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.

tool lad

Linus and I have been working on this design for his birthday card. He's turning six on Monday, and we're planning a birthday party for him and his friends for the following Saturday. Together, we printed this tribute to some of the tools in his (and my) toolbox. He was responsible for the ink choice and the presswork. We're both pleased with the results.

homemade pinata

Portrait with Plume

Easter portrait

mustaches

Here's an outtake from last Saturday's outing. The children are enjoying flaunting their red-stained mustaches, because we tend not to have such vibrant beverages (with the exception of hand-juiced punch) at home.

fancy

Casper: "You can't catch me, I'm the fruit snack man!"

Daddy, talking to the children who have gathered around him to beg for a bite of the treat he's eating: "Do you know what you children remind me of?"
Gwendolyn: "Baby birds."
Casper: "Angry birds?!"

Casper: "Daddy, I found a book that was much too 'cary. It was about a lion that eats people."

Jennifer had a small baggie of Dove dark chocolate eggs on her dresser. This morning, Casper brought the baggie filled with small torn foil bits to her and announced, "I sneaked the last egg last night."
Mama: "After I put you to bed?"
Casper: "Yep."
Mama: "After you brushed your teeth?"
Casper: "Yep."
Brazen.

under pressure

I'm usually proud of my kids, as every mother is, and I try not to use this blog as a forum for crowing about how smart, talented, cute they are, but every once in a while, a child does something truly remarkable which warrants a "brag post." Here is one for Gwennie.

After arriving in her primary class, Gwendolyn waited with her fellow students for their teacher, but no one appeared. After a few minutes, Gwendolyn voiced her concern about the situation, telling her friends that she thought they should go find a grown up, but she was overruled by the rest of the crowd. She finally told the others that she was leaving to go to the bathroom; apparently, some of her friends tried to block the door to prevent her from leaving the room, fearing that she would go find a teacher. She finally extricated herself from the room, told an adult she knew about the situation, then proceeded to the bathroom. The grown up came in and taught the students for the remaining time, but one of Gwennie's fellow classmates was particularly unhappy with the situation.

The whole story unfolded when we got home from church. Gwendolyn expressed concern that her actions had permanently damaged her friendship with this other little girl. She went to her room to pray and returned feeling confident in the decision she had made and wanting to be the one to take the first step in reconciling with her friend. We spoke about making correct choices even when it's hard. We spoke about the kinds of friends we want to have -- those who support us in our efforts to do the right thing instead of getting upset when we don't go along with them. We spoke about peer pressure and the fact that it is even difficult for teenagers and adults to do what she did (she was hilariously incredulous: "Really!? I thought it was easy! I was just living my life!"). We spoke about the fact that she will have many opportunities in her life in which she will be faced with more difficult situations and will need to stand up for her beliefs. I told her I wanted her to always remember how good it felt to choose the right in difficult situations.

Gwendolyn spent some time in the afternoon making a card for the little girl which read, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm glad that we're friends!"

I later got a call from the adult who taught the class and another from a parent of one of Gwennie's classmates, both expressing their admiration for the way that Gwendolyn had handled the situation. We're proud of her, too.

holistic

On Saturday, we went on an outing to the University's holistic garden to get some tips about our planting and composting. We heard a number of fine strategies about planting in the inhospitable ground in these parts (which I know we've complained about -- this mixture of clay and rock, dashed with various minerals which seem to make the groundwater close to poison for trees, flowers, herbs, &c). The students had also planned some games and treats for the children, so we all had a good time.