More Vistors

We had a visitor in the house today! Pierre le Bear is visiting the Moo's Pre K class from Bearis, France and spending the night with all of the kids -- after a long wait, the Moo's name was finally picked, and we have been ferrying Pierre around all day! Frankly, she has never cared one whit for conventional toys, so I am but shocked at how attached she is to Pierre -- she does not want to give him back tomorrow! We took Pierre to riding lessons, and to Clyde's for dinner. After dinner we went for a walk in the woods behind Clyde's, which was a lot of fun, but when we got home we discovered unwelcome visitors in the form of two ticks that had secured themselves to the girls' heads. Dad got both ticks off with heads intact (THANK YOU DAD) but not without lots of patience and lots of theatrics from the Moo, who convinced herself that the tick was going to bore into her skin and get into her bloodstream -- no more watching The Most Extreme for the Moo from here on out!

Pierre seemed to really like the Bean, and Dad's lobster!






The Bean liked trying on Pierre's clothes.


The fountains at Clyde's seemed to remind Pierre of Versailles!

Pierre had a few quick phone calls to make and wanted to keep his hands free, so he borrowed Dad's bluetooth. Then he lost it in the tall grass -- bears are so irresponsible! Luckily Dad found it, or he might have made Pierre pay for dinner.




Today was also the day the Moo's class visited the stables where she rides for a field trip that the Moo made happen all on her own. She asked her teacher if her class could go, and then she checked with the stables to see if it was alright with them. The kids got to see the two week filly (which fit perfectly with their current study of baby animals) and they all got a turn riding one of the horses. When we went back for lessons later that afternoon, Pierre got to ride on Pirate all by himself!

The Bean tried to get Pirate to come over to us by tempting with him with an apple, but she must have been waving it on Pirate's blind side (he is missing an eye . . .hence the name!!)

While the kids were on the field trip Mom snuck into her classroom to help some of the other mom's set up for a surprise birthday party for the Moo's teacher. The party was great, although the kids were about an hour late getting back from the stables, by which time the Bean had surreptitiously eaten about a pound of chocolate, so her behavior was on a downward spiral for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. At the end of the day, Mom spent about an hour writing in Pierre's journal about all we had done (I left out the tics) and pasting in pictures from our day. Tomorrow, the Moo and I are off the National Gallery of Art with her class to look at the masterpieces the children have been studying all year -- should be fun!!

Breaking in the New Mom and Dad

We had a great weekend with Aunt B and Uncle J -- we spent Saturday in Annapolis and were able to see Grandpa S as well while we were there, although the food and service at the Middleton Tavern left MUCH to be desired. The dads then took off for some paternal bonding over beers and a showing of Iron Man, and Mom and Aunt B hung out at home (Mom drank champagne for both of them, an act that she is regretting today, but heck, it was news worth celebrating!) Today we went shopping for baby and pregnancy books for Aunt B and had lunch at Sweetwater Tavern, where the service was also lackluster but at least better than Middleton (although the bar had been set so low that there was really nowhere that they could go but up). The girls then set about doing their utmost to make Aunt B and Uncle J regret their decision to have children, as evident in the accompanying pictures. CONGRATS again B&J, and thanks so much for coming to see us. We loved having you here!

BREAKING NEWS!!

The Moo Bean blog has very very very important news to break: Aunt B, Uncle J, and Penny are expecting a new addition to their family! The baby is tentatively due at the end of January 2009. YAY Aunt B and Uncle J -- we are so happy for you!!!

LCDS Lower School Field Day

The whole family was able to attend the lower school field day at the Moo's school today, to watch the Moo compete in 10 different events including sprints, a long distance run, an obstacle course, the long and high jumps, and several different throwing tasks. Dad, Mom, and the Bean had a great time cheering while the Moo and her fourth grade buddy (also named Moo!!) competed in the days events. The Moo did an awesome job and the Bean did a great job showing lots of patience as we watched for the full two hours. We hope you enjoy the pictures!! Tomorrow we are going to pick up Aunt B and Uncle J in Annapolis, as hopefully we will have some great pics to post from their visit this weekend as well.

Miniboden

Just wanted to put in a plug for this British company: www.bodenusa.com. They have adorable clothes, and the girls look adorable in them. We recently ordered the these items (among others) for the Moo and I can't wait for them to arrive!

Naming Invertebrates

This afternoon the children wanted to watch a show on TV before their nap. I agreed provided that they could answer a few questions based on things we have learned this week (we focused on bats and invertebrates). They got through the bat problems without difficulty, so we moved on to the next topic. I asked the Moo, "what does an invertebrate NOT have?" and she answered "a backbone!' Next I asked the Bean, "Name an invertebrate" and she looked at me and said, "Uhhhhh . . . . Sally?"

For the Birds

The Bean is, like all three year olds, an animal lover. Recently a family of birds has made their home right above her room, and there are "signs" of their presence all over her windows, as the Moo was quick to point out to her the other day. The Bean immediately wanted to speak with the birds; Mom thought she would have kind words of welcome to her new roommates. The Bean shook her little fist and in her angriest voice yelled, "Birdies, my window is not a potty!"

Musings from the Peanut Gallery

The girls have gotten into the habit of asking me to explain the songs we listen to ("what is that man saying?" "who is he talking to?"). Their latest obsession is "Hard Day's Night" or, as the Bean calls it, the dog song. They asked me to explain what "working like a dog" meant, and I told them that it meant he was working really really really hard. The Moo, ever the skeptic, scoffed, "He's in a band. How hard could he work?" It still remains one of the the Bean's favorites, although she tells me that her favorite Beatle is Ringo, so her taste level is a bit questionable.

The Bean and I have had a rough last two Mondays, with her waiting literally until right before we have to be out the door for swimming lessons to make some impossible demand that I cannot possibly meet in the time available to us, resulting in a meltdown. The anger lasts until we get to the swim school, and does not dissipate until she gets in the water with Coach Bonnie. She will swim her laps with Coach Bonnie with a HUGE smile on her face, reach the edge of the pool, smile as she pulls herself out of the water, see me waving/grinning/flashing her a thumbs up, and IMMEDIATELY return the scowl to her face. And lest you think I am kidding, the other moms were cracking up about it today as well.

The Moo did not make it to her swimming lessons tonight as she actually fell asleep at naptime (imagine!) and I did not have the heart to wake her up since she obviously needed the rest. We spent the rest of the afternoon making what the Bean calls cherella and smootoh pizzas (mozzarella and prosciutto) for dinner and reading about the Moo's new library book she picked out from school today about Earthworm. We learned a new word--invertebrate--practiced feeling each other's backbones, and scooted around the bed by contracted and stretching like "squirmy wormies." So, all in all, not a terrible day, except that poor Dad is still at work and it's almost 8 pm. When he gets home, we have some leftover smootoh for him, though!

Muffins with Mom and Spring Concert

This morning I went with the Bean to Beantree for "Muffins with Mom." We had Dad take the Moo to school so that it would be just mom and the Bean, and we had a very nice time. We also chatted with the center director and with Ms. Pam, who is in charge of assessing the Bean and getting back to us about out placement issues, which Dad has raised with them twice now. Pam assured me that she would contact me on Monday so we can get the issue resolved. On the extremely good news front, we got notice from the Bean's ballet teacher that there will be a recital on 6 June! We are very excited to see our little ballerina in action.

Speaking of performances, the Moo had her Spring Concert Tuesday night and her Grandparent's Day concert this morning. The whole family went to watch her on Tuesday, and the Bean and I caught the encore performance today. Her class sang two songs, including one called "Won't You Wiggle with Me?" and the Moo did a FANTASTIC job wiggling on stage. The Bean did an awesome job wiggling as well, just in the audience. We were concerned because the Bean loves to dance and sing and wanted so badly to be on stage, but once the concert started she calmed down and was completely mesmerized by the music. Today we made sure to sit in the WAY back so that the Bean could get up and dance if she wanted to, and she certainly did! Once again, though, on both occasions I forgot to being the camera. Sigh -- I will DEFINITELY remember it for the ballet recital!

Making Ice Cream with the Moo

The Moo came home from school today with some Mother's Day presents she made in her class, and insisted that I open them "RIGHT NOW" (she was sounding pretty Beanesque). The gifts were wonderful, and the best one of all was a Mother's Day cookbook, which contained recipes and menu ideas from every child in the class. The Moo's was the very first one, and goes as follows:

The Moo's Mother's Day Dessert Menu: Chocolate milkshake, purple popsicles, red popsicles, Vanilla ice cream, Chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake with balloons, candy corn, gumballs, and party hats.

Moo's Homemade Goat Ice Cream Recipe: First you MUST find a goat. But you must find the FRESHEST goat!!! So go to the petting zoo. Look for a fresh white goat, because that's how you get white milk. Now sit down and SQUEEZE his udders. Go on, just keep SQUEEZING his udders. Squeeze as many milk from him as the bucket. Take the bucket to your house. Leave it in the fridge because you want to keep it fresh. Get three ice. Actually get a TON Of ice from your house. Get a box of ice. The box needs cool, cool, cool air. Break the ice. Pour it into a bowl. Put the whole bucket of milk into a bowl. Now go to Giant and get three gallons of cream. Spray all the cream into the bowl and mix it with the other cream from the goat. Bow stir it until it get ice-creamy. Stir this definitely not one minute, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven, not eight, not nine . . . but 10 minutes! Then you can use two cups of ice cream for the milkshakes. This is enough for a party! You could also make homemade cow ice cream. I saw this on TV! Just SQUEEZE his udders hard! I will know more about how many animals give us ice cream when I watch "Most Extreme" next time.

The Moo's mother day advice: Always put a heart on your mom's cake for Mother's Day.

Measuring Happiness

We just returned from a birthday party for one of the Moo's classmates at yet another bouncey inflatable things place. Unfortunately the Moo suffered an injury right before we left and was close to inconsolable on the way home. There was a store on the way home, so I stopped and bought her a cheap "stretchy" frog, which seemed to cheer her up. She played happily in the backseat with Bingo, and then said "Mama, you know what? My happiness thermometer just went ding!!!"

With regrets . . .

The Moo overheard me talking to Grandma and Grandpa today and asking them to make sure to tell cousin Tom how sorry we were that we could not attend his wedding. The Moo and I then went for a walk (Dad stayed home as the Bean was still snoozing). As we walked, the Moo gathered dandelions into a bouquet. I asked her, "Is that for Daddy?" and she told me, "It's for both of you, since I was unable to make your wedding."
We also went fishing today, but regret to inform our readership that despite a few nibbles we didn't catch anything.

Beantree Picnic and Cousin Tom's Wedding

We attended the 3rd annual Beantree Picnic today. Beantree hosts all of its families every year for a b-b-q at Oatlands plantation just outside Leesburg. It's a great tradition; the school hires a DJ and provides the food, water, and assorted toys to keep the little ones busy. It is a very impressive undertaking and Dad and I were very glad to do something involving the Bean's school for once (although to be honest the Moo will be going there this summer as well). We had a great time but of course we forgot to bring the camera, so I do not have pictures of the Bean and I doing the Hokey Pokey, or the Bean and the Moo doing the chicken dance, or the girls participating in the hula hoop contest. You will have to take my word for it that they were very very very cute! About two hours into it we ran into Evan in the food tent; Evan's mom told us that he had dragged them all over the grounds for half an hour saying "we have to find [the Bean]." At around the same time, C showed up looking for the Moo. So, both girls had their boys and all was well with the world. Of course, we had been planning to leave right at that time, but who were we to stand in the way of the love? So we stayed for another half hour.
On another note, tomorrow is our cousin Tom's wedding in San Francisco. We were unable to attend, but we wish Tom and his new wife the best!!!! We hope to see you both soon! CONGRATS!!!

Summer Dos

Much to Mom's surprise, the girls decided to go with the short 'do for the summer. I think they look adorable!