Saturday, February 06, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
While Ander and I Slave Away in the Valentine's Salt Mines (Having Set Our Valentine-Making Bar a Tad Too High), Zaza Bakes with jek
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
jek Plays With My New Lens
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Because They Didn't Already Have Enough Sugar in Their Systems (and Because Proceeds Went to Haiti Relief)
- His: 1 scoop Green Tea, 1 scoop Coke
- Hers: 1 scoop Caramel Oreo
Because I Failed to Take a Single Picture at Ander's Class Picnic Back in December
Snow Bear and Little Green Had Bento Lunches, Sunna and Sally Shared a Tea-Party-Picnic, and I Had Oatmeal with Jon Scieszka
- Fabric swatches (doubling as picnic blankets): from jek and Home Ec
- Book, as recommended by Ander to me: Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka
- Site: http://www.readkiddoread.com/home
- Ranunculus from Trader Joe's
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Before We Left for School This Morning
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Because After Tuesday Gymnastics There's Not a Lot of Time, and Because I Want This Here So They Don't Forget, and Because I Love Them
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Darn That Little House in the Big Woods (Especially Ma and Her People-Shaped Pancakes)
- driving across town and back twice, just to get Ander and Mr. A together for three hours
- Meat-Lovers' Pizza from Tomato Pie
- Zaza watching "Mustard Pancakes" via Netflix on the office computer, whilst Ander and I watched Order of the Phoenix in the living room
- Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
"Here's the day that should have been."
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Good Bits Version: Brainwashing 101, or Prettier Thoughts, Beautifully Aired
Mostly because I was distracted by never-ending chores, and crabby about the very existence of said chores.
And because I forgot all about Dr. King.
Dubbadad was supposed to come home early, so I backed out of a cross-town playdate and thought we would have a cozy day in. I envisioned cocoa and books by the fire, maybe breaking out some paints, or baking some cookies.
Things started off well, with warm milk with honey, and mix-your-own-stuff-in oatmeal.
But then I started walking in endless scuffle-socked circles around the house, tidying, sorting laundry, cursing the never-used humidifier that kept toppling onto my toes in the bathroom, carrying bags of stuff to the car through the rain, unclamping Zaza's grasping arms from around my thighs, complaining out loud about the shoes piled by the door and the dried-up toothpaste on the sinks, barking orders, denying access to the computer and then schizophrenically and exasperatedly okaying access.
My downward spiral grew tighter as I realized there was no firewood and Dubbadad was not going to get home early after all and I was still in my pajamas and unshowered and the house still looked a mess.
I resented the laundry/sweeping/cooking/organizing/tidying/bed-making because they kept me from fully being with my children.
But we were all saved in the end, by the Good Bits:
- Play Dough
- embroidered eyeballs
- Sea Monkeys
- spontaneous shame-free dancing to nerd rock
- and a good batch of chili
When Ander was little-r, I would tell him "the story of (his) day" at bedtime, rewriting here and there, glossing over or leaving out the scraped knees or lost toys or stinky fits (his and mine), and leaving in the Good Bits to cushion his fall into dreams.
A little brainwash-y, I know.
At first it kind of worked better than I had intended -- the bad bits actually seemed to be scrubbed out of his memory by the next day.
As he got older, the memories of the bad stuff were still there the next day, but maybe, perhaps, hopefully, he learned to focus on and appreciate the best parts of his day's adventure.
Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter when she was tidying up her children's minds. It is the nightly custom of every good mother after her children are asleep to rummage in their minds and put things straight for next morning, repacking into their proper places the many articles that have wandered during the day...When you wake in the morning, the naughtiness and evil passions with which you went to bed have been folded up small and placed at the bottom of your mind; and on top, beautifully aired, are spread out your prettier thoughts, ready for you to put on.
Dubbadad finally, finally escaped work and came home to us, bringing firewood and our favorite cocoa. (Which we will try to put to good use tomorrow.)
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Miss C. is 9 (Which Means Ander is Nearly 9): "Can you be-leeeev the Hip-Hop instructor asked me if I was going to dance? Well, duh!" He Said
Gifts for the Birthday-Girl-Next-Door
- He decided a trip to Loyal Army was in order. Because who wouldn't want one of their t-shirts? (and i was good: I let A&A choose, even though I had strong preferences)
- He decided to make a gift for Miss C.: a painting of her dear, departed pet mantis (R.I.P. 'Manny'...we hardly knew you...). We looked at photos on the web, he did a rough in pencil on paper, and then he painted in acrylics on canvas board.
- And I decided some cool, middle-grade fiction was a necessity, and Ander rolled his eyes but acquiesced .
Of course Zaza decided she wanted in on the gift-making action. ("She's my friend too!" True.)
As she has previously made a wee drawstring bag with her new sewing machine, she and I settled upon making a large re-usable drawstring bag in which to 'wrap' the other gifts.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
...and Later I Found This (or "How Dare You Get All Melancholy and Nostalgic! We'll Show You! We Refuse to Outgrow Anything!")
The last photo, the one with the cups? Those are the pom-pom creatures Ander made for Zaza for Christmas, really, really, really enjoying the dregs of some sort of invisible beverage.
Slip-Sliding Away
*Though that spiky-haired Ikea rubber boy doll runs a close second -- he has lived in so many diaper bags and stroller baskets and purses over the years, and I am just not ready to pass him on or box him up.
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