I can't believe Summer Break is almost over and school starts in 10 days. That means I'll have 2nd graders in my house! That seems too big for words.

I can't let the summer go by without a note about swimming lessons. The twins had a week of private lessons in June. Elizabeth did beautifully, started swimming freestyle by the end of the week. Wil only learned to doggie paddle, but at least he had fun. They complete two more weeks of lessons last Thursday with the same company, different instructor. Wil is a totally different child in the water now. He blows bubbles, he goes underwater, he crawls, he backstrokes, and he's even learning the Butterfly stroke with dolphin kick. It's amazing. Elizabeth continued to progress, but similarly to riding a bike it was too much too soon and she developed all kinds of anxiety about swimming. She can side-breathe and backstroke well enough to pass "Level 2," her instructor hung that carrot out for her the last day of class, but she's not comfortable in the water. She'll have enough to do this year with ballet and Brownies, but I hope we can find an opportunity for Wil to keep swimming. He loves it and is a joy to watch!

Birthday

Pretty sure the twins had a good birthday. A couple of notes:

+ Saturday morning Wil was singing 'all things go, all things go' repeatedly (from Sufjan Stevens' 'Chicago').

+ Christine put up a spread of photos called Big 7 over at Picasa Web Albums. Warning: only go look if you like excessive cuteness, including toothless wonders ;-)

Speaking of Bethy...

Speaking of Bethy, she and I have been having a conversation about my going bald (which I don't think I am, lest you worry). She said she saw some bald spots on the top of my head. I said good. She asked why. I said because if I lost my hair I wouldn't have to cut it any more. But she said she didn't want me to go bald because she wanted me to win the best looking daddy contest (something she made up, but you get that point), and she didn't think I'd look very good without hair.

Then, last night she was looking over me shoulder (or maybe I was looking over her shoulder if she was on my lap) while I read Lifehacker. She asked what the picture was of and I said cigarettes. She asked... all together now... 'Why?' ;-) I told her it was an article about how to not get cancer. She asked what cancer was and after that explanation, asked what the other ways (besides not smoking) were. #2 was Don't weigh too much.

I told you all of that to tell you this: She asked if I was losing weight so I wouldn't get cancer. I said no. Then she asked if I was losing weight to win the best looking daddy contest. And I said... 'Something like that.' ;-)

Bethy's playlist

I sang 'So And So So And So From Wherever Wherever' by Built to Spill at Bethy (I say 'at' because it was pretty loud, as I am wont to do ;-). She started singing it, then asked if we could listen to it on the computer.

(We sing it 'Sorry, so sorry, so from wherever, wherever' because we didn't know until this minute that it was 'so & so so & so from wherever wherever"! When I pointed this out to them, Bethy said we could still sing it the old way. That's right, baby!)

Then we listened to 'Car', and she started singing that: 'I wanna see movies of my dreams.'

(Features a great verse:

I need a car. You need a guide who needs a map.
If I don't die or worse I'm gonna need a nap.
At best I'll be asleep when you get back.)

I am very proud...

The only bad part about listening to music...

The only bad part about listening to music as I work here in the office (I was listening to Built to Spill on MySpace) is that I can't hear Wil singing in the kitchen while he draws. He was singing 'Life in a northern town', which had me thinking that I have done all the fathering I need to do. Then he was singing something else I couldn't identify. When he came in here for more paper, I asked him:

Me: Whatcha singing Mr Buddy?

Wil: The music from Magmoor Caverns [in Metroid Prime, for GameCube. He doesn't play it. He just watches me play it, but it's been two weeks, at least...].

Then he proceeded to sing a few bars for me.

In the words of Ben Gibbard, 'Be still my heart!'.

Needless to say, I'm no longer listening to music in the office. I'm listening for strains of Wil...

I've been too depressed about the World Cup to post about it. I watched the whole match last saturday. Ugh. The best parts were:

1. Wil watching the first half with me. He was very interested in the red card for the bloody head and the own goal (and recounted them to his grandparents last night).

2. Bethy falling asleep in the recliner with me while I watched the second half.

Apart from that, it was pretty lousy. The ref in that game, obviously, totally sucked. You spend years and millions preparing for this think and two red cards can ruin the whole shooting match.

Not that I think it did for us. Could we have beaten Ghana with those two guys back? I doubt it. They're on fire and we're not playing well. We scrapped with the Italians, but...

Ugh.

Bethy's Spiderman Dream

"I had a good dream last night. Spiderman was dressed up like a bad guy and he had this girl. She was saying, 'Let me go! Let me go!' But her mother knew it was Spiderman, so she said, 'Not until you're down safely.' Then when the girl was down safely, I... I mean Spiderman took off the disguise. The End."

Bethy's turn to have irrational biking fears. What's even more frustrating is that she was riding by herself. We took a little break from riding because she had a busy week with her ballet recital. Went back out and she had to lay the bike down, but didn't get hurt, and now she's too scared to even try. Total regression.

It's a little less frustrating this time (ie, with her instead of Wil) because I know what to do: take the pedals off her bike, lower her seat, make her practice that way until she gets comfortable again, and then ramp back up.

Time to brag on Bethy for a bit. I've been amazed and really pleased with how far the twins' reading skills have come in the last three months, but Elizabeth has surpassed everything expected of her. Her teacher said in our last parent-teacher conference that in both reading and writing Elizabeth jumped ahead of students who started out the year ahead of her. She's reading at an end-of-third-grade level and has been willing to tackle some tough little books already this summer including a retelling of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse and The Little Mermaid, (not the Disney version.) We picked those because the story is familiar but there is a lot more detail and a larger vocabulary than the versions she's read before, plus it gave us a chance to explore some of the themes in The Little Mermaid including not always getting what you want and what happens when there isn't the happy ending you expected. Good stuff.


Wil's turn -- my boy can read! I'm so pleased. He's been cruising through 3-6 books a day. He agreed yesterday that some of the ones we borrowed from the library were too easy, but even a month ago he couldn't have said that. Yesterday he read to me for over half an hour and probably would have kept on reading except that Sean came home with the movie Sky High. (That's a post I'll save for later.) If he's up to it, I'm going to have him try some of the Henry and Mudge books that Elizabeth brought home. They're not particularly challenging for her, but she's enjoying reading them without my supervision. That's fun. Mudge makes Wil laugh. That's fun too!

Go, Wil. Go!

Wil rode a bike with petals without training wheels for the first time this morning! He's been practicing coasting, balancing and steering on his bike without petals. He'd liked it when I counted, "1, 2, 3, whee..." and gave him a push, but his favorite thing was the "Daddy Slingshot." Sean can push a lot harder, faster and farther than I can, so Wil got more practice that way. Now he's ready to go! It was a joy to watch. His face showed his delight. We went to Chik-fil-A afterwards to celebrate with chicken mini biscuits.

Our first day of Summer Break.

The twins and I are having a wonderful day together. I'm going to try to provide a better balance of structure and free time this summer. They mostly played "beach" this morning with the new beach towels spread out on the living room floor. Also Elizabeth set up their umbrellas to provide shade. They've got big plans for a "beach party" this weekend if one of them wins the Goblet of Choice tonight. They have both been extra good helpers today trying to earn points.

We also went to the grocery store together - something I've avoided as much as possible the past two years. It went surprisingly well. Wil was in charge of the coupons and Elizabeth crossed items off our list. I'm so pleased with their reading skills! After lunch we spent more than half an hour reading together for the library's Summer Reading program. As I write, they are writing in their Summer Journals. It's something their teachers recommend they do daily. Both teachers set home a variety of suggestions of things to do over the summer so "their brains don't get rusty" as Wil's teacher put it. Should be mostly fun!

The boys: Sean, Wil, and Mario

Wil's playing Super Maro Sunshine in the other room. Then I hear him yell: I jumped!

I say 'Wil, do you need help?'

'No, I totally know how to do this.'

I say 'I hear ya.'

Then follows more 'I jumped!' and some mumbling.

I'm proud of that boy. Like father like son ;-)

Finally, he accepts my offer.

Then I kill off all of his Marios trying to get through that screen. Not the plan :-(

Oh, well, not even Daddy as Mario can win 'em all...

Wil got C-3PO first on the Star Wars quiz, which he hated. So we retook it, trying to answer like Luke would, and got:

Your results:
You are Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker 78% Han Solo 72% Mace Windu 66% Chewbacca 65% Anakin Skywalker 63% An Ewok 60% Jar Jar Binks 60% Qui-Gon Jinn 57% Princess Leia 56% C-3PO 56%

You value your friends and loved ones, but can sometimes act recklessly because of your emotions. Occasionally you resort to whining. You look ahead to great things for yourself.

(This list displays the top 10 results out of a possible 21 characters)


Click here to take the Star Wars Personality Test


Then Bethy got C-3PO, but she didn't hate it as much as Wil. Christine got Qui-Gonn Jinn. That's a pretty good one, too. Better than Han Solo, really...

Then Wil wanted to take the quiz as himself. He got:

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 80% Robin 70% The Flash 60% Catwoman 50% Green Lantern 50% Superman 50% Iron Man 45% Hulk 45% Supergirl 25% Wonder Woman 20% Batman 15%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


Like father, like son. I am, of course, very proud. :-)

Then Bethy wanted to take the quiz as herself, but she didn't like the results, so here is what she got when we answered like Wonder Woman:

Your results:
You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 85% Supergirl 75% The Flash 65% Superman 65% Green Lantern 60% Hulk 60% Robin 55% Spider-Man 45% Catwoman 40% Iron Man 30% Batman 25%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

I could have told you about the beautiful princess part. She has a lot of willpower, and we're working on the character part.

Wil wanted to take the Super Hero Quiz, and he wanted to be the Hulk, so that's how we answered the questions. Result:

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk 90% Iron Man 45% Spider-Man 40% Batman 40% Green Lantern 35% Supergirl 30% Superman 30% Catwoman 25% Robin 20% The Flash 20% Wonder Woman 10%

You are a wanderer with amazing strength.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

1. Wil, especially, went through this funny phase of weird pockets of modesty. For example, I bathe him all the time, but he'd want to be in his room to change his shirt.

2. Wil, also, at the same time, went through a couple of weeks of asking me after we had laid down if we'd locked the doors. For awhile, I had to get up and check or have him go check. I even got to where I'd have him check before bedtime, like when I went to lock the door, I'd call him so he could confirm it. He didn't seem really afraid and didn't have nightmares or anything. Then he hasn't been asking lately. Maybe we satisifed him on that one.

3. Something I've struggled with is thinking Wil needs to learn to ride a bike in the spring of 1st grade because I did. Not that I'm trying to push him, per se, but that I don't want him to be behind. And his seemingly irrational fear is frustrating to me.

But, on the other hand, I was 7 that spring and he's only 6. Maybe he'll learn to ride this fall. Or after. Kids are different.

Driving home on Easter, the kids listened to an ok book in the car about a dragonslaying school. The best part, for all of us, by far, was when the wizard cast a spell on the pet pig, Daisy, and she started to speak... pig latin. 'Ellohay Yglafway.'

It never ceases to amaze me: how creative the twins can get in their play when I tell them they don't get to watch a video or play on the computer until they clean their rooms. Really.

We read the Palm Sunday story this morning at breakfast including the part where Jesus cleans out the temple. Wil had a lot of ideas and questions. He wanted to know just how many people had to stop praising Jesus to get the rocks to cry out. And he thought maybe Jesus let the animals out of the temple because they were "God's children that Noah saved on the ark." But the one that tickled me was when he said, "Now the churches pass a bowl." It took me a moment to realize he was talking about collecting offerings. He was satisfied with our explanation of the difference between the people selling animals for sacrifices in the temple and offerings given to God for a church's work, and he added his own point that churches give money to help poor people.

Wil noticed today's date was 4-5-6. We love number patterns at our house. I'm so proud.

Re: April Fools Day Edition

I did not know until this morning that April Fools Day could also be called National Holiday for First Graders. Bethy started working on her project last night (rocks on our dining room chairs). Unrelatedly, Wil woke up before 6 and would not go back to sleep. So he and I got up at 630. Then Bethy got up. I think she was too excited to sleep any more. So Christine had to get up to get 'fooled', she who stayed up late scrapbooking.

I did put one of my favorite April Fools on Wil before I got up: Did you know it snowed last night? He wasn't aware it was April Fools Day yet. Ha! Gotcha!

But the joke's on them: there will be mandatory naps this afternoon.

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.)

Wil's watch

I was eating at Burger King last month and picked up one of those Star Wars watches for Wil. We held it for him until Valentine's Day. He liked it pretty well. The first day or so he was so cute, giving updates on the time as often as every minute, especially when we were laying down reading before bed. It's too big for his little arm, and fairly uncomfortable, so I think he noticed it a lot. 'Daddy, it's 7:53.' 'Daddy, it's 7:54'. He's a sweet boy.

[cross-posted to 'interact' and 'twinlog']

A follow up from Feb. 16 - Elizabeth told me recently that she sometimes finds quiet time for thinking during Independent Reading. I was surprised at how much thought she'd given the matter, although I guess I shouldn't have been. She's reading Chapter books now. Her first is Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel. I'm really looking forward to reading with her this summer. Working at the library, it's been hard to resist bringing every ER (early reader) chapter book home that I think she'll be interested in. We're having a good time reading the American Girls books aloud, and we've discovered that the Groovy Girls dolls have their own series as well. Elizabeth is very into Groovy Girls these days and is already planning a Groovy Girls swimming party for her birthday in July. Fun!

Here's a little insight into Elizabeth's emerging personality: "Mommy, can I tell you something? I wish there was a time at school to be quiet so we can just think about things."

I told her that was a good thought and suggested that there might be more thinking time in 2nd grade. She thought about that a minute and countered with "There will probably be more quiet time, but it will be for more writing in my journal or math or more quizzes."

Wil has taken a new tack on why he doesn't need to go to school.

"Bethy, if I make a Super Beaver movie, will you write it for me?" She agreed.

Proud parent of rock stars

Listening to my flash player on the way home with the twins today. They were rocking out a little to 'One for the mockingbird', then asked me to play it again when it finished, rocking out even more. Then they rocked out some to 'Owner of a lonely heart'. I am understandably proud.

Bethy's allegiances

A couple weeks ago I explained the local high school's symbol to Bethy (you see it on cars a lot).

The Irmo Yellow Jackets . Stylized. Sorta' ugly. Hard to figure out for a first grader. Anyway, she asked.

Yesterday, on the way to church, she saw one of their logos and asked if they had a football team and if we liked them. I said yes they had a football team and they're probably our favorite high school team. I didn't point out that we've never cared enough to go see them play.

Well, Christine was frustrated by this (though, in the interest of full disclosure, she was already on the verge of crabby ;-). We both agree that Bethy has enough 'pert opinions' as it is. Christine wondered why I was contributing to that. We obviously don't see eye-to-eye on athletic partiality, but I didn't really say much.

Still, I thought about it some more. And after a little while, I told Bethy, 'You know, Iowa City West is probably actually our favorite favorite high school, and Irmo's second.'

Christine didn't say anything.

Go Trojans! ;-)

And I see in Iowa City news that the Northwest Junior High Knowledge Master Team:

> claimed its third-straight first-place finish in Iowa and a fourth-place finish out of 776 middle schools that competed

And my 7th grade Language Arts teacher, Rhonda Marshall is advising them. Go Vikings!

Footnote: I have to add West's stats because it's such an amazing school:

• West High teachers average 16 years of experience.
• More than 70 percent of West High faculty hold advanced degrees.
• West High annually leads Iowa in National Merit Scholars.
• Ninety percent of students completing AP exams earn college credit
• Jazz Band has won Iowa State Jazz Band Championship.
• Math Club has won Iowa State Math Championship.
• Iowa State Athletic Championships have been won by many athletic teams.
• West High annually achieves large numbers of All-State Musicians in Orchestra and Jazz Band.
• Graduation rate is over 98 percent.
• Average daily student attendance rate is over 96 percent.
• Overall 65 percent of seniors completed the ACT scoring at an average of over 24.0; Iowa state ACT average is 21.0.

It has begun, already

Lying in bed this morning, Wil said 'Daddy, why do I have to go to school today? I don't want to go. Why do I have to learn that stuff? I already decided in Kindergarten what I want to be.'

I couldn't believe it. 6 and a half is awfully early to be coining that argument. I tried to explain that I didn't really want to go to work, either, but that I had to, and that we learn things we're not sure we'll need because it's good for us and because sometimes our plans don't turn out the way we expect. But I don't think he really bought it.

Covered it some at the breakfast table. Christine was less gentle than me. She asked him if he already knew everything he needed to know about reading and writing and he said yes. She said 'Maybe to be a garbage man.' It sounds harsher in print than it was. Wil wasn't really paying attention anyway. I think he was looking at the comic on the back of the HoneyNut Cheerios box.

Recent twin stories

+ I was washing Wil's face thursday night when I stopped and said 'Wil, does Mrs J. ever stop class to tell you how handsome you are?' and he said 'No.' I said 'I wonder why.' and he thought about it for a moment and said 'Maybe she has too many kids to teach to concentrate on my handsomeness.'

+ We took the twins to 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' yesterday. Their pick and it was a really good movie. We all enjoyed it (though it took Wil to the edge of his scared and sad emotions a couple of times). I'd also played some GameCube with them. I'm telling you that to explain the lack of perspective when, around 4, Bethy asked me to play baseball with them. I said 'I'm sorry, honey, but I have to work.' She said, very matter-of-factly 'Daddy, I don't like your new job. It affects me a lot.' I said 'Do you like having more money?' and she said 'I don't get to spend any of it.' Sheesh.

Wil's hit points

Wil and I have been playing some Battle for Wesnoth (as I mentioned before). Wednesday he asked me from the other room what 6+9 was. I told him and didn't think much about it. Then I heard him saying he had 15 hit points. I wondered where he came up with that number. He had put on his soccer shirt, which was #6, and added 9 (6 upside down, naturally). Fun...

I know I've missed posting a lot of great stuff this year, but that's how it goes sometimes. However, I want to take this opportunity to recommend a fun children's book Muncha, Muncha, Muncha. The refrain around our house these days is "Tippy, tippy, tippy, pat... Muncha, Muncha Munch!"

The other night lying in bed (part 2), Wil asked 'Can we pray to God that Jesus will come back before my parents die?' So we did. Sweet, sensitive boy...

When we were lying in bed friday night, Wil started talking about 'Obi Two Kenobi' who's related to 'Obi One Kenobi'. How cute is that? :-)

(cross posted at interact)

Wow, are you ever in luck!

We recorded the twins (and their dad) singing Schoolhouse Rock's No More Kings last night, and you can hear it, too:

No More Kings, by Elizabeth and Wil (and their dad).
lyrics (in case you can't make out our words real clearly ;-)

Of course as Bethy noted, sometimes you can't hear either one of us over Wil's exuberance.

(Anti-procrastination note: this link will only be good for a week. If you need the file after that, email me.)

Nap jerks

When Wil was falling asleep tonight, he turned toward the wall, then kicked it. He rolled back over sleepily and told me that he'd been dreaming about soccer. I told him that's something I used to do when I played soccer. Sweet connection point for the boys :-)

(cross-posted to interact and twinlog)

Bethy said the sweetest thing to me last week, sometime wednesday, thursday, or friday (can't remember which). She said 'Daddy, can you wait 'til monday night?' Now I had no idea what she was talkiing about, so I asked her. She replied 'That's when Wil and Momma go to Cub Scouts and we stay home.' So that's tonight. My daughter makes me happy. I told her to be thinking about what she wants to do...

Spiderman vs. Elektro - Part 2

SpiDy Gets out oF the way.
SpiDy sees ELectric(ity).
Where SpiDy?
ZaPeD!
SiPDY is cLobbrD.
"uuuuuuu."
EleKtRo zaPeD.
Spier sense tinGLinG.
SPiDy jupds. [jumps]
SPiDy swinGs.
EleKtro is srviveing.

Careers update: We played teams with the boys on Saturday night. They beat us soundly. It was certainly the worst game luck the girls have ever had.

This morning in the car Wil said, "I wish it was Monday." I couldn't believe my ears. Who wishes for Monday? Especially as he and Sean had been wishing earlier that they could stay home today. But I asked, "Why do you wish it was Monday?" "So I could go to Cub Scouts again," he said. I'm so glad Wil likes Cub Scouts. It's more work for parents than Girl Scouts has been so far, but I think it will be worth it for him and for us.

Wil's Spiderman story so far...

Peter Pokr was At his hous.  he want ed to do sPiDer werk.
So he Did.
he USEd his SPier sense.
He saw EleKtRO.
EleKtRik!  SPiDY Gets zaPeD.  "Gua Gua Gua!"

Bethy and I had some nice time together last night, also around Tolkien. Christine took Wil to Tiger Cub Scouts and Bethy and I stayed home. She decided she wanted to watch The Fellowship of the Ring, which was fun, laying on the couch together.

Another fun Bethy story: this weekend, maybe sunday, I was singing Smashmouth 'I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed', and she asked me about that. Eventually she asked me what the sharpest tool is in out shed. I showed her my new Aluminum-Tim-Nickel plated utility knife. Bethy is fun!

Last night I read most of the chapter Inside Information, Bilbo's encounter with Smaug, to Wil. He really got into Bilbo's riddles to Smaug, which I hadn't ever given much thought to. He had me repeat them one by one so he could 'solve' them. Then, this morning, he recounted almost all of them to Christine. It makes me really happy, yes that he's smart, but moreso that we enjoy the same things.

twinlog update

twinlog now has an Atom feed, and Christine, especially, has been updating pretty regularly. You might want to check it out and/or subscribe.

2 stories about Bethy from today:

1. She has told 3 or so relative strangers that she's going to Disney World on the 17th. She's pretty excited.

2. We went to El Chico for lunch. She asked me 'How do you spell 'Max'?' and I told her. She asked 'How do you spell 'Barker'?' and I told her. Then I followed her eyes. She was looking at some writing on the wall that said 'Where Tex [break] Mex Began' and she thought that looked like the name of one of the students in her class. Smart cookie!

Perhaps you wouldn't guess it, but Elizabeth is incredibly savvy when it comes to playing games, especially board games. I picked up a copy of Careers on clearance at Target this week. It's marked ages 8+, so I thought we'd play a modified version by just playing for the money instead of trying to earn all the necessary hearts and stars to fulfill the "Success Formula." Silly momma. Elizabeth quickly realized that the fastest way to make money in this game is to get your salary up and then go around the board, skipping the career paths, as quickly as possible. When we quit today she had $689,000 and I had a measly $245,000. We're scheduled for a rematch tomorrow, only this time we're going to play by the rules to give me a fair chance.

Recently a couple of people have commented on what a good helper Elizabeth is, and the music teacher stopped me after school yesterday to tell me how nice the twins are. Wil's teacher wrote on his progress report, "Wil is a great student! He has lovely manners and a good work ethic! He is a talented artist." I read it to him twice. It's nice for us all to have affirmation from outside sources once in a while.

The twins will not admit to saying this, but here is the conversation as I heard it:

Wil: Elizabeth, will you please play with me?
Elizabeth: No, I want to play by myself.
Wil: Pleeease.
Elizabeth: No, Wil!
Wil: I'll be your best friend.
Elizabeth (exasperated): You already are my best friend!

Lunch on Friday was fun. We invited Elizabeth's friend Rachel to sit with us because Elizabeth "promised." She also promised Brooke that she could sit with us next time. She has entered the age of making promises to her girlfriends. The sweetest part to me is how seriously she takes her promises. After school Rachel and her twin William stop by to play. Total chaos, but fun. Elizabeth further solidified their budding friendship by giving Rachel one of a pair of necklaces that say "Best" and "Friend." I was proud of her act of generosity.

Elizabeth loved showing me around her classroom. Notable moments included puzzling out why there is a picture of a fox with the letter X, and explaining to me about fiction, non-fiction and poetry books.

It took Wil a little longer to get into the spirit of showing me around his classroom, but then he had a dozen things to say. He also had a funny story about morning greeting. He was paired with Will White. "Hello, Will. Hello, Wil," seemed pretty silly to them. At lunch they were still smiling about it whenever they caught each other's eye.

After School

Me: Wil, what was your favorite part of school today?
Wil: The part where we got to go home.

No one wanted to go to school today. Wil said, "I wish we could all stay home together." But they did pretty well getting ready, and Elizabeth was consoled by my promise to join them for lunch tomorrow. We'll try to finish eating ahead of her class so she can show me around her classroom while it's empty. We like that.

Me: Wil, what was your favorite thing about school today?
Wil: Math.
Me (surprised): Did you say Math?
Wil: Yeah, we did 1 and 2.
Me: You mean you wrote the numbers 1 and 2? Did you add them or anything?
Wil: We practiced writing them, and we drew pictures of one thing and then two things....

Aha, now I understand. Drawing is the key to Wil's heart or at least the way to capture his interest.

First Grade - Day 3

Elizabeth favorite thing: designing and coloring a balloon which she called "Prisas Colorfur" or Princess Colorful.

Wil's favorite: Music class and writing in his journal.

It's only the second day, but Elizabeth is already frustrated about First Grade being boring. "We don't do anything new," she complained. After school, unprompted by me, she pulled out her Usborne Learning Palette and Math problems because, as she explained, they hadn't done any Math yet at school.

First Grade - Day 2

Wil: Why do we have to go to school again? When is this going to end?

First Grade

To Elizabeth,
  You were so bright and confident this morning on your first day of First Grade.  Despite lack of sleep, maybe from excitement or nerves, you hopped out of bed this morning when I began our "Good Morning, Princess" song.  It was a day for hopping, as you wiggled into your new school uniform.  You know you look adorable in it.  You jumped out of the car at the entrance to Leaphart, all ready to go.  I smiled as I watched you chat with the aide that was helping us unload.  Yes, you can carry that heavy bag of school supplies.  Yes, you know where to go.  You didn't even turn around to say 'good-bye' as you headed inside.  Back at one of your favorite places.  Back where you belong.


To Wil,
  I was so proud of you this morning on your first day of First Grade.  You woke up cheerfully - you knew today was a special day.  You got ready for school with little complaining and we were all ready early.  At school, you kissed me good-bye as we said "I love you."  I will always remember your pinched little face as I drove away.  You were trying so hard not to cry.  I shed a few tears myself.  You are so full of hopes and dreams.  And I am full of hopes and dreams for you.

Mission Organization

Mission Organization

Elizabeth to Wil: I've figured out something. Momma is more interested
in the organization part than the decorating.

--

Last night

Wil: Daddy, do you think Secret Agent Barbie is cool?

Me: (thinking fast) Well, I think the 'secret agent' part is cool, but I'm not so crazy about the 'Barbie' part. [Pause to bask in the glow (and relief) of my great answer.] Do you think Secret Agent Barbie is cool?

Wil: Well, I think the 'secret agent' part is cool, but I think the 'Barbie' part is eek!

This morning at 5:45

Wil: Daddy, why can't I go to that Brownie meeting?

This came out of a dead sleep, such that I wasn't even sure he was awake. But he was, and this was the first thing he thought of, poor boy. I have to take Bethy to an organizational Brownie meeting tomorrow morning and he doesn't want to stay home.

I was singing 'Keane' in the car one day and Elizabeth said 'Daddy, where is someplace only we know?' I thought that was pretty cute. Wil said 'I know: Gramma Sue's house.' Last night they said 'Tulsa Oklahoma'.

Today we finally had a summer day like the one I dreamed about before school ended. We did a few housekeeping chores after breakfast, ran errands, ate lunch and then played in the pool until almost 3 pm. Now the twins are going to play while I get a few more things done. Then it will be time for Sean to come home and supper. Maybe we'll get back in the pool after that!

More multimedia twin goodness:

OK, OurMedia didn't work more times than it did. So I'll use YouSendIt and you can get the file for up to a week. After that, if you come around here and want to hear it, email me.

Wil doing Edna Mode from The Incredibles

Bethy doing Edna Mode

Time to warmup this Blogger Images rig!

Ever since I showed the twins (and especially Wil) the UGO HeroMachine there's a constant queue to create more heroes. Here are the ones we've done in the last 2 days (Some of these are copyrighted by Marvel. Hope I don't get cease and desist-ed):






Now this next one is a Wil special. He's mostly designed based on Disney Tarzan.


In Wil's milieu there is also Naked Man, Naked Baby, Naked Woman, Naked Girl, and Naked Dog.

Thanks to the twin miracles of Audacity and Ourmedia, I have some new sound files of the twins to post for you:

Wil singing 'O Leaphart' (their school song)
Elizabeth singing 'ZYX'
Wil singing 'Take me out to the ballgame'

More to come...

Elizabeth's Valentine to God

The first part is fill-in-the blank, but then she wrote the rest.

I love God more than anything!

Dear God,
I love you God!
I can't wate to see you!
I sik dat it will be gate. (I think that it will be great.)
Love, Elizabeth

Elizabeth is a list maker. I found these two lists after she and Wil were playing shopping. Taking care of Wil's dog Freckles was a major priority. Here are the things they needed:

Gosrey lits (Grocery list)
1. peycoo (pizza, originally spelled peesoo but then she erased it)
2. kani kugry (Kanine Krunchies)
3. doGy biGis (doggy biscuits)
4. vegtabro (vegetables)
5. fots (fruits)

TRGit (Target)
1. magi (matches)
2. soov (stove)
3. dusp panre (dust pan)
4. fmondinre (thermometer)
5. medsi fwh (medicine for Freckles)

When asked, the twins disagreed about whether fwh spelled Freckles or his initials: Freckles Rescue Hero. Regardless, I think Elizabeth's spelling is brilliant. She has also begun to enjoy word searches and filling in the squares on Sean's crossword puzzles.

I'm not going to get this exactly right, but hopefully you'll get the gist of it.

Wil was playing last night and half talking to himself and half talking to me. He was talking about fighting The Bad Guys. Then he said something like 'But Jesus said we should love our enemies [or The Bad Guys, I forget which]. So how can we fight them and love them at the same time?' He thought about it and said 'I think if we put them in a cage, we could fight them and love them at the same time.'

I told him that was really good thinking.

Smart boy.

We're having an afternoon snack the other day and Wil very sweetly brought some crackers over to the kitchen. I said 'Oh, no thank you. I've already had my crackers, but it was nice of you to offer.'

I warmed up some pot roast vegetables for myself, and asked him if he wanted some, as a joke, because I knew he didn't like them. He said, sweetly and sincerely 'No thank you, but it was nice of you to offer.'

I love that boy.

We went to Irmo Middle School for "Lunch with Santa" on Saturday because Wil has asked repeatedly to meet Santa. He knows it's just someone pretending to be Santa, that Santa doesn't exist, but he's still enamored with the idea. The middle schoolers performed some songs, solos and a dance. Elizabeth really enjoyed it. But, of course, meeting Santa was still the big attraction. Wil told him he wanted Rescue Heroes for Christmas. Elizabeth said she wanted the My Little Pony Castle. (Translation: she saw a commercial for it on television that morning. Then she surprised me by repeating the wish at Daisy Girl Scouts last night.) But the bigger deal was explaining to them about not telling other kids that Santa isn't real. The twins know the story of St. Nicholas, and the only Santa-business we've ever done is buying presents for less fortunate children. So I explained that even though we know the truth about Santa, we have to keep it a secret. They were very impressed by having such an important secret, so hopefully they won't be the bringers of bad tidings to their classmates. However, it made me hope very much that there aren't many more times in their lives when I have to tell my kids not to tell the truth.

I've missed posting some good stuff lately, but here's a funny little conversation Elizabeth had with one of Sean's students at our InterVarsity Christmas party on Saturday night: They were discussing our Christmas decorations and how there will be more decorations at GiJi and GrampAl's house when we go there for Christmas. The student asked if Elizabeth was going to get anything in her stocking, referring to the stocking hanging on our mantle. Elizabeth said seriously, "Now that is a problem. I have two stockings. There is another one at GiJi's house because that is where we are going to do Christmas." We couldn't help laughing.

Wil playing basketball

From Christine's email:

I'm happy to report that Wil is playing better at basketball. He still doesn't like it, but he's improving none the less. On Saturday he twice stopped a kid from moving the ball, (okay, he fouled them.) He caught a pass and he attempted a pass. He's also fastest up and down the court. Partly that's because he's nowhere near the ball usually, but it also means he's paying attention to when possession of the ball changes. I missed the pass, but caught the attempt on camera. Enjoy!

Must be nice to be so handsome. 

Telephone

This may not have been what they said, but it's what I heard:

C: Wil, what are you up to?
W: What?
C: I just asked what you are up to.
W: Yes.


What they really said (I found out later):

C: Wil, are you OK?
W: What?
C: I just asked if you're OK.
W: Yes.

I promised a Bethy ballerina picture, and here it is. 'Bethy' seems a little too frivolous for this serious ballerina, so I'll title this one: Elizabeth, ballerina.
 

More on Wil and girlfriends: On saturday, after basketball, Wil surprised me saying, out of nowhere 'Daddy, I know why you married Christine.'

me: 'Oh, why?'

Wil: 'Because she was your girlfriend.'

me: 'Momma says you're too young to be thinking about girlfriends.'

Wil's map of Middle Earth

Wil's map of Middle Earth
Originally uploaded by Sean Meade.

Wil is a Tolkien prodigy. He made this 'map' himself. Click through to Flickr to see my notes on each part of the map. You will stand amazed. The descriptions are mine. I will probably do a higher quality version later with his own descriptions.

We just got word today from Mrs. Wertz that Wil was chosen as a November Terrific Kid for his citizenship. The focus of citizenship at Leaphart includes being considerate and fair, and showing appreciation and commitment. We are so proud! He asked me last week to come to school when he was on WLES-TV, but I didn't understand he'd already been chosen. Of course I'll be there on Friday!

I've been surprised at Wil's interest in "girlfriends." Elizabeth totally caught me off guard today with this bit of wisdom: "Here's one way you can know Julia is Robert's girlfriend - Julia patted Robert on the shoulder the last time I was at centers."

When we went to have lunch with the twins last Friday (since we'd both been out of town), I said to Elizabeth, 'Do your friends in your class know you're a princess?'

And she said, 'No, and don't tell them, either!'

Mostly funny with just a touch of sadness (that she's getting to the age where she'd want to hide something like that).

I don't think I ever wrote about why Elizabeth said she wanted to be a bride.

We were at Jennifer's wedding in March of 2003. Bethy had mostly been saying that she wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up. I took her to the ballet in Tulsa in January.

During the wedding Elizabeth said 'Oh, daddy, the bride looks very beautiful.'

It was later, at the reception, when she said 'Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a ballerina and a bride.'

Ballerina Bethy (in street clothes) with Ballerina Bear (downtown Hendersonville). 

Pretty mommy and twins. 

Big and cute! (Christine's fave) 

Bethy this morning (because I'm wired, baby!) 

There are numerous things that make the twins' elementary school a cut above the rest. National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, Red Carpet Award for being "family friendly," Everyday Math, reading and literacy programs, etc. Most recently I discovered they have a full kitchen in their classroom cluster and why - they baked a cake! Together! At school! Last week they were learning colors and talked about primary and secondary colors. On Friday all four classes baked their own Rainbow cake. That's cool. Also, the principal still leads the school in the Pledge of Allegiance, God Bless America and a moment of silence every day. Elizabeth's teacher sings a thank you song with her class every day before lunch. We are so pleased with our first public school experience.

Last night during family devotions we read about evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and the righteous man Naboth and his vineyards. Elizabeth prayed that good people like Naboth get to go to Heaven. So Sean asked her, "What do people have to do to go to Heaven?" She said, "Tell people about God." Not exactly, Sean told her. "Believe in God," she said. Yes! "I've always believed in God," she said. That's probably true.

Time to brag. Elizabeth is a star. Mrs. Hilton sometimes gives out Skittles as rewards for sitting quietly, following instructions, etc. Elizabeth doesn't like Skittles so she has her own special Hershey Kisses and Hugs. On Wednesday Mrs. Hilton said Elizabeth was going to go home with a bag full. Elizabeth didn't, of course, but she understood the compliment and was so pleased. Then yesterday during "Literacy Centers" Mrs. Hilton said that she and Mrs. Huck were going to have big heads when their students go to First Grade. Elizabeth didn't exactly understand that one, but she knew it was because they were the smart kids.

Looks like a pro, aye? And Beckham-handsome, too. 

It's been a big week for starting new things. Wil had his first ever soccer practice last Saturday and Elizabeth went to Daisy Girl Scouts for the first time. Wil told Sean, "Soccer is cool," when Sean got home on Saturday. Elizabeth was happy they did a craft at Girl Scouts on the very first day. I had warned her it might just be an information meeting.

Wil had soccer again on Monday evening and got to try his skills as a sweeper. He was very enthusiastic and I thought he played well. During both practices he started asking me 'how much longer?' after the first 30 minutes, but he assured me later that everything was fun, just long. His team is the Waves.

At long last Elizabeth started ballet and tap classes at the Community Rec Center. Parents weren't allowed to stay in the room, but we got to watch through the one-way window. She looked as though she was concentrating hard on what her dance teacher told her to do and equally hard at what she looked like in the mirror. I wish I could have gotten a picture. I certainly thought she was the most graceful of the ten little girls there!

We have 'homework' assignments now. They're just short activities about counting, patterns, the alphabet, etc. For example, "Name two words that rhyme with tree." That's it. We've got a calendar and the twins can choose what they want to do that day and then we check it off. There's something for every day but right now they only have to do one a week. We're having fun with it, however, and have done more. Yesterday Wil picked, "Draw a picture of your teacher and list three things you like about her." He said:

I like (Mrs. Wertz) because she teaches me.
I get to help her because I like her.
I like her because she wears cool shirts.

The twins get to check out books from the school library now. It's a big deal at our house. Elizabeth has been talking about it since school started. "We get to check out books after Labor Day. When is Labor Day?" She picked the same Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer book that my parents have at their house. Wil picked out a Rosemary Wells book about a mouse called Shy Charles. Charles looks a lot like Max even though Max is a rabbit.

When I asked Wil what he had to do to borrow the book, he said, "I paid for it." I was a little surprised by that answer, but a upon further questioning I figured out that the librarian scanned a barcode that must go to Wil's name, ("It went beep like at the grocery store,") and then the barcode on the book, ("It beeped again.") I think he understands that he didn't actually buy the book, but we'll find out when he has to return it on Friday.

This is the time of day when I try to keep one eye or ear on Wil. He used to fall asleep at this time and ruin his sleeping pattern, which is much more critical now that they're in school. This has only happened once since they started school, so he seems to have broken the pattern, but I'm still anxious about it.

Christine and Elizabeth were in the other room counting and I hadn't seen or heard Wil in a while. So I went to check on him in his room. He was sitting under his table.

Me: Whatcha doin?
Wil: Finkin.
M: OK, just wanted to check on ya.

pause

W: Daddy, can I keep finkin?
M: Sure.
W: Because I need people to leave me alone in my room to fink.
M: OK, no problem. I just wanted to make sure you were OK.

I guess this is what introverts do when they come home from school.

Christine tried to quiz him on his PIN (for school lunch) after they got home, and he just couldn't pay attention. Maybe later.

We met Wil's friend Chandler and Elizabeth's friend Brooke at lunch last week. Chandler didn't have much to say although he seemed to enjoy sitting with us and talked a bit to Wil. Wil was so pleased that we'd come to meet his friend. Brooke on the other hand chatted happily about everything. She may have talked even more than Elizabeth.

I put the "popcorn words" will, go, and we on the refrigerator to see if the twins would notice. Elizabeth did and she rearranged them to write We will go. Brilliant!