January 2, 2012

Ellie had a practice meet Monday. Her coach wants everyone's hair in a clean bun (but no bobby pins) or curly ponytails. Have you ever tried a bun with no bobby pins? (And stick straight fine hair?) Good luck. I am happy to say that the curls lasted for the whole meet.

January 1, 2012

This is the book we finished today. I read, and everyone else listens. It's very possibly Rowan's favorite time of day. Not that he really likes the books - he likes that Jon plays with him while trying to keep him quiet. But if you ask Rowan, he'll tell you that while he doesn't care about the books he does "like the whole family together". Ellie loves it, and will gladly drop what she's doing to listen. Conor likes it too, but always groans a bit before sprawling on the floor. He's usually the first to make a comment or have a question while I'm reading.

PS - Happy New Year!

Tackle Dummies

As usual this time of yesr, turn down the volume unless you LOVE cicadas.

Conor had his first practice with full pads the other night. He came home and told me "I really want to play tackle, but I don't do it." Meaning he doesn't tackle people in his everyday life (which we encourage, actually) so he doesn't really know how to do it. (Neither do most of the boys on his team, but that goes unnoticed by him). So today Jon borrowed a tackle dummy, and they worked on it a bit. Now if he can just transfer those tackles to another kid, he'll be set. (It does help to get him a bit ticked off. Should you need to do so in the future, I recommend asking "Are you wearing your glasses?")

The little guy is pretty good too, if enthusiasm counts for anything.

GSRP

The members of the Ground Squirrel Relocation Program.

Their team leader. He told me (after the first relocation) that they took him to "a new home he will love. With lots of shade trees, and water to drink, and he can dig his own home. And he will never be able to find his way back here again."

Grips

Apparently they hurt more than just ripping your bare hands, so we'll see if they make another appearance.

An Interview With Almost 4 Rowan

As recorded by Ellie. And I heard it. The ninja/handstand answers were immediate and completely unprompted.

Measurements

The boys got measured for their tuxes for the wedding. There was, as anticipated, some grumbling from the big one. (The little one was happy to be going to the mall, and really would have liked to have picked out some clothes while we were there.) Even after all that grumbling, there was still a huge grin when he tried on the jacket. I didn't quite catch it, but trust me, it was there.