Deconstruction

Elizabeth and family visited my parents on Thursday, so we went over there for dinner and to hang out briefly (school night). Kenneth took some pictures with my camera and got a cute one of Caleb. Anne Marie is so much bigger than when we saw them last. Somehow we didn't get a picture of her, but we'll be seeing them soon.

Friday I spent time with a group from work doing a Dell-sponsored volunteer day. We chose Habitat for Humanity. Our project was a deconstruction project, rather than a construction project (with which most people are probably familiar). Deconstruction projects are jobs where the HfH can salvage building materials to sell in their HfH store and with the proceeds, can fund construction projects. My particular task of the day was moving large pieces of plywood with nails in them and removing the nails. One of my co-workers, Danielle, and I were partners throughout the day and for the first half of the morning we had a little system where we could sit on the ground and remove the nails. I was so exhausted by 2:00 when I left--it was harder work than I thought. I admire the stamina of the people who do that type of work everyday.

Kenneth and I were chatting about how much a mother loves her children. The conversation on my end went something like "I will always be thinking about you, even when you're a grown up...wondering if you're driving safely, taking your vitamins, getting enough sleep..." Clearly this motherly love was sinking in for Kenneth, because he jumped in: "Mom, do I have a mosquito bite on my back?"

Keeping the Sideburns

Kenneth and Rod got haircuts yesterday. They were much needed for both of them. While at Kenneth's soccer practice tonight, Evelyn announced that her Dad looked like a caveman with his new haircut. I'm not sure where that came from. Kenneth had a funny comment too: tonight, after brushing his hair, he studied himself in the mirror and said "I chose to keep the sideburns." This is so funny to me because he has never had sideburns, ever.

When we got back from soccer practice, a couple of kids were riding their bikes in the circle, so Kenneth and Evelyn joined them for a bit as I unloaded the car. I came outside to hear fake fart noises happening from all the kids and hysterical laughter. One of the older boys said "Girls don't do that!" and I debated the merits of providing the alternative argument that all living things generate gas, but decided against it. The last thing I need is to be any weirder than the neighborhood kids already perceive me to be.

Rod's been very busy the past couple of weeks with work, traveling to College Station to get a local project kicked off. I admit, operating in a pseudo-single parent mode is difficult. My Mom came over on Saturday to watch the kids while Rod and I went out to dinner and a movie. The kids are wearing their new Halloween shirts that Nana got them. Evelyn spent part of the day in her sequin-pumpkin shirt, purple shorts, and knee-high black boots "because I thought this would look good."

At Least There Were Cupcakes

Kenneth and Evelyn had been monitoring a chrysalis (butterfly cocoon), and it finally hatched. It didn't want to leave the stick it was sitting on, but it eventually flew away. For a brief period of time, the chrysalis was in Kenneth's classroom so the class could learn about it.


This week, my cousin Jeanne visited my Mom for a few days. We had dinner with them on Tuesday and had a great time visiting. I think they had a very low-key agenda throughout the week going shopping and tooling around Austin.

I asked Evelyn how school was one day this week and she said in a very exasperated voice, "Well, we had a cupcake at least!"

Cricket Freak Out

Every year in Texas an onslaught of crickets show up in front of stores, in buildings, etc. At my work, they have become such a nuisance that the facilities group has had to take special measures to deal with them. I have found them crawling up my cube wall, on my keyboard, on the floor under my feet, etc. Some co-workers and I observed how the crickets get onto the 2nd floor: they drop out of the light fixtures. Gross.

Anyhow, earlier today I went into my bathroom (at home) and noticed some lint-like stuff on the toilet seat. Now, having two children, I was not too surprised or concerned with this. I periodically have to clean up craft projects that find their way to the toilet. I wiped it away and moved on. Later on, I re-visited the same bathroom and found more lint-like stuff. This time I looked around to see if there was evidence of a craft project anywhere else--there wasn't. I determined it was probably some dust being forced out of the fan vent in the bathroom and that next time I got around to it, I should probably clean it. The story is not over. Rod goes into that bathroom a few minutes later and said "What is a cricket doing in the toilet?" AAAAGGGGHHH. A nasty cricket got into my attic and decided to fall out of the fan vent into the toilet. Prior to its demise, it was scuffling around in the vent causing dust to fall out. FOUL. It could have fallen onto my head while using the toilet or jumped out of the toilet onto me.

First Soccer Games for Fall '07

The first soccer games of the Fall '07 season kicked off today. Kenneth's was at 8 AM (no sleeping in!) and Evelyn's was in the afternoon. Kenneth is in a level now where the field is bigger and the number of players on the field is greater. He played the entire game on the field. Evelyn also has moved up a level onto a bigger field, and she is in an all girl's team now. She is happy to have a pink uniform! Rod had to go out of town today so we decided to have dinner at Central Market.
The location was chosen for two reasons: (1) the usual reason--nice live music and a playground with shady trees, and (2) so that Kenneth could look for yet another piece of wood to create a bow. We were successful on both counts. A ladybug kept us company too.

Back to Busy-ness

So school, homework, soccer practice, and soccer games are in full swing and I'm back to using my wall calendar to keep track of everything. In his spare time, Kenneth has been perfecting his bow and arrow creations. We have gone on mini-hikes to look for branches that can serve as different bow sizes and arrow styles. He has modified the arrows with leaves to create different aerodynamics. Recently, Kenneth made a bow and arrow for Evelyn. After he taught her the basics of archery :) she was excited about hitting her targets and about learning from her brother. While she was busy trying to hit the center of an Aggie blanket, Kenneth quietly came over to me and said "I'm so glad Evelyn has something to do now, other than dolls."

Visit with My Grandfather

The first week of school wrapped up nicely. I picked the kids up at 3:00 with a couple of ice-cold Sprites and we headed out to pick up Rod. My grandfather is visiting Mom and Dad this week. It is his first (and probably last) visit to Austin, as it is getting more difficult for him to travel. Rod went to lunch with them yesterday, and we all met them today for dinner.
We chose to eat at The Oasis, which is known for its view of Lake Travis. We were fortunate to get a table under an awning because a brief rainstorm blew through. The waitress was positive the sound of thunder was just the band moving around equipment--wrong!

We only heard a little bit of the band, but they were really great--the name was The Belleville Outfit. I'm definitely going to try to catch them again whenever they play again in Austin. This is the last free weekend before the actual soccer games start, although the kids have been practicing with their teams for a couple of weeks.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Yesterday, the kids were so bored. I was trying to work from home and every minute or two I'd have a food request, or have to mitigate a minor bickering fight, or get a head rested on my shoulder. I finally brought out the huge Colorforms set and they played with that for about an hour.

Anyway, today they were able to ride the bus because it was running late (normally, it arrives about 20 minutes before we typically leave). The picture outside is a small grouping of kids waiting for the bus.

When I asked them how their first day was, they were so enthusiastic. Kenneth's teacher apparently had a stint on Animal Planet as a "snake lady." Evelyn thinks her teacher is just great. She has been seated next to a boy that was in her class last school year. This boy absolutely loved Evelyn. He even bought her a large Sponge Bob Squarepants Valentine's Day card last year instead of the typical little Valentines that everyone hands out. However, there's a negative side to Kindergarten love: he also tried to cut her hair. I hope he has matured a little bit. Rod asked her about her day with her "boy friend." This was her response:

"He's not my boyfriend. He's just in love with me. He loved me in Kinder and he loves me now. I'm not in love with him."

Ice Cream Festival

Saturday we went to an Ice Cream Festival in a downtown park. I know that proceeds were supposed to benefit something, but I have no idea what. We contributed $25 to some cause: $20 for 4 ice creams--dairy-free gelatto for Kenneth. Plus, a $5 face paint, which Evelyn promptly washed off as soon as we got home. ("It itches, Mom!") It was very crowded with both people and dogs. Dogs of all sizes, including little ones that shouldn't have been walked in a crowd. I accidentally kicked a dog (not too hard, but still) because it licked my foot and I thought it was a bug. I apologized to the owner, but she just glared at me like I did it on purpose. It kind of made me not so sorry at that point!
Evelyn and Kenneth played a game where they had to create a pretend ice cream sundae by using a spatula to get ice cream (colored tennis balls), whipped cream (cotton fluff), etc. from one mixing bowl and across the grass to the sundae bowl, one piece at a time without dropping anything. At another point, two jugglers juggled pins with the two of them in the middle. Kenneth thought that was just great.

Today was their last day of summer camp/school. We brought them to Nana's house tonight to swim and spend the night. Nana will watch them tomorrow and I plan to take off on Friday. Nana will watch them again on Monday and school starts Tuesday. They can't wait to meet their teachers.

Expressive Cake

I left work after lunch today to pick up the kids and hang out. We met Nana for an early dinner at Mandola's, which is an Italian restaurant in mid-town. The bruschetta is the most fabulous bruschetta I've ever had. After dinner the kids browsed the desserts display. They have homemade gelatto and a huge range of pastries and cakes. Evelyn is reading a lot better now, but sometimes she misses the mark just slightly. She ran back to the table, full of excitement about a cake she saw that she wanted. She called it "Expressive Cake," but it was actually Espresso Cake. It looked chocolate-flavored to her. I helped her choose a more suitable dessert for a 6-year old.

Rod called us on his way back from a business trip in College Station while we were hanging out. Parts of the drive back are in low-signal zones, so sometimes the phone cuts out. Evelyn was on the phone with him when all of a sudden she gets louder: "Dad, your voice is getting blurry!"

Wrapping up the Summer

The Summer is coming to a close. School starts on August 28th and we've been busy getting ready. Clothes shopping, school supply shopping, doctor's forms, etc. have all kept us running around a bit more than usual. Kenneth and Evelyn are ready to go back to school. Evelyn is particularly excited about being a first grader. I will post some more photos soon.

Visit with Elizabeth's Family

Elizabeth and team braved the 2 hour car trip from College Station to Austin and visited from Friday through Sunday. They stayed at my Mom's house and we went over on Saturday to spend the day. Ann Marie has gotten bigger and is very cute. The picture doesn't do her justice because she barely made a sound the whole weekend--only when I tried to take the picture. That's OK. We'll have plenty of opportunities to take more pictures as time goes on.

On the way home from swimming lessons, the kids had a funny conversation:

Kenneth: "I can't wait to get my driver's license. It's going to be so cool. I can go out with my girlfriend."

Evelyn: "You probably won't HAVE a girlfriend."

Kenneth: "That's so mean!"

Evelyn: "Probably. I said probably."

Kenneth: "Well, you probably won't have a boyfriend."

Evelyn: "I don't care. Why would I care about that?"

Magnetix

After a few birthdays and holidays, the kids have accumulated an impressive collection of Magnetix. The concept is similar to Tinker Toys, but each piece has magnets in it, and the collections come with round marble magnets. They've each spent hours building things.
I will occasionally find a dangling Magnetix contraption hanging off a doorknob, and Rod occasionally manages to step onto a magnet marble. :) The Sponge Bob design is Evelyn's.

Sassy Faces

This blog is mainly pictures (too tired to write tonight!).

Rod and I, 11 years to the day.

We spent some time practicing sassy faces at Nana's house.

In 1.5 Hours I'll Be Married 11 Years

Wow. That's all I can say. Rod and I will be celebrating our 11 year wedding anniversary on Friday, July 27th. Time truly flies. In the same amount of time that Kenneth has been with us already, he'll be leaving us for college. Amazing.


Tonight I read a book to both kids. Usually Kenneth reads by himself but he wanted to listen tonight. Their personalities are so evident in everything we do, even in the simplicity of reading a book. Evelyn is a born attorney. She remembers everything and can find feasible, logical, counter-suggestions to anything. She also knows everything already. Her most common phrase these days is "I know, but...". Kenneth takes everything in stride and gets frustrated with this growing conversational force from Evelyn, but he is still a patient big brother. I selected the books for the evening, one of which was one of probably hundreds of books written in the 70s with the Sesame Street characters. This particular book was narrated by The Count, who you may remember speaks in a Romanian accent. In typical Sesame Street fashion, they deal with current social issues by acting out stories (example: some books from that time period purposely switch traditional gender roles, such as making Betty Lou the tow truck driver, and Herry Monster as a lover of ballet and kittens.) The Count was describing a story about how Big Bird was taken away from Sesame Street because "somebody" determined that he shouldn't be living by himself and would be better off with a family of four dodo birds. Big Bird ran away from the dodo family and was making his way back to Sesame Street. A mission critical search for Big Bird occurred with 10 Sesame Street friends as part of the search party. When I read on behalf of The Count, I used my version of his voice (instead of "one beautiful haystack" I read it as "Von bee-u-tee-ful haystack). Of course Evelyn was greatly displeased with this deviation from the reality of the words on the page. "I don't like it when you change the book Mom. I don't like it when you use that voice Mom. Mom, stop it! I don't like that guy! I don't like The Count!" Kenneth is giggling on the other side of me during her whole exasperated speech. Gotta love it.

Walline Weekend

Kenneth pooled his birthday money and invested in a Gameboy DS, which is a hand-held gaming device. (He knows that we have full say on when that can and cannot be played.) He was able to buy two games for himself and one for Evelyn. Other than that major purchase, our weekend was relaxing. We went through Evelyn's room and generated the equivalent of about 4 trash bags worth of give-away toys. She was finally ready to give up some of the things she's had for so long. In the process of cleaning up, she put on some of her dress-up clothes for a picture. What a cutie! Other news is that Kenneth lost another tooth. He is fully aware that there is no Tooth Fairy, so when Evelyn was out of earshot, he said "So...Tooth Fairy, any funds for the missing tooth?" He had a huge grin on his face and was totally kidding with me. I can see his humor maturing (throwing in the hint of sarcasm).

Robotics Camp

Kenneth successfully completed a 2-week Robotics Camp through the local school district. They met from Monday - Thursday from 8 AM - 12:30 PM to learn about some principles of building structures, electronics, and applications of those subjects. The final project was a secret to the parents until the final day (which was today). We arrived at the school at 11 AM for a show-and-tell. Each group of kids had 3-4 participants and they were tasked to use the robotics skills and tools to create a scene from a movie. Some kids went so far as to bring accompanying music (Star Wars). Kenneth's team built a scene from Shrek: it was the castle where Princess Fiona was kept until Shrek rescued her from the dragon. They programmed a series of events that operated the mechanisms built into the Lego structure so that when a trigger was pressed, a drawbridge closed and the catapult tossed a mini-lego at the perpetrator trying to enter the castle. We were very impressed with his team's work and all of the other projects. Nana drove over for the presentation and afterwards, watched the kids for the rest of the day. Evelyn really, really wanted to participate in this program but you have to be entering 3rd grade before you're eligible. We may end up ordering some of these kits for the kids to experiment at home.


Kenneth styled his hair into a spike the other night. It is getting longer than he traditionally wears it. We've also got a great Daddy/Evelyn photo.
I also included one of the ladies of the group--it is clear that from Kenneth's perspective (he took the picture) I must look like a GIANT.

A Few More Conversations

It's been a busy week and we're all glad it's Friday. Rod picked up the kids after work, and I joined some coworkers for a happy hour, which I don't get to do very often. I met up with the family after swim lessons and we all relaxed on the big bed for about an hour at the end of the day.

I have a handful of K & E sayings from the last couple of days:

Evelyn: "I can't tell which leg is mine!" (in reference to intertwined legs when she and Kenneth were horsing around and getting themselves tangled up with each other; this made us all laugh very hard because she announced it in a very surprised, semi-nervous way)

Evelyn: "You shouldn't have been trying to walk when I was reaching out to tickle your feet." (justifying and finding a logical reason for why Kenneth shouldn't be upset after she accidentally tripped him; this is a prime example of how she finds an answer for everything; we tell her she will be a lawyer)

Evelyn: "Dad, I probably won't be living with you when I'm a teenager." (after Rod asked if she would still have good behavior when she became a teenager)

Evelyn and Kenneth: (discussing their father's belly button, an anomaly to them because they both have 'outies')
E: "You need to clean that out with a toothpick!"
K: "Evelyn, it probably hasn't been cleaned since the 90s."

Don't Reach Into the Pricklebush

Kenneth and a couple of his friends, Mason and Wilson, went to Main Event on Sunday for a small birthday celebration. Main Event is an all-encompassing "family fun" place, that has everything from bowling to indoor rock climbing to a bar and pool tables (of course, that section is empty during the day when kids are there). They all had a good time doing arcade games, simulated boxing, glow-in-the-dark putt putt golf, and the most anticipated..."Lazer Tag!"
For each section of Main Event, you pay independently, so when I got in line to pay for Lazer Tag, Michael Dell was in line with a couple of kids! You have to understand that this is a major celebrity sighting for me, given that I work for the company he founded. Rod and the kids played lazer tag at the same time as them. Rod refrained from shooting him with the lazer, but apparently Evelyn had no such reservations and got him several times. LOL

The kids are always saying funny and sweet things, with totally serious intentions. I have captured a few over the last few days:

Kenneth: "Mom, your underwear is sticking out above the top of your shorts. Normally it doesn't do that. You shouldn't bend over with those on." (Explanation: I so rarely wear "granny panties" that on the occasion I did, to have it pointed out was a little embarrassing.)

Evelyn: "Joseph lost his ball in a pricklebush today. I reached into the prickle bush and it pricked me. I have pricklebush prickles all on my arm. He didn't even care that I tried to get the ball out of the pricklebush for him. I am NOT touching that pricklebush again."

Evelyn: (in reference to a snack before swim lessons around dinner time, instead of a full meal) "This is not full-fledged. It just makes my heart beat."

Evelyn: calls exclamation points "exciting points" (which is actually pretty true)

Evelyn: "When you're you, you're you. I'm glad you are who you are." (sweet pea)

Today is my birthday. I have included a picture of me, taken during the summertime, right before I turned 9, which is right where Kenneth is now. age-wise.