Varmints

My daughters have a new nickname - Varmints.  I've been trying to empty out closets and organize and in the process Marlo and Sabine have been running circles around me.  This is what I discovered on the kitchen counter as I came down to prepare a snack for them today.  I guess they beat me to snack time.  Varmints!

Hugo & Marlo

Hugo seems to prefer his sister Sabine over Marlo most of the time.  I think he likes Sabine's gentleness and quiet ways.  He has always preferred her in one way or the other over her twin Marlo.  Yet when he wants to play, to be silly, Hugo hangs with his sister Marlo.  I don't think he is aware of this.

I bathe my three kids all at once.  Bing, bang, bong and the work is done.  They all hop in the warm bath water, splash in the bubbles, play with some toys and then I begin to scrub them up.  Marlo is usually my first victim.  Then Sabine, followed by Hugo.  Once all three have been scrubbed I usually take leave for their rooms to ready their night clothes, tidy the beds, play with Toula and wander back into the bathroom to check my email, play a game or two of solitaire on my phone all before announcing my very cruel intentions of ending bath time.  Sabine used to always jump up to exit the tub first, now I have to drag her out.  I must note here that once she realizes my intentions and begins to voice her refusal, Hugo votes her out.  As I dry the screaming Sabine and carry her into the nursery, Hugo and Marlo turn the bath into their pretend pool and Marlo copies every little detail of Hugo's play.  She is going to be a fish this summer.  I look forward to the day when Hugo realizes that he likes to hang with his sister Sabine for one reason and his sister Marlo for another. 

Peonies

It was hot, hot, hot and humid at our house today.  The temperature has been 93 degrees for the past three days in a row.  I have not been properly prepared for this, nor have the children.  The girls woke from their naps hot, sticky, and grumpy.  We all had a snack and then swimsuits were found in the back recesses of our dresser drawers.  The girls wore these ballerina swim suits last year, I had hoped to squeeze their wee tushes into them for one more swim season, but today will be the last my girls will don these cute suits.  They looked like stuffed sausages and the straps left red marks on their shoulders when I peeled the suits off their bodies. 

Hugo could not wait for me to hose him down.  He ran circles around me, pleading with me to not spray him and then complaining that I wasn't paying attention to the game.  I arched the spray of water above the girls heads so as to feel like a gentle rain falling upon their heads, they cried and ran for the sandbox.  Marlo acted as though it were pure torture I had just subjected her to.  I stuck a foot out to test the temperature of the water, our village water is quite cold... oops.  I myself was content to sit upon the grass and spray my feet to cool myself.  Hugo tried his best to turn the hose on me, somehow I convinced him to not go there.  Marlo and I have a lot in common.

The girls dug the plastic lawn mowers out of the bin and before I knew it, they were both down the lane.  I abandoned Hugo and the hose to make sure they didn't continue on down to the road.  The girls pulled their lawn mowers into the island garden before I reached them.  Out my camera came.  I couldn't resist giving Marlo and Sabine each a peony from the island garden.  They sniffed and sniffed and passed their flower under their sisters nose and onto me for further sniffing and acknowledgment of the wonderful smell.  Lots of, "Hmmmm, yesss, that smells nice!" was said by me.  I know I took a million photos of this peony sniffing process, but the sniffing went on and on and on and so naturally, so did the photos.  When we finally caught up with Hugo, he was sad that I had not picked a flower for him, my sensitive, sweet boy.  So off he went to the island garden to pick one for himself and then an entirely new round of sniffing and "Hmmmm, yesss, that smells nice!" began.

P.S.  Sabine now says baby and wow.