Not that you shouldn’t be able to see a scene like this in any household with small children. But I like to attribute our homeschooling to our love for our children. And our love for silliness.

Other things to note:

• snow still present in the yard.
• art project in the window.
• lots of books on the messy [well-used] bookshelves.
• blocks.
• toolbox full of Legos.
• laundry not put away.
• Carcassonne game on the end table.
• boy-kid sitting on the arm of the couch, which is forbidden.
• girl-kid wearing shorts (see #1).
• homeschooly outfits worn by the children (would you send your kid to school looking like that?).
• oh yeah, and the hat quite willingly worn by Daddy.
• although I didn’t check with him about his desire to have this particular photo posted on my blog for all to see.

Our family is fun.

You know, I am finding it difficult to retain my usual sunny and non-critical (ahem) personality when I can’t help but notice that our town’s outdoor ice skating area is better maintained than the residential street in front of my house. In fact, the ice is most likely thicker here on The Terrace than it is under the skates of those merry gliders across from the library. Granted, the sand truck just went by, thus making skating on the street fairly difficult, but I would be willing to wager my piggy bank that our street has seen the plow less often than the rink has.

But I am not bitter. Just glad we live relatively close to the main road.

p.s. The kids are watching PBS’ Curious George, and I just overheard this post-appropriate line: “This is bad, but I can think of 56 ways it could be worse.”

Our household has fallen victim to an insidious illness that lasts for days. Long, long days. Nights, too. It might be the flu, says Brian’s doctor. We’ll see what the kids’ doctor says this morning when we take them in. I, so far, have remained healthy, despite the lack of sleep and the sympathy symptoms that don’t last.

I won’t disgust you with the respiratory yuckiness that pervades our home, except for this quote from the ever-effusive Acadia:

See? This is the stuff on my eye and when I woke up I couldn’t open them, so… (pause, shrug) I had to eat it! Wasn’t that silly?

Uh…that’s one word for it….

This is the view out of our back door. After taking a look, Gannon asked excitedly, “Can I go ride my bike?”

“Uh, no.”

“But WHY?”

“….. If you don’t know by looking out the window, I sure can’t explain it to you.”

This comic strip brings back memories of skating on the pond with Josh, our friends, and Charlie. (Click on image to see a bigger version!)

That’s the question I find myself asking these days. Only now it’s more like “Why would someone want to live in a freezer?” It is stinkin’ cold out there. Brian had to thaw out pipes with the hairdryer. Not a fun way to spend your first waking moments. It’s no secret that I don’t like winter (although I liked it well enough as a kid). I do have many things to be happy about, and one of them is a sparkly three year-old girl who says the funniest things.

• How They Make Grape Jelly, by Acadia - They take some berries, and they take off the stems, and they smash them up, then they do something that I don’t really know, then they do something that I don’t really know AGAIN, and that’s how you make it!

• As I was reading, she comes up and says, “Mom, here’s a pen in case you want to hibernate any words.”

• (This one will be understood only if you realize that her grandfather had two dogs, one a poodle and one named Poncho) As I was putting her poncho over her head: ME - This doesn’t have arm holes; is that okay? HER - It’s okay, because it’s just a poodle. ME - A poncho. HER - Right, a poncho. But not a dog Poncho.

Maybe you had to be there.

Our answer to the question, “What have you been up to lately?”

Okay, so not actually sledding. We don’t have much of a hill in our yard, can you tell? They don’t really mind, as you can also tell. Who knew that a used slide I picked up, practically off the side of the road, would be such a great toy?? And who cares now that it smelled like cat pee when I first brought it home two years ago? Sometimes you have to look past the warts and the slime (and the smell), to the handsome prince within. Or something.

P.S. Only two of these kids are ours. The other is a stray we managed to pick up.