Thursday, March 29, 2012

Sick Day = Game Day

Emmy and Andy spent the night at my mom's house last night. Emmy got sick several times during the night. Too bad for Gramma, ha ha! I feel really bad about that. They came back this morning. I made Emmy lay down for a while. Andy and I played Connect Four, Chinese Checkers, and then Chess. Pretty soon Emmy felt okay enough to get up and watch us. Then we all three played Hi Ho Cherry-O, then Qwirkle. Whew, my brain is tired. Emmy is laying down again. It's nice that the kids are better able to play the board games we have.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Short Order Cook

Andy wants to be a chef when he grows up. Today he made sandwiches for himself, Emmy, and Derek. I'm sick on the couch, so the kids have been helping me a lot. Andrew seems so much more mature now. Next week he is turning 7. I can't believe I'll have a 7 year old.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Blue Willow China


My mother-in-law has Blue Willow China. I'd never seen it, or if I had I'd never noticed it. She told me that the pattern was pretty famous. Since then I've been seeing this pattern everywhere! Today, on Darby O'Gill I saw it. It's in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Roseanne, and mentioned in the Anne of Green Gables books along with dozens of others that I can't think of right now. It's crazy how often it pops up in movies and tv shows. Sometimes it's in red, not blue. The story is easy to find, but basically it's about two star-crossed lovers that were turned into birds. There's always birds and a bridge and a house. I'm just surprised every time I see it and marvel that I never noticed it before. Has anyone else noticed how popular this china is?

Friday, March 16, 2012

I'm Pround of Irish Blarney and Irish Sentiment

It's that time of year again to celebrate our Irish heritage. I'm a quarter Irish. My mom is half.
It's seems that everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. People with no Irish heritage at all seem to party till all hours of the night. Of course, I'm not catholic, but I suppose I can still celebrate a great man. This year St. Patty's day is not on a school day, so I didn't have to worry about the pinching or not wearing green for the kids. The kids wear uniforms, so getting Emmy to wear green would mean maybe a ribbon in the hair. I don't know if people still do the pinching thing, but I know when I was a kid it was really popular. Some years all I wore was an "I'm Irish" pin with a little leprechaun on it. I don't have it anymore, but I wish that I did. My kids could wear them too since they are an eighth Irish. Maybe one of these years I'll get some.

On another note, starting this afternoon the kids are now on spring break. They are in year round school, so the breaks are super long. They don't go back till the third week of April. I foresee much reading and many board games. Also, some cousins are coming to visit. Hopefully Andrew and Emmy won't be too bored.

I went to Andrew's class today with cupcakes. One little girl read to me, three little boys did a puzzle with me, and Andy introduced me to many of his classmates. He seems to be pretty well liked. There was one little boy named Arnulfo who says he lives next door to us, but I've never seen him. He says he's seen us before. I told him to come and talk to us next time he sees us outside and then he can show me which house is his. He wants Andrew to come play at his house, but I said I'd have to talk to his mom first. I need to know what kind of people they are before I let my kids go there and to be sure the parents will be there. For instance, is every other word they say a swear word? Are they rude? I think most people would pass my test. When I was a kid I had some friends that were very different from me. I'd spend the night at their house and we'd have fun. The parents smoked and let us watch whatever we wanted on the TV. That was probably a bad idea for a ten year old me. I would just need to let my kids' friends' parents know that my kids have certain limits. I think most people would respect that. I let my kids watch some movies that I know other people wouldn't let their kids. For instance, the Harry Potter movies. Violence and witchcraft abound, but it's fantasy. Super hero movies are okay, too. The Dark Knight is pretty creepy. The main characters are nuts, but it's fantasy.

Tomorrow we will be watching Darby O'Gill and the Little People. Emmy thinks the banshee is pretty scary. When I was a kid I must have been so desensitized because I thought she was the coolest part.

Well, I guess that's enough for one post. I kinda got off track from where I started. Irish = Good. Swearing = Bad. There, that's my post in a nutshell. Oh, bonus points for anyone who can name the movie the post title comes from.