We have a playdate going on here, right now. One of Eve’s friends and one of Lex’s friends. I thought they would all play nicely together, or perhaps apart, and I would get some work done. Turns out we’ve hit the classic boy/girl playdate age. Eve and her friend are upstairs playing with blocks and Lex and his friend are supposed to be playing in the office. Instead, on the whim of his friend, they keep running upstairs and busting open the door. The girls scream and shriek appropriately, then the boys laugh and run away. Classic.

I just had to bust up the game because Eve’s friend did not seem to be enjoying the game. In fact, she looked like she was about ready to leave.

I like playdates here because I love seeing how the kids all interact and who has what ideas. I stay out of their way, for the most part, but I love to quietly overhear. :)

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Here are a few pictures from the playdate…

We hung up Eve's birthday chain today. I wanted a nice picture of Eve standing by it, but this is the best they gave me! See the chain hanging from the ceiling by her friend?

Pure happiness.

The girls...

... and the boys.

Look who’s paying for the fuel oil this month!!  :)

As a Dartmouth grad Dr. Seuss is taken quite seriously around here. He is often the theme of Dartmouth’s winter carnival, many locals have stories to tell (Eve’s teacher met him), and each year to celebrate his birthday they hold a Seusstival! Actually, I don’t really know how long they’ve been doing that since this is the first year we attended. Expecting a carnival-like atmosphere we headed to the local Seusstival yesterday. It was fun, though not quite what I was expecting. We got there just as a local production of The Lorax was ending. We missed the show but we got to see lots of kids running around in great Seuss-ish costumes. The festival had face painting, books for sale, a bake sale, a silent auction, and a near-continuous reading of Dr. Seuss stories, all read by local important people, none of whom I knew. The first story we made it for was read by Hannah Kearney, local resident and Olympic Gold Medalist! I recognized the name but couldn’t, until yesterday, pick her face from a crowd. She did an excellent job reading One Fish, Two Fish. :)

Eve always goes for the face painting, and always requests a cat face :)

Hannah Kearney reading One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss.

One of the many Dr. Seuss themed cakes in the silent auction. Eve begged me to buy her a cake. Like we need THAT in the house! When we left the auction was up to $150 for this one! (it was the most expensive there)

Back home Eve felt the urge to create. She told us yesterday that she wants to be an illustrator when she grows up.

Lex –
There is the name of a sharp plant in this sentence. Can you hear it? “Listen to this Lex”

Eve –
Driving home from school the other day we were talking about Eve’s substitute teacher who is also a carpenter. She was surprised that people could be more than one thing :) I said, “Sometimes I think about being a teacher when you guys are in school full-time. Do you think I’d make a good teacher?” Eve laughed, quite loudly, and said, “No!! You don’t know anything! Teachers have to know a lot of things!” Lex asked her if her teacher knew a lot and she said, “Yes, she knows everything. And she’s always right. She told us so.”

We have a hopscotch (and a half) on our floor. The kids hopscotch their way through the dining room each time they go. I frequently have to remind them that they may not do it while carrying/clearing plates of food!

My grocery list so far. Eve added "flowers" and a bunch of hearts to it. Helpful, isn't she? :)

I borrowed a book from the library called How to Draw Princesses and Fairies. Eve likes drawing and she likes princesses, so I thought it would be fun to try.

Her first ballerina. :)

Lex wrote his name with Legos. Good thing we gave these kids easy names!

We had date night with the kids last night. Lex and I went to movie night at his school (saw Nanny McPhee Returns) while Eve and Alan went out for pizza. It was fun. Eve told me this morning that they decided the 2nd day of every month should be an Eve & Daddy date. Then she wrote "DAD" on her calendar on the 2nd of each month.

Eve and I are doing lots of brainstorming for her birthday party. The current plan is a “Pet Show” party where her friends all bring their favorite stuffed animals. We are coming up with some fun ideas. She wants to invite her entire class PLUS a few other people. We’re looking at 19 kids (assuming everyone comes, which I’m sure they won’t!) Am I nuts?! Let’s hope for warm weather and sunshine that day! :)