Life: Idiotropic

Homework:  "My brother John has _____ eyes."  (The student should insert an adjective in the blank.)

Arianna:  "Mom, I don't get it.  I don't have a brother!"

I explain.  She gets it. 

The adjective she chooses?  Punky.  If she had a brother... AND his name was John... he's have punky eyes.  ;)

Stereotypes be what they may, it's always good to see one broken - to see the sometimes overly serious Germans here play just a little. Karneval's coming soon, so this morning I awoke to the sound of drumming coming from the church. This afternoon I saw a slow but steady trickle of people walking home with instruments, swords, or costumes. A louder round of drumming brought me back to my window to see this group assembled near our house - just talking on a nice afternoon. The drums started when they saw their friend walk near. He played it up, pulling his sword ceremoniously, then bowing to one side, then the other, tipping his hat, returning his sword, and walking away. They drummed "Happy Birthday" after that. It was cute and fun to see the locals just being silly.

The bird is another local - one that kept returning to our empty field today. We saw him flying circles overhead and saw him return about 6 times.

Which brings me to Luci's most recent bit of wisdom, something she said to me after completing her drawing of a bald eagle in an apple tree.

Tomorrow I'm teaching a pumpkin carving class for the international ladies here at my house, so today I ran to our local pumpkin to get a few to practice on and to have a samples of ideas that day.

Elise was with me, so I let her pick out a tiny little pumpkin - just about the size of the palm of her hand. She carried it to dance class so her little pumpkin could "watch" her dance. And she treated it like a really little baby.

When we got home and she walked into the house from the car, cradling the tiny pumpkin in her arms and said, "Pumpkin, I'm going to paint you. It might tickle a little bit."

Photos: Girls and Pumpkins~

Time flies...

And with my camera on the fritz, I'm not taking as many pictures to mark each day as special... of course, yes, I have stolen Tiara's a few times and have a couple pix, but not many. It's sad.

This last week was filled with catch up time, cleaning, visiting with friends, swim lessons 4 mornings for Arianna and Luci, two BBQ with friends this weekend, and a bout of sun and warmer weather reminiscent of our first summer here when I whined incessantly of living in a over sized brick oven. Might be dusting off our portable air conditioning unit tomorrow before tempers fly.

Though my little darlings do something silly every day to make me laugh or hide in embarrassment, the one quote that I can still remember is from Elise who (forgive the potty quote), called me excitedly from the bathroom, "Mommy, I pooped the Eiffel Tower!!!" That's certainly not one you hear every day, is it?

The other event... a sprained arm a la Arianna... result of too much play and an unforeseen fall at a party. And an MD appt for me... found out that my two (minor) medical issues both cause irregular/poor sleep. That coupled with my two youngest who still want to wake me every night make a full night of sleep not only impossible, but not at all restful. So, I'm taking sleeping pills and feeling very Hollywood. Sleeping pills are those strange things you see in the movies... not things for normal people. But here I am... thinking I'm normal... and feeling woozy. But, I wake up feeling actually rested. Wow. Who'd a thunk?

As a child, I was a rock collector and a sticker collector. When I grew out of those things, I picked pretty flowers and leaves and pressed them. I still have shoeboxes, envelopes, and books filled with bits of flattened foliage that I've collected over the years waiting for the some day when I'll get struck with inspiration and also find the time to do something with it all. I have always been a beachcomber (and the 10+ boxes of shells in the attic attest to that). And, when I unpacked here in Germany, I did find a bag of moss that I collected on Mount Hood in 1993 at Jessica's family cabin.

So, I shouldn't be surprised now when I find furry green and white pumpkins lodged between the wall and Luci's bed months after Halloween was over. "It's special to me. I want to keep it FOREVER." Those are words I hear all the time. I shouldn't be surprised by the rocks in her dresser and her shoes and her toy boxes and under tables. And, I shouldn't be surprised when I empty Luci's pockets before washing her coat to find - well, what a very poor magician might pull out of a hat, or what seems to be the contents of a clown car gone flea marketing. I'm amazed they can hold it all. And I'm amazed by the mind of a girl who can find beauty and significance in each of these small things.

Luci's pocket's contents - 15 December 07

1. 2 wads of Kleenex (looks clean)
2. a wood composite 1" heart
3. a Happy Meal Polly Pocket
4. a 2" rock
5. a white Fender guitar pick
6. a pink poodle keychair from Valencia, Spain
7. a large orange plastic bead
8. a shrivelled chestnut
9. a dirty white silk flower
10. a plum pit
11. an unidentifiable rubber thing
12. an unidentifiable plastic thing
13. 2 business cards from the Village Connection (picked up at the bazaar on 11 Oct)
14. a Visa/MC/AmEx sticker
15. 2 small white tages on red thread - one for 249Euros and another for 279Euros - not from anything I bought
16. 2 red worn metal stars with the silver showing through

Oh... and while we're discussing my rather "special" children, let me tell you something that I never thought I'd hear myself say:


Funny? No. I got back from Italy and Kirk had taken the kids to the toy store and had purchased one toy for each. Elise wanted a squishy rubber life sized rat which she still loves to this day (and even took to Paris with her). She bathes it in the sink. She plays with it regularly. It is among her most prized possessions. And, she swings it, frequently, by the tail everywhere, including my kitchen - hence the above quote.

Photo from yesterday

• Our local produce sign changes with the seasons and though I don't frequent it much throughout the year (the Bischof stand in my village is MUCH better for produce), this place is the best for pumpkins and Christmas trees. This year, they've added a couple very creepy witches to their annual display and don't have as many pumpkins. The strange weather brought pumpkins out in early September - a bit too early for carving.

Recent Arianna Quotes:

• After watching an episode of The Muppet Show, she said, "Skateboard's uncle wanted to tear the theater down..." Skateboard? Who's that? And then it dawned on me... "Oh... you mean Scooter?!?!?" Yep.
• While having lunch at Burgerking, Kirk asked Arianna what she thinks a good name would be for a rock band. Arianna quickly answered, "Cheeseburger for the Lord."
  

Luci is, well, Luci. She is uniquely her and unlike anyone I've ever met. Extremely bright and creative, but strong willed and stubborn. She is both the comic relief and the button pusher, but is sweet and sincere as well. So, bearing all this in mind, I'll share Luci's most recent quotes... she is a fountain. And it seems that the drive to school is when her mind is the most free to ponder...

The other day on the way to school Luci and I were talking about the color of our eyes and she asked who had purple eyes. "I don't know anyone with purple eyes," I said, "people don't have purple eyes." To this, Luci replied, "Jesus gave Mr. Potato Head purple eyes."


Another day, but again, on the way to school Luci asked, "Mom, on Saturday can we go to heaven and play with Jesus?"

Both of these questions, of course, led to lengthy discussions. To the first we talked about what God created and what He gave man the wisdom and ability to create. To the second, she was quite indignant to hear me say no. That started the "it's not fair" style argument that is nearly impossible to win. She obviously cared enough to talk to Arianna about it because the next day Arianna asked the same question that led into another quite lengthy discussion of God's will for our lives and that we really have no say in when we go to heaven to play. Whew. Like a little child takes on a whole new meaning with my middle two.

So, that, and moldy pumpkins. While reading stories to the girls all cuddled up on Luci's bed the other night, Luci reaches down into the crack between the bed and the wall where her most special stuffed animals fall and pulled out a very white fuzzy pumpkin. "It was special." So she put in in the crack to "save it forever." The next day she pulled out another old saggy pumpkin. This one she'd colored a face on. This one, thankfully, did not have hair. Good. I like my pumpkins bald.

Luci and I were cuddling together on the couch this afternoon. She leaned into me and pressed her cheek into mine. When I moved a little, she pulled me back and said, "I can hear the ocean in you."