New Cloud

Gnome Stories

One day, the three gnomes that live in the back of the Jeep were hungry. They snuck out of the Jeep and went to the back of King Charlie's house. There was a cake on the porch! King Charlie had made a cake for the gnomes to eat! And they ate it and then they were full. And they went back to the jeep and took a nap. And they were happy. The End.

--as told by Charlie,
late at night
in the dark.

Character

Charlie wrapped a ribbon around his wrist and said, "Oh, no! Supercharlie is tangled up again."

This is the first we've heard of Supercharlie. I figured I'd better document it in case it became a thing.

Builder

Charlie is into machines. Specifically, inventing them. Tonight we taped together various things from the kitchen--a pen, a rubber band, a yogurt container lid, a nozzle for piping icing. It featured both a button and a thing that went round and round, the two main elements of a successful machine. Charlie wrote a "boopint" on a post-it note...

Why do so many of our great moments feature post-it notes?

...and then we showed the whole contraption to Daddy before Charlie went up to drift off, snuggled up under our wedding ring quilt on a drizzly, foggy, Maritime evening.

Spring Shots

Book Look

I thought you all might appreciate an update on what we've been reading lately. (And by "you all" I really mean Egg Mama and my aunt Sallea, the only people I know for sure read this blog.)

Canadians go wild over Canadian artists, musicians, and authors. And I'm all for supporting our artists, but let me be the first to say that I've had it with Robert Munsch. Robert Munsch sucks. He is cutsie-poo in an 'epitome of bad art' kind of way. He's perfect for people who don't think real art is for kids, or vice versa.

Marie Louise Gay, on the other hand, is a genius. We've read every single book of hers our library has to offer, and have bought several that they don't. I have a soft spot for Fat Charlie's Circus (for obvious reasons), and I'm turning Caramba into a puppet show for an upcoming church service. And of course, all the Sam and Stella books are beyond compare.

We`ve also been reading everything we can get our hands on by David Shannon. Charlie clearly identifies with David. Heavily. I was, at first, taken aback by the harsh and rule-driven dynamic of David Goes To School... until I realized it was perfect for explaining to Charlie why he's not going to school! I'm sure that's not what David Shannon intended, but I appreciate the help anyway.

Patience

So... John and Charlie were getting ready to go for a walk. Charlie was engrossed in his low rider (picture Santa and two reindeer with shades on in a red convertible sedan that bounces up and down while playing Low Rider. Thanks again, Sue Ann. No, really.)

And I was trying to get his jacket on him, interfering with his play. Both of us were getting frustrated. I started to explain why we needed to get his jacket on now, and and he turned to me, took a deep breath, and nicely but firmly said,

"Please calm down!"

I went and sat on the couch. He finished whatever scene he was producing in the neverending Charlie show, we put his jacket on, and everyone was happy.