Busy Bees

Friday, there was snow, enough to freak out the region. Apparently, some schools closed, and at 6:30 or so, I got a text from Yu Ying saying, Don't worry, school's opening on time today! Surprised, I looked out the window and saw a few flakes. Off to school we went! But mid-morning, as the snow got heavier, Yu Ying texted/emailed/called to let us know that REEF was closing early and so Maceo's Pump It Up field trip was cancelled. Sadz.

That meant that Maurice and Mom were picking up BOTH boys for the long afternoon! Lucky! By the time I got there, the boys were calm and watching "The Rats of NIMH" with Mom.

Just get their attention, I dare you!

Then they worked with Maurice on a puzzle and gradually started poking at each other as their attention span waned.

That meant it was time for dinner! Homemade pizza! Maceo helped to prepare it by eating grated cheese and also sprinkling it on the pizza dough. As all of you might have guessed by now, Cassius wanted no part of the food, and he happily ate apple sauce and peanut butter sandwiches. When I tucked them in that night, Cassius complained about being hungry. I got him a fig bar to munch on.

At 5:30, when Cassius came in to snuggle, I was distracted by a constant crinkling noise. It was the damn wrapper from his fig bar! For some reason, he was carrying it around with him like a talisman.

Saturday, we had a Pokemon playdate with Adam, a favorite friend. He and Maceo have been besties since day care at St. Anne's, and the amusing part of it is is that Adam is slightly smaller than Cassius. 

Pokemon without parents! Hallelujah!

From Pokemon, we raced across town to soccer practice. This was the last indoor soccer practice, and the boys' team won 5-1! All of us are looking forward to the outdoor soccer teams we've signed up for this spring.  If it all works out, the boys will be on the Yu Ying soccer teams, meaning they'll be with friends and thus more likely to participate with vigor! Fingers crossed!

From soccer, we drove crosstown to the University of Maryland to see Chinese New Year performances of acrobats, jugglers, dancers, musicians, magicians, and more. It was pretty good, with some stupendous performances and some that weren't so captivating. And we thought the language was probably Cantonese rather than Mandarin, so that was a little disappointing. However, at one point, Maceo exclaimed, "Magic show!" "How do you know?" I asked. "I heard her say so," he replied. So, either Cantonese and Mandarin share the same word for magic, or the announcer WAS speaking Mandarin. 

The puppeteer we saw

Finally, on Sunday, the boys helped me paper the immediate neighborhood in advance of a meeting about the eventual development of the Howard Divinity school campus across the street from our house. While Maceo was at times a little whiny about the task, Cassius was excited to fold up the tract we had printed and enthusiastically either hand it to people who opened the door or tuck it into their screen door handles or shove it through their mail slot!

Community Activists in-training!