Sunday Morning Quality Time

We are not a religious family. Jay and I both have a sense of wonder and awe when it comes to the world around us, but we have what seem to be similar skeptical views toward Religion and Church. We live in a county with LOTS of churches - especially the non-denominational Christian type that seem to be very into kids and reaching out to people in the community - even in the schools. I want my kids to be able to articulate their own philosophies regarding faith or whatever you want to call it, because I know that if we don't intentionally dig and then attempt to fill that hole in each girl, we will be leaving it up to the first friend they encounter at school who asks them to come along to church with them. We respect everyone's beliefs, but don't want to leave our kids' faith journeys in the hands of others - or leave those journeys up to chance.





So, this year, it is a goal of mine to figure out how we want to awaken their appreciation for the world around them, foster their sense of goodness, and define our Sunday mornings as time to spend happily and peacefully as a family. Maybe these mornings will someday involve some sort of something a little more structured, but for now, I like the idea of a walk in the woods, a spin on the merry-go-round and a stop to throw rocks into the Lewis River together.

Demi-Plié, Relevé

So, um, do the kids look excited for their first day of dancing lessons this morning? If you think they do, you should have seen their mother. I was completely beside myself. We were even ON TIME.


Once inside, Ellie achieved a state of steely concentration most often witnessed during the all-around gymnastics competition in the Olympics. Nothing was going to take her off her game. Not even the fact that she was wearing a swimsuit, the result of an early morning leotard accident. No harm done. We'll just call her Shawn Johnson.

Well, so much for steely concentration. That is a long hallway with a cool carpet that needs to be run - or maybe she was pacing out the steps she'd need for some imaginary vault.

This photo includes Karen, the very kind, funny, well-postured proprietor and instructor. I know the photos are basically silhouettes, but you can see the positions so well against the light from outside, and I couldn't use a flash for obvious reasons (including a sheet of glass between me and the class). As a little kid, I would have thought this studio was the absolute best thing ever. Look at the barre!

Reaching for the stars.


Like a cross between a Degas and a Cassatt.


Maggie took this one...


Listening...


Maggie's turn in the older class. Time for some serious line-toeing.


...and barre work.


...and skipping one by one across the floor. I found out later that Mags was not happy being last.



...but she DID get a personal escort. We may have to do some skipping homework - not because it was assigned, but the girl needs to learn how to skip. I believe we got a book on that recently - from Aunt Bev?

This whole thing just melts my heart. I don't remember myself being quite so precious. Probably because we wore black leotards and shoes, not pink. Or, maybe because it was the '70s and was anything really precious in the '70s?

Yep, she likes it.

The Outbuilding at Dawn

My views to the right and left from bed at dawn in the outbuilding. Makes me want to stay out here indefinitely.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

We are smack in the middle of a kitchen remodel (demolition is done and no kitchen exists right now). I am trying to wrap up my third term of chemistry by this coming weekend. My mother-in-law is bringing a friend up for the night to sleep in our cluttered outbuilding which has been serving as my study room for months. My husband is cleaning books out of our office right now to prepare for refinishing the floors in here, and any hour now this computer will likely be decommissioned for a while. But, it is indeed a beautiful morning - I've had some coffee, there's a little bird in the tree outside the window, and roses are blooming in the garden. We've got red tomatoes and tons of green beans and the world's biggest Walla Walla sweet onion. And, well, it's just a good day for singing. Don't know why the video is blurry - one day I should read the manual for my camera (yeah, that probably won't happen...) Listen carefully and you'll hear the sound of a burly guy cutting through drywall somewhere in the front of the house in the middle of the song.

I need to document the kitchen remodel on the blog - It's too monumental to lose to the cobwebs of history. So, hopefully, more posts will be coming. I'm counting on the coming absence of chemistry classes to provide time for some fun and blogging.

The Apple of Her Eye

The temperature on Monday was 80 degrees, and it was as if the heavens were smiling down upon us. We had a little scavenger hunt, a picnic and some really enjoyable girl time! Farley had a good time, too. The old guy likes the sunshine.

Smart Little Girl

Jay, reading from one of our many Mother Goose books:

What are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice,
And everything nice,
That's what little girls are made of.

Maggie: WHAT are little girls made of??

Jay: Sugar, spice...

Maggie: What about BRAINS?! I've got BRAINS, too!

She Did NOT Eat the Proboscis

What am I going to do about this little girl who has started LYING about every blessed thing in her life?

Maggie, did you make this mess?

No, Ellie did it.

Ellie was with me.

Papa did it.

Papa is at work.

Farley did it.

Farley is outside. Besides, throwing princess dresses around isn't really what old Labrador retrievers like to do.

YOU did it.

Try again.

The giant did it.

What giant?

He's over there, under the blanket.

Let's go look... I don't see any giant.

He's invisible...

So the invisible giant took all of your princess stuff and threw it all over the floor.

He was looking for the Sleeping Beauty princess shoes.

Of course he was.

So, yesterday, we played Cootie. She gets it, and we can actually get through a game if Ellie's not around. But, clean up is a bitch. Let's see... There are 4 cootie bodies, 4 heads, 4 toppers (hats, antennae, etc.), 4 mouths, 4 sets of eyes, and 24 legs. The sheer number of parts makes it a "That Which Must Only Be Used with Adult Supervision" toy. But alas, Mama had to go to the bathroom. When it came time to clean up, we were one curly tongue-like part short.

Maggie, have you seen the missing Cootie piece? It looks like a curly tongue.

I ate it.

You're kidding. I didn't hear any choking or hear any whining.

No, I had to eat it, I was sick and it made me feel better.

Did you chew it?

No. Just swallowed it whole.

Okaaaay. Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

This morning, magically, it showed up on her bedsheet - and not through any indescribable in-one-end-and-out-the-other process.

I am grateful for her active imagination, and yet worried (and not a little pissed off) about her constant propensity to fib to me about the littlest thing. Hoping it's just a phase.


And this little stuffed puppy? He gets put on the blog because his name is "Little Easter Puppy Who Found the Eggs on the Back Porch." This has been his name for a few days running, even though it requires a deep breath to get the whole thing off one's lips. This is notable because 1. It is not yet Easter, so no eggs have been found anywhere. 2. We don't have a back porch.

Rainbows and Potty "Humor"

Yesterday was one of those days where the sun shines crisply and the next thing you know the puffy gray rain clouds roll in and let loose with ten minutes of rain and then the sky clears up. This almost always results in a plump rainbow off the east side of our house. At one point, the rain was coming down while the sun was out in the yard, so I called Maggie outside to look at the sky.

I let her sit on the banister of the porch while I hugged her around the waist from behind to keep her from falling. As we looked for the rainbow, she snuggled back into me, and I gave her a squeeze. She looked up at me and asked, "Mama, can we just stay like this forever?"

Me: "That would be nice wouldn't it?" (I plant a little kiss on top of her adorable blonde head.)

Mags: "Mama, what if you had pee pee on your head?! Ha ha ha!!! That would be gross!" Yep. And then the moment was over.

Breakfast for Two

Maggie's taking care of breakfast this morning - my only roles were to fry an egg, toast an English muffin and brew the coffee. At this rate, maybe it won't be that long until Jay and I can move into the outbuilding and leave the kids alone in the house... Oh, the quiet would be a nice change.

Top Ten List #8: The Great Toy Purge

For Christmas, I got Ellie and Maggie a little wardrobe from IKEA in which to keep all of their dress-up gowns, shoes, tutus, wings, jewels, hats, tiaras, and sundry accessories. They loved it. However, within 5 minutes of realizing it was a present, they had emptied out its contents and started using the two sides as individual dressing rooms. Yes, they had to contort themselves like circus performers to fit inside the cubbies, but it was fun. For them. For me, I saw a piece of furniture designed to bring order to our lives instantly reduced to a backdrop for a large supply of pink frilly crap on the floor.

For a bit, I'd put it away at night. And, I'd try to get Maggie to clean it up. Have you ever tried to get the wind to stop blowing? Leaves from falling to the ground in autumn? The sun from rising in the morning? It didn't work (although Ellie will actually clean stuff up on her own with just a little prompting.) But, one kid straightening up isn't good enough because the other one can always come along behind her and dump the box of Legos or toss an entire bookshelf on to the floor because she thinks her favorite bracelet might be in there behind the books. So, one day while they were at KinderCare, I got out a few giant trash bags and moved everything that was not put away into the bags and then into storage bins in the garage (see above). I figured they'd come home and freak out. But, do you know what? Nobody freaked out. I don't think anyone noticed. This was a few weeks ago, and honestly, we're all okay.

There's some good stuff out there. Some of it is stuff that I'd actually like to put back into circulation. Her freakin' Sleeping Beauty dress is out there! And Ellie's Cinderella dress! And the accessories for Maggie's Sleeping Beauty vanity! It does not work without the accessories, but she has not asked for them even one time. Not one. In fact, the other day, Maggie came to me and told me that I could make all of her toy food "get lost like my other stuff." So I did - that's the little white bin on the top. The thing of it is, that even with the piles of stuff in the garage (much of which was new at Christmas), there's still enough stuff to make this happen (see below). I asked Maggie today, "If you could just keep three toys, what would they be?" She couldn't even name three things - she just said, "My big girl bed." Am I doing something wrong here?

Top Ten List - #5: Show Tunes

Okay, this video is long and probably more than a little obnoxious unless you know and love my children. I did not coerce them into wearing swimsuits in the bathtub - that is completely their idea because it makes them feel more like mermaids. (It did provide the chance to make a post-able video, though...) I did try to get a shorter clip, but the song they chose to sing was their own version of "The Song That Doesn't End" - if you are fans of Lambchop (Here's your friendly warning - Do NOT click on that link...). So anyway, getting them to learn these songs takes some time, but adds so much pleasure to our lives. Our kids don't sing Barney songs. No, they pretend they're Mitzi Gaynor. And that's really one of the things that makes parenting these girls so much fun. We are currently working on the Mamma Mia songbook...

It's beginning to look alot like...

Northern Minnesota in January. The kids are loving the snow, and it's a nice change from our usual rain. But, because it's so atypical, we are now in the midst of the long wait that happens every time there is foul winter weather in the snow-plow-deprived Pacific Northwest. Back east - a little road salt and an army of plows would make this weather into merely a pleasant backdrop for Christmas shopping expeditions. Here, the roads get covered and you just WAIT for the day to come when the snow melts and the roads dry up. This could be tomorrow; it could be in mid-March.

Bad Mom alert: Notice neither of my children has boots. Neither do I. What's my problem?