This morning

Trying to make breakfast at 6:00am, with one hand, because Lanie needed to be held and play with my hair at the same time.

My "I need coffee and two hands" face.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

We spend a lot of time on birthdays between late February and the first week of April.  Essentially six weeks of birthday obsession no matter how I try to tone it down. (Vivian is currently planning her party for next year, even though we just had her party two weeks ago).
In all of this, Lanie is the one who gets overlooked the most.  I literally planned her party yesterday to be held Saturday at the park, as the weather will be warm.

So we asked her what she wanted for her birthday the other day.
"Oh," she said.
"A stuffed puppy, like this one Jack chewed up?" Vivian asked, holding up a stuffed animal with a severed stuffed leg.
"No." Lanie said shaking her head.
"A Barbie for the Barbie dreamhouse?" asked Sam.
"No," said Lanie.
"Um, a Peppa Pig doll?" asked Vivian.
"No," said Lanie.
"Playdough?" asked Sam.
"No," said Lanie.
"A Curious George book!" said Vivian (although we have four Curious George treasuries).
"No," said Lanie.
"Why don't we ask her what she wants and let her answer?" I asked.
"What do you want, Lanie?"
"An American Doll and a bicycle," she said definitively. Pretty much the most expensive presents possible, unless she wanted to throw a pony in there.
"Oh," everyone said.
"Well your birthday is on Tuesday Lanie! Are you excited?"
"NO!" she yelled, "my birthday is on April!"
"Yes, Tuesday is in April," Sam explained.
"NO IT'S IN APRIL!"
"Okay, and we'll leave it at that." I said.

A day or two later, Sam had a stomach ache and I asked him if he wanted some tea.

"Sure," he said.
"Lanie, do you want some tea?" I asked.
"No," she replied. "I'll have a bicycle please."

Update: She got a bike!  We went to pick up Vivian from a playdate and the family gifted her their old balance bike!  It even came with streamers they had once tied to it.

A very happy Lanie last night.

Park

It's finally getting warmer out, enough to brave the park.

Bloody Mary

There is a (sub)urban legend that the third graders at my school seem to discover each year, the story of Bloody Mary.  I have heard several versions of the story over the years so it wasn't all that surprising when Sam started reading the books Scary Stories and More Scary Stories this winter.  I distinctly remember these from my childhood and tried to dissuade him, especially after he couldn't sleep one night, but he was determined.

One night recently after dinner, I was cleaning up and making lunches for the next day, when the children disappeared upstairs to play.  I was listening to music and noticed that it had gotten quiet, but didn't pursue it.  Suddenly I heard a wail and Lanie appeared, "mama! Vivian is scared! She no like Bloody Mair-we!"
As I approached the stairs, the wails became louder, and Lanie continued, "Bloody Mair-we is very, very sca-wy for Vivian.  It makes her sad."
"Samuel!" I yelled. Silence.
"Sam!"
"Yes?" he finally answered.
I found Vivian crying and almost trembling at the top of the stairs.  Sam was in his room looking very guilty.
Vivian told me some garbled story about a bloody queen who comes and takes children away and they disappear and then something about the curtains moving.  Sam looked considerably more guilty.  I finally got Sam in the shower and talked Vivian out of her hysteria and got her pajamas on.  I turned on lullabies on my phone and went to get Sam's pajamas out.
"Oh, mama," Lanie says, "what is this song called?"
"I don't know Lanie, I'll look in a minute." I answered.
Lanie thought briefly, "is it called Mair-we?"
Vivian started crying again.
I got her settled again, went into the bathroom, gave Sam his pajamas and lectured him on scaring people.  He seemed contrite enough.
I returned to start reading the girls their stories.  When I finished and got them headed towards bed, Lanie asked for a Barbie that she likes to hold.  I retrieved it and she said, with perfect innocence, "yes, her name is Sasha.  No... I call her Mair-we."
Vivian's face crumpled, Sam burst into laughter.

Lanie, where are you?

We came inside after a busy morning and Lanie disappeared.  I had seen her come in the house so I wasn't too alarmed.  Lately she has been hiding in her bedroom.  After I got the older kids settled I went to check and she wasn't in her bedroom.

"Lanie, where are you?" I called.
Silence.
"Lanie? Where are you?" I asked again.
"I don't know," she said, this time I could pinpoint where her voice was coming from.
I found her, sticking tissues up her nose, which she is not allowed to do.

Vivian Climbing

 Vivian climbed to the top of a high structure at a playground when we took Sam to soccer.  Lanie was a little wary of the height, while she stood safely on the ground beneath.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

"Get a New Lanie"

I just tried to kiss Lanie and she yelled at me and said, "No, Mama!"
I said, "well that was rude."
"Yes, she said, "it was mean, yelling Lanie. That wasn't nice."
"That wasn't nice," I agreed.
"Maybe you need a new Lanie," she said.
"Maybe I do.  Where do I get one?" I asked.
"At the store," she said.  Then she left the kitchen and returned. "Here it is! Your new Lanie!" she exclaimed.

"She's not cold"

I sent the girls out to play yesterday, it had warmed up to about 50 degrees, though there are still snow piles everywhere.

When I went to check on them, I found a unclothed doll sitting on top of a mound of snow. 
"What's she doing up there?" I asked.

"It's okay mama, she's not cold," Lanie assured me.

New Name

My parents are out of town, visiting Arizona, where my mom's grandfather lived and worked at the turn of the last century.  Whenever they are away the kids have lots of questions and more or less are mildly obsessed with it.  Last night's dinner conversation went from one family member to the next and then turned to names.
My dad's mother's name was Philomena originally, but she didn't like it, and changed it to Phyllis and eventually Fifi.  It's also traditional, according to her, to name the a granddaughter after the grandmother.  I'm not sure how this works, but she adamantly told us not to name the kids "Philomena" because she detested it.  So of course after hearing this story, Vivian decided to change her name to Philomena Vivian Myrra (after her other great-grandmother- the last two are actually her names).  Then she practiced writing and saying it a lot.  Luckily she decided it would just be her "home name," at school she would still go by Vivian. 

Although she did ask this morning how we pronounced her new name.

Sledding

Recent sledding near my parents' house.  Vivian is reckless and doesn't even attempt to control the sled.  Sam loved the jumps someone built. It was dangerous though, since the snow was rapidly melting.

Lanie's Piano Playing Skills

Being a Little Defiant

When you are seeking all the negative attention and try very hard to push your mom's buttons, sometimes you resort to licking the wall and not stopping when asked to.

Here I am licking the wall. Waiting for a reaction.

Checking that you're watching mom.

But I'll pretend I'm not.

Subbuteo

As Sam loves playing soccer, I thought it would be fun to pull out a game that my parents have their house.  My brother played it as a child and my mom played it with her own brother as a child.

I retrieved it from the attic, literally dusted it off, repaired some broken plastic pieces with Gorilla glue, while my mom ironed the felt pitch so that it was smooth.  By the time it was ready to play, both the girls were waking up from naps. We read the rules and Sam started to play anyway and when Tessa arrived, she spent a long, patient time playing with him.

He wanted to take the game home, but we told him it had to stay there.  On the way home he told me he was going to make one at home.
"Sure, that's a great idea," I agreed. 

The next day I came back from running errands and it was very quiet.  "Where's Sam?" I asked Chris.
"Upstairs making a Subbuteo game," he answered.
When I went to check, sure enough, he had made a Subbuteo pitch, on his curtain. The tension curtain rod had been knocked down the day before during a playdate, so it was convenient and about the right size.  I could understand the appeal.
Then I realized he had made the players by Gorilla gluing his American football figurines to wooden checkers.  So now the one checker set in the house that was complete, now has football players glued to it. The soccer ball? "Borrowed" from Vivian's soccer Barbie.

 I decided to start a bin in the basement of materials that we can use for projects.  It won't include things like household decor.

I did ask what he was going to use for a curtain on that window now, and he said, "the Subbuteo board, it's okay, I'll have a soccer curtain."

"So, everytime you want to play you'll take it down?" I asked.

"Oh. I didn't think of that," he answered. "Hmm..."

Consequences

Lanie has a horrible cough and cold right now and is a little fragile.  She and Vivian were playing very nicely yesterday afternoon, until Lanie wanted to touch Vivian's new doll one too many times.  At which point Vivian apparently hit her in the face.  I found Lanie sobbing, coughing, and gagging on the attic stairs coming down from the playroom.  Vivian was no where to be found.

When Lanie stopped coughing she told me, "mama, Vivian smack me in the face."
"Vivian! I don't know where you are, but you are having a consequence when I see you again! You do not hurt your sister!" I called.
No answer.
I repeated myself, and finally heard, "FINE. Don't worry! I am grounding myself in my room!"

I choose to ignore this and got Lanie settled with something else.

Later, Vivian came downstairs, and I explained, "you do not hit your sister or choose your consequence.  That's mom or dad's choice."

She glared at me (she may have turned 16 not 6). 

"I know," Lanie piped up, "she's consequence is you smack her in the face." 

Simultaneously I said, (trying not to laugh), "no Lanie," while Vivian yelled, ""NO LANIE! I heard that!" and ran straight back up to her room.

Birthday Girl

First of the children's birthdays for 2019 and all the drama and emotion to go with it.  Vivian turned 6 on Monday and we had her birthday party on Sunday.  Unexpectedly, we had a snow day on Monday when it snowed 15 inches overnight.

Modeling her new outfit and backpack.

Playing in the snow with Lanie, one of the few things that could be shared this weekend.

Braided hair for dressing up for her birthday dinner.

Jack deciding to join us for family birthday dinner.  Luckily I now know better than to put food on the table until it's time to eat.

Lanie at a Party

We had Vivian's birthday party here yesterday, and then went to her friend Victoria's party.  I guess it was one too many for Lanie, (who had told me it was her party soon), and she took it upon herself to blow out the candle for the birthday girl.

Trading in Mom

I went to Target yesterday with Lanie and we were walking around the store.  She was looking at the mannequins.
We went by the womens' department and she spotted a particular mannequin that appealed to her.
"Oh! Look at that mama!" she said pointing to a mannequin, "I like it!  I like her clothes.  I want to take that mama home."
"That mannequin?" I asked.
"Yes," she agreed, "that lady mama."
"You have a mama, I'm right here," I told her.
"Yes," Lanie said distractedly patting my hand, "it's okay, you can stay here."
"I can stay at Target?" I confirmed.
"Yes, you stay here, I take that mama home," she reassured me.
 

Walking Jack

Jack got a new leash, which the kids call the "cowboy leash," because it looks like a lasso.  Sam and Vivian were showing it to Jack the other day and telling him about it.  When they left the room, Lanie apparently took it upon herself to put it on him and walk him around the kitchen, saying, "Jack look!  You're a cowboy dog! Good boy, good boy."