The Gang

I know. It has been a while. Get ready for some blog posts. We have been gone for a few weeks to UT. I am acclimating still. The kids LOVED the trip....and seeing their "Call" cousins (at least four are missing from the picture).

Owen's face cracks me up in this. He looks as if he is a food critic, trying to allow his palate to fully navigate the extremely artificial flavors of the banana popsicle.

Either that or he is in pain. Maybe brain freeze. It is a tough call.

It's out!

Finally. The tooth that was hanging on by who-knows-what is OUT. Courtesy of me.

"Eva, let me just see if I can give that tooth a wiggle."

"Ok.....but just a little wiggle."

-yank-

"AAAAOuch, mom! That wasn't a little wiggle!!!!!"

"You are right, but look what I have here!!"

She was so delighted to finally have her paws on that little tooth that I was instantly pardoned for my yankiness.

The smile you see here hasn't left yet- and it has been a few days now. Yesterday when she enthusiastically recanted the story, she described it this way: "mom pulled it out, and it didn't even hurt at all!"

That makes me feel better. I guess time heals all wounds...

Yes, and of course, the Tooth Fairy did not disappoint. Eva was quite excited about her dollar for about 5 minutes and then decided to give it to Owen to help him "feel better."

I am thinking the concept of money hasn't quite sunk in yet....either that or she loves her brother oodles.

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens with Dad

Marc had not been to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens yet, so we thought we would take him to see this beauty. The girls were so excited to show him their "secret" tree.

Here, the girls are hard at work filling their bucket from the stream in the children's garden. They can use this water to prime the water pump.

Here, Owen is spying on the community garden. This garden is cared for by children in the surrounding neighborhood. Owen didn't see any plants through that telescope- but he did see pirates and a crocodile!

Here Eva is enjoying the fruits of her labor. She got the pump to work! The slow stream coming out the half-pipe proves it.

Here, Owen is checking out the lily pads. He was quite concerned that there were no froggies. "No froggies.....only fishies mommy!"

Owen dressed in his Crocodile Hunter outfit for the occasion- just in case.

"Crikey mate! Dija see that?"

A Life of Crime

Hey Owen, get used to those bars!

Mr. Owen is changing. With each day that passes he leaves behind a bit of babyhood in his slow evolution to full fledged little boy status.

Mischievous little boy status.

Last week I spotted a pile of cars left out from earlier play.

"Um, Owen....could you please pick up your cars and put them in the box?"

"Oh, soooorry!......Sorry mom, I busy. I workin'....finishing my homework."

He sat there doodling away on a paper that was, indeed, homework- but not his.
"Oh, you are working on homework, huh?

"Yeah, I drawing a moooostache! Heh, heh, heh!" He then looks up and flashes a smile almost identical to the one pictured above. {And just FYI, Owen thinks mustaches are unbelievably funny. Whenever he encounters one on the street or in the subway he makes sure to point it out. "Look mom, silly moooostache!" We had the privilege of sharing a subway car with a man sporting heavily manicured, full-blown handlebars (with the slick curl on the end) and little Owen could not have been more delighted.}

So, as you can see, he has already mastered the art of working the system. I ask him to do something, and he is profusely apologetic about his inability. "Oh, sorry mom!" He oozes with concern, and in the same breath assures me that he is engaged in a noble work. Homework gives you a free pass out of housework, right?

His sisters have trained him well.

Most of the time it works because it is just so very, very cute.

I have reason to believe, however, that my inability to extinguish these seemingly small infractions may have driven Owen to a life of crime.

Let me explain.

It was June. We were trying to get some belated spring cleaning accomplished, while the children were banished to their room for attempting to undo our every effort.

The doorbell rings.

Outside our door we find an NYPD officer. What in the??

"Sir, (he was talking to Marc at the time) do you have a small boy?"

"Um, yes."

"Did you know that he is standing naked in the window?"

"Aaaaaaa....No"

I was pretty sure he had the wrong apartment. I mean, just 5 minutes earlier I had checked on the kiddos. They were all happily playing My Little Ponies.

We went back to the room to investigate.

Nothing seemed amiss. The girls were sitting with their backs to the window, totally consumed by pony drama.

Apparently, glittery horses don't have the same draw for Owen.

We spied his clothes (including diaper) on the ground near the window ledge. Then, our eyes met the outline of a naked two year old freely dancing behind the curtain.

Yes, dancing. At that very moment, the world was his stage.

We live on the second floor above a well traveled sidewalk here in NYC, so this was quite the show.

Our little exhibitionist was not happy about leaving his fans below, and I would be very surprised if he felt even a tinge of remorse following the lecture he received. The experience left me completely embarrassed, feeling that we would forever be branded the "naked homeschoolers" by the neighborhood. As if we aren't weird enough.....

But now, almost two months later, I am over it.

I don't know anyone who can claim that their criminal history began at two.

I always knew my boy would be special.

Food Inc

I highly recommend taking some time to see this documentary. In some ways, it was like The Omnivore's Dilemma on film. If you have read the book, you will probably enjoy the commentary by Micheal Pollan and the visit to Polyface farm.

Just be warned: you may want to see it on an empty stomach.

Spring Recital

The girls had their Spring Recital a few weeks ago. They even had another duet. It is always fun to watch them play together in harmony.

I couldn't believe how mature Eva looked at the piano. She made sure to ham it up in the pictures so that I didn't get too distraught about my "Evers" growing up. As you can see in the upper right hand picture, she is still my Eva.

Madeline played very well- even her challenging "Musette" piece, which I was a little apprehensive about, because it was one of her newer pieces.

I wish I had some video to post. I lost my small camera, and our "big" camera isn't very user friendly (or more likely I am just inept)- I can't figure out how to get it to sync with my computer.

The little blue books the girls are displaying were a gift from their beloved teacher, Ms. Genya. They are mini-composition books for all the summertime music composing they will be doing. Right :).

Hard at play

On one especially messy kitchen day, I left a math lesson with the girls to find Owen hard at work. He had discovered my soaking dishes and was quite excited about this find. I stood in the doorway and watched while he-unaware of my presence- splashed gleefully in his aquatic wonderland. I am constantly amazed by the way he plays. He is so different from my girls. I know, I shouldn't be that shocked by gender differences, but still, continually I am.

When he plays, I hear a lot of "vrrrrrrooooomm.......bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrr.........pprrrrrrrrwwwwchhh" (explosion sound :). I would love to know what is going on in that little mind of his as he dumps and pours.

After he pulled my vegetable colander out of the suds and placed it on his head, I knew it was time to get a shot of this moment. It was just getting too cute. As soon as my shutter clicked Owen climbed down from the chair, pulled off the "helmet" and shot me a glance which let me know he was slightly humiliated that I had been privy to his imaginations.

All too often my quest for a picture seems to ruin "the moment."

But, these are moments I don't want to forget.