This week, during the last two soccer games, there was running. There was kicking. There was a bit of ballet. There was some sitting down on the job in the fourth quarter. And there was some celebrating.

As if celebrating real birthdays and half birthdays weren't enough to keep this Mama busy, at lunch today Mr. Sneaky Pants looked over at me and said, "Mama, why don't we just have two-day birthdays around here?"

You only turn three once, of course, and The Banana has been waiting and waiting for her birthday for months.  We did our best to make it a very special day.  Things started off, of course, with breakfast in the bathtub.  The Banana had requested pumpkin chocolate chip muffins for…

First of all, I MADE this quilt.  Me.  I conquered my queasiness about fabric, and sewed away for five nights straight into the middle of the night.  My mother will be so impressed that  I even located and used the IRON to make this quilt. Second, nothing about this quilt…

Mr. Sneaky Pants has been dragged along to his big sister's swimming lessons his whole entire life.  It's never gone well.  Even as an infant, he was incredibly restless and squirmy the entire time we waited for Ya Ya to finish swimming.  To make matters worse, the pool area, no…

The last half an hour of waiting to be an official second grader were excruciating.  Ya Ya was up an hour earlier than she needed to be on Thursday, and dressed and finished with her breakfast in no time flat.  We read a few books.  She chatted with The Banana.…

Once there was an alligator, who ran free and wild in the jungles of the backyard. Until his sister caught up with him and chopped off his head.  That was traumatic, my friends.  Very traumatic.  And noisy.  

Stated completely out of the blue one afternoon in the living room:   "Mama, I just LOVE toothpaste!"  The toothpaste, my friends is pink.  The Banana loves pink.  She brushes at every opportunity that presents itself.  

The kidlets were greatly inspired by a trip to the toy store with Grandma when she was here visiting over the weekend.  Grandma treated them to magic fairy wands and pirate swords.  Ya Ya thought of the great idea of making a pirate headscarf out of a piece of random…

I'm standing next to the stove, stirring crabapple jam this afternoon.  The Banana bounces in from her play kitchen with a plate of wooden and plastic food in her hand (a cookie, peas, mashed potatoes, a hamburger, cheese, and a slice of bread).   "Mama!  I'm having a party!  Come…