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

Christmas 2013 at home

Who's the last one up on Christmas morning?

BUT, to be fair, who is the one who went in the top bunk with Roman when he woke up crying in the middle of Christmas morning/night to soothe him? Dad. And stayed there (and Roman slept soundly thereafter...or until 6 am).

Patiently waiting....but asking "when can we open the presents" about 5 billion times. Do I exaggerate? Only by adding 4,999,999,875 to the real number. (Did I get that right? I don't work in the billions very often)

It's a hoedown.

Or Zo down.

Thanks to Liz and Kevin.

What parent doesn't want a mini accordion for their kid (Roman, actuallly)?!

Or a horse riding Darth Vader?

By the way, Darth is for the big kid in the house, although Roman is suddenly taking an interest in all things Star Wars. He watched the movie (epidsode 4, the first one released) just last week with his Dad. Not sure there will be many surprises since a) he knows Luke and Leia are twins and b) he quotes "Luke I am your Father". But I think it meant a lot to Mike that you watched it with him. Zoe started to do so, but it was 'too loud' (just the way Dad has to watch it) and wasn't too interested. She came into the bedroom with me and chatted while I worked on the computer. When the cantina scene came up and the music played our ears perked up. For the longest time this was Dad's ringtone, so we both thought his phone was ringing. but when it dawned on me this was from the actual movie playing in the living room I told Zoe to go check it out. I know I always liked  that part, and that music was somehow compelling when I was a kid.

So there.

Zoe and her Rapunzel, much requested this season (along with a bunch of other things) and gifted to her by Grandma Candy. We'd seen this at Costco several times this year (along with Darth, above) and Zoe had her heart set on it (again, among may other things).  The other long awaited item was the horse, also in the picture. Since she got the doll to go on it, she could finally have the horse.  Roman was heavy on the Legos and Playmobil sets this year. He's a constructor.

Christmas Vacation Shenanigans (or: I couldn't think of a title)

Viewed in a magazine: "She's beautiful"

(snip, snip for her notebook journal)

Viewed on a digital kiosk at the mall ".....Mom, Mom...LOOK!" 

Source (any a very interesting site to poke around, lots of incredibly beautiful photos and illustrations by talented artists...)

Known in our house as the 'Pepsi Girl'.

Last week Zoe decided to write her a letter (as much as a 5 year old can). I think I planted the seed thinking that maybe we could figure out a way to write a note to Ms. Sofia Vergara (aka "Pepsi Girl") sometime. Sometime to the 5 year olds is typically RIGHT NOW. As I was cleaning up I found some leftover Christmas cards and blank envelopes. Zoe took a blank envelope and disappeared.  She came back with a sealed envelope (I did see strips of yellow paper at some point, likely part of the interior). She asked me to write on it. She didn't know how to tell me to address it and put a stamp on it, but she understood the concept by pointing and saying it in another way. Since we're several days out from that conversation I don't remember what she said, but I do find it amazing that we're at that level of conversing. And she's learned so much (Roman is no slouch either!). I don't know that she was happy with my hand drawn stamp, but after I wrote "To Pepsi Girl" she took it back and decorated it.

I confirmed that those are shoulders. ;)

So now, I need to figure out what to do. Zoe's pretty determined to get this in the mail. Yet I wonder about the mysterious contents, likely mysterious even when they are opened ;).

Christmas Eve 2013

Zoe's contribution to the meal: Fresh raspberries stuffed with blueberries.

Let's play with our phones.

Or our kindles.

Or our whatevers.

Cousin Audrey's first Christmas!

Don't forget Lucy!

Zoe got her doll, which she calls an American Girl doll (and we won't correct her on that one). Mom's not ready to go there. But this made her very happy. From G & G B.

Cute! Cute!

Two tutu wearing girls.

It gets no easier to take pictures...This is the best I could do of the three of you.

And Legos. Star Wars Legos at that. Roman and Dad were right at it. Roman has an intense ability to concentrate on tasks like this. It's funny because normally we're asking him to do something a million times. With this kind of thing he's quiet, he's calm and he's focused. And I'm always amazed at his abilities. Your Dad isn't so surprised, but I am!

Proud Mama

This morning Roman and Zoe asked if they could go downstairs. Sure. Until Christmas this isn't something they'd want to do themselves, but this year Santa left their presents down there, so apparently the reward of going someplace kind of scary outweighs the scariness.  What did Santa bring? An art easel for Zoe and a foosball table for Roman.

So down they went, and I was getting things done around the house and Mike was reading one of his new books. It's awfully quiet I thought. For a few minutes. Then I went to check on them. They were fine, as expected, and Zoe had created this masterpiece on her easel.

WOW. I was blown away.

I had her explain to me what she wrote in this video.

I enjoyed it immensely (as you can tell). 

Little did I know that we have horse riding (horsridn) and too much shopping (zopin) in our future (nevermind zckol in our present and a food fit in our past).

1. Not BOOK

2. Tor Gort

3. LiPZiCK

4. CAoidr

Ah, the important things (and places?) in life.

A new feature: Word Puzzles

More of Zoe's word creations. Take a guess.

1. WDObR Ƨun Ƨain

2. APL LAtH

3. BAKCit

4. BAtH | TAOBA

5. ƧRCKL
Note from Mom: at some point Z decided a "|" was need between words. Mostly gone, but note in number #4

Pre-K visit

On Halloween, Zoe's pre-k class had a "stay and play" in the afternoon. Dad was able to make it to that one, but Mom didn't.  Yesterday, the last day before the 2 week holiday break, both Roman and Zoe had a "stay and play" and Mom got to participate.  Since Dad had been to Zoe's class, he went to Roman's and Mom got Zoe's class.  Grandma B joined too since it was uncertain if Dad would have work obligation that day.  I was looking forward to it. I had stayed with R&Z one time in preschool last year too and it was really interesting to see what it was they did when they went there. 

Zoe showed me many learning stations, including the writing one. She picked her notebook (the yellow one!) and showed me some of her drawings. This one was a flag eating a carrot.  I didn't get a closeup of it, but it did look like a flag eating a carrot. 

We also read a book, dug in some moon sand, heard a story and Zoe had a special snack: graham cracker decorated with frosting and colorful cereal. MMM sugar.

I noticed a wall of family pictures, with a note from each child about it.

Here is Zoe's.

Me and my brother and my dad and my mom. I like to go on vacations and I like to go to the Mall of America with them, and the last thing is that I like to go to IKEA with them. We like to go camping, and we like to hang out together. Well, the thing is, I just like to have fun with them. Sometimes we like to go swimming.

Loved it :)
Although we went camping ONE time for ONE night about 2 years ago.
Nailed it on the IKEA though ;)

She Writes, She Spells

At parent teacher conferences, Zoe's teacher suggested she start 'kid writing', that is sounding out words and writing them down. There's a little reluctance at home (just tell me how to spell it!), but she's been coming home with pages like these.

1. tABL
2. KiDr GdiN
3. FiN Gor NeiL      (Love)
4. MiN A SoDA
5. Pro DaiL

1.That's where we eat.
2. That's where R & Z will be next year.
3. Not a clue, unless these are the things Zoe likes to paint. I bet that's it.
4. This is where we live :)
5. Hmmm. Anyone?

Ms Audrey

Just posted on Facebook that it's probably good I had kids later in life...takes the opportunity of having babies off the table a little faster (usually, right Grandma Jane?!).

The kids and I went to tag along for a bit when Grandma Jane was babysitting 2 month old cousin Audrey. I tell you, there is nothing better than cuddling a sleeping baby.
Or just looking at an awake baby:

A little Grandma love.

We saw Audrey, Andy and Laura on Thanksgiving too.

This is when Zoe had her first chance of having Audrey on her lap.

The twins were both so excited. And Zoe showed her love.

:)

Santa 2013