Girly girl?

Mel is not a girly girl. At least not yet. I'm in no rush to have a Disney princess clone running around the house and, frankly, we're enjoying Melina's quirky style and individuality. But suddenly she showed an interest in skirts. I seized the opportunity and hit up Target. Their clearance sales are incredible. The prices are as good as second hand stores or consignment sales but the clothes are brand new.

Dinosaur Study

This week they are learning about dinosaurs at preschool. Her teacher tells me the topic has struck a chord with her. At home she drew them over and over. Not bad, eh?

Finger Painting

While Max sleeps Mel gets to paint. I'm not ready for the mess that is Max with finger paint. I'm sure he'll want to eat it. Mel has paint on her face so she can look like a cat. She does this with pens or my eyeliner. Sometimes I humor her and let her spend the day with a cat nose and whiskers. This particular piece is a rainbow fish, perhaps after some time in a blender.

Melisms

"The black circle in your eye is called a pimple."
"I have a stummy ache".
"None-derwear is when you have no underwear on."
"Something the heck!"
To something foul smelling ..."That smells interesting!"

More Giant Peppers

Giant Stuffed Peppers

Melina helped me make stuffed peppers for dinner. All the peppers at the store were the size of Max's head. Melina was very proud to eat hers. But first a bite of carrot, Bugs Bunny style.




What the...?


Some help please?


Use your fork, son, to eat the innards.


Gives it a try.


That forkful was the only one he ate. Oh well.

Firing All Cylinders

Dressing Self

She picked this outfit herself. Really, it wasn't Tim.

Bath Night, Everyone

Can You Say...?

The boy is a genius, obviously.

Mission Control

The Search Engine That Could

Tonight Mel asked Tim why we have belly buttons. He explained that when babies are still growing in their mommies tummies they can't eat with their mouths so they get their food trough a tube called the umbilical chord that goes directly into their stomachs. A few more clarifying questions, a few more clarifying answers later she seemed to get it but was still fascinated with the topic.

Tim left his computer on the sofa so Mel took the liberty to do further research herself. She brought up Google and typed in "babez wih tuobz", phonetically, mouthing out each sound and hunting for the right letters. Below is the screenshot to prove it....


Translation: "babies with tubes"

Bugs

Neither of the kids is afraid of insects. Just looking at the photo gives me the heebie jeebies.


No touch, no touch mama said! But no one hears me.

Barrette Party

Greatest Show On Earth

I helped some but Mel ate most of the bag of cotton candy.
Max was still confused by it all. He had just woken from a nap in the car.


We had seats right behind the orchestra. They were close but we kinda watched the circus from behind!





Musician reading Vanity Fair between sets.


No shortage of stimulus.


Eyebrows indicate level of bewilderment.

Boy Throws Stick

Testing New Camera

We finally replaced our broken camera. I've been tinkering with our new one. I'm still learning all its features and quirks. Most of these are of Max b/c Mel was in preschool today. Her turn is coming.

Curly

I don't know how this curl on his head formed but I couldn't get enough of it.

Webkittenz

That's not a typo. Mel calls them Webkittenz. Rather than create her new dog's room on the website she chose to do the real thing. This is his work area. He also has a bed on the floor.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Tim's birthday is actually tomorrow but since he teaches in the evening we decided to celebrate with the kids a day early.

The making of the cake. We hardly had any icing to write with so instead of "Happy Birthday Daddy" all it said was "TIM". We didn't have enough for "Daddy". But there was no shortage of sprinkles.

.
The final result. She worked on this for a loooong time. Max was asleep so didn't get to help but that's probably a good thing.


Thank you grandma for the birthday presents! We all got something! Here are Max and Mel holding their toys. Our old hamper is almost kaput (on left) so good timing!
We had videos but the camera is dead so they didn't come out. Off to buy a camera online.

Lovin' on Big Sis

This is how they watched The Muppet Show. Max likes to climb on her and tries to kiss her.

Hide and Seek

This turned out to be a good place to hide. Her head is hidden among the counter clutter. Her feet give her away.

HPEH

Mel drew this in MS Paint. They are fireworks. She tried to write "Happy Holidays". She wrote "happy" phonetically as "HPE" and started on "holidays" but gave up after the "H", hence the "HPEH".

Telling Time

Tim asked Mel to see what time it is. Off of the oven timer she read "One, one, one, zero. It's eleven ten, daddy."

Flirting with Disaster

No bib, no high chair, blueberries in yogurt, still shaky with the spoon. Overall he did great and so did everything in his vicinity.

Abstract Art by Melina

A cat in upper right.


Self-portrait. Those spiny things at the end of her arms are hands.