Art show and more

- Jack cleaned the playroom this evening. I asked him to pick up all the markers and construction paper around the table. Checked on him after 10 minutes to find him drawing a picture. Reminded him. Few minutes later he came upstairs: "I have a surprise for you." He'd cleaned the whole thing, well, about as well as a 6-year-old could anyway.

- Kate had an allergic reaction to, apparently, penicillin (which she got for an ear infection). She also had strep a few weeks back. Rough start to the year for Kate. Anyway, she broke out with rashes all over her body. And I mean, all over. Emily thought she looked like former Viking pass rusher John Randle, who used to smear face paint all over his cheeks. Anyway, sometimes it bothered her and she itched, and sometimes she seemed kind of oblivious to it. Like tonight, when I was getting her in her pajamas, and she started dancing in front of me. "Look at my butt! Look at my butt!" More dancing. Sometimes, she's a trooper.

- Jack and Kate played dress up today. Jack wore his Superman cape. Kate wore her Olivia explorer hat. Jack said, "I'm Superman." Kate said, "I'm a princess!" Jack said, "Why don't you be Supergirl?" Kate said, "No, I want to be a princess." So she was. At some point, her huge stuffed duck was wearing the Superman cape. Not sure why.

- Jack and I went sledding today with a kid in his class who lives down the street and his Mom. I'm not sure the two are actually friends; they seemed to just be doing their own thing at the same time as each other. Kind of funny to see them both accepting each other's presence for the benefit of their parents. Or maybe that's just how it seemed to me. Anyway, it was a great sledding trail. Drew bounced his way down the slope on a saucer. Jack zipped down on his lightning-quick snow tube. Crashes were occasional. Wails of pain were relatively rare.

- We worked on Jack's project for the art show at school. It's a dinosaur mural which features a huge volcano, construction paper dinosaurs in different colors, marker-drawn trees, and approximately 5 rolls of Scotch tape. I don't think I'm exaggerating. And an entire gluestick. And more dinosaurs. It is the most awesome art project ever.

- He was interviewed by one of the art show organizers on the phone yesterday. His answers to her questions were great. "I like dinosaurs." "Yes." "Yes." "Ummmm. Yes." "I like to use all kinds of art stuff." "Favorite? Um. A T.Rex." I can't wait to read the interview.