Rosie Moments

Rosalie is in Kindergarten this year. She's growing up fast and she wants to be helpful.  So she made me this grocery list.  It says to buy: strawberries, bananas, grape juice, cereal, bagels, hot dogs, broccoli, grapes, pretty dresses, and my little ponies.  I got in trouble for buying orange juice and cucumbers by mistake.

Here she is on her first day of school.  She insisted on tucking in her shirt, despite my objections.  I once had the same disagreement with my Mom when I was a kindergartener, but I was wearing a trapeze top.  I looked down at myself while waiting for the bus and realized my mom was right. So I untucked it. Gracious as always, my mom didn't say anything when I got home. 

Rosalie took maybe a week to learn how to cruise on her run-bike. (It's not an official run-bike (those are spendy) we just took the pedals off a bike that was too short for training wheels.  It's awesome! They learn how to balance and steer without falling over.  When Meredith moved from the run-bike to a regular bike it took her two minutes to add pedaling.)
For the first time Rosie had her own vehicle when we went on a family bike ride.  I warned her of an approaching car and she zipped right over to the shoulder.  I told her how much I appreciated her quickly following my directions.  She said, "Will you appreciate me . . . BEATING YOU?!"  And she zoomed ahead.

Rosalie has her own version of Pinterest.  This is not inspired by watching me use the thing--I haven't gotten past opening an account.  She has always been a collector.

She's at that age where everything she draws and writes is unique and usually funny.  She made a list of things she wants for her next birthday, including "CRAP, CAC, WePCRem, and SDRoBeRee" (Crepes, Cake, Whipped Cream, and Strawberries.)

She's a super girl.   (ZooopR GRL)

So nice to come home to

When Casey and I came home from our date last week we were greeted by this:

A whole door full of notes from our kids!


These two are from Lissa--drawings of some of our favorite things.


From Anika, new lyrics to the tune of "Taylor, the Latte Boy."


From Meredith and Anika, badges for us to wear.

From Rosalie, a note to Mom. It kind of matches the note she gave Dad on his birthday. We love how the letters are backwards, but they still read left to right. Mostly.
Translated, they read: "Dear Mom, I love you so much." And "Dear Dad, Birthday from Rosalie."


From Anderson, an awesome acrostic.

And there were more:
--a note from Meredith saying I love you sooooooooo(116 o's) much.
--a poem from Anika
--and several more notes and drawings

However, this one from Meredith, gave us pause--

But our fears were, luckily, unfounded:

Chinchillas

On January 2nd my sisters and I went to a baby shower for my niece, Katy. I never would have thought that by the end of the day, I would be the owner of two new pets and would also have fulfilled a childhood dream--to have chinchillas!


There is not another pet on the planet that would have tempted me out of my reluctance to have inside pets. Especially after the gruesome way the kids' pet mice met their demise. But when I was 10 or 11, I wanted a chinchilla. Don't ask me how I even knew about them back then. I even wrote a picture book about them for a school assignment. It was a really stupid book. Anyway. . .
When I learned that Katy's mother-in-law had two chinchillas, with all the supplies, looking for a good home. I knew what I wanted for my birthday this year.


The kids were ecstatic! Casey, not so much. But, nicely, he hasn't complained.


They spend most of their time in their cage but we let them out once a day for play time in Underland, the room below our basement stairs. Lissa is their favorite person because she spends the most time with them. I'm a close second.



They are the softest creatures in the world, which is why they were hunted almost to extinction for fur coats. They don't like to be held or to snuggle, but they are very curious and will hop up and walk all over you if you sit down and hold still. They also seem to like it if you talk to them. Lissa can get them to give her a high five. Well, a pretty low five.

If you want to come see them, play time is late afternoon to evening. You should put it on your bucket list.

Halloween 2011

Anika went as a windy day. Puppies ears kept coming unpinned.


Rosalie was several different versions of Belle. (She wore something new under the tutu each day for a week. Tutu by coocoofortutus.com)


Meredith went as a box turtle. Get it?! That's the kind of costume you get if you tell your mom you want to be a turtle 3 days before you need a costume.


Clarissa went as Medusa.

Here's a close up of her snake hair.


Anderson went as a ninja. He made the ninja stars and the sword out of paper, foil, and duct tape.

Peer Pressure

Rosalie recently made friends with Isabelle. Isabelle has baby goats at her house. And baby kittens. And a beautiful playhouse in the yard. In four-year-old's terms, Isabelle is cool.

They both wanted to get in the safety swings at the park. I lifted them in and gave starter pushes.

Rosalie has never liked swinging high. In her own words, "Not too high, Mom. I freakout when I get too high."
But Isabelle LOVES to go high. And higher. "Again! Push me higher!"
Never have so many underdoggies been given in so little time to so little a kid. At least, not by me.

Rosalie said, "Okay, Mom. You can push me a little higher."
Isabelle yelled, "This is fun!"
Rosalie, through clenched teeth, "Yeah, fun! But not too high or we'll fall out. Right, Mom?"
When I contradicted that fear, she loosened up a little more. Pretty soon I was doing a full circle--underdoggie to Isabelle, turn and underdoggie to Rosalie.




What we'll do to be "in" with the cool kids.

Mesothelioma Awareness Day

Most of you who read this blog are already aware that my sister-in-law, Sarah Songer-Smith has Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma. And the reason you are aware is because my family on both sides have posted it on their blogs. (See here and here and here and here.) If you are one of the few readers I have who is not part of my extended family, here is a blog my s-i-l Katie started for Sarah.

So.

Today is Mesothelioma Awareness Day.

And if you read that page you can see this is serious.

Sarah is 30 years old. If she was exposed to asbestos she must have been just a little girl. None of us knows when or how it could have happened. This is usually an old man's disease.

Why did it take me nearly five months to post about it? I have sat down time after time to write about this and drawn a blank every time. Apparently, I am a wuss. My brain veers sideways whenever I try to think about it.

In contrast, Sarah and her husband Shaun are tough as nails. They are in New York getting Sarah treatment because this cancer is rare enough that no one here knows how to treat it. That they are able to maintain their upbeat, "kick-mesothelioma's-butt"-attitude is a testament to their characters. Especially in the face of all the invasive and painful things Sarah has had to endure so far.


We're pulling for you, Sarah. Even the wussiest of us.

On the 3rd

Anika said, "Hey, Rosie, tomorrow is the 4th of July!"
Rosalie answered, "I know that."
"But do you know what that means?"
Rosalie paused a half-second, then said, "Candy."

Anika couldn't deny it. Because it's true.

"Well, yeah, but it also means we live in an awesome country!"

And tomorrow, we will wear our awesome t-shirts that we made at our awesome Songer Family Reunion.