Graduation Day: The First of Many






Elsie had her last day of school last Friday. She is moving from the three year old class into the pre-K at her Montessori school. Here she is--all dolled up in a beautiful smocked dress Aunt Addie once made for her mother.

Cinco de Birthday: Rachel's Birthday





Early in May, we celebrated the end of term and our buddy Rachel's birthday. Rachel, Sadie, and some friends came over for backyard fun!

Linguistic Aptitude and Pop Culture Savvy: Our Elsie

Elsie is pretty much a fount of wisdom these days. The other day I came home, and her eyes were wide and her mouth was moving lightning speech telling me that the tree out back had termamites. (much better word with the extra syllable)

The next day, desperate to lead her daddy outside to another tree--this one with a bird nest, Elsie maintained this monologue: "Now Daddy, be very quiet and stay on the sidewalk because there might be poop or prickles out there."

Finally, she warned her sister against permanated markers.

While I was rubbing aloe on her poor sunburned shoulders last night and we were winding down after a busy weekend of fun with friends, gardening, and Poppa's dinner visit, we came upon Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel. I still don't understand what she likes about that show, why she likes it, or how and where she heard of Hannah Ontana as she put it last year (quick to correct me this year--"it's MONtana, Mommy," she admonished last night). Maybe, like Elmo, there is something fundamental or intuitive about the shape of her face, the arrangement of her features.... Anyway, Elsie witnessed a Jonas Brothers commercial:
E: Mommy, whooo's that? Who are they?
M: They are a band called the Jonas Brothers.
E: Oh Mommy--I love the Jonas Brothers!..... What do they do?
M: They sing songs and have a show.
E: What do they sing?
M: Ask your daddy.
So, already? Really? Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers and she is 3! It is a fact... this morning as we had an installment of dance party before I went to the office, a Jonas Brother's song came up on the Kidz music channel and the minute Elsie saw the still of them on the screen: "Oh Mommy, the Jonas Brothers! I love the Jonas Brothers!" It is not looking good for Alternative D--he has a pop princess on his hands. He'd better amp up the Kings of Leon, let fly some Wilco, download more Tegan and Sara, and put Beck on repeat... or else.

PS Should follow up this post with some video of Kit dancing--that smile, those moves--too good to be true!

Celebrating Cousins


While there is never time enough in Atlanta, we did get a lot accomplished over our recent visit. We visited the Center for Puppetry Arts and thoroughly enjoyed the Paul Bunyan puppet show. We went to the beautiful Botanical Gardens and wore ourselves out in the children's garden. We visited with family, a few friends, and tried to help Addie feel better. We ate wonderful meals, anticipated mother's day, and pre-celebrated Baby Tad's 1st birthday (can we still call him "baby"?) Cousin reunions, as always, are the highlight of any visit!

A Lucky Mom

A Peek at Kit

Elsie Essence

DJ KBear

Kit is a pretty easy going baby. One of my favorite things about her is that she doesn't call out or cry when she wakes up--ever....really... isn't that amazing? After naps or in the morning. Instead, sometimes, she just reaches over and turns on her aquarium music. Sometimes, she just plays with her toys. Sometimes, she works her core by doing leg lifts and kicking her feet on the mattress. When I expect she might wake up, I peer in the keyhole (there really is a keyhole where a lock once was) watching to see what she will do. Actually, that is what our household does, watch to see what Kit will do... when she encounters a new book--she is ravenous about them, when she hears music--she walks like an Egyptian, when she gets tickled--she giggles infectiously, and when she awakes, she amuses herself. In some ways, I find that Elsie is a lot like who I am...and Kit is a lot like who I want to be... easygoing, funny, and endlessly amused.

scrumpy bear

Elsie is quite the wordsmith. The other day when Kit walked in the room she declared, "My you are quite the scrumpy bear." She seems to have a way with words and I need to record them.

Yesterday morning, she told me she was going to keep a journald so people could learn about princesses and bugs.

And then on the way to school, she was bemoaning all of the glitter on the side of the road.

Somehow, the way she describes it, things sound better than they are.

Our Haul from the Coop Last Week... I should post the recipes too!

Last chance as a gymnast before she becomes a giant: Elsie Lou Thompson!

Elsie does not have the patience of Job.

Pepper's Porch

























On Sunday night, we met the Boukaters, Grammy, and Poppa in Bluffton at Pepper's Porch for dinner. Fortunately, we had plenty of entertainment of the cousin variety. The quality of these shots do not capture the quality of our evening.

Dinnertime Road Trip

Girl Talk