***
Alice was in my bathroom this morning while I was putting on my makeup. As I applied cover-up to my perpetual pimples, Alice inquired, "Mom, when are your boo-boos going to heal?"
"Good question, Alice. I don't know," I said with a resigned sigh, as I glanced at the couple of scraggly gray hairs sprouting from the part in my hair.
"I know, mom! They'll go away when you're in the cemetery and the worms eat everything!"
I'm starting to be slightly unnerved by how often Alice solves problems by having me be in the cemetery.
***
At breakfast, Simon picked up a sausage bite and declared, "When this sausage gets bigger, it will run around the living room with me!" Then he stuck it in his mouth and chewed it up.
***
Simon knows we are watching carefully every time he jumps, as we're still waiting for a proper two-footed landing.
***
Alice had a lot of fun in her princess costume. She always wears an undershirt under it because the dress is scratchy. She is completely unaware of how weird this looks.
***
Simon put on this scarf and was running around the house declaring, "I'm a reindeer!" I have no idea why, unless he thinks it looks like a reindeer harness.
***
Alice first jumped off the couch and yelled, "Cannonball!" Simon misheard, and it became "Dinoball!"
***
Simon put his hand on his head and asked Alice, "Do you like my hat?" It's this game we always play, but Alice was not in the mood.
With true big-sister exasperation, she said, "No! That's just your hand."
It is with this reminder of Alice's literal-mindedness that one must appreciate the next video, where she really acts like the blue vinegar is lava.
***
We got this volcano from Grayson for Alice's birthday in the summer, but we'd only used it once, and it was during Simon's nap, so he had never seen it before. Notice his reaction when it first erupts, and then how he warms up to it.
After the kids splashed their hands in the volcano, and Simon cried for five minutes because I wiped his hands and threw the napkin in trash (he wanted to do it himself--his favorite refrain these days is, "I want to do it myself. Me! Not you!"), I decided volcano time was over and we poured it down my bath drain.
***
A while later, the next activity was one I'd been saving for just such a day. When Alice was two, we got her this marble-run present for Christmas, I think, but after a few months we had to pack it up because we were worried Simon would try to eat the marbles. It's been residing in Alice's closet, unbeknownst to her, for nearly two years. The kids loved it. But it was getting late, so Alice got frustrated easily and we soon had to move on to lunch and naptime.
***
After nap, I made the kids some popcorn to eat while watching Octonauts, so I could get supper ready unhindered.
***
While supper was cooking and we were waiting for Zac to get home, we painted. Alice painted her fingernails blue. It's just a matter of time...
***
After supper, I built some new marble towers for the kids to play with. Alice said, "Mom, I like it when you play with me. Then I don't feel lonely."
It reminded me of a conversation with Alice in the morning on our last stay-home snow day several weeks ago. Alice kept asking what we were going to do that day, I was trying to explain to her the concept of staying home and staying indoors all day. It went something like this:
Alice: But mom, where are we going to go today?
Sera: Nowhere.
Alice: But mom, we have to go somewhere.
Sera: Ok, you're right. I think we're going to go to the kitchen, and go to the bathroom, and go to the living room, and maybe even go to your bedroom, if we're feeling extra adventurous.
Alice: Grrr. Huff. Mo-om. I want to go somewhere outside our house. We have to drive on the roads or walk to the park.
Sera: Really, Alice, since daddy is at work today and it's just me, it's hard to go places. Plus it's wet and cold outside. We're just going to stay home and play.
Alice: You mean you're going to play with me? You're not going to be busy?
Sera: Yes, Alice. I'm just going to play with you and Simon today.
Alice: Yippee! This is going to be fun.
***
That night, while getting tucked into bed Alice said, while yawning, "I just like being awake so much, mommy."
"I know," I said, "but you need to sleep to rest your little brain so you'll be ready for the next day."
"Actually, mom, you should say big brain. We humans have big brains and we're really smart."
"You're right, Alice. Goodnight. Sweet dreams."
