted snow )

                                                             11:34 a.m.

KIDS: Hey Mom, wanna go sled riding again?

Circus Time

DREW: "Mom, do you remember that one time when we were kids?"

ME: "What time is that?"

DREW: "The time when you threatened to give Chris to the circus?  And I cried and I begged you not to?"

ME: "Yes, why do you ask?"

DREW: "Can I change my mind?"