If Sammy were in Charge of the World

This is the text of an assignment Sammy had
If I were in charge of the world, I'd cancel:
waking up ele (early)
alarm cloks
hete indekis (heat indexes) over 90 degrees.
rpeding sons (repeating songs) over and over intl (until) they get anoying.
If I were in charge of the world, there'd be
pets in your Crimus (Christmas) stoking
playtime with your frens evreday
4 day wekins (weekends)
If I were in charge of the world, You wouldn't have
bad days
yuky things for diner.
skary wether news
Or ruls like "be qite (quiet)"
You wouldn't even have peple that drive you crazy.
If I were in charge of the world A box of choklis (chocolates) would be a vegetable.
All vary funy movies would be G.
And a person who sometimes forgot to wash and sometimes forgot to flaws (floss) would still be allowed to be In charge of the world.

Timmy

We have a new cat! We adopted Timmy yesterday. My allergies have already noticed! Timmy is about 4 months old, orange and white.

The Scott County Humane Society takes animals from the animal shelter (which euthanizes) and places them in foster homes. Then each Saturday they bring animals to the Pet Smart, which is where we went to check out the animals. We've been holding this over Charlotte as a reason she needs to be well behaved. This week, after our travel has been a real struggle for her! But we decided the timing was right, since I'll be available this week to enforce the house rules. So anyway, they had several kittens and a few older cats. They were all adorable and sweet, but everyone liked Timmy (in addition to other cats), so we went with Timmy. This was the name given by his foster family, but the girls weren't inclined to change it, so it has stuck so far. For some reason the name "Timmy Tiptoes" from the Beatrix Potter book keeps coming to mind for me, so I call him that.

His first evening we had the neighbors over so the house was a little crazy. I was worried this would stress him out, but he seemed to handle it well. When the last neighbor left, he went running from room to room, so I guess he noticed the difference! He has already found a favorite spot: the back of the couch. He also if fond of walking on the keyboard while we type. He's already litter trained and it really took very little effort to get him to find and use his box.

The girls have been handling him very well. At first Charlotte was a bit timid around him, but by the time we had him home, she was already trying to pick him up and turn his head so he could look at things!

Lazy days in PA

We had a great time visiting Peter's parents last week. It was all very relaxing and went very quickly. The weather was so perfect all week! On Tuesday, we visited Bushkill Falls, which Peter had been to back in school.

There were some lovely paths and waterfalls. At one point Peter and Sammy and Meghan decided to take a side path to visit some more falls while Baba Grampy and Charlotte headed back to the entrance.

After lunch, the girls went mining for gems. The gift shop sold bags of dirt with small stones (mostly quartz) strategically sprinkled in. Outside there was a fountain with water following a long chanel where the girls could sift through the dirt to find the "gems".

Thursday we went to Crystal Cave. We told the girls we were going "Spelunking". Charlotte liked this word so much that later when Peter was playing on the Wii later, she said, "That red guys a spelunker just like us!" The cave tour was about an hour. There were lots of formations that resembled food or animals, and were named after them. That was fun. They also turned off all the lights and showed us total darkness. The girls handled this well. The neat thing was that before turning on the lights, they showed us the level of lighting that the original spelunkers would have had. It's hard to imagine they could determine anything!

We also got to go out for our Anniversary on Saturday, which was a lot of fun. Meghan made a cheesecake, but we decided to eat it on Friday. Sammy for some inexplicable reason doesn't like cheesecake, so we made some Apple cobbler instead. It was good, but not as good as I hoped.

On the way, Charlotte kept singing "Old Man Tucker." She didn't know very much of it, but it made her want to sing the name game song. She asked me to sing it for. She would not be deterred. Fortunately, she didn't notice I kept omitting the "banana fana fo" line.

How did Peter and I raise a germaphobe?

Sammy amazes me with her fear of disease. Any disease; she doesn't discriminate infectious from otherwise. Once, we heard a radio commercial about a study for people with diabetes. Without thinking, I explained diabetes to her in kids terms. She looked as if I had just told her some terrible path her life would take. Later, a different radio commercial mentioned the word diabetes, and she covered her ears and whimpered.
So I picked up some books at the library for the summer reading program. Sammy likes chapter books, particularly silly ones or mysteries. Junie B has been a favorite character, so I was surprised when she told me she didn't want to read the book I brought home. "I looked at it, and it's about germs. I don't like germs." Seriously, I think she would find a story about the flu more frightening than one about monsters.
She's been at camp this week. It's "Twilight Camp". Like day camp, but in the evening. They had an opportunity to go creek stomping. Sammy saw some poison ivy and used her shoe to move it away from her. When I picked her up, she was concerned about this, so I told her we would wash her legs off really well when we got home. (It turned out when I did try to wash her leg, only the bottom of her shoe touched the plant). Anyway, in the car, I asked her about the rest of her evening. They had s'mores. Yum. She couldn't remember whether or not she finished hers. I asked if she wasn't hungry or not feeling well. She was thinking about the poison ivy too much to eat her s'more. I swear this child will have ulcers before middle school. I mean, I know I worry about everything, but really? I tried to reassure her that even though it was called "poison" ivy, it really only made you itchy, not sick.
On the one hand, I'm glad I don't have to battle her over hand washing the way I do Charlotte. But the child stresses too much, and I want her to enjoy her childhood! Would it help if she understood the different kinds of diseases? Or would she become obsessive about sterileness? What about chemaphobia? I really don't want to go there! She wanted to eat some fresh picked blueberries today, and I told her to eat the ones I had washed. Do I explain pesticides too? Where does she get all this worry from? ;)

As I said, no such issues with Charlotte. Instead, we have the problem with her saying she has washed her hands when she hasn't, or only wetting the tips of her fingers!

What a doll!

How could I forget to write about this? It was so dear! The day before Georgetown's Graduation I had already turned in grades and didn't need to be on campus. So I keep Charlotte home for a special Mommy Daughter day. We snuggled and read stories. I asked her what she would like to do. She wanted to go into work. It did not make a difference that I didn't need to go. She drew on my dry-erase board and colored in a coloring book. We had talked about going to a Chinese Buffet for lunch. (We've recently discovered that Charlotte loves shrimp. Go figure.) I did need to get somethings at a store in Lexington and suggested that we could look for Sammy's birthday gift. So in Target I let her play in the toy aisle. She is always drawn to the baby dolls. She found some miniature ones, maybe six inches tall, and had three of them scooped up in her arms. I've seen her do this before, but it is so sweet the way she cares for and talks to the babies. She loves feeding them and washing them and putting them to bed. "Mommy, I want to get these!" Well, it turned out they were only $3, so I let her use some of her money to buy one. Usually this is a prompt for our children to lose all interest in a toy, but she had that doll with her every second for the next several hours, barely letting it out of her sight for a moment before bedtime.
Peter put her to bed. When he went in to check on her, she was talking to one of her other dolls, an old fav named "Sally".
"Now Sally, she's a new baby, and you're the big sister. You are two and she's only one, so you will have to be careful. She's going to sleep with us tonight. She's only one and you're two, so she might want to snuggle with me, and that's okay. You're two and you're her big sister, and she's only one, so you have to help take care of her...."
She went on like this for some time, gently trying to reassure her older doll and squelch any budding sibling rivalry. :)

Sometimes its just fun to explore the way kids think about things. Charlotte was swinging at a playground, with me pushing. Predictably she shouted, "Higher, Mommy, Higher!" (She and Sammy are SO different). She was making me nervous by letting go and whatnot, so I told her she was already high enough to go over the moon. One the next push She was high enough to go to the stars. Suddenly Charlie realized something.
"Mommy, it's daytime, there are not stars."
Curious as to what she would respond, I asked, "Well where did they go?"
Charlie thought about this a bit. "Heaven."
"How far away is heaven?"
"Really Really Really Really far."
"How long does it take the stars to get there and get back at night?"
"Um, one minute."
At this point something must have struck Charlotte as incongruous. I don't know if it was the timing or the indoctrination from Sunday School.
"Mommy, heaven is all around us!"
"That's right. So are the stars all around us too?"
"No, they're on the other side of heaven."
"Well, what else is in heaven?"
At this point Charlie overhears another conversation on the playground and says, "Strawberries."
"Oh, that's good, what else?"
"Peanut butter."
"Oh, there's lots of food in heaven. Is there anything to drink?"
"Yes. Milk. And Oranges. And orange juice."
Ah, she's a kid after my own heart. It's always about the food.

New Creation?

Ah Charlotte. So, do you know about Jack and Annie? They are characters from a popular "Magic Tree House" series. They go on adventures and find answers in books. Sammy loves them, and therefor Charlotte thinks she loves them. (They are chapter books, so Charlie can only handle them in small doses).
Charlotte likes to open the books in the pews at church and follow along with us. Sunday she happened to pull out a bible. She did in fact identify it as a bible. Then she started to "read" from it. (Charlotte can barely recognize her own name on a good day). What I heard was something the the effect of, "So Jack and Annie decided to go on a trip. They took their bag. They got on a boat, and their Mommy and Daddy weren't there so they had to go by themselves...." I hadn't realized that they were biblical characters!
This morning she was telling me about caterpillars. She almost sounded as if she were reciting The Very Hungry Caterpillar (except the numbers): "So he built a small house around himself for more than two weeks and 40 and a million and a billion days. And then he came out..." So naturally I asked, "Was he a beautiful butterfly?"
"No. A Armadillo."
Cheers!

Scientist in the future?

Man, I wish I had the time to get on here more regularly and tell you the stuff that comes out of our girls' mouths, especially Charlotte! Life is busy though. Never thought we would be a family with over scheduled kids, but it seems we are constantly on the go to practices or games or Girl Scouts (Not to mention my own meetings for church and school)! Can I just say I can't wait for summer... Oh wait, I teach at 8 am every day for a month. Sigh.
Anyway, I called Charlie a "NIT" on facebook recently: a nerd in training. I know its mostly because she just likes being like her parents, but she's been all into sciency stuff lately. A couple weeks ago she noticed something in the bathtub, so I told her, "That's a good observation!" Her response was, " I made a guess and it came true! That's what scientists do!" It was adorable, if completely wrong.
Then last week she pulled out this hard plastic ball and started bouncing it. She announced, "it sounds different on the kitchen floor than on the carpet." I was trying to clean up lunch or something, so to keep her occupied, I followed along. "If you bounced it on the table, would it sound more like the kitchen floor or the carpet?". Then she surprised me. She looked at the dining room, then the breakfast table. The dining room table has a pad on it. She said, "If I bounced it on the dining room table it would sound more like the carpet, and if I bounced it on the breakfast table it would sound more like the kitchen floor!" So I told her to try it. She decided they were all different, as were the sounds of bouncing it on the linoleum by the front door, the bathroom door, the oven, and any other surface she could find before I decided it might be best to change the game. But I have to say, she's got some brains this one.
She loves to do the stuff that Sammy does, including Girl Scouts. I did an Earth Day activity for the troop, and of course Charlie came along. I asked questions here and there of the girls and Charlie was, if anything, more eager to pipe up (often with reasonable answers!).
Charlie is quite the story teller. She'll get halfway through a story about something that happened at daycare, and then say something like, "And then the dogs ran around the room a bunch of times." I'll say, "did this really happen or are you making this up?" She won't miss a beat, "It's pretend, but I'm not done yet. LISTEN!"
Of course, Charlie has an interesting interpretation of the word listen. Somehow she seems to think it means "do what I say." When she wants a treat,but hasn't had a decent dinner, she'll demand dessert for some time, repeating, "You're not listening to me!"
One of Charlies favorite phrases these days is, "Just to remind you," She uses it like others might say "Just so you know." Last week at church she was so wild and crazy I took her out of the sanctuary. I couldn't get her to decide to calm down, and she ended up in the nursery. Then, right as the sermon was ending, she pops her head in the back of the sanctuary and stage whispers: "MOMMY! Just to remind you... I set up the chairs for Sunday school so you don't have to do it!"
Sammy's in softball these days, the violets. Charlotte is doing Tball, the red socks. Charlie's first game was rained out today, so I can't say much there. Sammy seems to have figured out how not to spend the entire game playing in the dirt. However, every girl on the team seems to a) wait until they are told to run, even though we repeatedly tell them to run as soon as the ball is hit, and b) Decide they must slow down and stop at home plate rather than running on through. Thus far they are 0-2. Sammy is so disappointed when they lose, and I try to tell her, it doesn't matter, they are just learning the game and are supposed to have fun. For some reason they have a post season tournament with this age group. So unnecessary! Also, the girls have to have face masks on their helmets and have to wear a face mask to be the pitcher's helper. It all seems so bizarre to me. They play 2 games a week too, which is murder on my laundry schedule!
One final rant. I can't decide weather this country is too germaphobic or too chemiphobic. It seems every fun thing I can think of is taboo either because of germs or chemicals. I can't tell you how many parents I have heard describe water fountains as "disgusting" in the past few months. Now, to be fair, I understand when we have a terrifying disease like swine flu out there that specifically targets children, we get antsy. But flu season is over, and these people do not seem to be talking about any sort of conditional sense of "disgusting." But okay, maybe the idea of ingesting something from a place where hundreds of other people have put their mouths is a wee bit gross. But Sammy isn't allowed to hug her friends. They might have germs! Are you kidding me? Didn't they do some study in the 70's that humans just need affectionate physical contact? How sad that kids of all people have to guard their expressions of love and friendship. Then on the flip side, as I'm looking up some fun science activities, I come across these pages with reader comments about how don't we know these activities are exposing our kids to all kinds of chemicals. (I'll only say it once, because the chemist in me has to: It's all chemicals! Even water! even oxygen!) But do people not realize that we are and have always been exposed to harmful chemicals? From the PBBP ethers in the flame retardants that all our furniture and pajamas are coated in to the carcinogens produced from cooking meat to well done (because if its' not well done, we hey there might be some germs!). Most chemicals have good and bad qualities to them, and you have to weigh the risks of exposure to this one versus that one, or the benefits of the chemical (such as a flame retardant or really great cleaner) to the potential risks. But mostly, I just want my kids to be able to hug their friends, whether they have swine flu, or flame retardant covered clothes, or (in the most likely scenario) just didn't bother to wash their hands after pottying.
I have misplaced my camera card adaptor, so I'll get pictures up when I find it.

Marshmallow Jesus and other musings.

For sunday school today, the teens lead the children. Around Easter it has become a tradition to make "Jesus in the tomb" bread. Basically, they take a Pillsbury Biscut dough piece and wrap it around a Marshmallow (Jesus) to be the tomb. When they bake it, magically the tomb is empty! Or, it's supposed to be. This didn't happen for Charlotte's biscuit. So Charlotte came over to me and said, "Jesus is still in the tomb!" I told her this is because he's always with us. This made for some other amusing comments during the lesson too. "The marshmallow is melted and gone, just like Jesus in the story!" (Actually there were several references to a melted Jesus). And another from Charlotte, "I have Jesus on my chin".

I forgot to mention this when I wrote about Bambi last time. Of course, when they are babies all the animals have little kid voices, which are normally high. When it becomes spring, they are given more grown up voices. So Charlotte says, "When they grew up, they turned into boys!" And yes, she thought they were girls when they were babies. :)

Just before St. Patrick's day, we were talking about all the different kinds of bears there are. Then Charlotte announced, "In Scottland, they say if you find a gold bear, then you are very lucky." She followed this up a few minutes later with, "They also say in Scottland that if you find a blue bear then you're not very lucky, but you're still lucky." So for those of you who are not up on your British Isles folklore, there you go.

Dealing with death in children's media.

So we got Bambi from the library. We've had the movie for a couple of years, but decided Sammy probably couldn't handle it since The Care Bears Movie freaked her out. We read the book to them. I think Emily did the first run through. They seemed to handle it, though of course were a bit upset (or confused) at the death scene, and during the fire.

Peter pulled out the DVD last night when we had Pizza. Charlotte was SO excited that we had the movie version of the book. Sammy was quite nervous, but after some prompting agreed to watch it. They enjoyed the movie, though they were a bit upset during the "traumatic" scenes. But Charlotte was under the impression that "The Men took Bambi's mommy away." So I guess she doesn't quite get death yet.

Then today we were listening to "My darlin' Clementine" in the car. She keeps telling me that it's her favorite song, which has really surprised me. Then today she announced during the song (a couple of times) "She's not really lost, she's just playing." Again, I think she doesn't get it.

Sammy I'm not sure about. She internalizes a lot, and she's never asked us about death. I think she knows that death is gone forever, but I'm not sure what she gets beyond that.

So anyway, Here's a fun picture. Baba sent some fun lollipops for Valentine's Day, and the other day Sammy tried her out.

Also, I finally finished the Vandy sweater I was knitting for Peter. Of course it's too warm for him to wear it, but I might steal it during the tournament. I am very proud of the sweater, but I don't think I'll do another adult one unless I get a knitting machine. I started it sometime last summer. I thought I might finish it for our anniversary (HA) or perhaps Christmas (HA)! I was sure I would finish it in time for the Kentucky game. Or at the very least the home game against Kentucky. But it's done now! Also, I just have to say my teeth are killing my. I have the worst sinus infection I can remember. And I always get sick on Fridays. Well, it started yesterday, but today was the first time I thought I needed antibiotics, and of course I couldn't call the doctor's office because I also have laryngitis. So I ended up driving to the Urgent Treatment center, which was remarkably quick (though I felt bad about exposing the very pregnant doctor to my germs), and I got a Z-pack (which is great because I only have to take it once a day). Now if only it would kick in. Now.

A "relaxing" breath of spring

Sunday was an amazing day. The temperature topped out above 60, and the sun was out, so Peter said, "Let's take a walk." This often is a relaxing fun thing to do, provided the girls do not argue.
Then the girls wanted to take their bikes. They really could use the exercise, so we said okay. But they hadn't been used in months, so the tires were flat. Peter couldn't find the tire pumps, so I had to stop what I was doing to find them (in the place I told Peter they were). But of course, the tire pumps are not the easiest things to use and take a while. In the meantime, Charlotte had her helmet on backward and was complaining about not having knee pads. When her helmet was turned around, it was too loose, and she wouldn't keep her head still to get it in place. So 20 minutes later we start on our walk.
Sammy still has training wheels. We live in a somewhat hilly area, so anytime she pushes off with her foot, she runs into the wheel and can't get anywhere. Also, she leans her bike so that she is resting on one of the trainers while she rides, and to balance leans her head in the other direction. It looks terribly uncomfortable. We keep telling her to sit up straight. We try to hold the bike up straight. But she just "Can't". In the mean time, Charlotte is either lagging behind, or refusing to break before running into Sammy.
Finally we decide, we're in a flat area, so let's take off the training wheels so that Sammy can learn this. (Sammy is petrified!). Of course, we didn't bring tools, so we only manage to get one wheel off by hand. Peter takes over the lesson and manages to get Sammy to go pretty well with just one wheel, but she gets nervous and puts her feet down to stop. I remind her that she can break by pedaling backwards. Charlotte hears this and decides to break every 10 feet. Of course since she's smaller and we are now going uphill, this means she can't get going on her own. So every few minutes we repeat a cycle of "come on Charlotte, let's catch up with Sammy and Daddy." (break) (assisted start) "They're getting way ahead of us!" (break) (Assisted start) (break) "Mommy they're too far away!" "Then stop breaking" (assisted start)(pedal pedal pedal) "Charlie, don't run into Sammy... Charlie, watch out for Sammy... Charlie, pedal backwards... Charlie! Peter, watch out for Charlie!".
Eventually we make it back to our street. "Okay, let's go home now." Charlie--"I don't want to go home!" So Charlie and I turn down a side street. 30 feet and three stops later she notices some birds. She wants to watch the birds. She wants to cross the street, with her bike, to get close to the birds. Sigh. Finally I convince her (or so I thought!) to go up the hill one time and then go home. But when we get back to home, Daddy has taken Sammy's other training wheel off and is helping her ride up and down the sidewalk. Charlotte wants to stay out, and I am contemplating blood pressure medicine.
Peter has taken the little bag off the front of Sammy's bike so he has a place to grip. Charlotte has to have her bag off too. (Are you sure? yes) Her bag has her water bottle in it. (Are you sure? yes) We ride to where Sammy's bag is, and pick that up, and the next time I pass the house I take both bags inside so there is less to carry. When I come back, Charlotte wants to ride up the sidewalk again, and then wants to drink out of her water bottle. Which is now in the house. Argh!
In the meantime, Sammy can make it about 50 or 60 feet on a bike without training wheels. What the heck did we do with the kick-stand?

Valentine's Day

To a kid, every holiday is special, important, and should linger until the next one. Sammy nearly fell into a deep depression when we put our Christmas things away last month. But then there was... Ground hog's Day!!!! And just as the excitement over that was waning, we were making valentine's Cards! I remember it seeming very important when I was young, so I can appreciate how the whole idea that she has to get a card for every kid in the class does not diminish the holiday for Sammy. The past few years, she has been determined to make cards for all her friends. Paper hearts, glue sticks, doilies, crayons, etc. By the eighth kid, she is burned out, but still determined. So this year I found a kit a Michael's. Foam stickers, slap sign and you're done. I got a couple to choose from so that she and Charlotte could each do their own. Sammy worked diligently and deliberately. Charlie worked with all due haste in the vein of Ruthie from the comic strip ("Good Art by Ruthie"). "Charlie, who is this one for?"
"Me"
"Okay, but these are supposed to be for your friends. Who's this one for, and it can't be you."
"Daddy"
"No, these are supposed to go to school"
"Okay, Catherine." (Four Valentines down, one friend covered)
And of course Charlie had to do the same one's Sammy was doing. So now there weren't enough for Sammy's class. We dive into the second variety. Very similar, but I soon discover, these are not stickers! Okay for Sammy, but for Charlie (who of course insists on doing some as well), this is a nightmare. She must be watched every step of the way. (And slowed down so that Sammy will have enough for her class!)
"Charlie, who is this one for?"
"Catherine"
"You already have one for Catherine."
"No I don't this is my first one!"
"You have one of the other one's for Catherine."
"I want to give her this one!"
"Okay, but the next one needs to be for a different friend."
"How about Sammy?"
"Let's look at your class list."
Of course now there aren't enough for either class. We open the third box. All items smaller than a hole punch circle, none of them stickers. This won't even do for Sammy. Back to the store. Oh look, blank heart shaped cards, suitable for ages 3 and up! and some more of the sticker bears we started with. "Sammy, you need to finish these while Charlie is napping." "OK, Mama." Ten minutes later, "Sammy did you start your valentines yet?" "No, I got distracted."
Then Charlie walks in. "I'm done with my nap! Hey, can I do some?"
So we start Charlie on variation number three.
"Who is this one for?"
"Catherine"
"You already have one for Catherine."
"No I don't! Not the heart card! Just the bear!"
"Okay, but the next one needs to be for someone else" (Charlie can write a few letters of Catherine's name, so it's useless to try to redirect).
"Who is this one for?"
"Ms. Linda"
12 Valentines. 2 teachers covered, and 3 friends with Catherine having 3.
So I pull out the traditional paper ones. I'll write the names and make sure each kid has one. Charlie sees. "I want to write the names! How do you spell Catherine?"
So Sammy went in with two different kinds of crafted Valentines, enough for each of her classmates. Charlotte went in with a paper valentine (she got tired of writing after 3) for each, and at least one of a paper heart card, a foam bear, or a bear bookmark (and in Catherine's case all three) for each classmate. Next challenge: Explain this to Peter so he can explain it to the teachers.
"Where's my snack to take into school?"
Sigh.
Sammy meanwhile has been "decorating". She really wanted to do up the house for the holiday. She had paper hearts everywhere. Including a paper chain that Charlie wanted to imitate. By bedtime on Sunday, she still wasn't done. "Valentine's day went to fast!" Yesterday one of the chains fell and Peter was going to throw it away. Then there was a discussion where Sammy wasn't done decorating and Peter thought it was time to take all the paper hearts down. I have faith in Sammy's little finger that the hearts will remain up a few more days.
Love to all!

The bread smusher

So Charlie has this place mat that has the table setting drawn on it: plate, utensils, glass, teacup, and because it is a princess place mat, a teapot. Now Charlie, love her though I do, is a very whiny child. It sometimes seems that she will find any excuse in the world to burst into tears. (tonight it was Sammy's announcement that she had pizza for lunch that started a 10 minute nerve wracking spell). The other night, she was complaining that when he set the table, Daddy had not put her cup on the picture of the cup. I could quite understand her, so I asked where he put it. "On the bread smusher!" she wailed. What in the world is a bread smusher I pondered. Charlie pointed to the teapot.
What ensued was a discussion of the use of a bread smusher. Apparently this is used for cutting bread. How, I wondered, could you cut bread with something shaped like a teapot? According to Sammy, "You have to hold it at the right angle."
So there you have it.

One of my least favorite parental duties is waiting at the bus stop. I hate standing in the cold. I hate standing in the rain. I hate listing to the complaints of all the kids about how long it is taking the bus. The time it takes for complaints to begin seems to be proportional to the temperature. At 60 degrees, about 2 minutes, at 40 degrees about 20 seconds, at 15 degrees about 1 millisecond. I also become the de facto bus stop monitor. This is interesting when I don't know everyone's names. Of course, I have no authority. The best I can do is to tattle to the bus driver. I really don't like scolding other people's kids! I also hate waiting for the bus in the afternoon. School lets out at 2:30, but the buses usually come through our neighborhood, so from about 2:20 until it's time to leave, I am in semi-panic mode every time I hear a bus thinking I have missed it! The bus has arrived anywhere from 2:37 to 2:50. I hate waiting in the house thinking I'm late, but I hate standing around the stop sign like some idiot who got lost on the way home. Plus I get bored. Sometimes I look at the mail or take a book, but I don't always remember this. Plus, it's not any more fun to wait in the cold when the sun is out than in the dark in the morning. What really bugs me is when I'm on break, I still have to go to the bus stop. No sleeping in for me. I still have to get dressed, go out in the cold and listen to the whining at 7am. Usually when Peter is on break, so is Sammy, so its not an issue for him.

Sammy is dancing around to Fur Elise. She just asked me if I thought someone could play that on the piano. This amuses me because she is playing it on our keyboard, so it would seem obvious that if it is prerecorded there, it should be played there. In any case, she is practicing to be a princess in the new movie about the princess int he wild. Know that one? Me neither!

Happy New Year!

Well, I haven't kept up with this as I had hoped. I'd like to get on a couple times a month, and more during the holidays. Guess I'll try again this year.
Christmas was wonderful. We were able to relax, spend time with family, and give gifts people seemed to like. the girls were in their first Christmas pageant! Charlie played the angel of the Lord, though she got nervous and hunkered down by me. Sammy was Mary, and loved the costume so much she didn't want to change out!

Meghan sang in the cantata again this year. As usual, the variation on Pachabel's cannon was a favorite! This was followed by Christmas cookies. Some of the newer members of the church brought some that reminded us of a cookie variation of kolach: a sweet nut filling in a flaky crescent roll type crust. She even brought more to church last Sunday!
We went to Louisville for the Christmas Eve bash, and made it to the Christmas Eve service at Church. The girls were beat! Then Emily brought her new boyfriend Jacob to our place and we all set up Aunt Julie's gift: all the trimmings for a pink butterfly bathroom! The girls were awed the next morning. Santa was good to the girls but favorite gifts came from family: Horse-opoly, a camera, books, and towels in a bag that they carry everywhere!
We drove up to Mimi's house Christmas day, and Ned brought his family over. The girls had a blast together, and were even more excited to get together at Z's the next day. Unfortunately, Charlie Dot came down with the flu. The worst part for her, I believe, was the Tamiflu. She was so mad when we missed a dose and had to give it to her the next morning. She practically threw a temper tantrum! I let her throw the bottle away when we were done, which I believe she found satisfying!

We were invited to a neighbor's house for New Year's Eve. Sammy made it to midnight, but Charlie did not. We had a blast playing board games and Wii Bowling. Fortunately, we weren't far from home, because we kept forgetting things!

Peter is back at school, and Sammy would be if it weren't for the snow. Meghan starts after MLK day,