Valentine's Day Cookie Decorating

The other weekend, Julie and the bambini were at the Johnson's house, and Sara had made sugar cookies in holiday shapes for all the kids to decorate, which they did, with gusto. Well, Joe did. Clara ate the first one she was handed, and never looked back. It was a lot of fun, and in the car, on the way over there last weekend, Joe announced that he would be decorating cookies upon arrival. Julie was pretty sure that this would be news to Sara, and in redirecting the culinary impulse, she thought it would be fun to do for Valentine's Day. Sadly, the Johnson boys couldn't make it for cookie decorating redux, so Joe and Birdie decorated for four. Upon seeing the trays (that were intended to keep down the sprinkle mess), Joe said, "Whoa! That's! So! Cool!" (We should also note that he got the point of the tray, stating to all that it was to keep our house from getting messy, and telling Clara to keep her things on the tray.) You can see how things went down, and also, probably, why only Joe was allowed the tube of red frosting.

You Look Good!

As we have mentioned in passing here, we will soon be traveling to Arizona. We have been gathering supplies for things that they have there that we do not here in Minnesota--like temperatures in excess of 50 degrees. Joe and Clara will both be sporting new shades on this trip. Clara was introduced to hers this morning when a ready distraction was needed from some other found distraction that was left carelessly about. Clara was told, "You look good!" Clara parroted, "You look good!"

Also Always Cool

This one, who has her pants on backwards. Not everyone can pull this look off. The list of those who can, really, numbers just three: Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and Chris "Mac Daddy" Smith of Kris Kross fame, and Birdie. It's so dope, right?! It's totally krossed out! Not only does Birdie wear her pants backwards when she feels like it, she also now can motor down the stairs backwards. She did it for the first time last weekend at the Johnson boys' pad. There, she was a little intimidated once she got to the slight curve in the staircase leading down to the basement, and was staring down a number of steps. But, she did it, to clapping and cheering. Here, she is also intimidated by the longer of the two flights of Raleigh House's main staircase, and actually hasn't fully tamed them--yet.

Always Cool

Quiet time, at some point, usually finds the boys on the big bed upstairs with their respective electronic books. Ted reads for a bit on his Nook, while Joe tinkers round with one of the few ebooks Ted has downloaded for Joe onto the iPad.

Here we pause to note that Julie is probably more conflicted than she need be about these electronic books, but that she is, nevertheless, conflicted, albeit less than when they first arrived on the scene. She has a difficult time discerning with what level of technology she is comfortable for our young man in the making, and so she tends to just go for Luddite levels, and then frets about her children being the only two freaks who don't know how to use a mouse in kindergarten or being made fun of because they don't know who Mater is. It's unfair of her, she knows, to assume all technology is bad. After all, she has fond, fond memories of playing the Number Munchers game (in which one makes a monster munch, say, multiples of a number) in four grade, and spent hours and hours watching the sitcoms of the eighties to say nothing of the Dukes of Hazzard, Love Boat, The Price Is Right, and All My Kids (as her grandfather called it) when she was even younger, and she is, still, a certified book worm. So, the conflict is unfair, but it is there, nevertheless.

Anyway. These electronic books are not the same as paper books as Joe more watches them or interacts with them, rather than reads them (or supposedly learns to read them), and the nature of his experience with these books seems much the same whether a parent is heavily involved, or he is manning all the bells and whistles himself. During quiet time, he manipulates the books himself. Recently, Ted got Joe some headphones, as we plan to bring the iPad with us to Arizona as part of the parade of in-flight entertainment for Joe, and they will allow him to enjoy the adventures of Thomas et. al. without subjecting his fellow travelers to them. Joe has been trying them out during quiet time.

So here he is, in all his preteen boy glory. His shirt, Fans, reads, "Always cool." Indeed.

[Editor's note: This was the tamest shot from the photo shoot.]

Dear Santa

Valentine's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, the Fourth, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving--not to mention Birdie's birthday, and not to mention Our Hero's birthday!--are but preludes to what clearly reigns as Joe's favorite holiday: Christmas. It is a good one. Yesterday, during quiet time (the time formerly known as nap time), Joe wanted to write a letter to Santa. And why not? It's 11 months away, and it's best to be prepared. Joe dictated his heart's deepest desires to Ted who wrote them down:

Dog

Snowplow

Legos

Guitar

Reindeer

It may interest you to know, Fans, that three of the items of this list have already been mentioned in the past few weeks: snowplow, guitar, and reindeer.

Joe asked Ted if he wanted to make a list, too. Ted's list follows. (See if you can spot his heart's true deepest desire.)

Flying airplanes

Delicate bowl

Reindeer

Boots

New paper

Guitar

Snowman

Nap

Bicycle

Clearly, we need to get busy building a stable for the reindeer.