Happy Halloween!

Charlie (tin man), Helen (Dorothy), Will (scarecrow), and Joseph (cowardly lion)

We had a nice Halloween, and the kids indulged me by agreeing to my Wizard of Oz theme for costumes (although the tin man was pretty reluctant). We went trick-or-treating on our street and around the esplanade that is a couple of blocks away. Halloween is somewhat tough for Joe, who is afraid of any sort of character in costume or wearing a mask (hmmm, just now realizing how appropriate his costume as the "cowardly" lion was). He's become braver lately, which means that he's now afraid of only the scary costumes. Things like spiderman are okay now. This means that when he helped hand out candy at our house, he perched himself on the porch as a lookout, loudly asking, as a group approached, whether there were any scary ones. Only if we got a group of princesses and fairies would he assist in candy distribution. Nevertheless, I think he had a great time, and he certainly enjoyed the getting the candy part. Will and Helen enjoyed that too. Will, who loves to put things in buckets, loaded up his plastic pumpkin with most of the candy from our own bowl, along with some toy cars and books from the playroom. He didn't really seem to care about eating the candy. Helen was another story. She instinctly knew that the candy was for eating -- although that instinct didn't tell her to take the wrapper off first. Despite the fact that we told all the kids that we had to inspect all their candy for safety before they could eat any, Helen managed to have five lollipops before we even got home.

If it were only made of yellow bricks, this would be the perfect picture.

The Human Body

There are two things that come to mind today when I think about this topic. The first is where in the world do little boys learn that certain body parts and bodily functions are so funny? Why are they funny? They really aren't to me. I just don't get it. But Charlie and Joseph are very interested in their p____ (can you say that word on a blog? it just doesn't seem right, but then again I never imagined the ease with which that word now rolls off my tongue in seemingly ordinary conversation). They want to wash it at bathtime (not so much washing on other body parts), put lotion on it after bathtime (I refuse), and tell anyone if they get hit there (as Joe announced to his soccer team the other day). And then there are the bodily functions. Charlie tries to slip the word "poopy" into as many conversations as possible. He then laughs hysterically. Joseph doesn't say it as often, but he still laughs. Come to think of it, Cort often laughs too. Oh, and they all laugh about "toots." Even the word "toilet paper" is really funny to Charlie and Joe right now. What is it about males that make all this funny???? Can anyone explain it to me?

The second thing that comes to mind is Joseph's new fascination with a book on the human body that we picked up at Costco. He is particularly fascinated by the skeleton, and can name many of the bones in the body. They had to color the front page of their journals at school the other day, and Joseph drew a skeleton. He then proceeded to point out for me the femur, the spine, the humerus, the radius, the rib cage, the lungs, and the phalanges (that's fingers and toes, if you didn't know).

Wordless Wednesday

A post to make Dad smile

On the way to school today we discussed sunrises and sunsets, time zones, and what college football teams are in Texas. Charlie was beyond thrilled to learn that the Baylor Bears are in Texas (it never occurred to me that he didn't know this). I explained to him that Baylor is located in Waco. They know Waco because it is halfway between Houston and Grandad and Gransan's house, so every time we make that trip we stop in Waco for lunch. Charlie was so excited. "Mom, next time we go to the Luby's can you show me where the Baylor is?" Sure Charlie, it's right between the fried okra and the macaroni and cheese. (Maybe you'd have better luck if you asked Daddy.)

This is the way we carve a pumpkin

I don't really get into holidays much, with the exception of Christmas. I don't decorate for other holidays, and I'm certainly not a crafty mom. But the holidays are magical for children, right? The boys have been noticing that houses in our neighborhood are decorated for Halloween, and they learned all about pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns at school (and skeletons, which fascinates Joe, but that's another story . . . ). So, I decided that we should carve jack-o-lanterns as a family on Saturday. A wonderful family holiday activity that everyone would enjoy, right? Not so much.

Here's what Dad did during jack-o-lantern carving (note the lack of any kids in this picture):







Here's what the kids did during jack-o-lantern carving:





Football

Golf


Hockey



Baseball

Lacrosse

Happy Halloween anyway!

To Denver . . . and back

Cort and the boys are back home from a fun-filled trip to Denver to see Uncle Al, Aunt Luisa, and cousins Bryan and Marcus. From all accounts (and mom got a detailed account over lunch today) they had a GREAT time. According to Charlie and Joseph, highlights of the trip included playing baseball with their big cousins, watching Bryan play in three basketball games, driving up to the mountains and seeing snow and the Continental Divide, eating pigs in a blanket, watching the Denver Broncos play Monday Night Football on TV, going to the zoo, going to the dinosaur museum, and going to eat the best macaroni and cheese at the noodle restaurant with Aunt Luisa. Here are some pictures from the trip.

The boys with Uncle Al and Aunt Luisa . . . and snow!


With Dad at the Continental Divide


The cousins: Marcus, Joseph, Bryan, and Charlie


Cheering for the Broncos

Now for the "and back" part. The flight they were on was scheduled to arrive in Houston just a little after 8pm. They were about to land -- even had the landing gear down -- when weather forced the pilot to abort the landing. They flew around until they were low on gas, and the Houston airport was still closed. So, as they boys said, there was a surprise! They went to Dallas! Once in Dallas the Houston airport opened, so they fueled up and headed back to the runway . . . at which point they said the Houston airport had closed again so they shut the engines down. I think this was the point that the boys entertained the passengers with a rousing rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" -- after all, it was the 7th inning stretch of the first World Series game (they were keeping up on Cort's blackberry). Finally, they got clearance to head back to Houston, where they landed, got all their luggage and the boys' car seats, and headed to Cort's car . . . which had a dead battery. Cort had to flag someone down and get a jump. They finally arrive home around 1am. Quite an adventure, but still a worthwhile trip. Mom, Will, and Helen are glad to have them all home though.

Tired boys finally at the Houston airport

Wordless Wednesday

One of a Kind

This is Helen's "graduation report" from Movement I (she and Will start transitioning to the next class, Movement II, next week). Some excerpts from her lead teacher include:

Helen is one of a kind! I've NEVER met a little girl with her spunk,
determination and independence. . . . Helen has taught me the meaning of patience!

I know that this is a nice way of saying that Helen has been difficult to handle at times. For example, at 17 months she clears her own lunch dishes and puts them away in the sink. Impressive, you think, right? But apparently then she proceeds to clear the dishes of all of her classmates, regardless of whether they are finished eating! Needless to say, that can cause mayhem in a room full of young toddlers. We liked hearing this report from the teacher, because it has always seemed to us that she was pretty much a spitfire. Glad to know it's not just us.

Much of Will's graduation report was more mundane, but his teacher also has him pegged. She has had all four kids now, and she described Will as "the sweetest most loving Maddux." Quite accurate.

Baseball 101

The boys are 4 years old. Here are a few examples of the things they know about baseball.

The visiting team bats first.

Manny Ramirez was traded this year from the Boston Red Sox to the Los Angeles
Dodgers.

Three balls and two strikes is a "full count."

In the American League, the pitcher doesn't bat.

Lance Berkman is "The Big Puma."

When the outfielder catches the ball to get the batter out, but the runner on
base still comes home, that is called a "sacrifice."

Craig Biggio will be in the Hall of Fame.

The batter up next is "on deck."

A ball hit over the yellow line is a home run.

A foul ball is a strike on strike one and strike two, but a foul ball cannot be
strike three.

Brad Ausmus is good at catching, but not as good at batting.

The playoffs are in October.

Spring training is in March in Florida.

If the home team is ahead, they don't have to play the bottom of the 9th inning.

A home run with the bases loaded is a grand slam.

The meaning of "strike," "ball," "foul ball," "walk," "left on base," and
"pop up."

They'll be auditioning for Baseball Tonight as soon as they turn 5.