Author: eaumaison (Page 42 of 207)

It came a little early this year. I continue my tradition of baking buttery rich liege waffles with the first snow of the season.

Costumes are in the works:

Two hour scarf!! For certain projects my knitting machine rocks!

Cool pajamas make every night a costume night.

We started karate classes this fall and Jack is loving it. He is getting more confident physically and responds well to the discipline and ethics of martial arts.

Of course, he has a little shadow

Look at the cutest new cub scout in town!

Jack joined the pack fed by his elementary school, helping make the second-grader Wolf Den so large it split into two dens.  Look at me throwing around terms like “pack” and “den” like a boy scout mom. 

They meet only a few times a month.  So far they have played capture-the-flag (with real camo facepaint from the Army Surplus store), earned their “Running with the Pack” belt loop, and raced in the Raingutter Regatta.

So far scouting is a perfect fit for Jack.  Outdoors activity (but NOT sports), leveling up, gear/badge collecting, rule-following, and education.  He read his whole Wolf guidebook cover to cover the first night and knows all the answers in every meeting.  I can’t help by hum Little Mary Sunshine when I see him in meetings.

“…He’s cheerful, honest, thrifty, and obedient;To love the good and hate the bad is his plan!  So if there’s any danger you can be sure the Forest Ranger ever will march on man to man!”

(Catching up on some old news with pictures I never posted)

The Waterhouses and Masons came together to view the total eclipse.

The braver portion drove up to Wyoming to experience totality.   The less adventurous three stayed home, but we still got a great view of a near-total eclipse.

The crickets started chirping and the birds swooped around starting about 10:30AM.  It got dark enough that we turned on the lights inside the house.  Our trees gave us some excellent shadow play.

Jack made a computer in his free time at school.

It has Netflix, Starfall, RazKids, and a search box.

When he saw me after school he said “Umm, Mom? What does it mean to have a crush on you? And how to I get rid of it?”

Apparently one friend has confessed she has a crush on him, and he thinks she’s had it since kindergarten. He also suspects another friend has a crush on him too. Second grade, man. I guess the wonders of relationship drama has begun.

Samwise Storm is FOUR years old today! He had a wonderful celebration and seems like a very happy kid, as he comes down for a second hug-and-kiss after bedtime.

Last weekend my family got together to see the Frozen musical previews.  I thought it made sense to do cake and presents at the same time.  Sam and Jack had a super fun time.

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I baked a Dragon birthday cake that pleased Sam.  He struck a superhero pose before blowing out the candles.

My child, swathed in knitwear.

Today we did not have a party, but I made sure that Sam felt like a special little dude all day.  It began with a balloons and a big breakfast of bacon and waffles with whipped cream.

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At preschool they made him a crown and sang Happy Birthday. (It was also school picture day, hence the collared shirt and slacks.)

We went to Target for some errands hidden as gifts (You get to pick out a NEW laundry basket!!  And a new TOOTHBRUSH!!  Pick any one you want!!!).  He got a free frosted cookie and we explored the newly displayed Halloween section- a special delight for both of us.  Then I let him pick out a new book as a bonus birthday present.  For lunch he decided to have a McDonald’s Happy Meal.  He wore the crown all afternoon and everyone we saw wished him a Happy Birthday.  He was all grins.

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I let him play with his gamepad downstairs instead of quiet time.  We went to Jack’s school extra early so he could play on the playground, but he preferred sitting with me in the shade.

At home I made pudding parfaits for a special birthday snack.  Jack read the new book for Sam and they watched PJ Masks together.

When Ben got home it was time for Jack’s karate class.  Then we talked with grandparents and opened the final few presents.  The boys got to have a pizza picnic in the living room while watching shows “on the big TV” before quick baths and bedtime.

Sam is so sweet, so clever, and so fun.  He loves to cuddle with me and loves to play with his family.  He makes great facial expressions and is trying to be a comedian.  We love you so much, my little Friday-the-13th storm!

Hooray it’s the first day of school!

Jack returns to elementary school for second grade. He’s a lot less nervous than previous years, and has a lot of friends in his class. We think it will be a great year!

Sam is back at preschool for the second year, this time for 4 days a week, 8:30-11. He walked into class like a pro and knew exactly what to do. No tears today! Same teachers, a lot of returning classmates, and playdough on the table means he’s going to have a great time today.

I got the house more clean in the first 15 minutes after dropping them off than I’ve been able to accomplish all summer. I’m going to celebrate the rest of the morning by knitting in peace and baking oatmeal raisin cookies.

School is the best!

Jack wrote a comic book this summer.  Acting as his publisher, it’s in my best interest to advertise our joint venture:

So bring your cash the next time you visit.  He hopes his little authorship scheme will net him extra pocket money.  

Today we all went to see Marvel Universe Live: Age of Heroes.  Ben and Jack attended two or three years ago when Sam was too young (I cannot find record of it in my blog, so I don’t know exactly when).  This year we toyed with the thought of going.  The kids were begging when they saw ads.  Ben and I LOVE the MCU and love hokey theme-park-like shows.  I priced out tickets and with fees we decided it was just too much.  Then we got a 20% discount mailer, probably for having attended previously.  Damn those marketing geniuses!

This time we all went together.  The kids saw a summary video online so they knew a bit of what to expect.  It was a completely different show than the one seen before: now 25 Marvel characters and a new plot.  Bright and early, Captain America, Spider-Man, Loki, and Squirrel Girl trekked to the Pepsi Center.

Grumblings about performances in stadium arenas in general aside, this was a great show.  The writing was great, very true to character for each hero.  It did a great job of keeping the story clear for little kids.  I found myself leaning over to tell Sam “Uh oh, who’s that villain?” or “He’s going to punch the dragon!” or “The volcano’s about the explode!” to keep Sam engaged.  But almost every time the script said the same thing before or after me!

The theatrics were great too.  Not only were the aerial work and stunt fighting great, with plenty of flips and spins, but there was a surprising amount of variety to the scenes.  There were ribbon aerialists and Chinese Dragon dancers, real fireworks and explosions onstage, motorcycle stunt work, and even fire juggling and dancing.  I only wish we were sitting a little closer so we could see the costumes better.

Jack spent most of the show either narrating his emotions to me, or explaining all the puns to me.  “Mom!  Spider-Man said Lizard isn’t too smart, but he IS smart because he’s a scientist!” That sort of thing.

Sam was “a mix of wonder and fear” in Ben’s words.

They laughed a lot and both talked afterward about the part where Rocket Raccoon gets called a rodent and freaks out on  . . . who was it?  Nebula?  I can’t remember.  But Rocket went into a frenzied fighting rage that had the boys rolling in their seats.

Hulk was the final reveal ,of course.  Sam was very concerned in Act 1 that Loki had blocked his neural network so Banner couldn’t get angry and turn into Hulk.  When they finally broke that and Hulk emerged, well, see for yourself:

The show ended with all heroes posed and Spidey swinging out over the audience.  Perfect.