tool lad

Linus and I have been working on this design for his birthday card. He's turning six on Monday, and we're planning a birthday party for him and his friends for the following Saturday. Together, we printed this tribute to some of the tools in his (and my) toolbox. He was responsible for the ink choice and the presswork. We're both pleased with the results.

homemade pinata

Portrait with Plume

Easter portrait

mustaches

Here's an outtake from last Saturday's outing. The children are enjoying flaunting their red-stained mustaches, because we tend not to have such vibrant beverages (with the exception of hand-juiced punch) at home.

fancy

Casper: "You can't catch me, I'm the fruit snack man!"

Daddy, talking to the children who have gathered around him to beg for a bite of the treat he's eating: "Do you know what you children remind me of?"
Gwendolyn: "Baby birds."
Casper: "Angry birds?!"

Casper: "Daddy, I found a book that was much too 'cary. It was about a lion that eats people."

Jennifer had a small baggie of Dove dark chocolate eggs on her dresser. This morning, Casper brought the baggie filled with small torn foil bits to her and announced, "I sneaked the last egg last night."
Mama: "After I put you to bed?"
Casper: "Yep."
Mama: "After you brushed your teeth?"
Casper: "Yep."
Brazen.

under pressure

I'm usually proud of my kids, as every mother is, and I try not to use this blog as a forum for crowing about how smart, talented, cute they are, but every once in a while, a child does something truly remarkable which warrants a "brag post." Here is one for Gwennie.

After arriving in her primary class, Gwendolyn waited with her fellow students for their teacher, but no one appeared. After a few minutes, Gwendolyn voiced her concern about the situation, telling her friends that she thought they should go find a grown up, but she was overruled by the rest of the crowd. She finally told the others that she was leaving to go to the bathroom; apparently, some of her friends tried to block the door to prevent her from leaving the room, fearing that she would go find a teacher. She finally extricated herself from the room, told an adult she knew about the situation, then proceeded to the bathroom. The grown up came in and taught the students for the remaining time, but one of Gwennie's fellow classmates was particularly unhappy with the situation.

The whole story unfolded when we got home from church. Gwendolyn expressed concern that her actions had permanently damaged her friendship with this other little girl. She went to her room to pray and returned feeling confident in the decision she had made and wanting to be the one to take the first step in reconciling with her friend. We spoke about making correct choices even when it's hard. We spoke about the kinds of friends we want to have -- those who support us in our efforts to do the right thing instead of getting upset when we don't go along with them. We spoke about peer pressure and the fact that it is even difficult for teenagers and adults to do what she did (she was hilariously incredulous: "Really!? I thought it was easy! I was just living my life!"). We spoke about the fact that she will have many opportunities in her life in which she will be faced with more difficult situations and will need to stand up for her beliefs. I told her I wanted her to always remember how good it felt to choose the right in difficult situations.

Gwendolyn spent some time in the afternoon making a card for the little girl which read, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm glad that we're friends!"

I later got a call from the adult who taught the class and another from a parent of one of Gwennie's classmates, both expressing their admiration for the way that Gwendolyn had handled the situation. We're proud of her, too.

holistic

On Saturday, we went on an outing to the University's holistic garden to get some tips about our planting and composting. We heard a number of fine strategies about planting in the inhospitable ground in these parts (which I know we've complained about -- this mixture of clay and rock, dashed with various minerals which seem to make the groundwater close to poison for trees, flowers, herbs, &c). The students had also planned some games and treats for the children, so we all had a good time.

The Ballad of Deadie, Part II

Casper, seeing the lizard that Gwennie was carrying around, wanted a chance to hold him, too. At first hesitant, he soon became more confident with Deadie (especially after seeing that I had gotten the camera out).

Though he began by holding the lizard at arm's length, he soon started clowning, holding Deadie up near his face. Of course this was a greater indignity than Deadie could take, and he promptly bit Casper on the nose, as captured in the following shot:

Ah, the perils of hubris. Does anyone remember the scene in The Adventures of Robin Hood when Basil Rathbone's Guy of Gisbourne smacks Errol Flynn in the face, but when Melville Cooper's Sheriff of Nottingham tries the same trick, he gets kicked in the chest? This reminded me of that.

A Pet Called Deadie

Several days ago, Gwennie caught a lizard in the yard. After carrying it around for several minutes of breathless triumph, she began to try out names, eventually settling on "Deadie" because he sat so passively in her hand. Imagine her amazement (dramatized in this photo) when we caught the same lizard again in the most curious of circumstances.

Earlier today as I was preparing to jump on the trampoline with the children, I noticed a lizard on one of our stumps. Unfortunately, Plume noticed it as well, and attacked. I was able to pick up the cat while Gwennie went after the lizard. Unfortunately, it was looking for a dark, safe place to hide, and after scampering over to my foot, it ran up my pant leg. I'm not squeamish, so I just grabbed the lizard and pulled him out (from beside my kneecap).

After the excitement of the chase, Deadie began to live up to his name once again, lying down in Gwennie's hand and staring out at the world with a weary, seen-it-all sort of expression on his face.

punch

We've been enjoying fruit and vegetable juice much more frequently since receiving a surplus juicer from Grannie and Grandad. (This replaces the other juicer which I used for years, until it was destroyed in a child-related mishap.) The children agree that there's nothing better, and request favorites such as pineapple-orange or tangerine-carrot-strawberry. Shoot; now I'm thirsty.

Disclaimer: This is not the juicer described in the post.
The children are just prepping orange juice for our Wharvey Gal pancakes

Hey Mr Tough

He's showing off his carrot tattoo -- nothing says 'manly' like a root vegetable

Casper (who has never read Harry Potter with the other children) : "Do you know about Hagrid? He said 'petrificus totalus' to Ronald Weasley!"

Casper, angry that Mama won't give him a pudding cup: "You bad egg!"

Casper, looking at a pop-up book: "Once again, I saved the day!"

Mama: "Stay in your room until you can be kind and respectful."
Casper (coming out after a minute): "I'm looking respectful, Mama! What does 'respectful' even mean?"

second front tooth

As has been the trend with Gwendolyn's baby teeth, when they're ready to go, they really go. We were eating dinner when Gwennie started complaining of her loose tooth. I suggested that she eat using the other side of her mouth, but it's a challenge to avoid a front tooth. When we told her to be careful not to swallow it (think of the revenue that could be lost!), she got scared and excused herself from the table. A minute later, she returned with the tooth she'd just pulled out. I know that this trick shouldn't be impressive the third time she's tried it, but I'm still in awe.

slip and slip

Saturday was a perfect day to set up the slip-and-slide (with apologies to our readers who are still snowbound). The children inflated the slide, then waited patiently for the water to fill the receiving pool.

The thing is, Gwennie's really the only one who has mastered the art of careening down the entire length of the slide. The boys run down and either slip for a few feet (Linus) or plop down in the pool (Casper). It's all pretty entertaining to watch.

tramampoline!

And this is what the boys look like after a heady session on the trampoline. They'd like to issue a blanket invitation to any cousins or friends to come and jump around with them. (Recently-invented games include "Into the White" and "Bouncing Boulder Valley" and "City of Dragon of Death.")

tramp(s)

Casper, never one to let his brother get the better of him, tried to emulate his brother's hedgehog hairdo. Linus, meanwhile, just wanted to show off his leaping.

aspects of sisterly love

Gwennie's a terribly sweet girl, but she has her imperious moments. The other day she turned to her Mama and, after expressing her frustration with Linus in hyperbolic terms, said, "Why did you have to make such a mean child?"

Linus pondering

Linus is quite a deep child. When we're having a conversation about nature or church or literature, it's very frequently Linus who comes up with the obscure detail which even his older sister (who has always caused us to marvel at her memory) has forgotten. He tends to be bashful in company, however, so his recall is not always apparent.

More impressive, really, is the fact that he tends to really consider things he hears. His sensitivity and sweetness are characteristics that we love in him, but which seem fragile; I hope that he can retain them.

formalwear

We spend a lot of time before church getting the children dressed up as nicely as possible. Somehow, things go wrong over the course of the three hour block. They always tend to come home looking like delightful little ragamuffins.

And the blue raspberry sucker that Linus ate right before the photo session didn't help

gift of gab

Casper's always been something of a talker -- we've written about how, when he was an infant, we would sometimes enter the bedroom where we'd put him down an hour before to find him gabbing away in his crib. And he's only grown more articulate these days, although the way he expresses himself is frequently the source of some hilarity. Our late favorite is the way he pronounces the name of an off-brand breakfast cereal the kids had this weekend: "Fmarfmallow 'tars."

A few others:

To Mama: "Is your name Jennifer? But I call you 'Mama' -- and I call Todd 'Daddy.'"

"Last one out of the tummy is a rotten egg!"

Pranksters' Day

Look at those faces -- you know they're up to something

Maybe the most anticipated day of the year (well, leaving aside birthdays and Christmas) is April 1, which the children know as "prankster's day." The idea of turning the tables to make their parents look silly is irresistible, and they accept pranks in their turn with good humor. Aside from the typical pillow-on-top-of-the-doorframe and rubber-band-on-the-faucet, we didn't do anything too outlandish this year. I dyed the milk purple and said they had grape juice in their cereal, Gwennie put a plastic lizard in my lunch salad, and we made mudcakes for dessert. But they ate it up.