Reduce, Reuse, Regift

Moolah: "Mama! Guess what! It's Teacher Jessie's birthday tomorrow!"

Mama: "Wow! How old do you think Teacher Jessie is going to be?"

Moolah: "Um, I think 16. Can I get her flowers from our garden?"

There are no flowers in our garden right now, but the flowers that Daddy and Ace brought Strider's girls for Valentines Day were getting a little scraggly, and I was already planning to propose that we clean them out and combine them. So, instead, I proposed that we make Teacher Jessie a new bouquet out of our flowers, then display whatever flowers we had left.

Moolah: "Yeah!"

I found two small vases, and she chose the blue one. Then we looked all around the bouquet and she pointed out one flower at a time. Mama trimmed them and Moolah arranged them. Flower arranging is a lesson at school, and she was very careful about her selection and arrangement. Ace watched, wide eyed. Moolah finished.

Ace: "My turn!"

So, Ace got the green vase and went through the same practice, pointing and saying "dat one". Moolah asked whether it was for Daytime Mama. Yes. Daytime Mama.

They carefully put their arrangements on the banister, ready for the morning. They checked on them several times that night, and again the next morning. Both started off their days delivering flowers to the women who care for them, glowing with pride and love.

Teacher Jessie Says

This week, Moolah is enjoying:

• Phonetic reading practice
• "Golden Bead" decimal system work with Lily
• Observing "salt map" lessons - sometimes helping others read instructions (the salt maps are very cool, I saw one through the window at pick up the other day)

My girl

Likes

• the Hobbit (finds Gollum quite interesting)
• Star Wars (thinks Darth Vader should fly because he has a cape)
• all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (especially the first one that you can see the bones)
• Close Encounters (the spaceships are cool)
• The Dark Crystal (the bad puppets are ugly but just puppets)

Is still afraid of

• The Monster at the End of this Book

Ace enjoys it, though...

Moolah's school

Moolah showing us her math work at the open house last week.

Perspectives

It was bedtime. Actually, it was past bedtime. Moolah was in overtired overdrive. Mama was the only parent in the house.

Mama: "Please brush your teeth."

Moolah: runs in circles, jumps up and down, lies on the floor and kicks her legs.

Mama: "Please brush your teeth."

Moolah: Dances, dances, dances, sings a silly song, and brushes her teeth for approximately 3 seconds, then jumps up and spits on the counter.

Mama, brushing Ace's teeth and attempting to restrain frustration: "Please go get a washcloth and clean that up."

Moolah: dances away, does not return.

Mama, after a minute, with growing frustration: "Moolah, get a washcloth and clean up this toothpaste you spit on the counter."

Moolah: Returns with a small lap pillow that Grandma Simone made that Ace likes to use and begins to use it to wipe up the spit.

Mama, no longer restrained and calm. "NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! IS THAT WHAT YOU SHOULD BE USING TO WIPE UP SPIT??? I TOLD YOU TO GO GET A WASHCLOTH."

Moolah: Disappears

Mama, regretting her outburst, and realizing that the linen closet is open, and that Moolah probably looked there for a washcloth but that they were probably all dirty, goes to the living room to find Moolah pouting on the couch. "How can we solve this problem?"

Moolah, crying, mumbles something.

Mama: How can we solve this problem.

Moolah: more crying

Mama: You made a mess on the bathroom counter and you need to clean it up. What ways can you think of to do that?

Moolah, sobbing now, "This...... is..... getting..... ridiculous!"

Mama off guard and, remember, having already lost it once, laughs out loud. Hard. "Yes, I agree"

Moolah, crying even harder: "Why are you laughing at me."

Mama: "I'm sorry, but I agree, it is getting ridiculous."

Moolah: "Then why don't you stop??"

Mama: "I did stop laughing. I'm sorry. What ways can we think of to solve this problem"

Moolah, not comforted by Mama's apology: "NO! WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING ME THAT SAME QUESTION OVER AND OVER AGAIN. IT'S RIDICULOUS! AND, YOU'RE NOT EVEN HELPING ME TAKE DEEP BREATHS!"

We took deep breaths and settled on using a paper towel to clean up the spit.

Just showing off

These kids are just so stinking cute.

Where did they come from?

Certainly not these people ...

(this was the 2nd hot chocolate that landed in my lap in under 5 minutes)

Raptor Roadtrip

Aunt Lisa visited during the annual Raptor Roadtrip. Birdwatching, hot chocolate, donuts, and an opportunity for Daddy to aim his camera at interesting things (note, not all photos were taken by Daddy... most submissions are amateur).

Moolah got real binoculars and enjoyed them... and she shared with her brother when forced to...

Strider's boys...

Fun with Aunt Lisa ...

There were rails to climb on...

Mischief to be made:

The all-important hot chocolate:

Oh.. and some birds and educational information...

And... none of this would be possible without the fantastic Fred!

Big kid beds

Santa brought big kid sheets & comforters (Tinkerbell & Cars), so we needed some big kid beds to go with them. Moolah still doesn't like to sleep in her own room because she's "not company". So, we decided on bunk beds so they could sleep in each others' rooms. That hasn't worked out so well because Ace will not sleep. He just needs to play. So, the sleepovers will have to wait til he outgrows that. In the meantime:

First we had to take pictures of Moolah's old bed so that we wouldn't forget the sticker collection.

Moolah likes sleeping on the top because the monsters can't see in to the tent.

Ace likes sleeping on the bottom and wasn't a fan of his tent. He is a fan of climbing the ladder to get on and off the changing table by himself.

The top bunk is a favorite place to play:

Crafty Fun

Project #1: Jewel Mugs.

Tessy and Tab (a magazine/book serial that Moolah gets) made jewel mugs. Moolah wanted to do it, too. We used the stencils and pens and jewels. Moolah concentrated very hard.

This one she gave to our local coffee shop for their pens. Ace was sick that day, so she also made one for him.

Oosje sent us a craft project with lots of gluing fun.

We glued...

Checked our progress...

And enjoyed the results...

Happy Birthday to Lil 11!

Strider's Family hopes you have a great day!