Playing with branches TS Hanna blew down, still windy out, having lots of fun. Madeleine in the light pink shirt and Emily in the dark pink shirt.Early in September the National Hurricane Center was forecasting Tropical Storm Hanna making landfall somewhere in the Carolinas and moving up from there. Not at all related, our first weekend after moving to Williamsburg two years ago, Tropical Storm Ernesto ripped through here and I was not impressed. We lost power (most importantly air conditioning), one of our trees still leans (apparently my solution of hoping a storm with wind blowing the opposite direction to straighten the tree hasn't worked) and we watched a ball literally float around the backyard while hoping the crawl space would not flood - it didn't (and we now have flood insurance).
So, when I saw TS Hanna's forecast I made enough ice cubes for the entire neighborhood and went to the store to buy additional ice. I put the ice from the store in the ice chest and moved it out of the garage and into the house to keep it as cold as possible. This time, since we were prepared, we did not lose power and I was thrilled. When I emptied the ice chest I left it in the living room with the lid open as the garage is not air-conditioned and gets very humid in the summer; I wanted the chest to thoroughly dry before I put it away. I propped the chest's lid open with a toy broom, in the event a curious cat decided to hop in when the girls and I were out - I didn't want the lid slamming shut and suffocating the cat. On our way out the door, Madeleine removed the broom and I put it back and told her I didn't want the kitties to die.
On our way to the car, the girls and I had the following conversation:
"What is die?"
"Dying is when you leave Mommy and Daddy forever and ever and go up to God."
"Where is God?"
"God is in Heaven."
"You know someone die?"
"Yes, my grandma and grandpa died and went up to God." I am now buckling carseat straps.
"I don't want my Mama Bapa die! I keep them forever!" with note of terror.
"Okay, you can keep your Mama and Bapa and Oma and Opa forever." backing out of the garage, "Hey, look at that bird in the sky."
And so the whole dying conversation has been revisited, repeatedly, for several weeks now. Thankfully, I did catch myself when I nearly told Emily and Madeleine that dying is like going to sleep for a long time (epiphany was when I realized this could seriously derail bedtime) and instead told them your body just turns off and your heart stops thumping. Somehow, we got around to when Madeleine and Emily will die and being a moron I told them when they are really old and have white hair. Unfortunately, instead of reassuring them this is far in the future, it has led to all kinds of consternation and I am now faced with two three-year-olds who are contemplating their own mortality. About a week ago I totally caved and told them they did not have to die if they did not want to. I know kids are killed in car accidents and kids get sick, but for now, I'm playing the odds.
In other, less dramatic, news...the girls are very much enjoying preschool. They did not enjoy the weekly fire drills, however now that September is over it will only be monthly, but otherwise school is "fun". Once a month there is a "chapel" service and all of the classes sing a song. This time Madeleine and Emily's class sang Jesus Loves Me . Apparently, in past years the three-year-olds have basically stood there and cried; this was not the case this time. Click here for a video of our stage debut. Our girls are framed by the teachers waving arms and Emily is in the white shirt while Madeleine is in the cranberry - front row. It was very dark in the chapel and I thought it would be tacky to show up with spotlights....we'll save those for their beauty pageant debut!
On non-school days we have been going to Colonial Williamsburg, etc. We also had our friend Ella come over and the next week we got to go to her house...very exciting. Emily and Madeleine also discovered that the beaters from the hand mixer are pretty nifty on the rare occasion that Mom bakes. We also killed time one day by planting tulips. There is some frustration that the tulips are not growing yet, but the concept of waiting until spring seems to be sinking in.
Emily
Madeleine
Planting tulips: Madeleine placing a bulb in the dirt and Emily waiting her turn.In an early request, I was informed that Emily would like Santa to bring her pink sheets with pink butterflies and Madeleine would like a purple train with purple hearts. Madeleine's request prompted Emily to also request a train, but she would like a pink train with pink hearts. These requests were followed with the very earnest question "You think the elves can make that?" Yes. The elves, with some assistance from an independent contractor elf, should be able to handle that.
