very punny

Today at breakfast we had the conversation again. Ella asked, "Mom, is there any chance we could get a gerbil?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because gerbils stink." Lauren offered a solution.

"We can keep it outside!"

"In the heat and the cold?" I asked.

"We can give him an ice cube in the summer!" Lauren chimed.

"And in the winter," Ella smiled, "We can give him gerbil tea!"

thanksgiving

Lauren colored a Thanksgiving turkey at school, and on each of the feathers she wrote something she's grateful for. She wrote:

I am thankful for my family becus they help me, and I am thankful for Ms. Reed.

I am thankful for my sister because she stands up for me when I git hrte and becus she is helpful in the citchin.

I am thankful for my warm coz house becus it ceps me warm when it is cold.

I am thankful for my grama becus she alwas helps me and she make cookes with us.

monday

Tonight I helped Ella correct her homework and apparently corrected her one time too many. Pushed her right over the edge and she launched into this monologue:

"Why does it have to be perfect everyone wants everything to be perfect first Dad this morning about the B on my test and now you with my homework and today in P.E. while we were running Mr. Turner said, 'Why are you touching that boy?' but I couldn't help it because it was so crowded and we had to have a TALK and Sam said, 'WHAT THE HECK?' and I had to dance with Ben and I hate dancing with Ben because he has a huge mole on his hand and I had to touch it the whole time AND because he's been in my classes since kindergarten and he always pulls up his shirt and dances the macarena." She let out a sob, then paused long enough to wipe tears and blow her nose. "I'm not ready for third grade."

love note

Lauren really and truly loves her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bellin. She still runs to hug her every time she sees her and, it turns out, still writes her love notes. I found this in her notebook:

1 Grad is cool But it wod de Betr if you wru Hear ms. Bellen. I hope that you aur having so much fun evin withawt me.