Kuhlmans and Friends

Kuhlman children corralling guests to read to them

Family shot with Tyson

Paul picked out a horned melon from the grocery to try.  We're still figuring out how to eat it.

It's not blood

We made homemade Concord grape jam.

Nathan approves.

Food for the brain

Today I began a list of books I am interested in reading.  These are books that I think will stretch me a little or a lot.

Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoffer
Catch 22 by Heller
Metamorphosis by Kafka
anything by Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy (I read this before but I had a book report deadline and didn't have time to enjoy it)
Fall of the House of Usher by Poe
My Antonia by Willa Cather

I also wrote down some movies I would like to see.

Beyond the Splendor
Amazing Grace
Luther
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

These aren't my normal brain candy fare, but I would like to give them a fair try.
Here is what I am actually reading and watching:

Ragweed by Avi - the story of a brave country mouse in the city.
Remarkable - a chapter book about an ordinary little girl in a fantastic town.
Escape from Planet Earth - a cartoon movie with reversal on the typical plot of hostile aliens coming to take over the Earth
Clutch Powers - before The Lego Movie, this was the Lego movie.

Hang in there, brain.  We'll get there someday.

Petra said

Petra: Mom, can we go to Toys-R-Us and buy more toys on Saturday?
Mom: Petra, I think you have enough toys.
Petra: I like more toys.
Mom: You know, having too many toys, too much isn't good for your heart or your gratefulness.  Maybe we can give away some of the toys in your room, then we can think about getting new stuff.
Petra: Don't get rid of my [favorite toy of the week].
Mom: No, I won't get rid of your special toys.
Petra: You can get rid of my alien toys.
Mom: You have alien toys?  [mom tries to remember or picture alien toys]
Petra: Yes.  They are invisible.  You can get rid of them.

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Petra in her new Unicorn bike helmet

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Petra's pre-school is having a Penny War for a fund raiser. Students bring in pennies and the class room that raises the most is rewarded with a pizza party. Students can also sabotage other classrooms by dropping nickels, dimes, and quarters, which count as negative points into the other classes' jars.  I gave Petra a big stack of pennies and told her to be sure she gave them to her teacher for the Penny War.  When Petra got back home, I asked, "Did you give your teacher the pennies?"

"Yes, but there was no penny fight.  They were for getting a pizza party!"

Apparently she was expecting some sort of battle with pennies flying back and forth.

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One of the TV programs the kids have been watching is "Magic Schoolbus," which, ironically, is all about learning science.  One of characters is a little girl named Dorothy Ann who often delivers some of the science facts with the preface, "According to my research..."
Petra must have cued in on this because last evening she was outside with her daddy and started explaining to him, "This is an cicada shell.  I did invisible research and learned all about them."
"Really?  You do invisible research?"
"Yes, I do lots of invisible research.  You see those clouds?  Those are ungdulala clouds.  I know because I researched them.  I also did invisible research on plants, so I know all about plants."
"I see.  So what kind of plant is this?"  Steve pointed to the tree by the play set.
"It's a tree plant."
"Yes.  What kind of tree?"
"Um... A mulberry tree."
"You are right.  Good job, Petra."

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Petra and Julia like clothing with bright colors and one of their favorite things is pairing mismatched colors and patterns.  We very seldom veto an outfit.  I figure if they are covering up all the necessary body parts and are not being degrading to themselves or threatening to others, they can let their flair for style take them where it will.  Yesterday Julia wore a shirt and shorts combination that made Steve's eyes hurt.

While Julia was in school I took Petra and Nathan clothes shopping to a second hand store.  Petra picked out two of the most brightly colored striped pants she saw.  She was delighted with them.

Last night I told Steve about how Petra homed in on these colorful pants and he said, "Well they can't mismatch themselves any worse than Julia's combination today."  I held up the pants for him to see.  "Okay, the pants on the right do TRY to outdo Julia's outfit today."

Nathan's stitches

And while we are on the topic of injuring my children's faces, here are picture from Nathan's stitches.

This happened at the beginning of August.  Here's the scene: boys are arriving at our house for Paul's birthday party, I'm at the door talking to a dear friend, and Nathan is running around having fun.  I hear him crying but think, "Steve and Grandma K are in the living room with him.  I don't need to insert myself."  Then Julia comes to tell me that Nathan is bleeding a lot.  Nuts.

We think he fell face first into one of our cast iron radiators.  Grandma K's party clothes were splotched with blood and Steve was mopping blood out of the rug.  The cut on Nathan's head wasn't terribly deep, but it opened pretty dramatically.

Steve and I were supposed to take the boys plus Julia to play laser tag.  My dear friend volunteered to send her husband for laser tag in my place.  (He kind of wanted to, but was trying to be responsible and work around the house instead. He was okay with suddenly having his wife's blessing to go play instead.)

Petra went to stay with Grandpa K and Grandma K and I took Nathan to the urgent care.

Nathan did great.  He was smiling and playing by the time we were checked in.  To hold Nathan still for the stitches, the nurses swaddled him in a white sheet, then strapped him down in a papoose, and one nurse held his head still.  He was really mad about being restrained.

Nathan with numbing gel taking effect before stitches.

5 Stitches - Nathan recovering from howling and straining against his restraints

On the way home with a toy car and a pretzel - all better

It is healing nicely

Julia's teeth

Julia has had a mishap. She broke her two front teeth.  Yeah, the adult teeth.

Did she break them sparring in tae kwon do?    No.
Did it happen in weapons class?   No.
Did she crash while whipping over the concrete on her scooter?  No.
Did she fall out of the tree house or careen into a post while swinging wildly?  No.
Did she slip and fall while ice skating on a wet kitchen floor.  Yeah.

We hurried her to our dentist and we are hopeful that her teeth will live.  She will go in for another check-up in a few weeks and if the teeth are living and not dying, the dentist will build the teeth back up to look more or less normal.  Then when she is a teenager and has stopped growing we will probably get crowns for her teeth.

In the meantime we are supposed to baby the teeth.  The dentist said, "No beef jerky, no biting into apples, no corn or the cob."  We are threatening her with her life if she tries to chew on her nails.

She is feeling self conscious about people looking at her, but even more about her newly developed lisp.  On the way home from the dentist she said, "Dad, I think I might need to go to the counthelor at thchool."
"Why, honey?"
"I'm afraid people will make fun of me becauth I can't thay my etheth."
"Well, hang in there honey."

Fortunately we had her favorite cheeseburger soup to eat when she and Steve came home.

I promised not to post a picture of her teeth, but below if a picture of what she did to the floor.

Has it been too long?

Can I?
May I,
Across time
- One thousand, two thousand years,
Across distance
- Deserts, mountains, oceans, rivers,
Across tribes
- Whose ancestors never numbered Abram,
Across languages, philosophies
   enlightenments, cultures, and
    revolutions of technology
Will the blood stretch?
Can I?  May I even now be yours?

Who holds now, always, and forevermore,
   a small wrinkle of eternity;
Who spoke stars and planets,
   architect of all high and deep places;
Who breathed life into dry bones and
   added nations to Abraham's name;
Whose image is borne in speech
   and learning, art, and reason;
Does not my blood life force reach
   every corner?
And, yes, even now you are mine.

Petra's 1st Day of Preschool

Petra started preschool this week.  She was pleased and excited to go.

Last week we visited her teach, who gave Petra a little bit of an assessment.  When Petra met Mrs. T, she looked at her feet and said, "I might be a little shy."

I looked at Petra and then at Mrs T and said, "Yeah, maybe for about 5 or 10 minutes."  

Then one of the teacher's aides from last year piped in with, "Or for about 2 seconds."

Mrs. T gave Petra a little quiz, but the questions were designed for children from 3 to 5 years old.  Since Petra is closing in on 5 years old, she breezed through the assessment.  She started cheering herself on saying, "I'm really great at this!"

She walked around the room and observed that Mrs. T's room had much of the same furniture and toys as her room last year.  She was very excited to see that Mrs. T has dress up clothes!

Nervous Petra

Confident Petra

Off we go!

Paul & Julia's 1st Day of School

This August Paul started 5th grade and Julia 3rd grade.  

Steve and I are pretty pleased with their teachers and classes this year.  They will both have access to more individual attention to support and stretch them.

Waiting for the bus

Nathan looking serious and pensive

Ready set go!

The school is trying to enforce the dress code more carefully this year.  I in favor of it, but we had to dig a little bit to make sure Julia had enough shorts and skirts that were long enough.

Some of my favorite people

Here are a couple of shots of my little yahoos in front of the wild sunflowers.