Different Personalities

Today we went to our local library's End-of-Summer Reading Celebration. First of all, what's up with an "End of Summer" program mid-July?? It certainly did not *feel* like summer was ending..it was HOT. Stations were set up outside and lunch was served. And there was a show and prizes were given away. We had about an hour and a half. There was no way for the kids to do everything..choices had to be made. Luckily, being a local event at a place we were very familiar with made it easier to let the kids make different choices. It was in a small area outside the library and I could see everything. Bigger events mean they have to choose to do the same thing because it's the only way I can watch them both unless we are with others. But this was just different..so for a rare treat, they got to make different choices. I stayed with Sadie and allowed Hannah a little bit of freedom.

Sadie chose anything that did not have a long line. (She's like me in that!! hee hee) She waited about 5 minutes to get a balloon sword, colored a paper hat, helped me pick up all 3 of our lunches, ate lunch on a blanket, and wandered around with me "making new friends". She thinks she looks tough in this sword-fighting pose..with a cookie in her mouth. :-)

Hannah chose to have her face painted. She waited in line the WHOLE time. An hour and a half. I took her a lunch which she ate in line. A sweet older girl of about 10 behind her was nice to "save her place" a couple of times for Hannah to run to the blanket where we were to get a drink. But she stood there, without one complaint, for the rest of the time. Did I mention that it was HOT?? Was it worth it?

She certainly thought so. She didn't whine once that she didn't get to do anything else. She smiled all the way home and said "I'm SO happy, thanks for taking me". I don't stand in line for an hour and a half for anything. Not even at Disney World. So I guess it's a good thing it was a place I felt comfortable letting her have a little freedom. Sadie was slightly dissapointed when she noticed Hannah was FINALLY next in line. She thought she was going to run up there and get in line with Hannah. Um, no. I had to explain that while she had run around having fun and doing lots of fun things, Hannah had done nothing but stand in line for a REALLY long time, and the kids behind Hannah had stood in line a REALLY long time, and it just wasn't fair for her to run up at the last minute and jump in the front of the line. She looked dissapointed for all of 5 seconds, and then ran off to balloon sword fight with a nearby little boy. I love watching their different personalities emerge and grow!!

Life in our house when it's REALLY hot!

Today was 100 degrees. TOO hot for me. I thought about driving to a friend's house with a pool. We've done that this summer too. Instead, we stayed inside. All day. Well, except for one little outing to CVS. So, here's a rundown of our afternoon. (If you're curious about the morning, well, that would be that we slept late, watched t.v., and basically did nothing productive).

1. First, I cleaned and the girls did some "chores". That means that Hannah sprayed a little windex mixed with water all over the mirrors and eventually did get them clean, after making designs first. She also straightened the playroom, which was a MAJOR undertaking. It didn't have to be - all she had to do was pick up the handful of toys on the floor and put them on the shelves. Instead, she took EVERYTHING off the shelves and put it all in the floor, because she "wanted to make it neater". Admirable effort. But in the middle she got way overhwhelmed. So I sat in the floor with her and gave directions while she put things away as we listened to an old James Taylor CD. And then we needed to reward ourselves so we all went to CVS, where I had extracare bucks to spend. The girls got candy for their reward. Me? I got some more windex, and a diet coke. That made me happy. If you want to know what "chores" Sadie did to earn a reward, well, she waved a duster all over the living room while singing. It occassionally actually touched some furniture and maybe some dust. I think she rearranged the dust actually. She also "organized" the movies. She said they were all in the wrong covers, so she put them where they belong. Except she can't read and she didn't pay attention to the pictures. So actually she organized them into the *wrong* covers. But she thought she helped, so she got candy too. We don't usually get treats for chores, but that playroom was a big one. And I really wanted the diet coke. And I had extracare bucks to spend. :-)

2. We spent some time reading. We all read to ourselves, Hannah read to Sadie, and I read to both girls.

3. Hannah created a "purse" for Sadie and a "mailbox" for her out of construction paper. Too bad I didn't get pictures of these..and they didn't last. But it kept them busy for a good 45 minutes.

4. I had this brilliant idea that we'd take a couple balloons they had in the floor and do paper mache with them. So, we all sat in the floor and tore up a magazine I had into little strips. The next step will be to put them on the balloons and cover them with a glue/water mixture. Let dry. Repeat. Paint. I think we're going to make people out of them. But we didn't actually get farther than tearing the paper today. Because when we finished tearing, we, um, I mean the girls, couldn't resist doing this:

(that's a twizzler in Sadie's mouth.)

5. As I was cooking supper, Hannah left me this message on the dry erase easel:

(It says "to mommy can you come to our dance show after supper and if you need to work or clean stuff and clean dishes and do lundry thats ok with us from Hannah")

6. So of course, we had a dance show, complete with numerous costume changes.

7. Then, we settled down for the evening..showers, snack, teeth brushed, and ended with some more reading time.

A 100 degree day isn't so bad sometimes. But I hope it's cool enough to actually get outside tomorrow. I think the high is supposed to be only 94. I hope we don't get cold. :-)