Halloweek 2014
12:27 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
When I was a child, Halloween was on October 31st. There might be a party at school a day or two before, but if and only if Halloween was on a weekend. Other than that, Halloween was simply a fun-filled day full of candy, cookies or cupcakes, and costumes.

Fast forward about thirty years. I have children of my own and suddenly Halloween has become not just a holiday but it's become a holiweek. Every single evening of the last week of Halloween, there were activities from trunk-or-treating to parties.

It was exhausting.

I'm all for dressing up and having fun, trick-or-treating and handing out candy, carving pumpkins and baking cupcakes, letting my kids stay up late and watching bad scary movies. That's what Halloween is all about - and I love every minute of it!

But as a week-long holiday? It was just too much. Keeping their costumes clean was a pain. Keeping them out of their treats was a challenge. And even though the boys were excited, they were a bit overwhelmed.

Every year, Arthur's school has a cute program called Spooktacular. Kids and their siblings dress up in costumes and visit different classrooms. Teachers host a ten-minute activity in their classroom - reading a book, dancing to music, the traditional feel-body-parts-in-small-containers - and then give out candy. It's a lot of fun and the boys really enjoy it. (Balin talked about the wiener dog book for days after the event.) Toward the end of the evening, they even got to take two pieces of candy. Score!

Robinson's work also held their traditional Halloween party. There was food and lots of candy. Everything was pretty much the same as last year except for the trick-or-treating. Last year, the employees passed out candy from their offices. The boys were particularly excited about the king-sized candy bars they received and they hoped for more this year, but alas, the "no trick-or-treating" party planners won. They were disappointed.

There was still more than enough candy to make up for it.

The boys also received their annual Halloween cards from Nana with the usual $2 and lots of foam stickers. Arthur promptly put his in the sand crawler fund and Balin stuck his in his piggy bank.

This was the first year we took the boys trick-or-treating. It was bitterly cold outside so Balin wanted to go inside after three houses, but Arthur lasted for several blocks. The strap on his pumpkin candy bag strained under the weight of all the candy.

So Halloween was a little crazy this year. It probably doesn't get any less crazy in the years to come.

Blessed be.


My Favorite Season
12:36 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
Oceans of leaves race,
roaring waves of red, orange, gold,
grace wind's melody.


Perfection
12:54 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
As the oldest of three daughters, I often find it hard to just let things go. Everything has to be done just so - perfect.

Lately though, I have been letting things go. Things get done, whether or not they are done perfectly.

Blessed be.


Apples
1:35 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
Fall's here and that means...apples!

Fall also means apple processing: apple sauce, apple butter, and apple chips. Time consuming but - oddly enough - fun, too. 

We dusted off the pickers and started to pull down those apples! 

Balin was more than a little upset that he didn't get an apple picker, making it abundantly clear that he did not want to put the fallen apples into bags. For a time, he and I shared the longer apple picker and when Arthur was through with the shorter one, he gave his to Balin. 

These apples are not the nicest looking fruit but you wouldn't know it after they've been cut up, cooked, and canned. Besides, bugs add protein, right? 

Blessed be.


Bilingual Education
1:33 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
Today was a bit of a surprise. 

One of the support staff at Arthur's school called, telling us they had room in their dual language immersion program. She asked if we would like to place Arthur in the program. I told her we would talk to Arthur about it.

He gave us a resounding "YES!!!" so I filled out the application and sent it back to the school.

He's awfully excited. He came home from his first day in the program telling us that he "needs a few more days before he can understand Spanish" and "When I grow up, I want to be a Spanish teacher."

It pleases me that my boys are excited to learn about different cultures and people and are not intimidated by new experiences. It reminds me of my own childhood and growing up in a place that was so unlike mainstream America. 

Blessed be.


First Grade
12:50 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments

Dear Arthur,



You are now in first grade.

The summer was fun, at times stressful, exciting, and exhausting. I think we both look forward to the routine tedium that school has to offer.

The night before school, you sat in bed, pensive and anxious. You said that you were a bit afraid. I reassured you that many of your kindergarten classmates were in your class. You had a class pet. You had two nice teachers who were excited to begin the school year.

As I watched you get on the bus the next morning, I felt a strange mixture of joy, pride, and more than a hint of sadness. It was the sadness that surprised me most, leading me to believe that I wasn't quite ready to let you go as quickly as I thought.

Dear boy, I don't know what this year will bring, but of one thing I am certain: you love school. You love learning. You love questing for knowledge. I do not know if this quality we share is inherent in you or if I taught it to you, but of all of your wonderful qualities, I relate to this one the most. It is a most precious gift, to be able to question and search for meaning. I hope that you keep it the whole of your life.

Love, Mommy


The Faire: Part 2
10:31 PM - Posted by Bobbi - 0 comments
Oh, these boys. They love the Renaissance Faire.

But can you blame them?

It's such a magical place, filled with fairies and pirates, knights and ladies, adventurers and rogues. It's a place where they (and their imaginations) can run wild. Oh, and the gigantic boat structure in the kid's area helps, too!

This time, we met up with some friends who (quite literally) spend all of their summer at the faire. They have an outrageous number of costumes and fairy wings. They know all of the faire volunteers' first names - but still prefer to call them by their alter egos. They know the location of the best rides and who gives out "magic rocks" in the shape of fish. They are able to get discounts on tickets and even know a few local hotels (because, of course, they'll want to come back Sunday, too).

Balin loves to dress up for any occasion (he doesn't need a reason to get fancy and often wears his Jawa outfit "just because") and although Arthur is not very excited about donning a costume, he will for the faire. Last time, the boys were knights with PVC pipe swords and tunics that I had made for them the night before. This time, they wanted to be pirates - arrrgh! - so I spent a good portion of the night before making felt pirate hats for them. We even took a trip to Janesville in order to find pirate swords. (We did find one - only one - and I didn't want to get two different swords. I don't know why.) A quick trip to our neighborhood Shopko proved more fruitful: we found two foam pirate swords for a total of $4, on clearance. One needed a bit of glue but they became the perfect accessories. And if the boys happened to destroy them then they were cheap enough that there would be no harm done. The volunteers at the faire loved their costumes. I loved that they dressed up - most of the boys who attend the faire don't bother.

A couple of Robinson's co-workers mentioned that they love to give their children dollar coins as spending money at the faire because it suits the time period and, well, it's a bit more exciting than carrying cash. We thought it would be adorable for the boys to carry sacks of coins with them to complete their costumes...unfortunately we did not expect it to be such a hassle to obtain the coins! Robinson visited two or three banks before he found one that even had over $20 in dollar coins.

We explained that the money was theirs for rides, souvenirs, or special treats - whatever they wanted, really - but once it was gone, they were not getting any more. Balin, a typical three-year-old, wanted one - sometimes two - of everything, but Arthur, a mature six-year-old, thought very hard about what he wanted and constantly changed his mind. Do I want to go on another ride or do I want ice cream? Do I want to play another game or do I want a root beer float?   

Some of the vendors balked at the coins. A few thought they were quarters. But these boys, proudly holding out their coins for a ride or treat, felt so grown-up to be carrying their own money. How special!

Arthur also danced a maypole dance with one of the faire volunteers. She helped him weave and turn, duck and twist, until the ribbon was completely wrapped around the pole and then repeated the opposite movements to unwind the ribbon and start the dance anew. Arthur's partner said that he was an excellent dancer.

I am at a loss for costumes for next year, however. Robinson and I joke that Balin should wear his Jawa costume, brown shoes, a gigantic crucifix and carry a staff. He'd make a perfect monk. Balin disagrees. He's more excited about getting a pair of purple fairy wings and wearing those. As for Arthur, I wonder if we'll even be able to get him into a costume. It might be far easier to dress him in something he's already been than encourage him to wear something new.

Blessed be.