Bowling

We took the kids bowling on Saturday. They were super excited. I got Gillian to pose for a couple of pictures before they turned the lights off and we bowled in the dark. 

John loved bowling. He has a style all his own. 

 

 

Gillian required assistance. She needed a little pep talk before each turn and we finally got her a little ramp to use. After that she had much more fun. 

 

 

She was also very good at the victory dance. 

Here are the results of the first game:

And the second game:

We had a fun afternoon

Wondering

I just checked on the kids. Both of them were still awake. I gave Gillian some kisses. We talked briefly about our elf on the shelf and I said good night. Next I checked on John. I gave him a kiss. He sighed. I asked "What's the matter?" He sighed again and said "Well it's hard to say." So I said "Try. You can tell me anything." He said "I'm just wondering why scientists haven't gone past our solar system." I said "This is what you are worried about?" He said "I'm not worried. I'm just wondering." 

counting

Gillian has learned how to count by ten.  If you ask her how she learned, she says "From Peg + Cat!"  Peg + Cat is a new show that the kids found on Netflix.  It's about a little girl, Peg and her cat.  It's on PBS and the kids seem to really enjoy it.  Anyway, every time Gillian counts to 100 by tens she adds a little extra flair.

 

She cracks me up.  And of course when you ask her where that little bit at the end came from, she says "Peg + Cat."  With a little bit of help (from John) I found the episode Gillian learned how to count by ten.

 

This is the full episode.  The song is at the end when Peg is cleaning up the chickens.

 

The Oreo

I taught John the proper way to eat Oreos tonight. He caught on very quickly and was very happy with the result.

The robot

This morning during breakfast Daddy tried to convince John that John was a robot that we built. It was pretty funny and Daddy had him going for awhile. Tonight at dinner, I asked John about school. He couldn't remember and he hit his head repeatedly. Daddy said "We really need to upgrade the memory on this robot!" John said "I'm not a robot! Robots are metal and it would clink when I hit my arm!" I again asked him about school and he still couldn't remember. He tapped his chin and his forehead. And asked for hints. Gillian turned to Daddy and said "Your robot is out of control!" 

Bad guys

Gillian knows that Daddy is a Probation Officer, but she is confused as to what he actually does. I explained to her that Daddy helps bad guys to be good. Tonight at dinner, she asked Daddy "What do you do if the bad guys stay bad?" He said "They go to jail." She then asked but "What do the police officers do?" He said "The police officers catch the bad guys and then they come to me." She said "But, but.." Daddy laughed and said "Gillian, there are two separate but equally important parts.." He didn't get to finish because I was laughing too hard. Poor Gillian it's going to take a little while before she fully understands what Daddy does for a living. 

Reunited

Over the past month and a half, Gillian has been having some problems at school and aftercare. She has been misbehaving and acting out. Our first response was to take away her favorite thing, her blanket (aka Manket). This didn't make a difference in her attitude. So we changed strategies. We opted for a reward system. She gets stars on the calendar when she behaves and frowning face when she is bad. She then earns privileges for a certain number of stars in a row. Today was her 10th good day in a row! She earned Manket back! She was so excited. This morning she woke up and said "If I'm good today, I get Manket! Almost ten stars!" When I picked her up from school she was grinning from ear to ear. She knew it was a good day and she would get Manket. I let her have her blanket as soon as we got home. She is so happy! Let's hope this good streak continues. 

New Pants

I picked Gillian up from aftercare today. When I walked into the gym I saw her running to get her backpack. I stared at her. Miss Patricia said "Oh, she's over there. Don't worry, she's getting her bag." I said "I see her. But she has different pants on." Miss Patricia said "I think she said she went to the nurse." Now I'm totally confused, because I didn't get a call from the nurse. I didn't have time to over analyze it because Gillian came running over. I said "Hi baby girl, what happened to your pants?" She said "Oh, I borrowed these. From the doctors office." Still didn't answer my question. I said "Ok, so what happened to your pink pants." She laughed and said "I got syrup on them!" She had pancakes for lunch today. Apparently she got syrup on her pants and went to the nurse's office. The nurse lent her some new pants.  

Dear Buddy

John and Gillian have an Elf on the Shelf. His name is Buddy. He comes every year to check on the kids for Santa. This summer, Gillian asked me "Can we get a girl elf?" I said "We have Buddy." She said "But he's a boy. I want a girl elf." I continued to question her, "What about Buddy? Don't you like him?" "I like him. And he can come too! I just want a girl elf for me." Apparently she thought this all through. I said "I think you will need to write to Buddy asking if he can bring a friend. Santa doesn't normally send two elves to one house." This didn't stop her. She is determined to get a girl elf. 

Today John and Gillian wrote letters to Buddy. Here's John's letter:

The letter says "Dear Buddy, My sister would like another elf to come to our house this year. Can you bring a girl elf? This Christmas, I would like a Lego Dimensions game, a new Lego set and a new video game to play with my Dad. Love, John"

Here's Gillian's letter:

The letter says "Dear Buddy, I was wondering if you can bring another elf. I would like a girl elf please. Tell Santa I would like a jewelry box, Shopkins and a big doll. Love, Gillian M LoCascio"

I hope Buddy brings another elf this year!

Coal

This morning John and I were talking about his Christmas list. He said "I already know what I want." I was a little shocked, and asked "Really? What's on your list?" He leaned over and whispered "Coal." Ok, not what I was expecting. I said "Really? Why?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Because you can turn coal into diamonds!" This kid. He thinks of everything. So I said "Yea, but do you know how to turn coal into diamonds." He said "I think you need really high heat and some pressure. I'm not sure." I laughed and said "You know when I was little if you were on the naughty list you only got coal!" He said "Well I think it's better to ask for coal then to ask for you know, diamonds." 

Civic Duty

Before Daddy went to vote this morning he asked John, "Do you want to come with me?" John said "Nope. I went last year!" 

Tonight when I got home, I asked John "Want to go vote?" He said "Nope!" But Gillian yelled "I wanna go!" She put on some boots and we headed out to vote. On our short walk, I explained to Gillian about voting and how it is important to vote. She said "But police officers make sure we follow the rules." I said "Yes, but we get to vote for the people who make the rules. It's very important." She said "And it's fun!" We went in the firehouse and stood in line to vote. She was so excited. I had her come in the booth with me. She didn't touch anything, and constantly asked "Are you done yet? Did you vote?" Finally I was done and she got to push the button to submit my votes. And we walked back home. On our walk, we talked about voting and then we skipped the rest of the way home. 

Milk

This morning, John had cereal for breakfast. It is his job to clean up after breakfast. When I arrived home tonight after work, I saw the cereal container sitting on the the table. I said "John, why is the cereal still out?" He said "Oops I forgot!" And then he ran to the kitchen.  He grabbed the cereal and opened the island cabinet and said "Oh no! I put the milk where the cereal goes!" He pulled the milk container out of the cabinet. I said "John!" He goes "Don't worry. I can just put it in the fridge." I said "No. We can't. It's been out all day long. We have to get rid of it." He was so disappointed. But we were lucky. It was only a quarter full. Guess we got to watch John more carefully when he is cleaning up after breakfast.