A.K.A. Robot Monkey

At least that is the title that Roman gives this sculpture as he sits on the arm of my chair as I upload this. I mean Picasso, what does he know? Baboon and Young (La guenon et son petit) - where's the panache in that? ;)

We visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts briefly yesterday after a visit to the Children's Theater.

We made our way to the modern art section, a little more accessible for young minds. R and Z remembered the big white dog from our last visit, so that was our goal. Along the way we found other things (Mr. Lincolnton, for example), but also this guy. Robot Monkey.  I passed right by, but Dad asked if we'd seen the monkey made out of car parts. That call all our attention. So back we went. Wow. Pretty cool .

Dad provided the opportunity for a closer look.

A head made out of a car (or two, to be precise).

Prior to our art appreciation time, we went to the Children's Theater to see a very cool production of the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar 

It was less than an hour long, but based on Zoe's reluctance to even be there, it was a good introduction to a live production. And once it started, both were fine.

Who's this guy, kids?

Zoe gave up.

Roman had a look that said "I think I know." So I prompted him to tell us.

"George Lincolnton!"

Awesome job, dude.

(at the MIA).

Toothless, part one

With a lot of wiggling and a lot of looking in the mirror to examine the loose tooth, it came out.

Last Sunday and Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Thank goodness.

Anxiously Awaiting...

...the departure of Zoe's lower front tooth.
It's been loose since Christmas break and I thought it might come out before she went back.
Nope.
Then I thought for sure it was going to be out on Wednesday night.
Nope.
And we (or maybe I) suffered the incessant questioning.
"Is it going to come our tonight, Mom?"
"Maybe, it's pretty loose."
5 minutes later.
"Is it going to come out?"
"I don't know Zoe"
3 minutes later
"It's really loose"
"I know"
2 minutes later
"Is it going to come out tonight. I WANT it to come out tonight"
"You do? Why?"
"I want the tooth fairy to come!"
"Ah. Well, we'll see"
5 minutes
"Why isn't it coming out?"
And repeat.

Got me thinking that the tooth fairy needs to have a plentiful supply of small bills. And maybe even a fancy little container to put it in. And maybe she'll even leave a little note.
One never knows.

It's still hanging on, but just barely.

1. CirN

2. HArKAot

3. CorPit

4. PLe

Zoe got her first (2) in a long time during December. Roman has been getting them for quite a while (and regularly!).  We visited a (3) this fall. (1) and (4). ?

Word Pezl

1. Pezl

2 feFit

3. PePr

4. cAFAturA

5. ƧMiL

My guess? You might (5) after you finish this (1). Then head to the (4). I don't know about (2) but if you figure it out (3) your conversations with it.

Cold.

Brutal Cold. Polar Vortex cold. I'm hoping I don't hear that term for another 20 years. We've had horribly cold weather over the last month. It started with January weather in December and then insanely cold weather in January. Colder in parts of the Midwest than in was in the Arctic. Happy 2014. 

I spent the weekend having fun with the other seasonal complaint: bad health. I got over it, although now Zoe and Dad have fallen...

Last weekend Zoe came in and produced a gift for me. I was half asleep, but Dad took a photo.

I HOP YOU FIL BeDr.

I did when I saw that!

Immortalized

Yesterday was to be the last day off of school for the Christmas holiday.  Mom was back at work, Dad had a meeting and some errands to run. Grandma Candy came over and stayed for pizza and a movie. The movie? Return of the Jedi. In the last couple weeks the kids (well more so Roman) have FINALLY watched some of the real Star Wars movies.  Roman has been playing with Star Wars toys at an increasing pace. First some legos, then some handpicked toys from Dad's massive collection. 

I came home from work, had some pizza (and beer!) and did a crossword for the first 10 or so minutes of the move. Assessments: A) Not really my thing and b) Doing a crossword after beer (even 2 light beer with dinner) is not advised. Particularly when someone has 'helped' by writing 'zoe' in random squares throughout. It really took too long for me to realize that I hadn't done that. No, 'zoe' is not the middle part of the word solution. 

Or maybe it is.

I wasn't feeling great (I blame the visit to the indoor play 'maze' on Monday...GERMS), so I sequestered myself and watched bad tv. Compelling and bad. Perfect for a cold winter evening. 

At one point Zoe came in and put her 3 foot tall Rapunzel doll next to me and asked me to pretend it was me. I was asked to put my arm around her. 

Later, Roman came in "look what I made...." At this point I was half asleep, so I told him to show me in the morning.

He did.

He finally got in his basic set of Legos - not building an A Wing Fighter or a hovercraft.  Using his imagination instead.

So he made me and him.

Here's the thing. By the time I can get the camera ready, they're like Clark Kent and Superman: they can't be in the same place at the same time. I find Roman, I can't find me.

Me: "Roman, where am I?"

Roman: "You're right here Mom!".

Me: "No, the Lego me"

Roman: "I don't know!"

So, for the record, we have two pictures. But when if first brought it to me we had both, hand in hand. Very sweet.

1. BAzckAOBOL (peace sign, peace sign, peace sign ;)

2. (peace sign) Bo : G GiƧ

3. PiƧeƧ (peace sign, peace sign, peace sign, peace sign)

4. BiLDiNG

5. CiHiN

6. APLH treepE