Read This

My kindergartener, Finwe, now has homework. Don't freak. It's simple and rarely consumes more than five or ten minutes.

The first night he had to talk to his family about the weather. Easy.

Tuesday he had to use a ruler to measure things around the house and decide if they were smaller or larger than the ruler. Easy and fun for all of us. We kept bringing him different things to measure. How about Mom's foot? Ooooo, Larien suggested, measure Ida Bad Dog's tail.

Tonight, he had to practice reading the words the, is, and no. No problem. He did, however have to read a book, but we got so distracted due to the addition of the Fabulous T to our family (a whole 'nother story!) that we didn't get to that.

To remedy this, I wrote some words on the chalk board squares on his wall. The first three were the homework words. Easy. (When I say easy, this isn't to imply that he's a wiz at reading. He proved to be the most difficult to keep on task while I taught him to read. It is mixing with other kids his age that read which really spurred him forward. Easy is relative and doesn't covey my excitement that he does read and wants to read.)

I wrote mask, because he was wearing the Zorro mask we bought him some time ago. He hasn't a clue who Zorro is. He read the word.

I wrote shirt to see if he could figure out the dipthong. He got it.

I scribbled buzz, because we as a society don't put enough emphasis on words that are fun to read. Buzz tickles the lips and is an onomatopoeia. Cool. He read it and giggled.

Then, I drew four letters with precision. F    A     R      T

"Mom! You wrote a potty word!" Whatever he said next was covered in so much laughter that it could have been anything.

My husband joined in the mirth but added, "Don't tell your teacher what your mother had you read."

He's only being half-serious.

Honesty

"Wait, Mom. I have to fart," says my son.

"Thanks for telling me," I reply.

He giggles so much that bubbles of spit form at his lips. "I had to hold my peni$."

I didn't ask why.

Something the boy learned at the beach

We spent Thanksgiving week on Dauphin Island. My son, having a mother who didn't look at the weather report, didn't have any shorts to wear. We let him wear his underwear as outerwear. This meant that he had no shame about peeing wherever he wanted, like the post where the poodles had lifted their legs.

The one tidbit that my mother taught him--make sure that his back is to the wind. He tested the wind each time. My mother should be so proud.

School Feast

Today, Finwe's kindergarten class held their Thanksgiving Feast. All the parents brought in food, from bread to desserts. The kids recited a poem and sang two songs. Then, we ate. The vests are made from tea dyed pillowcases and decorated with paint. The kids designed the headdresses with foam pieces in patterns. The feather colors signify the project pride rules: kindness, do your best work, be responsible, and respect others.

There's a right time for everything

As it has been a long day for me because of kid things, end of year parties, and just life of a mom of three, I jokingly asked Finwe at 3:30 if it was time for wine.

"Yeah," he answered, nodding his head. As he pulled his monster truck from the bowl of dog water, he added, "But it's not time for vegetables."

Finwe featured on local blog

Yummyfun.com

Worth your time to take a look. The link for Finwe's photo with his candy bug is here.

Short Story: Full of Holes

Saturday, we took the kids to an outlet mall to gear up. Their growing bodies, especially Larien's, have exhausted their pants. Phill got some time to shop alone as did I. The girls enjoyed choosing their own clothes, and even Finwe got into the spirit of looking for something new (he's the only one not in need of clothes).

After a snack, we split the kids: the girls with me and the boy with Phill. Inwe, Larien, and I shopped for pants at The Children's Place while Phill tried on pants somewhere.

Phill tried on pants as Finwe watched. In a loud voice, Finwe announced, "Oh, my gosh, Daddy. Your underwear is full of holes!"

By the trains

We visited the Celebration Under the Oaks at City Park last night. This photo is taken at the large model train display. The conductor stopped the two trains so I could get a photo. See the splotch of red on the right side? That's one of the trains.

Tugging with White Dragon: A study in Stills

From Movies

Tricks, Treats, and Writing

I know I should be writing more about the kids and what we have been doing lately. With Halloween so close, there has been much to do. We carved pumpkins with friends visiting. Thankfully, Aunt Maverick was with us to help out. There was one puppy, two ghouls, a creepy face, and one scary face carved. If we had had candles, the day would have been perfect as we lit the jack o'lanterns that evening. Oh, well. We'll get some by tomorrow night for sure.

Finwe's class at preschool had a pumpkin decorating day with faux trick or treating. One of the handouts was a whoopee cushion. There are only three boys in his class, and each one of them had to sit on the cushion three times. At home, I inflated that thing so many times that I nearly passed out from lack of oxygen. He adores it. Farting and pooping are big deals for this boy. (insert eye roll)

This is the pumpkin he decorated, mostly without my help. It's an untouched up photo, but with two kids home ill today, that's all you are going to get.

At the party, the assistant director painted their faces. Finwe began completely upright. The more she drew on his face the more he leaned to the left. He also played in the pile of hay. He threw it at me, too. I picked straw from my hair and shirt for about four hours.

On our way home we walked with another of the little boys in his class and that child's grandparents. The boys greeted each other like this, "Hey there, butthead." I'm not kidding. They repeated this greeting with some embellishments for the next two blocks. The grandmother and I agreed that ignoring it might make it go away sooner. I'm rethinking that idea.

The "butthead" walk reminded me of my daughters at this age, who would come home crying if someone called them something as innocuous as "dress-wearer."

I'll Have

An adventure for our family is to get on the streetcar (any direction), find a restaurant (not difficult in NOLA), and eat lunch or dinner. Today, we visited a place we'd been before--Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. (Italian food in New Orleans? It's not a far stretch as lots of Italians and Sicilians immigrated here.)

We got our menus, which Finwe began to read. He at least knows that letters make words and that he should read those. He told us what he wanted, so we let him order. Just as the waiter arrived at the table, Finwe unwrapped his utensils. As he usually does, he waved his knife around; it's his way of asking for us to take it. The waiter said with panache, "I'll take that."

Finwe thanked the waiter and ordered. "I'll have noodles, and cheese pizza, and chicken nuggets."

Jason, the waiter, leaned close to my son. "Which one would you like most?"

"Ummm, chicken nuggets."

"And, would you like barbeque sauce or ketchup with your chicken nuggets?"

"Ketchup, please."

By the end of the meal, Finwe had some of Inwe's noodles, Larien's pizza, and his own chicken nuggets.

Fireman

Dress up, role playing, and Halloween costume all in one, thanks to Daddy. The extinguisher squirts water. My computer felt it. Apparently, I was on fire.

A backlog of stories

I've been lax writing about the children. Please accept my apologies. Also, don't expect it to get better, because I have discovered with three days completely to myself I have lots and lots to do. That gets in the way of writing about the kids.

The picture above portrays all three doing their favorite activity and their newly discovered playplace--the library. I'm not unhappy about the expanded play area as when Finwe is home with just me, he sits beside the desk playing with legos, train tracks, or colors. I can accomplish a few things using the computer while he still gets attention. Nice. Not so nice when we have to pick up the teeny tiny blocks so that I don't step on them with my perpetually bare feet. I'll learn, though.

All of the kids love building with the smaller blocks. We've had a set of the larger Lego blocks since Inwe reached the age of 1. They still use the big ones, too. I suspect one day I'll buy a set of K'nex with an entire rollercoaster ringing the desk.

Finwe at School Photos

The preschool shares photos using Kodak Easy Share. These are lifted from there, so the quality isn't that wonderful. The above picture is him today. I forget which day he wore all blue, but it was this week.

Inwe's Wall

Inwe went through a phase of coloring peace signs and turning every animal I printed from the computer into a peace-nik. At the end of it all, she pasted them onto part of her wall. My favorite is the sign in the upper right hand corner. It's so elaborate and of her making.

Zoobilation

Tonight, the Audubon Zoo presented a member night, with crafts, music, special animal shows, demonstrations, and a discount on all food and merchandise in the place. We took the kids and had an enjoyable three hours.

Near the entrance were zoo employees and volunteers holding different animals, from birds to reptiles. The kids touched snakes, a pretty large lizard, and a tortoise that was doing his best to walk all over the zoo. Grant was a tortoise on a mission to explore or hide or escape from the children. Finwe asked if he could touch the birds, but the keeper declined saying that these particular birds like to taste little boys. The bird did lean towards Finwe, so we kept walking to see the elephant show.

I always have a difficult time with large animals at a zoo, but what I heard from one of the handlers encouraged me. Each day (and I think evening) the pachyderms get a romp around the zoo grounds. They walk the entire zoo and get to play in a yard meant especially for them. The kids also got to pet one of the elephants, although Inwe must not have been feeling well. She got supremely scared so much that she screeched.

We also watched the komodo dragon eat beef hearts and the white alligator get some chicken. There's a white snapping turtle that had a snack in front of us. We ate dinner at the Cypress Knee cafe, which specializes in Cajun food. As we listened to Zydeco, we ate a good dinner of seafood gumbo and red beans and rice. After eating, we danced to a few songs before taking the train back to the entrance.

The evening ended too early for Finwe, but I think it was just right.

Homecoming

Greeting me after a day at school.

One of the reasons I love my son

While walking our very unsatisfied dog around my sister's neighborhood, Finwe saw a neighbor on his front porch.

"Mommy," he asked, "can I go talk to that man there?" I said yes, because I had said hello to the octogenarian a few days prior. He seemed like a nice man. Finwe is feeling the effects of being a place where people don't walk places and talk to each other. He really wanted to talk to someone. He'd pestered the man doing some work in my sister's house for a few days. It was time for someone new.

Such a simple action, making small talk with an older man living alone. That 20 minutes brought many smiles to his face. We talked about storms, cities, the 2nd world war, and children. Finwe showed him White Dragon, told the man about his temporary tatoos, and about riding in his aunt's convertible.

Finwe's friendliness is one of the reasons that I love him. It reminds me of my father.

Excitement for School (and even naps)

For whatever reason, Finwe went to school on Friday, but not on Monday. I know the reason, but egads it's a bad idea to have 1/2 the class come for one day and the other 1/2 come the next day, then mix them on the day in the far future. For the kids that got to go on Monday, that's not so bad. For Finwe, someone help me! He wants to go to school. He sagged on the way home from dropping the girls at school on Monday. Today, he's chomping at the bit just to go somewhere. He settled for the farmers' market.

Larien attends school every day, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays she'll only be going half day. My plan was to reduce the stress of the nap. When I told her this morning, she exclaimed, "But I have to be there for rest, because if I'm the best rester I get to rest in the lady bug sleeping bag."

Umm, didn't see that coming.

First Day of School: Finwe

My mom and I walked Finwe to school. He rode his tricycle, parked it at the door, ascended the steps, and waited for me to open the door. He rushed into his room, going directly to the toy he noticed during his orientation. I gave him a kiss after saying hello to the each of the teachers. I left.

During the day he did well, only having a fit during lunch and just before nap. He didn't eat. The teachers suspected the day's activities tired him excessively. He completed an entire day. Oh, I loved how his face glowed when he sighted me this afternoon. School will be good for him.