old phone photo fun

name that tune

listening to the radio in the car, "black or white" comes on the radio.

Q gets excited and exclaims, "this is michael jackson!"

surprised, i started to say, "yes, that's right" when he interrupts me.

"he died you know."

where do they learn this stuff?

shhhhhhh

caroline will say, "i want to whisper something in your ear." so you lean and she doesn't say anything. then she loudly announces what she "whispered" to you. hilarious.

save the date

in the car, completely out of the blue...

caroline: i asked riley to marry me.

me: oh really, what did he say?

caroline: yes

she went on to say that they are going to have 4 kids, all girls, named anna, elsa, sally, and anna (the other pronunciation.)

she's got it all figured out...

blue and gold

today was quentin's blue and gold banquet for cub scouts. it was circus / carnival themed and included games, a cake contest, and a magic show.

my, i mean Q's entry, for the cake contest:

it's a winner!

so much fun!

regular

Q: pause the movie. i have to go potty.
daddy: poop or pee?
Q: pee. i told you, i don't poop on fridays. i poop on wednesdays.

jello, my name is pickle

winter pony foot

caroline takes off her shoes and socks in the car on the way home from school pretty much every day. in the summer, it's not a big deal and i let her run up the driveway barefoot.

but winter is a little different. she argues with me after i tell her she shouldn't be outside in bare feet because of the cold. she protests, claiming her feet are not bare - she has winter pony feet.

???????

she has a whole backstory to explain the concept of winter pony feet and why shoes are not necessary if you have them. it makes no sense whatsoever. i can't even convey any of it. something about a pony. and feet. in winter.

she's weird.

she lets me braid her hair

if i call it elsa hair

still angry

another obsession that doesn't seem to be fading

artistry

beware the ides of march

you might drop your phone on the floor and target.  blue screen of death.  sad face.

especially awesome when the $15/month insurance you've been paying for for 2 years expired 12 days ago.  sad face.

look who's reading chapter books...

cubby camp

Q had a cub scout camp a few weeks ago. thankfully indoors. and with cool reptiles and bugs.

liberry

Q got his very first library card. he was so excited. he took out a giant stack of books.

the things they know

caroline, admiring her treasured "frozen" book: 

"i really love how the illustrator drew elsa here."

let it go, elsa

time for spring already

he shall be called "nothing"

Q was mad at me earlier today (for not letting him snack in potato chips minutes before dinner - heavy stuff, i know.)

he stormed off to his room and started peeling the decorative letters spelling his name off the wall.

because he was moving out and changing his name. to nothing.

hallucination?

playing "i spy" in the car with caroline. the thing she spied was a walrus. there are no walruses in delaware. at least not in the total wine parking lot.

o...m...g...

caroline now has a frozen comforter for her big girl bed. so lucky.

memories

Q is very excited to get his "earbook" at the end of the school ear.

the cat in the hat knows a lot about that

new bed

= better sleeping for pickle

a musing

"mommy, the oscars are better than the olympics."

it's march

and the frozen birthday crafting has begun...

lady liberty

dollars and sense

we started giving the kids an allowance in exchange for them doing their chores (get dressed, brush teeth, pick up toys, etc.) they earn a quarter per chore and then the money accrued each week gets divided into spend, save, and give.

we were in target today and caroline was desperate to buy a toy with her spend money. except she only has $2.75 right now. she persisted, asking me to tell her the price of each and every toy in the pink aisles. it was truly hilarious the items she thought she could maybe afford.  $30 barbie? $60 lego set? of course.

in the end, she decided to save her $2.75 until next week. how sensible.

self included?

as i was buckling caroline into her seat tonight she looked directly at me and said, "people be crazy."

tiger cub!

guess who earned his tiger badge tonight?

30 days hath september

tonight Q was concerned and rather agitated that all the months don't all have the same number of days. he was especially upset about february only having 28 days. so much so that he wants to eradicate the entire month, after moving daddy's birthday to another month. i didn't have the heart to tell him about leap years.

doesn't everyone wear a tiara to school?

another tooth!

the tooth fairy is always so nervous, but she succeeded again.

everything is frozen

she's elsa, climbing to her castle on the north mountain.

polar vortex

learning how polar bears use fat to keep them warm. i think we could do this experiment in our living room without the bowl of ice. brrrrrr.

"do you want to see my curtsy?"

princess obvious

scrappy

Q's cubby pack scrapbooked last week as it is one of the requirements for their tiger badge.

i collected a bag full of disney trip paraphernalia and photos for him to use.

this is what he came back with:

oh. the memories. when quentin and caroline went to disney world with toodles and edna.

from our valentine

florida or bust

monster jam

happy valentine's day!

high hopes

"i'm on the runway. in my high heels. when i'm a mommy, i'm going to wear high heels every day."

what is this school you speak of?

another snow storm, another snow day.

i don't think Q has had a full week of school since sometime mid-december.

stupid groundhog.

impossible

we have to register caroline for kindergarten next week.  kindergarten.  already.  what?  no way.  not possible.  right?

captain hook

she's definitely a lefty.

they said, "be creative "

it's almost the 100th day of school, which is apparently a thing.

Q had to make a collection of 100 things. the go-to options for this seemingly universal school assignment are pennies, cheerios, macaroni, etc.  quentin decided on a pattern of coconut jelly beans, leftover from his birthday party (sorry coconut, no one likes you) and googly eyes leftover from caroline's.

he declared his collection is 100 monster parts... eyes and teeth.

compliments to the chef

jurassic crafting

making a dinosaur egg at school. she says it is a plant-eater. phew.

priceless

in the car today caroline informed me that we need to have a baby. i told her she'd have to convince her daddy because babies are expensive. she immediately replied, "they don't cost money; you just grow them in your belly."

ice business

Q was playing outside and started hauling this chunk of ice around on his sled.

i didn't get it at first, until i realized that this is what he's doing:

fashion first

in the car on the way home tonight:

caroline: mommy, tomorrow can you pack extra shoes in my bag in case these shoes hurt my feet?

me: if those hurt your feet, why don't you just wear different shoes?

caroline: because these are cuuuuuuuuuute!

do you want to build a snowman?

historically inaccurate

"mommy, a long, long time ago girls couldn't be in the army. but then martin luther king said that's not fair. so now girls can be in the army."

zooper bowl sunday

quick sunday zoo trip with daddy

planning ahead

"mommy, if you and i were hobos, could you bring the stroller because i might get tired."