While mom's away

Socks of mud. Gloves of mud. We played in the pit that will soon become our lagoon. It's got about a 12-inch mixture of water and silty mud at the bottom right now after we pumped another couple of feet of water out. Was quite the messy fun this. Amazing how transformative a coating can be. As Isaiah pulled his coated hands and forearms from the muck, they had a sheen that looked like super hero gloves and dripped in such a way that you could easily imagine super powers attached to them. Then there was this exchange:

Isaiah: Bernadette, let's fight.
Bernadette: I don't want to fight. I just want to put my mud gloves on.
Isaiah moments later a he plants his fists in the softened bank: Daddy, I'm boxing the mud.

Notes

I ask Bernadette if she's going to tell me a bedtime story. "OK, but it's scary," she says. One of the characters was named Foo Foo Fluff. A side note about the young storyteller: Sometimes she lapses into song or makes noises where you'd thing she was going to use words. There's a bit of nonsense, but I love it.

The young Mara:
Likes: mama, nursing, sleeping, snuggling, any combination of the above, Isaiah's singing in the car.
Dislikes: silverware clattering on plates, diaper changes, kittens (competition for food; just kidding; who hates kittens?).

Thinking about going rodeoing. Just got pajamas on an uncooperative 2-year-old.

Some discussion of the blood mobile today as Grandma was making brownies for the people who donated. Isaiah's theory was that the blood is squeezed from dead enemies, while Bernadette was concerned about spurting when the needles are removed and whether the people who give die.

Isaiah's prediction after the first soccer practice: By the timetbe game is over, the whole team will be on the bench.
Me: Why.
Isaiah: Too many penalties.

Isaiah: Did you know nature is a hotel?
Us, puzzled: What?
Isaiah: Well, from the perspective of animals.

Point goes to the kid.

Even with many reminders, it has been really, really hard for Isaiah to change his habit of leaving the bathroom door open while he uses the toilet and then shutting it as he leaves (sigh!).  One day I said in exasperation, "I don't understand why this is so hard for you to remember!"

"That's because," he replied calmly, "you're not me."

Moments with Mara

When his baby sister cries in the car, Isaiah starts singing at the top of his lungs. (Favorite selections include "Life is a Highway" and "I Wouldn't Have Nothin' if I Didn't Have You".)  It works.  Whether she is comforted or stunned, we can't be sure.  At any rate, she's quiet.

Apparently, Mara played her first game today.  She was lying in her bassinet while I was washing dishes, and suddenly Bernadette cried, "Mama, Mama!  She's playing with me!"

"Really?  What is she playing?"

"She's playing hands!"

"Oh.  How do you play hands?"

"You just hold hands."

Princess, robot

While Marian and Mara rest

First soccer game

Isaiah, red shirt, green shorts

Birthday girl

Stories

Isaiah briefs Aunt Lisa on Anna Friedrichs' wedding plans…and his own geographic reflections.

"The wedding will be at Grandma and Grandpa's church, and the reception will be in Seneca.  Of course, I would prefer Beatrice because there are more trucks there.  And"--placing his hands on his cheeks--"New York is just crowded!"

Isaiah steps into his uncle's super shoes

Leaves

Desultory car faces

Morning quest

"Where to now?" I say to the young knight.
"This way," he says decisively and wades into the tall grass, shield held high with his right hand, sword clasped in his left. There are dragons, angry squirrels, T-rexes, sea serpents and wolves to slay.

Princess, poodle, dragon

"Bernadette, may I have this dance?"

Yes, he really said that.

Tire swing

Gothic!

Corn maze

Newsfeed

Kateri can stand up right from the floor.  Every time she accomplishes this, she gives herself a big round of applause and an elated "Yay!"

Isaiah has invented a new game, in which he and his sisters crawl loudly from room to room.  He calls it "a stormpede of children."  If you call it a stampede, you'll be corrected.

This morning Bernadette proudly showed Daddy the set of ponytail holders that Mama bought for her at Walmart last night.  "How many hairbands do you need?" asked Daddy.  "Umm...Twenty-six!" she replied.  After a pause, she pointed out, "Peter wears hairbands, too."