A Quiet Sunday Morning

The little girls are makers.  Cutting out paper hearts and writing love notes are Rosie's favorite.  Gracie likes to cook, create with Lego, and do whatever it is that Rosie's doing.  Sometimes making valentines is a little tame, though, and empty moving boxes become rocket ships.

This morning they took their engineering prowess a step further and made a transmogrifier, a la "Calvin and Hobbes."





Unlike Calvin's original, Rosie's and Gracie's transmogrifier offers gender-reassignment; Graham thought that he'd like to use that function. The girls were agreeable, but before the transformation could take place Jason noticed our bouncy boy was especially bouncy and suggested Graham go jump on the trampoline for a few minutes.  As he went out the door, Graham announced, "I'll go take my gender outside."

Best moment all morning.

Argument Won!

Cami and Graham were just arguing in another room.  It happens often that I don't really pay much attention.  But the conclusion caught my attention (and gave me the giggles.)

G:  issues some random insult.

C:  What you say is what you are!

G (yelling with irritation):  YOU'RE THE BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!

Makes Me Laugh

Graham just asked me, "Mom, do you want to hear some bad news?"

"What's your bad news, honey?" I asked.

"That I haven't any good news."

Tooth or Truth?

Graham just came to me & Jason to report that he "couldn't feel [his] wobbly tooth."  He thinks it was probably the thing that was "too hard to swallow" in his bedtime apple.  Nevertheless, it appears that it made it's way down his throat.

Still, Tooth Fairy visits are important.  And Jason had this conversation with him.

Jason: It's okay, the Tooth Fairy will come anyway.

Graham: Is the Tooth Fairy real?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think she's not real. Am I right?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think I'm right.... Is the Tooth Fairy a grown-up? I mean, is it you and Mommy?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think it is. Am I right?

Jason: What do you think?

Graham: I think I'm right. But I want to know what you think.

Jason: I think you're probably right too.

The Artist

Graham came to me this morning, with a heart-broken expression.  In near-tears he choked out, "Mom, my room is a MASTERPIECE of a mess!"

Love This Kid

Graham bounded into the kitchen just before supper time, "I smelled a rumbly tummy and it was in Mr. Graham."

A Good Morning Moment

Sitting on the sofa in the dark with Gracie & Graham this morning, Graham spontaneously sang a little song.

I'm a chilly bean
In a chilly pot.
I am cold,
I'm not hot.

When I asked where he learned it, he said that he had just made it up.  And it's made me smile as it runs through my mind all morning long (well, so far -- it's only 7:30).

Employment

Graham:  What's Daddy's job?

Starr:  Daddy's an instructor at the university.  He teaches philosophy.

Graham:  What's your job?

Starr: To be Mom.  Before I was Mom, though, I was an instructor at a university.  I taught people how to write.  Not how to form letters, but how to write books and things like that.

Rosie:  My job is to be a child.

En Garde!

Two children with wooden swords at Skipton Castle. What do you expect?

Graham's Proposal

Graham told me this morning that he was going to marry his friend Susie.  He explained that when he marries Susie, he won't just be marrying "her beautiful face." 

I asked if he was also going to marry her for her beautiful spirit. 

"No," he responded, "Everybody's got a beautiful spirit.  Just when I marry her, I'll marry her beautiful face and the rest of her, too."

Playtime

Nostell Priory has a really terrific playground.  It's set into the woods, and the equipment is made out of natural materials so everything fits the environment. The equipment looks really simple, but is deceptively quirky.  That balance beam Graham is one has four interconnecting beams, two of which are on hydraulics, so when you get to one end it either tilts up or down. The tire swings are also interconnected, so that how much you bounce & how high you can swing is effected by the other two riders.

Graham's ribs are very visible when he flips upside-down over the back of the sofa, so I observed, "You are long and skinny."

He responded, "You are tall and fat."

Thanks, kid.

An Easter "Bonnet"

I came home from my trip to Missouri & learned that Graham wanted to wear a decorated hat to school on the day the Easter bunny would visit. Jason, being the awesome dad he is, had already got the stuff to meet Graham's requirements: "springs," pompoms, & googly-eyes. My guys put this together in about 10 minutes -- pretty cool stuff.

Blockbuster

When I collected Graham from school today, his teacher reported that Graham had provided a "classic moment."

The students had recently had an educational unit about "Money," where they created a small shop & sold crafts. After deducting expenses, they had a fair profit & today they decided what to do with those funds. The majority of their profit will be donated to a charity, but they reserved a portion to buy a movie or game for their classroom for recess periods. Graham, however, proposed that he rent out his favorite movie "Spy Kids" for a pound.

Birthday Tradition

So, tomorrow I officially enter my late thirties. Huh.

Now, we have our family birthday cake that I always make. And it will get topped with candles (although not 36). But this isn't the tradition that I'm thinking about.

It's the don't-make-plans-because-one-of-your-children-will-be-ill tradition. And we're on track. Graham has been running a fever since Wednesday night -- and now I'm feeling terrible. This is a first. Usually I just spend all day in bed cuddling the miserable one. In fact, one of my favorite birthdays was 2008 when I received three books about England. I spent the day in my big, beautiful, pillow-top, king-size bed (oh, I miss that bed) with Graham. The best moment was looking in his eyes as he drifted to sleep.

Graham's Love List

Graham told me yesterday that he loves me almost as much, just a teeny bit less, than his Special Love (aka Gracie).

If I were the jealous sort I think I'd find comfort in that. Graham frequently reports that he loves Jason just a teeny bit less than he loves Jason's iPhone.

Happiness Is...

happiness is telling Graham we were about to play Little Drummer Boy & have him ask, "Is that rum-pa-pum?"

Happiness Is...

happiness is having Graham delightedly exclaim, "We're working together!" as he, Rosie, & I fold a crepe paper streamer

Happiness Is...

happiness is hearing Graham say he loves his school teacher

Graham's Riddle Today

What goes "Tok, tok, tok?"

A clock that lost its "tick."