A through X came from school; we made Y and Z at home!

The end of the (alphabet) road

Doll dress-up (Dorothy is holding a prop and hiding)

Dorothy is totally into ants lately

The Sunday Funnies

Dorothy picked up a flower that had fallen on the path.  "That kind of flower is called fluted," I said.  Then she dropped it and gasped, "I dropped the fluted!"

Dorothy was crying because she noticed that her toy had one eye that was printed more darkly than its other eye.  "Sit right here," I said, "because you need to eat breakfast.  I can see you melting before my eyes."  "Don't mention eyes!" she yelled.

"P.E. is an easy word to spell," said Dorothy.  "Yes, like OK and PJs," I responded.  "PJs," said Dorothy, "is that P-J-J?"

"Do you know what I wish for?" Dorothy asked as she appeared from bed.  "A mom who will go to bed with me and help me fall asleep every night.  What do you wish for?" she asked.  "A daughter who will go to bed and not get out again," I said.  A full 24 hours later, at bedtime, Dorothy reflected, "Remember when I told you what I wished for and asked you what you wished for?  Really, I wished for the same thing you did.  If I had a mom who would go to bed with me, I would never have to get out of bed."

Are the Dean/Lasseters getting punchy? You be the judge.

Instagram copycat

Washing our hands, doing our part

Where the sidewalk ends...and the bike path begins

The kids say the pledge each morning during their online classes; we needed a flag

You might notice that this flag only has eleven stripes.  Thankfully I noticed and fixed it before Brian or the blogosphere made fun of me.

Dorothy likes to "pair up" her shoes and clothes

The Sunday Funny

We have an electric pencil sharpener, and Dorothy received a small manual pencil sharpener among her valentines.  She used it for the first time and announced, "It didn't make any noise, but the pencil is sharp!"

At the end of each week we're supposed to send Dorothy's teacher proof that she completed her worksheets

Home work man

Homework girl

Amaryllis

Today's schedule

We decided to join the many who are creating schedules for their days at home.  This is how you read it:

9 a.m.  Play Dr. Panda games

10 a.m.  Take a walk

11 a.m.  Listen to an audiobook

12 p.m.  Lunch

1 p.m.  Arts & crafts

2 p.m.  Read Bob Books and Betsy & Billy

3 p.m.  Playground

4 p.m.  Play ABC Mouse online

I forgot I was filling the tub

The Sunday Funnies

I was reading a Frozen 2 book to Dorothy.  "This book doesn't tell the whole story of Frozen 2," she said.  "Right," I explained.  "It's an easy-reader book with small words so young children can read it."  "Oh, so it doesn't tell the whole story," she observed, "just facts."

Dorothy and Willa were blowing, chasing, and popping bubbles.  "I love how the bubbles shatter," Dorothy said.

Dorothy was asking questions about why a villain in a movie wanted money, and eventually I admitted that I like money -- enough to have a house and a car and Dorothy's school and food and to take trips to see our family, I said.  She brought to mind my pottery bowl on the bookshelf that holds my coins, and said, "Mom, I know you have a whole bowl of money, but it's not really that much."

And when I picked her up from school there was more bling added

Posing for a Saint Paddy's Day party picture and she saw a bug

Friendly pup at the playground

Leprechaun traps

Making binoculars this weekend

The Sunday Funnies

Dorothy is no stranger to the Dollar Tree; neither is her mama.  Gram & Big Daddy sent a few dollars for Valentine's, and I suggested that we visit the Dollar Tree to buy a treat.  With a wry smile Dorothy posed, "Perhaps a broom?"

Dorothy came home from school and wanted to share a song that she had learned.  She started:
Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red brown yellow black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
"That's called Jesus Loves the Little Children," she finished.

Brian brought shamrock shakes to Dorothy and Willa.  He described it to Willa as "fresh mint."  "That's funny," Dorothy said, "because it's a refreshment."

Brian needed to change the battery in his car which was dead in the Walgreens parking lot.  Dorothy and I went into the store and then I told her she could mess around in the car while I held the flashlight for Brian.  She immediately sat in her car seat and waited patiently.  When we were finished, I climbed back into the car, and Dorothy asked, "Mama, what did you mean when you said I could 'mess around' in the car?"

Instagram flashback explosion

Dorothy's show-and-tell for the letter Ww

After writing "Will", she considered cutting out the letters Y-U-M in order to complete his name.

Over the course of a rainy afternoon, the girls went from playing with the Barbie Dream Townhouse to playing with the Barbie Dream Townhouse while wearing swimsuits.

The flowers are beautiful here

But we are not enjoying them because we are suffering from super allergies.

Big, Big Dreams

Video:  https://youtu.be/ou6GGMm84Ew
(Turn up the volume.)

Meeting Baby Will

Shamrock shake

Frozen capes

Mardi Gras

Try-on day

The Boxcar Children

The Sunday Funny

I commented to Brian that I hadn't made any notes for The Sunday Funnies.  Dorothy asked why, and I said that I just hadn't written down anything funny this week.  I asked her if she remembered saying anything funny.  "I asked Daddy if he was scrubbing kumquats with a potato scrubber!" she supplied.

Sometimes I buy a new toy just to buy myself a Saturday morning

It rained all day so the phone helped

A scene from ballet this week

Her mom has been known to roll her eyes in pictures, too

Figure skating

Video: https://youtu.be/X5OiJJdDUVo

All Dorothy wants to do lately is set-up marble runs

(Which is fine when her dad is home, but is my personal Hell.)

The Sunday Funnies

Dorothy was describing a story to me that I did not recognize.  After a while, I started asking her questions:  was it a book?  a movie?  was the character a little girl?
"No!" Dorothy said, "she was not a little girl.  She was just like you."  "A grown-up woman?" I asked.  "Yes, and she looked just like you."  [pause] "And she was a fairy."

Dorothy's interest in reading is high, which has led her to some interesting discoveries.  "It's Kool-Laid, but this package says Kool-Aid."

Dorothy really, really wants to know how babies are made.  Our most recent conversation boiled down to her asking, "But what is it exactly?  You have to tell me."

Back in October at Dorothy's school conference, her teacher mentioned that they were working on coloring pages fully.  I noticed that Dorothy's coloring has improved, and I complimented her.  She said, "Yeah, Ms. Cail says that everything is not a race."

I picked Willa up from school.  Her first words were, "I have good news!  My tooth is really loose.  My mama wiggled it and it hurt a lot and then it started bleeding."  "I thought you said you had good news," Dorothy replied.

Dorothy has a few scrapes and we have an overflow of character band-aids.  She approached Brian and me several times, asking if we had boo-boos.  Later we figured out that she was opening band-aids and if they weren't cute enough, she was pawning them off on us!

Brian's package of prescription flu pills were on the counter.  "These are pretty," Dorothy said.  I took the opportunity to talk about how pills look pretty like candy, but are dangerous.  After my spiel, Dorothy reflected, "I know not to eat anything with words on it, unless it's conversation hearts, and not to eat anything that's two colors, one color on each half, unless it's sour gummy worms."

Hapy Valentine's Day!

Sarah went to Donuts with Dad in place of Brian who has the flu

Watering the garden at the children's museum this weekend

The designer and the model

The Sunday Funnies

I don't want to correct Dorothy when she talks about the "taste bugs" on her tongue.

I buy shoes ahead of time when I see them on clearance, and I convinced Dorothy to help me inventory the sizes in the shoe basket.  When we were done, I asked her to count the shoes and told her I would count the shoes on the list to make sure we didn't miss any.  "I have an idea," she said.  "How about we count by pairs instead of count by shoes?"

While Dorothy was sick last week we were sleeping together in the guest bedroom.  One morning, she awoke at 6:30 a.m., and I was already sitting in the living room using the computer.  It was dark outside.  Dorothy thought it was still night, and asked, "Mama, when are you coming to bed?"

Dorothy has always said that she wants to be "a doctor and a mama" when she grows up.  Recently, she has added to the list:  a doctor, a mama, a ballerina, a teacher, or a babysitter.

Dorothy refuses jeans.  I urged her to wear an adorable jean jacket until she outgrew it, unworn in the closet.  On Friday at school the kids had "denim day."  Even though I let her know that all the big kids would be out of uniform and wearing jeans, she refused.  She says jeans are "boring."

Her understanding of fiction vs. reality and her language are developing at different paces.  We were watching a movie where a lynx was chasing a cat; Dorothy asked, "Why doesn't the cat just jump?  Cats have nine lives.  Then the predator can't get her."

Class photo

I didn't buy the class photo, but at a playdate with one of Dorothy's classmates this morning, I saw it framed and snapped a picture of it!

Dorothy and Willa have missed each other while they've been sick, but Facetime helps