First Crush

Puppy Love has stricken Sage even though she has no idea what it is. It is too cute.

"The Boy" is Reggie. The new boy in class. She talked about him for days. He is "the same tall" as Sage (important because Sage is conscious of being taller than every other kid in her class. "Mom. Am I too tall?" - No you are just right!) He has curly hair and a "dark face". And one day, Reggie even got to be the special helper. Wowee!!

One day Sage was droning on about Reggie again... Trying to stay engaged I said, "It sounds like you really like Reggie."

"No. I LOVE Reggie."

We got to meet Reggie at a Halloween Party last weekend. Afterward Scott asked Sage about Reggie. "So he is your friend huh?"

Sage said, "I am just so excited every time I see him and I don't know why."

Yes. That is my Sage. She can sum up just about anything. Even puppy love.

Dinner at Home

Monday and Tuesday nights I am on my own with the kids for evening. I try maintain sanity by doing make-ahead meals while Benny is napping. It usually works perfectly.

But early on yesterday I knew my dinner was unlikely to impress anyone in my family. Hockey puck rolls and chicken noodle soup, which is usually okay but the chicken shredded itself into something that didn't need chewing. Everything was edible but nothing was great.

I thought I would spice up dinner for Sage by playing Restaurant. Sage was delighted. I gave her a menu. She ordered the soup and bread. I brought it to her fixed my own and sat down. Sage said, "Okay, now lets pretend that you are my mom and we are eating at the restaurant."

"Okay. Sure."

"Mom. I don't really like this restaurant. I think we should have gone to Stone Dog or Applebees."

News and Views

Scott- Busy, busy, busy. This a semester is filled with documentation, evaluation, paperwork blah blah blah. He his sorting through the last few years of his professional life and we are all proud. He is missing summer fishing, looking forward to skiing, and doing his best to be around here and involved the kids.

Sage- the true academic- She is very interested in understanding the why of everything. I feel I can be very honest with her even at four because she doesn't accept the watered-down version of things. She absolutely loves school. I thought she would be exhausted after a full 5 hour day, but she comes home full of ideas and she puts me to work with projects of all kinds. She is still impartial to handedness, which makes writing the letter S very difficult. I am equally hesitant to pick a hand for her. I have tested writing letters in flour, pencil grasp, finding the dominant foot (left- like me) etc.. no conclusions yet. I am going to find her a pair of lefty safety scissors to see if they are easier for her... after that ????

Benny- Moving up up up. I think our home will have to undergo another round of baby-proofing. Benny climbs like Sagey never did. He also ROARS and head-butts! Is it testosterone? He is a much shier than baby Sage was. The one thing I can see that is similar is the ability to talk. He uses mama, dada, dog, cat, sissy, cracker, bath tub, this, that, baba, roar, ball, slide, all done, hi, hello, bah-bye.... I am always amazed at what he says at home... but in public it is a stoic gaze and slight frown and if anyone talks to him he hides his face. He also loves shoes like Sage did. If anyone leaves their shoes on the floor Benny will find them and wrestle with them until they are on his feet.

Me- I keep putting exercise on the back burner and kids, crafting and cleaning at the front. Sleep needs to be reclaimed too. We have had a couple of weeks of sick kids and I am looking forward to a few weeks of normalcy so I can catch up with my goals again.

Careful Consumer

In the past 2 months I have read 1000's of consumer reviews. It is not a phony-internet-scam-job or a new hobby. I just had to replace a few key products in my household. My zeal for the reviews began when I found a beautiful used wood pellet stove. Scott was lined up to go test it and buy it when we found a splattering of horrible reviews for that very stove. Eventually we found much better reviews for a much less attractive stove and we bought it.

Next I had to replace my mop, then the frying pans, a space heater, boots for Scott and finally the vacuum. As each item popped up I dug into consumer reviews and mulled over my options until the obvious answer popped up. I think I must love window shopping more than the actual buying. My research for mops, frying pans, and boots would have been a little quicker if I would have known there would be more products to look for later... but I am also very happy with every new choice so far.

Our biggest decision this week came after we won the lottery! $32,000,000! Should we keep on trucking through our life here or grab the kids and head to Palau for some scuba diving adventures..... hmmm..

Just kidding... we don't play the real lottery but Sage did get a spot at our government-sponsored preschool, so it kind of feels like winning the lottery. There were a few things that made the switch a difficult family decision but now that it is made we all feel happy. Sage is very excited about her new school. Me too... here is why:
1. It is free!
2. Sage can ride the bus to and from school which means I don't have to wake Benny up from his nap to pick her up.
3. They will be serving breakfast and lunch to the kids. Sage loved the "egg mc-muffin" she had there on Thursday. She loved pouring her own milk from the measuring cup and picking up toast with tongs.
4. The kids will brush their teeth after breakfast. Wow! My mornings are going to be a lot easier.
5. Sage will be in school with kids from our own (tri-town) neighborhood.

So today is Sage's last day at the Art and Science preschool. She has loved it and been so happy since she started there.

Baby Tears

Benny cried his first real tears yesterday. They were so precious and plump. I wanted to jar them and save them forever. Those first tears were also very powerful. I didn't see the incident but Sage apologized to Benny and gave him the puzzle that was denied him. It was very cute. Sage said he could keep the puzzle forever and she was sorry she made his tears come out.

Squash Cam: Edition Two

Forget-me-nots

Sage asked for a desktop for Christmas. She doesn't think it is too early to ask. She is clear on what a desktop is.

Benny loves to laugh. He has laughing sessions where he will find humor in almost anything, like the edge of the rug.