March 2012
1 post
February 2012
5 posts
"I can't wait to see my sandwich!"
The girls love Valentine’s Day. It’s their favorite holiday. Well, besides Christmas. And Halloween. And Easter. I guess they just love all holidays.
One thing they did of course was put a lot of effort into their cards and gifts to all their classmates, teachers, and principal. Another thing is they got matching “Love” shirts at Old Navy. And another thing they did...
“Class isn’t the same without Maddie.”
– Madeline’s teacher
January 2012
6 posts
Typical
Mariana was complaining that there are too many recesses at school and Madeline had a dream that someone went to the library and got her some books.
Texting with Madeline
Me: What are you guys doing today?
Madeline: Please leave me alone Im reading
Spring training
I’ve been practicing softball with Mariana so that when the season starts she might not get hit in the eye with the ball or break her nose. Playing catch with her though is really just me trying to throw a softball directly into her glove as she just stands there.
Christmas presents
The girls got a lot of great gifts for Christmas. They got a bunch of clothes. Some boots. They got a sewing machine. Someone gave them an Xbox. And I got Madeline Mavis Beacon typing tutor so she can learn to type and maybe her school reports won’t take 5 hours to type out. But possibly the best present, or at least the one they seemed most excited about when I saw them open it, was the...
December 2011
4 posts
Mariana lost another tooth, and apparentally, swallowed it in her sleep. Again.
Madeline’s Christmas list:
mechanical pencils
lead for mechanical pencils
binder
notebook
a nice surprise
You might look at this list and think it was a list for the most boring kid in the world. And that might be true. But Madeline is also just really humble and grounded. She pretty much gets everything she wants, but the main thing she wants is just pencils and paper. For her...
November 2011
7 posts
Should Mariana play softball?
Reasons against Mariana playing softball:
she probably won’t like it
it’s boring to watch
won’t get all that much exercise standing around in an empty field
probably will get a black eye because she lacks hand eye coordination
might end up taking steroids or HGH so she can hit dingers
money
already totally burned out from soccer
softball players aren’t cute and seem...
The worst thing Madeline has ever done
Yesterday Madeline did the worst thing she ever did before: she broke her retainer. The way it happened apparently was that she left in the car— not in its case—just sitting on the seat. Somehow it fell near the door, and when she was getting out of the car she closed the door on it.
My first instinct was to give her a natural consequence for her action. So I was going to tell her she...
How girls communicate
Girls have a funny way of communicating. Sometimes they say or do weird things that don’t make much sense.
For example: after gymnastics last week we were getting in the car and Mariana said, “Gym was weird today.”
Then Madeline yelled, “Get your bag off my seat!” And she broke down and started crying. Real tears and everything.
Weird, right? WTF is going on? ...
Forever Art Supplies
It’s early November, so that means it’s Christmas time. Some of you reading this might feel obliged to get the girls a Christmas present. And I’m sure the girls will have their lists ready at some point. But I thought I’d give you guys some tips in case you’re the early-shopper type.
First of all, I don’t recommend giving them money or gift cards. The girls...
October 2011
7 posts
Stars
Mariana is obsessed with stars. Her first grade teacher has a star system for kids’ behavior. When a kid is doing something good, and the teacher notices, she might give the kid a star. And when kids fill up their star chart they get some sort of prize. So Mariana tries as hard as she can to get as many stars as possible every day.
The thing is, Mariana is already a really good kid, so she...
Parent-teacher conferences
Parent-teacher conferences are stressful for kids I guess. Last year we took Madeline with us to the conference to talk to her teacher. And like every other teacher, that teacher loved Madeline. She said straight out that Madeline was the top student in class and she makes teaching fun. She said she’s not supposed to have favorites, but Madeline was one of her favorites. And she basically...
At the parent teacher conference
Teacher: . . . Mariana was the only one to get 100% on the test. She is probably at the top of the class.
Me: Duh.
Example Text converstation of Madeline
Madeline: Yo
3 days later . . .
friend: Yo
Are you there God? It's me, Mariana
In Mariana’s church school workbook there was a question that asked, “What would you like to ask God?”
Mariana wrote: “Why does it not make sense?”
September 2011
5 posts
Excerpts from the birthday list
sheets of velvet
cloth
velcro
yarn
t shirts
sewing needles
gum
winter green tic-tacs
surprise
This is just a partial list. Madeline also labeled each item to signify what people should get each gift (family, friends, grandma, grandpa, etc.). Most of the things on the list are related to Madeline’s and Mariana’s current (and surely short-lived) interest in Project Runway.
...
August 2011
7 posts
Conversations with Madeline . . .
Me: How was school today?
Madeline: Fine.
Me: Anything interesting happen?
Madeline: No.
Me: Did you learn anything new today?
Madeline: No.
Me: Do you have any homework?
Madeline: No.
Me: Anything you want to tell me?
Madeline: Yes. Shut the hell up. I'm reading.
Conversations with Mariana . . .
Me: How was school?
Mariana: blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber
Me: Oh really?
Mariana: blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber
Me: What?
Mariana: blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber
Me: What the hell are you talking about?
Mariana: blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber
Me: Ok, shut up now, I'm trying to drive here.
Mariana: blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber blabber
Squinkles are now clean
I think it started because Madeline got a retainer, and she has to brush it with her toothbrush every day. As the younger sister, Mariana looks up to Madeline and oftentimes wants to do the same things she does.
But Mariana doesn’t have a retainer to brush, so she started brushing a squinkle. As everyone knows, a squinkle is a little rubber toy, about 3 cm tall, usually molded to...
July 2011
9 posts
