note to self: all-matching clothes next year

Before kindergarten every day, I remind Claire what she has to do to earn her after-school treat. Last week it was "be polite and raise your hand to answer questions at least three times."

Claire: "I'll just raise my middle finger." Then she demonstrated by giving me the flipper [edited-for-TV version of The Matrix, anyone? That's my favorite scene, after all the ones with gratuitous violence, of course].

Me: "Well, that's considered rude. Better raise your hand."

Clare: "I'll just raise all five fingers, then."

Me: "That's a good idea. Now, you're zebra-stripe pants look a little wild with your polka-dot shirt, 'cause it's brown and your pants are black and white. We should change one of them. Should I get your brown pants or your shirt with the zebra on it?"

Claire: "But the stripes are white and the polka-dots are white. I want them to match!" (getting a little upset)

Me: "OK, I won't make you change if you don't want to. Are you sure you want to wear this?"

Claire: "Yes."

And I decided to be happy that she at least wouldn't be flipping off the teacher. Gotta choose your battles.

School!

Here are the kids after their first few weeks in school. Some parents take pictures the first day of school, and some wait until they can find the camera batteries, they remember, and their kids are all wearing something presentable.

Visitors!

Our first visitors were my high school physics/algebra/pre-cal teacher and his wife. They are retired, were making a cross-country trip, and were kind enough to stop by. I wish I'd gotten a picture of them. If you know Virginia, you could get some pictures of us and the way we live from her. When they arrived, I was picking the kids up from school. I'd told them earlier on the phone to just come in--I'd leave the door unlocked. So, while I was gone, Byron and Virginia came in and Viriginia took pictures of the house for my mom. Sadly, the house was in it's natural state, namely, a disaster area. I'd decided to make a cake for their visit rather than clean the house. You can't do everything, people. And Claire's program has worn away my sense of shame, with tutors coming and going 4-6 days a week. In the beginning I tried hard to make them (the tutors, I mean) believe I kept an immaculate house. That lasted less than a week. It was too exhausting. If you have 3+ kids and know how to keep a clean, tidy house, make meals, do laundry, shower daily, and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night, please let me know how you do it. I'd really like to know. Whoa, tangent. Anyway, in spite of the house, we had a really nice visit. Maybe clean houses are over-rated. Enough with the house!! I thought my sense of shame was gone, but maybe it's not. Back to the visit--Byron and Virginia are so sweet, and interesting! Did you know Virginia was Homecoming Queen in college her junior year? And Byron is mapping pioneer trails in Idaho, along with collecting antique looms and making tapestries! They should have a blog. Oh, and my cake was really good. Thank you, Food Nanny.

Two days ago my cousin Clayton, his wife Marianne, daughter Eleanor and son Winston dropped by--they live in the middle of the mitten, I think. We're more at the bottom left corner. That's Michigan-speak, folks, if you don't follow. See, I did get some pictures them.

Is it me, or are all the cutest kids in the world my relatives? Sorry, people who aren't in my family. Too bad Winston was asleep by the time I got the camera out. He's like his sister-- sweet and full of smiles. I thought Clayton and Marianne were all right, too, until they thumped me and Jake in pool. (Have I mentioned our house came with a pool table?!) I'm not sure if they're welcome here anymore. Kidding! You guys are always welcome. As long you lose next time.

Kalamazoo

When we were little we had these really great baby-sitters named Jennifer and Jill. My sister's name is Lynsey, and Jennifer taught us this silly rhyme:

Lynsey Lou from Kalamazoo
Went to the zoo and got the flu.
Went to bed with Fred,
and when she woke up, she was wed.

One of my brothers changed 'wed' to 'wet her pants,' which was funnier and made more sense to us because one of us had a bedwetting problem. I'm not going to mention any names, but it wasn't me, and it wasn't one of my brothers.

Anyway, what brought all this to mind is this: Kalamazoo is a real place. It's in Michigan, and the kids and I are moving there next month. Jake is already there. He starts his new job (same company, different plant) tomorrow. The kids and I are just waiting for our house to close (yes, we're buying a house! knock on wood and cross your fingers! It seems too good to be true! Or too awful to be true, depending on whether you're talking to me or Jake), and then we'll join him.

The kids are finally starting to come around. Today they seemed almost excited. Until this morning, there have been a lot of tears. We're close to grandparents here, live in a great neighborhood, and those will be tough to leave. But, I feel strongly this is the right move. Wish us luck!

Claire had a birthday

Shout hurray! She hit her own pinata! She welcomed her birthday guests! Her cake wasn't burnt to a tough cardboard texture like Anne's was! She's excited to be 6! I'm too lazy to upload video footage of the party, so you'll have to content with the lame picture I took--the one on top was taken by a friend of mine the same day.

Body Art

Damon used washable (thank Heaven!) markers to make Anne a sabre tooth tiger and Claire an alien.
I used to get nervous whenever the house was too quiet--it meant the kid were in to something they shouldn't be. Now if it sounds like they're having too much fun, I know it's time to find out what they're up to. Then reinforce the naughty behavior by taking a picture.

Swimming Lessons

This is the safety float: Damon and Claire have it mastered (though you wouldn't know it to hear Claire--she usually screamed, "Teacher, grab me!" while doing it). Anne can do it for 5 seconds or so.