"I'm Nana"

My mom often wears scarves and particularly so at our house because it is so drafty.  Lanie found a scarf the other day and put it on.

"Look mom, I'm Nana!" she told me.

Not Going to School

It's really cold in Boston today.  It was about -9 degrees overnight with windchill and today when we woke up it was a toasty 1 degree Farenheit.  Our house is old and was built as a carriage house and has no insulation and very old windows.  Not to mention the heat doesn't consistently work at a tolerable temperature.  So waking up today was not fun.  The kids all took a long time to get out of bed, and when I walked by Sam's room, he asked, "do we have school today?"
"Yes," I said, "school today for everyone."
"Why?! It's so cold out!" he replied.  We went back and forth for a few minutes before he told me, "I'm not going to school."  I ignored it, not having time to argue in the morning.
Usually the weather is not a huge factor in Sam's life, he'll go outside in anything, so I was a little bit surprised, but then again it's super cold.  All I wanted to do was crawl back in bed.
Chris came upstairs to get Lanie dressed and I told him Sam was refusing to go to school. 
"I heard," he said. "Something about having to a dancing unit in gym?"

Ahhh....

"What's it like?"

Vivian and Sam were having snack yesterday after school and chatting and Vivian asked Sam, "so what's it like to be you?"
"Huh?" Sam asked.
"What's it like to be you?" Vivian repeated.
"Why do you ask?" Sam said.
"Well because I want to know," Vivian answered.
"Oh," Sam said. "Well, it's fine.  You know, it's mostly funny, but sometimes a little bit annoying."
"Oh," Vivian said, "okay."
And they continued eating.

Reading to Lanie

Lanie was milking not feeling well the other day and was wandering around twirling her hair, sucking on her binky, looking very cute, getting people to do whatever she wanted.  At one point she got Sam to read her a Barbie book, even though he despises Barbie.

Playing

The kids love to be under my feet, like really wherever I am.  So of course when I went to take a shower this afternoon Lanie decided to play MagnaTiles in the bathroom.  And because Lanie was playing MagnaTiles, Vivian had to join.

It was actually fine because I can hear them and monitor what they are doing, but also Lanie had the Croup, so the steam was good for her.  So much for peace and quiet.

Getting Ready for Work

When I'm getting ready for work and brushing my hair and look over to see that I'm being closely observed...

Losing a Tooth

Vivian lost her first tooth, quite literally.  It had been hanging on by a thread but she wanted to wiggle it out or wait until it fell out by itself.  She had a friend over yesterday, and as I was upstairs trying to get Lanie dressed (we went no where on the day that didn't get warmer than 7 degrees), I heard Vivian yell from downstairs, "it's gone! It's gone! My tooth is gone! Where did it go?"  

I left Lanie to struggle into her shirt (she likes to do everything "myself" lately, so her getting dressed is a long and tedious process), and went to investigate.  

Sure enough it was gone and no where to be found. We backtracked for a minute, but then Lanie inevitably got stuck in her shirt and started yelling, and the doorbell rang and Vivian's friend's dad and sister arrived to pick her up.  Naturally Jack then got super excited and started to bark and run in circles jumping on everyone.  

After about five minutes of complete chaos, Jack calmed, Lanie continued to yell, no tooth was located in the immediate vicinity, we finally got all of Vivian's friend's snow gear on her from various drying locations.  Then everyone had to look in Lanie's mouth at her "loose bloody tooth," which she has to have to be like Vivian.  Finally the friend left and Sam and Vivian embarked on a half hour hunt for the tooth around the house.  At this point I'd concluded that she most likely swallowed it with her snack or lost it outside in the snow, but it seemed like a good quiet activity to keep them busy.

Lanie's matching photo of her "missing tooth."

Note to the tooth fairy that Sam helped her write.

The house was later canvassed in sticky notes about the missing tooth, just in case anyone came across it I guess?

First snow

The first snow the kids can play in this year, which is really not anything to speak of, except that we haven't had snow to play in.   Meanwhile, I thought it was adorable when Sam was telling Jack, "boy, your first snow storm is coming! Are you excited?" and we told Sam that we think Jack saw snow last year.  However, after Jack's reaction, he may not have.  He was more hyper than the kids and has been whining to go out all day.  As soon as he comes in he's ready to go back out.

It's really wet and heavy now after raining all day, but they want to be out anyway.

Heading to get donuts.

Casualty of a plow.

Playing King of the Mountain.

Rough housing

Lanie and I watched the chaos of the bigger kids rough housing last night, while we relaxed after dinner.

Siblings

"I Lost My Sock"

Lanie scraped the bottom of her foot and it was hurting her.  I told her to put some socks on and it would feel better, then I went to take a shower.  Apparently the only socks she wanted to wear were Minnie Mouse socks, so she emptied her drawers to search for the missing sock.

I asked, "what happened?"
"I can't find the other one Minnie Mouse sock, mama."

Digging Dog

He does this a few times a day on various couches or seats.  I guess he thinks he buried something precious and needs to find it.

Board Games

We're finally at the point where the kids are playing board games, with each other as well as us, which is so nice.  It especially helps in the winter when there's a lot more indoor time.  Of course Vivian will still occasionally pitch a fit if she loses, but she's getting better and throws the game pieces less these days (unless she's particularly hungry).  It's also nice when they have their friends over.  Sam will even make a game on periodically.  Lanie is still to young to understand, but because she spends a lot of time mimicking their behavior she still might sit and play a game for a while by herself.

a game Sam was trying to make.

Sam and Tessa on Christmas.

"My Name is..."

Lanie has recently decided that she has a variety of other names and personalities depending on her mood.  Most often she has become 'Vivian,' and when we call her Lanie, she says, "I am not Lanie, I am Vivian."
One of the first times she did this was on Thanksgiving when she was sitting on the couch.  My father's cousin sat down next to her and said, "Hi Lanie, how are you today?"
Lanie responded, "I am not Lanie, I am Vivian."
"Oh," said Lucille, "I'm confused, isn't that Vivian?" and pointed to Vivian.
"No," Lanie replied, "that is not Vivian, I am Vivian."

At this point we just call her the name she is telling us she is.  We cycle through Vivian a lot, sometimes Victoria, Vivian's friend, at bedtime when she wants to be cuddled she becomes "baby Ellen," a baby she attends home daycare with.  The other night she was helping me do something, and she became "Mama," and I was "Lanie," which got very confusing.
Yesterday however, she was hopping around the kitchen in the morning while Chris was trying to get her ready to leave for the day, and he called her a bunny.  For the rest of the day, we had to call her "Little Bunny Foo-Foo."  I think we sang the song about thirty times yesterday.

Sadly yesterday ending with the kids finding a kind of creepy version of Little Bunny Foo-Foo on YouTube in which Little Bunny Foo-Foo cackles a little bit manically, so the night ended with Lanie chasing them through the house while they yelled, "Little Bunny Foo-Foo is evil!  She's going to get us!"
Which caused Lanie to get a light saber and run after them trying to hit them.

Sleeping Arrangements Part IV

Last night I went up to bed at 9:30.

Apparently we're confused about where we sleep these days.  The silent, little figure in my bed.
"Lanie, you scared me! What are you doing?"
"I find you mama."

Someone Naughty

Sam is very into collecting football cards lately. Recently he found a couple of torn up football cards in his room and showed me. As he continued to clean, he looked under his dresser and found an entire stack of football cards that had been shredded. I asked the girls several times and neither would admit to it. Chris reiterated and still they both denied it.  I think we ended on the note of whoever was caught ripping up cards in the future would have to buy him a new pack, which really doesn't mean a whole lot to them.

At the beginning of school, Sam had to fill out a questionnaire that was supposed to be focused on academics, but when I checked over his homework I found he had also included some home life also.  He emphasized his feelings in pen.

Christmas Day photos

Celebrating at my parents' house on Christmas day.

Where are the Lemons?

Chris was in the kitchen the other day and asked me where the lemons were that he bought.
"I don't know? In the fruit bowl? In the fridge?"
"Nope," he said, "you must have put them somewhere.  Did you use them?"
"I didn't use them," I told him, "I really don't remember putting them anywhere."
"That doesn't make sense," he said.

Later on that night I was putting the laundry away as he was getting the girls into the bath.
"Found the lemons!" I told him from Sam's room.  That's what you get when someone gets a potato clock for Christmas.

"At least you know what time it is Dad."