Famous People Are on Coins

For the past week, Ali has been reminding us that Lincoln's birthday is coming up and that Washington's birthday will be after that. So, today we decided to press her a little more on these important holidays. Megan asked her who Lincoln was. Ali's reply was "I don't know; he's on the penny." Megan proceeded to tell her all about Lincoln, states' rights and the abolition of slavery. She then went into Washington--one of the Founding Fathers, who crossed the Delaware River for some reason. After listening to Megan's lecture, Ali summarized everything she got out of Megan's speech: "Famous people are on coins."

After we finished laughing, Ali asked if we could play The Game of Life (again). I consented. As we neared the end of the game and it was becoming clear that she was going to win (why do I always get the Accountant with a $20,000 salary!?), she explained to me that "It's not about winning. It's about having fun. But, it is exciting when you win."

Since we've been talking about Ali, here's an picture from this week, not related to anything we've been talking about.


The picture was from our ward activity yesterday which was a very well done "Clue" Party. It was a mystery about who took the cake and what the perpetrator used to eat it with (was it a spoon, a fork, fingers, or a spork?). That was the mystery for the adults to solve. And, wouldn't you know it, we figured out that they ate the cake in the gym with a fork--just like we all did at the end! The kids got to figure out a Blues Clues--which Ali and Kaitlyn loved. Yet, for some reason, the cake didn't make Kaitlyn as happy as it did the rest of us. Perhaps she was still full from the pizza and cupcakes she ate at the Darden Partners Association's Family Valentine's Day Party.


Kaitlyn has been happy, however, about taking ballet lessons. As you know, she loves to dress up every day. Combine that with dancing around to Disney tunes, and she's in heaven.


The other day I asked Ali what she liked about Kaitlyn; she answered that Kaitlyn played school with her. Later that day, they played school outside. The weather has been pretty nice these past couple of days. I took this picture from our bedroom window while I was supposed to be working on cases for the next day:

We found out this week that Max has a pretty good case of Cradle Cap. Although this condition apparently endows him with superior intellect later in life, at present it manifests itself through overactive oil glands which have led to chapped and sore cheeks (facial cheeks). Note the band aid on his left check and general redness.

Before the doctor made this diagnosis I thought it might have been something called Fifth's disease--but that was mostly because Ali's school sent home a note to parents indicating that someone in her class had it, and which has similar symptoms. This shouldn't be confused with Saks Fifth Avenue disease, which is what Megan has.

Megan had a great trip to Utah to visit family and friends. I especially enjoyed the video call we were able to have last Sunday so that I could prove that I was holding down the fort pretty well while she was gone. With significant travel in my future, we've pretty much confirmed that video calls are really going to help us manage. It is so much better than simply talking on the phone! If you haven't tried it, you really need to.

Finally, while Megan was in Utah she loved the bow that little Addilyn McIntyre was wearing. In order to remember how cute it was, she put it on one of our children and took a picture. I don't want this particular child to feel bad about having a bow on later in life, so I'll leave it to you to follow the clues!

Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...212 days after this blog got started, Megan is going to post for the very first time! (But, please climb back into your seat before you read it.)