soccer!

There can be few things funnier to watch than 4- and 5- year olds playing soccer. They kind of swarm the ball, no concept of teamwork or passing, just a flat out rumble to get a foot on the ball. Kids are toppling left and right. The coaches are constantly having to yell "other way, OUR goal is the OTHER WAY!!"

The last night of soccer, they had a kids vs. parents game. Helen was allowed to play on the parents team- she held Tim's hand through the whole thing which was kind of adorable. She was pretty good, too, I think she will be a force to be reckoned with when she can officially join in next year!

Never one to be forgotten or left out, Thomas craftily tried to sneak into the action with an army crawl...

behavior genetics

My poor children, with a clinical psychologist for a mother. I am constantly marvelling at their various personalities considering they share 50% of their genes and are growing up in the same household together. In some ways they could not be more different!

Here's an example.

Last week in the shower, George suddenly started screaming and shrieking. "my leg, my leg, I have a booboo!" He could hardly stand and was contorting in wild positions to try to prevent water from getting on his knee. All but hysterical, I finally helped him gingerly step out of the shower. I took a look at the terrible injury..... it turned out to be a little piece of red fluff from the washcloth. I'm feeling sorry for his future wife already when he comes down with the Man Flu.

But then there is Helen, who had a blister on her foot. I had to talk her into getting it rinsed and band-aided. After a couple of hours, she told me "it's all better, I don't need that thing anymore." (note: it was still bleeding, actual blood, not towel-fluff "blood") All stoicism, all the time! There is a reason this girl has never been to the doctor for anything other than well child visits.

Thomas remains focused on his primary goal in life, that of Not Being Left Out. His own injuries get major or minor reactions depending on more situational factors, like did a big kid take a toy away and should a grownup be getting on that situation. However, without fail, should anyone else get a bandaid or an ice pack, he is right there insistently putting in his claim of "TOO, TOO!"

in case you haven't heard...

number 4 is on the way, due 12/12/12!

This is also my explanation for blog silence. I am slowly returning to the human race after the worst first trimester ever. I have some funny kid stuff to share- coming soon- stay tuned!

Helen's latest

I think what can be said about Helen, is that she really knows what she wants in life.

She is a little fashionista, choosing her clothes and hairstyle every day. This usually involves something pink, many accessories, and her tutu.

She can write her name and now she puts her name on absolutely EVERYTHING!

She has the letters down but they don't always come out in quite the right order. So we've had HEEN and HEEL and HLLEN but fortunately it hasn't come out as h-e-double hockey sticks, yet.

Helen continues to be a classic girly girl which is so funny because I never was. She is deep in a My Little Pony phase right now. I recently gave her mine that I had when I was little- when she opened the box up and saw the ponies and related toys she said in hushed tones "oh my goodness..." I think they have already gotten more use than they did in my childhood!

this one, I think, is going to be trouble

George has learned to tell knock-knock jokes... so Thomas immediately started saying "na-na!" and laughing hysterically.

He'll "comb" his hair with his fork and crack himself up at the joke. Even funnier when the fork has tomato sauce or peanut butter on it.

Here's a picture documenting something we'll just refer to as "the Nutella incident."

Thomas has also become quite the pro at conning rides from big brother and big sister.

I mean really, who can say no to a cute little face like that?

two scenes

Sunday, after church.

I decided to make a big lunch including eggs and bacon. The sizzling bacon got a bit smoky and set off the fire alarms (for the first time in the new house). It was kind of a shock because not only did these fancy things whistle and shriek, there was also a mechanical voice saying FIRE... FIRE... FIRE... FIRE. George was seriously concerned and ran around in tears with his hands over his ears (later he explained that he was worried it might be an *invisible* fire). Even when the commotion was over he was still shaken up.

He announced "I am going to make a sign for the front door that says NO BACON ALLOWED."

And then, after a moment to reflect on the tragic wasteland that would be a world bereft of bacon, George said "actually I will make a sign that says NO BACON ALLOWED, UNLESS YOU COOKED IT AT YOUR OWN HOUSE."


Thursday, while making dinner

5 pm has proven to be a tragic hour on many days. It is just unimaginable how much trouble the kids can get into while I'm taking 10 minutes to boil up some pasta, for example.

Today I really thought they were handling themselves. I vaguely recall George swooping by at some point saying "ok Mommy, we are going to fly up into the sky and go on a cloud!" But at that time of day I am pretty well focused on getting something to put on the table by 5:30 and ignore anything short of smoke, blood, or broken glass.

Thomas started wailing hard. I look out on the deck, and see:

a) a kite, tossed over the edge of the deck,
b) with the string wound under and over and all around a tricycle,
c) George and Helen sitting on the tricycle, awaiting liftoff,
d) and the tail end of the string wound several times tightly around Thomas' feet *and neck* as he stood right behind struggling to free himself.

!!!!

postscript: Later I was telling Tim of their exploits, and mentioned that I wasn't sure if lashing Thomas on behind was part of the plan or just incidental to him likely tripping over everything while they were winding the string around the trike. George piped right up and said "oh yes, that was part of the plan!"

the food pyramid, according to Thomas

"apoo" = any fruit
"krakra" = cracker/bread product
"keekee" = anything in the cookie/pastry family
"pup" = a drink
"chsss" = cheese
"puhbmmm" = peanut butter (He has rather a hard time saying it, but anytime he so much as overhears the word in conversation he rushes into the pantry and emerges, beaming, bearing the sacred plastic jar aloft.)

Note the lack of word for vegetables... with these words he can pretty much "order up" anything he is really interested in eating.