That makes sense

At the beginning of the summer, the kids told me the reason that mosquito repellent doesn't work is because "The mosquitos just plug their noses."

Did you make it?

Luke and Ally went into the playroom to play, and there was a structure made out of magna tiles on the floor.  (As a side note, these things are a great toy!)

Ally said, "Luke, look at this.  Isn't it beautiful?"

"It is beautiful," Luke agreed. " Did you make that Ally?"

"No, it's too beautiful."

Luke yelled to Dave, "Daddy, did you make this?" 

"No, I didn't make it. Did you, Ally?"

"No," Ally told him, "I didn't make it.  It's too beautiful."

"Oh!" said Luke, "Ally, I know who made it.  Anna!  Him's an artist."

How things look to little kids

Luke told me, "One time I saw a little bus at school, so all the little people can go in."

When I was putting Ally's Converse shoes on, I pulled up the tongue and reminded her, "We always have to pull up the..." And she said, "Oh, yeah, got to pull up the mustache!"

Luke was examining my tupperware container at lunch.  It's a container with two vents.  If you put certain foods in it, you close both vents, other things you close one vent, and some you leave them both open.  He was looking at if for a while, and then he said, "You can put all of these things in here, but not a refrigerator, because that is x-ed."

The bus

Last Friday morning, Ally was very anxious about going to school that afternoon.  I had to go help out at school anyway, so I offered to drive them.  Luke immediately shouted, "No! No, Mama.  Please, let us ride the bus. It's awesome!  There are no straps!  And there is no handle!  So you just fall forward when it makes a sharp stop!"

Directions to the zoo

Luke and Ally wanted to go to the zoo.  As I was getting ready to leave, they each drew me a map, and Luke let me borrow the "checking book" (the German-English dictionary he gives Dave and me to help with directions).

When I was ready, Ally, tracing her finger on the map she drew, told me how to get there, "First go to America. Then go to Lost Begas (Las Vegas). Then take a sharp turn at another Lost Begas.  Then go to Lost America.  And then you'll be at the zoo."

"Got it!" I told her.

In the car, they took turns going me more specific directions.

Ally would tell me, "Go straight, straight, and go over another hill.  And then go south way."

"And," Luke would add, "go down the hill with the twisty track."

And Ally would continue, "And you stop on the south way."

Even with all their help, I did make one wrong turn.  That's when I heard them talking to each other.

"Some people know directions," Ally commented.

Luke added, "Daddies know. Mommies don't."

"Well," Ally said, "some mommies do, but not our mommy."


Well, Mr. and Miss Smartiepants, at least I know that I didn't need to "take a sharp turn at another Lost Begas" to get to the zoo!

A danger of a twin

I went into Luke and Ally's room to put some clothes away.  Ally was playing with Baba, but Luke was already asleep.

I looked closer.

After a moment, I figured it out.  "Ally, did you put something on Luke's head?"

She looked like she was going to laugh, then she pulled herself together and innocently said, "I found him's doll."  She took a second to compose herself again and continued, "So I put it on him's forehead."  

I love apple orchards!

It was early September, but it was cold yesterday.  Four days before we were wake boarding, waterskiing, and tubing, but the high was 47 stinking degrees.

On our way out to pick apples, the kids, bundled in winter coats with their hoods up, told me they would rather go when it was warmer.  I encouraged them to run a little to warm up, and we ended up having a lot of fun.  And we left with over twenty five pounds of apples!

She was quite intense about which apples to choose.

Such a photo ham!

Thirteen pounds... it's almost half their own weight.

She got me

Ally - Mommy, I want to hold a baby.
Me - Oh yeah, what baby do you want to hold?
Ally - Our baby.

Enabling

Luke and Ally often remind me of an old married couple.  They seem to read each other's thoughts and they do everything together.  They definitely bicker like an old married couple.  And, just today, it dawned on me that they also kind of have mutual beliefs that wouldn't necessarily make sense outside of their marriage, I mean their "twindom."

Today, we were driving to Costco, when Ally said, "You know how trees get old?  And you know how houses get old... and then they need a break?"

I was trying to process this, so I didn't say anything, when Lukey finished, "Then we go to the lake cottage."

"What?" I asked.

"When houses get old and need a break, we go to the lake cottage," Lukey stated.

I verified, "So... because our house is old, it needs a break, so that's why we go to the cottage... to give our house a break?"

They both affirmed this.

Then Ally said that when trees get old, they die and a new one is born.

"Is that right, Mommy?" asked Ally.

"Yes, a tree sometimes dies, but new trees grow from some of the seeds that have fallen from that tree."

"And," Ally continued, "When houses get old, they bring new houses there on a truck."

We'd just passed a big truck carrying cars, so I understood this leap of logic.

"Well, actually," I started, "they don't usually bring houses on trucks..."

"NO!" shouted Luke, "They is bring houses on trucks!"

Then Ally said, "Right, Lukey, they bring houses on trucks.  In big boxes, so they can go fast."

In the rearview mirror, I saw her point to a semi-truck.

"Right, Ally," said Luke, "They bring the houses in boxes on the back of the truck so they can go fast."

I tried again to explain, but they didn't want to hear it.

Shortly after this, they began talking about peanut butter.  And when we passed the Water Street Brewery, where they have that fermenting tank on top, Ally pointed and declared, "That's where they make the peanut butter."

I didn't even bother.

Even though I didn't say anything, Luke declared, "Yes, Mommy, we right!"

Back to school

Kate and Anna started school on Tuesday.  Luke and Ally don't actually start until next Tuesday, but they did have some testing at school today, so that morning I dressed them all in their back to school dresses and took a few pictures.

I'm pretty sure that with age four comes weird smiles. 

Summer is here

Okay, so it's September, but yesterday and today were probably only the fourth and fifth day all year that felt warm enough to be summer.  The big girls were in school, but Luke and Ally had a friend over for the morning, and they had some water fun in the back yard.

Splash!

Splash revenge!

Ally helps her friend with sunscreen.

Walking into church last night for Awana

"Mom, wait!  Is I wearing underwear?"

Booster group

Yesterday was the first day of school.  Last night I got a letter from Anna's teacher telling me that, based on end of last year's test results,  Anna would be put in a special "booster" reading group for 30 minutes a day to help her catch up on her reading.

Well.

I know that every kid develops at their own rate.   And I know that there are a lot of things kids her age are working on, like social interactions and creativity, and Anna is doing great in other areas.  Reading is just one area.  Blah, blah, blah.

It's really hard not to feel like you failed somehow when your kid is put in a remedial reading group.

The letter was really nice.  As I said, this special group was called a "booster" group.  It was stated all in a positive way, but what I read was:

Dear Mrs. Melbye, 

Your kid can't read for shit because you never do anything literacy related with her at home.  She is so far behind that she needs help every single school day to get close to where she should be.  Here's hoping we can make up for some of the ways you have failed her, provide she's not just stupid.

Disappointedly,
Stormonth School

I don't know if this whole "booster group thing" hit me harder because Kate was put in the Gifted and Talented program exactly when Anna was put in it, the first week of first grade.

I walked around last night trying to make myself feel better.  Anna has such a wonderful personality.  She's great at making friends.  Everyone likes her.  She's creative and fun.  But making myself feel worse.  So... maybe she'll be a failed artist living on the street, but with a lot of friends.  I'd try to comfort myself with the fact that I couldn't be that bad a mother, because Kate was doing so well, but  then I'd think of how I had more time for Kate.  I didn't have a debilitating pregnancy and then baby twins when Kate was two.

Apparently similar thoughts have occurred to Dave.  I heard him in the playroom with the twins this morning, playing house with letters as the people.

Holding up an E, he asked, "Luke, what's this?"

"I don't know."

Encouragingly, Dave continued, "It's in your name, Buddy... the last letter..."

"Six?"

I headed downstairs to do laundry, thinking, Well, we did alright with Kate.  That's one.  We're one for four...

Dave followed me downstairs and told me, "Well, I think Kate will have to support all of them when they're older."