How to Spend a Rainy Afternoon

While we haven't endured the frigid temperatures that have struck much of the country, the weather around here has been a bit gloomy of late.  The rain and chill have kept us from the park, so we've had to come up with other ways to spend our time and energy.

Recently we decided to put some sparkle in our day with a bit of glitter.  Kathleen loves glitter (is there a three-year-old girl who doesn't?) and spent almost an hour working on her glittery masterpieces.  Construction paper, glue, and glitter.  Who'd have thought that you could fill so much time with just three things?  (Well, maybe four things -- Kathleen has also recently learned to use scissors -- closely supervised, of course.  So she spent a bit of time cutting paper, too.)

We worked on a jelly roll pan in an attempt to contain the glittery mess.  That didn't work out perfectly, but it worked well enough.  There was a bit of a mess, but that's why we've got a vacuum, right?

Kathleen started with glue.  

Plenty of glue.

And then she happily shook glitter over the glue.  (Sometimes the glue was better covered than others.)

When we'd gotten enough glitter on the pan, she abandoned the shaking and just sprinkled with her fingers.

Not content with the first go at something, Kathleen decided it needed a little something extra.  What could that be?

More glue.  Obviously.

And then more glitter.

When she was completely satisfied with her creation (which, by the way, she immediately announced would be for Grandpa -- to go with the princess card, I suppose) she did the only thing she could. She asked for more paper!

Watching History

We camped out for the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States of America. . .  but only on the living room floor!

Far more comfortable than the crowds camped out in the cold, cold, weather in DC, Mama and the girls watched the pomp and circumstance on a picnic blanket in front of the television.  The girls even ate their breakfast (whole wheat waffles, veggies sausages, and cut fruit -- an all-time favorite breakfast here at the circus) as they watched!  Although they weren't perfect spectators (Mama thought more than once that she was awfully glad she wasn't trying to corral the girls at the actual event), the girls were surprisingly interested in the goings-on.

Some highlights from the morning:

• As the president-elect appeared on the screen for the first time that morning, Kathleen called out, "Barack Obama!"  No lessons on identifying the president necessary!


• There was some interest in the Obamas' daughters, but a lot more interest in the dog they're going to get.


• The girls did get a little squirmy during Rick Warren's invocation, but Mama was excited for Kathleen to hear him recite the Lord's Prayer.  Kathleen says the Lord's Prayer as part of her bedtime prayers each night, but Daddy and Mama don't think she'd heard anyone else say it, since Kathleen usually heads to the nursery before that part of Sunday service.


• Both girls danced during Aretha Franklin's "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and again during John William's "Air and Simple Gifts."  Oh, and Kathleen liked Aretha Franklin's hat!

They probably won't remember it, but they watched history in the making!

Scenes from the Circus

Mama continues to resist "the plan" to name our darling baby boy-to-be Indiana Jones Golby. Yet, Daddy currently seems to be winning the war. His latest victory: he has enlisted Kathleen in his pro-Indiana campaign. He told her, "Kathleen, the baby in Mama's tummy is named Indiana! We can call him Baby Indy!" She bought this -- hook, line and sinker.

And Mama's sweet girl has become his biggest ally.

She tells perfect strangers that there's a baby in Mama's tummy named Indiana. The one time Mama forgot herself and proposed another (reasonable, usable, Christian) name for the baby, Kathleen became incensed.

"No!" she shouted, on the verge of tears, "The baby in Mama's tummy is named Indiana!"

Apparently they teach those cadets some tactics at West Point.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Mama and the girls are in the drugstore, waiting for Madeline's prescriptions to be filled. (The prescriptions? Antibiotics for a nasty ear infection that had kept Mama and Madeline up all night. Poor little Madeline was a trooper at a very, very long doctor's appointment where Mama practically had to lie on her baby to get her to hold still while the doctor to cleaned out the infected ear a bit, and where the doctor actually took a break from examining Madeline to take Kathleen to the bathroom. Have we mentioned we've been really happy with the medical care at Stanford Children's Hospital? We have been. We are.) We've already walked around the shopping center a few times, stopped for smoothies, and we've still got some time to kill. Madeline's now sleeping in the Beco, but Kathleen is getting a little bored. Inspired, Mama heads for the greeting card aisle and tells Kathleen that we need a card for Grandpa O'Connor's birthday.

"Kathleen, " Mama announces, feeling rather proud of herself, "these are all birthday cards in this section. We need one for Grandpa's birthday. Would you like to pick one out?"

Kathleen answers with a resounding yes, and begins selecting a card immediately. Moments later, she points, "A princess card! I want to get a princess card for Grandpa."

Mama begins to explain how we try to pick things that we think other people will like, not that we want, but the explanation peters out almost as quickly as it starts. What does that mean when you're three? And Mama thinks briefly about making Kathleen pick a different card, but recognizes that that won't work. After all, Mama is the one who said Kathleen could pick.

Kathleen points insistently at the card, and Mama picks it up. Disney princesses adorn the front of the card, which reads, "The princesses think you're special."

Okay. Well, it's not "You're the greatest, Grandpa," which would be ideal, but the princesses in this circus think Grandpa's pretty special. We can salvage this, Mama thinks.

But then she opens the card. And she doesn't just laugh. She snorts.

"Every girl can be a princess" the card sings out.

Grandpa's gonna love this!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Madeline has recently caught on to the circus's mealtime routine. She and Kathleen climb up into their seats, and once Mama and Daddy are seated, too, Madeline folds her hands and announces, "Pway!" And the whole family prays.

However, Madeline seems to be under the impression that you pray whenever all the members of the family are seated. So, we pray when the meal begins. But if Mama or Daddy forgot something or leave the table for any reason, when they return they are greeted by an enthusiastic, "Pway!"

Reluctant to tell a child not to pray, our little circus has been praying an average of four times at dinner each night...

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Daddy and Kathleen are learning how to play crazy eights together, and Daddy's reviewing the suits.

"Do you know what this one is?" he asks.

When Kathleen says that she doesn't, Daddy gives a hint. "Up above the world so high, like a. . . ." he sings.

"Diamond!" a little voice yells triumphantly.

Only, Kathleen hadn't said anything. Madeline answered first!

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

When Kathleen wakes in the morning, she doesn't usually get out of bed on her own. She waits, singing and talking in her bed, until Mama or Daddy come get her. (We have no idea how this came to pass. We can only attribute it to the grace of God!)

Generally the rest of the household is already up when Kathleen wakes. Madeline rises about an hour and a half earlier than her older sister, so she and Mama are usually downstairs, reading or playing when Kathleen begins to stir. They hear Kathleen over the baby monitor as she wakes.

One of the best parts of this arrangement is the chance to listen in on Kathleen as she waits for us. She usually sings when she's really awake. (This is how we know it's time to go get her. If we get her earlier than this, she's generally a little grumpy.)

One of her favorite morningtime tunes is the old hymn, Holy, Holy Holy. It's one of Mama and Daddy's favorites, too, and it makes us smile to hear her sing it. Well, most of it. Kathleen's got her own version:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning, our song shall rise to me!

We'll work on the theology soon, we promise! But we guess "thee" doesn't make much sense when you're three.

:: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Over the weekend, the girls received one of the best possible gifts -- a new baby cousin. ((The big winner, though, was Grandpa O'Connor. The baby girl was born on his birthday!) After church on Sunday, our circus split up. Daddy and the girls went to a church luncheon, and Mama drove up to meet the newest cousin.

When Mama finally arrived at the hospital, she headed up to the OB floor, dutifully following the signs requiring all guests to check in at the desk. Weighed down with a shopping bag's worth of gifts for the new baby and new mama, Mama stopped at the desk and cheerfully asked the nurses, "Hi! What do I need to do to check in with you?"

The first nurse dropped her pen, stood up, and exclaimed, "Woah, honey! We're going to need more information than that. What's going on, exactly?"

Quickly realizing that the nurses thought that she was going to have a baby, Mama explained that she was only at the hospital to see her sister. As the first nurse chuckled, apologized, and pointed to the guest registry, a second nurse said that she thought she could guess which patient was Mama's sister. She guessed right, and then explained, "Your sister and I were talking about babies this morning, and she told me about how you have a three year old, a one year old, and are about to have another baby. And we agreed that you are very . . . we didn't call it crazy... brave. You are very brave."

"That's okay," Mama responded, "we're pretty comfortable with crazy."

Friday Night Fun

Last Friday our little circus had a big night out.  We met up with some friends for a tasty dinner at Max's and then attended the girls' very first college basketball game.  (Not their first basketball game, mind you.  They were introduced to the elementary school version by their cousins in Illinois!)  Our friends kindly snapped a photo of us shortly after we arrived.

All decked out for the game.  (If you're not, you can't stand in the student section!)

The game didn't start until 7:30pm, which is awfully late for our little girls, (who are usually in bed before then) but the opportunity was just too good to pass up!  For one thing, the girls attended the game for free, while Mama and Daddy paid a truly nominal fee.  For another, because of Christmas vacation there weren't very many students in the student section, where we watched the game.  That meant that the girls had plenty of room to move around.  Although Madeline started out in the backpack, she eventually joined her sister in running around the stands and clapping and dancing along with the band.  It was hysterical to watch her trying to stamp her feet, cheering on the defense!

Although both girls loved being at the game -- the cheers, the music, the general hoopla, if you will -- Kathleen was particularly taken with the dance team.  The basketball?  That's just what happened between dances, as far as she was concerned.

Kathleen peers through the crowd, watching the dance team.

We had a lot of fun, but when we got to the half, we packed up our little girls and took them home.  We were tempted to stay, since the girls were still doing well, but we knew that the late night would catch up with us eventually.  (And we generally find that it's better to leave before we reach total meltdown stage.  But maybe Mama's just a chicken.)  Besides, we'd gotten what we came for -- memories of a fun Friday night!

Fashion Forward?

It would appear that our girls were born with their own, unique sense of fashion.

Madeline recently discovered her sister's rain boots.  She thinks they are the epitome of cool.  We think you can tell.

Kathleen, on the other hand, is in love (love) with her "fairy skirts." She wears a tutu just about every chance she gets. She asks for one as soon as she wakes in the morning and then wears it all day long. (Mama and Daddy narrowly talked her out of wearing one on the adventure to the Children's Discovery Museum.) Sometimes she even asks to sleep in one at night. We're pretty much used to this now, and sometimes we almost forget that it must seem strange to other people that we'll take our preschooler to the commissary in a tutu. (Our mantra: pick your battles.) Every now and then, though, even we see the humor.

(In case you were wondering, that's pajamas, a "fairy skirt," a bathrobe, and a backpack. 

She's ready to face the day, people.)

Clowning around? That seems to be a universal trait in our little circus...

Discovering Fun!

We spent the first few post-Christmas days at home -- lounging about, playing with new toys, and napping.  (Honestly, after the traveling and the excitement of Christmas, it took us more than a few days to get the girls back on their regular schedule.)  We loved the easy, relaxed pace.  It felt like vacation.  (Maybe because it was!)

Eventually, though, we decided our little circus needed adventure beyond our home and neighborhood parks.  We took a mini-adventure to the Palo Alto Children's Library one morning, which was marvelous.  We spent hours browsing the collection and came home with a good collection ourselves.

A few days later, though, we decided we were up for something bigger.  We headed for San Jose and the Children's Discovery Museum.  We've loved our visits to the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin, and we'd heard glowing reports of the South Bay version from the girls' Auntie Caroline.  Auntie Caroline is a trusted authority on such subjects; we have such faith in her judgment that our little circus went ahead and purchased a membership to the museum before we'd even visited.  And although that might sound a little rash, we didn't regret it at all! 

The museum was really, really busy.  I think that everyone in the South Bay must have decided to get out of the house at the very same time!  But even though it was a bit crowded, the girls had lots of fun.

The first stop was a bubble exhibit.  With a little encouragement, Kathleen stepped up to test out her bubble-making skills.  (They were first-rate, of course!)  Madeline watched in awe.

The girls touched and tested and played with so many different things that morning -- pulleys, balls, costumes.  They spun things and threw things and stacked things.

You'd think that Madeline would be too small for such a place, but she enjoyed herself just as much as her big sister did!

The girls played and played, but eventually everyone needed some lunch.  We'd thought we'd grab something at the museum's cafe, so that we could play some more after eating (we hadn't even ventured into the supercool water play room), but apparently everyone else had that idea, too!  Instead, we decided to pack up a little earlier than we'd intended and stop for lunch on the way home.

The girls were sad to leave the museum, but (like their Mama) they were consoled with a little bit of ice cream after lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.

We're thankful that Daddy might have Fridays free this quarter -- we're hoping he can join us on our next adventure to the Children's Discovery Museum, too!

Christmas Memories...

Without a doubt, one of the things Mama and Daddy will remember about this Christmas is singing "Deck the Halls." Kathleen took a liking to the Christmas carol early on in the season, and for a time it was easily the most-sung song while driving around town in our van. We sung it so much that even Madeline caught on and would join in for the fa-la-la-la-las. (And let me tell you, if singing "Deck the Halls" on a constant repeat in rush hour traffic doesn't make you feel the slightest bit crazy, I don't know what will.)

Just after we returned from our ill-fated trip to Illinois, though, Kathleen discovered a new reason to love "Deck the Halls." Dancing. She'd don a "princess dress" (her costume from last Halloween, or one of the four tutus we own), point imperiously at the sofa and say, "Sit. Please? Will you sing "Deck the Halls" so I can dance?"

And, because we're as hopelessly in love with this little girl as when she arrived in our lives three Christmas seasons ago, we'd indulge her. Indeed, we have three verses of "Deck the Halls" memorized now, just so she could dance. And dance she does. Around and around in circles, dizzy and delighted. From time to time, Madeline joins in, too.

But the best part? No matter how many times we've sung it, the very next thing out of Kathleen's mouth is the same:

"Will you sing it again?"

Mama and Daddy have decreed that, once the Christmas tree is down (which should happen in a few days, before Jim goes back to class), we will sing "Deck the Halls" no more. (Well, not until next year, at least.) But we didn't want you to miss out on our fun, so we've added a little clip here, where you can witness for yourself our happy, dancing girls.  (And you can thank your lucky stars that you don't have to sing the song again and again and again like we do!)