the dynamics of 3

Just as i sit down to write this I can hear Billie bellowing out a song from the basement below "I love my baby sister, I've loved you since you were born...you use me as a walker and you love me so MUCH!" which is relevant because i'm sitting down to write about how they interact. it's interesting: Jackson was more in love with Sloane when she was a little baby. He was so protective and gentle and so aware of her infant helplessness. I've never seen a kid more gentle and kind to a baby than Jackson was with Sloane. He didn't want to dress her or change her diaper, sing to her or do any kind of 'mommy' things but he would pat her or hold her with the softest most caring arms. ahhh...those were sweet memories...of her babyhood. Now she's moving in the toddler direction and Billie has taken up an interest in her. Jackson mostly addresses Sloane with his concerns like "Don't tear my comic book, Sloane!" and "Refrain from getting your diaper near me, Sloane!" (this is if she has an 'exposed' diapers, which he has a fanatical fear of, if it's under clothes...that's just fine).
Billie, who sometimes sang to baby Sloane, and was a constant performer to keep her entertained while Sloane watched her elder sister's flailing and gyrations, unable to move or clap, with wide-eyed interest or concern at a possible seizure; has now found a new playmate in Sloane the toddler. She's more durable now and will hold up to Billie's 'dressing her up' and 'dancing with her' games. Billie is such a friend to Sloane that I often guiltily wonder how I would get through my days if Billie were not here...if she were at school- how would I ever get anything done with Sloane and no one but myself to entertain her?!! Sloane is not interested in toys she wants to play with a breathing and active (preferrably hyper-active) human. Do I feel guilty because I can often hear Billie say from the backyard- or from another level of the house, "Mooooooooo-oom, can you handle this baby for a while?" "Can you watch Sloane while I go to the bathroom?" Hmmmm..... maybe. But really i'm not all as bad of a mother as that- it's just that Billie thinks she can't leave her side. I keep telling her Sloane is fine to sit on the grass and crawl about while Billie jumps in the leaf pile With worried eyes she looks up at me and asks "But what if she eats a leaf? I just had to take a bit of dirt out of her mouth because she was trying to eat it." oh, she's a concerned big sister...what a sweetheart...but a little dirt never killed anyone.
so- that's a bit about them. and i hope this was a thousand words because there's no picture for it. HELP!!! our digital camera is on the fritz and what will i ever do if we can't capture the kids in their MOST EXCELLENT Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell costumes (which they wore to the homeschool halloween party on Friday that ROCKED). now that really would be something upsetting. and yes, i did make them myself (two of them anyway) thankyouverymuch even though it DID take some time away from my knitting!!!

So, it occurs to me that i write a lot about me here and i haven't written much on the kids lately and so i'm going to squelch my urge to write all about my new passion- which is knitting. no, i'm not kidding it's addictive and you should SEE the most adorable booties i'm making for Sloane...but on with the kids...
Billie and i were dancing the other day- something we often do in the living room when it's raining...and she requested her favorite song which used to embarrass me because it was "They Both Reached For the Gun" from Chicago (we love show tunes) and you know, good ol' Chicago with hot numbers like "Roxie Hart" and "Razzle Dazzle 'em" but she says she likes "the one that goes 'If you'd have been there...if you'd have seen it...I betcha you would have done the same" Which I set the stereo to promptly, lest we loose our groove. But as I'm listening to all the women account for what has brought them to jail...describe their sides of the story in great detail "And he ran into my knife..he ran into my knife 17 times" or "so, I fired off two warning shots...right into his HEAD!" I'm thinking hmmm?! this isn't such a cute song afterall!!! And I suppose it could have been worse if she'd requested the song as the one where the "husband comes home screamin' 'You been screwing the milk man?!!" or "Single...my ASS!" because those are some of the other phrases set in this catchy tune.
Yikes!
Thankfully after bellowing out the chorus "I betcha you would have done the same!" she came over to me and whispered "but i wouldn't have done the same, mamma."
oh, that's a relief.
recent stuff we've been doing is playing checkers which Billie is awesome at and Jackson is pretty good at too! We're learning chess. Jackson must spend a cumulative 3+ hours a day pouring over his comic books from the library. we read so much it's insane. and Sloane has become a total swiper pulling the kids over by tooth and nail to get a hold of their ice cream (or caramel apple in this case, thanks Mom!- a care package i've gotten every fall since I left home for college)

I'll blog about Jackson next time.
 

full hands

here's us at the grocery store...and the reason people have to stop and smile at us and everyone, EVERYONE must say "my! you've got your hands full." as if they've never seen anyone with 3 kids before. "are these children yours? I thought you were in high school!" which is has a few more layers than "you look so young"... along the lines of: 'you look young, disheveled and unable to tell your children how to distinguish matching outfits.' but maybe that's just me being paranoid...not everyone is like that- some people have a genuine smile and are impressed that "all three of them are so well-behaved!" that's just nice.

I get this a minimum of 35 times a day!



wait...who's that big kid there on the playground? it's Sloane, going on slides and making her own way around. watch out world cuz here she comes!

quick shots