Chicks

It’s that time of year again. My mother has new chicks at her house. Not because her current chickens hatched eggs. My mother bought these at the feed store; I guess she just can’t resist having baby chicks each year. Eleanor and Phaedra enjoyed paying them a visit last week.

The most memorable part for the girls (which will probably never be forgotten) was when the chick pooped while Eleanor was holding it. Luckily, it all landed on the floor (probably because Eleanor was mostly grasping the poor thing by the neck). Phaedra was quite hesitant to hold that chick after seeing what happened, but we convinced her that the chick was all done pooping.

Then Eleanor held it one more time and was so happy that it seemed to snuggle up to her a bit.

The whole experience sure has left the girls with some stories to tell!

When the Sun Shines

We’ve had sporadic sunshine around here lately. The other day, I was so tempted to get the kids out into the sunshine, but my house was such a wreck I felt like I couldn’t go play when I needed to try to make a dent in all that mess. So when the sun finally came back last Tuesday, I couldn’t let another chance go by.

My girls didn’t seem tempted in the least. As soon as breakfast was over, instead of asking to go outside, they put their princess dresses on top of their jammies and had a little read-a-thon on the living room couch. I guess they’ve gotten pretty used to indoor life with all the rain we’ve had. Phaedra only wanted to suck her thumb for the camera, but I promise she was reading books to herself just before I had the lens pointed at her.

When I suggested we go to the park, they were quickly done reading. By the time we had everyone dressed, a picnic lunch packed, and had met up with friends, it started raining. That will teach me to be spontaneous and not check the weather!

We made the best of it. We had an indoor play date and a picnic on a blanket on the floor. Eleanor started to cry when I said we couldn’t go to the park because of the rain, but she did her best to perk up and be a trooper so she could enjoy her play date instead of going home. I will have to get them to the park as soon as there is a sunny day we can trust.

At least they got their outside fix on Saturday at Grandma’s house. They stayed there for a while so Grant and I could go to the car dealership. We’re looking at minivans. Disgusting, I know, but we’re resigned to it. Phaedra was so funny at Grandma’s house, inching slowly into the sandbox without taking her eyes off my face. So many times have I told her to stay out over the winter because it was too muddy. She was expecting me to protest at any moment. She played in there until dinner time, happy as a clam!

Priceless

2 round-trip train tickets to Seattle: $159

Hotel stay: $130 per night

Leaving kids behind for a few days: 1 grandmother’s sanity (and grandpa helped)

Monorail to the Seattle Center: $2 per person

Adult admission to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum: $15 per person

Spilling the beans that there are 3 Matthews in this picture: Priceless

Silly Hat

I know this is nothing new when it comes to children’s antics, but I just think it’s the most adorable thing in the world when my girls are changing clothes and decide to run around with their shirts on their heads chanting, “Silly hat! Silly hat!” I rarely get the chance to snap a picture. I just happened to have the camera nearby when Phaedra donned her silly hat tonight, so I couldn’t resist.

Eleanor didn’t have a silly hat tonight. She was pretending Mary Poppins was here. She told me she snapped her fingers and her clothes came off. Then she snapped her fingers again, and her jammies went on all by themselves. And she snapped her fingers again, and her clothes went into the laundry.

I hope Mary Poppins comes around more often.

Playing School

This morning, I was reading my book while Eleanor was trying desperately to “play school” with Phaedra. The only trouble with that was Phaedra’s inability to take orders and play along. She wants to do things her way, and Eleanor just wants her to follow. But they managed, with the occasional argument and squawking. Eleanor loved putting things in her ladybug backpack, and Phaedra had a little pink backpack she kept asking me to help her put on after every time she took it off.

A little while later, when they had moved on to playing with other toys (I think they were setting up beds in the family room by then), I went into my bedroom to find this on my dresser:

Apparently, their school needs a coat rack.