We have struggled to instill proper dental habits in the Bean, who has consistently rebuffed or attempts to get her to brush her teeth properly. Dad usually ends up having to do it for her, and not until after we gone several rounds just getting her to the sink to get started. Lately, however, she seems to have undergone some sort of periodontal epiphany and tonight she grabbed her toothbrush, applied some Wall-E Fruit flavored toothpaste, and with a grin and a flourish announced, "Now, for some dental hygiene!"
By the way, one of the little known pleasures of life is driving with your kids in the backseat, sneaking peeks through the rear view mirror as they stare in complete fascination at the falling snow, listening to the Vince Guaraldi trio play "Oh Christmas Tree."
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Of Sickness and Snow
The Moo has been sick all weekend, so it as been difficult coming up with things for her do beyond watching endless reruns of Fetch with Ruff Ruffman (excellent show but Mom can only take so much). Physically, she has not been up for much, so we opted for art projects. The slide show below shows our little Kandinsky's at work - the Moo decided that she would paint the sunset, and opted to first paint her entire canvas orange and then add different colors to reflect the streaks of light one sees at sunset. She also added a few clouds. I think it looks beautiful and reflects the careful though she put into it. I am not sure what the Bean was actually intending to paint, but I love the end result.
If you watch the slideshow, be sure to pause or slow it down when you reach the Gingerbread lure. Last week, the Moo's Kindergarten class read the story of the gingerbread man and baked gingerbread cookies. They left the cookies to cool overnight, but when they got back to school the next morning, the classroom was ransacked and the cookies had escaped and there were little flour footsteps all over the school!! None of the footsteps led outside, so the kids determined that the cookies were still in the building. The teachers requested that the children make traps over the weekend so that they could recapture the runaway cookies this week.
The Moo was not happy about making a trap; she told me that that was cruel and might scare her "ginger." I was a bit flustered, noting to her that we had to do something to complete her homework assignment. She said that she wanted to make a bed, because the ginger would be tired from running around and would need a place to rest. Mom and Dad thought that was a great idea, so Dad and the Moo assembled a bed from plywood, which the Moo painted and decorated to look like a gingerbread house because, of course, that is where gingers live. Dad then rigged the lure (we learned very quickly that we got in trouble if we called it a trap) to keep the ginger in once it entered. There is a little bell on the inside by the head of the bed, and the Moo made a sign for it that says "Ring for service." When the ginger rings the bell, a wood square in the back falls, releasing a weight that then pulls up the sides of the bed, trapping the ginger inside (or, as we explained to the Moo, giving the ginger a nice dark place to sleep in peace). It's pretty neat and the Moo is excited about showing her design to her class.
Finally, just in time for tomorrow's inauguration we have been inundated with snow. I took a few pictures of the beginning of the storm, but it is nothing compared to how hard things are falling right now. There was no mention of snow on the news this morning, so I am not sure how hard it is expected to fall or how long it is expected to stick around, but the girls are thrilled. Luckily I have tomorrow off anyway, in case the schools are closed, but this has pretty much ended any thoughts I had about taking the girls downtown for the ceremony tomorrow -- I think we will say home and watch this moment on TV.
If you watch the slideshow, be sure to pause or slow it down when you reach the Gingerbread lure. Last week, the Moo's Kindergarten class read the story of the gingerbread man and baked gingerbread cookies. They left the cookies to cool overnight, but when they got back to school the next morning, the classroom was ransacked and the cookies had escaped and there were little flour footsteps all over the school!! None of the footsteps led outside, so the kids determined that the cookies were still in the building. The teachers requested that the children make traps over the weekend so that they could recapture the runaway cookies this week.
The Moo was not happy about making a trap; she told me that that was cruel and might scare her "ginger." I was a bit flustered, noting to her that we had to do something to complete her homework assignment. She said that she wanted to make a bed, because the ginger would be tired from running around and would need a place to rest. Mom and Dad thought that was a great idea, so Dad and the Moo assembled a bed from plywood, which the Moo painted and decorated to look like a gingerbread house because, of course, that is where gingers live. Dad then rigged the lure (we learned very quickly that we got in trouble if we called it a trap) to keep the ginger in once it entered. There is a little bell on the inside by the head of the bed, and the Moo made a sign for it that says "Ring for service." When the ginger rings the bell, a wood square in the back falls, releasing a weight that then pulls up the sides of the bed, trapping the ginger inside (or, as we explained to the Moo, giving the ginger a nice dark place to sleep in peace). It's pretty neat and the Moo is excited about showing her design to her class.
Finally, just in time for tomorrow's inauguration we have been inundated with snow. I took a few pictures of the beginning of the storm, but it is nothing compared to how hard things are falling right now. There was no mention of snow on the news this morning, so I am not sure how hard it is expected to fall or how long it is expected to stick around, but the girls are thrilled. Luckily I have tomorrow off anyway, in case the schools are closed, but this has pretty much ended any thoughts I had about taking the girls downtown for the ceremony tomorrow -- I think we will say home and watch this moment on TV.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
In Memoria redux
Pizza Blank Wank Kennedy passed away on Friday after two years with our family. The Bean has this to say about Pizza: She was a very good fish and she already died this weekend. I am going to name my new fish from Fins and Feathers Christmas. Pizza made me feel happy because he is very nice. I hope Pizza goes to fish heaven really soon. God Bless Pizza, you are a very very very very nice fish, and I am so sad that your died, and my whole family is very sad that you died and I am going to get a new fish and name it Christmas."
Mom will always remember Pizza as the miracle fish who, like the Bean, survived the dresser tipping over with only scratches despite being out of his bowl for at least five minutes. Dad says he thought that Pizza's middle name was "thin crust."
Talk about differences between children: the Moo was devastated when Hani died and cried for hours. When Mom broke the news to the Bean that Pizza had passed away, she said "OK" thought for a minute, and asked, "Can I get a new fish?"
Hopefully these differences will not surface in a negative way when the Bean goes in for admissions testing this week at LCDS. On Tuesday she has her one on one DIAL test with the lower school head, Mrs. Butman (a wonderful and extremely nice lady, but unfortunately the Bean can not hear her name without cracking up - let's hope she gets it out of her system before Tuesday) and on Friday she has an activity session with other applicants, including a friend from Beantree. The activity session will be run by the Moo's former Pre-K teacher who knows the Bean well, so hopefully that will clear the way as well.
That's about the most exciting thing going on in the Moo Bean household this coming week. The Moo is excited because she starts after school Math club on Tuesday. Mom was thrilled at how enthusiastic she was about joining this group, until the Moo let slip that the reason she was so enthused was because Aidan is in the Tuesday group as well. Aidan is a first grader, and back when we first started at LCDS he was the only other child there in then mornings when Dad used to drop the Moo off super early. That only lasted for a few months, but the Moo never forgot Aidan. He, however, forgot her, and she told me early in this year, "Aidan does not remember me from last year, but I will make sure he remembers me now!" It has been all Aidan all the time since then. So, for Moms out there wondering how early starts, the answer based on my experience is Kindergarten! And for any future boyfriends out there wondering how to capture the Moo's interest, just pretend you don't remember her.
Finally, congratulations to the Cook family and welcome little Carsten Cook, who was born this week. We are looking forward to following this littlest chicken's progress and meeting him the next time we out in CA!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Blogo-versary
This month marks the one year anniversary of the Moo Bean blog! To commemorate this occasion, please enjoy this video review of 2008, complete with appropriately smaltzy music!
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