A Good Crack Up

We are enjoying the series about The Melendy children starting with The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. Currently on The Four Story Mistake. Last night we had a good long tearful (me) crack up-don't think the kids have seen me do this before, hmm-the children made a mysterious discovery in their new old rambling house. They spent all day unearthing it and were still left with questions. From the book:
That night the children dreamed all night about Clarinda and the secret room. Mona and Randy and Rush, that is. Oliver(7) dreamed that he was driving a Greyhound bus full of policemen across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Oh, how we laughed about the absurdity of it. Isn't that just like dreams?
I marvelled at the author's imagination and her nailing down the mind of a seven year old.
I love this series-I said to the kids when were reading the first book that the author really "gets" kids-they didn't seem to know what I meant, but for me these books exemplify the magic of childhood.

More-things the kids are into

Leah

Honeysuckle! finally found some in the woods behind our house.

Sean and Ryan

Shooting bow and arrows

Things the kids are into

Sean

• Reading anything he can get his hands on-in the car, in times alone(for hours), at the table- he likes short books, factual books(told me yesterday that he has read all but a few of the Zoobooks at the library), comic books may have already mentioned he read every Calvin and Hobbes, TinTin.
• Top Secret Adventures by Highlights-they've been sitting on the shelf for at least a year, we'd had done a couple of them partially and he wanted me to read everything for him and do most of the writing. He completed one with me the other day-Peru, then did Argentina and is working on France(all without me)
• Just finished reading him Hamlet Shakespeare for kids-he thought the ending was lame, actually he usually thinks the endings are lame.
• Digging in the now debunked square foot garden making mines.
• Anything Star Wars, books(thanks Ann and Will) Video games, light sabers.
• Piano enjoying a song called ?Alberti bass from his lesson book
• Books on tape-recently Inkheart, currently Five children and It
• Leah's humor (don't tell him that

Leah

• Sound of music
• Piano-she has picked out the melody for Doe a Deer: when you know the notes to sing... and I am 16 going on 17
• writing in her diary
• Pokemon
• Star wars
• Making up songs and quoting lines from things-she's got a talent for accents
• Made a new friend up the street
• Jumping on the trampoline sometimes for hours by herself -she has quite a private scenario going out there
• Sleeping with Ryan

Ryan

• Star wars
• video games
• snuggling
• wearing his warmest clothes, what is it about that all my kids did this when the seasons change!
• Ricky Ricotta
• writing his name
• digging in the garden and finding worms and grubs

Leaving the Nest

We have been watching the bluebirds in our backyard for several weeks, tirelessly feeding their growing brood of hatchlings. Every time the parents were near the box, we could hear the loud cheaps of the babies all the way in the house! Well, yesterday was the big day. The babies left the nest, we saw three go. Each one would peek out then sit in the hole for a few minutes then teeter a few times, then off it flew.
I was really hoping we'd be home when they left. I wanted to witness the culmination of all the hard work put forth by those parents. (heh, heh!) I felt such wonder at the perfection of nature, even as I thought about how fragile those new little birds lives were.

Moments in our day

I love when Sean chooses to share something he's read . This morning he called me over to read two segments he read yesterday and again today from Spiderman comics that Ryan picked out at the library. He usually wants me to read them out loud "must read out loud!" They were both funny. He had me reading pages and pages of Calvin and Hobbes. I love his sense of humor. The other day while registering in at the hospital for an xray of Leah's foot, the lady had me signing and filling in a number of blanks one of which was "relationship" Sean said I should write "terrible" with his mischeivous laughter-So smart with words and alecky. It's cool to see him getting humor and enjoying it so much AND wanting to share it with me-sigh!

Really enjoying the birds in the backyard. The bluebirds are very busy and the babies have gotten loud we can hear them in the house when the cheep for food. Last week, we had 20-30 goldfinches, at times there'd be about ten in the birdbath at the same time. It's a beautiful clear, clean-aired day out. Lovely after all the rain we've had.

My thinker

Paraphrased:
Sean-"Mommy, if light sabers are made of light, how do they clash and make sounds when they hit each other?" Good question. George Lucas, are you out there?

I was just thinking about my need to talk, and not necessarily have what I say stand as the "gospel truth" or be written in stone-and a line from the movie Shadowland(s) came to me tho' I think I changed it--"I talk to know I'm not alone" (originally, We pray to know we're not alone-I think). I'd like to find this in C.S. Lewis's writing. I like this thought, although it makes me want to cry too. In a good way, sorta.