The Girl's Alright

Last night, after reading books, Julie asked Clara to tell her one thing about the day that hat made her happy, and Clara said, "Nobody hit me."  Now if that doesn't just crush your heart, Birdie Brigade, we don't know what does. One knows, of course, what a rough a tumble world it can be out there, especially in preschool, but still, there are moments that bring you up short. Julie asked Clara who hits her and learned it's the Frenemy Daphne.  FD also apparently tells Clara she's yucky, and while we could tell that big smelly stupid head a thing or two, instead, Julie told Clara that she loved her, and her tender little heart; and her creativity; how confident she is, always game for anything; and how she loves dazzle and sparkles and doing her hair up just like Mommy; and how she likes books, and just so many things and that Clara would always be in her heart.  And Clara said, "I love you, too, Mommy."  So that's alright, and that's what Our Birdie is.

Up on the Countetop

Working out is clearly agreeing with Joe because recently, he's taken to hoisting himself up on to the center island in the kitchen. Here he is perched up there after working out with Julie (and Ellen), eating pita chips, and thinking he's all kinds of hot stuff.

Our Hero Works Out

The other thing that Joe still thinks is pretty cool to do with Julie is work out.  (Clara, not so much.)  He's getting the lingo down as well as the moves.  The other work he informed Clara that it wasn't "doing exercises," it was "working out."  Joe is always a little disappointed when the DVD up in the rotation is the one requiring light hand weights.  Little wonder, Fans: Julie started out doing the workout with three-pound weights and then decided she was going to have to work up to those, so she uses two-pound weights.  That of course leaves the three-pound weights rattling around and Joe insists on using them, even though one of the people in the DVD (Michelle; oh we are on a first name basis with our preferred instructor, Ellen, and all her demonstration ladies, Fans) modifies the workout by not using weights at all.  So it is fair to say that Sleek Sculpt Express is the most difficult workout for Joe which is maybe why last night, he stripped down to his underwear for it.  We hasten to reassure you, Fans, that he does not actually hoist six pounds about for the whole workout.  The hand weights come and go even if, for the most part, he does not.  It's all very charming, Fans.  Especially when he turns to Julie and says things like, "We worked up some good energy, right, Mommy?"  As we say, he's getting the lingo down, and well, we like to talk to Ellen while we're working out.  When she's all, "We're doin' it today, man!", we're all "That's right, Ellen!"  And when she's all "I know the going gets tough, but you can do it!  You're tough!", we bite our tongue because we can't say "Shut up, Ellen," in front our five-year-old, because the going really is tough at that particular point.  Maybe it's less so in Batman underwear.

Getting Cooler Every Day

Snow fell all Monday afternoon here in the Great White North, so that by early evening when it was time to collect Our Hero from chess club, it was looking very winter wonderland outside.  Julie decided to walk to get Joe so they could crunch their way home in the snow and look at holiday lights on the way.  She'd brought his boots along, so Joe threw his backpack down in the hallway and plopped down to put them on.  After he got up and had tossed his backpack over one shoulder, Julie asked if he'd like to put his backpack straps on both shoulders.  This is when she got schooled again in not framing something she wants to happen as a question and elementary school trend setting, because this is when Joe looked at her and with great solemnity said, "No.  The big kids don't do that and I want to be like the big kids."  At least he's not too cool to walk home with his mommy in a new fallen snow looking at holiday lights--yet.

Rainbow Snowflakes Are Falling

We did quite a bit of crafting at the White House this past Thanksgiving weekend, as well as offsite at two different open kids' art studios.  The the second one we visited, they had Do-A-Dot paint markers at a table with some snowmen cutouts and larger sheets of paper.  The idea was to make wrapping paper, but the paper wasn't really of the wrapping paper weight, so Julie took to making snowflakes with it, and then do-a-dotting around them to make greeting cards, all of which made her realize snow flake making season was also upon us.  And that realization led to the attendant realization that the White House has large expanses of floor just ripe for spreading craft paper, all of which meant that it was probably high time to invest in some Do-A-Dot paint markers of our very own.  So she did, which is how Sunday afternoon found her making snowflakes which she and the bambini then do-a-dotted (or did a doodle-dot, as Clara would say) about them on the craft paper on the floor.  (This was when Ted was at Target purchasing their Christmas presents!)  The bambini passed the Do-A-Dot markers back and forth like there were eight thousand of them instead of just eight.  All was calm and all was bright.  And now we have stained glass colored snow flakes to hang up on the back doors.  It's the craft project that keeps on giving, Fans!