Before and After

Since church is canceled today due to inclement weather, I decided I'm going to invest a little time in recording some of our family stories. I'll work backward from present day and see how far I get, given that all the usual distractions are still hovering around. (Have I mentioned before that my kids LOVE the computer...especially when I am on it). For the moment, they are happily engaged in what has become a ritual Sunday morning activity: watercolors. Spencer, per custom, is still in his pajamas, while Emma has donned her pink shirt and skirt. She refuses to come down for breakfast until fully dressed for the day. In addition, she picks out her own clothes and most of the time matches quite nicely. She has strong opinions in these matters, so if you see her in a lime green skirt and pea green shirt...just go with it. They are both green - therefore, they match, and she will readily remind you of that fact.

Watercolors have ceased to be captivating, so in an effort to involve the kiddos, we'll post their commentary with the pictures that follow.

Emma: "That's Emma and Spencer and a bag. So, there's tigers in that place, and Lukie was in that place. So, that's it. Do another picture, Mommy!" (My addition: Spence and Emma were so cute when we were getting ready for Spencer's preschool carpool one day that I decided to take picture. They were snuggled up on the carseat booster. Little did I know this would become the "Before Preschool" picture. Scroll down to see the "After" one.)



AFTER preschool, this is what greeted me at the doorway. My friend Meagan dropped off the kids. Her son Luke is one of Spencer's best buddies, and we took the opportunity to take a little photo of the tiger cubs. Spencer loved this look SO much that he slept with it on so he could show everyone the next day. We even skyped with a few family members at Spencer's request so we could share his look. When Emma woke up from her nap, Spencer ran in to greet her. She was terrified that we had sent a boy to preschool and that he came back a tiger. She wouldn't let him within a 10 foot radius for a full half hour. After that, she adjusted nicely to having a tiger for a brother and they played out their stories for the rest of the day.

Spencer: "Once upon a time, Spencer got painted as a tiger. I did it at preschool. And I, Spencer, played with Luke. We were playing with tiger cars. Really deep in the bucket (at preschool), there are some tiger cars. GROWL! SNARL!!!
(We need some video to capture how truly he has mastered the tiger sound).