Clara Jane Jokester

Clara loves to make people laugh, and is quite clever in making jokes. 

Each evening after dinner we have a family prayer-time and after her turn Clara chose Pa-Boxy to pray next. Everyone thought that was hilarious so she kept that joke running for a couple of months before I had to outlaw it. 

Last night during dinner Arch was trying to get her to eat her vegetables, and she had hung her head and closed her eyes to ignore him. He unwittingly asked, "Clara, are you asleep?"

To which she promptly did this:

Which launched us all into hysterical laughter. She was thrilled.

She loves to entertain.

Recently she has entered the developmental stage that makes her recognize embarrassment or humiliation. I don't usually associate this stage with humor, but because we are all so used to Clara making witty and hilarious comments we have unintentionally hurt her precious feelings by laughing at her when her funniness was accidental. 

Today we had one of these incidents. Clara is constantly jokingly correcting everyone that she's not a baby she's "a BIG GULL!" She's even occasionally said, "I not Clara Janers, I a big gull!" But no one ever expected she was actually misinformed about her name. So at grammar time this afternoon we were memorizing our full names and phone number, and I went around asking the girls what their full names were:

"Lily Minerva B!"

"Nowell 'Lizabeth B!"

"Big Gull!"

Huge laughter, huge tears, and profuse apologies followed. Then we had a clarifying lesson:

"My name is Clara Jane B and I'm a Big Gull!"

Rainy School Day

It's a rainy day.

 We enjoyed our school time this morning, then packed some PB&J and drove to Ritter & Geeda's condo for an indoor picnic. 

And a movie.

After the threat of hail had passed (tornado watch today) we went back home. Mama made everyone else play outside in the rain, then come inside and strip their beds before afternoon reading time. Lily beat me to the literature....

She just realized she's reading about Lilliputians.

I love my little people.

Tooth Fairy Hilarity

The Tooth Fairy in our house needs to be fired. There has been plenty of documented client and peer reviews with sufficient evidence to send her packing. She invariably forgets her tooth fairy duties the first night a tooth appears under a pillow, and very likely on multiple subsequent nights. She pays a lot of compounded interest. But since she also cooks everybody's meals, teaches everyone to read and do math and chores with a joyful heart, she can't be fired. 

Lily lost her 4th tooth yesterday (another one she had Daddy pull), and I, of course, forgot.

In keeping with my request after missing tooth #3 for a reminder on my pillow, I came to bed tonight to find 2 dollar bills and 4 quarters taped to my reminder note.

"Dear Tooth Fairy, 

I hope you do not miss this night. Please come. Love you tooth fairy."

"Please turn the page please."

"You're a good tooth fairy. I would like a ???? parakeet? pallckscls? ?? 

"Do you really like teeth?"

The tooth fairy apparently now feels the need to give receipts.

Lily Losing Teeth

Lily decided tonight that she was ready to pull one of her loose teeth out. From my tooth-squeamish perspective this one has been hanging by a thread for over a week.

"You don't want to see this, Mom!"

Lily turned on her theme music (David Garrett's "Zorba's Dance"), and her Dad got some dental floss:

Apparently at the count of three, Daddy pulled, and her first words were, 

"IT DIDN'T WORK!"

I guess it was ready! 

I Love Saturdays

I love having Archer around, having minimal plans, and hopefully a few moments to myself to catchup on school planning or other household projects. 

Since we don't officially school on Saturdays there is a lot of free time for us all to work or play at different things. On Sundays we try to hang out all-together as a family and rest or play games, but Saturdays are work days. 

In a cape.

In purple boots.

In the sun.

In a basket.

I am so thankful for all my helpers! Especially for their daddy, the best helper of all.

Clara adds cinnamon to her muffin

I guess it wasn't sweet enough.

NoVA House Tour

One of the blessings of getting a new house every couple of years is the opportunity for a fresh furniture arrangement. In fact, the cost of moving all our stuff from Nebraska was so high that we opted to sell a lot of our stuff and just buy "new" when we got to Virginia. This was especially appropriate since we were moving to exactly half the square footage we had in NE, so a lot had to go anyway. 

Then, thanks to my parents, I had a week to scour Craigslist and drive all over the Metro area picking up replacements. In that week, thanks to Siri and my awesome minivan (and excellent strong man) we furnished the house. 

Since that time I have frequently been rearranging the stuff to get it "just right", and refusing to put anything on the walls until I was ready to commit to furniture placement. 

 After I coerced my change-resistant hubby into yet another big rearrange this afternoon, I was ready for some art on the walls. 

So here is the "final" house tour. 

I think the blue painter's tape makes this wall look authentically artistic, don't you?

Poor Archer knows my "final" is never truly final. But it is starting to feel more like home. 

Especially with the piles of laundry.

Can you find the futon in the guest room/craft/treadmill-room above? It's under the table! 

Can you find the three sleeping beauties?

Perfectly Backward = Perfect

Lily tends to write exactly backwards. Not just a rogue letter or two, but whole sentences. Perfectly. 

Today during our science experiment she (unintentionally) labeled the bottoms of her Petri dishes perfectly.

I am in awe of her brain. But of course it came out perfectly right side up!

Now we just need to wait and observe how much fungus and bacteria was growing on my kitchen cabinets (her microbe source of choice)!

Sunday Night Dinner

Our church small group meets tonight at 4:30pm, and we found out at the last minute that we weren't having a full dinner together. 

So dinner tonight consisted of chips, veggies, apples, and cookies at small group, and when we got home:

Noelle, Clara and I made cupcakes. 

Organic Baby Greens Mix

Bye Bye Naptime

Clara Jane is losing her nap. I've seen the warning signs- increases difficulty going to sleep at night- for a good while now. But we've finally reached the tipping point: a midnight bedtime is way too late for a toddler (or her mother), even with a 2 to 4 hour afternoon nap. Mama and Dad want their evenings back, and I want my happy morning toddler back. 

Interestingly, during her recent late-night excursions (tonight, after lying in bed quietly for 2 hours) to the living room our bedroom, and the kitchen, Clara has been at her most cheerful. She clearly doesn't want her two-on-one time with Mama and  Daddy to end, even though we make a point of continuing in our evening rituals as if she was in bed. She is welcome to join us, but there isn't any playtime - she watched Arch play Clash of Clans, she sat next to me and read a book to herself while I texted and checked Facebook, Pinterest, and my blog roll on my phone, and she played in the tub while I took a shower. Just before getting "re-tucked", she got half of my cheese sandwich while Archer read her "Bread and Jam for Frances". But she ate up just being with us as we wound down from the day.

Similarly, Lily wanted me to help her make cookies today, and when I finally put down my work to help her she was thrilled beyond expression, dancing around the kitchen. 

I love structure, routine, and I love "getting things done", but I really think I attempt to accomplish too much in my days. What is really more important- planning menus and grocery lists? Or showing my daughters that I enjoy just being with them, not to do "school" and accomplish anything, but just for the joy of it, because they are special and worthy of love, time, and my attention?

Pray for me to slow down and enjoy these precious gifts: my flower child, my daily Christmas party, and my sugar-lump of God's grace. 

Soo Chocolatey

In a house full of girls, even little girls, there is a great appreciation for the glories of chocolate. Today we were all a bit cranky (did I mention I have disallowed naps?), so I suggested a tea party to finish up our school day. Tea, smoothies, and chocolate chip cookies were requested, while the partygoers dressed up in their fabulous finery.

The smoothies were largely ignored, but the cookies were a hit. I decided I needed more than the occasional chocolate chip, so made "Chewy Chocolate Cookies", and may have just dumped the remaining extra cocoa powder in to finish up the carton. (Don't worry I have another one.)

Oh the delight. I really do thank The Lord for such delicious goodness. 

Lily said, "How did you make these so chocolatey?!"

Clara cried when the first plate was emptied.

 Each girl under 30 had at least 3 cookies. Mama had just enough to stay within WW points. So worth it!

"Mom! Take a picture of the empty plate!"

Now for the tea and books.