fun with markers

Kids and I had fun with markers the other day. Rose Pink wanted to draw portraits. so I drew her

and she drew me

and Nut Brown drew her too

then we moved on to letters, one of my favorite things

(Rose Pink asked what I do at work. I was explaining how I doodle letters during meetings)

she wanted to try it too

then we moved on to free style

Nut Brown produced the following

and Rose Pink created this masterpiece. One of the clouds is in the shape of cat and has burning meteors for eyes. They fell in just the right place.

5 March 2011

Mr. Brown and kids just watched the new Karate Kid movie. Mr. Brown really, really liked it. And he says that now the kids are doing just what he remember doing with his younger brother when they first saw the original Karate Kid - karate moves they have invented themselves.

4 March 2011

Last night, after FHE, kids were sitting on my lap (oh my sweethearts!) eating girl scout cookies for treats (okay, I was eating some too).

Me: Okay! Time for scriptures! Let's go in the nest! (our front room with a couch)

Rose Pink gets up and runs into the nest.

Nut Brown: No!

Me: You can sit on my lap in the nest, too, Nutty. Let's go!

Nut Brown: (stubbornly bracing his feet to make it clear he's not moving) No!

Me: Come on, little dude! We can read together.

Nut Brown: No! I want more cookies!

Who can resist? Held hostage for 'more cookies'. So I promised him cookies for breakfast. Then I forgot the next morning. But that's okay, because he did too.

3 March 2011

Nut Brown has an invisible friend named John. Last night kiddos were pretending to be Kung Fu Panda characters (Rose Pink was Tigress (I know you saw that coming) and Nut Brown was Tai Lung) and when they needed a sparring partner, Nut Brown offered to call John up from the basement for Rose Pink to practice on. Rose Pink was in complete consensus. Later, Nut Brown announced that his invisible friend John was actually a girl, and s/he was pregnant, so s/he could be Po. I completely love the logic there.

1 March 2011

They're renovating and redoing our grocery store, and last time we went they were giving out plastic hardhats to the kids. Rose Pink has worn hers for a significant part of the day ever since receiving it. Mr. Brown sighed and said, "I had no idea that there was a construction hat shaped hole in my six-year-old's heart."

28 February 2011

Mr. Brown lately has been concerned about my backing up skills (or lack thereof) so he decided to put up the bumpers on our driveway.

(Seriously, people - a foot and half of snow in eight days? We are tired of shoveling!)

And you ask, have I had trouble with running into the bumpers?? Um. Yes.

26 February 2011

Rose Pink has a new friend. For her birthday, Gia brought her an American Girl doll that she has named Kit. For this photo, she has done her best to dress alike. The possibilities for play are endless - she's been spending a lot of time in her room with Kit. Kit is apparently Rose Pink's daughter, which means that I'm the grandma. And Kit has a baby doll sometimes too, which makes me a great-grandma. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Mr. Brown and I are both very pleased and excited with the imaginative play happening with Kit.

roar

Most favorite shirt of the smallest person in the house. It says, "Nobody's bigger than me!" and when Nut Brown reads it, it's usually accompanied by "RAHR!"

25 February 2011

Haircut day today for the family! Mr. Brown and Nut Brown were shorn this morning, and Rose Pink and I tried a local place for the first time since we moved here. Her hair was not as short as she wanted it (Mr. Brown was still heartbroken by the amount of hair on the floor of the salon) and mine was shorter than I meant it to be.

two kitties

I was joined by two wildcats for breakfast the other day. Then we played a wild game of Thomas the Train matching bingo. Train-go.

16 February 2011

During a discussion last night during dessert about 'good calories' and 'bad calories' (i.e. calories from an apple are better for you than calories from cake) Nut Brown declared that calories from dessert are good for him because they're dinosaur calories!

Ever since Rose Pink's birthday party, Nut Brown has been fully engaged in planning his own birthday party this year. He wavers between a 'dinosaur party' and a 'monster party'. Either way it involves a volcano. He is struggling with his guest list, however. He wants an all boy party, since Rose Pink's was an all girl event. He also really wants to invite his sister and I. Decisions, decisions!

16 February 2011

As part of a discussion during dessert about 'good calories' and 'bad' calories (i.e., calories from an apple are better for you than calories from cake) Nut Brown announces that calories from cake are good for him because they're dinosaur calories!

Ever since Rose Pink's birthday party, Nut Brown has been busy planning his own. He wavers between a 'dinosaur party' and a 'monster party', but either way there is to be a volcano involved. He also struggles with who to invite: whether or not Rose Pink & I are invited depends on the day. He wants it to be an all boy party like Rose Pink's was all girls, but there's only one little boy his age that he knows.

15 Feburary 2011

My parents gave me a songbook for Christmas, so our night-time song repertoire has sizeably increased. We started by learning "Blood On The Saddle" and "O Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie" (which seem to be related). Nut Brown often asks me to sing 'doo dah doo dah' (Camptown Races) and lately we've been singing "The Erie Canal" and "The Man On The Flying Trapeze". Did you know Trapeze has five verses? I know them all. The last line is 'and my love he's purloined away'. Nut Brown sang it to me randomly in a store bathroom last week. My three year old! Said 'purloined'!

We had friends over a couple weeks ago and she told me how awesome it was that my children were sung "The Impossible Dream" and "Yellow Submarine" for bedtime songs.

We have found that we will hold Family Home Evening regularly if it involves singing lots of songs. So our whole FHE is composed of singing lots of Primary songs and hymns together, combined with appropriate marching and interpretive dancing, followed by a treat (because that's what really makes it FHE, right? a treat?). We look forward to it all week. I love watching Nut Brown learn the songs. Right now a favorite is "Scripture Power". He and Rose Pink will sing at the top of their lungs. Also they love "Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel". I can't wait for the day that we sing that in church and they belt it out with the congregation.

for my sweetheart

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) ee cummings

14 February 2011

Rose Pink has the hacking coughing yucks at the moment, and woke up in the middle of the night having a paroxysm. I gave her some tylenol for her fever, and then told her she was going to have to have some cough syrup to help her stop coughing and go back to sleep. She resisted, saying that it was YUCKY and she DIDN'T WANT ANY but I insisted, bringing her the medicine in bed. She drank off a dose and chased with a cup of water, and then shouted, "BLAAAARRRRGGH!! IT'S YUCKY! I NEVER WANT TO HAVE IT AGAIN!" I shushed her, as Nut Brown sleeps in the same room, and then kissed her and said, "Well, I hope you get feeling better soon." And Nut Brown, without opening his eyes, said sleepily, "Yeah, because then you'll stop waking me up."

28 January 2011

Rose Pink got for her birthday a 'draw your own clothes' book, with torso outlines and colored pencils and stencils for the shapes of clothes. She LOVES it. Here are some of her creations (all of which she names, she so reminds me of myself sometimes!). The first is my favorite, because she took the shavings from sharpening her colored pencils and glued them on to make the clothes.

I love the boots. She told me very carefully that even though they look different, they really are a matched pair meant to be worn together.

birthday

Here is Rose Pink's birthday in backwards order. Lastly, she was kissed by a bunch of boys with ink on their lips. Enabled by a stamping ring she was given as a present. The finale of the fashion show, which was a total success. The girls paraded for us, I think, five times? Maybe six. They loved it. Rose Pink's first appearance in the fashion show that concluded the party. Fancy girls have tea and nibbles. Rose Pink and I dressed our fanciest in preparation for guests. On the morning of her birthday party, she also had her first dance class at the community center. Here she is showing off what she 'learned' in class. She completely and totally loved it. Here she is ready to go to class! This is her birthday cake with candles on the night of her birthday. Happy six, Rose Pink! May this year be even better than the last! Sorry that they're all out of order- Blogger makes it too hard to rearrange them and I'm too tired.

some Christmastime photos

19 January 2011

We recently unearthed a set of a hundred markers from the basement (the kids' reward for being safe with markers now). The resultant explosion of creativity has been gratifying, especially from our sweet daughter.

Rose Pink draws her daddy: and enjoys her palette:

It's very fun to hear her searching for the 'right shade of pink', since she now has options.

19 January 2011

Last week Mr. Brown was planning to make an Indian dish with cauliflower, and he prepped the cauliflower (washed and chopped) and put it in the fridge. Nut Brown discovered it, and ate half of it raw before Mr. Brown got around to making the dish a couple days later. Every time we asked him what was in his mouth, he'd say, very mushily, 'cawyfowuh'.

18 January 2011

Last night Nut Brown invited us to play hide and seek. He thought it was so fun to be hiding that he'd start to laugh, so finding him was never a problem. And if you took too long finding him anyway (more than ten seconds) he'd stick his head out and shout, "Is anybody there?" It was tons of fun. Eventually Mr. Brown turned out all the lights and we played sardines, which was also fun, although Rose Pink was a little scared by how dark it was. We told her that it's just like the game she used to play called 'darky schlarky' where you turn all the lights out and sit in the dark. Mr. Brown was wearing black and found the best hiding place, where none of us could find him - in our closet. (Oh, probably shouldn't have told you that!!) But the funniest part was finding Nut Brown by the sound of his giggles.

petrified

Yesterday Nut Brown found the remains of a Christmas cookie (iced, with sprinkles) in the bathroom drawer with the hair stuff. What? You think you misheard? So did I. No, it was really there, in the drawer with the barettes and elastics, and when asked how it could possibly have gotten there, Nut Brown replied solemnly, "Magic."

14 Jan 2011

Happy birthday, Rose Pink! Six years old!

She got up this morning and came in the bathroom and looked in the mirror and said, "I guess I'm not any taller."

This evening we gave her our gifts and she was very pleased and excited. Nut Brown had chosen a Mulan barbie, which she was totally excited about, and Mr. Brown gave her a fashion designer drawing kit thing, which she spent thirty minutes playing with after dinner. I gave her a bathrobe, which was also very happily received. (Thank you for the hand-me-down, Amanda!)

Tomorrow- her first dance class at the rec center, and the fancy party!

10 January 2011

Rose Pink and I have decided to throw her a "Fancy Nancy" birthday party this Saturday. Today we made invitations for it. I cut out and wrote on, and she sewed the butterfly bodies and did the antenna. Also she further enhanced with delicate spirals.

There will be manicures. There will be pedicures. There will be nibbles with fancy toothpicks. There will be a fashion show.

Nut Brown and Mr. Brown are planning a trip to Chuck E Cheese for the duration.

9 January 2011

Nut Brown loves to wrestle. He is ready and willing at any time to jump on and punch anyone who indicates willingness. Since Rose Pink outweighs and can therefore outgun him, she will often join in. We have had several happy times lately rolling around on the living room floor. Today Nut Brown took on his daddy and punched him in the kidneys and then on the bum until his father rolled over and tickled him. Mr. Brown will put up with a lot more of this than I will! Thank goodness for daddies!

Some more of Rose Pink's artwork

20 December 2010

Lots of fun and funny Christmas joy at our house tonight. We had a half hour tickle fight on the living room floor. There are advantages to having no furniture in the living room.

Our Christmas tree is bursting with amazon.com boxes. Hopefully when we open them on Christmas morning we'll be able to match them with the right giver to send the appropriate thank you note. The amazon smiley-face is the must have for this year, I suppose. We have such generous friends.

Mr. Brown watched kids for a friend today, and left a partly opened box from a friend (in Texas, you know who you are!) in the living room while he carried on a very long conversation with a friend in need on the front porch. Four kids five and under, relatively unsupervised. When he came back inside, he discovered that they had emptied the styrofoam peanuts from the box and shredded them into bits and bits all over the living room. (Proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished.) Another advantage to having no furniture in the living room - easier to clean up.

Rose Pink this evening was playing with putting things in her stocking and then 'discovering' what Santa had left for her. She said, "Oh look! A kazoo! And a little car! And a bloody knuckle!" Morbid, yes, that's our daughter. (The bloody knuckle was a piece of styrofoam she'd colored red and green a few days ago.)

15 December 2010

Reading scriptures at night, Nut Brown asked us what 'behold' means. We told him that 'behold' means 'look'. Now whenever anyone reads 'behold', Nut Brown interrupts to say, "Behold means look!" Last night he'd gone out to get a drink when I ran across a 'behold' in the verse. I said it loudly, hoping he'd hear it and shout back from the kitchen, but instead Mr. Brown and Rose Pink chorused in unison, "Behold means look!"

14 December 2010

Sunday afternoon Rose Pink departed into the snowy wilderness that is our driveway bearing tea bags that I had intended to throw away. She wanted to turn the snow pink with the tea bags (it's hibiscus tea). I was dubious, but sure enough, as she messed around outside, the tea bags did indeed bleed into the snow. Her summary: "So it turns out that snow really is just frozen water."

12 Dec 2010

Lots of snow on Sunday. We had two inches on the ground when I left for church and it didn't stop snowing until seven or eight that night. When I went out to shovel, Rose Pink followed me and we built a snow chair on the front lawn for her and a short snowman with raisin eyes and buttons.

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This morning Nut Brown climbed into bed between Mr. Brown and I and said, "I love you, Mommy! I love you, Daddy!" He is so affectionate.

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On a side note, it looks like we can trust our kids with markers now!

13 Dec 2010

We settled down to watch some tv on Saturday afternoon with a plate of Christmas cookies, and Rose Pink said, "There's only one jumjill! Somebody better take it or else I'm going to eat it!!" Jumjills are favorites at our house. Nut Brown said, "I'll take it!" and he did. Rose Pink was exceedingly indignant.

cookies

Mr. Brown and I and our good friend Tiffany had a baking orgy and made all our Christmas cookies for plates. We carefully plated and wrapped almost twenty plates of cookies (I told you it was an orgy) and then Mr. Brown got sick, so instead of distributing them as planned, we have been eating them ourselves, one plate at a time. :) The cookies are very, very good.

hippopotamus for Christmas

Megan- it's Christmas in Detroit. We heard the 'hippopotamus for Christmas' song on the radio the other day. It's a funny song so I turned it up and afterwards I asked Rose Pink what she would do if she got a hippopotamus for Christmas. I wish I could have captured the look of total stupefaction on her face as she replied, "I'd...I'd...I'd give it to the ZOO! I don't WANT a hippopotamus for Christmas!"

10 December 2010

First serious snow today, about an inch on the ground this morning. Rose Pink is of course ecstatic. I am less ecstatic. Mr. Brown is sick so if there is to be playing in the snow, I have to be in charge of it. So here's what happened - we went to the library (minus Mr. Brown, who is sick) on our way to the Cranbrook Museum. We were dashing inside to pick up books on hold. On our way back to the car, Rose Pink and Nut Brown got distracted by the snow around the edge of the fountain, and then they climbed into the fountain and played with the snow there. Rose Pink picked up fifty-six pennies. (See how well she can count?) I read my book for fifteen minutes until their fingers got too cold to go on (because we weren't going to play in the snow, we were going to the museum.)

We proceed on to the museum. Children get out of the car and race over to snowbanks. I get back in the car and read my book some more while snow play occurs. Eventually Rose Pink comes over and tells me she has to go to the bathroom, so we go into the museum. Snow play successfully achieved for the day.

Snow on the ground has also illuminated exactly how often the squirrels get into our trash can. The snow around the trash can is completely compacted by little squirrel footprints. Going to take out the trash tonight, I told Mr. Brown that I was going to feed the squirrels.

30 November 2010

So in our neighborhood they do something called 'leaf vacuuming' (sounds awesome) which means that most of the on-street parking is now taken up by as-yet-unanimated shambling mounds of leaves. I love living in a tree-filled city! ------ Just back from Thanksgiving visit to Iowa. On to Christmas.

12 November 2010

Nut Brown has a few speech difficulties that I want to record for posterity, especially since Mr. Brown has started working with him to get over them. First, he has a little bit of a lisp. I asked him to put some socks away the other day and he said, "Oh! Thesthe are my sthisther'sth sthockths!"

Also, he drops the 's' from the front of words like 'spoon' and 'stir'. So he asks for a 'poon and tells me that the movie is too 'cary. This is the one that Mr. Brown has told me very firmly that I have to stop encouraging. But it's so cute!

8 November 2010

Conversation yesterday with Rose Pink:

Rose Pink: I really want to go to school next year, Daddy.

Mr. Brown: Why do you really want to go to school?

Rose Pink: So that I can make lots of friends and they can come over and we can make hominy soup with a BIG can of hominy! (She means a number 10 can size of hominy.)

Mr. Brown: Sweetheart, if that's the only reason that you want to go to school, I can make hominy soup with a big can of hominy for you right now.

Rose Pink: Really? Really?!?

Mr. Brown: Yes.

Rose Pink: Hooray! And maybe I can take the label off and paint the can!

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Since Halloween and the arrival of masses of candy, there has been some discussion about how Mr. Brown doesn't eat chocolate, and the children, crushed by the idea that Daddy might miss out on some of the windfall that came their way, have been diligent about finding non-chocolate candies for him to share. The other night at the table, we were talking about how we need to let Santa know not to put chocolate candy in Mr. Brown's stocking. Mr. Brown said that he would like to ask Santa to bring him some Pay Day candy bars. Nut Brown, very seriously, said, "Maybe Santa will bring you a new computer with more Duck Tales movies on it."

4 November 2010

Rose Pink's gotten quite proficient with scissors and glue. She colored, cut out, and glued together both of these items all by herself.

2 November 2010

I love where we live. Our kids trick-or-treated about three blocks (just about right for a five-year-old and a three-year-old) and came home with EIGHT POUNDS of candy.