parallel worlds

Every once in a while a discovery is made. A simple one--answering questions like where do all my pens disappear to--was made this evening as I searched a pocket of my backpack. I discovered the hole that led to 4 delicious lip balms, 13 pens, and 2 nail files! The zipper pocket had a rip in it, and all this treasure had collected at the bottom of a pocket that was on the other side of the material.

By the way, this reminds me of a story by Neil Gaiman that you all should read called Coraline. It is a fantastic and quick read where a girl discovers a secret passage through her wall where her "other mother" lives. It is a weird an off kilter parallel reality. I read it aloud to my 5th grade class once to rave reviews.

a new letter

Tonight while writing the letters, M created the letter "menyay" that is like the "enyay" in Spanish but with the line over the m.

I was tickled and wished we were not using a wipe board so I could copy it.

become naked

At a birthday party today M took off his shirt, pants, and pull-up. He was playing in the sunshine of the sandbox and didn't like the feeling of sand on his clothes. Maybe it reminded him of the beach. One of his friends loudly announced her brother has a penis too! At home he hates not having clothes on.

Tomato? Zucchini!

M is feeling a bit better here. Certain words like zucchini are inexplicably funny to him. We've been playing baby kangaroo, mama kangaroo, and daddy kangaroo.

fix the boat

The first priority today was that we fix the boat then we made an abc banner. As I illustrated it according to my director's orders, he fell asleep. I should wake him but want to take time for myself now!

wooden ships on the water. . .

M played with a toy boat for a while until its sail became undone. In the tub, he preferred to sink it. On land, he put wooden craft people and animals under the boat to show that they were on it rather than on deck.

elevators, eggs, & garbage games

M is fluish and stayed home today. Still he is chipper and inventive. We are playing with playdough, hatching out of eggs, making green eggs and ham, and turning the laundry basket into a garbage can.

in the car, with the mouse, green eggs and ham?

This is a photo of the elevator buttons in playdough as designed by Marcello.

a glass, a bowl, & a glass ring

I hope things only break in 3s. We have had a few accidents this weekend. . .

sweet duck pond scene

Playing House

Where we go for school in the morning is the sweetest classroom ever. I was reading to a few kids this morning and got roped into staying for the morning. I didn't mind at all. One of the boys asked "Are you staying?" and I asked him, "Do you think I should?" When he nodded, that was all I needed.

They had their usual popcorn and story that they have on Fridays, and they also had little pink cupcakes baked by another class.

Later we were all hanging out in the house together--really a bunch of bookshelves with blankets clipped together making it a kind of a tent. A bunch of boys sat around just calling out names of characters they wanted to be: Ghostman, Pirateman, Letterman, and all kinds of names.

Froggy the turtle was out in an area like a blocked in playpen today. Penny the hamster was "sleeping" today so no one was handling her.

What will happen next year when M is one of the big kids in the class? Right now there is a group that is older, and they sort of run the show. . .Like when Shelby (AKA Shelbilina) ran around with her umbrella today and let M and others chase her.

We love the teachers so much and will have them next year too.

Russian iconography & eyes

I was thinking of juxtaposing tons of eye photos with those big eyes from the Russian paintings. This one is the only one I can find at the moment on the fly.