Q&A

Well, "Q" anyway. I remember hearing somewhere that the average five year old asks about 300 questions a day. I believe it. In fact, that estimate might be low.

Just the other day the boys spent over an hour cracking each other up with their "what if" scenarios (granted most of them involved potty humor, but it was an hour of peace for me so I chose not to fight that battle). And I've noticed lately that most of my conversations with Garrett have been increasingly one-sided. His brain (and imagination) are in overdrive and he shoots one question after the other, often times before I can answer the first one (and he always remembers the answers I give). Sometimes the answers are easy to come by, like "can Chase and Ella marry each other?" or "why are stars shaped like stars?"...and some are not, like "do angels have feathers?" and "are humans the only ones with five fingers?". And for the rest, well, there's Google.

Now I just have one question...since encyclopedias only contain so much information (and there are only so many hours in a day)....when we were kids (and without the internet)...did our parents just make stuff up?

An Ugly Reminder of Beautiful Things

I've had a hard time concentrating this past week. The recent tragedy in our community has been consuming at times and difficult to wrap my brain around. It is all too easy to become overwhelmed with fury and frustration that this has happened in our beloved community, but that doesn't change that fact that it did. In addition to hugging the kids a little tighter, taking our safety MUCH more seriously, and getting involved in an effort to prevent this from ever happening again, I realize that in the end this horrific ordeal has become a invaluable gift. Never before have I seen this depth of kindness and compassion among strangers, seen unwavering dedication and diligence and felt such unity and solidarity with the community as a whole. Not because we knew Chelsea King or her family, but because it was the right thing to do. I am thankful to have witnessed that kindness, selflessness and positivity can and will be reciprocated. From this, I feel hope and not despair, I feel empowerment and not weakness and I feel joy beyond the sadness. We have all been affected by this very ugly tragedy and we have all been changed by it. What makes it beautiful is that that we will be better people for it. And for that, I am grateful.

Writings by Garrett

Garrett decided to start a journal and these are his thoughts written in his own words...and my best translation of them.

I went on a field trip to Sea World it was great but the first graders got to go to Old Town. I love school it is the funnest place in town. I think that life it good. My favorite tv show is Star Wars and Transformers and Sponge Bob Square Pants (not really sure why since he's not allowed to watch them- he didn't earn the nickname "Garrett the parrot" for nothing...or maybe THAT is why). I like my pet Sequoia she is really fun. When it is rainy I can draw a Valentines for my buddy. By Garrett.

Hi my name is Garrett (love the introduction). My name sounds like my teacher is Mrs. Garcia. My other teacher her name is Mrs. Farthing (from preschool). My favorite character in Star Wars is Darth Sidious. My favorite book is The Cat in the Hat. My favorite dinosaur is Liaoningosaurus and Allosaurus (who says tv is bad for kids?...and EXACTLY my point about repeating what he hears, Garrett can actually pronounce these words). I am going to my grandma's home today. I got new bikes from Christmas Santa gave me a card. I wish him good luck (I'm pretty sure Santa wishes you luck, too, Garrett!).

I love the fact that he's writing, but even more I love the insight into his five year old mind. And I'm sure he has no idea that knowing he thinks his life is "gud" makes mine that much better. Thanks for sharing, Garrett!

Sea'ing the World

Ever since Blake went on his first kindergarten field trip last year to Sea World, Garrett has been counting down the days until he gets to go. That day finally arrived and Garrett embarked on his first official field trip with his kindergarten class.

After the excitement of the novel yellow school bus ride, the kids and parent volunteers headed into the park for a day of "being scientists" as Garrett's teacher so eloquently put it. There was the penguin encounter where we watched the penguins dive for fish,

touching and being splashed by the bat rays and dolphins,

lots of giant aquariums full of exotic fish like piranha and eels, holding starfish at the tide pools,

being entertained by the sea lions at the sea lion and walrus show,


being mesmerized by the beautiful beluga whale

while exploring a polar bear cave and touching real walls of ice

and of course riding the tunnel through the shark tank. In fact, there wasn't much we didn't see at Sea World (except Shamu). It was in fact a day packed full of fun learning by experience and being scientists.

That being said...ironically one of the highlights of the day was seeing the the guy donning scuba gear while cleaning one of the gigantic fish tanks. Go figure. Leave it to the mind of a five year old to transform this unintentional "exhibit" into yet another unexpected and interesting lesson in science. All in all, a day well spent with my little Garrett.

Let The Races Begin!

It's that time of year...time for the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. I had no idea that it was such a big deal (mostly to the dads) and taken so seriously (mostly by the dads). Since Cub Scouts is "Brian's thing" with the boys, I let him be the one to put in the effort to make the cars (with minimal help from the boys). We figured this was our "practice" year, since we were novices.

Here is what we learned: start making the car well before 4 days prior to the race (the neighbors don't really appreciate us using the table saw at 9pm on a week night), use weights for speed (Garrett's car without weights came in dead last), let the boys decorate their own cars (they need to be able to do something to contribute), and don't expect the babies to sit happily in a stroller for 4 hours and be entertained watching the cars. Live and learn.

I would say this year was successful for Brian- I mean, Blake. He won a Bronze Medal for coming in third overall in his den, won an award for "Best Themed Car" (Cub Scouts theme), for which he can take full credit, and even won some movie tickets in a drawing. The good news is that while Garrett didn't fare as well (although he did win the award for "Best Use of Flames"), Brian now has some experience under his belt and next year is sure raise the bar for competition.

Let the best man- I mean boy- win!

Run, Run Just As Fast As You Can

Blake has found a new passion for running. Actually, sprinting is a more accurate description. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since the biggest motivation to get him out the door in the mornings is to get school 20 minutes early so he has time to run laps around the field. Some days he even runs a mile before school starts. And he's racked up over 35 cumulative miles now. Blake has always been a child who needs a physical outlet for his thoughts and feelings and running seems to fulfill that perfectly (for now).

So while he's decided to forgo baseball, soccer, tennis and any other after-school sport because he's too drained from learning all day (who can argue with that?), I had been growing a little concerned that by not playing an organized sport he might be forfeiting his future opportunities to play competitively. THEN he ran a 5K charity run and he's discovered he LOVES running...competitively. He's already asked me when the next one is and informed me that he wants to run a marathon.

And while I'm glad that we can help guide his new found passion for running, he is too young to be doing it on his own...which means Brian and I will be lacing up our running shoes and trying to keep up on the weekends. I have no doubt that Blake will someday run a marathon if that's what he chooses to put his mind to. In the mean time, I am sure he will get the rest of us in better shape as we run laps around the park, lake or wherever (as if the challenge of keeping up with two 30+lb toddlers wasn't enough!). Now if I could just get all my kids to run in the same direction....

Big and BIGGER

One

little

girl

with

a

BIG

personality


and

one

little

boy

with

an

even

BIGGER

smile.

Once Upon A Time...

Life with Aunt Nee Nee is never dull. There's the castle she built...out of popsicle sticks.

It's still a work in progress, but apparently she would do anything for her nephews who requested it. And now we can add it to our collection of other popsicle stick models by Renee- the pirate ship and the race car.

That's when she wasn't being the teacher, adventurer, builder, scrapbook artist, gamer, biologist, chef and play mate. And surprise guest reader. Renee surprised Garrett and Blake by being the guest reader in each of their classes.

Renee reading Giraffes Can't Dance for Garrett's class

and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs for Blake's class.

The boys tried to play it off as if they knew (like how they know everything), but the stunned looks on their faces, blushing and constant and proud smiles gave them away. Unfortunately...I wasn't able to capture that on camera (note to self: check camera settings before trying to capture a memorable moment).

And they learned happily ever after...

Garrett and the Grinch

This one really amazed me.

I still haven't decided if Garrett really captured the Grinch or if the Grinch embodies Garrett... Either way, pretty impressive for a five year old.

The Wilcox Bowl

Who wants to sit and watch "bowl" games all New Year's Day, when you can actually play them? For the past several years we've made it our family tradition to go bowling on New Years. It's something we all look forward to all year long (at $40 a game- not including the twins- it is sure to remain a novelty) and it's a fun and memorable way to start the new year. Here are some fun pictures of my super-bowlers.

You can't really go wrong with a guide and bumpers...maybe next year we can convince the boys to try it without the guide.

But for now they like their sure-fire knock downs. Blake's victory face.


It was Garrett's idea to play boys against girls (and he got to be on the girls' team). Smart boy...the girls (me and Renee) won by a long shot. Here's Renee in perfect form.

Our own personal cheering section. Chella got to run around about halfway through (another perk of New Year's Day bowling- we have the place to ourselves in the morning) and especially enjoyed the glow in the dark arcade.

Stay tuned for the Wilcox bowl '11.