Memorial Day Weekend

This marks the start of summer for us, the time when every day should be spent in the ocean or a pool.

Or on a boat.

That sounds like a good plan to me!

 The best thing about living in Florida is the fact that tons of our friends have swimming pools... perfect for catching up with old VPK friends at birthday swim parties!

Subliminal Art

Dad found me peacefully drawing this one morning while Ryan was in the throes of a Stage IV Screaming Meltdown: "This baby is very quiet. I dreamed about him."  Maybe a psychotherapist could translate its meaning?

Termite

There seems to be a strange crib-eating creature in our house.

We think the monster is eating other things, too. Like rubber tires on all of the toy tractors and monster trucks. And propellers on the toy planes. We've identified a person of interest, but the investigation is still in progress.  

Baby Octopus

While we're on the topic of science... Mom brought home a baby octopus from Fresh Market, thinking it would keep us busy for 30 minutes while she cooked dinner.

 It was fun at first. Until it started to smell like dead octopus.

Ryan didn't mind the stink.

But that's because he thinks everything stinky is hilarious. Like farts.

I tried teaching Ryan fun facts about the octopus, like how octo means eight and how it has 8 legs. But all he wanted to do was squeeze it really hard on different sections to see what the juices would do. He's just not Kindergarten material yet.

Scientist Of The Week

I love my school, especially my friends and my best teacher ever. One of my favorite parts of Kindergarten has been being Scientist of The Week. My experiment was about Oobleck, inspired by the Dr. Seuss book "Bartholomew and The Oobleck".  Actually, my Aunt Julie mentioned it at Nana's birthday party, then Dad wouldn't stop saying "non-Newtonian substance". It has the properties of a solid and a liquid at the same time and is really freaky. My teacher and fellow scientists said I did a great job: Scientist of The Week. 

Saying Grace

Ryan loves his school. He loves his friends, especially his two best friends who love to tackle, shove, and punch as much as he does. Mom loves his teachers, especially the two no-nonsense women who seem to like Ryan as much as we do. They are teaching him good manners, like giving our friends wide personal space, using our words instead of our angry hands, and saying a thank-you prayer to God before meals.

Happy Mothers Day!

Mom said all she wanted for Mothers Day was brunch and a nap. But we gave her so much more! My Kindergarten class put together a Mothers Day performance. 

It was perfect- we sang about how much we love our Moms, and gave them our handmade books:

 Mom says any day is Mothers Day when she catches us being nice to each other. Like when I showed Ryan how to listen to music on the iphone. He wasn't even punching me, and I didn't even kick him in the stomach!

 

 There is a sibling study that says brothers and sisters fight with each other an average of 3.5 times per hour, meaning an average of 10 minutes out of every hour is spent in battle. I mean, we love each other, it's just that there is more freedom to drive each other crazy because that love is unconditional. 

 

Experts say you can't stop all the fighting, but the trick is to generate enough positive experiences between siblings to make the good memories out number the bad. That way, we'll grow up to like each other and be good friends. Bottom line is that we should never be taken to Publix together any day after 4:00.

Mom says she feels hopeful when she sees Ryan run into my room in the mornings to give me a hug and kiss first thing, and when she finds little notes likes this under a pile of papers in the office:

She loves being our Mom. And she still loves her "first child", Maggie. This sweet, nervous, paradoxically aggressive, nocturnal-bowel-control-challenged, 12 year old golden retriever was the first one to teach mom the reality of parenthood: you can simultaneously love your children while also wanting to lock yourself in the bathroom with ear plugs and a glass of wine.

 Mom says it's all worth it when I give her a spontaneous hug or ask her to cuddle with me in bed at night while I fall asleep. Or when Ryan crawls in bed in the morning, holds her face with both of his little hands, and says "You're my best Mommy, ever".