Never to be left out, I just heard Ellen yell to Kim: E: “Mom, what’s 12 times 12?” K: “144” E: “so that means that 12 is the square root of 144?” K: “…um…yes.” She’s in 2nd grade.
I know, it’s been ages. I’ve been busy. But I was just sitting in my room and hear Katie grunting something out. “one. ugh. Twooo.” and I’m sitting thinking, “what’s wrong?” and then she picks up pace a bit, “buckle my…shoe” and I wait. now, faster, and with a beat, “three…four…open. the. door.” I listen…
Work has been so crazy busy lately, but I can peek my head out a bit to wish Happy Birthday to Ellen. Happy 8th Birthday, peanut! Her birthday was a quiet affair this year. They went to Paint a Pot and…painted pots. I made dinner last night for Ellen who, when asked what she wanted…
I’ve been marooned at my in-laws for 5 days and, although it’s been better than has been typical, there are still little things that make me crazy. The first “feature” of my in-laws home that leaps out at me is their choice in clocks. Not content with a quietly clicking or even silent timepiece, they…
So, our annual “live” tree is up for the year. Covered in ornaments, lights, and the arch enemy of the cats, it sits in all it’s soon-to-be-dried-up-and-dead glory in the corner of our living room. It’s actually kinda nice looking, although we forgot to turn off the radiator and one side got fried (we clipped…
Tonight I was faced with the unenviable task of having to explain to Katie and Ellen that one of Katie’s classmates died a few days ago. We sat down to dinner, and before we started, I asked each of them what they thought happens when someone or something dies. They told me what they thought,…
So today was/is Thanksgiving, and a week’s worth of preparation yielded some good food. The menu was: • Turkey (of course), brined in vegetable stock, cooked A La Alton Brown’s suggestion. • Blue Corn cornbread/yam/ham stuffing • Cauliflower with mustard-cheddar sauce • Roasted maple-brown butter carrots • Cranberry sauce (Kim made it, don’t know the…
Ellen brought me a card she just finished making to send to her cousin, Sarah. The text, which she made up, is as follows: You are like the Cornacopia. You carry wishes and love. Happy Thanksgiving, Sarah. Love, Ellen. How sweet is that??
This came from my parents today: “We were discussing katie’s relationship with victoria. As you know, katie has been helping victoria with english as russian is her native language. I pointed out that’s because victoria probably came from russia to the united states. Katie said it was a good thing victoria moved here otherwise she’d…
Ellen has always been a very empathic kid, frequently breaking down and crying if anyone else was unhappy. Katie, however, has rarely displayed that sort of behavior. She doesn’t exactly rub salt in people’s wounds, but she’s also doesn’t just burst into tears when anyone around her does. However, today, Kim told me a story…