tuesday, tuesday, tuesday

sid the science guy does this to him. mesmerized.

It was great.

We had this man here. He's a lot of fun, dumped out the dog's water only once, and he did his swiffering and helped me vacuum. He holds onto the vacuum and stands between my legs and yells while we go. It adds a little excitement to the job.

His dog used to tear the swiffer sheets right off the swiffer while I was working too. There's a connection there.

When he finally agreed to rest, it was 4:00, too late for a nap, but he fell sound asleep in my arms, little mouth hanging open, hair damp. I nuzzled his hair, and his breath smelled like milk.

This is the yipping mechanical dog he likes. It goes, "Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap, yap," and then it's quiet while the legs walk, then repeat. Pretty annyoing, but also funny in a strange way.


A couple months ago I showed it to him and then put my pinky in the dog's mouth during the yap-yap cycle. He looked very curious and also skeptical. Did he put his own finger in there? Noooo. He's smart. He put in a pencil. Awww, thinkin'. That cracked me up.

When l.c. was here last, he was playing with the dog, and we got tired of the yapping and suggested the puppy was tired and should sleep. He set it on its yapping little side and said, "Good night." We laughed, no we meant OFF.

You babies.

This girl was here today too, and she's smiling now, personality emerging in every direction. Her crying has changed from newborn crying to true communication. She's got an angry tone, a frustrated voice, a tired one, a voice where she tells a bad story.

That's what we were listening to here while her diaper was changed--a bad story about how first she ate too much, and then had a tummy ache, and now THIS.

But things were better shortly.

Julia said her diaper smelled like Dr. Pepper. Hunh?



The kids are still cracking up from spring fever. The curtains on the family windows over the stairway were messed up. Standing on the landing looking up, the BOTTOM of that window sill is probably eight feet up.


see the window in the background? it's on the left. and the light fixture?

Who can reach those curtains? There's an antique light fixture in front of them, dangling, as light fixtures will do.

Tell me about the curtains. There was some foot shuffling and nervous looks. Julia made him do it. He did it trying to save her.

I yelled a little, "Just tell me what you did to these curtains!" Were they waving a broom by the light fixture? Shot them with nerf arrows? WHAT?

Well, Julia went out with her toes on the OUTSIDE of the railing over the stairway, and crept along and then walked over the bookshelf below and messed up the curtains.

Good God.

She tried this once a couple years ago, going up the stairs too and if she'd fallen would have landed an entire flight of stairs (15 steps high) straight down. That time they yelled for help, Kari and Tim holding onto her arms while she perched there, toes between the rails, on a three inch ledge.

I was terribly startled and grabbed her by her skinny little arms and yanked her right over. Scared the crap out of me. I ranted and raved and it's never happened again.

Until now.

Sigh. I ranted a bit: blah, blah, safety, dumb ideas, wrecking the house, the usual. They nodded. I don't know what else to do? They're already grounded.


After supper, Tim appealed pretty desperately to go outside. He can't see any mud. Well, if you start running around on that dead lawn, it'll all be mud, but we said, sure on the patio. ONLY the patio and sandbox, not the grass.

They were standing on the back step and we overheard Tim in the cold air, no coat on, not even shoes, "Julia, it feels so good outside."


The neighbor's granddaughter asked her, "Grandma, do you think we're going to have summer this year?"

This has been an endless winter, but now it's April. We're going to make it yet.

James got a little step ladder and fixed the curtains. Speaking of him, we did a little dance in the kitchen doorway tonight and I realized he's taller than his dad. They stood back to back, and yes, he is. He's got to be 6'3".

Jay said, "I'm looking up at your eyes, Jimmy. But I'll always have my girth."

Oh my goodness.

Love you, Buddy, girth and all. love, V