Marty and I will need to go back to school....

Marina asks some really interesting questions. Marty thinks she will be our little scientist. Questions that Marina asked us today:

"How can I get to the moon?"

"If you fell off a spaceship, where would you fall?"

"How does the sound of the sea get into a seashell?"

"Why is my belly button called a belly button?"

Lifetime Movies: The Thornbirds

How excited was I to see that LMN is showing the entire Thornbirds miniseries this week? I LOVED this series when it first came out in the early '80s. Who wouldn't, with its themes of power, corruption, forbidden love...never mind that I was only 10 at the time.

So last night, I threw the kids out of the room to start their nighttime routine with Dad (Mom needs her Lifetime). Unfortunately, Tori picks the wrong moment to come out and say good night to me, seeing a preview for the next day. "I thought priests aren't supposed to get married? Why is he kissing that girl?" Um, maybe you could bring that up in CCD (1st communion class) to let the entire class know that mom lets you watch totally inappropriate movies? Time for bed!

This movie is seriously depressing. Everyone seems to die and no one gets what they want. Could there be any more yearning going on? Richard Chamberlain is something to see in his priestly soutane. Love the scene where Mary Carson, who's like 100, is coming on to him in the rain. Frank has mommy issues, young Meggie is adorable but ignored (and gets the worst haircut ever...did they use a Bowie knife to cut it?). Nuns are really mean, and wild boars must be killed with one shot. There must be at least one death in every episode, and poor Baby Hal starts us off in part 1. Can't wait to see part 2 tonight!

Funny Things Marina Says...Marriage

So we were reading "Miss Spider Gets Married," and I asked Marina if she knew what a wedding was. Here's her description:

"It's gross! It's when a man and a woman kiss and his mouthwater gets on her and her mouthwater gets on him! Ewwww!"

Funny Things Marina Says...Birthday Party

One afternoon, Tori got an invitation on our doorstep inviting her to a birthday party on Saturday. Problem was, she already had a party scheduled for that exact same day and time, and there was no way she could go to both. She was bummed. All was quiet for a few minutes. Then, I hear this little Marina voice pipe up, so slowly and considerately, like she had been thinking about it for quite a while: "You'll probably say no to this, but what if I went to Holly's party (in place of Tori)?" She's so at ease with older kids, that she would have absolutely no problem with my dropping her off at a house she's never been at before, with kids 3-4 years older than her. Tori is more like Marty and myself, somewhat socially ill at ease and a bit shy. I'm hoping Marina stays her bold little self!

Tori's Magical UnSlumber Party

In some ways, throwing a slumber party for a group of seven-year-old girls is like going through labor. There is great distress at all hours of the night and you end up totally thrashed. At the time, you swear that you will never do it again. I can imagine, though, with a little bit of hindsight, you may realize that you might be able to do it again.

I haven't reached that point, yet.

After a week of running around trying to get everything ready (ok, mostly ordering things online, the big day was here! I sent Marty and Tori off to Tori's soccer game at 10 and tried to organize the house (i.e., hide all valuables). At 2:00, I had to work off an AYSO commitment (could it have been on a worse day?) Afterwards, I rushed home to prep the food, while Tori went to a friend's gymnastics birthday party. Yes, she actually went to a party on the day of her party! At 5:30, the little lovelies started arriving. What was I thinking about when I sent out EIGHT invitations! (That perhaps some of them wouldn't be able to come, maybe?) Most of them immediately ran out to the trampoline, easily exceeding the 300 pound weight limit. I sent Marty out to monitor the situation and came back out later to find all the girls PLUS him in the trampoline. Ok, time for big bad mommy to come out....one of the first times but certainly not the last this particular character would make an appearance on this night. At 6:30, I started pulling the girls over to the kitchen two at a time to make their own Boboli pizzas. Thank goodness for Boboli! That went fairly smoothly, with the uneven finish time the only problem. I had visions of everyone eating at the same time but that was not meant to be. Eventually, however they all started to eat. After dinner, pandemonium erupted, with girls running out in the dark backyard, playing hide and go seek, riding on each other's backs. Help! We thought quickly and popped in a movie. Like magic, peace ensued, giving Marty and I time to quickly gobble our own pizza. I cleaned up and got ready for the next onslaught. Movie off, cake time! After cake it was time to open the presents, then a game. After a lot of milling around, I finally got the gaggle off to bed at around 10:00 p.m. I expected some whispering. After all, what were slumber partys for if not to giggle with your friends?

10:30 pm--still settling everyone. Several girls seemed to be allergic to our cat, Roman. Brought boxes of tissues out. There's still a lot of running around, jumping off the couch, etc. I was afraid that one of the little girls, who had leg braces, was going to be trampled in the mayhem, so I offered to put her in with Marina, with whom she has a special bond. Ok, time for sleep....

11:00 pm--still a lot of movement and agitation going on. Multiple trips to the bathroom and kitchen to get water and to throw away tissues. No one is sleeping. I try to calm them with a story. They are not at all tired. "Sparrow," the girl in the bedroom, decides to come out with the rest of the girls. Fine. Another girl, "Bluejay," says she can't sleep in the living room and settles in Tori's room.

11:45 pm--one girl falls asleep but the rest are in rare form. Ok, time to get serious. I pull out a flashlight and put it under my chin, threatening that I am the queen of the house and order must reign! Do NOT get out of your sleeping bags again! Those who do will suffer the consequences! They erupt in giggles. I sit out with them in an effort to calm them down. I tell them the story of "Little One Eyes, Little Two Eyes, Little Three Eyes." Four girls are now piled on one couch. Sleep is nowhere in sight.....

12:00 am--I attempt to take a shower. It is too much to hope for to get through it without interupption. "Magpie," knocks and then opens the door. "Excuse, me, Hummingbird is being really loud and I can't sleep!" By this time, "Bluejay" has moved out to the living room again. Two out of nine girls are now asleep.

12:30 am--I attempt to read in bed. Marty is sleeping with the lights on. Just as I begint to drift off I hear shouting. I go out and threaten to separate them if they don't calm down.

1:00 am--Still hear shouting. Poke Marty to talk to them, thinking a male influence might calm them down. Uproar does not stop.

1:30 am--Marty once again goes out and tries to calm them down. We have no cards to play! These are not our kids. What can we threaten them with? Calling their parents? They're too smart...they know we won't do it. Plus, my child is one of the worst offenders. Starting to get really sleepy and cranky now....

2:00 am--Ok, that's it. Mean Mommy, like the angel of death, swoops out to the living room. Ok, I'm sleeping out here now, and the next little girl who talks is going to be in the biggest trouble ever....My presence finally soothes the savage beast. All girls save one are asleep within 10 minutes....last one finally goes to sleep by 2:30. I fall asleep on the couch.

3:25 am--I wake up and sneak off to bed. Our cat wakes us up multiple times, but sheer exhaustion prevents me from caring.

6:55 am--Screaming and laughter coming from the living room. How can they be us so early? Why aren't they as thrashed as I am????

7:00 am--We decided to throw in the towel and got up and made chocolate chip pancakes for all. Whew, thank goodness that is over. Next, year....Disneyland!