Indigo Girl

Initial Pancakes

I made initial pancakes last night for the first time. I don't know why I've never thought of it before. I'm not an idea person; I'm a follow through person. The E and C were hard - maybe I made them too large? The first batch turned out well, but the subsequent batches kept breaking in the middle. Luckily, E was happy to eat the mistakes.

C and I stopped at the neighborhood grocery store after the Y and I was looking at the peppers while the guy was picking out the slightly wrinkled ones. He gave me the five he pulled out for free. I NEVER win contests or free stuff, so I was inordinately pleased. I am STILL pleased when I think of it.

C requested hard boiled eggs for lunch. I asked, "Really?!" and she confirmed it. I don't like hard boiled eggs, but A does and L will eat the white part. Still, I've never made them. It turns out that my MIL gave her hard boiled eggs (C claims to have eaten three) with that cute little egg cup and a spoon to tap the egg and break it. After some quick googling, I was able to give her everything but the cute little egg cup. She peeled her eggs herself and then I bit back my retching while I watched her eat three eggs like apples. UGH. I hope there's an award for encouraging your child to eat something you find repulsive.

I'm a sub par housekeeper, but I'm going to try to regularly deep clean one room a week. Today I cleaned the main floor bathroom. That is all.

Mother's Day Weekend

Friday was a super busy day. I went to see E receive her math medallion at school and then zipped back to preschool for a Mother's Tea which wasn't really a tea at all. As I walked in, C met me in the hallway with my corsage (!) and the (coached) words, "You look very beautiful today, Mom!" She showed me the paragraph she wrote for me and the picture she drew.

 

"My mom's name is Linda, but I call her Mom. I think she's 15 or 16 years old. She is tall and has brown hair and blue eyes. I don't know what her favorite food is - she always cooks all kinds of food for us. She works downtown in an office, too. She likes to go shopping. She plays My Little Dragon with me and she likes to be funny! My mom reads lots of books to me and takes me to the Y - that's fun! My mom taught me how to do a somersault. I love my mom 120!"

She served me strawberry shortcake and a big deal was made about how the kids were to ask their moms for their preferences and serve them first. You could tell the teachers had gone over it multiple times. I was seated at a table where everyone else was having their kids go into a Young 5s program (even a July birthday!) and this didn't help my No More Fretting Over a Resolved Issue Resolution, but I kept my mouth shut.

After preschool, we went home, ate a quick lunch, changed into casual clothes (the tea was fancy dress), and went back to E and L's school for a nature walk. The walk was fun and I KNEW that I would end up carrying C piggy-back for most of it, but two miles of 45 sweaty pounds plastered to my back was a workout. 

We left school and drove downtown to pick up A's race packet. We parked at the Y and walked through a park (we stopped so C could roll down some hills) and took a walk along the river and over a bridge before getting to the expo. I knew C would make out like a bandit at the expo and she got a ton of candy and granola bars and treats (cotton candy!) before we finally got A's packet. We wandered back to the Y in time to pick up E and L from school.

We came home, made signs to cheer A on, ate dinner, and watched The Prisoner of Azkaban. I was exhausted, but we were up at 0600 the next morning to leave by 7 for the race.  My MIL came, too. If there is one person who thinks more of my children than I do, it's my MIL. She raved about them the whole time we were waiting for the race to start. A ran a great race - he shaved 2.5 minutes off his 10K time from last year and ran just under 9 minute miles the whole way. AND - this is the best part, in my opinion - he finished strong, not feeling like he was going to die. Maybe next year I'll sign him up for the 25K.

This year we only cheered, but L looked through race pictures and wants to man an aid station next year. Maybe we'll do that at our little neighborhood 5K for practice and see if she likes it. 

E and L's teacher ran the 10K, too, and finished first in her 50-54 age group! Their gym teacher finished 24th out of 3000+ people who ran the 25K. They have some impressive runners at their school! 

 We came home so A could shower and then went out to breakfast with his mom. I love how easy it is to go to a restaurant with our kids. E and L can read the menu and place their own orders and everyone behaves appropriately. L and I walked home from the restaurant together. I told her about the first time we thought they were old enough to walk to the ice cream store and how whiny they both were and how we swore WE WOULD NEVER WALK TO THE ICE CREAM STORE AGAIN. This was a pleasant walk - we held hands, critiqued landscaping, and even skipped together for part of it. (I'm sure THAT looked hilarious.)

When we got home, I was banished to my room while everyone else cleaned the house. (We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday since I wasn't working.) I slept for a while and then finished my book in peace and quiet. It was lovely. When I rejoined the rest of the house, E and L had set up a scavenger hunt for me. I went from clue to clue (all used items from our recycling bin) and discovered the cards they had made for me. They included promises like "I wll make you a cake made completely of frosting!" and "I will give you lots of head massages!" My kids know what I like. I also received a beautiful wooden wind chime that A hung outside the kitchen window.

We met A's mom again for a crazy indulgence of ANOTHER meal out. We went to a local restaurant that has the best pizza ever. (Yes, it does.) I had two glasses of wine and then, later at home, two bowls of ice cream. Happy Mother's Day, indeed.

I stayed off FB for most of Sunday, not because I begrudge anyone a happy relationship with a living mother, but it's hard when EVERYONE is appreciating their moms at the same time. I feel bittersweet regularly in day-to-day life: I'm happy I had such a great mom for 29 years and thankful that I am a mom and I'm happy you continue to have your great mom who babysits for you and takes you out to lunch, but seeing all those pictures of grandmas holding grandchildren and multiple generations together . . . it's hard. I don't have that and I desperately want it. It seems kinder to allow myself to withdraw, feel sad, rage against life's unfairness, and miss my mom without raining over anyone else's parade.

Movie Star

Around lunchtime today, I called the vet because they had had possession of my cat for 28 hours without any communication. The vet said, nicely, that he was being an asshole. The vet tech said that she would like me to please put him in his carrier when I pick him up. He was pissing off the other cats, so they had him all by his yowling lonesome. Honestly, you guys, he is such a lover, but he is more of a homebody than I am (I know!). 

He finally peed for them this afternoon and is happily back at home. He puked as we pulled into our driveway. As per usual, our other cat is hissing and attacking him and will continue for a few days. My animals are dumb.

C wore a kerchief that came from my mom to volunteer in E and L's classroom with me today. It was one of those battles I chose not to fight.

Pphone said she looked" very 50s-movie-star-riding-in-convertible." She got lots of indulgent smiles from people and one of the first grade teachers stopped me to tell me what her son insisted on wearing to the grocery store Saturday morning.

 E greeted me with news that she had finally earned her math medallion (100 subtraction facts done correctly in less than five minutes) and lost her new, big-en0ugh-to-last-another-one-or-two-years-coat. Sigh.

Commando Ballet

We dropped off Roland at the vet this morning to get a urinalysis done and if there was any doubt I live a first world country, I think that would erase it. Our vet is juuuuust outside his No Puke zone. Every time we take him there, he starts making disgruntled sounds about two miles away and as we turn onto the clinic street, he throws up everything he's eaten since the beginning of time. Then he backs away from it in disgust and eyes me accusingly.

He is still there, which leads me to think he has spent the day yelling at the clinic staff, not providing a fresh, crystal-free urine specimen. 

C got to wear her recital costume to ballet today since the recital is next week. She was manic with excitement. As we were walking into the Y, I asked, "Are you excited about something?" and she shrieked back, "YES! I'M EXCITED BECAUSE I GET TO WEAR MY BEAUTIFUL COSTUME TO BALLET!" I said, "I wish you had said something earlier," and she shrieked indignantly, "I DID!" We are still working on sarcasm. Four-year-olds are so literal.

Parents came in for the last ten minutes of class so she could go over hair and make-up with us. Last year I rolled my eyes and didn't put any make-up on C, but this year the instructor was gently insistent. I don't even OWN blush! Apparently, my pale child is in a pale dress and the lighting will cause her face to look like a feature-less monster. Honestly, this is why she is switching to karate in the fall. Dance gives me too much cognitive dissonance.

We were also instructed to send our children commando. Those same lights that make them look washed out will show their underwear and make their dresses look all bunched up. How hilarious is that? C is fine not wearing undies whenever possible, but another parent said seriously, "I don't think I can get [my child] to do that."

I made chocolate covered apricots as a teacher appreciation gift and even made them fancy by drizzling melted white chocolate over the milk chocolate. I am not a candy maker, but I could be; it was fun. I had extra chocolate, so I dipped strawberries in that and we ate them for dessert tonight. They were not pretty enough to give as a gift, but they tasted great.

After school, L helped me make cookies for the other teachers. E was finishing her homework since she forgot her homework folder yesterday (choices have consequences!). We're going to set a platter out in the teacher's lounge and I sent enough to share with their classmates at snack time. We were making a triple batch, so she had to do a lot of multiplying fractions. Three-fourths x3 is hard. She figured out six teaspoons of vanilla easily and then I told her that one tablespoon has four teaspoons in it and before I was done, she shouted, "One tablespoon and two teaspoons!" Little smartypants.

A few birthday presents were delivered today and we have a new UPS lady who is terrified of dogs. Seriously. She told me. She always acts like Lucy is one instant away from tearing out her throat. She stands on the sidewalk and calls, "Is that dog in your backyard unrestrained?" or "Do you have control of your dog?" when I answer the door. I feel for her, but it seems like such a stressful job to have if you are THAT scared of dogs. I bet she is cursing my Amazon Prime membership.

As we were finishing up C's bath today, we had this conversation: 

Her: I want to be a mama!

Me: You'll be a great mama! How many kids are you going to have?

Her: (thoughtfully) I don't know . . . (suddenly stern) NOT 100!

Me: Yeah, that would be a lot.

Her: I'm glad YOU didn't have 100 kids!

Snail Nerd

You guys, I took  A VIDEO of the snail, Couscous Ninja. (You can see Betty in the background.) I think his little mouth cleaning the tank is fascinating. And I put a piece of lettuce in the freezer for 30-45 minutes (to soften the membranes) and then took a picture of him eating it. A is doing a very good job of saying, lovingly, "You are so cute" to me, but I'm not sure how much longer it'll last before he's laughing and pointing.

I got done working Sunday morning and was already celebrating not having to work again for an entire week and then one of my favorite coworkers sneaked up behind me and whispered that she's pregnant with her THIRD AND FOURTH CHILDREN! She was telling me before other people because we are going to be twin mom bffs! I love being in on secret pregnancies. If any of you out there have a secret pregnancy, please tell me.

A took C to see the Pinkalicious Musical and that night we went to Karen's birthday party and ate amazing homemade cake and breadsticks. There was other delicious food, too, but man, those breadsticks. Yum.

I did a double class at the Y on Monday morning: weight lifting class (with my pastor!) and then step aerobics. I sent a FB message to my weight lifting instructor and told her, "I can hardly walk today! I'm cursing your name!" and she replied, "You know that's music to my ears!" She's so perky and so evil.

Running and Backsliding

I dropped off C and our carpool buddy at preschool this morning and it was raining quite heavily. I was ready to run as soon as I got home, but there was all that rain as I pulled into our driveway. I know myself and I knew if I went inside, I would not come back out. So I sat in the car for fifteen minutes, the rain cleared, and I ran an easy 3.5 miles.

(Easy means I ran at a comfortable pace, not pushing myself. It does not mean that I am bragging about how easy 3.5 miles is.)

As usual, I struggled mentally at first and then suddenly hit my stride around 2.5-3 miles. Sigh. My foot starts hurting when I run more than 4 or 5 miles, so I've been sticking to short distances, but I hate short distances. I push myself through those first few crappy miles because I know I'll start feeling good eventually.

Another thing, and this one I am embarrassed to admit: I've gained weight. It's not a lot - six pounds - but when you add that to the eight that I never finished losing, I'm still 14 lbs above where I'd like to be and I joined WW over a year ago. My goal was to lose 30 lbs and I should be there now, focusing on maintaining. It's tempting to blame it on the program, but it's me. I am cheating. I am not writing down everything I eat, I am fudging on amounts, and if I use up all my points, I don't stop eating extras, I just STOP WRITING IT DOWN. My will power has taken quite a hit.

It's not like I'm hungry and eating an extra piece of chicken. I would be okay with that. It's that I'm NOT hungry and eating half a bag of caramels or I AM hungry, but was probably full after two pieces of pizza and a salad if I had stopped to think about it instead of shoving two more pieces of pizza in my mouth. I need to be more careful of the amount I'm dishing out for myself (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, ICE CREAM). I've stopped thinking of food as fuel; I'm eating when I crave something or when I'm bored. I'm eating past the point of fullness. I'm not letting myself get hungry between meals. 

I start my WW week on Fridays because I usually need a few extra points to get through two night shifts. When you're awake for 24 hours, you eat more. I try to make good choices, but I have a snack (usually a granola bar and piece of fruit) about four hours into my shift (around 11) and a small meal (usually soup and salad) around 2 am. It's not excessive, but it adds up when you consider I still eat during the day. 

I'm hoping that by confessing I will be motivated to pull myself together. I've been gravitating toward sweet snacks and extra portions and I need to reign myself in again. This is a lifetime job of listening to my body and trying to feed it appropriately.

We Are All Horses

A and C have been spending time watching Kristen Schaal (from 30 Rock) dancing as a horse. Full disclosure: this is one of those things your kids will love and you will be amused until you've watched it a dozen times. Then you'll find it annoying as hell. Then you'll find yourself singing it as you walk around Target, substituting your kids' names for Kristen Schaal, being careful to emphasize the S sound of horse.

I was very busy yesterday reading the new Sookie Stackhouse book. I'm not saying it's high brow literature, but, yeah, it came to my library and I read it in one day. 

I also spent a lot of time beating level 3-2 of Angry Birds. Don't judge. I've only been playing for a few weeks.

I made this lentil and bean soup and because I equate food with love, I made a special trip to the store to buy English muffin bread. A insists that English muffin bread makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches. As we were finishing dinner, A gestured to L who was finishing her soup and said, "They are definitely less picky than they used to be." Yay! I made the soup with red lentils because that's all I had and two cans of black beans. A said that I could have put three cans in and I agree. I made it in the crockpot - threw everything in there and left it all day.

February, March, April Twitter

The amount of apples it takes to make applesauce for a family of five is bullshit.

L is teaching C to write letters the correct way. She confided to me, "I notice that she's struggling with K."

Restocking our wine, vodka, tonic water & frozen pizza/waffles. Am I a lush or a bachelor? Why can't I be both?

C: "If there was a fire, I would call 1-1-9!" Close, but no cigar, sweetheart.

Everyone who has read the book A Little Princess and then recommended the movie to me is suspect now and forever.

L took C's money to buy a school pencil, spent it on ice cream (which she ate), & is DUMBFOUNDED that I'm making her replace it.

 C: "We have to go grocery shopping." Me: "We do?" Her: "Yes, we're out of Cheetos."

I registered a complaint & now the company wants to talk to me on the phone. #complaintfail

C just sang very clearly, "And good old boys were drinking whiskey & rye, singing this will be the day that I die."

L: "I want to be like Dudley [from Harry Potter] because he has SO much stuff! So many presents!" HAHAHAHA OH GOD I'M A PARENT FAILURE.

I've always found something enchanting about the idea of Borrowers. E, L, & I wish we had a family of Borrowers in our house.

How long do you think I should be mad at A for doing something horrible to me in my dream? (He decided he was gay & left me!)

And THEN I married someone I dislike in retaliation and had serious regret. So I was ANGRIER at him!

 E did a perfect fake walk-into-a-beam. She says A didn't teach her. She must be a natural!

Lady at the Y told me I look too young to have 3 kids. I french-kissed her in thanks. Too enthusiastic?

L: "I'm glad I'm a twin!" Me: [SWOON IN RELIEF] Seriously, this weighs on my mind a lot. There are so many negatives to twinship.

Watching Harry Potter with the girls. E & L keep gasping, "HAGRID!" "DUMBLEDORE!" "HERMIONE!" So freaking awesome.

E & L are quizzing each other by spelling Harry Potter character names backward. "S-I-R-R-O-N-dot-S-R-M." "Mrs. Norris!"

My carpool partner says I am a "masterful writer of logistical messages." I am inordinately pleased by that compliment.

C is changing into her ballet clothes, but is distracted by mooning me & yelling, "BOOTY BUTT-BUTT! BOOTY BUTT-BUTT!"

Do I enjoy repeating my instructions to my children? I DO NOT.

I gave L permission to microwave her soup if it wasn't hot enough & now she's giddy with power.

I should not be trusted with superglue.

A, reading the directions for putting C's bike together, "Before each ride, make sure both nuts are tight." #ThatWhatSheSaid

I read Knuffle Bunny Free to C & then I had to hug her super tight. It was exactly what A said would happen.

My MIL took my kids & I dropped A off at the airport just in time to. . . Grocery shop, nap, & work all night. Sigh.

C chose Christmas music so it's 80 degrees in March & they're singing Go Tell It On the Mountain at the top of their lungs.

C is playing "chest" [not chess], she informs me. NO ONE CORRECT HER.

At sparring class, C is cheering, "Go E! Kick some butt!" and then asked me, "What does 'kick some butt' mean?"

Me: "Is it weird that I'm happy for Reese Witherspoon because she's pregnant again?" Andrew: [busts out laughing]. So yes, then, I suppose.

L did that thing where she thought she was in trouble so she hid evidence & THAT got her in trouble. It's a tough lesson.

Like, you weren't in trouble for the first thing, kiddo, until you tried to COVER IT UP. Sheesh.

Me: "I love Captain Von Trapp." L: "More than Daddy?" Me: "Yes."

There should be a word for the simultaneous satisfaction & despair felt when you finish a book that had you obsessively racing for the end.

E is wearing her eye patch (1 hour per day) & C asked sadly, "When can *I* have an eye patch?" Silly kid.

The children are outside gathering grass clippings for fun, yet they are rendered invalids when it's time to pick up their toys.

Ha ha! Preschool is emailing for parent volunteers for children's museum field trip. OH HELL NO. I mean I have a dentist appointment, sorry.

E and L were fighting so much that A ordered, "Fight to the death for your father's love!"

We're watching Rango. I . . . don't know what's going on.

C & I were playing an imaginary Go Fish game yesterday (cute in & of itself), but she kept saying, "Goldfish!" not "Go fish."

Yesterday E was infuriatingly disagreeable, but then her defense mechanism kicked in. http://twitpic.com/98jh96. How can I be angry with a kid who is immersed in a book and eating carrot sticks?

L: "My scrape hurts SO BAD!" Me: "Whatever. I gave birth to you without pain medication."

L: "How do they change Professor McGonagall into a cat in the movie?" A: "Maggie Smith is a very good actress."

Today C could hear her heart "beeping."

E is singing - quite dramatically - "I GO TO THE HIIIIIIILLS . . . . WHEN MY HEART IS LOOOOOONELY!"

C, talking about preschool friends, "I get Joseph & Simon mixed up, like I mix up Darth Vader & Darth Maul."

I bought some dried apricots & C suggested that we dip them in melted chocolate. #MyDaughter

C came up to me & said, "I love you, Professor McGonagall." Then I had to say, "I love you, too, Ginny Weasley."

Could not figure out what was on the dog's back. Shiny ticks? No. Someone put hair clips on her & never removed them.

E kept referring to "sparrow" and it took me a few minutes before I realized she meant PHARAOH. LIKE IN MOSES. BWA-HAHAHAHA!

Putting a fitted sheet on the top bunk is the worst thing ever. Shut up. Yes, it is.

Now that the other schools have arrived for the Triwizard Tournament, A has his hands full switching from accent to accent.

E has painstakingly recreated what seems like every level of Super Mario Galaxy for me, but she insists there is more information I need.

E explained a complicated recess plot the girls concocted to "get the boys' secrets." Me: "Did the boys have any secrets?" Her: "No."

Pinkalicious Kindergarten Screening

A postulated an amusing reason for my safety anxiety when he is traveling. He suggests that when we are together, I know that I can send him into certain doom and escape with the children, but when I'm the sole parent, I have no one to throw under the bus. That made us laugh for a long time last night.

This morning I dropped C off with my father-in-law and went to see the play Pinkalicious with all the 2nd graders. I've always thought Pinkalicious was kind of bratty; Fancy Nancy is a better role model. Still, the music was fun and the kids were well-behaved. 

I left school and had time to go to Panera for lunch ALL BY MYSELF. It was a quick lunch, but still. Panera is now bringing your food to your table? I was confused. And they're clearing your dishes? Am I supposed to tip? I hate change. I couldn't stay long anyway - I headed back to pick up C and bring her to her kindergarten screening.

The screening was as reassuring as I could have hoped. She was screened by the one kindergarten teacher we didn't have: Mrs. B. Mrs. B is going to be the Young 5s teacher in the new program, so she was trying to do all the screening on the kids with borderline birthdays. She said she has no qualms about sending C into kindergarten except that she (Mrs. B) has a daughter C of her own and said that my C has been delightful every time she's interacted with her and she was hoping to snag her for Young 5s. It was quite a ball of compliments. 

She asked if we had a preference for a teacher - I don't. I liked both E and L's teachers and I trust them to arrange the classrooms appropriately. She said C scored quite high (this was accompanied by raised eyebrows and a hand gesture up above her head) and will probably have L's teacher. 

I do not know how much more reassurance I can get. I think she's ready, the preschool teachers think she's ready (with a caveat about her birthday and the importance of being with her peers), A (who rarely has preferences in things like this) says he has a slight preference for kindergarten, I found out that one of the top scoring kids in E and L's 2nd grade class has a Sept birthday and started when she was turning 5, and my friend with a daughter who is one month older than C is sending her daughter without reservation. 

There will always be people who tell me "No one ever regrets holding a kid back" (or vice versa) and there will always be families who make different decisions than we do and that's okay. I think that for C, in her circumstances, in this school, with these teachers, she will excel. 

I've decided that I am done worrying. I am done reading articles about red-shirting and its pros/cons. I'm done asking other people what they've done and how it has worked out for them. I have done the best I can do with the resources that I have. If she turns to me one day and says that I made the wrong decision, I will apologize and tell her to add it to the list. I will probably be able to think of a dozen more. 

We left the school and may have gone to buy a snail. I kind of love him already. He's explored the tank, found the algae wafer I left for him, and charmed Betty. A laughed at me and my need to care for things and asked, "When our kids are all grown, am I going to find various nomads in our home?" and you know? He might. I am a caretaker; it's what I do. I said we could always have more kids (well, "always" is debatable and dependent on a vasectomy reversal and subfertility), but he said that animals are cheaper. I've thought about what I'll do when my kids are more independent and what comes to mind is always 1. assist in a refugee program and 2. foster animals from a rescue society or humane society. 

Anyway, C wanted to name him Snaily, I suggested Ninja, and L wanted Mystery. Then we had couscous for dinner and I commented that a golden snail looks like pearl couscous, so now his name is Couscous. L accidentally called him "Cou-cou" and I like that, too.

Tuesday

UPDATE: Betty has been with us for 48 HOURS and she is STILL ALIVE. I'm sure that soon it will be no big deal and eventually I will stop checking on her so frequently. I was drinking a cup of coffee this morning and watching her swim - I do love watching aquariums even if they only have one lousy fish - and she kept defending her territory against the tank backdrop. It has a painted-on ocean scene and she would go up to the various inhabitants and flare her gills and puff herself up. I was quite amused and reminded that I always choose dumb pets. 

 My various betta research has revealed that she will live longer if I help her get some exercise. How do you exercise a fish, you ask? You gently chase them around the fish tank with a net! YES, YOU DO. Well, I don't, but I am picturing the hard core fish lovers "exercising" their fish and it makes me laugh. Apparently it mimics the activity they get in the wild, chasing food and escaping predators. I pride myself on being a responsible pet owner, but, um, no. 

I slept a little better last night since I was exhausted from my Sunday night-worrying. But at 3 am, I woke up to (I think) the dog barking. Lucy is great at barking. She barks at squirrels and leaves and people entering their own homes across the street and five doors down. She also does what she's supposed to do and barks at anyone who dares come near our house. I like it and encourage it, but it's not fun to be prowling around the main floor of our house at 3 am, holding my phone pre-dialed to 9-1-1, peering out windows, positive that huge hulking men with guns are trying to break in and kill us.* She stopped barking - that's why I ventured downstairs. If she barks continuously, it means that someone stayed at the door and didn't just walk by or drop off a package.

*Honestly, I am not this anxious about safety when A is here. I don't know what is wrong with me! It's like he's my Xanax.

After dropping E and L off at school and going to the Y, we stopped at the neighborhood grocery store for a few things. They have big bins of unshelled peanuts there and C asked to get some. We did and she enthusiastically cracked and ate them with her lunch (while wearing her Snow White dress, of course.)

I asked C if she wanted to continue growing out her hair or if she wants it short and she unhesitatingly answered, "Short!" so we got her hair cut today into her previous cute, stacked bob. It's a testament to how much she hates tangles that she's willing to have it short. I'm sure she would love long princess hair.

She recently demonstrated that she can count to 100 and that is great - I mean it - but I can only feign enthusiasm twice a day, max. And she really likes to count to 100 and she does it exactly right so it takes a while. 

I washed everyone's sheets and switched all the beds around. We have bunk beds with a trundle and we rotate beds occasionally so it's fair. It makes me laugh when C, the tiniest one, moves to the bottom bunk. It's a double bed, so the smallest kid has the biggest bed. She helped me out and I love this age when "helping" becomes actual helping. She gathered all the books and sorted them into piles of our books and library books and then she decorated each bed with the correct stuffed animals, sleep masks, water bottles, etc. 

(Also, putting a fitted sheet on the top bunk is the worst. We have a railing all around the bunk and a very non-bendy mattress. I scrape my knuckles regularly.)

We picked up E and L from school and went to see the butterfly exhibit and play in the children's gardens. A girl I see at the Y was there and it turns out that she has 5yo twin girls and is a nurse, too, so we spent a pleasant time talking while our kids played. We stopped at Wendy's on the way home and I deserve a medal for not finishing C's frosty. I don't know how I have a kid who doesn't finish a frosty and I know it's better that she stops eating when she's full. I just don't understand it.

L's prize in her kid's meal was a miniature Apples to Apples game, so we played that in the car on the way home and until bedtime. Then I lectured them on (not) wiping their toothpaste covered faces on the hand towel.  A and I have marveled about and put up with it for years without ever understanding it. I mean, I can brush my teeth and not leave a big toothpaste stain on the towel. Why can't they? It was not a battle I chose to fight until tonight. I demonstrated the way to use WATER to wash their mouths and then wipe their wet, clean faces on the towel. We'll see if it works. I read a chapter of Harry Potter and the day was done! A comes home tomorrow!