Cracker Hearts and Ninjas

A week and a half ago, Mira went to her first ever slumber party. She wasn't planning to sleep over. It was at a house just 2.5 miles from ours, so we figured she'd go and play a few hours then come home to sleep. I told everyone she is too young to sleep away, and I'm too old to sleep on the floor. Well, once we got there and she started having fun with her girl scout troop (15 other girls), she decided she wanted to stay. I drove back home for her sleeping bag, pajamas and toothbrush, and she sent me away. She called at midnight, wanting me to come over to hug her. I did, and she patted me on the leg saying "thanks, you can go now." I asked her to call me when she went to bed (fully expecting, still, for her to come home to sleep). She called at 1:15 am saying she still wanted to sleep there but wanted me to come tuck her in. I went over, and she and two other girls were the last remaining awake. She brushed her teeth, and when I tucked her into her sleeping bag she said "I'm not too sure about this." Relieved, I said "OK, let's go home." We did, but I was really proud of her for staying as long as she did, making new friends, and being comfortable without me around (though I put 20 miles on my car going back and forth). I'd have gone over as many times as she needed if she had decided to spend the night, but I'll admit I was glad to get to go to sleep when I did.

We had a lot of plans for last week, but only made it as far as Tuesday when we went to the symphony for Peter and the Wolf. By Tuesday evening Mira was starting to get sick. We had planned to go to Tyler on Wednesday (Valentine's Day) but ended up staying home instead. We made the best of a day stuck at home.

I made tomato soup with heart shaped crackers.



Ryan has love in his eyes.



Mira is sad, because her heart is broken.



By Thursday evening, Mira was feeling well, but Ryan was starting to go down hill. He spent most of Friday and all of Saturday in bed. By Sunday he was fine, and we went to see Bridge to Terabithia. The kids had been wanting to see it for a long time, and it opened on Friday. If you're planning to see it and don't want to know what happens, skip to the next paragraph. The movie is about two 10 or 11-ish year old children, a boy and a girl, who become friends. They are both bullied in school and create a fantasy world in the woods near their houses. OK, good so far. Then...THEN...the GIRL dies! I almost never take the kids to see movies without reading extensively about them first, and I don't know what made me fail to do that with this movie. I could have at least prepared them for it. We were all three completely shocked, and Mira was just devastated. She sobbed through the last 20 minutes of the movie and a good 10 minutes after it was over, and Ryan looked none too happy. Mira has been asking since "why did they have to kill her? That movie would have been so much better if Leslie hadn't died."

Today was supposed to be park day for our local homeschooling group, but everyone else backed out for one reason or another. With a forecast of sunny skies and 72 degrees, we didn't want to stay in. We made an impromptu trip to the zoo instead. It was a lot of fun, though I think Mira enjoys posing for pictures more than looking at animals. After the first few animals all I hear from her is "OH, this is a great place for a picture!"



This evening Mira made a slumber party in her room for all of her stuffed animals. We played charades, and the kids put on skits. I have a boxed game called "Charades for Kids," and it's a lot of fun when we read the cards and act things out. After a while, though, the fun really begins when Mira starts making up her own things to act out. The last time we played charades, she had me stumped with "dead bird." Tonight I quickly guessed "angel playing a harp" but couldn't quite get "ninja jumping through lasers."

As usual, we're booked up through the rest of the week. I feel the beginnings of a cold coming on myself, but I'm hoping to fight it off. I felt the same way last week when Mira first got sick.