Snow, Art, and a One-Person Play

It's been sunny, which helps with the freezing coldness and all. Yesterday afternoon we bundled up, popped each girl in a sled, and ran them all around the sidewalks around our house, eventually ending up at the football field for a lot of chasing, snow-angel-making, and tackling.

Jemma wore her sunglasses.

Today, we had a coloring fest for almost an hour after lunch. And guess what? Jemma knows how to draw a face. She makes very big, hollow eyes, so it sort of looks like a skull, but still: a face. With a lot of pink hair.

Annie is practically a Disney animator by now, what with all the princesses she's drawn. Here's something she brought to Jason after her quiet time yesterday. For anyone not current on their Disney characters, that would be Sleeping Beauty (eyes closed, red rose tragically resting on bosom) with the three fairies crying in the background. I think "DAD I LOVe YOU" is a totally appropriate caption.

The girls played miraculously well this afternoon after quiet time, so I abandoned thoughts of the gym and decided to make a big dinner instead, in the hopes that Jason might actually get home on time to eat with us. And guess what? He did! I made this. He liked it. (Meatballs that incorporate BACON? Yes.)

But really, the girls. They were upstairs, they were downstairs, they were taking all the cushions off the couch and doing gymnastics in the living room, they were wearing dance outfits and requesting The Nutcracker Suite, they were taking care of babies with broken legs, they were flying an airplane to Florida . . . . they were being sisters, just playing, and it was so fun to see.

Later, Jemma was the last one in the tub. I was hanging out with her in there and realized that she literally had not shut up for ONE SECOND the whole time. So I went and got the computer and typed a verbatim transcript of the last 4-5 minutes of her bath tonight. Please note, this is her having a conversation with herself; none of the speaking is me:

I can’t find my other cat friends.

Well I can help you.

Well my leg is broken.

Well I can help you get your leg on. Let me set you in the water to put it on. There you go. I’m putting a Band-aid on it. Now get out. Now splash in.

I don’t want to swim.

You should because you’re a kitty cat.

But kitty cats don’t swim.

The washcloth goes around and around and around and around The Washcloth! End of story! Of Cinderella and fishes going around them and they all fall down ahhhhhhhhh!

Oh, well, you can swim with me.

I’m swimming with a washcloth in a tub. Oh Belle, fairy godmother, Beast: Save me! Oh! Oh! Cinderella!

Hmmm. That was just a story about a washcloth. Two washclof-es.

I don’t want to use two washclof-es. I just want this one to be out of the bathtub. Let it dry right here then we can take it out. (Giggles.)

I’m singing a song like fairy godmother song. Cinderellaaaaaa got a pretty dress and it was blue and red and white it was colors. Sunshine and it had so bright and it was the sunshine and she got a bigger from getting apples and cookies so she picked up um picked on a tree then found some cookies and she picked one of them and ate it. Then she covered a tree then some princesses um got the cover off then ate some cookies. The end.

Fairy Godmother was sad about Cinderella did put a cookie on her dress and I’m sad about the stepmother is going to get me. Ahhh! Don’t get me I’m way up here. Ahhhhhh! Heavy breathing. She jumped into the water. Wah! Ow! Ow! Oooh oooh ooh. (Dives under water, blows bubbles) “Are you OK?” (Giggles.)

(Sees self in the mirror.) Look at me! I’m naked! And my feet are wet. Whoa! I’m pretty wet. Do you see me in the mirror? I don’t see you cuz you’re far away right there and I see you right now. What is that brown thing? Oh It’s mommy – mommy’s hair. Hi Mom! (Waves.) I love you! Mom. I’m counting goldfishes. There’s one. One, two . . . where’s the other one? Mom I can’t find the other goldfishes. But I’m counting them! There’s some over there and I don’t see the other ones. Ah! There is one. Oh, that is just . . . . we’re never going to find those fishes again.

Yes. I think my head will go in that big cup. Pours water on head. Can we have the bath crayons? Oh, can you get this off me? No one can go right here. Mom, right now I really want to be all done with my bath. I’m going to push the drain.

I don't know. I feel like this might explain why I am so TIRED at the end of every day, mmmm?