Valentine's Day

I remember when I was little, my mother always had a Valentine's Day gift waiting for us on the kitchen table when we came downstairs in the morning.  I still have a heart-shaped tin that held four or five chocolates, long since eaten.  It has a picture of Elvis on it, with a replicated inscription:  Happy Valentine's Day, Elvis.  It is an unlikely keepsake, but it reminds me of my mom.  I'll never throw it away.

This morning my girls will come down to find heart-shaped boxes with chocolates in them, and a card that says how much I love them.  I hope they will remember Valentine's with the same good feeling (even if the details get a little foggy) that I have.

Indigo Girls

Last night in the heat of a late summer night my sisters and I went to see the Indigo Girls.  Does everyone have a band that they grew up with?  I first saw the Indigo Girls play on the Memorial Union terrace at the University of Wisconsin in the summer of 1988.  They were just making it big but they kept their promise to play a free college campus concert.  It was a magical night.

Last night was magical too, in a different way.  I was glad to be at the concert with my sisters, but sad that so much time has passed.  Maybe the passage of time always seems sad, even if wonderful things have happened in the interim.

Here's me and my sisters at dinner:

I hope my girls will be friends with each other, lifelong friends, and that they will stick together.  Like us, see Exhibit A, above.

And so I don't forget (my memory is imperfect) - the Indigo Girls played Devil Went Down to Georgia!  And Galileo and Closer to Fine and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee!  And Watershed!  I could have listened to them for 2 more hours!

Presidents' Day

The success of our at-home days is directly proportional to how little TV the Roses watch...so, we went rollerskating instead.  Here are the Roses waiting in line to get into the roller rink.  It was kinda busy.  They are giving each other rollerblade backrubs.

And Rose #2 showing off her excellent rollerblade balancing skills...

And Rose #1 getting the all-important game tokens...

And Rose #3, just vamping:

My nephew, Sir Sno-Cone:

My niece, the blue-tooth vampire:

And, a change in venue:  probably the last ever, ever, ever slip and slide party at Poppy's house!

I spent the evening cleaning up the Valentine's Day detritus.  Does anyone else really, really dislike how Valentine's Day has become about candy, cheap plastic toys, and little cards stuck together with heart stickers that are impossible to pry off the sticker sheet?  Because I do, and I feel a little more Scrooge-ish every year.  Bother.  We just have to get through the Valentine's candy before...well...Easter.  (I remember my mom gave us a Cadbury cream egg every year for Easter.  I used to love those things.  I wonder how many calories they had...)

Rose #3

As I was tidying up this morning, here's what I found on Rose #3's bed under her pillow:

A guilty little lineup of lip glosses and chapsticks....

Rose #3 was sick last week with mid-winter Minnesota cold/cough/fever/headache.  Blech.  She stayed home one day and the next day she was well enough to go to school, but still a little stuffy.  She was experiencing the phenomenon of feeling extra bad when she first got up - as I am of the "if you don't have a fever you can go to school" persuasion, I told her to walk around a bit, drink some water, and see if she felt better.  Then I started putting my makeup on for work.

When she saw my makeup, her face broke into a smile, and she sighed that deep contented sigh that people are wont to do when they are happy.  She said:  "Makeup always makes me feel better, Mommy."

And here are a couple of shots of Rose #3 when she puts herself to bed between the couch and the radiator.  This was all her doing!  And I guess I can understand why...

There'a little pillow smushed down in there, and it's so warm right next to the big radiator...

I am alone in the house on this President's Day right before the Roses come back from last night's sleepover. I am hoping to post here much more often as I now know how to download pictures from my dear husband's computer.  So, see you all soon!

Merry Christmas to All

Our Christmas, 2012, in photos:

Rose #3, as a surprise Little Shepherd in the Christmas Pageant at Church:

With her group of other little shepherds:

(I watched the 5:30 pageant service and there was a problem when Rose #3 lost her headdress.  Luckily it happened before she got onstage; once the group of big and little shepherds are standing there, they are supposed to form a mostly motionless and silent tableau.  She nevertheless felt the need to process the loss of the headdress with the other shepherds, most notably the biggest senior shepherd, Kip.)

And here is a shot of the members of our family who attended the 4:00 service (Rose #1 and #2 were in the children's choir...you can see their vivid red choir robes):

After the pageant is over we always come home and track Santa's progress on the computer:

Here are all three girls huddled by the computer, watching where Santa was headed next:

And Christmas 2012, in food (Christmas Eve tortellini sausage soup YUM!):

Rose #3 loving her dad on Christmas Eve:

I didn't eat any of it, but I cooked a Standing Rib Roast for the group on Christmas night...as I was texting with my brother about cooking questions I abbreviated the dish to "SRR":

And, The Best Yorkshire Pudding Ever:

Duncan came to dinner.  I LOVE Duncan:

I think this sums it up.  We had a wonderful Christmas.  We feel so blessed by our fortune and our family.  We spent a lot of time talking about Mom tonight and for the first time since she died - 2.5 years later - it felt joyous and wonderful and not desperate and sad.

Good night Rose #3, and good night all!

Nothing Whatsoever To Do With Christmas

We were downloading photos from my camera, and we found this one from the inaugural meeting of the Beauty Club.  Isn't this a lovely group of beauties?

First Day of School '12-'13

And now I am the mother of a first, third and fifth grader. How did I get to be the mother of old kids? (Please do not feel the need to tell me that "old" and "kids" don't really belong in the same sentence.)

Old kid #1:  Rose #1.  Happy, confident fifth grader.  Came home reporting that she LOVES her teacher, Ms. Richardson.  All teachers will forever be compared to her third grade teacher.  Rose #1 and her third grade teacher Ms. T. were a match made in heaven.  I was sort of embarrassed at myself at spring conferences when I told Ms. T. privately that Rose #1 just LOVED her, but I don't regret telling her.  If I was a teacher, I would want to know things like that.  Anyway, Rose #1 told me at dinner that she thinks Ms. Richardson might measure up to Ms. T!

Rose #3 was just in fashion heaven.  I let her buy a sparkle hat, AND I curled her hair this morning.  I wish you could hear how Rose #3 pronounces the word "curl."  It sounds like "curlul," and it is so darned cute.  She was so happy and cute when I dropped her off at before school care this morning.  Better yet, her kindergarten teacher walked in right after us, and Rose #3 gave her a huge hug, then held her at arm's length, pointed at her purse, and said "I just LOVE your purse!"

Rose #2 was philosophical this morning.  She was excited for school, a little nervous about her new teacher, but generally chipper.  She came home with rave reviews for Ms. Ashcraft.  Rose #2 is my middle baby, who wants plenty of time to think about stuff before she has to pass judgment on it.

Here are the two big girls at the bus stop this morning.  To their credit, they permitted me to take their picture in front of the other 8 or 10 kids at their stop.  (An aside: it was so disgustingly humid this morning, I felt like you could cut the air with a butter knife.  Gag.)

And here they are, lining up for the bus that isn't quite visible in the distance.

Here are my school girls, 2012 - 2013.  We're going to knock 'em dead!