Right Now in North Carolina...

Well. Right now in North Carolina, I'm skipping church with a sick Emily. The other two kids are home as well because, well, at least this way Dave might actually get something from church.

Emily is supposed to be the "Star Student" in her class this week, and we filled out a little survey about her for the bulletin board. Here were her answers:

1. I am 5 years old. My birthday is on: I don't know.
2. My favorite book is: 10 Funny Fish (some crappy dollar store book. I think it just happened to be the first thing she saw on the shelf. I really want to lie and say something like "Gulliver's Travels" or at least "Fancy Nancy.")
3. My favorite color is: Pink and Purple. (Which, in her mind, is one color.)
4. I have 1 brother and 1 sister.
5. When I grow up I want to be: I don't know.
6. I'm special because: I don't know.
7. I was born in: I don't know.
8. My favorite food is: Pizza and ice cream. (What the...her real favorite food is ham.)
9. My favorite thing about school is: drawing. (Shwew! A real answer!)
10. My favorite snack is: rainbow goldfish. (She said that with a nasty look at me because we never have those.)
11. My favorite toy is: I don't know.

Wow. We're raising a really self-assured, confident kid there. Although, she's watching Fantasia 2000 right now (on our "allowed" Sunday movie list) and she just said "She's not choosing the right. She's choosing the left." At least we've taught her something!

Caleb is the biggest drama queen ever. I'm not kidding. Serious div-o going on there. This morning he was weeping and wailing over... uh... I have no idea. But it lasted a really long time. At his 3 year well-child checkup this week I asked her if it was normal for a kid to be so hyper emotional. She just laughed at me. Maybe I'll video one of his fits and THEN ask her if it's normal. On his Christmas list is a blue airplane, a game, and a Powerwheels Motorcycle that his dad already bought WITH him at Goodwill and then stashed in the attic. He even knows right where it is.

Which brings up a conundrum--what the heck am I going to get Emily to compete with a Power Wheels motorcycle??? I mean, really? I think her little "Crayola Glow Dome" is going to look pretty pathetic next to a moving vehicle. We've thought of getting her a bike, but then the visual of the skinny girl pedalling down the road with her tank of a brother following behind NOT using any muscles... well. I'm just not sure that's a good idea either.

Ainsley is cute. And funny. She's learned how to make raspberries--you know? Stick her tongue out of her mouth and blow? It's really funny. (See video below.) It's our favorite thing right now. She has 8 teeth, which she used to bite Dave on the shoulder yesterday. Hard enough that it left a mark. Through THREE LAYERS of clothing. Little velociraptor. She got her first ever "time out."

And so it begins.