"One of these kids is not like the others..."

Sesame Street used to have a little song and game that I think everyone will remember if you ever frequented the show as a kid. They would put up four pictures of children or toys or food or something, and they would sing "One of these kids (or things) is not like the others, one of these kids is not the same, one of these kids is doing their own thing, blah blah blah somethin' somethin' somethin'". Anyway, when I  look at the pictures of my four kids going up the stairwell wall, I can hear this song playing in my head.  Allow me to introduce you to my ordinary children doing ordinary things. . . typical even...but you will find, as I have, that one of these kids is not like the others! :)

The oldest:  Dallen.
Dallen is easy. He is a boy, he likes baseball. He likes football, and he has some natural athletic talent. It is a blast to watch him play because it really allows him to shine.  His self confidence grows and he is successful. His otherwise timid self gets to come out and show the world what he can do. We LOVE it that he likes sports because we are sports fans. What fun.  He has enrolled in baseball for the spring, and it is great.

The youngest: Lily.
Lily is your typical 3 year old. You've read about her before and know that she is mischievious, funny, and cute. Again, typical for a girl her age, and not yet old enough to put her into any sort of activity, although I have a sneaking suspicion she will tend toward the 'performing arts' side. Likely singing, as she loves to have a microphone in her hand and sing for the masses...I'll let you know how that develops.

The second child: Jada

Jada. Jada is not so easy. She likes a lot of different things but is not just 'gaga' over any one thing. But she does tend to love dance. She is quite flexible, long and skinny, and loves to try to do acrobatic balances. She would make an excellent ballerina simply by her shape and movements. So, ballet class, here we come. She has signed up for spring ballet and I am certain she will love it.

The third child: Anna
Anna. Anna, Anna, Anna.  Anna is not tall and slender, she tends toward the short, squat, and uncoordinated side like her mother...I'm thinking its genetic. Ballet appeals to Anna because she has a girly side, and wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. Actually, she wants to own a shop with her sister where Jada does hair, and then when they have their hair done, they can go to the attached shop and pick a custom made dress designed by Miss Anna herself, and they can be in the business of making women pretty together.  I realize this sounds pretty typical for a little girl that is 6 years old,  but Anna has another side to her.

Last summer she attended a martial arts class taught by her Aunt Kelly, and she LOVED it. She learned how to throw someone on the ground, and has enjoyed demonstrating that technique on various and sundry boys and girls as they come to visit ever since.  The other day she surprised Ian with a quick take-down he wasn't expecting and she beamed like a lighthouse at her accomplishment. The poor boy could do nothing but laugh it off and pretend like it was fun to be thrown to the ground by a girl.  Anna and her devilish alter ego enjoyed it perhaps a bit too much, but I think we may have found the 'niche' for this kid that we never really expected. 

So my quiet little blonde beauty wants to be a martial arts expert...its always the quiet ones ya gotta watch out for right?  Unexpected, yes. Unprecidented, no.  I am beginning to think this kid was really from my sister's stock and not mine, except I did give birth to this child, so perhaps it is a recessive gene.  Either way its quite amusing.  This little girl has much more to her than meets the eye.

It should be fun to see what happens when someone tries to rob her little dress shop when she's older... SURPRISE! You just got your explitive kicked by a GIRL! 

So, I have four very different children, and consequently this spring, I've got one in Baseball, one in Ballet, and one in Tae Kwon Do...I'm in for a very entertaining spring.

The Daredevil and The Diva: A story about life with little people.

There once were two little girls that were just days apart in age, and only 3 years old.  The oldest one (only by 3 days) was a Daredevil, and the youngest one was a Diva.  These two spent all of their days together for 6 months while the Diva's mother went to work.  Daredevil's mother was happy to watch the two little girls and try to keep them from getting into too much trouble. This proved to be a little more difficult than she anticipated, and slightly more trying, but she found it doable just the same.

Each day, the Diva would arrive and try to find ways to compete with Daredevil. She always wanted to find out who was more popular amongst their 3-year-old friends...particularly ONE little friend called 'Addy'....even though they only saw Addy once a week at church.  Everyday Diva would find the fake phone and pretend call Addy.  She would then inform Daredevil that Addy liked only Diva and thought Diva was pretty and NOT Daredevil.  The arguments would ensue about who Addy liked more and invariably ended with Diva asking Daredevil's mother, "Miss Piewson, am I pwetty?''

"Yes dear, you are pretty.'' She would reply.

Diva would then say, "SEE Daredevil, I'm pwetty and you awe not.''

Daredevil would then say, with determined eyebrows, "I am TOO pretty and Addy likes me BEST!"

Despite the fact that they had discussed this very important issue many many times before, it happened every day. No...really...EVERY day.

So after they had the 'Addy argument', Daredevil would come up with some scheme to get into something they shouldn't have....like the bag of sugar, or her older brother's microscope kit, but usually it involved food of some sort.  She would wait until her mother had to go to the bathroom or a phone call came in and then she would whisper quickly to Diva, "Come on! Help me move this chair over so I can climb up on the counter and get into something before my mom comes back!"

The two 3 year olds would giggle to themselves and Diva would keep watch while Daredevil scaled the counter tops and cupboards to find the 'treasures' hidden up there.  They would then hide under the table or mini trampoline and eat all of the chocolate chips, or sugar, or sunchips, or cookies, or whatever thing Daredevil found. Then they would blame each other for who actually did the stealing of the goodies...only Daredevil's mother knew that only Daredevil could have gotten to such hidden items so quickly.

Once in a while Daredevil would challenge Diva.

"I'm going to be to the car first.'' Daredevil would say.

Diva would respond by crying out, "No Daredevil! Wait for me...MISS PIEWSON!!! Daredevil isn't waiting for me!!!''

So then Daredevil would come running back and hit Diva and say "Be quiet!"

So then Diva would cry and say, "I hate you Daredevil, you are NOT pwetty and I DON'T like your SHOES!''

Then Daredevil would say, "I don't care, they are nice, they have butterflies. Hurry, lets beat my mom!''

The two would giggle and race to the car and then say, "Haha! We beat you to the car!" when the mom arrived at the vehicle.

Daredevil's mother would sigh and just be glad they were on the same team for a few minutes until one got their seatbelt on faster than the other. Then the crying and arguing over who was faster would begin...
"Am I fast??''
"Yes dear you are fast.''
"Mom! Am I fast too?''
"Yes dear you are fast too."
"But I'm fast!"
"No I'm fast!
"Yes you are BOTH fast, now be quiet, I have to listen ...to the radio...or...for cars or something."

--Dramatic pause while calculating a response--then a slight raise of the eyebrows on Daredevil's face as she comes up with the perfect response to determine the outcome of the 'who's better' battle...

"Diva, ---I'm Addy's friend."

Gasp!  "No you aren't Daredevil, I am Addy's friend and I am fast and she likes me and not you"

"She likes us both! MOM, Does Addy like us both?''

Deep breaths....deep, deep, cleansing breaths....

Thank you for tuning in.  That concludes this episode of "The Daredevil and The Diva", tune in next time for the exact same episode on repeat. Everyday. For 3 more months.

Rain

Rain...I love the rain.

I always have really.  I think its something to do with the fact that it is cleansing. Or something like that.
Whatever it is, rain doesn't make me 'blue'.  That would be bad if the rain could do that.  Would that mean there was too much colloidal silver in the atmosphere?  Yikes.

Anyway, I think I'm writing about rain because it rained last night and washed all of our muddy streets. Which I like.  And I think there is something profound about the rain coming, and it isn't moisture coming down frozen anymore.  Its the same deep feeling that makes Easter my favorite holiday.  Most people like Christmas...or birthdays, and I like those too, but there's just something about Easter.  My two most favorite holidays in the whole world are Easter and the 4th of July. I just feel those holidays...like that excited feeling you get when that kid 'Webster' discovered the secret passageway behind the grandfather clock in that TV show...you know...like...anything could happen at that moment....like...something good is coming.  And if nothing good comes, you still have a secret passageway that no one else knows about. How cool is that?

Maybe its just springtime in general.  I suppose the fact that the rain brings life to the plants helps...because March is my favorite month to visit California because it is so green.  The rest of the 11 months of the year it is brown like here, but February and March....spectacular. April too...especially on Table Mountain. Anyway, I really want to go visit my hometown and all of the familiar greenery this spring break, but its so complicated with a family of 6 I think it'll have to wait.  Although I want to see my grandparents... I don't think they will get a chance to come out here to visit any time soon, but I wish they would.  We really need to buy a house so we have more room for visitors...

The sun is coming out....I think I will go for a drive and look at houses just for fun.