FYI

This little "special weather statement" came across the wire this evening:

Issued by The National Weather Service
Indianapolis, IN
3:08 pm EST, Sun., Jan. 11, 2009

... VERY COLD TEMPERATURES HEADED FOR CENTRAL INDIANA...

THE COLDEST AIR OF THE WINTER IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA THIS COMING WEEK. ARCTIC AIR FROM NORTHERN CANADA WILL RUSH SOUTHWARDS IN TWO SEPARATE WAVES. THE FIRST ARRIVAL OF COLD AIR WILL BE DURING THE DAY ON TUESDAY AND INTO TUESDAY NIGHT WHEN TEMPERATURES WILL DROP TO NEAR ZERO OR SLIGHTLY BELOW ALONG WITH DANGEROUSLY COLD WIND CHILLS OF LESS THAN TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO. THE SECOND... AND COLDER AIRMASS WILL ARRIVE ON THURSDAY WHEN HIGHS ARE EXPECTED ONLY IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO WITH LOWS AS COLD AS TEN BELOW ZERO ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA. WIND CHILL VALUES WILL BE DANGEROUSLY COLD ON THURSDAY AS WELL... FALLING TO LESS THAN TEN DEGREES BELOW ZERO AGAIN. RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FOR ANY POSSIBLE ADVISORIES OR FURTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THIS VERY COLD WEATHER.

Dude.

The IMA

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is free, thanks to the generosity of Colonel Eli Lilly, who started a company that made so much money he can pay for everyone in the world to go the museum. Art museums are among Ethan's favorite places to go. He especially likes African art (Jooj!), although during our visit on Friday he also made sure we stopped by the American, European and Asian sections. Andrew was mostly interested in getting some food. Emma was hoping to see paintings of kitties (there were none; but she did find a sculpture of a winged kitty).

Here is Emma in front of a drawing that Henri Matisse did of her, years before she was actually born. If you click on the image, you'll see that it's appropriately entitled "Emma L."

Security Guard: "Hey you kids! Get off the wall!"

Emma liked this horse, made by a Chinese artist 100 years before Jesus was born!

Put your hands up in the air, raise em' like you just don't care!

(Note: I set off the alarm TWICE in the African section by pointing my finger too close to the exhibits. At the end Andrew made sure he stood between me and the exhibits at all times, lest I embarrass the family any more.)

Sophie fell asleep on the way to the museum, and didn't wake up until we were almost leaving. "I want to see the paint!" she said once we got in the car. When she woke up we were at the end of our visit, in the African section, where there are lots of scary masks but no paintings.

Ethan wants to make a mask like this for Halloween.

On the way home the kids begged us to stop at the art supply store to buy some clay. They were inspired the next day to make a miniature Egyptian sarcophagus, a tarantula and a butterfly.

Overheard

ANDREW: When you become an adult and you're like a Jedi or something, you call other adults by their last name.

Overheard

GINGER: You need to forgive Ethan.
EMMA: I'm trying to, but my mind won't let me.

Merry Christmas!

Overheard

ETHAN: Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg... I hate Robin. He wears tights.

Overheard

EMMA: I have a good smelly nose.

Overheard

ETHAN: Dad, I have a good idea. My good idea is that we celebrate
Christmas early and that Christmas early is after dinner today.

Overheard

Ethan got his haircut yesterday, which is something we try to avoid as much as possible because it stirs CONTENTION, and we all know what contention is of. As usual, he didn't like the haircut, even though it was such a minimal cut as to not even be noticed by anyone but him.

He didn't want to go to school this morning because of the haircut. "No one will even notice," we told him.

Oops. This is what Tyson said to him at school:

"I can't be your friend anymore. I need you to have your long hair back."

Or so Ethan claims. Even though the story withstood the first level or two of questioning from us, this is very suspicious. It reminds us of how Ethan would come home from preschool and tell us the entire day was spent with him in a headlock, as the other students and the teachers took turns giving him noogies.

More photos from Emma's preschool performance

Catching up

It's been a while since I've posted any photos... So here's what we've been doing recently:

Ophie has been up to her usual hijinks. Like a future facebook pro, she gives us status updates all the time: "I happy" or "I NOT happy." Yesterday, she barked an order at me. I asked, "Sophie, why are you yelling at me?" And she sheepishly answered, "I happy," in a tone of voice that said, "Don't worry. Sometimes I just have to yell to make you slaves do my will. It's not a reflection of my emotional state."

Since she rarely eats meals anymore, we think she survives through stolen Christmas cookies and some kind of photosynthesis.

She likes to take my iPhone to watch Elmo. ("Watch Elmo! Yah! Yah!") She also likes to give hugs. "Hugga!" Or if you're leaving, "Huggy bye!"

We would not laugh nearly as often around here if it weren't for Sophie. We love her.

Emma was selected to play Mary in her preschool Christmas performance this week. It was one of the highlights of her life so far, that is for sure. It was so much fun to watch; she really loved the chance to be Mary (as you can tell by her smile in that photo). I'll post more pictures from the performance later.

Ethan started his basketball season, playing on the Phoenix Suns.

Ethan also made it into the Challenge program at school! It's a big deal, since only a few kids from each grade make the cut. Last time he took the tests, he was crushed when he barely missed the cutoff. This time he killed the test, scoring far beyond what he needed. The school said he could go into the Challenge class after Christmas, but we decided to wait for the third grade to make the switch.

One more thing: Ethan doesn't like to wear a jacket. Or a hat. If we force him to wear a jacket, he doesn't zip it up, because that's so not cool. Yesterday Ethan, Andrew and I stood in line outside Handel's to pick up Ginger's birthday cake, and Ethan refused to wear anything more on top than a thin T-shirt. He was shivering and his lips were purple, but he wasn't cold!

Andrew wrapped up his Lego Robots season with a competition near Chicago. His team did well and he had a lot of fun. (And yes, as you can see in the photo, the other kids on his team are all twice as large as Andrew. Literally. We compared poundage.) Andrew designed some good programs for the robot and figured out how to add an additional motor to give the robot an arm it could use to move objects. In the midst of all that, he made it onto the Science Bowl team at school! He's the only 4th grader to make the team and we are very proud of him.

Yesterday we celebrated Ginger's birthday. I am so lucky to be married to her.

Overheard

Tonight, while Ginger was putting garland on the stair rails:

ETHAN: Mom, are you decking the halls?

Overheard

EMMA: Dad, when is it going to be hot out? I want to swim in the pool.
ME: Emma, I have some bad news...

For the record

A couple of nights ago I went upstairs at 9:30PM to check on the kids. The door to the girls' room was shut and the light was on, which was weird. An hour earlier, both girls had been in bed with the lights out. So I opened the door.

There was Emma, asleep on her bed. And there was Sophie, on the floor doing puzzles.

Overheard

Last night during dinner Emma somehow slipped out of her chair and fell onto her head. Yes. After the hugs and crying were done, this is the conversation that ensued:

EMMA: I think I need to eat something soft to help my head feel better.
ME: Something soft? Like meatloaf? Or steamed carrots?
EMMA: No.
ME: We have some baby food in the pantry. Do you need to eat something soft like baby food?
EMMA: No. I need to eat something soft and cold... Like ICE CREAM.