Saturday Fun

Last Saturday, our town had a Bike Safety Day. It included some cute ways for the kids to learn how to be safe on their bikes as well as a free lunch and free helmets. The girls got their faces (and arms) painted.

Charlotte's showed just how much of a dichotomy her personality really is:

Lucy got a cute little duck on her cheek but the woman who did the painting wanted to paint a rose on her arm that would match her dress. And it truly did! Lucy pointed to it all day. She was so proud of it.

Afterwards, we went to the local art museum to see Eli's own work of art. Every year they have a show of local childrens' art. Elijah's class did a large painting of the art museum, with each of them in charge of one small section. All of us tried to guess which painting was Eli's. He's so hard on his artistic abilities, claiming he hates to draw because he's no good at it. So, while I did recognize one painting as the best of the bunch, I was sure it wasn't his and picked another. Guess which one was his? The best of the bunch! I was surprised and actually slightly annoyed. The boy is way too hard on himself. He has a real talent and none of us knew. If only he could be more self-assured and worry less about perfection, I think art could be a real passion for him.

The first photo is the whole project. The second is a close up of Eli's piece. The third photo is Lucy point to her favorite piece in the show. I thought, "Wow! She's showing interest in art!" Then she said, "Me. I did it." She thought it was her drawing. :)

Happy Birthday, dude.

"Soft and low when the evening comes.

Holding you sleeping in my arms

I remember there was a time

when I used to sing for you."

-Tracy Chapman

Click on the arrow to play the video I made for Eli's 11th birthday. (11? Unbelievable.) If you'd like to hear the music, make sure your sound is on. :)

Broken hearted

If Lucy doesn't like what's been served to her, she lets you know....by pushing the dish onto the floor. After dumping all the contents out. And pouting "No!"

Tonight, after a repeat performance at dinner, Mike thought he might be able to teach her not to do that anymore. While Lucy was playing "waitress," she brought over a plate of "cookies." Mike dumped it onto the floor and said, "No. Yuck."

Poor Lucy! Her eyes got big and she said, "D ...D ...don't want?" Then she picked it up and walked back to her play kitchen. She put her head down on her arm and cried her heart out. (Mike cried a little too, I think.)

Lesson learned but the student wasn't Lucy.

The Daily 'Do

Charlotte hates getting her hair done. She's not a super girly girl and she says she can't pretend to be Harry Potter when her hair is up. But I do it anyway. I probably should follow her wishes because it is her own body but at the same time, she just looks so sweet with it styled and it's something I enjoy doing. I made a pact with her. On days where we're leaving the house, she can choose her clothes and I choose her hair style or vice versa. She tried to add a clause that no dresses could be worn but I shot that down.

She's been such a smarty pants lately. In a cold section of the store, she told me she was "the opposite of sweltering." And yesterday, while planting flower seeds, she understood that the directions "tamp them down" meant she could walk all over them.

Lucy's been talking all the time lately. She's stringing her words together to make sentences. She brings a play cup and plate to us and ask us, "Want juice? It good? Yeah? Want cookie? It good? Uh-huh." She's also diligently working on her disobedience skills. She just loves to tell me NO in her grumpiest voice with her sourest face. She can be quite the handful. She's also so full of joy and excitement, especially when someone mentions going for a walk or seeing the babies next door.







Eli's been very excited about learning new songs on his flute. He's in band and their two new songs are the song from The Pink Panther and Eye of the Tiger. He really enjoys playing but is having a hard time deciding if he'd like to continue learning to play this instrument or move on to guitar or keyboard.

Chuck E Cheese

and other random items...

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Chuck E Cheese. The kids always have so much fun there. They can run around and play games as they please.

Once when Eli was maybe 2, while we were playing there, our shy little guy built up the nerve to go up to Chuck E Cheese himself and get a hug. As a first time mom, my heart was just bursting with pride. He was overcoming some really big issues with shyness and strangers! He waited patiently behind the guy in the giant costume. And then.....! Chuck took a few steps backward, knocked Eli flat on his bottom, and walked away without even noticing the poor kid. Oh, my heart was practically broken!

No such catastrophe happened this time.

Since the weather has been so beautiful, we've put the kids to work.

Here's a photo of the girls this morning. These two love each other so darn much. Even right now, Lucy is going on and on about "Charzy" in the photo right above this. She's the first thing Lucy mentions when she wakes up in the morning. And Charlotte is so sweet to her.

Look at those long legs! And the cute chubby ones too!