pick, pick, pick

Ruby loves to pick her nose, almost as much as she loves picking a fight. Today in the car I told my dear little children that I loved them and she replied, with every ounce of passion she could muster, "No, I love you!"
You bet I'll be bringing that one around whenever she's in one of her contrary moods.

Oh this Poor Neglected Blog.

It's been so long since my last post, I don't know where to start. So for now, here are some random things that have happened around here:

• Miles asked me if I believed in God (yes, I replied) and then told me that he believes in Transformers. Yes, he believes that they exist in another galaxy "far, far away."
• We've been talking about Jesus and Santa a lot lately. Miles told me one day that Jesus' spirit guides Santa when he's landing his sleigh on the roof. (He may have had some influence from promos for the new Christmas special "Prep and Landing." We're looking forward to watching it.)
  
• Ruby has incorporated "no way" into her vocabulary, again. She continues to boss us all around, which especially upsets Miles. Lots of lessons to be learned here.
  
• I took the boy shopping for most of the day today. He needed several things and he also wanted to get a gift for Ruby because, as he told me in the bookstore, he "loves his sister."
• He certainly does, but he also "was consequenced" twice in the past 4 days for pushing her off the ottoman. Oops. More lessons there.
• We broke down and bought an artificial, pre-lit (with colored LEDs) Christmas tree. I'll miss the pine smell but not the winding of those light strands around and around and trying to get the darn thing straight in the tree stand.
• Miles sat on Santa's lap (a first) at Phipps yesterday. They had a nice talk. Ruby refused to sit but did exchange some shy glances with the big guy.
• Our 3rd floor front room is now remodeled enough for visitors. New paint, windows, blinds, ceiling fan, and window seat. George's dad had the honor of being our first guest. The bathroom is still cluttered with tools but he didn't seem to mind.
• A good lunch at school for Miles is when he gets to sit beside either Kylie or Mya. He was excited one day last week because he got to sit between them!