March 2012 wrap-up

One of the favorite pastimes at my house is to go through the box of keychains. I picked them up FreeCycle years ago. There are all sort of miniature versions of games, such as Don't Break The Ice. For adult hands, this is incredibly hard to put together. But, Josy delighted when we were able to play. 

This is the delight face. 

Sitting on the bench in my front garden. 

Josy likes butter!

Here we are trying to engineer Don't Break the Ice. 

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago and we had pictures of Josy doing a snow angel? Here she is doing a shamrock angel! 

Sheepish grin after picking onions in the park. 

Sam joined Josy on the bench. The red line connects my daughter with my dog. 

They are discussing ways to re-engineer the space shuttle. 

My friend Mandi and Josy examine the new sidewalk that has been installed in my neighborhood. 

Sam still very much loves his pirate ship. 

Sam hugging a cone while we look at how sidewalks are installed. 

Sam tries his hand at a shamrock angel! 

You may not know this, but pirates are really good at cutting brush with their swords. 

Josy at Six: That's Some Kid

As she reminded me yesterday, April marks Josephine's half-birthday. She'll be six and a half.

Six is a great age, and she's great at six.
- "I love reading," she confides to me. And she does. She reads all the time - she even reads (aloud) from the cereal box at breakfast, including the nutrition information. She reads the Ritz box ("Open for fun!") as if she's auditioning for a commercial spot. She reads t-shirts, street signs, checks, trucks, labels.
- And then come the questions. "What does 'TM' mean?" She is still much more comfortable asking questions than answering them.
- Like her mother, she continues to love to sing and look at herself in the mirror. And dance, and defy the limits.
- Yes, the arrogance of 6 that I've seen in other little girls has indeed descended upon little Jo. She knows EVERYTHING. She ascribes to knowing it at least. She's always been on the nosy side (like me, I'll admit) - a detective of sorts - but now she's also on the declarative end of things, willing to contradict adults (ahem) and anyone else, refuting this  and that, even when she has no clue.

And, as the photos above attest, she loves to play outside, and this was her the other day, demonstrating to me how she could climb a tree (below which, Sam informed me, is his secret hideout).

And I love this self-portrait she did in art class. I mean - it reminds me of an iconic religious painting, or of a folk art piece - the way the heart is illuminated, the eyes rolled heavenward, the two moons on the body and the abstract hair/sky behind. She's always had this element in her - like the hands she used to make with flames and stars - and I just think this is fantastic! I'm a fan, at least.

She starts her new gym class tomorrow. I can't wait to see what she thinks of it, now that she's older!

A musical Sunday

The Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra held recently something called a Musical Instrument Petting Zoo. Rather than animals, children and adults had the opportunity to play instruments they may not otherwise get to try.

Trying out the flute.

Trying out the harp.

Trying out a teeny tiny violin

Trying out the clarinet

And Sam gets his turn with the teeny tiny violin

Boys on a Bridge

I'm so glad we've got neighbors with twin boys Sam's age; so glad, even, that I sometimes kind of ignore the fact that playing in the 'creek' makes me secretly hyperventilate about germs and snakes. I mean, he needs a break from the ovarian enclosure sometimes. We all do.

Sam's new concepts lately include: What makes a choking hazard, who has good manners, and one day questions about when we'll die, whether monsters and bad snakes live here, and what shovels are made of. He also continues to be a comedian and singer. This also continues to drive me nuts when it's time to get dressed.

More random and precious moments

 Wackadoodle Josy

 Favorite pjs

 Sam took these photos by himself!

 Baby Emma came to visit!

Josephine reading to Sam one morning, while I was getting ready.

Ok, I have some kid quotes!
Sam, as we were pondering the thorns on our flowering quince: "Those are flower bones!"
Also, one of his recent soliloquies: "I have an office, for reals. I have 100 girls in my office. They all have white hair and they are taller than me and they dance all the time. And I'm going to marry them, each of them, all of them. One at a time."

Josephine whispered to me the other day: "Do you know what I believe? That fairies come from flowers. And they're the same color as the flowers they come from. And that's where they live."

She is currently very into bubblegum, Littlest Pet Shop bobbleheads, and reading everything. And planning sleepovers with her friends without, of course, actually talking to any grownups about the plans. She also is doing accents and can roll her Rs and yes, she is quite the actress. And still hard to pull away from a mirror, where she often whispers to herself and poses instead of getting dressed for school.

Sam has latched onto his Bunny "Bun-Bun," and more recently has two stuffed birds, "Birdy" and "Pretty" with whom he nests at night, as well as his pretty princess doll. And he likes his fast cars, the names of which I should remember.

The other afternoon Sam was angry about something and went outside, stood on a deck chair (don't worry, a sturdy one) and just screamed into the air with rage. He felt better afterward. He spied a robin coming toward him and came inside to tell me about the "chick" in the yard that was coming to be his friend, but then it flew away and he burst into tears and told me he wanted a pet bird.

Yesterday morning I went to take him to breakfast. From his bed he scowled and said, "I'm not coming to breakfast, I'm still making up a story in my head!" Later he was still working on it, and still later that day when I asked him to tell it to me, he said, "I don't want to. It's got guns and swords in it, for fighting bad guys, and a prince and princess." (He knows I don't like guns.)

Explorers & Superheros

 A. and Sam discovered this odd roll of material somewhere, and began working on how to unroll it, and use it for something.

 Meanwhile, Josy works on leaf and flower soup.

 This is back in Feb when her bruise was still pretty fierce. I only show this so she'll have a record of it - and because she's all better now.

 How often do you walk out your front door in the morning to THIS convention?

Pictures from a winter-spring Sunday

We always go to  my office to check out the exhibits. Josephine and I had a good five minute discussion of photography. What makes a good photograph? Why did these photographers take pictures of street signs? 

This past Sunday was a beautiful day and we roamed up and down the mall exploring. Jo, of course, kept reading her book. 

Before downtown, Sam and I played with his cars. He wanted them all lined up, so we went to the track. 

But first, we had to carry them there. 

My little guitar is temporarily missing, so we improvised on this new electric guitar. 

When the cars got a bit boring, we went for a kick-about. 

It's been a while since we've watched the hockey. 

"This is a race car. It's the XT-3!"

We took a quick ride on the trolley. Do you think Sam liked it? 

I think this beaming face gives that answer!