capris

Getting everybody to wear their uniforms correctly during tae kwon do class is an ongoing struggle for the instructors.  Belts are tied poorly or come loose.  Some children must be reminded to hitch their pants up. One of their favorite lines is "Don't roll your cuffs up.  There are no summer tae kwon do uniforms."

One of our teachers was reminding a student about not rolling up pant cuffs while he lead the class in stretches.  "It makes your uniform look like you have on high water pants.  The kids don't know what those are.  Now they are called capris."

I laughed as all children murmured, "Oh," and one boy in the back said, "High waters - I get it - because you can wear them in high water and not get your pants wet."

I was remembering that conversation last night because I wore a pair of capris to Paul's music performance.  They are not so high water for me.  I am short enough that I have to roll up the cuffs to make them look like capris and not just pants that are a little too short.

the No Cow

Petra, Nathan and I were shopping through the mammoth aisles of a co-op store. Petra got sillier and sillier as the shopping dragged on.  At some point, she started giggling and saying, "Mommy, you're a No Cow!  You're a No Cow, mommy."

I guess sometimes I feel like a No Cow, standing in a field (or over sized store), lowing, "Noooo.  Nooo."

Later I realized that Petra was singing a song we had just listened to on the way to the store.  It's an Irish song about a rambler that start with, "Some people say I'm a no account.  Others say I'm no good.  I'm just a natural born rambling man, doing what I think I should."

But Petra had heard, "Some people say I'm a No Cow.  Others say..."

Vogue

My kids striking poses.

April Flowers

Sometimes flowers are God's way of saying, "Smile!"

Heard on the farm

Nathan and I were looking in a storybook at a drawing of a mommy showing her new baby to two older siblings.  The baby was wearing a yellow sleeper and laying in its mother's arms.

"Nathan, what's this?"
"Banana."
"Is it a baby?  Is that a baby, Nathan?"
"Banana peel baby."

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I brought an angel food cake home from the grocery.
Paul: Look!  A cake!
Petra: Yeah, I accidentally knocked it off the table at the grocery store so we had to buy it.
Paul: Next time knock over the whole pastry shelf.

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Petra bought her sister's i-pod and inherited some of the games Julia had started on it.  One of those games is called, "Clash of Clans."  I love hearing my little 5 year old girl say in her little sqeaky voice, "Oh, my troops are ready for battle."

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Steve's knee was sore the other night, and I jokingly asked him if it would keep him from playing bass for church the next day.  He answered, "I don't need my knee to play bass.  I'm sitting.  I could lose the whole leg.  I only need to keep one foot for tapping to the beat."

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Julia had a rough Monday.  She cracked her lip and skinned a shin before she made it in the door from school.  She scraped her other shin while playing outside before supper. 
Steve: Julia, what happened to your lip?
Julia: I bumped it on the bus.
Steve: The whole bus!
Julia: No, I bumped it on El's head on the bus. 

A few pictures from the last few months

The kids held a fashion show of their stuffed animals and dolls

Nathan really liked the blueberry smoothie

Petra playing with letters

Who is this masked man?

The boys room after Nathan was "splashing" in the Lego bins

One of Julia's original Lego creations

Smile Pretty

Julia, smile nice.  Grandma H wants a good picture of you.