(2) Fri Dec 03 2004 07:37 Breaking the Ice: Okay, when I've not written in so long, I find it difficult to break the pattern of silence, for what could be material for a worthy entry after so much blank space? Here's a little story to get me going again . . .

Ben, my mom's new husband, had a little ice breaker game he played with the boys where he'd blow on their hair just so, making them think he'd spit on their heads. Anyway, while we were visiting my family, Atticus was thrilled to discover that Ben has a swimming pool in his backyard. He asked Dave, "Does Ben like to share?"

Dave replied, "Of course, Grandpa Ben loves to share his pool and everything else with you."

"He also likes to spit in my hair!" Atticus said.

Sat Dec 04 2004 14:39: We went to the Annual Old Fashion Christmas Parade downtown this morning. Well, the boys and I went. Dave is in purgatory until he finishes a research project that is due soon. It was a lot of fun; we saw horses, ponies, donkeys, buggies, a stagecoach, carriages, lots of fun things like that. The paper reported that there were around 280 horses altogether. I bought a dozen doughnuts from Joe's bakery to share with the friends we met. Now that the boys have tasted the sweet life, I can't seem to get them to eat anything else. I guess they'll eventually change their minds when they are hungry enough.

(6) Sun Dec 05 2004 09:58 Adventures in Parenting: It is time to start thinking about potty training Samuel. For the second time today, he ran out from his bath, threw off his towel, and peed (in the same place as yesterday) on the carpet. He does this to entertain his brother. Heaven help me.

(2) Tue Dec 07 2004 22:16 Poor Dave!!: It is after 10:00 and Dave is leaving for campus to finish a project. He's been going on about 5 hours of sleep a night for a week, and it looks like tonight might drop his average. Poor, poor graduate student!

(2) Tue Dec 07 2004 22:18 By the way: The only reason he came home at all was to spell me off so I could go to my book group night. Very considerate.

(3) Wed Dec 08 2004 13:04 *Sigh*: Dave came home for breakfast and a shower, then went back to school again. When will I have him back?

(1) Thu Dec 09 2004 18:03: Atticus went to his friend's house for a mac-and-cheese dinner (is he old enough for this already?). We ate miso-vegetable soup and tempeh club sandwiches here. I imagine one day that Atticus is going to come home and ask me "Why don't you ever make anything normal for dinner?"

(2) Wed Dec 15 2004 12:40: Last night we bought our extended DVD of The Return of the King. What a treat! Fifty minutes of extra scenes. The film is really fleshed out with all the extra character development and story telling. I love it.

(4) Wed Dec 15 2004 15:24 Close Calls, Misses, and Dead On Messes: Samuel is making trouble at every turn. Today he dumped out a carton containing 9 eggs, which went splat! on the kitchen floor. The other day, I caught him just before he poured a cup full of apple juice inside the drum of our empty dryer. He flushed half a roll of toilet paper down the toilet that luckily didn't overflow. He sucked his "silkie" piece of comfort blanket into the vacumn hose, and I cannot get it out. Then one other that I can think of that has vexed me this week was when he took out my precious 1/2 gallon of grade a pure maple syrup and started pouring it over the kitchen bench. I found him licking his fingers.

Admittedly, some of these are my own fault, born out of my own negligence (I was washing dishes and letting him play with the vacumn when he lost his silkie, shame on me), but what a mischevious little boy. If I could chain my fridge closed, that would solve 50% of his messes. Three steps forward, two steps back. That is the story of my life. At least I'm mostly one step ahead.

(2) Thu Dec 16 2004 08:25 Measure of Success: I asked Atticus how his day at school went. "Um, nobody called me names," he answered pensively.

That would constitute a good day at school, now, wouldn't it.

(1) Thu Dec 16 2004 09:53 To Yell, or Not to Yell . . .: Do I yell at my kids, or do I hire a babysitter so that I can escape the frustrations of parenthood for an afternoon. Yikes. I hate these kinds of confessional/ grumbling posts, but I have to vent.

(1) Thu Dec 16 2004 10:01 In All Fairness: Dave was away for a dinner with some professors and a potential faculty member, so I took the boys out for pizza last night. This meant I didn't have to cook or clean up. Then I put the monkeys straight to bed, turned on the "baby monitor," took the speaker over to my neighbors (in the apartment building--I'm not neglectful), and went to a friend's house to make Christmas treats. This was a night off. Why wasn't it enough? I had a break, so why don't I feel like it? I can never figure out this strange juggling act of parenting.

(5) Fri Dec 17 2004 14:54 Dark Times: Batman Fish has gone to a watery grave! This is our third beta in 6 months. I'm going to leave our fish bowl empty for a while until I get brave enough to try again with a new one. Poor Batman Fish. I hope he was happy during his brief existence.

(6) Thu Dec 23 2004 14:45 Anniversary: Dave and I have been married six years today. We celebrated with Christmas shopping and lunch at Thai House. Dave ordered a green curry dish, and I ordered a red curry dish. The food was superb. There was a little Thai place in Provo, the Thai Chili Garden, that Dave and I really enjoyed. We are glad that there is something comparable to that here in Lawrence.

And about the Chrstmas shopping, I'll just say that Atticus and Samuel are going to have a really swell Christmas.

(1) Thu Dec 23 2004 20:28 Life In Kansas: People always make a big deal about the tornadoes here in Kansas, but few mention Kansas winters, unless you are talking to Kansans. We warmed up to 14°, and tonight is supposed to dip below 0°. Last night around 10:00, when I was bringing in groceries, I heard geese honking. I felt so sorry for them; their honking sounded a little frantic (I was warm in my down ski jacket, and the irony did not escape me). They are a little late flying south. Maybe these were the slacker geese. Well, I've been late before, too. Best of luck to them.

BTW, if you haven't seen the film Winged Migration, a unique documentary of birds in migration (hence the title), you should get on the ball and watch it this Christmas break!

(1) Sat Dec 25 2004 12:51 First Sounds on Christmas Morning: Pitter patter of little feet running out of the boys room. The flick of a light switch. Pitter patter returning to the bedroom. Samuel calling: "Get up, get up! Santa Come. Santa Come!"

(6) Tue Dec 28 2004 08:01 Breakthrough Morning: Wonder of wonders, my children woke up and entertained themselves for almost a whole hour without disturbing us. The boys played nicely while Dave and I slept in! This has never happened before. I'd better not get used to it.