Poetry

A few months back, Jack's 4th grade class did a poetry unit. His teacher said that, quite unexpectedly, this brought out a side of Jack that she had never seen before. He dove into the writing assignments, producing poem after poem, excited about writing like he never had been before. She encourage him to collect a few of his favorites, and to bind them into a book for us to enjoy as well. Here are a few from his anthology!

THE FIGURE SKATER
By: John Bruntrager

She stepped out onto the ice
Twirling and twisting she went
She looked glorious!
She danced
She looked so fragile
Dancing so carefully
Bam!
She crashed
Out on a stretcher she went
So gracefully!

WINTER ROCKS
By: John Bruntrager

Hot chocolate
Lots of sledding
It's Christmas time
Warmer bedding

Warm apple cider
Ice skating
Winter vacation
Figure 8-ing

Covered up
From head to toes
Getting presents
Runny nose

There are good things
And bad things too
Sleepy owl
Calling "Hoo"

Falling snow
And Christmas trees
Christmas shopping
No more bees

All is tranquil
Frozen locks
Woolen hats
Winter rocks!

THE POLE OF POETRY
By: John Bruntrager

In the land of nowhere
Filled with toe hair
There is a pole.

It's never been found
But it's somewhere around
And it really plays its roll.

It stops great poets
And we've got things to show it
It acts like a nasty troll

It stops them from writing
And seeing and biting
It's like a poet's toll.

But it never opens
Even if you hope it
It's like a trouble hole.


INTRUDER ALERT
By: John Bruntrager

"Intruder alert!"

"Intruder alert!"

The emergency loudspeaker calls

The siren whails

Evildoers crowd in

Children run in all directions

The school is being invaded!

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

A bed

A chair

A desk

A toybox

A dream!

Lard and Locking Horns

I read a book called Real Food, which left me eager to make my own lard. I finally squeezed it into my schedule today. It was very easy. The prep work was a bit messy and challenging (because I had so much lard that I had to do it in several batches,) but the actual cooking or rendering of the lard was quick and easy. And the results were beautiful! I've been searching for some healthy alternatives for Elliot and Jack (who still have allergies to milk protein,) to use in cooking. I found coconut oil, which is delicious and amazing for baking, but I was still searching for something healthy and heat-tolerant to substitute for butter in the frying pan. Homemade (totally unhydrogenated) lard it is! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow on Jack's daily two fried egg breakfast! Here are some pictures of my handy work. And, if you're thinking, "lard? Did she say lard is healthy?" please do some reading. The last few decades have not been kind to fats. Our diets and bodies have suffered. Here are two great articles, here and here. And, if you're thinking, "Wow! I want to try making my own lard!" there are tons of great articles with how to info on the internet (or in Real Food.) Try it!

Now that I've shared some of what went on IN my kitchen today, I thought I'd share some of what went out right OUTSIDE of my kitchen as well. Much to my dismay, it goes on all over my house every day. It's hard to describe to people who don't have several boys living in their house. I find it both charming and revolting, often at the same time. All four boys participate in it willingly, and cry if you make them stop (although Mattie is clearly the biggest fan and primary instigator.) I try to put up with it as long as I can, but since it rarely ends well, sooner or later, I put a stop to it.

Seen enough? If not, I will post some video footage on Facebook soon... Good night!

A new season

And just like that, the summer went by in the blink of an eye. September came; school started. Two weeks later, the rink opened. Once again we’re back in the school and hockey groove. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but one of my last posts in the Spring talked about my love-hate relationship with hockey. It’s still going strong. I hate the fact that we spend so many hours at the rink. I love watching my kids play. I hate making lunch at breakfast, dinner at lunch, serving it up at 3:30, only to finally get home at 8:30 at night and hear, “I'm hungry. What can I have?” I love that my kids are great at something I can’t even do. I hate the smell of everything that comes out of their hockey bags. I love sitting in the warm waiting room with all of the other hockey parents. I hate having to bark at the kids 100 times to put down their hockey sticks and do their homework. I love letting the little ones run around and play freely with the other hockey siblings. I hate when my kids cry because I won’t buy them candy from the snack bar. I love cheering their team on. I hate feeling like I’m never home on nights or weekends. I love holding Theo up, face pressed against the plexi-glass, to watch the zamboni smooth out the ice. I hate trying to get everyone out the door and in the car on time for practice. I love shopping for hockey equipment with the boys. I hate that we get home so late, so often, that I don’t get to read bedtime stories to the kids. I love the camaraderie they have from playing and loving hockey. Need I say more?

Despite my ambiguity about our commitment, one thing is crystal clear. The boys love to play. Elliot has been playing goalie again for his team (he also plays out of goal maybe 50% of the time.) I have some fantastic footage of him playing both in and out of goal. Jack, who had a tough season last year moving up to the next age division, got out on the ice this year, and scored the first goal, in the first game of the season, for his team. What a motivator! Both of their teams won the title in the Mayor's Cup last weekend, for their respective age divisions. Jack's team was undefeated in the tournament. Elliot's team lost their first game to their rival, won all their subsequent games, then came back to beat the same team in a rematch in the finals. Both boys' teams finished their games tied, went into overtime, tied again, then had to go to penalty shots to decide the winner. Talk about exciting! Check them out:

Let's start with Elliot in goal...

Making a glove save.

After making a diving stop.

Some video shot from the finals at the Mayor's Cup last weekend. Elliot catches the puck in his glove, again!

And here is another video of Elliot, from a game two weeks ago, when he was awarded a penalty shot during a game.

And, now it's Jack's turn.

A Big Week

We had an unusual run of accomplishments last week. Mattie learned to ride Elliot's old bike, without training wheels. Jack hit a grand slam in his baseball game. Elliot won the second grade bilingual spelling bee. What a week!

Breaking the Law

Every morning Jack and Elliot get up, get dressed, then come upstairs to eat breakfast. It doesn't make for the cleanest school clothes, but it makes getting up and getting ready go quickly and smoothly. Mattie still goes to pre-school, so he gets to leave later in the morning. We've always let him eat breakfast in his pajamas, then get dressed after the big boys leave. But, this hasn't been working so well lately. The more I expect him to undress and dress independently, the more he has been digging his heels in and doing nothing. So, I decided to take a short cut, and get him dressed at night. Now, on school nights, he picks out his clothes for the next day and wears them to bed. What a difference! He gets out of bed, and is practically ready to walk out the door. Everything was going great, until Jack remembered something he had read. "Sleeping in your day clothing is against the law in Boston." So, while we have solved one problem, we have simultaneously created a new one. Now, mornings go smoothly, but bedtime tortures Jack!

My Christmas Card

Jack presented me with this wonderful card on the last day of school before Christmas. My kids aren't known for being overly grateful or appreciative, so I'm going to have to hold on to this one for a VERY long time. I love that it also offers a glimpse into two of the current influences in his life, church and Super Mario Brothers.

(Theo helped with that shot.)

Quote of the Day

Elliot lost a glove at school on Friday. We went back inside after pick up, to search his locker thoroughly. Along with a few dozen other pieces of paper, and lots of crumpled up artwork, I found this:

"mom I staded in for recess because I for got to bring in my letters and I was playing with the dradle when I was not supposta."

And this gem, from Jack, on the way home from hockey tonight:

Jack: I wish you would work.
Me: Why?
Jack: Well, I wish you would get a job at Dunkin Donuts!
Me: Is that because you think I would bring home donuts every night to help fatten you up?
Jack: (Giggling.) Yes! Actually, I think I want you to work at Jae's. But, most of the people who work there are Chinese, so you might not fit in. (Sigh.) Just like Rudolph.

Cwms [kooms]

We visited my parents this past weekend. The boys took advantage of every opportunity to play with their game-loving grandfather. Yesterday, Elliot played "Spill and Spell" with Pop Pop. I was playing with the other boys across the room, but heard Pop Pop say, with a chuckle, "Now that definitely is not a word." Elliot insisted that it was. Jack, hearing all of this as well, ran over the table to offer his "official" verdict. Jack took one look at the letter dice, and confidently declared that Elliot was right. The word in question was "cwms". Neither Pop Pop nor I recognized the word. So, how did Elliot and Jack both know it? Computer Scrabble. They have both spent hours playing against the computer, and have learned dozens of unusual 2, 3 and 4 letter words. They can't pronounce them, or tell you what they mean, but they know they are words (according to the official Scrabble dictionary at least!) Watch out, should you decide to play against them. And, certainly, don't challenge their words!

Summer Reading

On a recent fall-like afternoon, I was relaxing on the couch nursing Theo, mindlessly watching TV.  I caught a rerun of 19 Kids and Counting. In it, Michelle Duggar said that she tries to praise her kids 10 times more than she criticizes them, and that someone once told her that when you compliment someone, you can multiply that praise by the number of people in the room who hear it. Her words of wisdom stuck with me, so here goes.

I had the pleasure of watching a small miracle unfold this summer. Jack and Elliot became book lovers. Both boys came home with some suggestions for summer reading, and I bought them each several promising titles. But, neither boy had any interest in reading when school let out in June. Frustrated, I decided to try something completely new. I offered the boys $1 for each chapter book they finished. I don't believe in paying kids to do something they should just do in the normal course of life, but I wanted a way to encourage them to read, that wouldn't require any involvement, nags or threats on my part. I was also interested in giving them a way to earn small amounts of money, to start teaching some spending lessons as well. So, I threw caution to the wind, and announced my payout promise to the boys. In my mind, I estimated that they were likely to read between 5 and 10 chapter books each during the summer.

Upon explaining the rules to the boys, they ran downstairs immediately, demanding their pile of books. And, amazingly, their enthusiasm never waned. Jack discovered a new favorite author. He read only Dan Gutman books all summer. Elliot continued with some familiar series, and got through the entire Magic Tree House collection. In total, Elliot read 37 books. Jack read 21. (On average, his books were slightly longer.) I am so incredibly proud of them. Not only did they exceed my loftiest hopes, but they discovered a joy that no amount of bribery could buy. All summer long I found them curled up with their books, nestled in corners and on the couch. They read in the car, and complained when the trips were too short. They read in bed, before and after lights out. I was so amazed, that I made them each type up a list of the books they read. I wanted them to be able to look back, years from now, and remember the stories they so enjoyed. Here they are:

Jack's List:
My Weird School #4 Miss Hannah is Bananas
MWS #5 Miss Small Is Off the Wall
MWS #6 Mr Hynde Is Out of His Mind
MWS #7 Mrs Cooney Is Looney
MWS #8 Miss Lagrange Is Strange
MWS #9 Miss Lazarre Is Bazarre
MWS 310Mr Docker Is Off His Rocker
MWS#11 Mirs Kormel Is Not Normal
MWS #12 Miss Todd Is Odd
MWS #13 Mrs Patty Is Batty
MWS #14 Miss Holly Is Too Jolly
MWS #15 Mr Macky Is Wacky
MWS #16 Miss Coco Is Loco
MWS #17 Miss Suki Is Kooky
Honus and Me
MWS #18 Mrs Yonkers Is Bonkers
MWS #19 Dr Carbles Is Losing His Marbles
MWS #20 Mr Louie Is Screwy
MWS #21 Miss Krup Cracks Me Up
My Weird School Daze #1 Mrs Dole Is Out of Control
MWSD #2 Mr Sunny Is Funny

Elliot's List:

Nate the Great
Nate the Great and the Sticky Case
Invisible Stanley
Stanley Flat Again
Nate the Great and the Missing Valentine
Nate the Great and the Missing Key
Flat Stanley
Nate the Graet and the missing pillowcase
Nate the Graet and the hallaween hunt
Flat Stanley
Magic Tree House #18 Buffalo before Breakfast
Magic Tree House #19 Tigers at Twilight
Hardy Boys Trouble at the Arcade
Mr. Docker is off his Rocker
Mrs. Kormel is Not Normal
Miss Lazar Bizarre
Magic Tree House # 20 Dingoes at Dinnertime
Magic Tree House #21 Civil War on Sunday
Magic Tree House #22 Revolution War on Wednesday
Magic Tree House # 23 Twister on Tuesday
Magic Tree House #24 Earthquake in the Early Morning
MTH #25 Stage Fright on a Summer Night
MTH #26 Good Morning, Gorillas
MTH #27 Thanksgiving on Thursday
MTH #28 High Tide in Hawaii
MWS 6 Mr Hynde is out of  His Mind
MTH #29 christmis in camelot
MTH #30 hanted castle on hallaween eve
MTH #31 summer of the sea serpent
MTH #32 winter of the ice wizard
MTH #33 carnival at candlelight
MTH #34 seasens of the sandstorms
MTH #35 night of the new magicians
MTH #36 blizzard on a blue moon
MTH #37 dragon of the red dawn
MTH #38 Monday with a mad genius
MTH  Dark day in the deep sea

Growing Up

It's been 2 1/2 months since my last blog entry. I had no intention of taking the summer off, but apparently that's what happened. We've had an incredibly busy summer. We visited family, went to the beach and Spain. While I was MIA, the kids have been busy growing up, as usual. We celebrated two birthdays. Jack turned 9; Elliot turned 7. I feel like I can handle 7 pretty well. After all, I've had a seven year old before. But, nine, that's a different story. Somehow, it feels like I've been preoccupied by pregnancies or a new baby for so long now, that Jack went and grew up while my back was turned. He graduated to riding in the car without a booster seat this summer. He measures slightly over 54" tall. Less than one foot separates us in height. He plays out in the alley alone, and was allowed to roam the neighborhood by himself for the first time this week. Increasingly, I find myself looking at him in awe. How did he get to be so big? How have nine years gone by so quickly? How much more time do I have before he's gone, ensconced in a world of friends, or moved away to school? Thankfully, he's still more little boy than big one. He still likes to hold my hand. He still waits for a kiss good night and to be tucked in. He looks for my permission before doing just about anything. But, somehow, without the tunnel vision focus of surviving a pregnancy or new baby, I have felt just the tiniest bit of heartache when I look at the boys this summer. I find myself trying to take every moment in and savor it, before it disappears. I feel like I have to hold on at all costs, lest another nine years pass by in the blink of an eye...

Jack's World

Jack has an interesting personality. He lives more in his own world than most people. He is very interactive with everyone around him, but often in trying to bring us into his world more than sharing ours. His world is very imaginative, but also full of rules, and very black and white. Here's a glimpse from Tuesday evening with Jack.

Jack, who is learning Spanish for the first time this year, was very proud of one of his spelling sentences that day. He started the conversation like this: "I wrote a 20 point sentence for spelling today, all in Spanish, with 20 words, two spelling words, and without even using the word and!" (Lots of hand flapping.) I asked him to write the sentence for me. Mi amigo tiene que recortar su dibujo porques es un dibujo muy mal con un problema de matemáticas que es inexacto, he wrote. I was really impressed. I asked whether the teachers wanted them to try to write long sentences and gave them one point per word. "No," he said, "I just like to count it that way. They don't care how long it is, or how many spelling words you use in one sentence. And they don't care if you use and, but that's too easy, so I don't like to do it myself." At this point he noticed that the sentence he had written on our white board actually had 21 words. (Lots of hand flapping, again.) "I wrote muy mal tonight. I didn't use muy at school. I wish I had thought of that before. That makes it even more points!"

Later that evening he asked if he could type something on the computer. I said yes. When he returned, he had a pile of "homework" worksheets that he had made. Elliot, ever the eager participant, got to do Jack's homework. Here is Elliot's completed (and graded - by Jack) worksheet.

Jack gave him a 15/20 on the homework, even though Elliot got all of the answers right! He prepared an answer sheet himself which showed all of the elements which were required to earn full credit on the assignment. Here it is.

When Ted came home that night, he had the following conversation with Jack:

J: Who's the best player on the Mosquitoes?
T: Jack, I don't know any of the players on the Mosquitoes.
J: Yes, you do! Come on!
T: Um, Angel Pagan?
J: Uhhhh, Dad. He's terrible!

Before Ted could try to guess again, Elliot shouted out a guess from across the room.
He was right. Of course.
He spends a lot more time in Jack's World than we do. Duh.

Quote of the Day

On our recent road trip to NJ, Jack spent a considerable amount of time pouring over our road atlas in the car. He's always loved the song "Wabash Canonnball", with it's long list of improbable Midwestern destinations.

(These Disney lyrics seem different from any of the other better known versions of the song, but all the more scintillating to Jack, with their lengthy list of stops.)

"Great cities of importance we'll see along the way,
Chicago and St. Louis, Rock Island so they say,
Springfield and Decatur, Peoria, Valvon,
(I'm not even sure that's what they're saying there)
You can reach your destination on the Wabash Cannonball.
This reindeer runs to Quincy, Monroe and Mexico
...
There's many other cities that you can go and see,
St. Paul and Minneapolis, Ashtabula, Kankakee,
The lakes of Minnehaha where the laughing waters fall,
You'll reach them by no other than the Wabash Cannonball."

He had successfully located many of the cities mentioned, but was stuck searching for Minnehaha. When Ted couldn't find it either, he grabbed his blackberry and did a quick search. This yielded the disappointing fact that Minnehaha, while the official name of a street, park, and body of water in Minnesota, is not a city, as Jack had believed. This threw Jack's mind into turmoil, forcing him to grapple with the fate of his beloved team, the Minnehaha Mosquitoes. (You can read more about the Mosquitoes by clicking on the label at the bottom of this post.) He said, quite alarmed, "Does this mean the Mosquitoes will have to change their name?"