Our own Mary Lou Retton?

I went in to get a crying Allyson out of her crib to find her standing up, supported by the rail.

At this rate, she'll be on inline skates by Easter!

A mother's love....

Cameron was teasing Makenna, and I called out,
'Be nice, Cameron!'

Cindy, busily working at the microwave (and stove), sang out, 'Remember who you're talking to!'

Then, mimicking an Olympics announcer at a challenging event, she added, 'Degree of Difficulty...!'

Don't ever turn your back on him!

Well, Cameron did it again.

Cindy bought a quart of egg nog, and aside from a small cup for me and the remaining quarter-cup that Cindy was able to salvage from the bottom of the carton, he drank the whole stinkin' thing!

The give-away is the faint egg nog moustache!



And, of course, the look of sublime satisfaction!

In the spirit of Ol' Saint----no....I mean Ol' SLICK Nick!

At the end of dinner, the exuberant Beelzebubs began chasing each other, running and screaming throughout the downstairs.

Cindy promptly moved to direct their annoying energies to more fruitful endeavors--they were tasked with clearing off the table.

After further groans, complaints, and other crass behavior, they were further directed to load the dishwasher and wash and dry the other dishes.

Cameron suddenly had to go poop. Erin thought he was pulling a 'Slick Nick,' but when Cindy checked on him and began mega-gagging, they accepted that his excuse was valid.

From his throne Cameron then chortled, 'I've been saving up my poop until Mom had a job for me to do!'

Thus is the 'Slick Nick' further refined by succeeding generations of ingenious progeny.

It almost brings tears to my eyes....or is that just due to the fumes?

Stars in their courses....

Today things are back to normal.

Cindy was presumably off chasing door-busters at 4:15 AM, the kids slept until 7:30, we put up the tree and decorations, went to play at the Y, the kids had burgers and Frosty's from Wendy's for lunch, then we enjoyed the 60-degree cloudless weather at a park (with one quick run home for 'Kenner to do what she should've done before we left).

It is now 3:45, and no sign of Cindy, so things must be going well!

Oh....what is that? The garage door is opening!

It's a bit early for Santa.....

....but Cameron was giving it a go.

You don't often see Cameron with a cheesy grin, so enjoy!

Another generation of board-gamers

This week Erin and Cameron pulled out Scrabble, and with a little coaching and help from me, made it through an entire game.

We have since played 5 or more games.

The best part is that they don't really need my help anymore!

Role Reversals

It was a nippy Thanksgiving morn, with wintry frost decorating the grass. The constellation Orion was slowly sinking in the western sky. It was 3:45 AM.

Cindy was oblivious. She had only one thing on her mind....shopping, shopping, and then more shopping. Unconsciously pulling the warm covers up to her chin, she restlessly (yet very gingerly--she had been the chiropractor the previous morning) turned onto her side, and continued dreaming of blazing-hot sales.

I, on the other hand, was on my way to the local Meijer's to get a place in line for a 6AM door-buster I-Pod for Cindy (it's no secret, so no cats are getting out of their bags). Arriving at the 24-hour store, I spent 20 minutes trying to find someone who knew where the line was, thereby finally ascertaining that there was no line yet. I got some door-busting cashews, cheese, and coconut shampoo, then I moseyed to spot where the line was to be. There was even a stool there! I pulled out my handy Sudoku book. By 5 AM we were a line of 8. By 6 AM it was a line of 50.

I walked out of the store with my purchases at 6:10 AM.

I dropped the big-ticket items (something secret for the kids too) at home, then went to wait at K-Mart for their 7 AM sale.

At 7:10 I walked out of there with 50 blank DVDs and something for Cindy. I got home at 7:15, finding Cindy still in bed.

Tomorrow Cindy and I will reverse roles. Of course, she will shop all day with friends, eat a nice lunch with friends, while I watch all 4 kids.

Still, she will do 98% of the Christmas shopping, so it seems like a fair trade!

How to Leave Mom Speechless

On the way back from swimming at the Y tonight, Erin suddenly said, "Mom, if you could give me any nickname, what would it be?"

Cindy opened her mouth with a ready reply, but before she could say anything Erin added an addendum: "...and it can't be 'Sassy Butt."

That made Cindy think harder, and then as she again opened her mouth to reply Erin again added further restrictions, "Nor can it have just 'Sassy' or just 'Butt,' nor 'Bum,' nor 'Boo-tocks*.'

Cindy closed her mouth permanently--all the apt ones were now off limits.

*'Boo-tocks' is an alternate pronunciation of the word 'buttocks' that I believe was first uttered by her cousin Sydnee well over a decade ago.

There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Once again Erin and Cameron earned 'gold cards' for this first quarter of the 2006-07 school year. All the gold card kids will be given these cards at a special assembly next week, along with the usual coupons for free baby pizzas or kids' meals, etc.
Naturally, both kids are pleased as punch. Of course, in Cameron's case, he has never received anything else, so it's taken as more of a 'given.'
At both of their parent-teacher conferences they were highly praised as being well-mannered and hardworking students. Doing some math (220 school days x 7 hrs / 12 waking hours per day), I see that this correlates to approximately 128.3 days of good behavior in a year. Kindly adding a generous helping of the time at home they display these same sterling qualities, one comes up with a grand total of 129.5 days of such behavior in a year for Cameron, and 135.75 days for Erin.
Finally, this award serves to engorge Cameron's already ballooning ego, and when he finds out that he will be bused to another school next year every week to participate in 'gifted math' he will be completely insufferable. (Right now he is just a plain variety of 'insufferable.')
As an aside, Makenna was also praised as being a wonderful student, but they don't give out gold cards until 1st grade.

No, It's Definitely not Merely 'Pining for the Fjords'

Sadly, the last of the 3 original goldfish died last night. It was soon after Cindy had gone to all the trouble of changing the water and even scrubbing down the insides of the tank.
That was rather inconsiderate of 'Floatie' in my humble opinion.
As for the cause of its demise, it could be due to any of a number of factors or even a diabolical combination:

1. A change in water temperature.
2. Too much chlorine and other nasty chemicals in the city water.
3. Something that ‘fish specialists’ refer to as 'stress.' (I don’t get it—they’re almost identical to cats—all they do (and I use the word 'do' quite loosely) is lazily float around all day and eat! So where’s the stress?)

Anyway, Cindy felt kinda bad, so she and Makenna (and cute Allyson) went to the local fish pet store this morning and bought another goldfish. They named it 'Beauty.' (If it is anything like the last one in its final stages, it might be better named 'Blackening Beauty.'

And Makenna has already grown quite attached to it. In her own innocent, childlike way, she is trying to foster a closer relationship with it than she enjoyed with the first three fish.

This became apparent when she ardently asked Cindy, "Can I flush it when it dies? I didn't get to flush any of the other three!"

Holy Creepy Crawlies Batman!

Well, as of Sunday we can assuredly say that Allyson can crawl FORWARDS.

Once she really gets moving we're going to have to start baby-proofing the house, but for right now she just provides lively entertainment for her siblings as they watch her crawl toward some object and then they move it away, then move it away again, etc., etc.

Loquacity is for losers...

....or so Cameron obviously believes.

In his never-ending quest for pithy brevity in his utterances, he has hit upon a terse curse.

"You....ALL cuss words!"

This thereby puts the onus of figuring out which cuss words he means on the recipient.

The boy is a deep thinker!

Hypnotic Technique for Babes

1. Lightly brush a fingertip in a circular pattern around the baby's face, including around (but not IN) the eyes and nose, chin and cheeks.
2. Watch as the babe stops moving.
3. Watch as the 1000-mile stare develops.
4. Watch as the eyelids droop and the baby falls asleep.

It has worked like a charm this week--even when she has woken up in the middle of the night!

I think she has developed an addiction....

They can be taught!

Cindy has made the kids do their own laundry the past couple Saturdays (usually with little grins at me as she directs the work).

And it looks like it is paying off!

As Erin was folding her own laundry she commented that she didn't have a lot to fold.

Cindy immediately cautioned her, 'Well, if you don't have enough clothes for this week, you'll have to do another load in the middle of the week.'

Erin brightly replied, 'That's OK, Mom. I know how to wash my own clothes now, so even if I have to do another one it's no problem!'

As Cindy was telling me this, that little grin on her face grew to hugey-mongous proportions, which rather nicely complemented the little victory jig she was doing.

Have I been remiss as a father?

Wheel of Fortune just happened to be on as Cameron and I were sitting on the couch last night. The subject was 'The 1990s.' The solution was something like 'Super Bowl Won Three Times by the Cowboys.'

I could tell that Cameron was still puzzled after reading the solution, so I asked him,"Cameron, who are the Cowboys?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

I asked a follow-up:

"What sport has the Super Bowl?"

Another shrug.
(Surprisingly, Erin piped up with the correct answer to the second one!)

Still, even though he got stumped I don’t really consider his education to be at all deficient.

Stats Break

Makenna and Allyson both went to see the doctor, with Makenna getting three, and Allyson getting 4 shots.

As a matter of fact, a couple days ago Makenna was getting mentally prepared, and she asked the question, 'Will they hurt more than the flu shot [from 2 years ago]?' When she was told that it would be about the same, she said, 'Goody, goody--the flu shots didn't really hurt!' and she was actually looking forward to getting them.

And her prep obviously worked. Makenna didn't cry a bit.

As for stats, 'Kenner is in the 95+ percentile in height and weight, and Allyson is still hovering around the 20~25th percentile for height, but only 10th percentile for weight.

It's too bad for Allyson that cuteness isn't 'percentiligulated,' as that would certainly improve her overall scores! [See some of the photos in previous posts for proof.]

Backboards

No, Cindy wasn't carried off on one after her back collapsed.

Rather, Erin has been learning to use the backboard when making basketball shots. The past 2 years she has done pretty well relying on just dead-reckoning at the hoop, but both of her coaches on both of her teams are stressing the importance of learning to use the backboard.
I went out with her a couple days ago, and she missed about 4 shots, got mad, and stamped off. Then yesterday she and Cameron went outside and when she came back in she said she had made 30 in a row.
Tonight she only got up to 23.
It is a big confidence-builder for her.
I am also trying to get her to be a more aggressive rebounder. I have started calling her the shark in an effort to get her thinking about lunging after a rebound instead of being fairly passive.

Of course, as stubborn as she is at times, maybe I should be more specific on the shark species and call her 'Hammerhead!'

The holidays are fast approaching....

Cameron and I were in the frontroom playing Slap-Jack as Cindy walked in the door from WalMart. She called out my name and tried to sneakily show me what she was holding. There was little lighting, so all I could make out was that it was a quart carton of something.

After a couple tries of trying to make it easier for me to see (without turning on a light so I could actually see it!), Cameron hopped up and jogged in to take a gander.

I heard him start reading, 'Southern...Comfort...E" then a quick squeal and a jerk as he tried to rip it out of her hands.

'Egg nog! She bought egg nog!' he yelled out, already drooling in anticipation.

He will have to wait until tomorrow, but he is one happy egg-nog-sucking-down camper!

I'll be lucky to get a drop!

He always has a ready response....

As Cindy was combing Cameron's hair this AM, I lightheartedly called out, 'Hey cow-lick boy!'

He immediately replied, 'Hey, Red-Butt boy! That'll be from me kicking you in the butt!'