The Haps

* Halloween came and went this year.  Emilia was a spider and Leo was Charlie Brown.  We went trick-or-treating and poor Emilia was sick, so we basically carried her from door to door.  She had about two bites of her candy and then I hid it (tossed it, more like -- she is three, how much candy does she need?).  Happily, she forgot all about it anyway.  

*  Leo was baptized on October 9th.  Where does the time go?  That already feels like ages ago to me.  Anyway, you will be very happy to hear that we have another Papist on our hands.

*  Spanish class ended last week and for the first time in a year and a half, I am not running to register the girl for it.  I'm in a bit of a quandary about it, really.  Miss Anotonia is gone, and the new teacher is Miss Rosa.  She is great -- but she speaks A LOT of Spanish.  Emilia used to pay attention in class and all that.  Now she just lays on her tummy and faces the wall, tuning us all out.  This causes me to continually whisper, as sternly as possible, 'will you PLEASE sit up -- turn around -- and pay attention!'  When I finally asked her about this a week or so ago, she said, 'Mama, I like Spanish!  But Miss Rosa speaks A LOT of Spanish!'  I think what she actually meant to say was, 'I don't know what in sam-hell is going on in class anymore.  So now I tune it all out and amuse myself -- well, til I see Roel, that is.'  Roel is the cutie pants that Emilia loves.  He is Miss Rosa's son and his hair is not too un-like Emilia's.  'Mama, I like Roel.  And he has ringlets just like me!'

Anyway, I feel horrible yanking Leo out of his bed to go.  (It is right smack in the middle of naptime, and the poor guy gets pulled out of his bed to go to pre-school as it is.)  And it is hard wrestling him during the class.  But I want them both in Spanish, so what to do?  What to do?

* Leo now fits in the jogger.  This is major news.  So while Emilia is at school, Leo and I have been going running.  Actually, it goes like this: drop the girl off, drive as fast as we can home, change, give Leo a bottle, get him bundled up, plonk him in the jogger, RUN!, hop in the shower while Leo screams bloody murder at me until the top of his head is red and he can barely see, and then drive like the Dickens to pick the girl up on time.  It is not relaxing at all, but there it is.  I am at least running, and that means a lot right now.  If only I could figure out what to do about the serious offence he seems to take with me showering, then we'd really be on to something. 

*  Emilia and I have been doing loads and loads of yard work.  Well, just raking, really.  But since we live in a virtual forest, we could rake day-in-day-out and still not be finished.  Three days in a row now I have managed to step in a great big pile of dog shit, too.  This is great, because I love standing out in the freezing cold, hosing off my favorite boots in the world, and trying to fend off the three-year-old, who thinks it is great fun, from running under the hose.  Anyway, Governor should be pleased as his bathroom is mostly clean now.

* We went to Bainbridge Island yesterday.  It was a beautiful ferry ride, although fricking freezing. 

*  I've just eaten three chocolate chip cookies.  Actually, I shared two with Leo.  Holy smokes, that kid likes to eat.  And Emilia managed to get hers smeared from one side of the kitchen to the other.  Fantastic.

*  I am growing to hate our house.  I know I should just be grateful we have a roof over our heads and all that crap, but seriously -- I want out of here.  We outgrew it ages ago, and I am tired of feeling like it looks like one great big gypsy wagon. 

*  Oh, and if I can't do it on my phone anymore I hardly do it at all.  Seriously, I am hardly on the computer anymore -- which is kind-of lame, I know.  But the chair is so uncomfortable, and I usually have two kids climbing on me.

You?