Finally: Home after more than two weeks

I can't tell you how lovely it is to be sitting in my comfy chair in my very messy house this New Year's Eve. After more than 12 hours of traveling we finally made it home at about 8:30 this evening. I'm pooped. The boys did great and the air travel was about as pain free as air travel gets. I made it through two flights without being pooped on or puked on and, frankly, for a mom who travels frequently with young children in tow -- no puke/poop means a great flight.

Mike prayed that this would be the last time that we would have to fly home for Christmas. I tell you the truth, after seven years of flying home each Christmas, we're definitely ready to be close enough to drive.

I'm too tired to do much of anything tonight. Both of the boys are in bed and Mike just went to the convenience store down the street because the cupboards and the fridge are bare.

I don't think I can manage the emotional or physical energy to unpack anything tonight. Thankfully I have clean pjs in my dresser and my toothbrush/toothpaste are in the bathroom. No need to unpack anything tonight! It'll still be here in the morning.

The fact that it is New Year's Eve seems so minor to me tonight. I'm just so very thankful to be safely home, in my warm house, with my boys tucked into their beds. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new year and that is wonderful, but more important to me at this moment is that tomorrow I will wake up in my own bed. Aahhhhhh. I love my soft, comfortable, pillow-topped wonder of a bed. In fact, I think it's time for a quick shower to wash away the grime of travel and then I plan to sink into that heavenly softness.

I'm home!

Merry Christmas

Friends,

Tonight I post from San Saba, Texas ~ home to my mother- and father-in-law. My children are snuggly tucked into the hide-a-bed in the office. The stockings are hung, the prayers are said, the pajamas are on. And Zachary is still awake. . . just almost beside himself with anticipation. What an exciting time for children (and their parents). I love it. And I love Santa.

Our prayers tonight included Zach's request that Santa be kept safe while Alec's two cents were that we should have cupcakes for Jesus and tell Him happy birthday. They are so very precious, my children. I am so thankful for them. And I am thankful for you!

So from my family to yours, have a blessed Christmas. May God bless you and may Santa fill your stocking with things that will make you smile.

With love,
Andrea

Festive Function: "Forty Winks 'Til Christmas"

Last night Zach enjoyed the limelight in "Forty Winks 'Til Christmas," a musical play in which he commanded the role of the red Christmas gift under the tree. The funny thing is that I didn't realize, until we were actually there watching the festive function, that he would be front and center on the stage the entire time. There were about 120 kids involved: first and second graders. Zach was one of about eight that spent the entire time on the stage. He only had one short, little line to speak, but he spoke it well! He had a ball. And he was so very cute. He's the third one from the left in the clip below.

Zach, Easton, Luke (buddies from church and school). Aren't they so handsome?!

Forlorn, Futile, Fatal, Fruitless ~ not good F words

I am saddened today at the news that my father's best friend has died, quite tragically. Some of you know that my dad was an administrator in the Wynnewood school district for more than 25 years. Mr. Horton also worked for the school, as a favorite high school ag teacher. Good man. Kind, caring, father of three boys. His boys are all grown now, older than I am.



I don't have details, and frankly, they don't really matter in the larger sphere of this tragedy. I know that Mr. Horton had been struggling with the effects of diabetes for many years. He'd lost his eyesight and a limb. Other than that I do not know his personal circumstances. Unfortunately, I do know that he shot himself fatally last night. I don't know anything other than that and I'm just going to pray for his soul and for his family ~ his wife, Susie, and three boys Jon, Matt, & Pat. There are also a couple of granddaughters that are about my Zachary's age.



I also am praying fervently for my father. For the past six years or so, since my dad retired, he ate breakfast with Mr. Horton every Saturday morning. They gathered at a local truckstop and enjoyed biscuits and gravy along with each other's company. Dad lost another close friend a few years ago, Mr. Jackson. All three men worked together for Wynnewood Schools. My father is not a man who allows people to get too close to him; a friend is like family to him.



I'm saddened, but also feeling so helpless at the futility of this. Please be in prayer with me.

Figurative (rather than literal) friends

My children are very different. Temperment, activity level, senses of humor. . . all different. Zachary had an imaginary friend for about three years ~ ages 2 to about 5. His buddy was named Scrabby and he was a little brown dog with super human strength. Think Scrappy from those old Scooby-Doo movies and you'll have a great idea of what Zach's Scrabby was like. Scrabby went just about everywhere that we went and he was often in on conversations with Zachary. I never remember Scrabby doing anthing ugly. He was just a way for Zachary to keep himself entertained.

Alec also has an imaginary friend. Several times a day I find myself saying in a very stern voice, "Alec Michael! What is this?!" Usually something like syrup smeared all over the kitchen table provokes such a question. Invariably Alec's response will be, "I didn't do it, Mommy. My brudder (brother) Gaylor did it!" His answer is given with utmost sincerity, little shoulders shrugging and eyebrows raised in wonder. When I point to the syrup covering his hands, arms, shirt, etc. he smiles a bit devilishly before straightening his face and replying indignantly, "My brudder GAYLOR made me get all sticky!"

Apparently Gaylor is made of clouds and lives up in the sky. He also changes colors on a daily basis. Blue, purple, red. Last night he was orangish-yellowish with a kitty-cat tail when he was blamed for kicking the back of my seat in the car.

I believe I'll have mixed feelings when Gaylor grows up and moves back to his home in the sky. I miss Scrabby sometimes. He was such a big part of our daily lives for so long; it saddens me that Zachary has outgrown him. I'm not sure I'll really MISS Gaylor. Scrabby was sweet; Gaylor is more. . . sour. But Gaylor is what he is: a blueish, orangish, greenish little dude made of clouds with a propensity for orneriness. Oh dear, what will he do next?

This is me today. I'm grading papers. Wait, let's be more specific. I'm grading 51 research papers that are between 4 and 6 pages in length. Wait, let's be more specific than that. I'm grading 51 research papers by college students who are as emotionally DONE as they can possibly be with this academic quarter!







This is me today.

Actually that really isn't me. I'm not that thin and I don't have dark brown hair and I'm wearing a red shirt and khaki pants. . . but you get the idea.

I'm just taking a quick rant and rave break before getting back to work. I think my main problem is that I cannot seem to grade quickly. I've been working on this for the last three years and I'm still a slow poke. It's not that I read slowly, rather that I spend WAY too much time writing comments on the papers. I frustrate myself.

Anyway! What are you doing today? I hope it's more fun that 51 research papers!

Festive and fun

We had a great Thanksgiving break. Food, family, fun, and festivities. Lots of great F words packed into one long weekend. Fabulous. :-)

After the turkey, we got out the Christmas decorations, strung the lights and decorated the tree. Everything looks so festive and fun. I adore this time of year.

We also made Rice Crispy Treat Houses this weekend, in lieu of the Gingerbread variety. It was easy, stress free, and the boys loved it. I highly recommend this little activity if you happen to run across one of the kits on a store shelf.

On Friday I braved the madness and ventured forth into the great insanity of Black Friday Shopping. Yikes. . . and double yikes. But I came home with lots of goodies and we now have a Christmas tree with gifts that are wrapped and looking oh-so-inviting beneath it. Of course, this has caused some confusion and delay (for those of you who know the Thomas the Tank engine lingo) with Alec since his ability to understand time is -- shall we say -- limited. He saw presents under the tree on Saturday morning. He thought Santa had come. It was tricky and took some fancy talking on my part, but I think he's now aware that Christmas is still some time away.

In our household we celebrate the Christ for which Christmas is named. We also celebrate the magic that is Christmas and Santa and all things joyful and good. I wish you all joy and goodness during this special time of year.

For Thanksgiving

Today I am thankful for my sweet boys, Zachary and Alec. I am thankful for their giggles and silliness, for their beautiful blue eyes and their sweet, pudgy hands. I am thankful for my husband, who somehow still loves me in spite of my many flaws. I am thankful for my friends, both old and new. I am thankful for my parents, both those from birth and from marriage. I am thankful for my brother, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law.

God has blessed our little family with good health and financial stability. No, we certainly aren't wealthy. But the ends seem to meet each and every month; our boys have warm clothes and decent shoes; our cars drive; our teeth are healthy; our memories are in tact. And those memories are sweet, warm, good.

I am thankful that our house is warm and that the smell of cinnamon candles makes it even warmer. I am thankful that I have walls that are covered with picture frames, and that those frames hold photos of my beautiful children. I am thankful that my pets are healthy, and that my sweet Molly kitty loves to lay beside me while I type. She keeps both my legs and my heart warm.

I am thankful that Zachary is such a smart, sweet second grader. He was chosen to play "Elf 1" in the upcoming Christmas concert. I am thankful that Alec is such a cute, charming preschooler. He and his preschool class just performed "I'm a little turkey, short and fat" to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot" on Tuesday. It was blessedly adorable.

I am thankful that I get to teach and write. I feel extremely blessed to do what I do. I have seen marked improvement in several of my students this quarter and, frankly, it just doesn't get much better than being able to help a student become a better writer.

I am thankful for Mike. He is my soulmate, my best friend, the one I always want to see at the end of the day.

And of course, I am thankful for the life I live because of Christ. All praise, all thanks to Him.

Hunter Update

I wanted to post a quick update for those of you joining me in prayer for sweet little Hunter. This morning at church our preacher read a note from Hunter's mom, Jaymi. She said that the chemo was giving him occasional bouts of nausea and is making him very tired. But they received very good news this past week based on some tests (I have no details on what types of tests were run). The doctors are saying now that Hunter has a 95% chance of full recovery from this disease. I think that sounds very encouraging.

Jaymi and Rob have rented a little apartment right near Children's Hospital so that someone can always be right there with their little guy. I know that this must be taking a toll on them. I cannot even imagine it, frankly. I just know that when one of my guys has a bad cold, my world turns inside out. I ask for your prayers for Rob and Jaymi that God will give them energy and peace.

I'll continue to post updates as I receive them.

Forecast: Rain

I live in the Pacific Northwest.

I was not born here.

I was not raised here.

I did not, quite frankly, choose to move here.

And yet, here I am in my third year as a resident of the beautiful state of Washington. It truly is a gorgeous place to live, especially in the summer when the highs are in the 80s and the rain clouds are a hazy memory. But this evening, as I type, the rain is pounding on the windows and the wind is gusting outside. It's raining.

Again.

I've had migraine headaches since I was in high school. When I was about 20 years old I realized that my migraines seem to come quite often right before a change in weather, or when it rains. Yeah, the rain isn't a great thing for me. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate it on the days when I can snuggle up under my warm comforter and listen to it on the eaves. . .that is a peaceful essence of rain. But when it rains a bit (or a lot) each day for weeks or even months on end, I am not the type of person who can really revel in that. There are people here in Washington who truly and honestly love the rainy weather. I have students at Olympic College who walk into class on the rainiest, messiest of days and with heartfelt regard proclaim, "I love this weather." No sarcasm. Honest truth. They love it.

Not me. Not so much.

Below is a picture that I took from inside my car yesterday, right before I made the regular slog and slosh through the rain to get to my classes.

Thankfully, God did promise Noah that he wouldn't allow the rain clouds to get too carried away after that 40 day thing. And so there is always, inevitably, a break in the clouds. For those, I am truly thankful. In those times, I do love it here and I do feel welcome.


Pretty, huh? My little campus at Olympic College. It's a pretty little place.

Now, if only the forecast could call for dry, chilly weather for a few days. . . .

Four for dinner

I'm going to make a small thanksgiving meal for the four of us next week. Nothing fancy because, frankly, the boys wouldn't eat anything fancy and my waistline doesn't need anything fancy.

I bought a small spiral ham today and I'm going to make a small turkey breast. The boys requested corn on the cob and crescent rolls. What else should I make? Any ideas that are kid friendly?

Help me out!

Friends who need prayers

We have friends in our church home that have just had their lives turned upside down. Rob and Jaymi are a sweet couple with two little boys under the age of three. Rob is a firefighter and Jaymi has been running a home daycare for the past couple of years. Hunter is their oldest; he's only two and a half. Hudson is the newborn.

On Wednesday, Rob and Jaymi were given the news that Hunter has leukemia. This devastating information spread quickly through our small congregation; we've all been saddened and dismayed.

The good news is that the doctors jumped aggressively into action and they say the disease is treatable. They have given Rob and Jaymi a three-year plan of action. Hunter is already doing chemo at Children's Hospital in Seattle. Seattle is not an easy trip from Port Orchard. It involves either a ferry ride or a long drive around the water. Rob has been staying with Hunter at the hospital while Jaymi commutes back and forth so that she can be with Hunter during the chemo sessions and also be home with the newborn as much as possible.

Jaymi has already had to let her daycare business go because the doctors said "too many germs." Rob has let a part-time job with a construction company go so that he can devote more time to home. They've gone from three jobs to one in a few days.

They need our prayers on so many levels, but of course the most important one is for Hunter's health and well-being.

Will you please join me in praying for this sweet family today?

Facebook

So I've been on Facebook for a few months now and, for the most part, I think it's a fun little thing that I simply don't have enough time to indulge in. But one very cool thing that I've found on Facebook are old friends from high school, college, and summer camps. Mike and I met at Camp Blue Haven in 1995. Facebook gave me back my friend Chad, another CBH counselor from '95. Chad just finished scanning about 200+ photos and posting them online for the other CBH Facebook folks to view. Mike and I have had a blast looking through all of those old pictures today. I thought it would be fun to post a few of them here. I'm always posting pics of our kids. Here are a few of us. And man, do we look like kids. If only I could still squeeze into those clothes. Sigh.




Chad, Jay, and Mike

My long lost friend Eric

The counselors: Can you find me?

Fearsome, toothless, warriors

This is just too cute to keep to myself. This little boy is one of Zach's best buddies. They dressed in the same Halloween costumes and they've both recently lost front teeth. Sweet boys!

Family time in Oklahoma

The boys and I are back from our quick trip to Oklahoma. While we were there, they enjoyed cow-boying with Poppa Jim. They did some tree climbing, some horse swinging, some cow-feeding, some running and a lot... a LOT of playing.

I was fairly relieved to find my mom in about the same condition she was in this summer. The only major change I saw was a new compulsion to pick at her skin. She has developed sores on her arms, hands, and scalp from this unconscious need to scratch and pick. It is a frustrating new trait because she is incapable of stopping herself from doing it. She had a couple of bad days while we were there, but the last three days she was aware of the boys and had a lot of fun playing with them. For that, I'm very thankful that we went home.

We'll be going back for a week at Christmas. I'm so ready to live closer to home. It is very difficult for me to leave and come back to Washington after seeing how much help my dad needs with her. Please keep them both in your prayers. Alzheimers is a hateful, dreadful disease.

On a happier note, I got some sweet pics of the boys and I'll share a few here.

Fall fun: pumpkins and corn mazes

Last weekend we took the boys to Pheasant Fields Farms for a pumpkin picking experience, complete with a stroll through their corn maze. It was fun and, of course, pictures were taken. I mean... duh.

The boys and I are flying to Oklahoma tomorrow for a quick trip to check in with my parents. Mike will be staying home since he has a real job that involves actual work on a daily basis. :-)

I covet your prayers for safe travel and that we will enjoy our time with Poppa Jim and Grandmom. Thanks!

Enjoy.

FLIPPING

On Saturday the boys wanted to go to the playground for a bit, and since the weather was actually dry... we went. Zach has a new skill that he's recently perfected on the playground and he needed to show it off. He's a flipping mad-man. He flips forwards and backwards, on parallel bars and on single bars. Of course, once Alec saw Zachary flipping all over the place he had to have a go at it too. And then, in the natural order of boys... Mike also had to have a try. I was so glad I brought the camera!

Enjoy.

Fierce, frightening, and fretfully cute!

My boys have finally chosen their Halloween costumes. And for the first time, they've chosen the same thing. NINJAS! Even when Alec is not in costume, he "sneaks" around in a very dramatic fashion and says he's sneaky like a ninja. You'll see from the photos that Zachary has truly gotten into character with his costume. His poses and facial expressions are truly ninja warrior-like.

On a side note that should make you chuckle. Alec has recently become fascinated with the aesthetic designs he can make with his urine. For example, he'll be standing in front of the toilet and he'll say something like, "Look Mommy! I'm magic. I can make flowers in the potty with my pee!" Last night, after this photo session, he was in the act of relieving his bladder when he said to Mike, "Daddy! Look! My pee looks like my Ninja sword!"

Never a dull moment.

Factoids

I'm at a loss for a new "F" post, but my sissy Sara just did random facts on her site so I thought I'd steal the idea and just rename it.

So, here are some random facts about yours truly.

1) My favorite soft drink is Diet Dr. Pepper. I really don't like any other carbonated drinks at all. I have a DDP every morning instead of coffee because I don't really like coffee. I like the smell of it, but that's about it.

2) My hair is naturally curly, but it isn't CONSISTENTLY curly. The top layer is rather straight but each layer underneath gets curlier and curlier.

3) Like my friend Sara, I read magazines and catalogs from back to front.

4) In college I got to ride on the Harding "jet" from El Paso to Searcy with Dr. Burks, the president of my alma mater.

5) Also in college, I dated my friend Cara's now husband Kent. (Well, dated might be a bit extreme. I think we went on two dates. But still, it sounds better to say that I dated him.)

6) Much to my father's despair, I turned down a full scholarship to attend Oklahoma State University (tuition, room, board) because I wanted to attend Harding. I never regretted the decision. I'm not sure if my dad (and his wallet) would agree.

7) My husband proposed to me one afternoon while we were on a one hour break from our job as counselors at Camp Blue Haven. I wore my engagement ring for about 15 minutes before I had to hide it because we weren't really supposed to be "romantically involved" as counselors.

8) My oldest son, Zachary, was supposed to be Madalyn Nicole. His ultrasound said girl. It was wrong. I had to have an emergency c-section to deliver him. While the nurses prepped me for the cutting, they asked what name I'd chosen. When the doctor pulled the baby from my body I heard a nurse laughingly say, "Honey, this is NOT a Madalyn!"

9) Sometimes I crave Doritoes and bean dip. It's one of those snack foods that I just have to have about twice a year.

10) I have several small flat moles on my right leg that make up the shape of the Big Dipper.


Okay, your turn! Tell me a random fact!

Fancy Feet

Alec brought home a note from pre-school on Tuesday notifying us that there would be a dance teacher coming for an in-school field trip on Thursday. I thought, "Hmmm, a dance teacher with a classroom full of three-year-olds. Definitely gotta see that." So I left my class a tad early and drove a tad too fast and arrived just in time to see my boy "dancing." He was very cute. Of course, he does come by that cuteness naturally.

Above: Alec is wearing all grey and they are "dancing" (i.e. running and giggling hysterically) like birds.

Above: Alec is standing next to his buddy Savannah. He's always talking about Savannah. :-)

Above: This was definitely the highlight of the day for me. They gave him a ribbon and told him to run on tip-toes and twirl it. So... he stood there in the classic boy position and swished that thing back and forth manically until they made him stop.

It was certainly worth the price of admission.

Fall weather

I am just curious. Is anyone out there actually having somewhat normal fall weather right now? I realize that "normal" is terribly abstract and varies widely, but we're having the weirdest weather here in the Pacific Northwest! There has been no rain -- stunning -- and the temps have been in the 80s! Unbelievable in this neck of the woods. I am not prepared for such weather. I go to work and sweat in my work clothes because I do not have warm weather work clothes. Why? Because it is not supposed to be warm here, not while I'm teaching anyway!

What about you? How's the weather?

Following Mom

I'm having my English 101 students write descriptive essays next week. They are supposed to describe a family member, and in doing so, their descriptions should explain more about their family and about themselves. I am one of those teachers who would never make an assignment that I couldn't do myself, so I sat down today to write my own descriptive essay. I'll be posting this one as an example on my class blog http://olympicenglish101.blogspot.com/ next week, but I'm giving it a trial run here. Let me know what you think. Does it accomplish the goal? In describing one person in detail, does it also provide a little something more about the family?

----

She is a very pretty lady with cornflower blue eyes and blond hair naturally highlighted with streaks of silver. She smiles and her face lights up with a joy that is contagious. Her last birthday, in August, celebrated 62 years of life. She is a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a daughter, a friend. She taught second graders to love Beverly Cleary and to write in curly-cue cursive for twenty-five years. She was always that teacher who wore the shirt embroidered with scarecrows in the fall, the vest embroidered with Santas in the winter, and the earrings with tiny flowers on them in the spring.

Today my mother wakes up and rubs her eyes against the harsh morning light. She walks to the kitchen by sheer force of habit. My dad, her husband of forty years, meets her there and hands her a handful of pills, some small and in varying shades of pastel, a few that are large and beige. She smiles at him, kisses him good-morning, and swallows her pills with the cup of water that he hands her. Then she stands in the middle of her cheerful kitchen and looks out the window. She stands there until her husband hands her a cup of coffee and leads her by the hand to the kitchen table where he has placed a bowl Raisin Bran, because she loves raisins.

After breakfast she carries her dishes to the sink but she can’t figure out how to turn on the water. She fiddles with the faucet for a few moments, twisting, turning, pushing. Like magic, the water begins to flow and she rinses her dishes with hands that are bare. Suddenly she realizes her hands are bare. She leaves the water running and goes in search of her wedding band.

Her husband comes in from a quick trip to the garbage can and finds the sink filling up with water. He shuts off the flow and goes in search of her. He finds her in their bedroom. She’s sitting on the bed wearing a shirt but no pants, and yet she’s trying to figure out how to put on her shoes. She keeps putting her left foot into the right shoe. Over and over… and over again she puts the wrong foot into the wrong shoe. He rummages through her closet until he finds some navy blue slacks and then helps her get them on and buttoned before slipping her shoes onto the right feet. The shoes are red leather, her favorite.

Later she stands in front of the mirror in her bathroom and combs through her silvery hair. She suddenly notices that her left hand is bare and, hair brush in hand, she goes in search of her wedding band.

Her husband finds a hair brush in the kitchen sink. He stands at the sink and looks out into the backyard where she is pulling up clumps of weeds from around the old storage shed. He watches, making sure she doesn’t wander too far away. She pulls and tugs for awhile and then carries her scraps to the garbage can behind the house.

A few minutes later she walks back into the kitchen wearing only one red shoe. The other foot is bare, except for the dirt and grass clinging to her unpainted toes. He raises his eyebrows at her but wordlessly walks outdoors and searches the grass for the shoe. He finds it near the garbage can and carries it back to the house.

He finds her on hands and knees with an old dishtowel wiping up the muddy footprints from her blue and white checkered kitchen floor. She says indignantly, “Someone tracked mud right through the kitchen!” She doesn’t notice that her left foot bears the damning evidence. He doesn’t point it out to her.

Later they sit together in the living room and spoon up the potato soup that he made for lunch. Again she notices her bare left hand and says to him, “Oh no! Where is my wedding ring?” He reaches over and pats her on the hand and says, “Remember, Honey? We took it to the jeweler last week to have the setting re-done. One of the diamonds was loose.” She nods her head that she does remember, and they continue to watch the noon-time news.

Minutes later she says again, “Where is my wedding ring? I’ve been looking for it all day!”

And he answers, “Remember, Hon? We took it to the jeweler.”

Fall television

Mike and I gave up on our Directv a couple of months ago and we've been surviving with nothing more than a little antenna on our TV and about five local channels. We were able to get the Olympics this summer and that's about the only thing on the tube we found worthwhile all summer anyway. I don't really miss having 220 channels. I'm not all that big on tube time. But I do enjoy veggin' on the couch on occasion and tonight I've got a date with NCIS. I'm looking forward to that.

I guess we'll have to resume our satellite TV service pretty soon because of the whole digital TV thing coming into existence in February, but I must admit that I'm disappointed with television on the whole. I'm not a fan of the reality stuff. Just doesn't float the Andrea boat. So tell me, please, what are you watching on TV? Is there anything out there worth the time? Someone give me a reason to start spending money on TV again!

Focusing on Zachary

An interview with Zachary, age 7. Zachary is my thinker, analyzer, questioner. I often alternate between being completely frustrated (screaming, gnashing of teeth, tears, etc.) and completely amused by him. His idiosyncracies either prompt extreme pride or extreme worry. For example, he's a tenderhearted, sensitive little guy. This makes him exceptionally sweet as a friend and brother. It also leaves him wide open to hurt feelings, and the hurt feelings just happen all too often. He is not a big fan of change and would rather have things remain as status quo as much as possible. When change is required, he has a very hard time making decisions and being content with the decisions after they're made. Look for that quirk as he answers his "interview" questions. And by the way, he LOVED this interview. He sat on the couch and I could see an imaginary microphone in front of him as he performed for his crowd (Alec and me).


Me: What is your favorite restaurant?
Z: Hmmm, what kind of restaurants can I say? Can I do Papa Johns? Or Oh! Did you mean the kind you eat in? I like Olive Garden a lot. But I also like pizza so Pizza Hut is good. I like a lot of restaurants. This is a hard one!

Me: What is your favorite subject at school?
Z: Hmmmm, math!

Me: Why?
Z: Because math games are fun and I learn from them.

Me: What do you like to do with your brother?
Z: Play fighting games, like 'super kitty' (my note: This is a game that they have invented in which they pretend to be cats with ninja powers or something like that. Kind of weird, actually.) and I love to play Star Wars.

Me: Who is your favorite Star Wars character?
Z: Yoda. I mean Luke! Well, Luke and Yoda. And Anakin. Can I have three favorites?

Me: What have you learned from watching Star Wars?
Z: I learned that padawans are very sensitive, have a good sense of humor and are good Jedi knights (my note: padawans are Jedi knights in training). I learned that when Jedi get very old they die and disappear and then their spirits come back.

Me: What is your favorite Bible story?
Z: That's a hard one! (He thinks, tapping his chin. Tap, tap, tap. He starts to get kind of nervous so I say, No big deal, Zach. Just think of one.) His answer... finally...
When Jesus was born because that was Christmas time and I love Christmas! So, Mommy, were Christmas and Easter the only holidays in Jesus's time? (My answer: Those weren't actually holidays in Jesus's time, but there were Jewish holidays.)
Z: Really? Like what? What were the holidays? Did they have presents? What were they called?

***short time out to briefly discuss my limited knowledge of Jewish holidays

Me: What is your favorite color, and why?
Z: Red. No actually red AND green. Because red is lava and green is a good guy lightsabor color.

Me: Who do you play with on the playground?
Z: Luke, Easton, Nate, Chloe, Grace.

Me: Who is the cutest girl in your class this year?
Z: (He giggles, but answers promptly.) Chloe is the cutest girl in my class, but Grace is still my girlfriend.

Me: What do you like best about Oliver and Molly (our cats) ?
Z: They are very, very, very sweet, and Oliver is crazy. He knocks stuff down in the basement, chases our feet, chases Molly, pretends to kill Molly, and that's all. (He laughs.) That Oliver is a crazy kitty! (He picks up Oliver and loves on him).

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Z: I wish I could be a Jedi (he sighs, rather dramatically) but I can't... because lightsabors and the force are not real. (This is actually a breakthrough moment, this admission that such things are not real.) It is only on movies. So I want to be a teacher, a school teacher. And a violin musician. I want to be both.

Me: What do you want to be for Halloween?
Z: I want to be Luke or Obi Wan or Mace Windu or Indiana Jones.

Me: What should our last question be?
Z: It should be...(He names about ten things in one big breath and says he doesn't want to only have one more question because he likes being interviewed, but I insist so he settles on favorite toys.)

Me: Okay, so what is your favorite toy?
Z: My favorite was Thomas for a long time, but it changed to Star Wars guys. I love Star Wars guys.

Me: Okay, that's it. Thanks, Zachary.
Z: Thank you for my information! Bye! (Big grin.) Now let's do you, Mommy! I'll ask the questions!

Focusing on Alec

Alec and I are enjoying a quiet morning at home today. My quiet mornings are soon to be extinct. Only one more week until my academic quarter gets going and then my mornings will be spent in the classroom, focusing on theme, audience, grammar, perspective. With all of that in mind, I wanted to devote this morning to my little guy, so here we go! I'm going to focus on Alec today in my blog. Next time I'll try to get Zach to sit still for an "interview."

Alec is my little entertainer. Frustrating at times, certainly. But also very endearing, clever, and just plain ol' funny.

We're in the living room and he's jumping from the ottoman to the sofa. "Stop jumping on the furniture," I say for the bazillionth time this morning. His answer?

"Heaven is up in da sky and ya have to hop on clouds to git to God."

So, what do you say to that? I open my mouth to comment but he's not finished.

"I like to hop. Watch me hop, Mommy. I'm a good hopper." And then, lo and behold, the little stinker is hopping from ottoman to sofa...sofa to ottoman. And I'm just laughing because he's such a manipulator. He had me focused on the hopping on clouds imagery and then he snuck in a forbidden fruit. Little traitor.

So I whisk him off of the sofa and tickle him and he giggles and that laugh is just so incredibly precious and I can actually picture him giggling and hopping from cloud to cloud. Breathless he says, "You sure are a good tickler, Mommy." And I melt, of course. Because at this moment I can't think of anything more righteous, any higher aspiration, than being the best tickler I can be.

Then he's up and bouncing around again, but this time it's for a different reason.

"I need to go potty, Mommy." So I take him and get him situated and then leave him to his business with his favorite book (this week), "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." From the bathroom he calls out, "Mommy! I'm done... but how come there are green octobabusses on the shower? How come they're smiling? Mommy? Are you coming? Actually, Mommy, I'm not done. Don't come yet." Then I hear singing. He's singing the alphabet song but for some reason he never can remember "T-U-V" so he just goes straight from "Q-R-S" to "W-X-Y AND ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" I'm not sure why those other letters always get left out, but I bet he would have a reason if I asked him.

And now he's done again so we take care of that business and I tell him to wash his hands. He doesn't like to wash his hands. I recently discovered a trick, though. He loves to play with little plastic toys in the sink. And he especially loves to wash little plastic toys with soap and water in the sink. So, guess what he's doing right now? He's playing with three little ninja guys and those dudes are getting bathed like nobody's business. There also seems to be an inordinate amount of dying and sneaking going on. "Blue ninja is sneaking on yellow ninja and then he DIED! Oh noooooo. No wait, he didn't died. He's kicking now!" And there are noises that only little boys are able to make. Kicking and punching and ooof type noises. I feel the need to distract him.

I call out, "Alec, what's your favorite animal?"

He calls out, "My favorite animals are kitties! Watch this Mommy, I'm a kitty." And now he's meowing while playing with the ninjas in the sink. The funny thing about the "watch me" comment is that he says that when he wants me to listen to him. He hasn't actually fully conquered the difference between listening and watching.

And now here he comes. He's fairly soaked from playing and he's carrying a little orange kitten in what looks to be a very uncomfortable position. Oliver the kitty looks at me pleadingly and I rescue him from those wet clutches of three year old love. And now Oliver shakes his paws and his head and water flies everywhere and I wonder if more than ninjas got a bath in the sink?

Certainly wouldn't surprise me. Not much surprises me anymore. At least, not when Alec is involved! My sweet, funny, adventuresome, charming little stinkeroo.

Fabulous Firsts

Today Alec started his academic career. First day of preschool at Adventureland! He did GREAT. Not a tear, unless you count the few that I bravely blinked away before he saw them. He was so confident. Walked right up to Ms. Aimee and said, "I'm Alec, A-L-E-C." And she said, "Wow! You are a scholar, Alec." And he nodded matter-of-factly and said, "Yep. I'm growing to be a big boy. I'm gonna be a daddy someday." That announced and agreed upon by all, he then went about the task of putting his sticker on the attendance chart, right next to A-L-E-C. And then he was moving on to the puzzles, totally fine and hardly giving me another look. I was backing out of the room, waiting for tears, for the, "No Mommy! You have to stay with me!" But he was fine.

He had fun too. When I picked him up at noon he ran to me and said, "It was fun." He said he liked "lining up" and "going to the potty" and playing at recess. He said he was a little frustrated (fust-a-RATEd) because he wanted to sing "Blue Skies and Rainbows" and Ms. Aimee didn't do that one. However, he still wants to go back on Thursday.

Of course, I took a bazillion pictures because...well, because it's my addition. The picture thing. And of course, I have to share some of them now. Just grin and scroll, my friend. Grin... and scroll. (The blue bucket is one of the school's requirements. They bring a bucket for transporting art/notes/snacks/etc. Alec LOVES his bucket.)