Gingerbread houses

This year I don't get a house. But C5 & Q3 did. I made 9 small houses for Q3's classmates to decorate, and then I made two houses for us to decorate.

Here is before:


And here is after.

This is C5's house front:

And back (notice the lolipops holding the house up!)


And Q3's house (notice all the gummy worms on the roof. Her favorite part of doing the house!):

What is strange about this photo?

No, it isn't that C5 is playing with a boy. It is that she's wearing my shoes. She sought them out and put them on and walked around with them on. Yes, I know that it is usually 1 year olds who do that. Whatever. This was a milestone for C5 who NEVER did that before. She's usually more comfortable in her own fancy clothes.

Not the stork

So, sitting, having dinner, Q3 says to me, "Did I come from a store?" I'm not sure where that came from exactly, but there it was. So, I said no, you didn't come from a store, and explained that a sperm + an egg creates a baby and the baby grows where? and she cutely gave me a coy smile, circled her arm wide and pointed to her chest/tummy. I agreed and said, yes, the uterus.

And then C5 came in and said "In the woahmmbh. The wooom-b" She was having a difficult time saying womb, because of the silent b.

But then C5, who gets the sperm + egg, man + woman thing, (and has a book called What's the Big Secret? which I know she's read a couple of times, and I've read it to her a couple of times, asked "But. What about two women? How do they get a baby? K39 & T don't have sperm"

Uh. No, they don't. So I explained how K39 went to the doctor and the doctor helped her get some sperm so she could have a baby. Get it? Got it. Good. No further explaination needed.

Ahhhh. Explaining how two daddies can adopt a child was a little easier.

Water

So, a continuation on yesterday's adventure.

Coming home after not getting a tree, we started driving home, stopped at Target to get a couple of gifts for a toy giveaway, and headed home for lunch.

But then C5 got thirsty, and I gave her the water. Q3 said she was thirsty, too, so I reminded C5 that the water was to share. And she slowly, very deliberately, tilted her head up and sucked the rest of the water down as best she could.

Q3 started bawling. Of course.

So, after telling C5 that we were upset with her, that she had been selfish, we pulled into a Dunkin' Donuts and C40 went in with Q3 and bought her a water and a chocolate donut. Devestating for C5. Unfair, she claimed (although I told her it was fair, but not equal). But she got it. She cried over it, and said she should have given Q3 ALL of the water so she (C5) could have had a donut, and not Q3.

Even if it doesn't quite work that way, she would have done the right thing. Maybe next time.

Our Christmas Tree

So, the thought was to get our tree this weekend, set it up, and decorate it. Of course, we started late, and ended up going on Sunday, instead of Saturday, so we wouldn't be able to have it soak in a bucket of water for 24 hours.

I could live with that, so off we went on Sunday to a local-enough cut your own Christmas Tree place. The website indicated a number of tree species ... but when we got there they had only two varieties. Growing, the Douglas Fir, and precut at about 8 feet tall, from North Carolina, the Fraser Fir.

We got there, walked a bit through the trees, enjoyed the view, and threw a few snowballs.





But then Q3 got a little cranky. See her refusing to look at the camera?



So Q3 and I walked back to the car, and I left C40 & C5 together to pick a tree, even though Douglas Firs aren't my favorite. Once we sat in the car the crying stopped and Q3 said she just didn't want to be outside. So we sat and listened to Christmas carols.

But then C5 had to use the potty, and the Port-O-Potty is NOT an option. As you'd know if you'd ever been in a car with us. So, they soon came down the hill after us. And into the car we went. Without a tree.

First snow of the season

Leopards.

I picked up Q3 this afternoon early so we could have lunch together. While we were sitting together I was zoning out a bit flipping through a catalog, since she was playing with her computer. But then she started talking and this caught my attention:

Q3: How to they turn back into people after being leopards?
E39: [??] What people? Where did you hear that?
Q3: In a song
E39: People don't turn into leopards
[pause]
Q3: Why did Jesus touch the leopards?
E39 [Lightbulb!]: Oh, lepers ... people with leprosy, not leopards.

I tried to explain love, and compassion, and bacteria, and society. But I think Q3 just heard "blah blah blah" and had more questions.

Q3: Who gets leprosy?
E39: Oh, men, women. Nobody I know has leprosy.
Q3: We never. [she was positive about this!]
E39: No, we don't have leprosy ... Armadillos can get leprosy.
Q3: Did Jesus touch them?
E39: I don't know, but I'm sure if Jesus had seen an armadillo with leprosy he would have touched it.
Q3: Why?
E39: To heal them.

So, it was an interesting conversation. I'm not sure how I handled it. I don't actualy mind that the kids learn this ... but they don't seem to have the full of it it they are really thinking that people are turning to leopards and then back again.