Curly Locks

Claire's hair has the most beautiful curls when she first gets out of the shower.  Her hair dries in these pretty ringlets, and then she wants her "hat" put in and wears her pretty "resses" and just about kills me with cuteness.  She's been enjoying nursery rhymes lately, and this one reminds me of her.

Curly locks, Curly locks, Wilt thou be mine?
Thou shalt not wash dishes, nor yet feed the swine.
But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,
And feed upon strawberries, sugar and cream.

I don't quite see Claire wanting to sit on a cushion, but she'd love the strawberries and cream.  And of course the general doting.  She knows all about how to be doted upon.

Building a Nest

I've been trying to get my nest in order, and not doing such a great job.  I should take a lesson from the industrious swallows who also want to build a nest....on my front porch.  Give them a few hours and they'll have a lump a mud thrown on the brick above the door.  Give me a stick, and I'll knock it down.  They're brazen little things and just sit on the bay window a few feet away and stare at me, all while holding little muddy bits in their mouths.  And then I destroy their home each and every time they try to build it, and they come back again and start right over.  If only I was like that with dishes and laundry and other issues in my own nest.

Happy Birthday

Poor Bryn did not have a great birthday, and it was all the fault of her mean and horrible parents who never make anything special or give her anything.  The fact that she's having a giant birthday party the next week doesn't count.  The fact that she got to choose where to go out to dinner doesn't count.  The fact that she wasn't asked to lift a finger all day, played with and went to the mall with her friends doesn't count.  The fact that she opened birthday cards and got more money in one day than she usually gets in year doesn't count.  Moral of the story: mean parents can ruin a birthday with impunity.

This photo is called, "Stop it, Mom!  It's not funny."

Swinging into Summer

Today was the last day of school.  Great day for Bryn who's had a tough school year; sad day for Ella who loves everything about school.  I think they'll both warm up to the idea of summer vacation pretty quickly, but Bryn has lots of neighbor kids her age to run around with and Ella not so much.  We celebrated by meeting friends for a picnic at the park.  What better way to kick off summer?

The friendly birds thought picnicking was a good idea, too.

Batman Returns

Owen's much beloved Batman pajamas are getting too small, they're pilling and they have long sleeves and long pants.  After a trip to our favorite place on earth (ha! not Disneyland, Target!), Owen is back in action and ready for warm weather.  I wish I could make everyone this happy for $12.

Dance Festivals

Ella and Bryn's schools seem to schedule their dance festivals on the same day every year.  I end up going to Ella's which starts a bit earlier and then driving like a crazy lady to Bryn's, where I park illegally and rush to see her dance.  Both girls did a great job with their dances and were so fun to watch.  Bryn's class went Bollywood and did Jai Ho.  Ella's class did a traditional Guinean welcome dance.

Awesome!

Owen has been ranking our family by awesomeness lately.  So far only he and Ella have managed to consistently maintain rankings of "the most awesome of all."  I'll admit there's some definite awesomeness going on in this picture.

I'm glad to say I'm up there a lot of the time, but I frequently get demoted for various motherly infractions--no cookies for breakfast, you can't play the Wii all day, general cruelties like that.  Poor Claire has yet to be considered awesome at all.  Don't worry, I'll call her awesome a lot just to be sure she doesn't get a complex.