Homemade Fun

Last Wednesday we hosted the second neighborhood Thanksgiving parade. It had rained all morning, and as my sign shows, we got a brief shower in the afternoon that dampened turnout a little bit, but lots of friends, family and neighbors still joined us for this very "small-town"--as one neighbor called it--event. Warren led our parade, wearing a pilgrim hat from school, wearing his "5 Finger Testimony Glove" to show what he was thankful for and pulling a wagon loaded with pumpkins, a rake and the boom box that played Sousa's "Starts and Stripes Forever."

This was the scene as we waited for everyone to arrive; when your parade only last about 5 minutes, you want to make sure everyone is there. I love the images of everyone just standing around, turned to another neighbor and having a friendly exchange.

The parade in action: kudos to my little sister Annie--in the brown jacket up front--who made a float and pulled Avery in it!

Abigail rode her trike and hefted a pumpkin sign from our front yard. I love the bonnet from school! Afterward, everyone played in our back yard and had cookies. Simple and fun and fully home-grown.
Other home-grown fun we have been up to: one morning as I awoke I was invited in for the play "Extreme Home Makeover" that Warren and Abigail were putting on in our living room. They had built a "house" out of cushions on the couch and just like in the show, the first order of business was for Abigail to show "Ty" --aka Warren--what was wrong with her house. He asked, "What's wrong with your house?" Abigail kept saying, "Well, we ran out of cushions," to which "Ty" kept responding, "No--doesn't it have mold or something?" They repeated this exchange a few times until Abigail took him inside the house to show him. After, Warren explained, "Now you get to go on a vacation to San Diego so you don't die while we work on your house," and he whisked her away. Next was demolition time, where Warren tore apart the house with his bare hands. Then he built a new house for Abigail to come home to. Andy knelt in front of it as the bus while Abigail and Warren called out, "Busdriver--move that bus!" Andy moved and Abigail of course showed the appropriate emotion before going in and checking out the house. It was pretty much the cutest play I've ever seen. Warren would like to add: "What's funny about the house was that it looked like it had ivy on the house but it was really ivy painted on the cushions. But the problem was really that there was mold. The ivy was just to make it look pretty."

Happy Napkins

Every Monday night as part of Family Night, we practice some behavior or skill that needs work. One week it was getting in the car quickly after school; another it was getting out of it and taking your stuff with you after we got home from school. Tonight it was napkins. I will admit, I rarely set napkins at the table--mainly because I forget I have them or I don't have them at all--and the need for them arises at the same time Warren is wiping his face or hands on his shirt. (This drives me crazy.)
So I decided we would start using cloth napkins. At Montessori House, that is what the kids use. Tonight at dinner I set some cloth napkins out--ones I had but never used, probably because I was waiting for something special or didn't want to stain them--and then went back into the kitchen to bring out dinner. The kids all wandered in, as they do when food is on the table, and from the kitchen I heard voices exclaiming in wonder--no exaggeration--"Wow! Napkins just like school!" "Napkins we can set in our lap just like at school!" "Special napkins!" "These are so great" and then, "Wow, mom, thanks for setting out napkins for us to use." That last one was from my 3 year old, Abigail.
The biggest surprise, well, I guess beside all the gushing words, was how much Avery got into it. She loved wiping her hands on the cloth napkin all throughout dinner, and later at dessert when we ate pineapple (real pineapple is so messy). She even wiped her face numerous times. It was so cute to watch. I found a tutorial online for making cloth napkins, and so I've pulled out all these random fat quarters I have and intend to make our family several sets, since they seem to work, and delight my children.
Later at family night, when Andy announced the song, "Count Your Blessings" as the opening hymn, Avery spontaneously burst out singing the last few phrases. I love that she is singing so much more now. The words are not always intelligible, but the tune generally is. I love watching her little victories each day.

Amazing Train Blocks

Before Abigail napped in their bedroom today, Warren asked to have his wooden trains and Kapla blocks brought out. He spent the entire nap time building with them together. I joined him to help re-build the track, and he was full of ideas. He said, "Mom, when I'm grown-up I'm going to make a store where you can buy trains and Kapla blocks together in the same package, so they come together in the same box! I will call them 'Dream Blocks' because you can dream it in your head and go on it in your mind and then build it!" We re-built the ramp, trying all sorts of configurations to build the strongest support. Then the car kept stopping short of the end; Warren had great ideas to steepen the slope. We took a few out of the low supports and added to the high support until the car made it out of the final dip. It was fun to see how intuitively it came to him. He really loves building things. But he has changed the name of his block set to 'Amazing Train Blocks' because, "I think they're amazing, mom."

Election Day

(by Andy)

Our kids got pretty into the election process. During the conventions they got out flags and were waving them around, chanting slogans, etc. Warren must've talked about the election at school recently because he was telling people about it on Monday. My sister posted about one experience.

Anyway, last night three-year-old Abigail asked me who I voted for, for President. When I told her I voted for Ron Paul (I wrote him in), she laughed at me, "Oh, he's totally not going to win."

Later five-year-old Warren asked me, "Dad, did you know you're really not going to win?" "What do you mean Warren, I'm not running for anything," I teased. "No dad, your vote. Your vote is not going to win." "I didn't vote in order to win," I told him.

Apparently he felt like he didn't get through to me, so he tried again at breakfast today, "Dad, that was a really stupid thing you did, to vote for Ron Paul." "Really, Warren, why was that a stupid thing?" "Because he didn't win." "But Warren, John McCain didn't win either. Did everyone who voted for John McCain do a stupid thing?" "No, dad." "Why not?"

He didn't really have an answer for that, besides that "the people who voted for not John McCain or Barack Obama did a stupid thing".

I can't blame him for absorbing the conventional wisdom of the country, but I am really wondering what specific experiences led him to feel so strongly about this.

Here's a funny Norah Jones song about election day that Bekah found through Pandora, My Dear Country.

Scarier Than Halloween

What's scarier Halloween? You'll know by the end of this post. Halloween was great fun.

Our day started with pumpkin pancakes--which Warren had the idea to also cut into pumpkins with a cookie cutter--and apple cider syrup (recipes below, if you are interested.) We set out our jack-o-lanterns at our neighbor's annual display (we weren't going to be home to check on them) and set off to trick-or-treat our neighbors. Our kids didn't even recognize our next-door neighbor in his redneck costume! After our neighborhood, we headed over to Grandma Lindy's house for dinner and more trick-or-treating. My favorite was Avery. Our other kids just didn't get it when they were around her age, but since Avery had Abigail and Warren to watch, she ran enthusiastically to each door, feet going so fast she almost looked like a real fairy flitting around. Andy's only regret was that he didn't think to attach a bell just over her booty that would've jingled as she ran, like the original Tinker Bell had in plays. Our kids got pretty tired--especially Warren--and on the way back to Grandma's, Avery sat down on the curb and commanded me, "Sit! Eat!" So we took a break and ate some candy. It was sweet, and funny, since a little girl came up to us and said, "Trick or treat!"
By the end of the next day, the kids had eaten, with my encouragement, all of their Halloween candy. It's so great to have that over with.

So, what is scarier than Halloween? Making political phone calls. I spent Monday morning making calls to get out the YES vote on AZ's prop. 102--the marriage amendment. I was fidgety and stumbling over words. I once called the state constitution the state consti-ta-tion, which sounds an awful lot like constipation. I did get better, especially at the answering machines, but I think my heart still raced a bit every time I got an actual person on the line. Generally, though, most people were cordial, some even very kind. I had only a few "bad apples" and mainly they were just tired of political calls. Who can blame them? The 3 hour morning actually went by quickly, since I ended up sitting by my good friend Marily and her husband Mark. We laughed and bantered between calls, trying out responses that we would never actually say on the phone. Marily even wrote out our message as a rhyming poem and pretended to leave it on someone's answering machine. I'm glad to do my small part for an issue I care about, but I have to be honest: I'm glad it's over!

Apple Cider Syrup
1 cup water ( I used all juice and no water)
1 cup apple juice or cider
1 Tb. lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tb. corn starch
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine dry ingredients and mix well. In a sauce pan heat water, apple juice or cider, and lemon juice. Slowly add dry ingredients, stirring as you add. Bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Lower heat & simmer until desired thickness. Serve immediately. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge & reheated in the microwave.

Pumpkin Pancakes
2 c. flour (I use whole wheat)
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. baking powder
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ginger
1/8 t. ground cloves
1 t. salt
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. canned pumpkin
1. 3/4 c. milk
2 T. veg. oil

1. Combine flour through salt in large bowl.
2. Combine egg through oil in a small bowl.
3. Add the small bowl of wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry and stir just until mixed.
4.Spray hot griddle and cook.