papa stu in dadville

the simple things

2006-05-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

Today there was no school, Oaks Day here in KY and the start of the Derby weekend. The wife was working. The kids and I were invited over to A. Shir's house and went with her to get vegetable plants for her garden. When we got back, the kids used the slip-and-slide for a while and also helped with some of the planting.

After we got back home, Big A wanted to go use his allowance money and get a toy. We ended up at Target and after much discussion he chose a Lego StarWars set... a smart choice. Got Little E another princess crown. Big A even figured out how much change he was going to get back at checkout.

Treated the kids with Pizza Hut (located right near the Target exit... imagine that). We all got ICEE drinks too. I enjoyed watching Big A trying to get the last bit of his frozen drink with his straw. I was happy watching that for a good while. At one point I laughed a bit out loud. Finally, I got him a spoon. It really is all about the simple things.

Little E is sick, sick, sick

2006-04-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Puke and sleep. That about wraps it up. The only other variable is big A saying over and over that it's not fair... I put a stop to the TV viewing. He finally hit his stride gleefully penning cartoons that dis his sis!

The Model Seder

2006-04-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today I was tossing back and forth the idea of if I should go to the model seder at Big A's school. Lots of cleaning and other things to be done before Passover, but it sounded like it was important to him. So I went.

Oh Man was I glad I did. Not that everyone was perfect or polished, but it was amazing. My son's voice rang out strong and clear. I had thoughts of my grandparents and how proud they would be. It was emotional and rich.

There have been many times when I would question this whole at-home dad thing and my ability to pull it off. Today just shined. It was all good and right. Easy enough, I just had to be there. After it was over Big A and I hugged and kissed. We knew how each other felt.

My sweet son.

not in kansas any more!

2006-04-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last night we heard the sirens going off. pulled the kids out of their beds for a whole-family hour of rest on the futon in our basement. Our first brush with a possible tornado. This yankee is used to weather... just not this kind!

sometimes...

2006-03-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

sometimes... you just have to dance in your pajamas...

No school for the boo today

2006-03-20T09:28:00.001-08:00

Kept little "E" out of preschool today. She wasn't sick, just slept a bit later than usual. We had a fun morning listening to music and... besides... gives me a somewhat legit reason to watch the Teletubbies (and Mr. Rogers too)! "Thank you Trolley. You never know what you will be called upon to do in this life." Indeed.

Purim

2006-03-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Made it through Purim. For those of you who aren't Jewish (the non-horn crowd) Purim is a holiday where we celebrate Queen Esther freeing all the Jews. Well, anyway, we eat these three-cornered cookies that are shaped like the bad guy's tri-cornered hat. At the beginning of the holiday you look forward to eating them. Especially since it is typically just once a year we make the pastries. But, at this point I think if I see another one it will most likely end up being thrown at the nearest wall. All the kids dress up in costume (very similar to Halloween) and parade around. It is one of the Jewish holidays where spirit and playfulness is emphasized. In fact, Big A had to get ME to go to temple the other night. Hard to resist when your child begs to go to services. I guess something is going right. Now the important stuff, Little E was a princess (of course) and Big A was Luke Skywalker. Watch it with that light saber!

They CAN be cute

2006-03-14T17:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, these two kids CAN be cute. Big A (7) has been given a set of daily chores as of late. Today, he welcomed help from Little E (4) with loading the dishwaser. While his little sister can get on his nerves in a big way, he was pretty encouraging with her. Granted, she was HELPING. He also read to her from her alphabet books. This is some nice time between them and he gets to practice his reading and show off to little sis at the same time!

Here, there and everywhere

2006-03-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

In the car it seems to be a challenge at times. The typical behavior issues and sibling stuff. But once in a while there is a moment. A connection. I was talking to Big A today (he is 7) and he's been asking about the Beatles. There must be a kid in his school that has been talking to him about the Beatles. So, I brought the Beatles "One" CD for the car ride. When he was younger (and when the CD first came out) we listened to it all the time and he memorized the lyrics. But now we were talking about how style wise the group changed as the members of the group got older. And, with that CD I was able to demonstrate as the tracks pretty much set up going from early Beatles to later stuff. He liked the later Beatles. That's my boy!

first time BLOG

2006-03-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go...