Preschool on parade

Isaac's preschool class had a Halloween party Friday wherein they carved a pumpkin and made their own rice krispie treats. Each Halloween they have a class parade, followed by a performance of songs and poems they've been learning in class for us family-type people. The 4s class gets to perform in costume.



As you can see, Isaac acquiesced on the dinosaur costume, unable to resist its utter awesomeness. He was satisfied in the end with it being a stegosaurus.



You can also see my cutie Masked Man, AKA my Shopping Companion of Mystery. He spent the morning so disguised, helping me to blow all Daddy's hard-earned money on groceries at the wholesale club.

Isaac's best friend, Leah, wanted to get in on the photo-snapping action. She was Wall-E in the parade. She and Isaac share a deep love of dinosaurs and so are joined at the hip.

Happy Halloween!

A preschool patriot

About a month ago, with no warning whatsoever, Isaac told me he had something to show me, a surprise of sorts. He then proceeded to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with no mistakes and in perfect cadence. I had no idea that his preschool teachers had taught it to his class, and that they recite it every day to start school. How awesome is that?

This morning Isaac was in the mood to demonstrate. How appropriate, I thought, as we descend upon such an important election day.

His first novel

Last week, Isaac and I began plotting to write a book together about dinosaurs. Nothing to head to a publishing house or anything; it's just that he is SUCH a storyteller and a prolific dinosaur illustrator that I knew he would enjoy the process. Yesterday when Jake was napping, he and I sat down at the kitchen table and he dictated his story to me, organization and all.

I thought I would transcribe for you here this book that was in my son's head. Not a word of it is my own. He is strongly influenced in his literary style by paleontologist Charlotte Lewis Brown, who authors his favorite book of all time, "The Day the Dinosaurs Died."

---

Dinosaurs by Isaac O'Neal
coauthored by Steggy the stegosaurus, Ceratty the ceratosaurus, and Camary the camarasaurus

Chapter 1 -- The Flood
Once upon a time, there was a ceratosaurus. He roamed America all over the world so he could try to get away from the big flood. The flood was in North America, just where he was. But on a rainy, rainy day, he was so tired that he couldn't run any more. He was so tired that he took a drink. And then he ran and ran until he came to the forest. There was no flood there, and he smelled something. He sniffed the air.

"Stegosaurus!" he roared.

He jumped up the hill, then he took a big bite and chewed it up. THe stegosaurus lashed out his spiked tail and missed him. And then the stegosaurus was dead.

Chapter 2 -- The Meal

Chapter 3 -- The Crush
Then, the ceratosaurus smells something else. He smells a camarasaurus. The camarasaurus comes busting through the forest. Suddenly, a calling noise appears. It sounds like this -- "Ar-AAH-ah! Ar-AAH-ah!" -- that was an archaeopteryx. He was dipping his sharp teeth into the water and getting some fish. His teeth were like two long knives ready to strike the fish. But when he heard the camarasaurus coming, he was so surprised that he flew away.

The camarasaurus squished a stump that was in his way. The ceratosaurus jumped on the camarasaurus's back. Then the camarasaurus whacks him off and he crashes into a tree. Camarasaurus comes back running, right toward the ceratosaurus. The ceratosaurus comes running, too, and the camarasaurus busts his neck into the ceratosaurus's belly. The ceratosaurus tries to jump onto camarasaurus's neck, but it was too late. The camarasaurus whacked him again and he was dead.

THE END

There is such a thing as too much candy

Today was our fair town's annual Halloween parade, yeehah! Usually this parade is politician-rich and candy-poor. This year, however, the politicians are working extra hard for my vote and made especially sure to load up my kids' pumpkin baskets with candy. By the time we left Main Street, they were, like, six suckers to the wind.



Yup, Jakey was a TV. His idea! Daddy had the most excellent vision for implementation, replete with wood-grain Contact paper. He got lots of giggles and compliments, including the highest, from a twelve-year-old skateboarder who declared it was "the coolest costume I have ever seen."

The committment to one costume scares Isaac a bit. Depending on the day, he wants to be a dinosaur, a short-faced bear, a construction worker, Woody, and Buzz. We borrowed a dinosaur costume from a friend after he expressed serious interest in going that route, but in the end his inner paleontologist was turned off by how anatomically incorrect the costume was. It had plates like a stegosaurus, but also sharp teeth and claws like a meat-eater. That is not gonna fly with him. So today he chose to be a fireman, picking from our in-house costume library, and I think he looked quite stunning. We'll just play it by ear for Halloween.

After we got home, I let the kids eat all their candy in one sitting. Come on, it's Halloween! Isaac did pretty well with it, and everybody ate a decent dinner. In fact, everything went okay until bedtime, when Jake exploded on us in a crashing, tantrumy mess. Maybe a dozen suckers isn't such a great idea for him.

Walk in the woods

Earlier this month we had a heavy hand in helping Daddy prep to lead a field trip for one of his courses. I recently let him (SIGH) buy an iPhone, and I have to admit it came in handy for this. All he had to do was navigate as I drove us around our local state park, and he watched our progress live on a Google map on his phone. Every so often he would shout "pull over there!", and thus we scouted out interesting sites for his kids to learn about rivers.

Of course we got out and hoofed it for awhile, too, enjoying the crisp fall air and the chucking of objects into the creek. Isaac and Daddy led:



Jakey stayed with me, slower so he could find the best "shield" (read: big leaf) to go with his "sword" (read: big stick), a game he made up entirely on his own:



At one point as it neared naptime Jacob lost his desire to walk at all and hitched a ride on our family pack mule.



The scene reminded me strongly of one two years ago, in the same forest but in a different state, and with a different brother hitching a ride on Daddy:



Flash forward to the present, and here's the composite picture, accompanied by the sound of my heart breaking at my three beautiful boys.

Tis the season

It's official...Daddy and I just bought our first Christmas presents of the year for the monkeys. This year, it is so so so easy. They both have such strong and obvious interests, which I will share here for the benefit of the several parties who requested some ideas as they, too, begin to scour the aisles.

Isaac is still into dinosaurs, though he is branching out into ice age/Pleistocene-era mammals, too. I suppose you could say he is interested in the zoology of prehistory, because he is a big fat nerd like his parents.

Isaac is also newly into Legos, real big-boy Legos, and he has almost none. Daddy has picked up teeny vehicle + person sets here and there, but his entire collection fits in a sandwich-sized tupperware container. There is room for improvement. And we just took the first step by buying him the Ultimate Lego Building Set.

Jacob is still into Cars, as in the Disney movie. It would be difficult to shop for Cars cars for Jake because he has so many, including the 7 more we bought him tonight (though I can provide a list if needs be), but he would love other Cars-related items, including books, posters, coloring/activity books, stuffed toys, etc.

Jake's other obsession is puzzles. He can do 24- to 100-piecers by himself, and is always interested in more. He really enjoys working with his hands, so gear sets or playdoh or beads or crafty things would also be big hits.

Those are our big ideas, to fill the minds of interested parties with Christmas fodder. Books, costumes, activities, crafts related to these topics would also be received with great enthusiasm. And of course one need not limit oneself to these few areas of preschool-aged fun.

OOOOHH. I almost forgot -- we went to a birthday party a few weeks ago where our friend got a piano with a microphone. Was THAT ever a hit! We like our music, too. I should definitely mention that.

More from Jacob

*Jacob's favorite things in the world, still, are cars from the movie Cars and puzzles. On days when Isaac has preschool and we have no other obligations, I let Jacob choose what he and I will do. Most of the time he wants to sit at home and play online coloring games on the Cars website, or to put together this exceedingly awesome 100-piece dinosaur puzzle we got as a hand-me-down from our neighbor. We recently spilled a cup of coffee on a 48-piece dinosaur puzzle that Ella gave Isaac for his birthday; we had to throw it away. Oh, it was so horrible! The fits that were thrown! And it was understandable because literally Jake assembled that puzzle by himself daily. We shall have to get a replacement straightaway.

*Jacob is attached to my hip, still. He wants to go everywhere with me, even when Brother and Daddy want to stay home. Moreso, he insists on being carried EVerywhere. Entering a new realm of Jakey-dingleberryness, I carried him on my hip into the liquor store on Friday to buy beer. When we visited DC, he insisted on being carried piggyback by me over riding in the stroller. I know I am being indulgent, but I am also increasingly happy to indulge him because I realize...

*Jacob is engaged in a constant struggle with Isaac to be heard. Two nights ago Jake called Daddy in his bedroom to talk during tuck-ins. "Daddy," he said, "Isaac always tells me what to do and I don't like it."

Now, Isaac is not bossy in the stereotypical sense. I would say it in a gentler fashion, that Isaac prefers to control the situation by assuming that, in a situation with him and Jake, he is the natural leader and therefore decision-maker. Jacob at first will go along with Isaac's games and ideas because they usually are entertaining and good. But after awhile, it becomes clear that Isaac's games leave little room for anyone else's imagination.

Because of this, we think, when Jacob doesn't get his way, he erupts with the most unjustified temper I have ever seen and has trouble calming down. The situation is a lot more complicated than I can adequately explain after today's looooooong day, but we notice that Jacob is a complete angel when Isaac's at preschool, and that he can be an utter hellion when Isaac is around. I am trying much harder to pay attention to their separate needs, but sometimes it is just impossible when they insist on pulling me two directions at once. "Mommy, let's pretend to be dinosaurs!" "Mommy, play cars with me!" AAAARGH.

More from Isaac

* Thursday I mailed off Isaac's application to kindergarten at our city's charter school. I didn't sniffle because I was too busy hoping that he gets in. There are 80 spaces for kindergarten -- 4 classes of 20 kids -- and the closest anyone we know has gotten to getting in is our friend Eva, who was 40th on the waiting list. It's such a wonderful school that everyone wants to go. So now we wait for the lottery in January.

* We started allowing Isaac to stay up late reading books. He has always had a lot of trouble falling asleep -- I usually put him to bed at 9:30 and he stays up almost every night till 11 or later just laying around in the dark. During my massive night-owl reading kick of late, it stupidly occurred to me that perhaps Isaac would benefit from reading alone after Jakey hits the hay. So I let him stay up as long as he wants to keep reading by himself. He can call me in to read one book to him, but then it's lights out. The last few nights, I've insisted that he and I read that book together. I pick out a book he's almost memorized and point at the words as I read them, asking him to sound out a few words here and there, if he can. He has his letters and phonics pretty much down, thanks to preschool. I figure this way we'll start the reading ball rolling without any pressure.

* Perhaps related, but he has a sudden interest in "reading" the newspaper. Friday he carried an old newspaper -- the sports section -- around with him all day, looking at the pictures. We went to the grocery store to get a snack before preschool and he rode around in the cart with it open, poring over all the pictures. Our favorite checker, Mary, made a huge deal out of him, asking him who his favorite team is (it's the Eagles) and giving him a stern lecture on the importance of cheering for the Phillies. He carried it into preschool today wide open so that everyone would run into him and comment on what he was doing. Miss Susie asked him if he had any advice for her on the stock market.

Washington, D.C.

Today was an extremely pretty day with no pressing obligations. We used it to jaunt down to Washington, DC, just for grins. It's less than 2 hours from our house, and somehow we had yet to make the trip. Now we have! We had a GREAT time.



I was especially grinning because I'd never been before, ever. I am lame. But look at me now!



Well, the grins came mostly because we heard there were dinosaur fossils there (at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) and they were free for the gazing. Boy oh boy, were there ever LOOOOTS of dinos to see. I had heard rumors of the bounty, but still I was flabbergasted. I have dozens of pictures, all like these:







A cafe was conveniently located within the dino pavillion where we could sit and enjoy our lunch. Daddy and I packed bottled water for everybody; no sippy cups. Jakey spilled his. Daddy and Isaac were so surprised.



Even Jacob was surprised. And wet.



After lunch we saw dirt, bugs, and rocks. Jacob and I dallied in the "pretty rock" section to see the Hope Diamond and pet shiny things like this truckload of amethysts.



Eventually we tired of museuming and stopped on the Mall for a break. I saw the Washington Monument and was magically drawn to it. Isaac, however, had wasted all his good lovin' on the dinos and insisted that we would NOT be going there, and furthermore that he would use his body to block the Washington Monument from my camera's view so I couldn't take pictures either. As if! An intrigued Jakey joined in, and together they ended up looking like serious students of Tai Chi.



After a little rest, we slooooowly...



...made our way...



...to the National Air and Space Museum.





It was interesting. We saw lots of aircraft dangling from the ceiling, including the lunar module from Apollo 11, a Soviet rocket, a Tomahawk cruise missle, and a Nazi Zeppelin. We walked through SpaceLab and a 50s passenger jet. Perhaps that museum would be more fun with 8-year-olds as opposed to smaller people who are already wasted. We took the insisting that neither of them could walk independently anymore as a sign that we should go home.

We rested again on the Mall for a bit, snacking and pretending to be ice age hunters, before retrieving the car from a parking garage and driving home. No traffic, gorgeous weather, well-behaved babies. What a perfect day.

What we've been up to

So it's been awhile since I last blogged. I got two phone calls today -- one from each side of the family -- wondering if we were alive. I thought perhaps I should sit down and write something.

A few major things have conspired to keep me away. I list them in order of decreasing lameness.

1) I discovered Facebook. I am becoming a bit addicted to it. All my buds, in town and from high school, are on it. I even got in contact with my maid-of-honor again, after not having spoken to her for 4 years. I fart around on Facebook and my internet community needs feel artificially fulfilled for the day. Thus I do not blog.

2) I have been reading for fun a LOT in the past 3 weeks. A preschool friend recommended Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which was a good book but perhaps bad for me and my gardening/yard-work kick. It makes me wonder why we don't own chickens.

Then, when I was done with that book, my library wish list hit the jackpot after a month of waiting. The last three books of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer took their rightful place on my bookshelf. I stayed up till 2 in the morning most nights of the last two weeks with those ridiculous things, and I am glad to finally be rid of them so I can sleep again. Though if somebody wants to buy me copies for Christmas, I wouldn't mind. Perhaps my kids and husband might.

3) I started taking a Spanish class through Daddy's University on Thursday nights. It is very low-key, mostly conversational, only for employees and spouses (read: old people), not for credit. It is 2-1/2 hours and it is lots of fun. I wouldn't say I'm learning, so much as refreshing, right now, though I get the feeling the learning part will be kicking in in the next few weeks. I'm almost as excited to come home and speak it with the boys as I am to get away from the house on my own.

4) Last and the very least lame of them all is that we reroofed our house. When I say "we reroofed our house" I mean "we used our money to pay a contractor and half of Costa Rica to reroof our house". Our house is 43 years old; it was time for the original roof to be replaced. Our old roof was fine for the moment but saggy in places. The shingles were stained and slowly disintegrating.

So we paid all the money in the world for a wealth of dudes to tear the whole thing off, down to the decking, and replace it all with fresh plywood and dark green shingles. They did this all in one day, in less than 10 hours. Burns Brothers Roofing, they are the bomb. We also paid them to remove the original asbestos siding on the sides of the house, leaving that bare. Daddy has spent every spare minute of the last week residing that part with cedar, by himself. Note that he is not residing it with cedar-look vinyl siding, to the unforeseen confusion of every home improvement store within a 10-mile radius. All Home Depot/Lowe's/84 Lumber employees looked at our Daddy like he must be smokin' some serious crack to want to put actual wood on the outside of his house.

Hassling aside, now the west side of our house is sided, primed, and painted, and it looks like something out of a catalog. He just finished today, so I have no picture just yet. The east side, where there is less work to be done, will likely get Tyveked over and wait till the spring, when time and money allows its completion.

That has been stealing the bulk of my time -- baby wrangling when Daddy is outside busting his butt, and then more baby wrangling when Daddy is passed out from exhaustion on the couch. Daddy actually fell asleep sitting up one day, poor dude. But everyone agrees it is all worth it, because the finished product is everything we've ever dreamed of. Honestly, the whole project has filled me with respect and pride for my husband, that he can spearhead and accomplish such amazing things while simultaneously amazing people at work on a daily basis. He's a special guy, and not only do we love him so, but we count ourselves lucky to have him.

During the day, the boys and I have been going to school, to the library, or just hanging out at home. The weather has been so stellar that we spend as much time as possible at the park...



...or at the orchard, bless them and their plentiful apple harvest:



Once a week, we are accompanied by this lovely young lady:



Our homegirl Ella, she and Isaac are thick as thieves. I try to tell her mommy this every time I get a chance -- because their family's definition of "busy" puts ours to shame -- but I am SO GLAD we can hang with Ella on a regular basis. Ella and Isaac are like the same person. They run around holding hands together, everywhere. They boss each other around, each insisting that the other conform to the role-playing scenario du jour ("Ella, you be a stegosaurus." "Isaac, you be baby jaguar.") Ella is the only friend we play with around whom Isaac acts like himself, and for that I hope she hangs around for another 30 years so they can get married and have a million babies. And that those babies subsequently torture Isaac with endless requests that he should pretend to be a dinosaur.

As for Jacob, HE IS POOPING ON THE POTTY. One day he decided it was time to start setting the poop free on a regular basis. For the past two weeks, he's pooped on his own at least once a day without fussing or complaining. It is beyond delightful.

Haircuts

When it comes to haircuts, we are spoiled. Our Mamaw is both skilled and cheap, and lately we have been within range of her shears and clippers every two months, or sooner. So I let my boys grow out long and shaggy until she can take care of business in her kitchen or on her porch. In my book, there's not too much in the world that beats sitting still for a minute to let your grandma play with your hair.

But in the last month, I would swear that something has entered the water. Suddenly both kids are eating three of everything in sight, even Isaac. Those 5T shirts are looking less billowy on him now. Jacob is a solid 3T, with his feet outpacing him -- he shot up a shoe size, like, overnight, and is just barely a size behind Isaac. Hey Grandmas! We need new church shoes STAT, in a 9 and a 10.

The growth unfortunately passed onto their hair, and with no trip to Indy in sight (siiiiiigh), I took the boys to our back-up, a kids' hair cuttery. Kids' TV and suckers are a poor substitute for grandma fingers in my mind, but the kids didn't complain to loudly.

Witness the hippie-esque state of the BEFORE picture. Jake's bangs, when wet, would hang into his eyes.





And out of the shop, $30 dollars poorer and several grams of sugar richer, these dapper gentleman emerged, though it was harder to get them to pose. I blame the sugar.