Tidbits

Proof my kids are city folk:

When we drove to the lake in July, a giant moose held up traffic by meandering across the road directly in front of us. It was a memorable sight. Michael offered a prize to any child who saw a moose again in the canyon as we made the trek back to the lake for Labor Day.

We saw quite a bit of roadkill, a porcupine and a turkey vulture, but no moose. By the end of the drive Seth was getting desperate to win a prize.

Around the last bend he shouted, "I see three cows, does that count?"

To which Alice replied, "Cool! Are they wild?"

Complicated:

The other day I was standing in line behind someone at the grocery store who couldn't afford all their food. I wish I could keep hundred dollar bills in my purse and just hand them to the checker every time that something like that happens. Only I wouldn't buy their beer and cigarettes. Sometimes generosity can get complicated . . . how does one say, "I'll pay for your oatmeal but you have to put the Budweiser back in the case?" I guess I'm not a true philanthropist.

Silly:

I was asking Thomas about pre-school the other day, and he commented that sometimes it is hard to pretend he can't read . . . because no one else in pre-school can read, so he thinks he shouldn't either.

Mysteries:

Instead of "Show and Tell" Alice's class has a "Mystery Bag." Each child gets a turn to take it home and put something inside that they want to share. They then write five clues about what is inside and see if the class can guess what it is. She wanted to put the twins in the mystery bag . . . but they wouldn't fit. I called her teacher and explained the situation and arranged for the twins to visit during mystery bag time. My favorite question from one of her classmates was the incredulous, "Both of those came out of you?!?"

Orphans:

I took Alice to see a community production of Annie last week. She has become very concerned about orphans, and would like to invite every orphan she meets to live with us. She also pointed out that Daddy Warbucks was kind of lame, because he really could have afforded to adopt all the kids in that orphanage, but didn't.

Headgear: Guess how much a custom baby-head-shaping-helmet is. Just guess.