Dagger

When I changed Grant's sheets over the weekend, I found that he sleeps with a small pirate dagger under his pillow.

Poor Graham.

You're Not Creative

If you score in the second percentile for creativity, you might be the child of two former marketing professionals. Oh, the irony!

Yes, that percentile is out of 100. And yes, I'm serious. He is, after all, a kid who takes instructions very literally, and gets upset if he puts a Lego out of place per the instructions of the set.

In the course of his gifted evaluation, Carter was given three different creativity tests. His highest score percentile was 76, and his lowest was 2.

He had qualifying (and not just by a little bit, either) scores on the two intelligence sections; bombed creativity; and missed motivation by *this much*. (He needed 90 and scored 86). He needed three sections out of four. Given that margin and the fact he's been subjected to six homeroom teachers (two maternity leaves, each split between two long-term subs) ... his classes have been in survival mode ... our discussions aren't finished. Jack has had a meeting with the gifted teacher who reviewed Carter, and we are continuing to pursue Carter's qualification.

Buzz and Woody

In case you missed it on my Facebook page, it's Throwback Thursday  ... Buzz and Woody style. What the current pictures fail to capture, is the fight we face when the boys are faced with these outfits (and likewise, with Spider-Man and Superman). Both demand to be Woody (and Superman).

Pajamas and Pancakes

Wednesday was Pajamas and Pancakes day at preschool. It's my day off, but my one-year-old-teacher cohort and I were asked to make the pancake lunch for the other classes. Seeing as she is my Pioneer-Woman-loving, other-half in the kitchen, we were happy to oblige. We two are the Betty Crockers (or, as we both prefer, the Pioneer Women) of the preschool staff. I made a ten-fold batch of buttermilk pancakes from scratch, and she made some awesome grit concoction for the teachers. I don't eat grits, but I will make these and eat them.

Students who normally don't care to eat their lunches, were putting back IHOP-sized portions, and the four-year-old class asked this morning, if we would make them more pancakes.

Sleeping Hulk

This kid *seriously* loves his sleep! He falls asleep on the way home from preschool, and doesn't wake up when I take him from the van, to his bed.

Front-Row Seat

Grant and Graham got a flip-out toddler couch from Santa. We thought Graham would like it because the Ninja Turtles are some of the few characters he likes. I think Grant likes it better, though. He likes having his own front-row seat for movies.

Facing Forward

We turned the boys' car seats forward right before Christmas. They weren't complaining about rear-facing (they faced Carter and Ellyson, so they were pretty well entertained). But they were pretty happy with their new view on our drive to Pennsylvania.

Handsome

We don't always get all the kids dressed "up" for church, but when we do, it usually makes us late.

Though, in all honesty, we're usually late, regardless of how we dress.

Overalls

What's cuter than a little boy in overalls?

Nothing. Unless it's two little boys in overalls.

They were fighting over the red Ninja Turtle socks, so they're each wearing one red and one purple.

Wordless Wednesday: A Bed Full of Babies

Scraps for Beds

I've hit the fun (frugal) stage of sewing, where I can whip up small project out of leftovers.

Last Friday, I used a leftover yard of my black-white-and-pink fabric (which has already made a purse and two summer dresses), to make matching dresses for Ellyson and her new doll.

Today I used scraps of the black-white-and-pink fabric to make a bed for one of Ellyson's Barbies (she wasn't a fan). And I turned a stained dress shirt of Jack's, into a doll bed for Ellyson (it was intended for Elsa, but apparently Ariel just had to have it).

Final Stop

Before leaving Pennsylvania, we made a stop to see my mom's grave. We actually took Carter right after he turned one, but that's the last time I'd been there. This time, he and Ellyson both understood the idea of a cemetery, and they asked a couple questions about it. Not about my mom, as they talk about her a lot. But about the burying of bodies. We took flowers, which Graham was more than happy to deliver. And then scoop up and deliver again. ;-)

It's a little funny. (Not funny, funny.) Living so far away, I find that I re-discover those parts of my life when I visit. My mom isn't alive anymore, and that fact (and many, many aspects of her life) are part of who I am. But living so far away, I don't regularly drive past her cemetery or the hospital (which, BTW, is in Hershey, so I do see it when we visit Chocolate World) where she died. So in that sense, her death isn't a life event that I unexpectedly revisit very often.

Love this one

Chocolate World

We couldn't drag our kids 750 miles north without traveling the extra 35 miles north, to the sweetest town on earth? To squeeze a short visit with my mom's family (some of them) into our visit, we met them at Chocolate World for the chocolate-making tour. It's a ride that shows the process of making Hershey's chocolates. It features singing animatronic cows, and delivers a fun-size candy (the day of our trip, it was KitKat) at the end.

My sweetest girl

The boys had too much fun in the chocolate shop

My uncle (my mom's younger brother), who lives in Hershey, had met Carter five years ago, but none of the other kids

My youngest cousin, who is a few months younger than Carter

My aunt (my mom's younger sister) with Graham

My cousin Abby, with Grant

Hershey also features a full-size theme park, but we did not visit the park on this visit. 

Discovering DC

Because Carter has been learning lots about the presidents at school, and because my hometown is within two hours of Washington, DC, we wanted to try to show him the capital while we were on our trip. Sunday, we spent three hours in the National Mall area. We used back carriers to wear the twins (we had to borrow the second from Graham's girlfriend, and I was so very glad we did), and we still ended up carrying Ellyson the length of the reflecting pool and back (and part of the walk back to the parking garage also).

What did we see in three hours? A lot. Especially considering we could only move as fast as the slowest member of our group.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
The twins enjoyed seeing the mammal exhibit. Everyone liked the dinosaurs (a much smaller exhibit than normal, as they undergoing a five-year restoration). We also saw the giant squid,some spiders and insects, and the mummies. Carter probably could've spent at least a day in this museum. He wanted to read and learn everything.

The U.S. Capitol Building
Only from a distance, from the Washington Monument.

The Washington Monument
We didn't go in it,but we did walk around the base of it.

The White House
From a distance, from the Washington Monument. Carter suggested "they" should "move the White House closer, so it wouldn't be so far from here."

The Reflecting Pool
We had to reiterate to the big two, that people do not walk through it (even when it's semi-frozen, ahem, Aunt Katya).

When the rain drops started, Graham tried to wear my hair as a hat

Right before Jack started carrying Ellyson

The Lincoln Memorial
We climbed up, got right in front of Mr. Lincoln, and showed Carter the words to the Gettysburg address. At this point, we were feeling rain drops, and we were almost two miles from our car, with no umbrella, two-year-olds strapped to our backs, and an almost-four-year-old whose legs were too tired to walk. So we high-tailed it back to the Smithsonians.

Carrying Ellyson and Graham

Family portrait! The boys are all matching. :)

Smithsonian Museum of American History
What started as a final bathroom stop before returning to the van, resulted in a tiny detour to see Dorothy's ruby slippers. They were the highlight of Ellyson's trip to DC. She asked me when she could wear them. I told her she couldn't, and she clarified that she didn't ask if, she asked when. She was not amused with the answer of "never."

Family Reunion in PA

We left our house at 5 a.m. the morning after Christmas, made only four short stops (including breakfast and lunch), and arrived at our hotel at 6 p.m. Really, not bad. There were no potty accidents (no auto accidents, either!), and no meltdowns.

My dad's family gathered in our hometown the Saturday after Christmas. We traveled from Georgia, Maine, Idaho and both ends of Pennsylvania.

I took the big two kids swimming with my cousin's daughters in the morning, and then we joined all 45 members of my dad's immediate family. It's pretty amazing to me, to see how this family has grown. We all stemmed from my grandmother and grandfather. They had five kids, who each had two or three kids, and now most of those grandchildren are married - and many of us have our own children (though we hold the award for the most!). The photos are missing my grandfather, my sister, one of my cousins, and a handful of spouses.

Best stories that came of the afternoon together? 1) Grandma almost didn't come (note that she isn't in the group photo), and 2) My cousin's daughter pulled the fire alarm at the church. Jack and I were just glad it wasn't one of our kids!

Grandma and her children

The grandchildren (missing two)

The great-grandchildren

Graham and Claire with their GG - he was enamored by baby Claire

After spending the afternoon with the family, many of us re-lived a childhood memory by taking our own children to the walk-through Christmas lights display at a local park.

Some of the kids at the Christmas lights