Don't ask why

This is what I found when I returned from taking Carden and Seth to school this morning. Charlotte was nowhere to be found. Claire was quite accepting of the fact that she had 4 pounds of shredded cheese in her lap. If I were trapped by 25% of my body weight in cheese, I think I would be a bit more vocal.

I am curious, though. Was Charlotte trying to share? Hoping Claire would open the package for her? Thinking Claire was ready for a better toy than the caterpillar rattle?

And tonight's special is?

Rice cereal, served any way you like it, as long as it's mushy.

After the first spoonfuls, Claire looked at Tyler as if to say, "How could you betray me?!" A cross between electroshock therapy and a lemon-sucking contest.

It can only go up from here.

Garden season opens!

In case you wondered how we've learned to garden in our oversize yard: think big. Think very big. As my gardening neighbor said when I was rolling my eyes at Tyler's truck purchase: "Kristen, we're not one of those people who garden on postage-stamp-size lots. We don't buy compost in bags."

Nope. We buy compost in 4-cubic-yard truckloads. In case you're wondering, that's about 8,000 pounds, enough to cover a 1,300-square-foot area with a 1-inch-layer of compost. When dumped in your driveway, it makes a pile about 9 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 4 feet high for the neighbors to admire, the kids to play in, and the dog to eat (and then throw up on the family room rug).

Ask me next week if I'll trade it for a condo in San Diego.

Looking cheesy

goat cheese, that is.

gotta start 'em young!

Valentine's Day

February was one long month around here, and I am officially out of wit, so I'm a bit behind in posting.

The past few years we've made Valentine's Day a family celebration as opposed to a romantic one. This year we brought out the chocolate fountain and let everyone make a mess. Anyone know when kids learn to eat neatly?

Charlotte was only interested in dipping, not eating, and we couldn't eat fast enough to keep up with her, which frustrated her no end. Carden's food kept falling off the skewer and getting lost in the chocolate. But everyone had a great time, and I was reminded why we only do this once a year!

Basketball

We just finished Seth's first and Carden's second season of basketball. It was truly an interesting study of how different our two boys are. Carden made great progress, aided by our Craigslist find of a basketball hoop now presiding over the back patio. We are really proud of how far he came. Athletics take a bit of work for him, and he stuck with it despite a few moments of discouragement.

Watching Seth was like watching those old Saturday morning cartoons of Speedy Gonzales. We kept telling him that his teammates couldn't pass him the ball because he didn't hold still long enough for them to throw it to him. All the other kids moved in a pack around the ball, with Seth orbiting rapidly around the group. And after every contact with the ball he would bounce up and down, unable to contain his excitement at being on the court.

Unforgettable moments:

Carden on the sideline with the ball, ready to pass it in. He puts the ball on his hip and moves his index finger back and forth between his two teammates. I can see him mouthing "eenie-meenie-minie-moe" trying to decide who to pass the ball to.

Seth has the ball and is dribbling down the court. He lifts his leg up and dribbles the ball under it, Harlem Globetrotter-style. He is so short his dribbling only bounces the ball six inches off the floor.

Making the beds

Carden and Seth are the proud inhabitants of a new bunk bed. We found a great deal on one, and after making them keep their room spotlessly clean for two weeks, we set it up last weekend. Actually, we moved the guest room queen-size bed down two flights of stairs, disassembled two twin beds, reassembled one twin in Charlotte's room, put together the bunk bed, and made two trips to Provo for a full-size mattress--all without killing each other (the real accomplishment).

The real news in all this bed-shuffling is that Charlotte now has her own room. It's been the guest room up till now. She is loving her new Little Mermaid sheets (she won't allow me to cover them up with a bedspread). And I've put my very own personal interior decorator (my talented sister-in-law Marianne) on the job to transform the white walls into something fun for her and Claire.