Happy Bastille Day

It's Bastille Day, a Frenchman's wearing yellow in the Tour, and we thought it would be a good idea to have a special dinner, so I made crepes for the children for the first time. I made savory crepes with a filling of tomato chicken (which we'd made a few nights ago) and a bechamel sauce with emmental francais, which I thought was delicious.

The response of the children was mixed; Casper ate very well until his siblings and their skepticism made it to the table.

Linus, as is clear from the pictorial evidence, was the most hesitant about the meal.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the structure of the dinner which caused the children distress. When I offered to make them dessert crepes with homemade peach preserves, ice cream, and powdered sugar, they were most enthusiastic.

Saturday? Must be press moving day.

I had a friend in town whose husband had to leave a position at the university due to a situation outside of his control. She is a letterpress printer and had found this line-o-scribe poster press and a mess of wood type, once owned by the university sign shop, at a surplus sale. They have relocated to an ivy league school in the northeast, and are having to move everything out of their house in town -- including the letterpress equipment, which they're trying to sell. Because I'd offered to help, I started the day by moving the seats out of the van to pack the press and cabinet and shift them to my office, where they'll stay until I can interest a friend or colleague in following my madness. (Actually, the press is comparatively light and adaptable for larger-format projects, and is being offered for a fantastic price -- any takers?)

ploblem

Casper: You see that ruff-ruction up there?
Todd: Oh, I do see the construction.
Casper: Ruff-ruction.

C: How do they say no?
Mama: How does who say no?
C: The ones who say "lift" and "loo."
(Jennifer had been talking with the children about different dialects, including words for familiar objects in other locales, and had entertained them all with her knowledge of British English. This exchange occurred weeks after the original discussion.)

C: Mama, I have a ploblem.
M: What's your problem?
C: [Pulling out his sleeper bottoms to show her]: No big boys! I didn't even know!

M: Casper, why don't you go wash your hands?
C: [Who was looking for a likely excuse and landed on his sleepers, which are green and have an appliqued frog on the top]: I can't wash my hands in the other bathroom because it might splurt water again and then my frog would croak!

what day is today, it's Daddy's birthday

The children surprised me for my birthday by coming to the Library and taking me to lunch and then for a friendly trip to the bowling alley. It was nice to be spirited away by such happy abductors. After my last few hours at work, I returned home to find that Gwennie and the others had produced a treasure map, complete with a quill (actually a pencil with a feather taped to the base), which I followed to my present.

(The map shows a trail leading from a segment of the house, out to the front patio, around some potted plants and under the trampoline, across the lawn to the shed and the sandbox where the pirates buried my present in Linus's treasure chest. Incidentally, Gwennie's self-created cursive at the bottom right reads, "I stol your presint!!! Are Are Are" -- the last being, of course, what any band of swarthy pirates would say.)

Fetch?

Linus: [talking about picking something up in the back seat of the car] It's like "Fetch Goes the Weasel": You go down and fetch something, then put it back in its cage.

anticipation

Gwennie: [When Mama asks her to do her job unloading the dishwasher] Can't that be your job, Mama? I'm going to be so much busier after baby sister comes.

Liberty!

Because of a burn ban in our part of Texas, we had to shelve our plans to see a grand fireworks show in a nearby town. Instead, we decided to visit the Presidential Library to see what they were putting on. In addition to free admittance to the exhibition spaces, there were a number of fun things to do, including a couple making balloon animals (we ended up with a kitty for Gwennie, a lizard for Linus, and a mouse for Casper) and some carnival-style offerings outside: a bounce house and suchlike. Perhaps the best, given the hundred degree weather, was the free iced watermelon. All in all, it was a great improvement on our morning (the church breakfast for two hundred patriots, which Todd helped plan and cooked for).

Father's Day dinner

Between two weeks of conferences which have taken/will take me across the South, I got to spend one day at home. Fortunately, this coincided with Father's Day. We decided to celebrate (no surprises) with a special dinner. Even though our menu was largely composed of favorites, it was new to us in that we used as much food from our garden as possible -- fresh dill, basil, and cherry tomatoes for the dill rice and balsamic chicken breasts, and mint for our peach shortcakes. (Though the peaches weren't ours, they were from a local orchard).

What the children know about their father

Gwendolyn is eight and a half; Linus is six; Casper is three and a half.

What is something Daddy always says to you?
G – I love you.
L – Do your work.
C – He always says, "Do jobs."

2. What makes Daddy happy?
G – A happy family.
L – Us obeying him.
C – When I'm doing my jobs.

3. What makes Daddy sad?
G – It makes him sad when he yells at us. And when we disobey him and he has to ask us to do things over and over again.
L – Us not obeying him.
C – When I'm not doing my jobs.

4. How does Daddy make you laugh?
G – When he's silly.
L – Tickling me.
C – Jokes.

5. What was Daddy like as a child?
G – Um, like me?
L – I don't know. And I'm not lying. [pause] He played with Transformers.
C – He always liked to play.

6. How old is Daddy?
G – 37.
L – 20.
C – Five.

7. How tall is Daddy?
G – Six feet tall.
L – Pretty tall. [Do you want to guess?] Nah. Well, okay. 4 inches. That was pretty close, right?
C – As tall as you. As big as you. He's taller than your suitcase.

8. What is his favorite thing to watch on TV?
G – Um, ... um, ... I think he likes to watch movies with us.
L – I don't know. I'll guess. The news.
C – Star Wars! His favorite show is Star Wars. But I saw a little bit of it, is that okay?

9. What does Daddy do when you're not around?
G – He works in his office and watches movies with you and does work things in Virginia and stuff.
L – Go to work.
C – He flies on airplanes.

10. If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for?
G – It will be for him being so awesome and for him having a dragon. I also think he might be good at acrobatics. He might be famous in the circus.
L – Being a famous writer.
C – It would be for having good dreams.

11. What is Daddy really good at?
G – Being a Daddy! That was easy. Can you put drawing, too? Oooo! Also, Mama, he's good at piano!
L – His job.
C – Cooking!

12. What is Daddy not very good at?
G – Probably being mean, or being a bad guy. He's terrible at that.
L – He's good at a lot of stuff. [Is there anything he's not good at?] Nah, not that I can think of.
C – He doesn't clean things very well.

13. What does Daddy do for his job?
G – He's a librarian! And a doctor! Well, a doctor for books. It makes me proud of Daddy.
L – Work at C* library.
C – Go to C* Library.

14. What is Daddy’s favorite food?
G – He seems to like everything, like you.
L – He doesn't have one. I asked him that. He sort of has a favorite. He likes a lot of things.
C – Strawberries!

15. What makes you proud of Daddy?
G – Um, how about everything?
L – His job.
C – That he plays games with us

16. If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be?
G –Um, that's hard. Maybe Chris from Wild Kratts. Daddy would like Chris because his clothes are all green.
L – If there was a family of chickens and Daddy was the daddy chicken...he would be the daddy and there would be three babies. [What does that have to do with Daddy being a cartoon character?] It doesn't have anything to do with it. I just thought if it, if there was a show of chickens.
C – Oh, Wild Kratts. That one.

17. What do you and Daddy do together?
G – Practice piano! And read. And play video games (with Linus and Casper, too, though).
L – Build model presses, which we're not done with.
C – We like to jump on the trampoline.

18. What do you like best about Daddy?
G – Everything.
L – That he's a great builder, like me. And also that he's great with books.
C – He catches fireflies! [Not in Texas – in Virginia, where he's been away at a conference.]

19. How are you and Daddy the same?
G – We're both mammals.
L – Eyes. They each have a tinge of green in them. And we both like building.
C – Oh, I know! We both have to sleep!

20. How are you and Daddy different?
G – He's a boy and I'm a girl.
L – Our attitudes. Like, Daddy's sometimes nice and I'm sometimes angry. That's how they're different.
C – 'Cause I have to do jobs and he doesn't.

21. How do you know Daddy loves you?
G – Well, he usually says it. And I know it because he knows it.
L – I just know.
C – Because he just loves me. I know.

22. What does Daddy like most about Mama?
G – Because you're awesome and he's so awesome, so you two are alike.
L – I don't know. Daddy loves you.
C – Oh, yeah. That you come in his office so much times.

23. Where is Daddy’s favorite place to go?
G – Probably England.
L – Work.
C – It's probably HEB.

if Casper named the animals

Casper calls his possum finger puppet a "mouse-crat." At first I was confused, and thought it had to do with the Wild Kratts PBS show the children all love. But it turns out that he thought that it was a muscrat, and that was just how it was coming out.

local disaster

We just discovered that on Saturday night around nine, a light aircraft crashed in the apartment complex behind our house. We didn't hear anything except a lot of sirens, which alarmed Grandma and Gwennie as they were in the room getting ready for bed. There appears to have been some problem with the plane's fuel; the pilots were attempting to get to the local airstrip, which is about three miles away from us, but they apparently didn't have quite enough to make it. It's a tragedy that occurred less than a mile away which we wouldn't have known about if we hadn't seen the newspaper several days after the crash.

in memory of his tooth

Well, he's two years younger than his sister was when she first lost a tooth (a mere nine months ago), but Linus has made it into the club. He'd been complaining about loose lower incisors for a few weeks, and while I was skeptical initially, we discovered that they are in fact wobbly. And after playing with one all morning, he came running into the living room with a bloody mouth. Jen got a kleenex to help wipe away the blood and came away with the tooth in the tissue. Linus is thrilled to have been involved in something as grown-up as this, and Gwennie and Casper were also caught up in the moment (she'd been egging him on all day, and Casper said in all the excitement, "Linus, you're the best brother ever!"). He carefully wrapped the tooth in a little paper towel, then wrapped that in a larger napkin, then placed it all in a special tooth fairy bag his Auntie Melissa had made some years back. Good times.

music and automotive

We spent the morning at Gwennie's latest piano recital, in which she played two difficult pieces, "Rustic Dance" and "Carpet Ride." (The latter, in particular, had a tricky syncopation which Gwennie struggled with for weeks. It was her hardest piece, which may be why she chose to play it at the recital.) After her success, she chose our destination for treats -- the little snow cone shack near our house. You know, the problem with snow cones is always that there is more snow than syrup, and you run out of flavor before making it a quarter of the way into the cone. Not an issue here, though. Casper's Mellow Yellow (chosen because of the rhyme, of course) was an unfortunately bright color for a snow-based treat, and Linus's Tiger's Blood dyed his tongue red after two bites.

Since the children had had opportunities to work on crafts and play with tools with Grandpa, I wanted to make sure that I got my chance as well. Some of the electric elements of our van's dash (the odometer, fuel gauge, gear shift markers, etc) had gone haywire and weren't registering at all. Jen had researched the problem online, and apparently a common issue with our van is that the circuit board which operates all this stuff gets worn out. Purchasing a new board is expensive, but it's possible to re-solder many of the connections to fix the problem. So Dad and I spent the evening taking apart the console, disconnecting everything, and soldering the electrical connections on the circuit board, then re-inserting the dash and trying to remember how to screw everything back together. Thing is, it actually worked! Thanks, Dad. I doubt that I would have ventured without your knowledge and support. Just add the $400 we saved to my cosmic tab.

Alpacatown, USA

meanwhile, back at the ranch

While all the playing and partying was going on, Grandpa was laboring tirelessly at the Workshop. Today, he spent time casting type in a hand mould from a matrix he punched himself, but through the week he was also engaged in making paper, setting and correcting type, and printing (with the nineteen other students) a facsimile of an eighteenth-century pamphlet on a wooden common press. Ask him about it once he's had a chance to recover.

kidlers

Grandma even got Casper to sit still for long enough for a couple of photos with the children.

production

Though Grandpa's been putting in long hours at the Workshop, he's found some time to play with the kids. They have been thrilled to work with him on the projects he proposes, and have spent time making little booklets and helping him to finish his papermaking moulds and deckles with their own tools. (That was largely Linus, who brought out his hammer and watched Grandpa work for hours.)

together

The best part about Grandma and Grandpa's visit? Maybe the opportunities we've had simply to spend time together. It's difficult to realize how valuable just being close can be until it becomes as rare as it's been for us the past several years. Each brief conversation or little game feels like a great gift.

pickup

This morning, we went to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa for their visit, and enjoyed a great conversation on the drive back. We'd arranged a few activities for the evening, partially because with the Workshop starting tomorrow, we knew we wouldn't have many opportunities to spend time together. We had dinner at a local German restaurant (which was a disappointment -- we'd thought it would be a treat for Grandpa, but they were out of the wurst promised by the menu), then the girls went to a community theater production of Annie while the boys visited the hardware store. A good time had by all.

quel désastre!

Casper made the mistake of placing Toffee, his lovey, on top of Gwendolyn's lampshade. By the time that an adult noticed and turned the lamp off, the damage had been done -- the fur below the little dog's tail had darkened and hardened in the heat (leaving the GE logotype, no less). Casper brought his pup to us, saying "Toffee's rotten!" And in fact, he does look a little dirty down there (unfortunate placement, too). But at least our house didn't burn down.

poring rane

Gwennie has taken to calling our kitchen scale a "weigh-n-ator."

It's hard for Gwennie to compete with her little brothers in funny sayings. She knows too much, I suppose. Her funny spelling, however, far outstrips theirs. For example, here's a text she sent to her mother during our only rainstorm in the last couple of months: "Mama its poring rane and i meyne poring we went to half pris books and i got mad libs i rilie like my mad libs love gwendolyn." She's sweet. Here's another: "Mama i alredie miss you pleis talk to me as sone as you can and it is raneing and i have a hedeayc love gwendolyn."

blithering

Apparently Linus was tired of taking our kitchen scraps out to the bin, because the last time his mother asked him to walk them outside, he exclaimed, "Drat that compost!"

L: "I can eat more food -- I've suggested a little bit." (He means digested, of course. Man, that kid can eat!)

Upset with a pencil sharpener, he called it a "useless blithering git." (What we get for allowing him to listen to Harry Potter audio books during quiet time, I guess.)

as long as what?

(Wait, what does that t-shirt say? I think it's the same thing I saw on the water tower all those years ago. Also, check out the glow on those ears.)

Mama: Casper, don't put your hand in that bag of batteries. Some of them are leaking.
Casper: Mama, you're leaking.
Mama: I know.

The other day, Casper was rhapsodizing about "the most specialest kind of hair -- sideburns!" Smart kid.

Mama: (as Casper was stepping over a rug where the cat was lounging): Say "excuse me, Pudge."
Casper: That's not Pudge. Oh, it is. Spats has a tail as long as a turkey baster.

yada yada zing zing zing

Sometimes, you just don't have time to make your own pinata. And on these occasions, even when you decorate the party tent pinata to look like a birdhouse, it will sometimes be such a poorly-constructed pinata that only the birthday boy gets a swing at it before its roof breaks off completely. Well, there's always the candy.

(Don't worry. All the glory belongs to the birthday boy.)

What the Children know about their mother

Gwendolyn is eight and a half; Linus just turned six; Casper is three and a half.

1. What is something Mama always says to you?
G – I love you.
L – I love you.
C – Get your sleepers on.

2. What makes Mama happy?
G – A clean house and happy family.
L – When we do our chores.
C – Always cleaning up.

3. What makes Mama sad?
G – An angry family. And a dirty house.
L – When we don’t do our chores.
C – I don’t play football in the yard . . . back place.

4. How does Mama make you laugh?
G – She’s sometimes silly, and that makes us laugh.
L – Do funny things, and jokes.
C – That’s a good question. She says things that are funny to make me laugh.

5. What was Mama like as a child?
G – Reading.
L – I think she would be in a house and the bathroom was really clean.
C – I don’t know much of it but I know a little bit of it, but when she growed up, I’ll tell you, it’s in state.

6. How old is Mama?
G – Um . . . 36?
L – Six . . . teen.
C – 3 years.

7. How tall is Mama?
G – Five feet.
L – Nine feet.
C – As tall as you – no, you’re taller than her. But she’s tall. That’s a hard question to ask.

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
G – What’s it called, Daddy, what’s it called? Um, the news. The weather.
L – I’m just guessing this one, ok? The news.
C – I’m trying to guess her least favorite thing.

9. What does Mama do when you're not around?
G – She works on her computer, and sometimes watches shows.
L – Work. Like, wrapping presents.
C – Can you ask the first question again? She asks questions to you when I’m sleeping.

10. If Mama becomes famous, what will it be for?
G – Probably having such a humongous and awesome garden.
L – For being nice to us.
C – Picnic cake.

11. What is Mama really good at?
G – Kissing you.
L – Cleaning.
C – I really like it when she gets Harry Potter Top Trumps down.

12. What is Mama not very good at?
G – Being mean.
L – Moving type.
C – She’s not so good at getting Star Wars.

13. What does Mama do for her job?
G – She takes care of us.
L – Takes care of us.
C – What does she not do for her job?

14. What is Mama’s favorite food?
G – I don’t know. She likes a lot of stuff.
L – I’m just guessing – potatoes.
C – She said to me, my favorite food is strawberries with oatmeal! That has a lot of protein in it.

15. What makes you proud of Mama?
G – Everything.
L – That she made me.
C – She turns the fans on and off.

16. If Mama were a cartoon character, who would she be?
G – Can it be from a video game? Sheik, from Ocarina of Time.
L – This is one from PBS kids – someone in Wild Kratts. Aviva. She really likes when Nubs came in . . . he’s a baby rhino. And the next one was an elephant, Thornsley.
C – That bird that steals food, with the guy that has the house with all the balloons . . . from Up.

17. What do you and Mama do together?
G – Lie down and cuddle.
L – Play games like Go Fish.
C – Play games a lot. I’ll write that down first [taking my phone and pretending to text].

18. How are you and Mama the same?
G – We both have blue eyes and we’re both girls.
L – We both like to do certain kinds of cleaning, like vacuuming. And one of my favorites is making Mama’s bed and your bed.
C – Mama cuddles with me, and I cuddle with Mama.

19. How are you and Mama different?
G – She has short hair and I have longer hair.
L – We both don’t have red hair.
C – I’m small and she’s big.

20. How do you know Mama loves you?
G – She always says it, and I know it.
L – She says it a bunch of times.
C – I’m gonna write that down. [Texting again.] Because she always kisses me.

21. What does Mama like most about Daddy?
G – Everything.
L – That her and you are married.
C – She likes you, um, playing games.

22. Where is Mama’s favorite place to go?
G – England.
L – Taco Cabana.
C – Taco shell. That has the chocolate milk and the white milk. It’s Taco Cabana.

(Jennifer requests that I note that she is not, in fact, a huge fan of Taco Cabana or any other Tex Mex fast food restaurant.)

arty party

The centerpiece of Linus' birthday party was the building of birdhouse and birdfeeder kits we'd purchased at Lowe's. The children were excited to hammer these together, and once they were constructed, they spent a good portion of the party making them aesthetically appealing to
birds.
Casper was also really excited about participating, but ended up making himself appealing to birds. (Good thing we made him wear that smock to keep the paint off.)

(I wonder what the body language here says about each child's feelings toward his or her creation.)

ultrasound

This morning, we had an appointment for a full ultrasound at a local radiology center. Because we anticipated finding out the gender of the baby, we decided to take Gwendolyn with us. (She may be the most invested in this topic, though of course we're all anxious to know.) It took the technician several minutes to determine the answer to that question, so we were able to see the contours of the baby moving about, the tiny heart beating, and so on. It's thrilling to gain confirmation of something you've been living with but have been unable to see directly; now we can visualize this new member of our family a little less abstractly. Turns out she's a baby girl, said the tech with a good measure of confidence.

the fifth pregnancy chapter

We're pregnant again!

I've been hesitant to make any kind of public announcement after what happened last year, but I'm now that I'm 20+ weeks along, have heard the baby's heartbeat twice, and seen the little one via ultrasound (at 8 weeks), I feel it's safe. The first trimester is always so brutal for me. I'm nauseated so much of the time, not to mention exhausted. Even now, a full month into the second trimester, I'm still tired much of the time and sick at night, but I have come a long way. If I never throw up again in my entire life, it will be too soon.

This new little babe is expected mid-September which means that, true to form, I will be nine months pregnant in Texas in August. Awesome. Aside from my sickness and chagrin about the summer heat, we are beyond excited. Gwendolyn is determined that this baby is her long-awaited sister and her excitement has rubbed off on the boys. There is talk about Baby Sister everyday. We should know for sure tomorrow!

birthday booty

birthday boy

Linus, our most stoic child when it comes to the expression of emotions, has been overcome with excitement all day -- especially while opening his five birthday presents (lego people from Gwennie, a dragon book from Casper, a big bag of lego pieces and a 100-piece puzzle from Mama and Daddy, and a B-26 Marauder cap from Grannie and Grandad). He's been chortling uncontrollably, in fact.

After he finished opening the packages, he exclaimed, "This isn't just any birthday -- it's a terrific birthday!"

We also want to note that this day is special for another important reason -- it's the 15th anniversary of the day we met. Good things happen on May 2nd.