A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Monday, October 06, 2008

Catching Up

Much time has passed since our visit to the Audubon Insectarium this summer.

Since we saw the insects, we've:

Visited the American Village outside of Birmingham, Ala. Think of it as the Colonial Williamsburg of the south. The boys -- all three of them -- had a blast. They got to beat an effigy of a British general, sit on a jury of an accused hog thief, join the fight for the nation's independence from British rule and play old timey pub games. The neatest building in the complex was a reproduction of the oval office.

Started school. Joshua is now in 4th grade and will be taking the LEAP in the spring while Jonas has entered the halls of the 2nd grade. Anna is still enjoying her school, giving us the "go away mom" eyes after we drop her off.

Had two unwelcome visitors -- Gustav and Ike. Gustav knocked our power out for two days. Battery operated radio, television and spotty cell service were our only links to the outside world. Not knowing when or how soon the power would be back up wore on all of us, but we read books, played outside and ate junk in the meantime. The two storms showed that our governments on all levels still have lessons to learn about disaster preparation and resopnse.

Played soccer. Jonas has joined the local recreation district team in his first stab at organized ball of any kind. He is enjoying it!

Joined 4H. Joshua is now a member of 4H and eagerly awaits his first project book. They have been electing officers for their club and will soon celebrate 4H week.

Became a Daring Baker. Since I'm not busy enough, I decided to join a group of Daring Bakers. The host for the month presents a challenge and the Daring Bakers are to take on that challenge and produce an edible delight. Last month was lavash crackers and I'm already thinking on how to handle October's challenge.

So, in a nutshell, that's what we've been up to lately. :)

Friday, July 11, 2008

Over and Over and Over...

I was about ready to pull my hair out yesterday...

I was on the road for a good two hours last evening, going to and from the bi-monthly political shenagians I cover for the local paper.

And -- I kid you not -- Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl FIVE TIMES...

Don't you just hate it when they play a song until you're sick of it?

Then, since I hadn't heard the song enough last night, Katy Perry played her signature tune on the results show of So You Think You Can Dance?

ARRGGGGH!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

If You Have a PS3...

Don't update the firmware! :0

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2008/07/02/ps3-firmware-24-dont-update/

It's Been A While...

Hello again!

I kind of fell off the earth again. Yes, life got in the way!

Let's see, where to start... Hmmm....

Anna is talking much more now! Her walking has greatly improved and she now runs, skips and hops. She loves to wear her tutu and dance around the house, but she can't decide whether she likes dancing or baseball better. She still enjoys going to "school." We are enjoying every minute with her.

Jonas finished school with a bang, making all As, scoring the highest in his class on the Iowa test, getting the reading award and passing to the second grade. He loves playing video games and is enjoying summer day camp.

Joshua passed to the third grade, achieving all the scores necessary on his iLeap and doing very well on his report card. He was selected to attend the Spring Into the Arts camp at the beginning of the summer where he was exposed to many different art forms. He loved manipulating the puppets. He likes playing video games with his brother.

The kids are keeping us pretty busy. We are planning a trip and can't wait to go!

We recently visited New Orleans' newest attraction, the Audubon Insectarium. It was a hit! The kids loved every aspect of it. We enjoyed watching the leaf cutter ants work in a huge ant farm. The bug movie was an experience not to miss. And the butterfly garden -- with bonus koi -- was unbelievable! We hope to visit it again.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

All I Really Need to Know I Learned from the Beatles

I'm an on-again, off-again fan of American Idol.

I was so excited when they finally got the rights to the Lennon/McCartney songbook as well as other Beatles songs.

I was aghast that several of this year's American Idol contestants had never heard of the songs before, much less the Beatles...

WHAT? Have they not been through an all-Beatles weekend? I can remember when those weekends were the rage!

You've got to admit, the Beatles know how to stand the test of time, always making their "something old" something new and introducing new generations to the magic of John, Paul, George and Ringo.

My kids -- all three -- are fans. This is largely in part to the movie Across the Universe, which they just loved.

Jonas has declared that he is going to go on American Idol one day and sing Come Together.

But, the Beatles have made a profound impact on my youngest, Anna, in getting her to talk.

For some reason, Anna is a little bit behind where she is supposed to be. She catches up really quick, but reaches the mileposts a little later than her peers.

She is now saying "kite" and "help."

I recently picked up the cd soundtrack for The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show. It is just awesome. It's regular listening for me when toting kids around, including Anna.

Anna developed a love for the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! after seeing this little clip from Across the Universe (which we then had to watch over and over and over)...

The song is also featured on the Love cd. Now, everytime Anna wants to hear the song, she says "kite." I don't even know if she knows what a kite actually is! Even just looking at the cd cover art elicits a "kite" from her lips.

The song immediately following "kite" is Help! Anna will say, in a soft voice, "help, help" when she wants to listen to that song.

Who would've thunk that the Beatles would help get a two-year-old to talk?

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Let's Go to the Movies

Well, in our living room, anyway...

Jeff is not a big movie person, but the boys and Anna seem to have picked up my love for moving pictures.

Thanks to Netflix, we are able to have over 10,000 delivered to our door. Flicks from the most current releases to oldies but goldies.

We decided to treat the kids to the Indiana Jones series. They watched a little bit, but didn't really jump into it with both feet.

I had Little Big Man in my queue, and it came about the same time as the Indiana Jones flicks. After watching Indiana Jones, I popped in Little Big Man.

Joshua's eyes were glued to the TV. Jonas, engrossed in a computer game, even stole glances more often than not.

After the movie, I asked them if they liked the movie. They both told me they liked it better than Indiana Jones.

WHAT? Liking Little Big Man better than Indiana? I just couldn't believe it.

(By the way, I love Little Big Man.)

Tonight, we watched The Day the Earth Stood Still. After explaining a little big of the times the movie was made in -- the fears of Communism, the Cold War and atomic bombs -- Joshua was again glued to the tube. Jonas got interested, too.

Yet again, the boys both said how much they liked the movie. A movie made almost 60 years ago with "low budget" special effects -- nothing like the effects of the most recent Star Wars movies or Jurassic Park -- held their attention.

I am really amazed. I'm looking forward to watching more old movies with them!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Makes Ya Wonder

Crazy things the kids of done...

Joshua -- flew a remote control helicopter into his eye on Christmas Eve. I thought we'd be out of the doctor's office for this holiday, but boy was I wrong!

Anna -- enjoys attacking the cat with her Tickle-Me-Elmo and with her Dora the Explorer bus ride-on. Anna growls while performing the attack. Mama Kitty begs to go back outside.

Anna -- while watching the BCS National Chamiponship Game featuring LSU and Ohio State, she hears Darth Vader's theme. Anna jumps up from her chair and goes over to the toy box. Anna starts crying, and the boys assist her. Anna finds what she's looking for -- a Star Wars lightsaber.

Totally out of character, Jonas hasn't done anything crazy lately....

The adventure continues...