This and That

::"How old do you have to be to have your paintings in an art gallery?"  She pauses to consider.  "Probably six or seven."  She could color all day, and I am happy to let her.  There's nothing as motivating as doing what you love.

::Zosia, Lily, Ben and I have been reading Nancy Drew every evening after the littlest three are in bed.  I am hooked!  It makes me think that there just might be some mysteries right here that need to be solved.

::This little thing has spent the entire summer in line for the diving board, or jumping off of it.  A daredevil, to be sure, and fearless and a little sassy.  Of all my children, I see my own childhood personality reflected in this one. 

::Clara and Dorothy are on the move!  Slowly, but purposefully, and in exactly whichever direction they wish to go.  I don't think we've ever had a six month old crawler before, and here we have two!  And now is when I madly start to think of how to babyproof.


::Which means we have to enjoy our baby holding while we can!  I think we would be perfectly happy to keep these two girls as little babies for a little while longer, but they are eager for independence, and are well on their way towards attaining it.  Could someone please invent a way to freeze babies in time for a little while?  Any inventors out there?

::"I have something to tell you!" he tells me every morning when he wakes up.  "Today I will be" and then he inserts whoever the imaginary of the character might be.  Spiderman (though he's only ever encountered him in a book!), or a superhero, or a fireman.  He lives in his imagination, this one, and it's the most entertaining thing for all of us.  Yesterday, we spent the whole morning awaiting Spiderman, who was coming over for lunch ("Today I will be Spiderman's friend" was yesterday's announcement).  It turns out Spiderman likes to eat chicken, broccoli, eggs, pasta, and rice.  You know, good growing food.  Those superheros really need a lot of growing food.

::We walked down to see the fireworks with my sister, Aunt Irene, and cousin Grace (with Zosia and Lily, above).  After a couple of hours of rolling around the biggest hill in the neighborhood with every kid for a five mile radius, the fireworks finally went off.  Our big kids were pretty happy when they finally collapsed into bed at eleven at night.  The wild running, the noisy fireworks, the walk home in the dark, it's just the sort of thing I know will make a lasting memory.