Friday, November 20, 2009

In a House Full of Women

It's hard to be a superhero. The constant pressure to save lives, to be manly and tough. The Flash has given up. He has lived in the Polly Pocket tub for too long. At first it was just the occasional high heel. But Elizabeth couldn't stand it any longer. She had to help him with his outfit. I guess red was just not his color.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Old Man

When we were kids, we used to love to play "Old Maid" with my youngest sister Annie. Whoever had the old maid would stick that card up two inches higher than the rest of their cards, and she would eagerly grab it. We would giggle at our cleverness, thinking that it was a good thing that this kind of deceitfulness was unknown to the rest of the world. When it dawned on Annie she was being duped by her not-so-good-Samaritan-siblings, we had to change our methods. It was simple, really. We took the old maid card and stuck it two inches lower in the deck, so she thought we were trying to hide it.

Worked like a charm. For about one game. I wonder if Annie has any lingering trust issues.

Anna just bought a game at the church bookstore in D.C. It is called "Old Man." It is filled with pairs of Bible characters, with only one Methuselah, the old man. I have, of course, ingeniously used the same "Old Maid" strategies on my children. They worked like a charm. Unfortunately Anna is already catching on, and poor Elizabeth is saddled with the old man until I have pity on her and "accidentally" draw him. Anna is so cutthroat in this game that she even tried to have Jane draw the old man (Jane just smiled a gummy smile and tried to eat the card). I can't help but worry that I'm raising card sharks or, even worse, politicians.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Wouldn't MacGyver be proud . . .

We're thinking possible Christmas pictures.


The girls kept running around saying, "We're Hannah Montana. We're Miley Cyrus." Won't they be surprised someday when they learn they are way more Billy Ray Cyrus than Miley Cyrus. I could write for pages about this, but let's just say that I love after-Halloween clearance sales.