Julia's 1st Day

After much anticipation and waiting, Julia got to start her 2nd year of pre-school yesterday morning. Last year we had Julia & Paul in PM pre-school & kindergarten so they could ride the bus. But since they're at different schools this year we figured we'd move Julia to AM pre-school and just drive her in.

Can't you just see the excitement in her face? Actually, I think that's more of a "Mom, can I please just go in to class and stop posing for pictures?" ;-)

Since Paul started school a week earlier Julia has been eager to get back to school also. And, for at least a few hours each morning now, our house is significantly quieter. Win-win situation.

First Games

After several weeks of practicing, Paul and Julia had their first soccer games of the season this past Saturday.


For Paul this is the first year that they play positions and goalies, and they're on larger fields than before. Theoretically that means they end up running more, but I don't know that Paul's bought into that part yet. His team did real well, though, and the first game ended in a 1-1 tie.


This is Julia's first year playing soccer, and, at this age, they play 3 vs. 3 with no goalie. So its usually a pretty entertaining game. This one was no exception. There are a couple of ringers on her team that scored pretty much every time they were in the game. In spite of that, Julia actually managed to get the ball at mid-field one time and take it all the way down and score. Way to go Julia! Its kind of funny how scoring that first goal has her jazzed to practice harder now.

So for the next couple months most of our Saturday mornings are gonna be spent at the soccer fields cheering on Paul & Julia.

Good doggy

Maggie is racking up some serious good doggy points.

She and Petra have started playing together. It's funny to watch. Petra will sit on the floor and Maggie comes up to her. Petra lunges and Maggie dodges and barks, but stays close enough for Petra to lunge again. If Petra can get one of Maggie's toys, she'll wave it in the air. Maggie grabs the other end, and tugs on it, but not too hard, so that Petra can keep her grip. It seems like they have both agreed on the rules of play. I'm amazed. Both Petra and Maggie seem pretty happy with the arrangement. I try to guard Maggie against Petra pinching or pulling on her hair too much, but Maggie has endured some tugs on her beard with equanimity.

Good good doggy.

Now Maggie is a miniature schnauzer, and this breed was bred to hunt rodents. Steve had a miniature schnauzer growing up and really liked it. Plus he vetoed having an indoor cat, but said that this dog would help fill that gap. Fine by me. I knew schnauzers' reputation as mousers.

So Monday night a mouse streaked past my feet and went in to the nursery. I am pleased to report that I didn't scream. I called Steve, "Mouse. Mouse!" He looked in and saw it zip into the office.

"Do you want me to go get the dog from Paul's room?"
"Um. Yeah."
I watched the office for the mouse. It had run in beside a dresser. Steve brought Maggie and closed the doors at the far end of the office. We pointed and called, "Look, Maggie! Look! Look!" She started sniffing around and then caught sight of it.

Some instinct awoke deep in the psyche of our little dog. As much as she has enjoyed hunting bugs, catching flies, chasing cats and barking at birds, this was something far more important and satisfying. This is what she was made for. She wanted that mouse, bad.

I have never seen Maggie move so fast. At one point the mouse ran under the computer desk. Maggie darted around the chair and zipped under the desk as well. All I saw was a streak of fur. She caught the mouse, shook it once, twice, and it was done.

She was given meat for her reward (and so that we could sneak the mouse away from her).

Good dog, Maggie.

On the first day of first grade, I'll tell you what he did...

Paul has finished his first week of first grade!
So far we are hanging together.

His first day, Tuesday, started a little inauspiciously. The bus didn't pick him up. It drove right past us. I frantically called the transportation department to find out what was going on. When they got the driver on the radio, she said that there had not been anybody at the stop when she drove by. hmmm...

Paul looked pretty dejected. I think he had enjoyed riding on the bus last year and was missing his comrades. We quickly packed ourselves in the car and drove Paul to school, with Julia singing, "Oh Billy Joe McGuffrey was a really clumsy kid, on the first day of first grade I'll tell you what he did... He needed first aid in the first grade! You could buy a zoo with all the doctor's bills he paid." Let's not dwell on that.

When Paul got back home, he was pleased to report that he got TWO recesses and TWO eating times. Pretty cool, no?

We're having a little trouble remembering everything. On Wednesday we forgot to dress Paul in red. Thursday we forgot to wear his name tag sticker. Today we forgot his monkey name tag. Between my disorganization, and his scribble scrabble on coloring pages, I hate to think what kind of impression we are making. The good news is that he did memorize his 7 digit student ID number so that he could use it to buy lunch Thursday. French toast sticks. Yummy motivation.

Thursday evening the bus drove right by us again. The driver dropped off our neighbor and forgot about Paul. I saw the bus slow down farther up the road, but she had to go some distance before she found a place to turn around. Our neighbor wandered over and said that this particular driver gave them all sorts of problems last year. Charming. Well starting next week, we'll be driving Paul and Julia to school for at least 4 days of the week.

Paul and his class studied three different stories this week, "Clifford," "Franklin," and "Where the Wild Things Are." Today he brought home a poster claiming that when he wanted to be wild, "I jump on mi bed." I could even read his writing. Yay!

He told me tonight that he played with Jenn and Luke from last year's kindergarten class during recess today. He and Jenn seemed to be good friends last year. She's a smart cookie. It also sounded like he's trying to figure out what to do with some teasing from this year's class. It is hard to tell with Paul whether something really bothers him, or whether he just likes to play that it bothers him. Of course, he might not know there is a difference between the two either.

heritage

At some point in the history of the human race, some mother was the first to utter the words, "Go outside and play." Her name was not recorded for us to remember. She didn't receive any fame or recognition. No Nobel Peace prize was awarded. But those four little words have probably saved countless lives and relationships.

God bless her.

When you are four

When you are four, anything sparkly counts as a fashion accessory.

When you are four, you can pretend to be the princess locked in the tower and be rescued over and over again until you are called indoors for lunch.

When you are four, you can be fearless in the pool where it is too deep for you, but afraid of dried cicada skins.

When you are four, it is hard to stay under the blankets while you are sleeping.

When you are four, you can be a prima ballerina in tennis shoes.

When you are four, it is okay to take a rocket ship to the moon, find a little lost baby there, name her Petra, and bring her home for your mom to care for.

When you are four, you can instantly make up songs about whatever you are doing at the moment.

When you are four, the same bed time story is engaging every night for a week.

When you are four, you can make a joke by stringing any assortment of random words and non words together.

When you are four, it is easy cook enough cake soup in your bedroom to share with the whole family.


To my Julia Rose, who is sparkly, wonderful, and very much four.

Bring on the war for children's minds!

First, I'm not a big fan of censorship. One of my high school term papers was about it. I don't dig the idea that the best way to guard purity of young minds is to deny access to bad ideas.

I do think it is appropriate for parents to screen what their children read, hear, and see. Young children are not ready to process many adult subjects. And I think it is really important that parents know what their kids are exposed to.

Nevertheless, I think children can handle a lot more than we give them credit for. Fairy tales (before Disney) were violent and bloody. Children growing up on frontier farms had to help with the butchering. In college I spent a fair amount of time trying to put together G-rated Bible stories for a Sunday school I helped out with. Looking back, I wish I hadn't tried so hard to pick those sweet little stories. The children I was working with lived in a bad neighborhood. They probably understood what Potiphar's wife was after. I could have given them raw Bible stories and they would have identified with them just fine.

So, what to do with "Really, Really Big Questions" by Stephen Law. Paul picked this book up from the library yesterday, and he is completely enamored with it. It has really nifty illustrations. Like aliens beaming up smiling human beings, who are washing the aliens underpants. In it, Law, who has his PhD in philosophy, takes on such questions as: where did the universe come from?; did humans really come from monkeys?; what is our purpose? You know, piddly little stuff that one human being is qualified to explain to all the rest of us.

This man is a sincere atheist. He is a philosopher who likes to write persuasive arguments. This book is part of an effort to clarify children's thinking about authoritarian religion and other life issues.

Yeah, well I'm a sincere Christian. I'm an engineer, and I like to argue too. My God is bigger than an authoritarian religion.

So I've made a deal with Paul. I will let him pick which sections he would like me to read to him. (Choices are made based on the coolness of the illustration on that page.) I will read the text, verbatim, and in a tone that I think honors the intent of the author. And if the text disagrees with the bible, then we'll talk about how it disagrees. ("But mommy, Petra wasn't a monkey. Maybe it's just boys who come from monkeys.")

So far, I'm enjoying seeing how this fellow puts together his arguments. And then unraveling them. It's giving my brain good exercise. If I have time, I'll write more about that. The main thing, so far, is that he has a very small vision of god.

And his description of "What is nothing?" has given me a better appreciation of ex nihilo creation and an eternal God.

Maybe when we're done with this book, we can move back to something less controversial. Like what REALLY happened to the first two little pigs.

My boy is 6!

We celebrated Paul's birthday last weekend. One of the nice things about a summer birthday is that you get to celebrate with some of the normal summer vacationy stuff we would have done anyway. But it is extra special because it is on your birthday.

Friday morning we went to a playground with climbing and water spraying equipment. Paul and Julia had a lot of fun running around. In the afternoon, Steve and I took Paul and Julia to see a movie. We had been wanting to take them to the theater some time this summer, and the stars aligned to make Friday afternoon a good time slot for us. Having checked with a friend to make sure it wouldn't be to scary for Julia, we watched "How to Train Your Dragon." We liked it really well. It was Julia's first big screen experience, and I think she really enjoyed it too.

On the way home from the theater we got Paul and Julia their soccer cleats for this year. Can I just say that these little kids look stinkin' cute in shin guards?

For Paul's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa Kuhlman took us to EnterTRAINment Junction. Paul and Julia liked the model trains fairly well. What they really loved was the train themed play land. They were up and down and in and out all over the place. There was even a toddler section for Petra.




Paul got one of his favorite dinners for his birthday: cheese filled tortellini (it's like mac and cheese that adults like too) and watermelon. For his birthday cake he requested a chocolate cake decorated with an alligator. No a crocodile. With red eyes and a red mouth. On a blue background. Okay, so I'm the one who decorated the cake, and I know that crocodiles and alligators are different, but I would be hard pressed to tell you which one was which. Plus I am no where near skillful enough with frosting to show those physical differences, even if I knew them. So he definitely got an alligator or a crocodile.


When Julia had her birthday, I let her pick out any flavor of ice cream she wanted from the case in the grocery store. Paul was pretty put out at the time that he didn't get to pick some ice cream too. So last week, I determined that I would let him pick whatever flavor he wanted for his birthday. His choice? Vanilla.

Really?

Just vanilla?

Now we already had a half gallon of vanilla at home, but I was prepared to let him walk out of the store with his choice. I did suggest that we could make some homemade vanilla ice cream instead, and Paul agreed.

I think he had a good time. Gift highlights included a bug vacuum, and a big remote controlled toy Jeep. He was outside as soon as possible to try them out.



It is breathtaking to see how big and how quickly he is growing. He starts 1st grade this year. Here's to another year of adventure.

Recent Farm Carnage

(DISCLAIMER: Not for the bleeding heart animal partisan.)

Last Thursday, I believe, as dusk was descending on the farm, I took Maggie for our ritual final walk of the evening to close up the chickens. Now, I've trapped all sorts of mean critters in our barn, including coons. And our neighbor is currently trying to thin out the pack of coyotes from a nearby wood. So we close the chickens up in the coop at night to keep 'em safe from these mostly nocturnal fiends.

In the gathering dusk, as I closed the doors for the chickens I noticed a couple odd shapes or shadows about 10' from the chicken fence, just inside an open part of the barn. After exiting the chicken fence and entering the barn I discovered one shadow was a large mass of chicken feathers, while the other was a mauled chicken.


Before disposing of the carcass I took a couple pictures of the grisly scene.


At this point I wasn't sure if this was the work of a coyote that I scared off before he was finished, or a coon. The next day, when things were better lit, I snooped around and found what appear to be tracks from a large dog-like animal running along the chicken fence. So my guess as to what happened goes something like this: A coyote comes running along the fence and scares the chickens. One of these foolish chickens, in its fright, actually flies out of the safety and protection of the chicken fence where it is pounced upon. It flings the bird around by the head, snapping its neck, before diving in for the breast meat. Before this dog can finish its meal, it gets spooked by me coming down the driveway and runs off.

This is still fresh in my mind Sunday afternoon when I come upon and corner a groundhog in this same portion of the barn. After a while of poking around in the area where it was cornered and hidden, I eventually flushed it out and was able to kill it with a BB gun and baseball bat. Now, I know full well that a groundhog didn't kill that chicken (though they've certainly caused damage to my barn). But after I injured it with the BB gun and started swinging that baseball bat to finish it off, I was pretty much venting the aggression I felt as if it had. I'd never killed an animal in quite so violent a fashion before. But I have to say that, after these recent events, it was rather cathartic.

I guess now I work towards better securing the chicken fence & preventing them from flying over. In all the years of living here and the knowledge of coyotes nearby, this is the first time we've ever lost an animal to 'em. Time to bump up the defenses...and woe to any vermin that crosses my path in the barn in the meantime.

Petra at 9 months

Petra’s 9 month check up is going to be a little delayed. Here is my evaluation of how she is doing.

She weighs 20 lbs.

She’s mobile. Wow, is she mobile. She can crawl from one room to another pretty quickly. She can crawl from one no-no to another with amazing speed.


She likes:
- remote controls (no-no, Petra. That’s not for you.)
the buttons on the DVD player – especially the power button. (no-no, Petra. No touch.)
- the dog’s food and water dish. (no-no Petra. Yucky!)
- anything small enough to put into her mouth. E.g. cheerios, froot loops, legos, PlayMobile parts, small stones (no-no, Petra, not in your mouth)
- bottles and cups, even if there is nothing in them she can drink. She loves grabbing and playing with them. Julia made a maraca out of a water bottle and some colored macaroni. Petra was entranced with it.
- bath time. Watch out! She will throw herself from one end of the tub to the other, giggling and splashing.
- looking out the screen doors.
- following the doggy.
- watching brother and sister make silly faces and noises.


Petra has started babbling. She is not consistent, but it is still pretty amazing. She wanted up, so she grabbed by legs and said, “muh-muh-muh”. I’m sure she just called me mommy! She looks at Maggie and cries, “doh-doh.” I was playing with her saying, “Clap, clap, clap” and she answered, “cah-cah”. Yesterday in the nursery she held a rubber duck and gave a nasal, “ack-ack.”

Not that I’m biased or anything, but I’m pretty sure she’s a genius.

She passes objects from one hand to another fairly easily. She seems to have telescoping arms that reach things that I’m sure I put up away from her.

She started July with 2 teeth. She now has 6.

She only believes in wearing one sock. The other is for chewing.