Frances: Future Rock 'n' Roll Scientist

Frances--Summer 2007

2007-08-22T08:41:00.000-04:00

Frances at her birthday party.

Frances=Feminist

Frances on her way to the Harry Potter party.

Frances on the first day of 2nd grade.

Frances on Baseball

2007-04-24T15:58:00.000-04:00

Frances went on a field trip to a baseball game today. I asked her if she enjoyed it and this is what she said:

"Not really. I guess it's kind of like broccoli. You try it and try it over and over again until you just get used to it. I hate broccoli."

I guess we won't be going to a baseball game anytime soon.

Frances draws a picture of her future

2007-02-06T18:21:00.000-05:00

Frances says: "The guidance teacher said draw a picture of what you want to be when you grow up. I drew a scientist. On the back of this picture I drew lots of drawing, but you can't see them because Mommy didn't take a picture."

Mommy says: Look closely and you can see she labeled her beaker and her lab coat. The other word you see ("siutit") is scientist.

Frances and Her Partners in Crime

2007-01-29T09:19:00.000-05:00

Lately Frances has been spending most of her free play time with Adam and Nina. We fear that Frances is corrupting them (Adam and Nina are very sweet and well-behaved, and while Frances is very sweet, she tends twoard the rambunctious), but Claire and Larry still let us come over. Here they are in the park on MLK Day.

And this is just a silly picture of Frances because who doesn't like a silly Frances.

Frances in the Christmas Pageant

2007-01-17T15:31:00.000-05:00

Here is Frances in the Christmas pageant. Do you see her beautiful dress Mimi bought? Well, when we got to church they covered in up with a costume (she was the innkeeper and made a very pregnant Mary deliver our saviour in the hay). I was a little disappointed, but she did look cute in her costume (do you see she has on pearls)?

Frances at Thanksgiving

2007-01-15T18:30:00.001-05:00

These are pictures from Thanksgiving. We spent the day with friends. Two of those friends are in the pictures below (Adam and Nina, twins). A few weeks later Frances attended her first Hanukkah party at their house. The big goofy guy is Daddy.

Cookie Rally

2007-01-15T17:06:00.000-05:00

Here's one more of Frances--she's at Cookie Rally with her Brownie troop. This year she is selling Girl Scout cookies, so if you want any, you know where to get the hook up.

Frances's First Internet Quiz

2006-11-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

Frances was doing her reading homework. It was a story about frogs that Frances found boring. ("I already know all of this, Mommy.") She decided to go on the internet and find out about frogs (in particular she was eager to find out about frog predators). She typed "all about frogs" and got a page called Frogland. It included this quiz and here are her results.

Also known as the Smiling Tree Frog or Dumpy Tree Frog due to the nature of its appearance, this frog is a very hardy creature and a favorite pet of amateur frog owners, although some pet owners complain that they are not active enough. These frogs love to eat, which can make them quite fat, hence their "dumpy" appearance. Unlike many frogs, these frogs do well with other frogs of their species and are fairly friendly. They like a warm and moderately humid habitat and eat larger insects like crickets, cockroaches, locusts, moths and beetles.

What kind of Frog are you?

Frances the Soccer Player

2006-10-10T14:10:00.000-04:00

So here's Frances at soccer this spring (these pictures are probably from April). She loved soccer and was pretty good at it. She isn't playing this semester because I'm just too tired to take her to practices, but she'll be back at it in the spring. The kids in the gray t-shirts are twins Adam and Nina, and the little girl in black is named Sophia (I think). They all went to ECDC with Frances, though they are a year behind her.

Jokes with Frances

2006-10-07T19:14:00.000-04:00

What do you call a pig who cuts down trees?
A pork chop!

Why did the chicken cross the road to the park?
To get to the other slide!

And here's her favorite elephant joke--

How do you know when an elephant has been in your refrigerator?
Footprints in the butter!

Frances at College

2006-09-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

Because Frances's school saw fit to cancel two out of the five days of the second week of school, she came to campus with me Monday and Friday of last week. While hanging out with our friend Alison (whose blog you can visit here), Frances discovered that she could easily tell the difference between students and faculty. It turns out students carry backpacks and cell phones and the girls have on shirts that are too tight. And they're glittery.

Frances in Louisiana

2006-08-24T09:39:00.000-04:00

We took a trip to Louisiana to see family. Frances hasn't been to Louisiana since she was three. Everybody was happy to see her. There were scores of cousins to play with (as you can see in the picture below) and lots of grown black women to boss Frances around (which she was very unhappy about). All in all we had lovely time. Check out her sister's blog to see more pictures of cute Louisiana babies.

The cousins in order of appearance: Noah, Cayden, Paige (actually an aunt), Morgan (on Paige's lap), Catherine (in pink--Frances's sister), Frances (the girl herself), Bliss (in the yellow t-shirt) and Joseph

This Frances in Dillard's in the Mall of Louisiana. Shortly before or after this picture was taken, Frances ran around the shoe department "powering up" her legs.

This Frances with the doll she got from her grandmother. It giggles and shakes. Those are daddy's feet in the background.

Frances Tells a Joke and Exhibits Some Self-Esteem

2006-08-09T09:37:00.000-04:00

Frances says: "What did the stamp say to the letter?"

Mommy: "I don't know."

Frances: "Stick with me and we'll go places."

The End

And consider this exchange between Frances and I:

Frances (as she's watching struggle to negotiate the stroller through a door I'm trying to keep open): "You wish I would be more helpful, huh?"

Me (slightly annoyed): "Yes, Frances, that would be nice."

Frances: "Too bad. This is me, Mommy and you love me just the way I am."

Of course she was then made to be extremely helpful.

Why Frances Has Trouble in School

2006-07-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

Here's an exchange between Frances and myself:

Me: "What does a reindeer do when it's being chased by a polar bear?" (In my head I'm thinking about the great giggle we'll have about the answer: He runs for deer life. hehehe)

Frances: "Polar bears live at the bottom of the world. Reindeer live with Santa Claus at the top."

Me: "Okay, yeah. But it's a joke."

Frances: "And polar bears don't chase reindeer. They eat fish."

Me: "Let's just pretend."

Frances: "Well, the joke can't be funny because it doesn't work like that."

Me: "Fine." I had to laugh at my joke all by myself.

Frances Turns 6!!

2006-07-27T13:26:00.000-04:00

We celebrated Frances's 6th birthday in Columbia, SC. We visited the Riverbanks Zoo, EdVenture (a children's museum), and the State Museum ("All of South Carolina Under One Roof). We had lots of fun and took tons of pictures. Here are a few:

At Riverbanks Zoo you can feed goats and giraffes, pet birds and other wild animals, and ride ponies. We think Frances sits a fine horse.

At the children's museum you can work at various jobs to earn money that you can then spend a grocery store (I believe the goal here is to teach children the joys of capitalism). Frances did lots of jobs, but, by far, the most fun was fireman. See her serious face?

We also got to see Eddie, the world's largest child. You can climb inside Eddie's head and bounce on his stomach and slide around in his intestines. Frances is standing next to his shoe here. Note two of her favorite things in this picture: her soccer shorts and her pink Crocs.

And at the State Museum we got to do all sorts of hands on science experiments and sit in a train from the 19th century and wander around in a one room schoolhouse and, as pictured here, we got to dig for dinosaur bones. Frances is too focused on her work to smile for the camera.

A Message From Frances

2006-07-27T10:20:00.000-04:00

Frances says:

"Dear whoever I'm sending this message to: I'm having a great day. Thank you."

Frances turned 6 on July 15th. We have lots of pictures. I will post later today.

Frances on the Coming of Spring

2006-03-09T18:33:00.000-05:00

"You notice how it's warm in the afternoons? You should go to your pool." What if people don't have a pool? "Then go to the beach." What if they don't live near a beach? "Then spray yourself with a water hose." What if they don't have a water hose? "Go to your friend's house." What if they don't have friends? "That's very sad."

Frances on the MLK Holiday

2006-01-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Frances: Well, they wouldn't let the black kids and the white kids go to school together, so Abraham Lincoln made a decision.

Mommy: What did he decide?

Frances: I don't know. They didn't tell me the rest.

Mommy: Don't you want to know what happened?

Frances: I already know what happened.

Mommy: Really? What?

Frances: Well, Mikhayla is a white girl and me and Dameondra are black girls and we go to school together, so it must have turned out okay.

Minutes later we pass a large poster of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Frances: Mommy, why is there a picture of Abraham Lincoln on that poster?

Mommy: Honey, that's not Abraham Lincoln. That's Martin Luther King, Jr.

Frances (looking very confused, thinks a few seconds and then): Oh! It wasn't Abraham Lincoln. It was Martin Luther King. He didn't make a decision. He made a famous speech. I don't really know who Abraham Lincoln is.

For All Those Who Don't Believe in Santa...

2005-12-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

Frances says: "How do you think the presents get under the tree? Parents don't get up in the middle of the night and wrap all of those presents. And where does all the milk and cookies go? Even a daddy couldn't eat all those cookies."

Frances's Halloween

2005-11-19T20:15:00.000-05:00

Frances says (dressed up as Frances Potter, the Wizard): "Trick or treat."

The highlight of our Halloween: We went to one house that had its light on. The people inside didn't have any candy and didn't even realize it was Halloween. The man who answered the door apologized, Frances and her friends said okay, and we started across the street. Before we could make it down the driveway, the man comes chasing behind us. He feels so guilty about not having candy that he gives each of the girls a dollar. I tell him he doesn't have to do this, but he insists. The girls say thank you, and we move on to the next house.

Now for the good part. At the next house, the light is on, but, again, the man inside has no candy. Frances's friends turn to go, but Frances says, "The man across the street didn't have any candy and he gave us a dollar." They guy says, "Do you want me to go inside and get you dollar?" Frances says, "Yes. I like money." He goes inside, comes back with a handful of change adding up to a dollar. Frances takes it, says thank you, and cheerfully moves on to the next house.

Now, it is at this point that I want to insist that Frances has been raised better than this, but since this is pretty much how she acts all the time, I'd probably be lying.

My New Sister

2005-10-10T17:54:00.000-04:00

"My little sister is very cute. She's also funny sometimes. She's funny when she says 'ah'. But her feet look like witch's feet."

Frances is enjoying her new sister. After we convinced her to stop pinching Cate's cheeks every 5 seconds, things have been smooth sailing. Now, if we can only convince her to stop squeezing Cate's nose...

Frances on kindergarten and growing up

2005-09-25T09:33:00.000-04:00

Frances says: "What I like about kindergarten: I like our lunch trays and when we get to pick up our own food. We have lots of milk cartons. I also like when we work in our workbooks.

What I don't like kindergarten: Sometimes the teachers are mean. Some of the kids are annoying.

The thing I like best is watching science and learning science and listening to science. When I am a grown up, I would like to be a scientist so that I can invent medicine that tastes like candy so that people won't get sick."

A Halloween Public Service Announcement

2005-09-14T18:04:00.000-04:00

Frances says: "Make sure to give all the children lollipops on Halloween. The ones with the gum inside. And the ones with the chocolate. And the the sour ones, too. Those are the ones that children like. Make sure you fill their buckets with candy. But folks, even the ones in Africa, do not--I repeat, do not--give your children smarties. They make the kids' brains hurt. We're smart enough already. Love, Frances McCann."

Introducing Frances

2005-09-10T09:07:00.000-04:00

(Catherine received her own blog as a shower gift. Frances clearly couldn't let the baby be the only one with her own website...)

Frances says, "I love you all."