Thimbles

These are the caps from Alice's squeezee yogurt that she eats for a bedtime snack. Simon loves to put them on his fingers. It can be tough because once he gets them on one hand, it is harder to get them on the other hand. So he was pretty happy when he got them all on.

Reading on the couch

I tried to include Simon but he wriggled away, then he got his own book and climbed back on the couch.

Just the facts, ma'am.

Upon finding a wet rock on the table next to Alice's water cup, which had some dirt in the bottom:

Sera: "Alice, did you put your rock in your water glass?"

Alice: "No. I took it out." 

Picking up Simon

Paradise.

I was reading Hey, Al to Alice, and on one page there is a picture of Al being carried by a bird to an island paradise up in the clouds. Alice said, "I wish I could go to that island in the sky."

I asked her, "What would you do there?"

She said, "I would run around in the forest and pick up lots of sticks."

I said, "I would sit on the spot next to the waterfall and watch the river and enjoy the nice view."

Alice said, "I want to sit next to you, Mommy."

I don't believe there is an afterlife, but in that moment, I sure wished there was an eternal paradise in the sky where I could just wait by the river until Alice came to sit by me.

Trains and Gladiators at Marbles

It was a cool, drizzly day, so we took the munchkins to Marbles for the morning. Zac and Alice went off to play upstairs, while I stayed with Simon at the train table downstairs. He played there for a really long time. He would be in his own zone for a while, then watch what another kid was doing and imitate him.

We hadn't planned on a playdate, but just by coincidence Grayson and his parents came to Marbles that morning too. 

Alice and Grayson get along so well, and it was fun to see them organically come up with games and activities together. For example, they used the large blocks to build a balance beam, and then later played gladiators.

 

Simon sat in my lap snacking most of the time, but he also climbed around, and made faces with Grayson's dad.

 

Alice at Harris Teeter

Owls

Simon used to see butterflies everywhere, but now he sees owls.  Whenever I pick up his tray to put it on, and he sees the underside, he starts saying, "Owl! Hoo-hoo! Owl! Hoo-hoo!"

Simon and the sisyphean seeds

The Easter Bunny brought the kids some snap pea seeds to plant in the garden. Alice planted only one packet, and then left the other three out in the rain. I found them, and since they had gotten wet, some of the seeds had already sprouted, and one packet even had a couple of slugs living inside.  So I opened the packets and gave one to Simon to plant.  He had other ideas, though.

Driveway stories

I picked the kids up today, and when we were in the driveway and I shut the car off, I joked, "Ah, we're finally here. Now we can just relax."  I often say this, because of course the kids want to get out right away, whereas the idea of just sitting there and looking out the windshield for a few minutes while they are still strapped in is very appealing to me.  I often have this feeling at this juncture, where I just need to sit for a minute and gather my resources for the next phase of the day. Normally, Alice says, "No mommy, I want to get out!" But today she said, "Ok, I will just read some books." And then she proceeded to "read" to us.

Bowl and spoon

I never thought I'd see the day, but Simon has recently achieved bowl and spoon competency.

Fireman Simon

Simon is starting reveal more and more personality as he begins to show preferences for certain things.  He currently loves wearing the plastic firefighter helmet and will run to it and put it on whenever he finds it.  He also loves choo-choo trains and will spend a lot of time driving them around.

Since Alice has some firefighter boots (that are 5 sizes too big for him), I thought it would be cute to put those on Simon.  This, however, was totally unacceptable.  He must have felt hobbled or something, because he just stood there and cried.  I soon liberated him.

Happy birthday, Mommy!

Simon is a bit like a parrot, and will currently repeat anything you say.  So that is how Zac got him to come into the kitchen on the morning of my 35th birthday saying, "Happy birthday, Mommy" over and over again. It was really the best present.

There were other presents too, and a beautiful trifle.

Afternoon activities

Alice's library book on volcanoes includes directions on how to create a home-made lava lamp.  It was extremely unimpressive, but she had fun making it.

Meanwhile, Simon enjoyed scribbling!

Bouncy play date

We arranged a last-minute play date for some of Alice's friends at our house Sunday morning. Grayson and Anna came first, so here the kids are looking out the window for Ellie Rose.

Once they gave up on Ellie Rose, the kids just played around in the living room for a while.

Then we set up the featured attraction, the small inflatable bouncy house.  It was perfect for the kids, and it was nice for Alice to have someone to bounce with since Zac and I are too big, and Simon is too scared.

They had snacks on the little picnic table on the porch.

Then Ellie Rose finally came, so it was back to the bouncy house.

For lunch, we had pizza.

The kids also enjoyed the hammock.

Meanwhile, the adults had a great time visiting, since the kids kids could run in and out and we could observe them from the porch.  After Brent left, Simon climbed up into his chair.

 

It was really fun, and we're so grateful to have found a group of parents that we like, and the kids all get along great.

Chores

The spring pollen is finally tapering off, so Zac conducted the annual porch-pollen removal operation, wherein he takes all the pollen-covered junk off the porch and washes it off. Alice loves to help with this project.  When I interviewed Zac for this post, I said, "My theme is that Alice is actually able to help with chores now. Do you have any anecdotes?"  Zac responded, "Uh, my experience does not fit that theme.  She just wanted to play with everything, rather than wash it and put it away." But she looks so helpful, doesn't she?

Later that evening, I had her help me unload the clothes from the dryer, a task that she can complete successfully since there is far less potential for playing.  Simon wanted to help too, so I told Alice to let him do some. She said, "Here Simon, you can put my undies in the basket!"

Duke Gardens

On Saturday, we took our annual spring pilgrimage to Duke Gardens to look at the flowers and try to get some fun pictures of the kids, and if, at all possible, a good family photo. 

 

   

Well, two out of the three (see goals at the top) isn't too bad.  Alice refused to cooperate for a family photo. She was too tired and hungry.