Leaf Pile Fun

It was a beautiful fall day, yet Ted and co. were inside slowly getting cabin fever. So they velcroed on some shoes put on their coats and headed outside.  Clara made a beeline for her tricycle and accompanying helmet, but when they saw Ted get the rake out they remembered getting to sit in the big blue bucket last year and of course wanted to do it again.  A recent Berenstain Bears movie included a scene where Brother and Sister ran into a big pile of leaves, so naturally they wanted to live out their dream. So Ted was put to work and everyone got their sillies out had fun as this video clearly shows.

Water Bird

Clara is getting more comfortable with swimming. She puts her face in the water with a flourish every time. Here is a little clip of her working on kicking with a noodle. After class we had this exchange:

CJ: "When will I be bigger?" T:"You get bigger every day, why? what do you want to do?" CJ:"I want to swim all by myself."

We know she willl get there and hope someday she might be as good as her cousin Susie!

Knock knock

Ted makes Joe's lunch every morning - PBJ, applesauce, fruit snacks, and an extra item, recently yogurt covered raisins. To jazz things up for the little man, Julie and Ted have put a note in his lunch occasionally which always seems to bring a smile to Joe's face.  It might be a little picture or a short reminder to have a great day.  This week Ted has been putting knock knock jokes in his lunch, and we are at the point where Joe doesn't want to see his lunch in the morning for fear of ruining his surprise at lunch. Thankfully google is an endless source of material:

Knock knock, who's there?

Dragon! Dragon who?

Dragon your feet again!

Knock knock, who's there?

Butter! Butter who?

Butter bring an umbrella it looks like it might rain!

Knock knock, who's there?

Ketchup! Ketchup who?

Ketchup with you later!

Knock knock, who's there?

Clara! Clara who?

Clara your lunch from the table!

A Tradition is Born

Our fearless Park and Rec leaders dreamed up a new activity for Halloween. They asked people to drop off carved pumpkins to display en mass at Wolfe Park. Drop off was Friday 12-5pm which is why Ted found himself carving a pumpkin today at 7am while the kids ate cereal giving instructions. (Julie is out of town for work and missed this added fun in the morning routine.) Ted got the pumpkin to drop off at 4:30 after work where the attending Parks Dept employee said it was the first pumpkin they saw all afternoon!  So Ted had low expectations, but had already promised a night time outing to the kids.  So after a McDonalds dinner and some impromptu art projects at the house, Ted, Joe and Clara walked over to the park where they discovered a great display of lit up pumpkins!  Ours is fourth in from the right on the top row. We learned that the Parktacular committee carved Row 2, Middle School carved Row 3, and Rows 1 and 4 were drop offs like ours. We also learned that this was the first year but they are hoping to grow the event and use up all 600 lights on the string!  The kids had great fun walking to the park with their flashlights and giving our pumpkin a hug. It also helped that it was a beautiful fall evening for a walk. We can't wait for next year!

Rough Seas Give Way To Smooth Sailing

Oh but Our Birdie. It was touch an go for a bit at the end of the day. Julie had the absolute temerity to collect Birdie's coat from her room before heading down the hall to the pick-up room and,as it turns out, Julie should not have done that. Birdie wanted to do that. Julie would not do a do over, and thus were the battle lines drawn. Had the Birds not needed also to collect Joe, Julie would have waited Clara out, but since they did in fact have to collect Joe, after a reasonable interval in which Julie chatted calmly with Clara's teachers and Clara mumbled petulantly about her refusal to put on her coat, Julie picked up Clara and her coat and carted them both off down the hall as Clara screamed, "I WANT TO PUT ON MY COAT!!!!!" Of course she did! But there was that ship.  Sailed. After a wordless and fierce battle which ended with Clara strapped into her car seat, the Birds were off to get Joe.  Birdie switched to wailing, "I DON'T WANT TO GET JOE!!!!!"  She was still wailing this from Julie's arms when the Birds made their obviously grand entrance into Kid's Place.  Julie was feeling self-conscious in many ways, but she has learned a thing or two in the past five years in hallways and such as the bambini have screamed about something like grass being green INSTEAD OF PURPLE!!!!! Or HAVING TO PUT ON A COAT AND GO HOME!!!!! And it is this: one must be strong in such moments and make like one has not a care in the world. Yes, it's sunshine and daisies at such moments. Julie's grim determination to make like she was listening to waves crashing from her beach house while she read a book in an overstuffed chair (and a half)--perhaps with a cozy fire; yes, for sure with a cozy fire--is the only way she remained calm while Joe put on his coat--first with sleeves inside out, and after Julie had suggested turning them right side out before beginning, all the while clutching the butterfly mask he'd made which is really the only way to prove to one's self that a butterfly mask will have to be set down to turn coat sleeves right side out and put one's arms through said sleeves.  Ocean, book, chair, fire. . .

But at last, they were on their way. Clara, back to the I WANT TO PUT ON MY COAT drum.  Yes, yes.  That ship must be on the other side of the ocean by now.  And then at last, they were home. And it wasn't too long after that that Birdie came up to Julie, lifted her tear-and-snot streaked face up and said, "I want picky uppy."  So Julie picked Birdie up, swayed from side to side, and just like that, it was clear sailing again.