Driveway Moment

The kids and I were driving to the grocery store when the radio announcer said he would next play a well-known classical piece that the composer created to simulate a horrendous storm in the middle of the night followed by a clearing of the sky and a glorious sunrise. The kids' interest was piqued, especially since we had gone through a pretty ugly storm a couple nights before.

We arrived at the grocery store and the music had just barely started. The kids didn't want to get out. They wanted to hear the storm and the sunrise all the way through. They were nervous and talking about the wind and the thunder crashing, asking every few seconds when the storm would end. When the storm cleared and the music grew lighter, they visibly relaxed. We listened to every last measure.

I don't remember the exact name of the piece, but it's well known. Maybe I can find it's name somewhere on the internet...

...[45 minutes later] or not.

Summer Camp---Carnival Week

Robert came home from summer camp this afternoon with a bag full of candy and a special memento of his special week at a carnival-themed summer swim camp:

I laugh out loud every time I see it. His expression screaming, "Oh, the indignity!"

That said, both Robert and Alice have loved this camp more than any other camp experience to date (i.e. Nature Day Camp and Gymnastics Camp). They are excited to go and they love talking about it once they get home. Lots of swimming. Crafts. Stories. Silly songs.

Lap Hog

I just wanted to share a few things about James here before he outgrows it and I forget it forever.

For family prayer, he's always liked sitting on my lap. Sometimes (more frequently recently) one of the other kids wants a turn, too, so I've been splitting my lap and putting one kid on each knee. It took James some time to be okay with this development. Even now, when he comes over to sit on my lap, he'll sit on one knee and then stretch out his other leg waaaaaaaaaaaay onto my other knee as if to claim it for his own...until another kid comes to sit on it, anyway. It's like he's ever hoping that he will get my lap entirely to himself again.

Oh, James-ee, you're in for a shock.

He calls himself "Weece"
He calls Robert "Ah-boo"
He calls Alice "A-lih"
Any man is "Daddy"
Any woman is "Mommy"
I'm "Mommy" or "Ma-Ma"

He hugs and kisses and coos at any animal that stays still long enough for him to catch up with it.

He does NOT like taking orders from Alice and Robert, especially Robert. He will intentionally disobey them...with glee.

Yesterday, he randomly came up to Robert and gave him a big face hug and kiss. Once Robert realized it wasn't a threat/wrestle, he really enjoyed it. Alice burst into tears because James was not in the mood to shower her with such affection.

Delights me to no end

I look out at my garden and see one cabbage moth after another butting its head against the insect screening I've installed over my succulent collard greens. They can smell the brassicas...they just...can't...seem...to...get...there. Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaa!

And I've flicked an adult squash vine borer or two off the screening, too, sitting right over my gigantic zucchini plants. Go ruin someone else's garden, guys!

Today I planted more brassicas under the screening: Red Russian Kale and more collard greens for fall harvest.

I also planted snap peas, a variety of slender European bush beans, and another round of those delectable English greenhouse cucumbers.

I'm glad something seems to be working out this year :)

Girls' Night Out...with the Mayor!

Our backyard neighbor and friend is a member of our city council. Alice was curious about what she does on that council and asked about it. Our neighbor immediately invited us to come to one of their public meetings and see for ourselves.

Well, we made a Girls' Night out of it. Alice dressed in her finest, ruffliest, sparkliest outfit and we left the boys at home to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Alice was more than a little surprised that our mayor is female. All the voting and legal proceedings were a bit dry for her. There was a lot of voting on the nitty-gritty bits of running a city. They voted on some cooperative ventures with other organizations, on whether to accept federal funds for the police force, and whether one specific homeowner could move his air conditioning unit onto a city-mandated easement in his side yard in order to build a deck on the back of his house.

One local couple raised their concerns regarding a sewer issue. Apparently the issue was resolved 2 years ago, but they have come to every meeting since to voice their objection on how it was managed.

And somewhere in the middle of the meeting there was a "closed session" to discuss ongoing litigation issues. The whole city council packed up and headed off to a private room. If our neighbor had known about that part, she would have told us to come another evening. Alice and I spent 40 minutes waiting for them to come back. Alice counted the ceiling tiles (119), the overhead lights (15), and threatened to count the windows on a picture of the city building before I bust a gut laughing. Then she showed me how to put my hair in a bun and we decided to go to Starbucks after it was all over.

Once the council came back, the rest of the meeting took only 20 minutes. Our neighbor introduced Alice to the mayor, a few other ward representatives, and the city clerk. They were gracious, genial, and generally pleasant normal people...just like our neighbor :) We all headed to Starbucks for a treat and stayed out too late.

Time for bed.