A Month's Worth of Kid Quotes

Ellen, to Peter, when we're all in the car: Next time I want to drive.
Peter: You'll be old enough to drive when you're 16.
Ellen: No, I can drive. 'Cause I have my princess keys.

Ellen, to Zuzu's 7 year-old friend: Where's your cell phone?
Zuzu's friend: I don't have a cell phone. I have to be 16. And I have to buy it with my own money.
Ellen: I have a cell phone.

Adam: Winnie the pooh.
Ellen: We need a poo?
This exchange is repeated several times, with escalating emphasis on the "Winnie!" from Adam.

Adam, yelling at me across the house and not knowing I'm within earshot: MOM! I'll DIE if you don't come and help me with this RIGHT NOW!
Zuzu: Adam, that's not true. You wouldn't die.
Adam: I know, but I WANT her to do it, so I'm lying.

Adam has been asking ceaselessly to make something "out of nails and wood." Everyday, "Mom, please let's go get some wood and some nails and I can make something." So Peter bought a kit and helped him build this airplane. Adam was over the moon. He said to me, "Next I want to make a computer."

Me: I can't find it. I've looked everywhere I can think of.

Adam: Then it's in one of the places you couldn't think of! You need to look in those places!

Ellen, October 2009

I'm going to start doing some posts based on random photos.*

I made this dress for Ellen for Halloween/Fall 2008, and I was so pleased that it still fit, once I loosened the sleeve elastic, the next year.

*Considering recent trends, maybe I shouldn't start any sentence with a statement so bold as "I'm going to start doing some posts. . . "

Saturday Morning TRIPtych

Green Eggs & Jane

I can hear Jane & Zuzu at the end of the hall lying in their bunk beds. Zuzu wants to go to sleep, but Jane is in a chatty mood.*

Jane: Would you, could you, in a box?
Zuzu: Would you, could you, please be quiet?
Jane: I don't know; I've never tried it.

*Jane has always needed less sleep than Zuzu, so Zuzu is frequently sleep deprived as a consequence of sharing a room with her.

Valentine's Day Redux

Zuzu's class had a valentine box decorating contest. She wanted to make a circus tent box.

Here's her original design drawing:

(I love, love, love that elephant drawing.)

And here's the finished box:


Better show you the other sides too:



Peter helped her build the box lid (It's hinged. I'm not kidding.) and I helped her with the decoration.

My sister Suzy generously let the cousins come over and squander vast amounts of use her craft supplies for a valentine-making extravaganza. Here is Jane with the fruits of her labor:


Jane was most perturbed that I bought pencils to give away instead of candy again this year. We're that family.

Excuse me for a moment while I scroll up and check out that elephant drawing again.

To bring this post back into the present, here's a picture Peter took in our backyard this morning:

And here's a picture of our backyard right now:


Here we go again.