Slinky Order

 Lanie received a slinky as a birthday party favor, which she played with constantly and then insisted she should take to her friend's house. At her friend's house it was tangled up by his toddler brother. I told her she could replace it, and I would pay for half and she could pay for half with her allowance money.

Vivian and I took Jack out for a walk and left Lanie on Amazon to look at the Slinky choices, of which there are many. A huge downside to being a single mom is the limited amount of time I have to devote to anything unscheduled, particularly on a weeknight, which includes looking for Slinkies. We came back from the walk and she showed me the ones she liked and I ordered one.

A few days later I got a package from Amazon, opened it and found a giant Slinky, not the Slinky I had ordered. When I was alone with Lanie I took it out and asked her where it came from.

"Hmmm..." she replied, "Amazon?"

"Yes," I agreed, "it did. But who ordered it?"

"You?" she asked.

"No, I did not order it. Remember, you were looking at Slinkies when Vivian and I took Jack for a walk. So maybe you ordered it? And you need to tell me if you made a mistake and did."

"Nope. I didn't order it," she told me. 

"Well this is very mysterious," I told her. "You didn't order it, and I didn't order it and here it is."
"OH! I remember now," Lanie said, "Jack ordered it."

"Jack ordered it." I repeated. "That's strange, because Jack was on a walk with me."

"Right," she said pausing. "Then I was looking at the Slinkies and he ran right in and jumped on the iPad and it got ordered!"

"Uh huh." I can't win. I took the rest of her allowance money, (giant Slinkies are expensive) and called it a day. 

Ear Piercing

Vivian has been asking to get her ears pierced for a while, so I finally agreed. Unlike the days when you went to the mall to a Claire's Accessories or kiosk, now it's recommended to go to a tattoo parlor, where there are trained professionals and it's sanitary. So we went to a tattoo parlor, after booking three weeks in advance (who knew?), and got their ears pierced.

Instead of gold or silver studs, there is now a vast array of choices. They decided they wanted their birthstones, which of course Lanie's is a diamond, which I also didn't know.  And cleaning is no longer with rubbing alcohol but with saline spray twice a day. The earrings are also no longer in for 6-8 weeks, but instead for 4 months, with a post-change somewhere in the middle.

Vivian was fine, lying down (not sitting up), on the table and having the needle inserted in each side, it didn't seem to faze her. Although I have a distinct memory of sitting on her for a flu vaccine two years ago to hold her down. 

Lanie was much more affected and was crying and upset. I didn't actually think she'd get them pierced, I just took her because she wanted to go and maybe get it done. After the first one, it was a little touch and go as to whether the other one was actually going to get pierced, but she was determined.

So now Lanie looks like she has earrings to go to a cocktail party on her little 5-year-old ears and Vivian has some cool ones that I would wear.

Jack vs. the Balloon

 Jack was growling at the top of the stairs until Vivian went to investigate. There was a balloon floating in front of the door that I guess he mistook for an intruder. So he refused to come downstairs.

Playdates again

Things to be grateful for, as exhausting and chaotic and crazy as it is. The kids can have playdates again and the house is crowded and messy and insane, or maybe it's always like that, but it's good. Having to move backpacks and shoes and getting asked a million weird things and having to relocate the dog, but it feels so much more normal than the past few pandemic years.

The highlights of the 8 or 9 kids here on Friday were questions such as: 

"Did you know if you stab yourself in the stomach with a knife, you shouldn't remove it yourself?" (I did not).

"Bethan, can you get Lanie? She's stuck on the top of the fence."

And exclamations such as, "Glitter emergency! Open the door, get it outside now!" Directly after I thought it was a good idea to vacuum the popcorn up that had been trailed across the floor, silly, silly idea. 

And obviously when two of the parents arrived their children were in the treehouse eating tortilla chips and I was looking for Lanie who I hadn't seen or heard in a while.

On the plus side, Sam and his friend were upstairs and I didn't get a chance to check on them. Turns out they were making a video that is different than their usual crazy stuff.

Book Character Day

Book Character Day at Lanie's school for Read Across America Day, I got emails about it, put it in the calendar and obviously forgot until the night before, when Lanie was not at her best. She was supposed to wear a costume to show that she was a character from a book, that she also had to bring into school with her.

Everything Vivian and I suggested she dress up as, was immediately rejected. Such as:

"You could be Eloise, from the Eloise series." 

"NO."

From there it went downhill until we figured out the pattern. I instructed her to go into the dining room and "find a book with a character" that she could dress as.

So she did.

So I told her she would be "too cold," and pulled a pile of books that she could choose from. We read two books and then she went upstairs to "read them again," and I found her like this at 5:00 PM.

So Vivian and I put together some more acceptable choices (Vivian also wanted to have her hair curled, naturally at this point, which was 8:30 PM).

A bunny (the only book that exists in our house with a white bunny is about an Easter bunny).

Olivia the Pig, so cute, my first choice.

Ninja Red Riding Hood.

Sam's job was to talk her into wearing one of the outfits at that we had created, in the morning, so that I didn't have to make a new costume before school and work.

So I sent her to school dressed like an Easter Bunny for Book Character Day. I mean it's fictional. And better than Wonder Woman, in March, in Kindergarten.

Sam's job was to talk her into wearing one of the choices in the morning so that we didn't have to create a new costume in the morning. 

So I sent an Easter Bunny to school for Book Character day. 

Live and Learn: The Baseboard Heaters

After having a plumber in, again, for various things, he asked offhandedly, "why my heaters were closed in the bathroom? and didn't I want the heat on in there?" It had been very cold in the bathroom. It turns out that the baseboard heaters had mostly been off. For five years. 

So now they are open and on.

Closed and Off.

Open and On.

And now I know.

When Jack gets Stuck

 Jack sometimes gets "stuck" in the bathroom, or thinks he does (the door doesn't actually latch). If he is scratching at the door, Mika will come and open it for him.

Jack and the Box

After Sam was told multiple times to clean up the Cheeze It box, Jack found it and decided to eat the leftovers. Of course, Sam filmed it before rescuing him and then set it to music.

Covid Days

 We avoided it for about two years, so I guess it was time, despite taking precautions and restricting activities. Luckily it seems we contracted Omnicron, from Vivian's school. So it's not terrible, more like being hit by a small vehicle rather than a large bus.

The girls and I have it, all with different sets of symptoms. The common symptoms seem to be sore throats and headaches and grumpiness. The grumpiness could also be being stuck in the house for days in frigid temperatures, so even walking isn't pleasant. We've gotten out a little bit and I kicked them outside once and they found a dead, decomposing squirrel in the treehouse, and tried to rollerblade and scooter down a snow mound, which go figure, does not work. 

In other news, Lanie's stuffed unicorn aptly named Marshmallow, gave birth to a stuffed platypus, and has had several walks around the block in strollers (the unicorn-not the baby or Lanie). Jack has had company all week which he is enjoying and has also had several walks around the block. We have consumed mass amounts of popsicles and tea and logged lots of screen time. Vivian has also rearranged her room twice and written a few stories. Lanie has been showing us many, many "tricks" and when her fever and high and she is particularly grumpy, usually around 4:00 pm, she beats people with stuffed animals or throws random objects at us. Then she goes upstairs and falls asleep in an undisclosed location.

They've also been practicing their music which has been nice and doing some coloring in between arguments and such.

Sam was the only one who consistently tested negative so he went to his dad's for a few days to watch football and hang out with the dogs there. 

One would think it would be timely after having Christmas that they would use their Christmas presents, but the only presents they have been really using are art supplies. Luckily GrandJoe did put a swing in the basement and we hung the rings back up in the doorway on the first floor so they have been able to use and argue about those. 

Reading James and the Giant Peach.

Marshmallow having a walk.

Snowbank rollerblading.

Lanie talking to Nana and GrandJoe on Facetime.

Viv's cake before she tested positive but was sick.