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.