Mya has a science project due soon which I pretty much hate because it gives me the kind of stress I had when I was in school. I thought I was done with that when I got my associates degree at the local community college. Turns out, having kids forces you to do school all over again. That's totally fine. I was super good at school. Straight A's actually. I was not great at college, however. Way too much freedom for an 18 year old. I digress. I just hate science projects. Science isn't my thing. My first B was in science. Okay I'm lying. I got a C in chemistry. It brought down my whole GPA and I didn't get into the Honor society. I'm still bitter. I was a straight A student until 10th grade though.
For her science project, Mya chose to prove that you can make colored water turn clear by adding bleach. It worked. I just don't have that pic handy.
Dan has been home for a while kind of bored out of his gourd. He wants to do so many things like remodel the kitchen or build a workbench but he can't because he just had surgery so he's forced to sit around. I often come in the kitchen to find him staring at cupboards with his arms crossed in front of him. It's how he plans all of his projects. The first stage is staring at the area for minutes at a time and working out exactly what he's going to do with it in his head. The second stage is online research. The third stage is going to hardware stores or other stores that carry cabinets, tile etc. The fourth stage is calling around to local companies or having people come over to the house so he can pick their brain and get estimates. Then comes the actual doing of the project. That's my wife perspective at least. But fortunately for him, the two stages involve sitting around so he can totally do that right now.
Having him home sort of throws us all off because we're used to him leaving for a couple of days and then coming back home. The kids and I slack off a bit when he's gone. We don't clean as thoroughly, we aren't as punctual, bedtimes tend to be a bit later and homework isn't done perfectly. Then the night before he comes home, we clean the house and act like responsible people. It totally works for us. I'm not saying that Dan is too rigid and I'm not saying I'm too laid back. We are the perfect mixture of both working together beautifully to create a thing called marriage. We're just used to not having Daddy home all the time.
It has been so cold lately this last month that I haven't been my usual anti-home self. Normally, I hate being at home unless I'm manically purging and organizing Marie Kondo Style. Home feels cage-like. Outside feels free and fun. But it's been soooo cold! And my closet is not prepared for this kind of weather. It is filled with sweaters, jeans, thin socks and converse. I need snow attire. I'm not even being dramatic. The weather people issued a cold weather warning a couple of weeks ago. Keep your pets inside they said. It's serious.
So as a result, we've been spending a bit too much time together as a family. Dan loves it. I think about running away frequently. I'm kidding. It's way too cold to run away.
Whilst playing with her barbies the other day, Addie asked us, "Do people eat mermaids?"
Without even pausing to think about the oddness of the question, or even looking up from his phone, Dan responded, "All the time." Addie accepted his answer and kept playing with her barbies.
Also heard from the lips of my 5 year old:
Addie: Mom, I have a secret to tell you. I have a boyfriend and his name is Oliver S.
Me: Really! What does that mean exactly?
Addie: I have no idea.
Here are the girls' class portraits from this year. I know I'm way late. They were taken in October I think. They missed the the first picture day because we were on vacation. They actually just took their spring photos last week. Doesn't matter. Here they are. Wendy is still buying them because she insists they are necessary.
Mya Lynn - 4th grade
Winter Paige - 2nd grade
Adelyn Marie - TK
(If you ask Addie to recreate this smile, she totally can. It's her fake smile)
This chandelier is like 10 feet high. The girls threw doll clothes up there "accidentally" and then threw more doll clothes up there to get the "accidental" ones back down. So now there are like 4 baby items hanging from the chandelier. Whatever. And by the way, I totally knew how to spell chandelier without spell check. And that's something to be proud of. Fun fact: When I tried out for the spelling bee in 6th grade, I misspelled my first word, cartwheel. So I didn't get to participate. Spelling's not my thing. Ironically, I've always been REALLY good at cartwheels.
Winter is a wounded horse...obviously. And all those torn pieces of paper on the blanket are hay... obviously.
I love that Winter can dress up super fancy with a frilly sequencey dress and heels for no reason at all OR play dart wars with the neighbor boys in the rain, whatever she's feeling that day.
The other day when the rain couldn't decide if it was coming or going, the confusion caused this awesome giant rainbow in our "backyard." I yelled Where's the good camera?! How long do rainbows last?! Fortunately, long enough to get this pic.
I like to report the good and bad of motherhood because there is often a lot of both. That's reality. But the good parts are so good. And the bad parts aren't really that bad. Winter and Mya drive me nuts because they are still learning so much about what it means to be a kind, selfless human. Aren't we all.
BUT it makes me so proud when they are kind to their little sister and bro without me even suggesting it. This is Winter helping Addie with her homework.
It's hard to know what her actual homework is because they play school all the time and Winter has collected materials from teachers over the years. We actually did the wrong assignment first. I had Addie put it in her backpack to turn it in to her teacher the next day. She would have been slightly confused.
But then I found this one, the one her teacher actually assigned, at the bottom of a stack of papers.
Mya and Angus didn't make the cut I guess. She only had 3 spaces after all.
Mya likes to go to her school library and get books to read to Angus. I know. She's pretty amazing. Last week Angus demanded a construction vehicle book and trash truck book. She brought home both.
After dinner last night, Angus took a deep breath, let it out and said, "Well, that was a goooood eat." Love him.
Mya came home last week and told me she got to go to a track and field competition at the local college because she was the winner of the frisbee competition for the 4th grade girls. She was the only girl who entered so she won by default. But she did beat a lot of the boys as well, she said. All those vacations in Newport paid off I guess. So we went to the track and field meet but it was canceled at the last minute due to rain. Boo. She would have done awesome though, I'm sure.
I saw this on Mya's dresser. She said Angus missed me when I wasn't home one night. His reason? Because I have a giant head of course. Why else.
Why she would want to write that down, I'm not sure. He mentioned it again the other day. He said, "Mom I wuv yo big head." It's fine. I know my head is quite normal in size. It is pretty big compared to his I guess. It's like the time Addie told me I had big knees. And Winter commented on the fact that my butt was so big that I didn't fall through the toilet like she did as a 4 year old. My kids are observant which is a good thing.
"No one ever pets these guys" This was really nice of Mya because she doesn't like getting dirty or being around smelly things. She also doesn't really like being around boys at school because they tend to sweat during recess. I'm good with that.
A typical Friday night at the Wags. Kids and laundry covering our bed.
Thrift store find. Best $3.99 I've ever spent. Who would get rid of this? I don't know if you can zoom in but you can see me in the mirror, mouth open big, not sure why. Perhaps I'm making lion noises.
One night at the dinner table last week:
Dan baked some scalloped potatoes we got from Costco. They were actually pretty good but I knew they would not go over well with the kids. Dan always insists the kids have to try at least one bite of everything. I could care less. My goal is for them to have some fruit or veggies with their rice or noodles. Angus loves blueberries, Addie loves baby carrots, Mya likes tomatoes and Winter eats everything, including salad. The only thing she does not eat is potatoes. Even french fries are disgusting to her. So I knew she would NOT be on board with creamy cheesy potatoes. And Addie is Winter's little groupie so whatever Winter says is what Addie says.
Dan bribed Winter and Addie with candy. Winter took a bite and said it was disgusting. Addie, who has a strong gag reflex, took a deep breath and took a bite. Immediately she turned red and started gagging. Mya screamed and covered her ears and closed her eyes. If you're new around here, Mya has a giant puke-phobia. I put up my napkin to Addie's mouth and told her to spit it out. She did. No puke thank goodness. Mya immediately put her plate in the sink and went upstairs, far away from gaggy Addie.
Addie 10 points, Dan 0.
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