Prunes

C5 and Q3 do like prunes. Which is good. So yesterday I offered them prunes for lunch, and C5 jumped at the chance to bring them. She negotiated how many she'd get, then she suggested that she bring EIGHT, one for each child at the lunch table.

I can't say no to sharing, so I said sure, and put eight in her lunch bag.

Turns out there were only three or four other children at her lunch table today. And none of them wanted prunes. I guess this shouldn't be much of a surprise, but I was thinking that a few of the children wouldn't want them and she'd end up with maybe four. Instead she ate eight.

And around 4:00 the results arrived. We had to leave the park quickity quick to get home to use the potty.

Reading in bed

Q woke this morning (a good thing, actually, we weren't sure what bit or burned her last night, and she appears to be fine this morning) and demanded I take her photo. And post them here.

So, without further ado, here are her poses, as she reads her new Cinderella book from J & C:

This one looks funereal to me:


Then she'd turn a page and ask me to click. I managed to get one without her posing:


But then there were more:


And more:


And finally:


If you are wondering, the version of Cinderella is by Barbara Karlin and illustrated by James Marshall. My favorite picture in the book is when the coach turns back into a pumpkin. It looks as if the pumpkin (gently) explodes and Cinderella is bounced up and out as the pumpkin breaks and the attendants turn back into animals.

Q wanted this

Q3 desperately wanted me to take a photo of her in her sleeping bag in her bed.
She actually was almost asleep here, just minutes after I went to get the camera:



But then she woke up and faked it a bit:

The tooth fell out.

Actually, it fell out at school. And C5 did not notice when it fell out. So we don't know if it fell out of her mouth or what. She claims it was there after breakfast (blueberry muffin at school), but around 10:00 am Mrs. B noticed that it was gone. The shark tooth had taken over and pushed it out.

Mrs. B promised to look for the tooth at school, but in the meantime, the toothfairy really does have to come. We planned on giving one golden (Sacagawea) dollar, and C40 claims to have a bunch in the basement. I'd planned on buying some at a bank, but that didn't happen because I got a last minute eye appointment and just made it in time to pick up Q3 before nap time. So, hopefully C40 IS finding them.



Hello, tooth fairy!

Gardening

Yes, this is the time of year for imagining a garden. I know I do it. What to plant, where to plant, when to plant.

Q3 received a lovely gardening kit for Christmas which was the surprise sleeper hit of the season. She played with it the rest of the afternoon when the opened it, gardening on the ottoman. She wanted to bring it to Massachusetts, but we said no.

So when we got back -- to freeeeeezing weather, frozen ground, and small piles of snow -- she brought it right back out. And demanded some seeds.

Preparing the soil:


Digging (you can see she gives up with the trowel and moves onto the plant marker to dig out in the frozen tundra)


and planting and watering


What you DON'T see is the next 15 minutes while she meticulously waters and tends those seeds. And the next hour when she demands that we go out to look and see if they've grown at all.

Happy girls

New year's goals

Me: (not too ambitious, but reasonable, I think, although the no treats will be difficult, I do love my sweets )
1) eat 5 fruits and veggies a day
and
2) only eat homemade treats, preferabley ones that I make.

C40:
1) No diet coke after 10:30 am
and
2) eat 5 fruits & veggies a day
(the former might be difficult. The latter should be easy for him)

C5: (she was VERY ambitious with this!)
1) No temper tantrums
2) Try new foods without fussing
3) Not too many sweets
4) Eat healthy
5) learn to sew

Q3: (living in the moment a bit)
1) No gummy worms before orange juice (I modified this to no eating candy before meals)
2) Juice after milk or water
3) No touching spindles
4) (Be a) good princess

So right after we set the goals C5 had a temper tantrum because I wanted her to try ham. Q3 tried it and went "yummmm!" and has had it almost every day since. C5 ... is now a vegetarian because she doesn't want to hurt the animals. But she did try egg yolks.