Here's a quick survey of Bethy’s favorite words:

Actually…
No.
What?
What did you say?
Apparently…
definitely

Bethy and Wil have been working on leprechaun traps for school. We were surprised today to learn that Wil's made The State newspaper today! Here's the link to the story:

THEY ‘LOVE RAINBOWS AND GOLD’
Tricky traps for leprechauns
Leaphart students need a little Irish luck to snare the elusive creatures

Here's the pic of Wil's trap (with caption):

Will [sic] Meade’s creation is engineered to catch a leprechaun when he goes for the coin on the yellow paddle. The paddle turns, and the leprechaun falls into the box.

We're proud of Wil and happy for him. Bethy gets recognized a lot at school, so this is fun for Wil. Plus, this kind of creativity is something he cares about, so it's good reinforcement.

The twins and I were talking at lunch about the Bible being the best-selling book of all time. They wanted to know what was the best-selling children's book. Their vote was for Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit because they've been learning about her at school. According to a Publisher's Weekly article in 2001, (that was the most recent list I could find,) The Poky Little Puppy was the best-selling children's book in hardcover and Peter Rabbit was indeed second. Smart kids. Charlotte's Web was the best-seller among children's paperbacks. All four of the Harry Potter books published at that time were in the top 20 on the hardcover list. I wonder where they are now.

As I've written before, we've got the old-school, free version of Hero Machine on our computer. So far, Wil, Elizabeth, and their friends on occasion, have created about 35 different super heroes. Unprompted by me, Wil came up with this Hawkeye uniform on Sunday.

(The black and gold looked much better/truer in Hero Machine. Maybe it was the Paint.net translation to PNG. Go figure.)

Yes, it is nice to be brilliant

I have never liked that oh-so-popular 'If you give a pig a pancake' book. Then it came home as Wil's reading assignment for this week. I'm supposed to listen to it every night? Couldn't face it.

So last night I hit on an ingenious scheme: I bribed them.

We have this thing Christine started called 'The Goblet of Choice' (she got it from some magazine or website or something). You can earn points throughout the week for good behavior. You can also lose points. The Goblet of Choice is awarded (sometimes) on thursday night. The winner gets to pick friday night dinner, dessert, and family activity.

So I asked them after supper last night (and Christine at work), if they'd like to earn a point each. They said yes. 'Wil can earn a point by reading to Bethy while I take a shower and Bethy can earn a point by listening and helping Wil.' They said they'd do it, no problem.

As far as I know, they did. I do know they each marked down another point.

Now that the weather is so nice, we're trying to walk home from school 2-3 times a week. Yesterday Wil was noticeably tired. He walked right into me without seeming to notice. I asked if he was okay. He explained, "My brain was napping." Later at home when I misspoke he asked, "Momma, is your brain napping?"

[double audio files cross-posted from 'interact']

I was going out to the kitchen to record Wil singing the next selection when I caught him singing this one. Decided to capture it with audioblogger and my cell phone instead of Audacity on the desk top. I will, of course, cross post it to 'twinlog'. He's such a sweet boy!

In Bethy news, she said she wanted something about love next, but she wanted Wil and me to sing it...

This is the one Wil sang in the big bed this morning before we all got up.

(The messed-up schedule last 'night', in case you're interested:

• Everyone, including Momma and Daddy who are lying down with the twins, falls asleep by 9pm.
• Momma wakes up ca. 2:30am. Does laundry and dishes while listening to 'Pride and Prejudice'.
• Momma goes to sleep in her own bed ca. 4:30am. Wakes up Daddy, who gets up and works for awhile.
• Wil wakes up ca. 6am, goes to the big bed.
• Daddy returns to the big bed ca. 6:30am to snuggle with Momma and Wil
• Wil sings 'Erie Canal'
• Bethy comes to the big bed ca. 6:35am
• Everyone up by 6:45am
• Daddy, Elizabeth and Wil leave for school and work before 7:30am.

Crazy, but it's been a great day so far.)