Way Back When-esday

I cleaned out my closet the other day (yay, me!) and I found this. Joseph typed this, all by himself, when he was only four and a half. I had forgotten how advanced they really were at that age. (I had not forgotten how crazy they were about sports.)

And, although we often lament the fact that our poor, third/fourth children have never gotten the attention, and therefore had the early achievements, of their first-born brothers, guess what? Helen is starting to read! And I don't think Will is that far behind, if we just make the effort.

Which is easier said than done, of course.

Austin or bust!

Last weekend, I took the first of four planned one-on-one trips with each kid. Joe and I went to Austin. Just the two of us. For two whole days. What fun.

We went to the Capitol. Twice. Once on Saturday when we got there. And again on Sunday so Joe could take pictures with his iPod. He took pictures for an hour and a half. How cool is that?


Joe on the south steps of the Capitol Building


Joe standing on the seal in the Capitol Rotunda.


My little Capitol Building photographer - he had so much fun!

We hit a couple of my favorite Austin restaurants from the year I spent there in 1996-97. Tex-Mex at Maudie's for lunch on Saturday, and Hut's hamburgers for lunch on Sunday. Neither place has changed much.

We did what Joe wanted to do--which was play putt putt and go bowling. Sure, we could do that in Houston too, but not with only the two of us. We played only one game of putt putt due to the record-breaking heat, but we bowled three games. He loved it.


Putt putt - notice Joe's hole in one.


The putt-putt place had snocones, too. Guess which color he picked.


Ah, bowling. It has air conditioning!

We planned to see the bats at Congress Street Bridge, and our hotel was right near the bridge. Little did we know that this past weekend was the seventh annual . . . Batfest!! Our hotel had all sorts of information available about the bats, and a live bat to see. And the bridge was closed off to traffic for the festival--lots of vendors, food booths, and two live bands. It was still HOT (106 degrees at 8pm!!) but very cool. We saw the bats--all 2 million of them--come out just after 8pm. According to what we learned, they went to eat 20,000 lbs. (which Joe--ever the math kid--quickly noted is 10 tons) of insects and were back to the bridge by morning. Pretty amazing.


Congress Street Bridge - with Batfest and people waiting for the bats to emerge.


Self-portrait of Joe and me waiting for the bats.


Can you see them? IPhone pictures don't do them justice.

We also stopped by the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, including the gift shop where Joe ever so carefully picked out a gift for each family member. He did a great job. (At least after I talked him out of the garish, blinking, keychains with each person's name on them.)


Joe brought back an Austin puzzle for Helen, an Austin toy truck for Will, a football (from the museum's Texas High School Football exhibit) for Charlie, and a Texas flag themed golf ball for Cort. Good choices!

All in all, a great trip. I'm so glad I decided to do this. Next, I'm taking Charlie to San Antonio. Will and Helen will each get a trip in 2012. I can't wait!

Wordless Wednesday

20 Questions

During carpool to and from summer camp today, the boys' friend Cate taught them how to play 20 Questions. I got this report from Cate's mom, who drove them home:

So Joe announces his first topic: a liquid. Charlie's first guess: "rum punch."

Later Cate chooses the topic: a place. They ask questions and narrow it down to a store in Houston. Joe's guess: "Spec's."

Cort is so proud.

*For those out of town, Spec's is the largest liquor store in Houston.

Taking pictures of our kids at the beach

As you can see, our standards weren't high.

But we did get one cute one of them all.

What a great, great trip.

Paradise Bound

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011, here we come!

The love of a child

I keep running notes of things my kids say that I find sweet, cute, or humorous. I recently looked over it, and found that each of them made statements about their love for me at around 4 years of age.

Their statements say so much about them each, individually.

There's Will. Short, sweet, and to the point:

"Mom, I just love you."

There's Charlie. Also sweet, but with a little tendency toward hyperbole and brown-nosing.

"I'm going to love you forever. I'm not ever, ever, ever not going to love you."

There's Joe. Who shows love in his own unique way. With math.

"I love you 50,000 plus 50,000!"

And there's Helen. Who's just so . . . Helen.

"Mom, I love you every day. But sometimes I don't love you."

And, of course, I love them all (and their uniqueness) more than words could ever express.

Don't stop believing (please!)

Yesterday the kids were talking about who was oldest (Charlie claims that title by less than a minute).

I wasn't really paying much attention, but I heard someone disagree and say, "No, Mommy is the oldest in our family."

And then Joe retorted that Mommy is not the oldest person in the world though. He then wondered out loud whether that would be Jesus or Santa Claus, and asked me how old Santa Claus is.

That's when Charlie said that Santa Claus "isn't any old. Because there's no such thing as Santa Claus."

I can't believe it. He didn't ask whether Santa Claus is real. He just matter-of-factly stated it. The kid hasn't even been visited by the tooth fairy yet. He can't be old enough to stop believing.

I did the only thing I could think of in the situation. I started yelling at them all for sitting around and talking instead of doing the chores I had assigned to them.

That distracted them for the moment. But I guess we'll have to bring it up sometime so he doesn't ruin it for the rest of the kids. At least the little ones. Although I'm feeling the most sad for Joe -- I think he'd believe for another 10 years if Charlie would let him, but I don't think he will.

Life and Death

The kids are at Vacation Bible School every evening this week. It's a good thing (and not just because Cort and I are enjoying our evenings out together - although we definitely are!).

This conversation tells me we need to be a little more specific when explaining some of the finer concepts of life after death. Clearly we can't let Will get all his facts from his sister.

Will: "Mom, what happens when you get to the last number?"

Me: "What is the last number?"

Will: "I don't know. But what happens when you get there?"

Me (as it dawns on me what he is talking about): "Well, then you die and go to heaven."

Helen: "Like our doggies died and went to heaven?"

Me: "Yes."

Will: "So we are going to be doggies????"

Me: "No. You will still be Will. You will just go to heaven when you die like our dogs went to heaven when they died."

Will: "But I don't want to go to heaven. I want to go places."

Me: "Um, well, heaven is a place. And it's a really nice place. You get to be with God."

Will: "But when you die, you can't walk. So how do I go to heaven and places if I can't walk?

Helen: "I think you jump."

Will: "Oh. Yeah. You just jump. I can jump!"

Me: Silence. I just went with it.

More restroom conversations

Also with Helen, but this time I was in the stall with her. She is sitting down and starting to take care of her business.

Helen: "I've got to go poo poo."

Me: "OK."

Helen (louder): "I've got to go poo poo."

Me: "I heard you. OK."

Helen: "POO POO. POO POO. POO POO. POO POO."

Me: "Helen, you don't need to talk about it. Just go to the bathroom."

Helen: "But my brothers laugh when I say 'Poo poo.'"

Me (trying to keep a straight face): "Well, I don't laugh, so you don't need to say that."

Helen: "But you're smiling . . . ."

OK. Then I laughed.