Hard Return

We tried buying an all latex mattress online back in February. Well, it wasn't nearly as good as its cost indicated it should be. Fortunately, the company had a 100 day trial period. Free return shipping and full refunds if you aren't satisfied. Of course, I quickly discovered that packing up a 120 pound latex mattress is like trying to hogtie an anaconda. I finally got it done with a patchwork of 4 large cardboard boxes. Somebody had given me a huge roll of red filament tape, but I could not find it for the life of me. So I did go buy a new roll of filament tape to be sure that the boxes would not burst open. I guess that made it not a totally free return. I have not had the return processed yet, so I am still nervous that they will try to cheat me. We will see. Anyway, when this thing was lying down, it looked like we were shipping a casket. 

Speaking of really tall things, the kids built a block tower taller than me. I might have helped a little as it got up high. 

After we took the picture we told them both to jump up and down near the tower. It held up a lot longer than I thought it would. Clark in particular lands like a ton of bricks, but the tower actually would bounce and stay standing. It did come down after half a dozen or so good jumps, and it made a pretty spectacular crash. 

Sabrina made a presentation about archaeology at school. This project became a nightmare for me. They sent an "example" around to parents, and it was like something a junior high school student would have done! I did my best to make sure Sabrina did it on her own, but I had to help a fair bit. It was on archaeology. The other kids were most fascinated with the part about discovering Pompeii's public potties. Sabrina did well, partly because her mother made her practice many times in the days leading up to it. And of course, only one child had a project that was close to the example. You could tell that child and her parents were all serious overachievers.`

Okay, I saved the best for last. Our two little bookworm beauties. Sabrina would read 12 hours a day if given the chance. Eliza has started getting excited when I sit her in the corner of the couch and hand her a book to look at. I don't know if she likes books that much, or if she likes being like her big sister, but it is fun to see her sitting there smiling and randomly turning pages and flipping the book around.