Whiffy

It rained all day yesterday. All day. The poor dogs were stuck in the house the whole time, minus about 15 minutes when I coaxed them outside to do their business in the yard rather than on the living room floor.

Sass overheard me talking to them -- as I always do -- after they had come back inside and I was drying the rain off their fur. "My, my, Miss Lucinda! You need a bath. That rain has made you kinda whiffy!" Apparently Sass had never heard me use that particular term before, whiffy, and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. All afternoon, she kept going to one dog or the other and saying, "Phew! You are so whiffy!"

The fascination with the word has carried over to a new day. This morning just after breakfast, Sass wandered over to the kitchen table (where, I admit, I was lingering ...) to show me a picture. When we leaned over it together, she said, "Ooh, Mama. Your breath? It's kinda whiffy."

Oh that child. She does wonders for my self-esteem.

Whee!

Sass the Renamer has struck again. She has started calling our Wii by another name -- the Whee! And as usual, her new name is both amusing and appropriate.

Because Super Girl is redundant

SASS: Look, Mama! It's my Super Girl picture!

ME: Nice! Why doesn't she have an "SG" instead of just a "G"?

SASS: She doesn't need it. Everyone already knows she's super!

She knows him well

SASS (referring to her daddy): " . . . and if they don't know how to nap -- oh, honey -- he can sure show them!"

I don't know what was funnier -- that she was talking about her daddy teaching someone how to nap or the "oh honey" that she threw in that has her mama all over it!

A Bushel and a Peck

Sass and I have been singing this for a few days now. Because I'm such a geek.

Dress up, girl power style

SASS: (wearing a jester hat on her head) Guess what I am?

ME: Mmmm. I don't know. A clown?

SASS: Close! I'm a boy.

Because it is never too early to appreciate words

Sass and Spyder and I do a "poem of the day" every day. We read the poem, then we talk about the theme and the any of the devices used, generally punctuation, rhyme, meter, alliteration, and assonance.

Tonight we went to a little carnival held to raise money for the classrooms of one of the local schools. My friend Kristin is a first grade teacher, and we went to help her out in her fundraising effort.

They had a Moon Bounce, and my Sass is all about bouncing.

(This is related to the poem thing, I swear.)

Sass went in and bounced and bounced until her little face was red and her hair was all sweaty. All smiles, she ran over to me and said, "Mama! That lady let . . . (pause, with dawning comprehension, a huge grin, and excited eyes) . . . . Hey! That's alliteration!"

I was so proud. :)

Learning, today's epiphany

Spyder has been reading since he turned 3 years old. Reading, not just sounding out words and such. At age 9, his reading level is that of a high school junior's, although his comprehension isn't quite that high.

Sass, on the other hand, isn't reading yet. Oh, she can sound out small words, but she's not really reading yet. Being the voracious reader I am, that's driving me crazy. BUT I had an epiphany this afternoon. Sass hasn't had the same experiences that Spyder had.

Our city is pretty big, and Spyder and I spent quite a lot of time in the car driving when he was little -- driving around town, going to see his grandparents (1.5 hrs away), that sort of thing. He would always look at books while we were driving around, and I'd have him spell out the words so that I could "read" to him while we were driving. I never even thought about it until today. We were out for a bit today (Target, airport, etc), and Sass had her Can You See What I See? book. Spyder was engrossed in his own book, so I had her spell out the words so I could tell her what to find next. That's when it hit me. I'd be willing to bet that the backseat spelling and reading that Spyder did is at least part of what led him to be a reader before he "should" have.

Sass has never had that because Spyder reads to her! I think I'm going to encourage him to take his headphones when we're in the car so she and I can do more of this. Being in the car is the best because I can't read for her while I'm driving, which is what she would want if I could.

I'm glad that I realized all of this, but I feel as if I should have an "IDIOT" sticker on my forehead for not picking up on it sooner.

She's growing up, that girl o' mine.

As of yesterday, Sass has lost two teeth! She lost the first one on July 18. It had been loose for a few days, so it was only a matter of time, really. Our tooth fairy gives out gold dollar coins, and we were in the bank getting fairy coins when the first one came out. Today's was slightly less dramatic, since we were at home and she's now an old hand at losing calcified bits.

My Sass, with her loot from today, complete with dirty face and fingers:


She's so proud and feels the need to show everyone her "gone tooth." Of course, now she's obsessed with teeth and will ask random people in the grocery store if they've lost a tooth. Makes for a good icebreaker, I suppose. The cashier at Kroger knows all about Sass's "gone tooth" and the "monies" she gets instead.

In the car on the way home from Kroger, Spyder and Sass were plotting the extortion opportunities available to them. After all, it's not like they'll need them in thirty years anyway.

Definitely on the "Bad Idea" list

Today I got four passes to see a free screening of the new movie Arctic Tale. This really isn't anything new. We get the free passes at my bookstore all the time. Plus, I know the person who organizes all of the free showings for the metro area, and I can email her any time and say "put me on the list" if I don't happen to get one another way.

Have you ever been to one of these free screenings? They're fun. The crowd is always in a jovial mood (hello? free movie? of course people are happy!). Sometimes they give out prizes too.

But the key word in that paragraph above is crowd. I have been to exactly one of these screenings where people weren't turned away. (The Incredibles, and that was only because it was a downtown showing and there was a massive storm.) Generally, you have to get there over an hour before the showing to actually get a seat.

I'm all about free stuff. But . . . as much as I think my Sass will love this movie, I am not going to stand in line with her for an hour or more -- with a load of other people and the chance that we'll get in -- just to save the price of the tickets ($10). No how, no way. If it's just Skeeter and me, no problem. We just wait our turn and chat. We've done it loads of times, and it's a great cheap date.

Chasing after the urchins? Nope, not interested.

Patience? Yeah. She got that from me.

SASS: Are the cookies ready?

ME: Just a couple more minutes. I'll get them out of the oven, we'll let them cool for a couple of minutes, then you can have one!

SASS: Cool? COOL? I don't care about COOL! I just want a cookie!

Sound bites

"I'm just gettin' out my inner swing."

-- Spyder, while listening to his MP3 player and dancing in the back seat of the car

"Oh, Mama. Hug me and we'll think of happier times."

-- Sass, while watching me have watery eyes and sniffles during a sad part of the latest Harry Potter book

Complete Sass-ness

Because every girl should have a pair of gold wedge peep toe heels.

Traditional ballad, rewritten

We've recently enjoyed a most wonderful book called, appropriately, Magic by the Book, in which three children are dropped into various stories and live out a portion of the adventure within.

Sass, Spyder, and I all absolutely loved the story, but one of our favorite portions was when the children were dropped into Tolstoy's War and Peace. In this particular scene, the children have a war of words with someone, based on an old ballad for children.

In particular, the children were fascinated with this portion:

What is greener than the grass?
What is smoother than crystal glass?
What is louder than a horn?
What is sharper than a thorn?
What is brighter than the light?
What is darker than the night?
What is keener than an axe?
What is softer than melting wax?
What is rounder than a ring?"

Envy is greener than the grass,
Flattery smoother than crystal glass.
Rumour is louder than a horn,
Hunger is sharper than a thorn.
Truth is brighter than the light,
Falsehood is darker than the night.
Revenge is keener than an axe,
Love is softer than melting wax.
The world is rounder than a ring.

Sass prefers to answer the questions with her own answers rather than the traditional ones. Here are her answers to the questions.

Paper is greener than the grass,
My hands smoother than crystal glass.
Screams are louder than a horn,
A knife is sharper than a thorn.
Sunshine is brighter than the light,

Being scared is darker than the night.
Teeth are keener than an axe,
Fluffy dogs are softer than melting wax.
A circle is rounder than a ring.

We've been doing several activities with word associations lately, and I think it's one of her favorite things we've done.

Adventures

And so it goes that when you have animals and children, there is always an adventure.

The children and I were playing outside at my parents' house. Dad had run to the store, and I was there with the children and the dog. Sass was digging in the dirt, and Spyder and I were throwing a ball when I realized that Molly, Dad's hound dog, was missing.

I started calling her, but no response. The neighbors two doors down called over that Molly had headed to another neighbor's house. Sure enough, I could see her waggy tail peeking out from the bush in front of the yard three houses down and across the street.

I called to Spyder for him to get the leash and follow me. I told Sass to stay where she was, then I took off after Molly. By this time, she was in front of the neighbor's fence, barking at their three dogs -- two Pit Bulls and a German Shepherd mix. And they're big. And not so friendly.

I was almost to Molly when I heard Sass scream and start to cry. I abandoned the dog, and ran over to Sass. She had tried to follow, and halfway through the yard next door, she stepped barefoot into a patch of stickers. She was scared to sit down on the ground, but she couldn't walk back to the driveway. I picked her up and carried her to next door's porch. She was still crying hysterically, and she wouldn't let me help pull the stickers out. And she had a lot of stickers in her foot. I let her get the stickers out, then I carried her back to my parents' driveway, again telling her to stay put.

Spyder had found the leash by then, and I grabbed it and took off -- again -- after Molly. By this time, Molly was darting in and out of the fence, alternately attempting to play with and not get eaten by the bigger dogs. Luckily, the dog owners came out and rounded up their dogs, so I was able to get Molly.

Molly and I walked back to the house, and my dad passed by in his truck. I couldn't see Sass or Spyder anywhere, and I had a panicky moment thinking, "What ELSE?" then I realized that Sass had situated herself on the couch. In true Princess style, she had gotten Spyder to fetch a wet washcloth for her foot, and as I walked in the door she was asking him to get her a cold drink.

Twenty minutes. In a span of twenty minutes, I had located and rescued a dog. Sass had run into a spot of trouble and been rescued. Spyder had been turned in a servant boy, and Sass had declared herself worthy of service.

All in a day's work.

Summertime joy

Arrgh! It never ends!

Sass has decided on a Strawberry Shortcake theme for her room, since we're having to replace her comforter set anyway.

I've found the comforter online, and now I'm debating whether to spend $50 more and get the matching sheets and drapes, plus two extra pillowcases. My girl is all about pillows, so I'm thinking the pillowcases might be necessary anyway.

Decisions, decisions. I'll have to sleep on it to be sure, but I'm thinking yes. As my snobby neighbor would say, "It's only money."

Sometimes

Sometimes it just takes the right person, and a handful of clover flowers feels like a dozen roses.

New old entertainment

Sass, Spyder and I made a trip to the bookstore today. We were nearby -- Spyder took a class on sharks at the science and history museum -- and we decided to stop in for a bit.

One of the employees saw me reading Fancy Nancy to Sass. A few minutes later she came by and handed Sass a Fancy Nancy paper doll and outfits.

Sass has had such a great time with them, all day. Paper dolls have never even occurred to me before, but I'll definitely keep them in mind for the future.

I think we're born with it

SASS: Dadda, could you please make sure the toilet round thing is DOWN? I just went, and it was up.

SKEETER: You mean the seat?

SASS: Yes, Dadda. The seat. I can't sit without it. I fall in!

SKEETER: Can't you just put it down?

SASS: Well, I could, but it takes longer. You don't want me to wet my pants, do you?

******************

She's never even heard me fuss about the toilet seat. I actually prefer having both the seat and the lid down, so when I do fuss, it's about the lid rather than the seat. :)