A Magnetic Ghosts Production

The kids taunted me all day yesterday with the surprise and secret thing they did with Dad on Monday.  I have learned not to push them for details.  It is more fun just to wait for it.

Here is Noah and Greta's film debut, shot and edited while the baby sister slept.  The working title was Star Wars VII.  The plot, in case it isn't obvious, is a light saber duel between Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi.  I won't ruin the ending for you, but I'll say that Noah is pretty proud of his acting skillz.  The extras for the DVD version will include the stories about how Greta/Vader stood perfectly still in the field rather than running toward Obi Wan to do battle because she was afraid of bees.  She understands that it is winter and all the bees are dead or asleep.  But still.  Bees.  You just never know.
    
My husband is so fun.



In honor of the film premiere, some of us have been given new middle names.
     Noah "Ewok" - Obi Wan Kenobi
     Greta "Leia" - Darth Vader
     Howl "Skywalker" - Key Grip
     Pete "Vader" - Hair & Makeup
     Magda "The Hut"- Executive Producer
     Kevin "3PO" - Screenplay, Director, Music Supervisor

"And when we were done, I ate hot dogs.  Two of them." - Noah

We Wish You a Merry

Leaving tomorrow afternoon for Over-the-River-and-Through-the-Woods. No time to write. Photo credit to Tricia and Brian. I failed to pull out my camera fast enough. Again.

Happy Solstice.

Cute cousins, no?

Walls Closing In. Messy Ones.

Some days my house feels wonderfully full of people, and they're all people I love, and it is good.  Some days, it feels like all of those people are making messes and too few of them are helping to clean them up.  Those days, we escape to other places to play for the day.

Here are Greta and Maggie playing at the indoor play park in Hudson.

Today, the moment we've been anticipating for weeks.  The wait has been agonizing.  I can't believe Ms. Ruthie got to be there to witness it.  I did get one of the first grins, though.  Think he's excited for tonight?

I have been informed that the Tooth Fairy only brings even numbers of dollars.  Very crafty, Tooth Fairy.  Well played.

Woof, Woof

There was a time, not so long ago, when I hated this dog.  And I don't mean hate in an, "Aww, Howl, you darn dog," kind of way.  There were actually [not so] secret plots to travel to the woods of Maine and "lose" him.  Adolescent dogs, I have heard, can be rather difficult to love.  Very large, very rambunctious, very LARGE adolescent dogs... well, he doesn't have very many fans.

But look at this face.  I am confident that you will grow to love him.  Yes, even you, Elsa.  This nearly one year old lying with head in my lap while I play with the girls in the sun room dog has even won me over.  Stay at home Wednesdays are the best.

Zero is Infinity

Last week, the baby loved to lie on her back in the living room and look up at the Christmas lights.  This week, she has learned to launch herself from back to belly.  She hates being on her belly.  Once she's there, she's completely immobile and extremely unhappy.  That does not stop her from twisting immediately back onto her front as soon as she's turned belly up.  Time to start sitting up lessons.

I have been philosophizing (with myself) lately about the boxes I put my kids in.  Noah the Numbers Magician.  Greta the Social Butterfly.  I hesitate to even put my thoughts in writing because that makes it feel as though their personalities are being inflicted on them.  But is it so wrong to guide my children in the directions they are so clearly drawn anyway?  Only if I'm reading them wrong, I guess.

But really, I don't think I could stop the boy from playing number games if I tried.  I pick up ten small pieces of paper filled with his complex computations every day.  These days, he's learning to carry numbers when adding two big numbers together, and he's fascinated by the concept of infinity.  It began with questions like, Can you count to infinity? and Is it bigger than a million? Go, Cypher Wizard, go.

Greta is the spiritual one.  She has a hundred questions about God and heaven and the people in her family who are waiting there for her.  But beyond just preferring Bible stories and liking church songs, the Greta quote of the year came on the ride home from school this week:

Mom, do you like it when God puts the clouds in you?

Decipher that.  It took some time for me.  Eventually, we made it to, You know, Mom, when you go "huh, huh" [exhaling] and you see clouds.  It's cold outside.  I love that.  She is also finding joy in Christmastime, and told me as we were driving down Main Street that the lights and decorations make [her] heart happy.  Mine too.

Even when I get up really early to try to get some things done before the rest of them, this early bird hears me and comes upstairs as if she's been waiting for hours for someone to tell her it's OK to be out of bed. With Pillow, Kitty Blanket and Moon Blanket. Every. Day.

Also, we are in that dream around here. The one about teeth. Noah is losing his first, Maggie is growing her first. Greta is solid. It started with an apple. After one bite, something was just not quite right. Noah was distressed. In the 15 seconds after receiving the news that his first baby tooth was going to fall out, I watched Noah go through the Kübler-Ross stages: 1. Denial. 2. Anger. 3. Bargaining. 4. Depression. And finally, 5. TOOTH FAIRY! Now the thing can't come out fast enough.

Tonight, when I go for a run with the giant yellow puppy, I'll watch the clouds God put in me fog the light from Greta's camping headlamp and think about what box to put Maggie in.  So far, she's easily The Dreamer.  Girl loves to sleep, and no one is trying to stop her.