Samantha: Age 5 years, 2.5 months

It isn't my fault that my blogging run was interrupted yesterday. Brian was rather territorial about the computer yesterday, trying to get a brief done. He did let me get on for about 35 minutes so I could submit my statistics homework on-line--and even then there was some pacing going on. But alas, here we are--another riveting Bowcut update. 

Tonight's blog is devoted to Samantha. This first year of Kindergarten has been an absolute joy. She has finally emerged from her tantrum-throwing, crying-over-every-little-thing stage and has blossomed into a delightful young girl. She is a thinker--her mind is constantly analyzing and questioning. She thinks a lot about life and death, (which freaks me out a little) and already dreads old age. The one age Samantha does NOT want to be is 69 because that will be too close to 70. And 70 is old. That kind of thing. Samantha HATES that she will be the last in her class to turn 6--and wishes everyday that it was August, her birthday month. She thinks often how her life will progress and how will she ever be a Mom when she doesn't know how to drive places like the grocery store? She loves rules, and abides by them faithfully and watches for those  who do not. She is contemplating becoming a police officer so she can enforce rules.  We often discuss how old each of her sisters will be when Samantha reaches a certain age: when Samantha is 16, Ella will be 20 and Lucy will be 14. And what each of them will be doing. 

One way Samantha stands apart from her sisters is that she likes to play in the dirt. Ella and Lucy have very little tolerance for dirt on their hands. Gloves must be worn for any possible contact with dirt. Samantha agreed to plant tulip bulbs with me yesterday, and discovered numerous worms in the dirt. She told me that she needed a jar so she could "study" some worms. So she shoveled some dirt in the jar and next thing I knew she was picking worms out of the ground with her fingers and putting them in the jar. I was astounded: this is VERY un-Bowcut.  

And as you can see we don't dress down around here for dirt digging.

Although our blog has not yet formally introduced you to the family guinea pigs, they belong in a post with Samantha, because she is their greatest fan. Meet Butterscotch and Sparkly Diamond (the latter named by Samantha). 

Having not grown up with pets, I am a bit of a wimp when it comes to animals. So Samantha helps me catch the pigs, holds their feet for me to clip their nails, complains much less than anyone else about shoveling the soiled bedding out of their cage and gives them the love and affection I cannot muster up inside me. When I think about why in the world I decided to get guinea pigs, I think of Samantha. 

Samantha has always had spunk. I will always remember her as the kid who would climb the stairs and then jump as far as she could down them forcing me to scramble to catch her. She has always had a sparkle in her eye, and although I don't want her childhood to pass too quickly, I cannot wait to see what kind of woman she will be. 

The Chicken Nugget Insult

Now that Lucy speaks fluently, mostly, she and Samantha have learned how to banter back and forth. Samantha, the family instigator, has learned exactly how to push Lucy's buttons:

Insult Lucy's chicken nuggets. 

Lucy goes to a little day care two days a week, where Liz, the provider, serves the kids lunch every day. She often serves chicken nuggets, and so I pack Lucy vegetarian nuggets so she can eat the "same" thing as the kids. This is her absolute favorite lunch and she learned the term "chicken nuggets" because that is what Liz calls it. So Lucy often mentions that she eats "chicken nuggets" at Liz's house. 

Today after church, Samantha and Lucy were peacefully, eating lunch at the kitchen table. When out of the blue, Samantha looked at Lucy and said, "Lucy, you don't really eat chicken nuggets."
Lucy: Liz house...eat chicken nuggets.
Samantha: You are a vegetarian. You don't eat chicken nuggets.
Lucy: Eat chicken nuggets.
Samantha: No you don't.
Lucy: YES--DO!
Samantha: They are vegetarian nuggets. Not chicken.
Lucy: CHICKEN NUGGETS!
Brian: Samantha, Lucy does not understand what vegetarian is. It is okay if she thinks they are chicken nuggets.
Samantha: You think you eat chicken nuggets. But Dad tricks you and they are not really chicken nuggets.


Brian and I who are trying hard to contain our laughter, then tell Samantha to lay off and finish her lunch. The girls finish their lunch, and run into the family room where we hear Samantha say, "Lucy, you do not eat chicken nuggets."

Ella on the Run

Ella did it! We made it through Ella's final 5K to end her Girls on the Run training. I can't say it was complain free, but she gave it her all. She did say half way through, "Mom...I'm just not the running type." However, she was sure proud of herself at the end. It helped immensely to run with best friend Hannah, and her Mom. 

  

And it also helped to deck out in ribbons, glittery hair extensions, and face and hair glitter. Running with pizazz is a must. Here the girls are lined up ready to start.

We were happy to see Brian, Samantha and Lucy at the end of the course. Samantha brought us in to the finish line, while Brian ran along side us with Lucy in his arms. 

It was a family affair across the finish. 

And then our efforts were rewarded with a carnival at the end with moon bounces and face paint. 

Way to go Ella and Hannah on your first "official" 5K! 

Pictures of the day

The girls are on to me. They have figured out this "picture of the day" thing. And they want to to be "it". So I now they'll periodically strike a pose and say, "Hey Mom...here's your picture of the day." Or Lucy just says "Picture of me". She started early this morning after breakfast--she fashioned her favorite accessories, which now include my Ugg boots. 

And then we had to try out a new park today before the weather turns permanently cold. We drive by it every Wednesday as we take Ella to orchestra rehearsal, and with the weather in the 50's, we had to go out of our way to give it a whirl. It scored quite high by Bowcut girl standards. 

This one was a planned "picture of the day" moment on behalf of the girls. But yet I could not get them all looking at the camera. I am starting to think my girls have a camera attention deficit disorder. It matters not how many times I say, "LOOK AT THE CAMERA" or everyone say, "BOWCUT BUS" or "1-2-3---LOOK AT ME NOW!!!!"

And one little epiphany before I sign off. It's taken me awhile to come to this point, but today I think I have accepted the fact that I am no longer a "young" mom. I still have relatively young children, and in terms of Bethesda standards, I am still a spring chicken (the neighbors have deemed me the baby on the block). I guess I mean that I've been at this awhile and I know a thing or two. There was a group of younger Moms...probably in their late 20's chatting at the park today. And they each had one toddler that they were helicoptering over. Their conversation turned to dinner time and how to manage preparing dinner with a kid around. And one of the women told the others that she just learned the greatest dinner trick from one of her friends--so easy and good. Rice mixed with cream of chicken soup, a package of fried onion mix and chicken. And the other women were in awe and so excited about this amazing recipe discovery. Not that this is a frequented meal in our house, due to carnivore/vegetarian tensions, but I had to chuckle. Perhaps it was smug of me, because I am certainly lacking in the creative meal ideas--but really--this secret is right up there with tuna noodle casserole. But it makes me wonder what inexperienced things other "senior" moms have overheard me say. "Can you believe my 9 year old rolled her eyes at me?" Or "All I do is drive these kids around."
"HA! It's only the beginning", they must say under their breath.

Back tracking

I have just spent the last 1.5 hours on the couch comatose. That happens very rarely. Post-eight o'clock is when I get things done. But it's been one of those weeks. I have absolutely nothing left in the tank.  

And then it occurred to me that I had not taken any pictures today. Drat. I could have come up with something lame. But then I thought I have a whole bunch of pictures in our photo library that need a place. And so this evening, I take you back to a portion of our family summer vacation, when we spent several days in Vermont. It was beautiful, relaxing, delicious, peaceful--everything was wonderful. The highlight for me was our gondola ride up Mt. Mansfield on Brian's 40th birthday. 

Lucy and I sat in this field of wildflowers while Brian hiked down the mountain a little with the other two. I could have stayed there all day.

I took this next picture of Brian because I wanted a good documentation of him on his 40th. And I told him that if this was the way I could spend my 40th, I would be very happy. Although he enjoyed Mt. Mansfield, his trip highlight was finding the Dutch pancake place--which was actually a close contender.

The Bowcuts *heart* Vermont. 

Sharp Shooter

This year the girls traded in their Halloween candy (minus 5 carefully chosen token pieces) to their mother in exchange for a toy. Samantha opted for a Lego set. Ella has been awaiting the delivery of her bow and arrow, which came today. She has not yet read Hunger Games, but seems to gravitate towards books with mythological warfare. She asked me today what my weapon of choice would be. I told her a sword. And she laughed because she said she can't picture her mother with a sword. 

Apparently I don't look the part. 

Meanwhile, Brian says it's only a matter of time before one these is aimed at his behind. 

Waiting

I'm true blue tonight. 

Waiting for the results.

GOBAMA.