Pascua season
“Hey Mom... if there's a giant smiley face on the wall...” Yali grins evilly, shaking a can of spray paint... “It was Puck... not me”
This is about the time Patience and I are leaving for the old school with empty Pringles cans to help piece the 2nd grade classes' happy green “parrots” for the Pascua project...
Patience and I then spend a very fast ninety minutes in the Spanish classroom... three amazingly calm packs of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders float through preparing their Pascua dioramas while I hot glue like a madman... flannel and fabric and pom-poms and popsicle sticks... Patience as my assistant...
Home to “baldy” complaining about the upcoming weekend weather... skydiving in jeopardy... “Why does it storm every weekend?” he demands... as if I'm the one pulling knobs and switches... makes me laugh...
As I conclude all bookwork with Yali in the mid-afternoon... time to scoot them outside in a chill afternoon under varying cover of cloud... “Come on, Patience...” // “Can I just finish this art project?” // “What is it?” // “An outhouse”... glance across the living room where she's hot gluing googly eyes to the four sides of a popsicle outhouse... Uncle Elmer would be proud...
Meanwhile Yali is already outside playing (somewhat prematurely) with the garden hose (after I moved it out to the yard for him (he worries about wasps))... he returns some time later fully drenched with another evil smile on his face... walks up to Oxbear... “Do you want a hug?” **laugh laugh laugh** “Patience... do you want... a hug?” **laugh laugh laugh** “Look Mom!” **points to Patience's now-damp shirt** “Patience has my autograph!”...
Evening is for tacos and orange wedges and “Malcolm in the Middle” as Oxbear and Yali return from an appointment in South County... rainbow sherbet sunset... Lenten readings by Yali and a chapter for the young ones from one of my childhood favorites → Depression-era “The Velvet Room”...