Ruby's breathless monologue of the week:
I'm Macaroni Man! He's like Spiderman except he shoots macaroni to make webs and stuff!
When I get some money, I'm going to buy lots of these boxes --- and I'll eat them too! -- and I'll make a whole suit of these! I'll put them on my arms and on my legs and on my belly and on my feet and on my shoulders ...
Because I want to save the world!!
Archie, I'll save your life!!
And then she had a card trick.
I was instructed to draw a card from the pile,
"Don't show me, Mom!"
As she turned her back,
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."
She laid down a pile of ones.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."
She laid down a pile of twos.
And so on, until she got to the sevens.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ... (long pause)"I waited.
"Do you have a seven, Mom?"
"Yep."(Very, very pleased)
"I knew it!!"
"Do you know how I did it, Mom?"Ummmm ...
Looking at Linus and Penelope together,
Woo: You need to start growing, Linus.
Linus: Yep.
I'm almost in 'igh school, Dad.Or preschool ...
Me (incredulous): So you ran faster than Dad?
Herbie (as if spelling out the basics to me): Well. My shoes are faster than everyone's.
So, yes.
Penelope's prayers usually go something like this:
Woo: Thank you for Mom.
Penelope: Mommy!
Woo: Thank you for Dad.
Penelope: Daddy!
Woo: Thank you for Archie.
Penelope (pointing downstairs): Baby!
Woo: Thank you for Herbie.
Penelope (pointing at Herbie): Baby! (In fact, she calls all the other kids "baby.")
My favorite prayer went like this:
Woo: Thank you for Mom.
Penelope: Mommy!
Woo: Thank you for Dad.
Penelope: Mommy!
Woo: No, Nell-Pe.
Thank you for Dad.
Penelope: Mommy!
Woo: Dad.
Penelope: Mommy!
Woo: Hmm.
Thank you for Moses.
Penelope: Mommy!
Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
Moses as Captain Underpants' more modest cousin -- Captain Shorts!
Woo picked us up a free couch on his way home from the temple. The kids flock to it and have spent many quiet, relaxing sessions on it.
Woo: Maybe all we need for world peace is for someone to build a big enough couch?
We've now had Archie long enough that a few nicknames have started to emerge: Archibald, Archimodo and Artichoke.
Well, that's all folks.