Girls in Snow

Nice Bruise, Lee!

A Wee Sledding Incident

The Trauma of the Teeth

Losing teeth continues to be traumatic for Lee.  Clara's lost four, and while they haven't been without a few tears, they've been much easier than Lee's.  Lee has not lost a single tooth without tears and a fair amount of upset.  The other night Bridges pulled one of her incisors.  It was gray and very loose and definitely ready to come out, but it still bled.  She rinsed and rinsed but it was still a bit bloody.  She was shaking and crying and just a mess, and she managed to get out "I feel like I"m being torn apart!"  I lay down with her afterwards for a while to calm her down so she could get to sleep.

Poor thing.  I am so positive that this is not uncommon for sensitive children that I'm not even going to google it.  I just keep repeating to myself, "Ten down; ten to go."

Clara's Inventions Speech

Clara handed me a paper titled "Inventions Speech" the other day.  Here it is (with spelling, capitalization, and punctuation corrected):

"When you invent things you are always using some one else's work.  For instance, I made a window / roof using duct tape, wood, wire, and plastic bags.  So if you are ever lonely and alone you always have something with you.  For instance, clothes or something.  So always think about what you have and see what you can make out of it to help you.  So when you feel like you are alone you are NEVER ever alone.  Thank you for letting me say this.  Thank you very much.  You are not alone, so look around you and see what you have."

On Black Diamonds and Moguls

Our girls have just taken off with the skiing this year.   It's been a lot of fun.  Clara is the more adventurous, wanting to put black diamond notches in her belt, and enjoying the bumps with Daddy.

She was very excited to ski Angel Street, which is one of the steeper blacks at Loon.  We waited until a morning when there was a few fresh inches of powder.  She went right down it with no problems.

We got to the bottom of the lift, and with a big grin she said to me, "Mom, I didn't know there was a feeling better than birthday cake."

"What's that, Clara?"

"Feeling proud of myself!"

Clara Punk Rocker

Tired of nagging about hair brushing and tired of the tears over tangles, I put down my foot and told Clara we were cutting her hair.  She had had plenty of warnings while she was growing it longer (just so you don't think I'm a mean mom).  So I took her in and Maureen, my wonderful haircutter, cut it all off.  She must have spent forty-five minutes cutting it.  I guess really straight hair is really hard to cut short.

Well, I thought it looked fantastic.  When we walked out to the car, Lee said to Clara, "You look weird."  Thanks, Lee.  That's the sibling support I need.

Clara got a lot of positive comments.  She got tired of the comments but seemed to adjust to the new hair.  And honestly the tangles aren't an issue anymore.  There's just not enough hair to get tangled.

The brushing, however, is still a problem.   This is how she looks most mornings now, and yes, I still need to nag.  Secretly, I think the punk look suits her.

A Special Dinner

Clara decided to give us all a special dinner.  She gave us a certificate and all.  It turned out it wasn't all-inclusive, as I discovered when I asked her who was going to cook this special dinner.  As a matter of fact, it pretty much covered setting the table, writing up menus, and serving the food.

We decided one evening that it was the night.  I was feeling inspired to make cream puffs (I felt I must address the fact that my children had never eaten cream puffs!) so I did that.  Dinner was more complicated, as I had to cook things that were supposed to be a surprise.  It was kind of tricky, actually.

Finally the time came.  Clara met Bridges and me at the entrance to "Topega" (I'm glad our studying the state capitals has made an impression).

I saw a beautifully-set table beyond, complete with menus and candles.  

The menus were a bit of a surprise, especially the extensive kids' menu.

The dessert selection was even more extensive.

We all decided to have cream puffs, not only because they were really recommended, but because the other entries were all figments of Clara's imagination.