December

December has been full of fun! We had two sets of visitors (Willie and Grandma must have been washing the dishes), graduation (I only took one picture! Don't worry, Mark took hundreds :) and of course, Christmas (though I didn't post any pictures of that yet, I haven't been so good at taking pictures). 

Anya

Anya is 7! I sometimes still feel 7 myself and I probably act like it too. And sometimes I know exactly what I was like at 7 :).

Winter Park Day

Book Exchange

Anya's class is doing a book exchange this year for Christmas. So naturally, I went to the bookstore.  With Olympia and Washington.  I would only be at 50% capacity, it would be easy.  Washington was crying the moment we arrived.  Olympia thought it was a library.  And did you know Barnes and Noble places their books so low?  With the entire cover showing?  In minutes she had 10 books.  Barbie. Pinkalicious. Fancy Nancy.  I grabbed one that had a Caldecott Award on it so I could get the heck out of there after prying all of Olympia's finds out of her hands.  Now both were crying.  Phew, the line was short.  But man, the cashier had no mercy.  She was asking the customer just ahead me if she had a rewards card? Did she want to sign up?  It only takes a minute.  Oh and do you want to donate to our book drive?  The customer then asked the return policy.  And could she give her a gift receipt for EACH of her books in her giant pile?  At least I was entertained by the three policemen trying to quietly escorted a man out in handcuffs!  What?

I decide to read this book the night before it is due.  It has the words "shut up" in it!!!!  Seriously.  Those words aren't allowed in our house and they aren't allowed in many other homes.  Why did this book get an award?  What in the world was the author thinking?  And what is another parent going to think when their child gets this book?  Let's just say, I will not judge anyone else's parents by the book they get for the book exchange . . .   

Paper-Rock-Scissors-?

Anya was playing Austria "Paper-Rock-Scissors" the other day.

I told them about "Glue" (for kicks) and they thought it was awesome that Glue makes Paper and Scissors stick together but Rock can smash Glue.

A few days later, I caught them playing "Paper-Rock-Scissors-Jesus". In Anya's words: "Jesus takes Paper, Jesus takes Rock, Jesus takes Scissors. Jesus always wins. Always play Jesus."

Swimming During the Off Season???

One evening we went and reunited with some long lost relatives at their hotel pool.  It was chilly out and near dark.  As we were leaving Austria said, "But Mom, it is dark and cold, how are we going to swim?"  Over Thanksgiving break we met some friends at an indoor pool.  Anya asked, "Are we swimming outside?" I think they were amazed that we could swim inside!  Now they want to go all the time.  Olympia tries to wear her suit as much as possible, I guess she wants to be ready.

 (Austria annoyed at me since this was my third go at taking this picture.)

Austria's State Song

"I've been working on this for awhile. It took a long time until I knowed it." Austria

(Austria is also responsible for the title of this blog post)

Break

I've been looking forward to Thanksgiving break for awhile. The girls would have a whole week off!  Imagine, no early mornings, no lunches to make, no homework to do, no kids to wake from naps to go pick up the girls.  Today is day 1 of the break.  This is what it has been like:

1. Austria wakes up before 6.
2. Anya proclaims boredom at 6:55 (am).
3. Chores are finished by 8.
4. The dining table is covered in remnants of painting by 9.
5. Reading, math and iPad games are done by 10.
6. Pretending to be My Little Pony Characters by 11.
7. Olympia is so excited, no nap for her.
8. The Croods watched by 3.
9. Brownies baking by 4.
10. Starfall, My Little Pony Games and pretending to be the Croods by 5. Olympia asking for Daddy (but he is off to take a tour of FedEx that begins at 11pm!)
11. Starving children devour spaghetti by 6.
12. Clean up, hide and seek, Family Home Evening by 7.
13. Bedtime ongoing . . .

Shesh.  Can I keep this pace all week?  I thought they would be overjoyed to just be home all day.  I thought they would play pretend and color like old times. School has ruined them!  I would have liked to play outside for a few hours, but the high of 43 didn't entice me since Washington is just getting over Bronchiolitis (which I hadn't heard of before last week).

Adjustments

I know very well that being shorter than the average kid requires occasional adjustments in life :).

After School

Most days after school we play outside for a bit.  This was one of the first days we had to wear some jackets, pants, socks and shoes. . . yes, we are spoiled.