Poor Jupiter

Telescopes were set up in front of school last night to observe Jupiter and the stars around- as part of "International Year of Astronomy 2009 ' You are Galileo!' Project". Claire really wanted to go. So at 7:30 she got out of her pajamas and she and Craig went. The beloved science teacher, Mr. K, had told the kids all about it and Claire was completely jazzed up as she raced out the door. Also, there were rumors that there would be juice and cookies, so there's that.

About 20 minutes later they came back. She had a 'worksheet' in her hand that showed the observations of Galileo in 1610, and claire's observations from last night. Basically a dot. She looked rather displeased. And, she said, "don't worry Matt, even the cookies were bad."

So, last night before I went to bed I found the worksheet. She had filled out her name, address, age, and of course, her Jupiter dot. At the bottom she had written a note:


Dear M.r. K.
Joopder was lam.

Please Don't Make Me-- lyrics and music by Claire Davies

Now I'll be there.
whenever you call
I will be there
once and all

just call
just call
I will be there once you make me
just go and be out of here

just be and get outta here
just be your own pace
and go your own way
take your time
and just figure it out
together.

we'll be here one another
we're becoming

I will take your singing and go out to maybe
maybe i'll come back some day
but I might not

I'll be there once you take your pace

I don't care when you go

Ill take your advice and leave your house
wherever you are I'll be there when you call

just please don't make me
please don't make me

I will be there whenever you call.

Big Kids

Claire was frustrated at the playground after school today because she didn't seem to be able to get a turn on the bar thing-- you know, where you climb up (with your shoes off so your feet are sticky enough) and then grab onto the bar and hang upside down.

Claire (with frustrated hot tears running down her tired dirty face): I wish there was no such thing as big kids! I can't get a turn.

Betsy: You'll be a big kid someday. I'll bet you'll be really nice to the little kids.

Claire: I will not! They weren't nice to me, so I'm not going to be nice to them.

Betsy: Well, the kids who will be little when you are big, are not the same kids who are big now, right? so...

Claire: I don't care! They're not nice to me and I'm not going to be nice to them.

Betsy: Got it. Fair enough.

Nature Nurture

Claire-- it's really time to get out of the tub.
Please get out of the tub.
OK! It's time to get out of the tub.
NOW.

ok- you get the picture...

Betsy: Claire, when I ask you to get out of the tub I expect you to listen. It's not okay for you to ignore me.

Claire: UGH. MOM! It's not MY fault I was born rude!

Claire Rocks.

Claire's home sick.
I'm keeping her company. Admittedly I do have my computer on my lap.
She's on her bed, feeling better... drawing, pretending she's a teacher, and making me laugh.

claire: Is this all you do all day when Matt and I are at school? Just sit there on the computer?

Betsy: No! (said this in a silly, over the top way... not defensively, at least not really defensively...)

Claire: Well, I know yesterday you cleaned the house but...

Betsy: (laugh!) Hey! How about all the other stuff? All the Give Us Wings stuff and all the time I'm volunteering in your school and...

Claire: Oooo! That reminds me! Don't worry, I've got a lot of money.
[And she promptly gets up out of bed, takes two dimes and a nickel out of her little pink piggy bank, walks into my room and puts the money in the little basket I have beside the bed for just that purpose].

Betsy: Claire, you rock.

Claire: Well, it doesn't really matter. I mean, it matters because I coulda bought stuff at Target. But I don't need it; and anyway, I've got like 2 million dollars in there.

Betsy: You really do rock.

Meaning of Heaven

While Claire snuggled into bed for the night with her freshly washed and still-warm "meema" (i.e. blankie):

Claire: Inhales deeply and smiles: OH! This meema is Heaven! And you know that Heaven can be two words? It can trick you. Because one kind of Heaven is like "oh this smells like Heaven!" or "This tastes like Heaven!" or "I'm in Heaven because of this whatever thing." but then there's the Heaven where well, you know, you're like this {she makes a weird face, tongue out of her mouth, eyes squinted shut}-- you know, dead and up in Heaven. So, See? It's tricky. Someone could be like, "why do you think your meema is like death?" and you don't mean it that way. See?

Betsy: Yes. I see exactly what you mean. Good thinking.

Claire: I know, it's trick-y. OK, let's read.

Take the Long Way Home

Claire and I dropped off Matt at his guitar lesson, and I finally realized that we can drive straight through the little parking lot to the alley behind, thereby saving the trouble of turning around and going back out onto a busy street. I was quite pleased with myself...


Claire: Oh! You're taking the long cut.

Betsy: The what?

Claire: The long cut. That's where you think you're taking a short cut but really it's longer. A long cut!

Betsy: I like it!

Claire: See how this is really taking longer? So now you have to turn onto this other street and all the cars are coming. Wow, this one really was a long cut!

Future Husband Prediction gone bad

Craig and Claire went out to lunch the other day.

Craig: Who do you think you're gonna marry?

Claire: Probably a guy who is bald and sucks on cigarettes.

Finders Keepers

I found a penny! Look Mom! I found a penny! And... finders keepers losers sweepers. And that really makes sense, too, because the finder finds the penny so that makes sense, and the loser has to sweep! Poor losers.

Mickey and Minnie

Claire is home sick today. Lucky for her (and me) she loves nothing more than to sit with a pad of paper and an assortment of colorful markers. She wanted me to post this one. Enjoy.

Love Letters

Claire handed this to me first thing this morning!

Boredom defined.

Claire: Ugh...I'm so tired of being so bored.

preoccupied... oops. Sorry Claire.

MOM! When are you going to get off of the Book Face?

He's Just Not That Into You

I've been going into Claire's Kindergarten class to teach the kids about pieces of art found at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I went to a training and all that stuff. We've done three art projects so far. I did it most recently last week. I've been feeling really good about it. Hello Mrs. Davies! One kid even hugged me. Lots of enthusiasm.

But here, on the eve of our big field trip to the MIA...

Claire: Adam K.. doesn't like art. Well, he likes art, but he doesn't like when you do art.

Betsy: Oh?

Claire: Yeah. I asked him today if he liked art and he said No. And I said, well how about regular art, where you can just do what you want. And he said he likes that kind. So, sorry but he doesn't like it. He doesn't like you Mom. (nervous laugh).

Betsy: Oh... um...really? Well, you should probably stop telling me about it. It might hurt my feelings.

Claire: yeah, sorry mom. I'm just telling you what he said. You should tell her.

Betsy: Tell who?

Claire: You should tell my teacher.

Betsy: About Adam?

Claire: You should just say, "Adam K. doesn't like me." Wait, no, don't say that. That sounds like what a kid would say. It sounds kiddish. And now that I hear my voice saying it, it sounds stupid. Yeah, forget it. Don't say that. But mom. I just thought you should know. He doesn't like you.

Betsy: Great.

(Note to self: sit next to Adam K on the school bus tomorrow on the way to and from the museum.)

Roller (Coaster) Girl

Mac Book Roller Coaster ride.

Boost

Claire: Mommy is better than Mommy.

Betsy: What does that mean?

Claire: It means that you are better than you think you are!

Band Aids

First, last night. Claire noticed a small bandaid worthy "cut" on her foot as she crawled into bed.

When she looked at the band aid and noticed the Hello Kitty characters all lined up she said, "It looks like a whole bunch of Senators lined up for the President!"

And, this morning...

Claire: Mom! I need a really big piece of paper and a glue bottle.

Betsy: What are you working on?

Claire: I'm putting my used band aids on a big piece of paper. I'm going to save them all from now on. And when I'm old and I don't use band aids anymore I can look at them and say, 'ahhhh.... oooooh. Mmmmm....' and remember them.

Apology Pro

We had a rough beginning to our day when Matt accidently jumped on Claire when she was hiding under the covers in my bed. They both ended up crying. Throughout the day we had some ups and more than a few downs. And then, at the end of the day just as we were going upstairs to bed, Claire accidently punched Matt in the nose. She was being silly and misjudged the length of her arm. Again, they both ended up crying. I had had enough. Claire gave this to me just before bed.

It says: Mom is mad and Claire is sare Ples FrgIv Me SIN Her
The picture is of me. (I look mad, don't I?)

Translated: Mom is mad and Claire is sorry. Please forgive me. Sign here.

You can see that I signed my name and wrote a little note to her.

Dear Mr. President,

Claire and her classmates wrote a letter to President Obama today.
Here's what Claire told me she wrote.


Dear Mr. President,

I hope you do well.
You are my favorite President.

Sincerely,
Claire Davies

Tootsie Pop

There really is just something about a Tootsie Pop.















Especially if you're having a Tootsie Pop AND hanging out with Granddaddy.

Early Bird

in a sing song kinda way...



Early...
is never late.

Early...
makes room for fate!

BFF

Claire: Cali and I are BFF

Betsy: What's that? (for the record, I know. please.)

Claire: Best Friends Forever. And sometimes, I'm BF with Charlie K.

Betsy: BF?

Claire: Just Best Friends.

Betsy: How do you know when someone is a BFF or just a BF?

Claire: You just do. You can tell by how they are around you.

Betsy: What are we?

Claire: You and me? Oh that's easy! We're BFFF!

Betsy: Tell me...

Claire: Best Friends Forever and Ever. I just made that up!

{Someone please remind her a few years from now that she once felt this way. Well, I've got it in writing now....}

The Lamp and The Note

Claire came home from school yesterday with this note:

(It's way cuter in her blue magic marker handwriting, but I can't seem to get my scanner to work. I will type it exactly as she wrote it.)

I aM Sorey ThaT I Bok The lap love Claire Do you sTil love my sin her

Under the note she has drawn a picture of me, Craig, Matt, herself (with tears) and Tucker.

Translation: I am sorry that I broke the lamp. Love, Claire. Do you still love me? Sign here:


I signed my name by my image- blue hair, smiley, triangular body.

Out of the frying pan and into...

Today is the first day of normalcy. Craig is back to work, Claire and Matt are back to school. And I'm back to my regular routine. Last night at dinner we had this conversation:


Betsy: I'm really ready for tomorrow.

Craig: yeah, well, of course you are. I'm jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. You're jumping into a nap. {ed note: Nice}

Claire: Well, I'm excited because I'm jumping out of the pan and into Heaven!