Elementary Problem Solving

D: What do you want for breakfast?
W: I want ... toast AND corn AND oranges.
D: Okay. But I want you to have one at a time. Which do you want first?
W: I want corn ON my toast.
D: Okay ... That sounds ... interesting, but it might be a little frustrating. the corn will probably fall off the toast. Do you think you can handle that?
W: Well ... I'll put peanut butter on the toast and then push the corn into it so it will stick!
D: (shuddering) ... Okay!

Who am I to argue?

PS - She had seconds. When she offered a bite to Mom and me, we politely declined.

Bloodlust

Just a quick update on the "Farm Cycle" of the Ambulance Epic: I'm pleased to report that there have been no fatalities down on the farm. Many animals, however, have been injured, including (but not limited to) a cow, a sheep, a baby pig, and a number of insects (the centipede stubbed all 100 of her toes! Ouch!). The bugs, as it turns out, are the animals' pets. Who knew horses had pets?

After 8 to 10 days of the Ambulance Farm story, tonight Wrig asked for an Ambulance Airport story. It's been a while since I've told the Ambulance Airport story, so I asked "Which one?"

Wrig's reply: "Tell the one where the airplane crashes into the building and then another airplane crashes into that one!"

Apparently, our daughter has a future in Hollywood.

Questions that Give me Pause

(Thanks for the title, Julie!)

"Daddy, where is New Jersey?" Followed shortly thereafter by, "Daddy, can we visit New Jersey soon?"

Got the camera back

Here are the photos that were lost in the camera for a time:


This, apparently, is the the lovely room where it was fixed. I am startled every time I come across this picture. The instuments are a bit creepy, and, for a moment, I can't remember what it is. It has been deleted from both the camera and the computer.



Wrigley and her friend Kaia like to play a game of transfering ALL the toys in the house into one room. Each time it happens I debate, would I rather enjoy the 15 minutes of peace and clean it up later, or do I want to interrupt the game?




Wrigley is adamant that she is going to be a paper bag for Halloween. She "puts on" her costume a couple times a week. I want to know how she's going to trick or treat in that.


Dancing in the rain



Mushroom Pictures

A Day in the life of Wrigley

We sent this out for Mother's Day to Grammy and Grammers. Each email came during the appropriate hour. We hope you don't mind us sharing this gift, Grammy and Grammers, but we were just so please with the way it came out we had to share.

May 7, 2005

6:48 - Up too early. On weekdays, I sleep until 8. When Daddy's home, though, I'm up at the crack of dawn! Can I help with breakfast, Daddy?





8:01 - Breakfast is over and it's time to play! Daddy, you do the edges and I'll do the mittle. No ... I'll do the edges and you do the mittle. Actually, I'll just do it all by myself.


8:07 - The missing piece was hiding under the project table. What a good hiding place. Ahhhhh, victory!




9:07 - I spent all morning hunting for bugs while Daddy did yard work. I found a millipede, one hundred slugs, a spider, some potato bugs, and worms. I call the worms "squiggles."




10:05 - Daddy said the worms were getting dried out in the sun, so I made a home for them in my dumptruck. The worms were very happy in Dirtville.



11:03 - After almost three hours hunting for bugs, it's bath time! But first, I have to practice my tricks in the slippery tub.


12:05 - I'm tired of all this picture taking. I think I'll hide under the project table like my puzzle piece. Oh, I give up.




12:47 - Mommy and I went to get lunch for Daddy, who worked in the yard all day. My squiggles are happy in Dirtville - I'm happy with Burgerville.


1:43 - We're off to the library with 15 books to return! I tried to carry them all, but they were too heavy. We came back with a book about roller coasters.




2:46 - More bugs! I'm checking on the worms in the worm bin. Mommy got a worm bin for her birthday. The worms make dirt.


3:45 - This is what I do during quiet time: tricks! Mommy says I'm spinning so much my stripes are getting dizzy.




5:05 - Daddy and I went out to get Mommy her Mother's Day present. It's a hat!


6:04 - We went on a walk, looking for treasures. I found some helicopters and tossed them in the air.


6:34 - We went out to dinner tonight, because that's what you do when Daddy's been shoveling mulch all day and Mommy spent all day on the computer catching up with one hundred things she didn't do all week because she was reading Jane Eyre all the time AND it was supposed to be Kids' Night tonight but Kaia is sick so Kids' Night got cancelled. So we went to dinner and I blew bubbles in my milk.


7:02 - I'm tired and I'm hungry and I DON'T like Daddy's story.


7:43 - Bedtime! Goodnight!

More than nuthin'

Often when people ask what I've been doing, I honestly can't think of a thing. I can't think of a single thing that I do besides hang out with Wrigley. Well, I actually have been pretty busy.

I've set a goal to read 50 books this year, and if I step up the pace a little over Ed's summer break, I'll definitely do it. I'm currently reading #17 & #18 right now. They're both parenting books, so I won't bother to mention them. Normally I read one non-fiction and one fiction at one time, but I have a bunch of nonfiction from the library that I've had for several months, so I thought I ought to try and get those back to them!

I'm doing a ton of dress dyeing. I am selling my dresses at Milagros in NE Portland. After I sold some to random people I know, I finally decided to just consign them there. I gave them 5 dresses and after several weeks they called to let me know 4 had sold. Good timing, because I was just about ready to bring in 13 new summer dresses. While I was there and the clerk was looking for my check, I noticed the 5th dress hanging on the wall. When she got off the phone I turned to point it out and mention that I was ready to take it since it was a winter dress, but it was GONE! Another person int the store bought it while I was there! Pretty cool! Anyway, in addition to selling there, I am going to part of a small craft show over the weekend. Here is what the summer dresses look like:


I also learned how to make little fairies. This was fun, and Wrigley likes it.


I also made myself a cool new bag. I'd show you a picture of it, but I recently, um, dropped my camera. Ouch. I should have it back from the shop soon. Until then, here are a couple of pictures from the batch I was trying to transfer to the computer when I dropped it.



We were required, by the way, to take pictures of each slug and snail Wrigley found. She found many more than you see pictured here!

Where the Sheep are Nervous

For the past month or so, I have been telling Wrigley a story as part of our bedtime routine. Wrigley makes the request, and I tell the story. We started with "Tell me about a firetruck" stories then moved on to "Tell me about an ambulance" stories. The ambulance series has been quite popular and has become increasingly graphic. We quickly went from "Tell me about an ambulance" to "Tell me an ambulance-airport-plane-crash story." Because I am a wuss and I don't want to instill a fear of flying in my daughter, I told a story about two planes that crashed while taxiing. When Wrigley tired of that story, she requested "Tell me an ambulance-train-crash story." Again feeling wussy, I told a story about a simple, non-injury-inducing derailment. This did nothing to satisfy my child's bloodlust, so we quickly graduated to "Tell me a story about a train crash where two trains crash into each other," and then, "Tell me an ambulance-airport-plane-crash story where the two planes crash into each other while they're flying and the ambulance has to work all night."

Last night, our story telling requests took an alarming turn: "Daddy, tomorrow night I want you to tell me an ambulance-farm story."

An ambulance farm story? I have about 7 hours to figure out how an ambulance farm story is supposed to go. All I can say is pity the livestock.

Abstract v. Concrete Nouns

I swear this conversation occurred exactly as posted ...

W: I've been thinking about Mother's Day.
D: Uh-huh ...
W: I've been thinking we should get Mommy something.
D: What do you think she would like?
W: I think she would like ... (very long pause here) ...(keep pausing) ... your love. (Did I mention that this conversation actually happened?)
D: (beaming, hugging cute child tightly) You know what I think? I think Mommy would like your love!
W: (squirming out of hug). But maybe we should get her something real. Like a ... like a (continue saying "like a" for a full minute) Like a hat!