Saturday is brrr...

It was almost 60 degrees here on Friday and when we got up, the sun was shining on Saturday morning. Seemed like a perfect excuse to get out to the woods and do some walking!

So, we packed everyone up with a picnic lunch and headed out to Cuivre River state park. When we arrived, We discovered our favorite playground was not open and therefore our favorite trail wasn't open either. So... We improvised. We ate our lunch in the car and then hit the trails. Which is when we discovered that is was only 40 degrees outside and a few of us were terribly under dressed. Oh well! Hike on!

It was a gorgeous, crisp afternoon and just what we needed after a busy week. Although halfway through the hike I think John and I both questioned why we were doing it. Two complaining kids can make even a peaceful,pretty walk a tortuous affair! By the end, one of them was sobbing because they were convinced we wouldn't ever see the car again. The other was alternating between crying about a wet shoe and having cold hands. Making family memories!

How to...

Crawl and carry things. It is hard to crawl and carry something in your hand. Much easier to just carry your favorite sock in your mouth. Yummy!

Pantry

Oh Hello!
 
This is my favorite place!  It is fun to pull up and has so many things to look at and chew on.  Makes Mom pretty nervous, but I think she should quit worrying.  I totally have this standing up thing!  Just don't look too closely at the bumps and scrapes on my face... 

An experiment..

In an effort to get Gemma sleeping somewhere other than my closet, we have put the two big kids together in the same room.

Will we regret it?

Will anyone ever sleep again?

They are both sleeping here, which surprisingly wasn't as hard as we thought it might be. Which only means tomorrow we will think it will be a piece of cake and it will be awful.

It's still a pretty rough set up. Neither John or I were certain enough to so massive amounts of furniture rearranging and moving. We shall see...

Conversations

In the car, we drive by a small war memorial in our city just about anytime we go anywhere. There is a plaque, many pairs of metal boot sculptures lining the pavement, a burning torch, and a small parking area. We talk about it from time to time and this weekend as we were driving by, the following conversation happened.

William: mom, dad?
Dad: yes William?
William: sometimes I feel sad. I feel sad for all those people over there who lost their boots in Missouri. I hope they find their boots soon.
Mom: (laughing) (John and I cannot look at each other without bursting out laughing)

....................

Today at lunch:

William: but what did she look like? (Grandma Heidt)
John: oh... Well (distracted by helping Amelia with her lunch)
William: what color was her hair?
John: it was shiny and dark brown. Sometimes it looked black.
William: what color were her eyes?
John: gray. Sometimes they were blue, but most of the time they were gray.
William: what color was her skin?
John: white.
William: what?
John: her skin was the same color as ours William. Whatever you want to call it.
William: my skin is peachy colored. I'm peach. Was grandma peachy too?*




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Gemma wants to dance

Here is Gemma peeking in the doorway to the dance studio. She would love to be with the big girls!

Trigonometry is next

The last few nights have been tiring. Monday night Gemma was up every 30-45 minutes for no explainable cause. Then Tuesday night, she slept better- only up twice. However, William was up 3 different times with painful foot cramps. So, I was up 5 times. I think. Kind of all runs together.

On Wednesday, we were driving to ballet class in our minivan (Gemma, Amelia, mom). Amelia is vigorously kicking the back off Gemma's seat.

Mom: Amelia please stop kicking please.

Amelia: mom! I'm not kicking! I'm stomping.

Mom: Amelia! Stop stomping then.

Amelia: ok (kicking noise stops)

(Kicking noise resumes, although to a different rhythm.)

Mom/ (tired, patience gone): Amelia! Stop! Kicking!

Amelia: but mom! I'm not kicking. I'm dancing ( even though she is 2 rows behind me, I can tell she is smiling)!

Mom(arg! Is it bedtime?): Amelia! Keep your feet quiet!


(Quiet for a moment, then very soft kicking noise resumes)

Mom: AMELIA! (I'd like to tell you it wasn't shrieking, but I'm afraid it was)

Amelia: my feet just wanted to go for a quiet walk mom.

(Head exploding, silently praying for patience)

Amelia: what is 3+3?

Mom (what? I'm still busy talking myself down off of a cliff here and trying to see a color other than red)
What?

Amelia: what is 3+3?

Mom: I don't know? What is 3+3?

Amelia: 3+3 is 6!
Mom: you are right! 3+3 IS 6!
Amelia: that means there are 6! Seats! In our van!

Mom: whaaaat? (Am confused..)

Amelia: there are 3 seats on this side of the van (points to the left) and 3 seats on that side (points to the right). That means there are 6 seats in our van.

Mom: mouth hanging open. Yes! Yes! 6 seats in the van! (Seriously? Addition, word problem, grouping numbers together? There are MANY mathematical skills involved in this little statement here)



*this is what parenting is like for me. It is 90% the absolutely hardest work I've ever done....and then there are these moments of clarity and brilliance that remind me about everything. Why I'm working so hard, why this is so important, how special these kiddos are, etc. But the late wake up calls, mountains of laundry and constant fighting? This job isn't glamorous y'all.


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