Math Fail

The scene: Cecilia is quizzing me on Guides for Power of Ten and I'm struggling mightily. For those who are equally rusty when it comes to 5th grade math, this the whole "ten to the power of x" thing that I was never particularly adept at understanding.

Cecilia: You're getting a lot of these wrong.
Melissa: Well, I'm not really enjoying this.
Ruby [yelling from the other room]: I'm enjoying listening to you get them wrong!

End scene.

Fergus Henderson Would Be Proud

The girls are playing restaurant right now, and the specials for today are venison and roasted bone marrow. I'm not making this up, nor did I put them up to it.

And here I was thinking my favorite food moment was the time the girls were eating Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (n.b. I did NOT buy this product, it was a gift) and Cecilia put her fork down and said, "I don't think I actually like this. The cheese is so fake."

Air quotes?

Dadam: That music's okay, it just doesn't really speak to me.
Ruby: It doesn't really speak to me either. It's just not my [does air quotes] "type" of music.

Culture & Traditions.

Ruby is working on a school project this month, the topic being "Culture & Traditions." Here's her essay about Christmas with the Martinez family, in her own words (with some helpful interview questions from Dadam).

For those with weak eyes, it reads:

my Grate Grandfather came form mexico
He spok spanish/manny peapol in are famliy speak some spanish/
I can count to ten in spanish.
for a tradition my famliy eats tamalase/
a tamalae is meat rapt up in a corn Husk/
in mexico peapol eat tamalase on cristmas
and we do too.

Shirt Shame

Ruby has a best bud named Emma, and they've known each other since they were toddlers (in fact, I remember when Emma was born). The girls have played together countless times, and a couple summers back we took a little vacation with Emma's family. It's a lovely friendship.

This year - for the first time - the girls are in the same school. And while they don't have the same homeroom teacher, they still manage to cross paths throughout the day and often sit together at lunch and find each other at recess. Good good good.

Yesterday I was talking to Ruby after school and realized she was not wearing the shirt that had been laid out for her, but rather the exact same shirt that she wore to school on Monday. When questioned about this she had a very simple explanation: She and Emma both had this shirt and decided on Monday that they should both wear it on the same day: Tuesday. So my daughter, who has more clothes than me and my closest friends combined (thank you, Auntie Jenny), went to school on Monday and Tuesday in the exact same outfit.

I told her this could not happen again, but then also asked if Emma did, in fact, wear her shirt on Tuesday. Ruby's face lit up like a firework and she responded with a resounding, "YES!"

So Much Sweetness

I often admire my children for their sassiness, their independence, and their wicked senses of humor - qualities that make them a force to be reckoned with. But sometimes they are also big balls of sweetness, and I was reminded of this over the weekend as we ended Sunday night on a high note. Everyone listened, they behaved well and got along, we had nice conversation and we enjoyed our time together, which is just a lovely way to end the day. And then there was this:

[I am curled up in the chair and all three of us are watching a movie. Ruby comes over, puts her face in front of mine, and gives me a big old kiss.]

Me: Wow - that was nice! What did I do to deserve that?
Ruby: I just love you so much.

Kareem Abdul-Cecilia

A big thanks to all the fans who came to watch Cici play today: Grandma & Grandpa One, Grandma Two, Landi & Bill, Uncle Shawn, Auntie Denise, Nick, Tyler, Ruby, and Mom (me!)! Eleven fans isn't too shabby when you're only 9, and it would've been twelve if Adam didn't have to be in Sturgeon Bay for a funeral (we filled him in afterward, of course). Thanks everyone for supporting our baller!

And for those who couldn't catch the action live and in person, here are a few clips of the Cici Monster in action.

Eventually It Fades

Last night I took the girls ice skating, Cecilia only for the second time and Rubes for the first time ever. Thankfully Auntie Sarah and Mike came along, because I quickly discovered that I am NOT a skater. The girls, however, fell in love and Ruby literally was crying when I told her to take her last lap because it was time to head home.


There were plenty of spills and falls to go around, and Cecilia in particular suffered her fair share of wipe-outs. At one point I asked her if she was okay, and if a nasty fall was still bothering her. She told me it hurt when you fall, "But eventually it fades." Poignant, no?

But I think the night was best summed up by Ruby, who hit the nail on the head with her analysis: "In order to be good at ice skating, you kind of have to know how to ice skate."

We're Back, Baby.

As many of you know, this fall has brought some big changes to our household, and this meant that the blog had to take a hiatus. I'm happy to report that one of my New Year's resolutions for 2012 was to post on the blog a couple times per week, complete with photos and videos and goofy quotes from the girls. I intend to do it.

It's tempting to try and remember all the good material that the girls have generated lately and post it immediately, but I'd rather consider this a fresh start and not look back for now (even though there was a pretty great fart/poop quote from Rubes just last night).

2012. Here we go!