Black and Blue, and Bitten, Too...

Two of my three kids look a little monstrous on this Halloween day.  They are so timely...  It's just too bad that their costumes are already done. 

Otherwise, Orry could go as a boxer.

On Friday, Orry was running during recess and fell, face first, on the blacktop.  I got the dreaded call from the school nurse, who explained what had happened and told me that she gave him an ice pack.  I didn't have to go and get him, but I was warned that his face was already bruised and swollen.  

And Annie could go as a mild version of Sloth from The Goonies.

Our last significant rainfall here in Houston was on Oct. 9th.  And with that rainfall came the hatching of flood water mosquitoes.  Annie must be very sweet because she surely got bitten about 4 or 5 times all across her forehead.  One of the bites happens to be on her eyebrow.  She has a bad reaction to mosquito bites and swells a lot.  I think I'll have to douse her in bug repellent before we go out tonight.

Luckily, Isaac is still looking like Isaac.

This is about as close as he will get to looking like a monster this Halloween.  

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!  Be safe and be sure to brush and floss before going to bed.  And beware of large mosquitoes and menacing blacktop while you're out there!

Star of the Week

Orry Becker: Star of the Week

Canoeing with Dad

Woot, woot!!  That's my boy!

Now, I know I'm making it seem like he's won some award.  And while I believe that he is capable of winning all the awards in the entire universe, that is not the case (this time).

Orry's kindergarten class has been picking a student every week to be Star of the Week.  The child that is chosen must bring a collage to school that describes who they are.  During class time, said child will be able to talk about things on their collage so that their peers may get to know them a little better.  Other perks that come with being Star of the Week, being the "line leader" for the whole week and having your favorite book read during class time.

This week it is Orry's turn to be the star.  How was he chosen?  Turns out that last week was Bethany's turn to be the star.  At the end of that week she had to pick someone to go next.  She chose Orry because they are friends and because girls have to pick boys (and visa versa).   So here is the collage that we worked on this weekend:

We couldn't fit all the things that he likes on this half-sized poster board.  We couldn't even fit half of the things that he likes.  But we managed to squeeze in some of the really important things.

So here's to you, my little star!  I hope your classmates get a glimpse at what a wonderful boy you are!  

Deck the Halls With Ghosts So Spooky

It's been four years since we've decorated our house for Christmas.  And this year will make five.

I seems that we are always traveling during that holiday season.  And what's the point of buying and decorating a tree if you won't even be home to look at it.

I don't know what it is that kids love about decorating their houses for holidays.  Something to do with the twinkling lights, I'm sure.  I remember pressuring my own dad to put lights all over our house.  And I remember the sheer joy I felt when he finally got out the ladder and climbed on the roof, risking his neck to hang lights that would only have to be taken down less than a month later.  Ah, one of my happy memories.  Thanks, Dad.

So it comes as no surprise that Orry asked for "bat" lights when he began seeing other houses getting decked out for Halloween.

I love Halloween.  I love costumes.  I love candy.  I love Halloween.

So this year we have traded our "Christmas Decorating Fund" for a "Halloween Decorating Fund".  We carved our pumpkins with spooky ghosts and kitty-bats (Thanks, Grandma Tammy!).  We hung spider webs on our fence posts.  We even replaced our porch light with a black light.  We've got an orange string of lights for the porch and a spider string of lights for the window.  Our costumes are ready, though I won't tell you what they are just yet.  Okay, okay, here's a small preview because I'm sure you could have guessed it.

Orry had a really great time making our house "spooky".  He really loved putting the spiders in the cobwebs.  His pumpkin turned out pretty great too.  I'm not a 100% sure that the littler kids know exactly what's in store for them.  I am, however, 100% sure that this Halloween will be one heck of a treat!

His "pumpkin face"

We Are Thankful

Weekend before last we had the pleasure of having my parents, Mamita Donna and Poppa Jeffery, come for a visit.  It should go without saying that we had a wonderful time, but I'm going to say it anyway.  We had a wonderful time!  We went to a craft show, watched a killer football game (Geaux Tigers #1!!!), ate tacos from a food truck, went to church, saw Cars 2, went for a swim at the hotel pool, and walked among the butterflies.  

But of all the fun things that we do with our family, my favorite has to be gathering around the table and enjoying a meal together.  This time around we enjoyed hamburgers with all the trimmings.  Child and grown-up alike feasted that night.  All were satisfied.  None went hungry.  

Yes, some of us eat in our underoos...

During this time of year we are encouraged to slow down and give thanks for all the things that we have.  What time of year is it, you ask?  Well, I know it can be confusing.  Halloween is right around the corner.  And while the stores already have their twinkling lights wrapped around tall fir trees with golden presents shining from under their branches, Thanksgiving, that wonderful time of year when we gather around a table with our family, is only 37 days away.  While we do have costumes and candy and cobwebs and pumpkins on our minds, we are also taking time to give thanks for the things we have.

Orry's school is currently collecting canned goods for the local food bank and we are taking this opportunity to really help the kids understand just how fortunate we are.  We talk about the privilege of having clean water and the responsibility we have not to waste it or take it for granted.  We talk about the fresh vegetables and fruits we eat everyday and how lucky we are to be able to access and afford such commodities.  We also talk about sharing what we have with others.

I confess that I am guilty of giving all of my "back of the pantry" goods away whenever I get the chance.  You know, all those cans of baked beans, cooked spinach, and mixed vegetables that seem to hide in the back behind the more desirable items.  But I got to thinking, Shouldn't I be giving things that I myself would want to receive if the shoe were on the other foot?  And so I sent Orry and Troy to the store with specific instructions.  #1: Choose $10 worth of non-perishable food items. #2: Make sure that you pick things that you enjoy and that you think a boy just like you might like to eat.  They came back with a variety of things, but I know that Orry must have remembered rule #2 because he was sure to bring back some mandarin oranges.  He really wanted to give "a boy just like you" some fresh apples, but we had to remember rule #1.  

Being thankful for the things we have is something that we can do all year round.  Giving to our local food bank is also something that we can do all year round.  Hopefully, in this coming year we will do more of both. So tell me, what are you thankful for?

Everyday Dinosaur

Like our blog title suggests, we do talk dinosaur.  Everyday in fact.  I know that my posts sometimes have nothing to do with the once plentiful animals that are now extinct (or are they?).  Rest assured though, everyday of our exciting lives is filled with dinosaurs in one way or another.

The "jet pack"

Take the mornings, for example, we wake up and eat breakfast.  Okay, nothing really dinosaur-like about that.  We get dressed and out comes the first dinosaur.  Today Isaac donned a stegosaurus tee.  He sure loves those dino tees.  I've pretty much given up trying to get him to wear non-dino tees with the exception being on Sundays.  Other dino things we do in the morning: watch The Dinosaur Train on PBS and put on our dinosaur "jet pack".

After taking Isaac to school, you would think that us two girls would put all that dinosaur stuff behind us.  Not so.  We frequent the local library and just because we love our boys so much, we make sure that we hunt down a few good books about dinosaurs.  Finding dinosaur books in the picture book section can be tricky.  Here are the last names of some authors that write books about dinosaurs: Barton, Most, Strickland, and Yolen.  The non-fiction section is also a great and easy place to find books about dinosaurs since they are typically all lumped together.

On to lunch.  We eat dinosaur shaped sandwiches!  Now, I should say that I'm really baffled by the power of the DinoBytes sandwich crust cutter.  If you give one of my kids a regular sandwich that's been cut neatly down the middle chances are they will pull it apart and leave at least one element untouched, typically the bread.  But if you cut that same sandwich with the DinoBytes cutter, the sandwich will be completely devoured.  I should also give you fair warning, this is a crust cutter.  You will have crusts left over, which, if you are like me, you will not want to go to waste.  Therefore you will end up eating crust sandwiches for your own lunch.

Our afternoons are also filled with dinosaurs.  Isaac really loves putting together dinosaur puzzles and he is quickly amassing a large collection of them.  I've found that Melissa & Doug make some nice quality wooden and cardboard dinosaur puzzles.  But the toy snob in me should tell you that they aren't very scientifically accurate.  Some of the dinos pictured together in the puzzles weren't alive at the same time.  But the mom in me will tell you that they satisfy the need to see all the famous dinosaurs together on one puzzle.

Our evenings are filled with books about dinosaurs.  And the boys' dreams (and maybe Annie's too) just might be filled with dinosaurs as well.  And I know that some of you might be thinking that a lot of the dinosaur loving is coming from Isaac.  But I assure you all that Orry is on that bandwagon as well.  He's got a class assignment due in about 5 weeks where he will have to give a small presentation about what he wants to be when he grows up.  His answer, a paleontologist.  He will dress the part and give a speech about what a paleontologist is, what kind of education he has to have, what kind of tools he uses, and what contributions he makes to the community.  This really has the potential for being a life-making lesson.  We'll see how it goes and we'll be sure to post some photos.

In the meantime, I hope your days are filled with the things that you love!  Life is too short to not be doing the things that you enjoy.

Over and Over Again

Question: Have you ever had to practice doing something over and over again?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, for everyone.  Personally, I've practiced all sorts of things in my lifetime.  Walking, talking (still working on this one), gymnastics, playing piano, spelling, playing the flute, dancing.  Even now I find that I practice things quite often.

Question: Do you remember what it was like to have to practice things when you were younger?

I had a love/hate relationship with practicing things in the past.  Take the piano.  I love playing the piano.  But when I was younger, I sometimes hated having to practice.  Okay, maybe hated is too strong a word.  Seriously disliked.  That's better.  I don't know exactly why I would moan and groan about it.  Possibly because I'm a complainer.  Possibly because all I really wanted to do was listen to my New Kids on the Block cassette tapes over and over again...

Question: Is it time that I started getting my kids involved in things that take diligent practice to do?

The answer is yes.  Yes, it is.

About 6 weeks ago we signed the boys up for choir practice.  They are both in the Cherub's choir.  We don't stick around to see what songs they sing because we adults have our own class to attend while the little ones sing.  We've seen a little bit of what goes on.  There's guitar playing and dancing, both fun things that make kids really love going to choir practice.  It turns out that they were working on How Great Thou Art.  A great song, if you ask me.  They performed it this past Sunday.  Here's a clip.  Orry is top row, middle.  Isaac is standing right below him.  They are a little hard to spot.  Turns out the usual spot we sit in is not so good for viewing them singing.

The kids really like going to choir practice.  They haven't complained about going one single time!  Of course, their friends are there, there is guitar and dancing, they get to play in the nursery when it's done, and they get to climb trees when we leave.  

Orry has been practicing some math lately.  He's been working on addition and multiplication tables.  He's been having a fun time filling in the boxes and finding the patterns.  Turns out that we have a set of multiplication flash cards.  Good ole' multiplication flash cards.  I remember those fondly.  My own mother would quiz me and even pay me a penny for the ones I got right.  I remember feeling really proud of myself for memorizing so many and for being able to answer so quickly.  Orry is no different.  He really beams when he gets them right.  We're not dishing out pennies yet, though.  It's funny how much practice we need to learn or memorize these things.  I don't multiply numbers in my day to day life.  When Orry quizzed me with the flash cards I was surprised at how rusty I was with some of them.  Mainly the upper 9's.  9 x 6.  9 x 7.  9 x 8.  I'm happy to say that I got them right, but it took me a while to get the answer out.  A couple of times Orry gave me the buzzer sound suggesting that I was out of time and therefore wrong.  I guess I should start practicing those again...

Today Isaac has show and tell in his class.  They were supposed to bring in a picture of their pet.  If they don't have a pet, they could bring in a stuffed animal to talk about.  The idea is they need to practice talking in front of their peers.  I agree.  I hadn't thought about it until last night, but I don't really know what Isaac's level of socialization is with kids his own age.  I drop him off at school, but I don't see the actual interactions take place.  I know he plays with other kids.  I hear about all that when he gets home.  But does he talk to them?  So today he took his stuffed T. Rex with him.  I'm not really sure what he is going to say about it.  I tried to coach him last night, but all he would say was Tyrannosaurus Rex.  I was feeding him sentence after sentence, encouraging him to repeat after me.  And all I got was Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Looks like we'll be practicing this new skill from here on out.  

So what are your kids practicing these days?  And how is it going?  Are they having a good time?  Are they feeling a good sense of accomplishment?  

My Little Funny Bones

I'm a complainer.  I'm not proud of it.  Do you remember how bad my days can sometimes tend to go?  I'm sure you remember me complaining about their bedtime.  Right?

Well, you can thank Brooke Shields for this post.  I've posted her recent interview with Hoda (yes, I love watching Kathy Lee and Hoda) so that you can see what she says.  The part I'm referring to starts at 2:30 in the clip.

I love that she mentions how funny her kids are.  This is something wonderful that is true of all kids.  Sometimes we are so wrapped up in other things that we forget to stop and appreciate it.  Sometimes it takes someone like Brooke to remind us of this simple truth.

Annie can't talk yet so her funniness comes by way of faces.  She's got her scrunch face.  I'm sure you've seen it.

She's also got a mean scowl that she won't hesitate to give to anyone that she's unfamiliar with.  Of course, as unfamiliar as she is with you, all you have to do is say goodbye and she'll smile and wave at you like you're family...  She's also got a funny shuffle that she likes to do when you're in a hurry.  Oh, she'll shuffle those feet 1/4 inch at a time.  Lastly, she's a mimic.  She'll follow behind one of the boys and if he bends down to fix his shoe, she'll bend down and fix hers.  If he turns a circle and jumps in the air, by golly, she will turn that same circle and do all in her power to get her feet off the floor.  She's funny.

Isaac is talking up a storm.  It still isn't 100% understandable, but he's made tremendous progress.  Some of his funniness comes from mixed up syllables.  Some of his funniness comes from words that aren't understood, but sure do sound like bad words.  Funnier than his speech is his personality.  Part of it is that he loves to have a good time.  He'll toot in your face and say, "That's us!".  He's just a funny kid.

Dinosaur mask and claws.  Rraahhh!

Orry is talking and I just have to use that cliché.  Kids say the darndest things.  Just the other day he dropped this gem on me: "Mommy, I think it would be better if it was just me."  And who can forget, "A bee ate my booger!"?  Not me.  And the other day, while having one of Troy's co-workers over for dinner, Orry decided to describe our guest's hair (or lack thereof).  He said, "You're blind."    

Posing with his black balloon sword and butterfly mask.  What a combo...

The other thing from the interview worth mentioning is how fast they grow up.  Too fast if you ask me.  I'd rather not dwell on it for too long.  The evidence is there, staring me in the face, day after day.  For now, I'll just put my feet up and laugh while I can because I'm pretty sure that next week they'll each want their own cellphone and smart car...