Sunday, August 27, 2017

Happenings

1. Lily has started Kindergarten. She was nervous and excited. After the end of her second week, while she helped me make the dough for Pizza Movie night, I asked her a few questions:
  • What is your favorite memory from this summer? Going to Hawaii and snorkeling. Goring to my grandparents house and swimming every day. 
  • What are you most looking forward to this school year? Doing lots of art. 
  • What is your teacher's name? Mrs. Erickson. 
  • What is your favorite part of the day? Whenever we get to do art. Like coloring with smelly markers or making a project. 
  • What is one new thing you learned in school so far? To keep our hands and feet to ourselves. 
2. On our walk home from that first day of school, Violet ran ahead shouting "Sisters are gone! Sisters are gone!" When we walked in the door she ran to the Legos, still shouting, "I get to play with the Legos. Sisters are gone, these are all mine." Obviously, she was struggling with a little seperation anxiety. For a grand total of three hours, she play independently and happily. Honestly, a rareity this summer. And then, when I told her it was time to go and get Lily, she groaned and complained: "Already?  It went by way to fast."

3. When we moved into this house, the front yard and back yard were alright: a little scrubby, but noot terrible. Over the past year, between the drought and the inside projects, we kind of forgot about the outside, until one sunny Saturday morning in the early spring, we decided that something needed to be done. We impulsively hired a few day laborors and took out all the overgrowth and rotting planter boxes. However, we had no idea what to plant, or really how to do landscaping. And, did I mention we have multiple black thumbs. We've killed succulents, which is basically impossible to do. Being such landscaping neophytes, we took to walking the neighborhood and taking pictures of neighbors front yards (which, in hindsight, probably looked really creepy and suspicious.) We then starting frequenting every garden center in the tri-valley area. Since then we have compared mulch types and had date nights discussing fertilizer options. During the course of the past few months, we've replaced the entire sprinkler system, moved the valve system, broken two power tillers, but today, the sprinklers automatically when off this morning at 6:30am. We high-fived each other when we heard the water rushing through, and took our coffee to the front steps to watch it water our new groundcover.

4. We are obsessed with audible and audio books. We listened to the Ramona Quimbly Collection all summer, and have listened to the first two Little House books, narrated by Cherry Jones (both are amazing). We are nearly finished with Anne of Green Gables, and I have been listening to Pride & Prejudice while I fold laundry and do dishes. J has listened It and Peter Pan and Dracula while working on the front yard.

5. Lily, the latest ballerina soccer player, declared yesterday, over chocolate crossiants and juice after her first soccer game, that "soccer wasn't nearly as fun as she thought it should be."
6. The girls have been obsessed with learning about different European Monarchies. It's not that they are interested in the tiaras and diamonds and princess gowns, but they want to know which have been overtaken by revolution. Their latest pretend game is Princess and Guard. Lily is the Russian princess. Daisy is the guard, keeping her locked up. Violet throws all the stuffed animals and stomps her feet as an angry mob. While I love their creative play, I'm a bit concerned about the intensity. Whatever happened to playing fairies? 

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