The Details . . .

Lately I've been noticing how much detail my little ones put into their work. It is quite impressive, so I couldn't help but take a couple of photos. At the beginning of November, Isaac decided to organize our shoe rack. Further he has enforced the rule of putting them back neatly each time. Isaac has also organized his little room by labeling the toy bins and sometimes preparing outfits two days ahead by carefully hanging the clothes out of his dresser (see photo).



Olivia has called me from school twice this month, feeling sick (around 2:00 in the afternoon). Both times I think it was more a case of staying up too late reading, or simply not being able to sleep (she has unfortunately inherited some of my insomnia). Either way, Grandma bailed us out both times, since I had to work. Even though Grandma had to work too, she works at home. As a result, Olivia got to play in Grandma's office and she made this "mini" office out of scraps of paper and, well, just see the photo below. It isn't surprising that Olivia said to me the other day, "When I have my own room, I'm going to set it up like a classroom."


Olivia has become quite attached to her pet rats. Even after Snowball escaped once, and came very close to escaping another time, Olivia has been very forgiving. I can't say I have been the same, but I admit it is sweet to hold Tabatha (the nice one) and listen to her purr. So one day Olivia decided to bathe them after they had been exercising in their big ball, even though rats are good at cleaning themselves (they spend 1/2-2/3 of their day doing it). I have to admit it was pretty funny, and they were extremely fluffly when they finally dried. Olivia's face in her pictures with Tabatha and Snowball reflect each of their distinct personalities quite precisely.


Tabatha


Snowball

Oh, and Olivia can now play three chords on the guitar (thanks to Spencer, who taught her while over to read stories to the kids). She begged him to teach her a song, so she can now play the chorus of "Yellow Submarine".


Grace has been cracking me up lately. She thinks that we dress up at Christmas like at Halloween -- even though by the time we were halfway through Halloween day, Grace decided she didn't like it anymore because the candy made her too thirsty and she begged me to take her to get a salad at Whole Foods. Anyhow, she had a stuffy nose one day and said "When I have the sniffles I snuff like an elephant. I should be an elephant for Christmas." Yesterday she said she really just wanted to dress up like Santa for Christmas. But last night she dressed up like a frog, and thought that might be good for Christmas too. Now, keep in mind that we don't have a frog costume. I did not get a photo of this, so use your imagination: bright green mini gloves on her feet, matching underwear, and her preschool frog backpack on her tummy. Then, just to remind me that she may never stop bouncing, she hopped around on and off the couch. I was especially impressed by the jumping straight from the ground to the couch without a running start. A frog could definitely do that!

Finally, I am most happy I captured photos of this leaf-playing scene. Pure joy and spontaneous energy. I did join for a few minutes, but the camera was calling me and I couldn't ignore it.