trick-or-treat fun

Happy Halloween! We've had a couple of days of big fun. Last night we had our family & friends Halloween party at the lake where we ate spooky foods and toured a crashed alien space ship (complete with a Probe Room). This scared Dennis a good bit, even though he knew it was Gigi's house and not a real ship, even though we assured him it was all make believe, even though we all wore tin foil on our heads so the aliens couldn't invade our minds. Dennis quizzed us about extraterrestrial phenomena and its possible truthfulness all the way home. And he ended up sleeping with us because all he could think about was aliens coming to get us.

Today he toured the pumpkin patch again on his midday date with Gigi and Gran. They picked him up from school early and took him to have some fun. They had so much fun that he took a three hour nap before Transforming into Optimus Prime to go trick-or-treating tonight. This was his first year of honest-to-goodness, actual house-to-house trick-or-treating (and yes, I've now officially hyphened myself to death). We've done the trunk-or-treat before where you go from car to car, and we stopped at one of those at a local church before heading to the subdivision most popular with kiddos on Halloween night. Things have changed. We didn't march house-to-house and ring doorbells. Instead, all the homeowners sat outside to greet passing children, HUNDREDS of passing children, and hand out candy. We saw tons of people we knew, people from church, people from Preschool... We admired costumes and enjoyed watching Optimus run up to houses to give his greetings and thanks, shopping bag slung over his shoulder. He scored some serious chocolate. I hope he shares. We did some serious walking!

infestation of love!

Dennis has been visiting me often as I lay in bed over yesterday and today, having finally succumbed to the cold that I've been fighting for weeks. He is still fine, thank goodness, but I have a very nasty and painful cough that I hope will be gone by tomorrow morning. This morning, Dennis stuck his hand up my sleeve and crawled it along my back. He asked "do you feel something?" and I said that I did. He laughed and said "it's a shirt bug!". He was about to be a pants bug as well, but I stopped him.

heroes on parade

It's been a long, full, fun day. We began our day with the trick-or-treat downtown with three of the preschool classes. This is a major cuteness fest, 30 or so small characters of all kinds marching through banks and businesses and the courthouse, holding out bags and saying "trick or treat!" and "thank you!". Dennis had many classmates that were also superheroes. And later, after the three classes of Halloween-ers left after the big party, Dennis was playing with the kids in the 4 year old class who will go tomorrow instead of today (so none were in costume). The boys followed little Captain America all over the playground, and in sweet generosity, he loaned out his cape, his mask, his shield, and his star to 4 different kids so they could all be superheroes together. After a while, he got tired of keeping track of who had what and for how long, so he brought it all to me to put away. He was so good today. He and the other kids in afternoon care even napped today (and we stayed at school long after the others left so he could finish his nap).

After school, we had child care duty at the gym, and Dennis had his Taekwondo testing. I hear he did great, and 6 people told me he was the cutest thing they'd ever seen. Then the classes went out to eat afterward to celebrate. Dennis sat at the table with the kids and instructors, and David and I sat with the parents. I heard him inform the others that he had some "private business to discuss with Mom" and he walked over to whisper in my ear "this is important private business: I love you!" before returning to his seat. He's the best!

exhaustion has set in

If we can just make it through tomorrow, everything will be alright. Today I substituted for Dennis' teacher AND for the science teacher. I loved it. I got to know Dennis' classmates, and I learned how his class operates. We did a couple of neat graphing projects today, as it was Rainbow Day in his class. Each child told me his or her favorite color, and we put his or her name on that color paper crayon then he or she found that line on the graph and added the name to it. In the end, we counted the named for each color and found that red was the most popular. We also graphed Skittles. Mrs. Nancy has special graphs made up with circles in columns marked by colors. The kids arranged the Skittles on the graph, observed which color their snack sized bag had the most of, and then ate their Skittles. Very popular project. And they all did a great job graphing them.

I didn't even attempt the nap with the afternoon kids today. We did the Prayer Walk that the church has set up for this week, we played on the playground, and we came inside and played board games. There were three happy guys today, and they were mostly well behaved, and I spared my own mood by not fussing at them to nap when they almost never do.

Tonight I taught the church preschoolers, and I have been with Dennis nonstop today save one hour and fifteen minutes (total over the course of the day) when he was in a different class. I had thought that he'd finally be satisfied that he was getting my attention, but he still had to act out once or twice (push a kid in class). And when we got home, he wallowed all over me and followed me around nonstop. I'm so glad that I won't have to do the afternoon care anymore, that he won't have to share me with other kids, that I'll only be teaching my class when he's busy in his own class and it won't matter to him so much. We'll have this last precious year of afternoons together before he has to go to school all day long.

Tomorrow is a BIG day. Lots to do, and we'll be away from home for 12 hours with school and gym work and Taekwondo! He tests for his yellow belt tomorrow night, and then we're coming home to bed!!! I love all the things we do, and it's a good tired, the kind you get when you're accomplishing things. But it's tiring for sure, and lately I'm falling into bed worn out completely, which I am about to do again!

bullying the bully

Dennis pummeled a kid today, jumping on him and kicking him in the back until he cried. This does happen to be the class bully that he walloped, but it was still inexcusable behavior. I put him in time out on the playground for a long time, long enough that his victim said "he's been in time out long enough, Mrs. Christi; I already forgave him." So I gave him another chance and he pushed the other two boys out of the playhouse. As explanation, he said "it's my shop, and my shop is CLOSED." So he lost his playground privileges. And after the other boys whined me to death: "he won't share (did you know that 'share' can have three syllables?)" and "he won't play with me" (these times not referring to Dennis who was on the Time Out Bench), I made everyone come inside and stretch out on their mats, where I sternly reminded them repeatedly for an hour to STOP TALKING and close their eyes. This part of the job I don't love. I love teaching a class, LOVE IT, but Afternoon Care makes me feel like a worn out hag and is greatly increasing my gray-hair-to-brown-hair ratio. But this is the last week of it!!!!

the longest week

Day 1 of the long week ahead is complete! Dennis (Captain America) spent his morning with Gran while I worked at the preschool (he doesn't have class on Mondays). They had great superhero fun, and when I arrived to pick him up, he was in full Captain America dress. Gran had cut out a white star for his chest and rigged him a red and white striped belt (which is awesome because now I won't have to). What was even more awesome than that was that Gran and Hobbs were wearing white stars as well, Gran's taped to her shirt and Hobbs' taped to his head. I could tell that some serious fun had occurred, and they told me about their picnic and playing on the playground, which happened at our house while they were supervising the laying out of materials for the pouring of our new porch (tomorrow!!).

Dennis and I both took afternoon naps before going to Taekwondo class, his last before he tests for the next belt on Thursday. The rest of the week will be filled with preparation for the Halloween festivities that will happen at the end of the week, a parade through downtown and party at the preschool and a family party over the weekend. We have three afternoons of afternoon care at the preschool (our last three!), and a long night at the gym on Thursday, and trick-or-treating on Monday. And I'm so tired just reading this that I think I'm ready to go on to bed. Though Dennis assured us "I will NOT go to sleep unless you read me another book," he is indeed asleep.

the superhero with the achy tummy

Dennis was just not himself today. He slept very late and was whiny and clingy at church (weird for him). He cried when I picked him up, refused to speak to anyone, and complained of a tummy ache. He ate when we got home and said the ache was "just a tiny bit" after that. He also convinced me to get him the Captain America mask and shield that had been marked clearance at Walmart (the last of each item in stock). He tried them on and played a little, but then he asked for Sprite to help his little tiny tummy ache. I wonder what's going on with him. I hope it's nothing major. I just hate it when he doesn't feel well.

proprietary

Dennis seemed to feel just great today. He played outside all day. When I returned home from my teacher training around noon, he was wearing a hard hat, one of my old t-shirts tied up in back, and a ripped up pair of blue jeans. He waved me in and announced "welcome to the construction site!". He'd been painting and hammering and shoveling (we are busily trying to finish up the front of the house so we can put on the stones before the weather gets too cold). He decided to play in the dirt in front of the house after I'd been home a while and after asking me "are these okay clothes to wear for playing in the dirt?". I assured him they were and before long he was shouting "I just love a good dirt shower!" as he threw handfuls over himself. I think he had more fun in the dirt than he does in his sandbox! He dug a hole and then went inside to fetch his pirate ship, pirates, and treasure chest. He buried the treasure chest a few times (using a toy front-end loader from the sandbox) before telling me "I really need some gold. Do we have any gold?". I cut up a gold string of Mardi Gras beads and we filled the treasure chest with those, and he buried it and marked it with an x made of driveway gravel. Lemonade came over to help him dig holes and they had great fun burying and digging up pirate treasure.

He had to take a bath pretty much immediately after coming inside, and later, he was playing in his room while I cuddled with Lemonade on our bed. Dennis caught me and said "I'm jealous, Mommy." I asked him if it was because Lemonade is his dog and he replied "no--it's because he's in my spot. I wanted to snuggle with you!". So I we snuggled and talked for a bit and soon he was off to build a "tree-mobile" out of Legos. He came in to show me a contraption that had "two shovels and three axes for cutting down trees."

After he brushed his teeth, he came in to kiss me goodnight and said "I sure am glad my teeth didn't turn into robots. Then they might walk out of my mouth!". Yes, it was another typical Dennis conversation!

embracing laziness

I don't have much to report today. Dennis and I never got out of our pajamas! We are fighting colds, have been for a couple of weeks, and I noticed that he had red eyes today and was just exhausted. We might be about to finally succumb to the scratchy eyes, scratchy throats, and runny noses that have been threatening us (and that we've been battling with vitamins). He did tell me tonight as we snuggled in to watch a movie "Mommy, you look like a big comfy couch" and promptly sat on me. And he wiggled. He's getting a bit heavy for that, and his knees and elbows are like daggers these days! But I cherish our snuggle time, knowing it's limited to his very young days.

enough already

He's starting to wear out the "just sat there and picked my nose" bit. Today was Share Day in his class. I asked him what all his friends had brought to share (he took 2 Transformers). He told me, and then stopped in the middle of the telling to ask "do you know what everyone did with their toys? They turned them into nose pickers!". Very nice.

favorites

Tonight he told me "you're my favorite Mommy and Daddy is my favorite Daddy, and I'm my favorite self!". Earlier we were grocery shopping and he said "I'm going to be your shopping helper--give me the Dennis list." He insisted on getting "the shopping cart with the steering wheels" and I incorrectly assumed he planned to "drive" it. Instead, he hopped into the basket and said "there--I'm your first grocery!". He put all the items on our small list into the cart, and he checked the eggs before he put them in. And when he arrived at the checkout line, he placed all of the items on the conveyor belt and counted them (all six things) before announcing to the cashier "I'm the grocery helper tonight." She gave him a special sticker for his efforts. He even swiped my debit card, and as I tried to quietly point to the numbers in my pin, he spoke them aloud as he pushed them. He said "hi, Daddy's boss" to the store assistant manager on the way out! He loaded up the groceries into our car and announced to some church friends in the next car that he'd been the grocery helper. It was definitely one of the more fun grocery shopping excursions with Dennis!

spying

So I was sitting around the lunch table with the 4 year olds today, and I asked what they learned in their classes today. No information was forthcoming. In fact, Dennis told me "I just sat there and picked my nose." So I asked him what the other kids did in his class today and he said "nothing--we all just sat there and picked our noses. Even Mrs. Nancy just sat there and picked her nose." I'm sure that's exactly what happened. I decided on our way out this afternoon that we'd make a detour into his classroom so I could see what he really did. He was happy to show me this very intricate spiderweb he'd made on black paper using glue and white iridescent glitter. His spiderweb looked much more like a spiderweb than the others I glimpsed there on the drying rack alongside his. I presume they sang about the Itsy Bitsy Spider as well because he sang it off and on all afternoon. I'm so glad I work there so I can observe what he's really up to when he tells me he picked his nose all day.

4th degree white belt?

Dennis earned his fourth stripe in Taekwondo tonight, which I presume means he is soon to be promoted to a yellow belt. Earlier today, he was scheduled for his flu shot. We'd been playing outside when I came in to check on him. He was "hiding" in the den in front of the television, hunkered down into a smallish Dennis ball. I asked him what he was doing. He said "I'm way too involved in this TV show to play outside, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to miss my flu shot." Ah. I mentioned that there's a new thing out now called FluMist (which he's had before) where you inhale a mist in your nose rather than a needle in your arm. This was how I got him in the car. He checked the mail for us on the way to the doctor's office and was thrilled to find the Lego holiday catalog addressed to himself. I was thankful for it as well, especially when we arrived and the doctor's office and saw the sign posted that they were out of FluMist and had only the injection available. I didn't tell Dennis. I just read his Lego catalog to him until they called us back, and he only realized that he was getting a shot as it was headed for his arm. He cried just a bit, but it was pretty much over before the first tear was out. Then he was very impressed with himself for not having screamed his head off and for being big enough to get shots in his arm and not his legs ("or my bottom--those really hurt!"). He earned a special sticker and I got him pizza for lunch as reward for his bravery. He drank some Sprite with supper and is currently zipping around the house with legs and lips both moving at light speed. It might be a long night!

party flash

If my electronic devices had worked properly today, I would have had a great picture of Dennis dressed as the Flash to post. You'll have to use your imagination instead. He was wearing his Flash cape from Six Flags. He was also wearing a sleeveless red shirt turned inside out, to the front of which I pinned a white felt circle and a big yellow lightning bolt. I made him an eye mask out of a strip of red plastic tablecloth, and he wore red shorts and his black Nikes with the red stripe and yellow sole. He looked super cool and he was so proud. He took his Flash persona to the Fall Festival at church where he jumped in bouncy houses, participated in a Cake Walk and a Coke Walk, played video games, shot a bow and arrow, fished at a fishing booth, went on a hayride, and rolled around in one of those giant inflatable balls that people walk or run in (life size hamster ball, I think it said). He was very hot and sweaty and completely happy to be there. He was equally happy to go to the lake and show off his Flash duds to the family. Flash did a little fishing and a lot of eating and storytelling before we dragged him away crying. He went to sleep almost immediately in the car. Big day for The Flash.

first visit to Six Flags

Dennis said, while we were riding a hot air balloon kiddie ride, "Six Flags ROCKS! That's been in my brain for a long time--I've wanted to come here for a long time and I've wanted to say that, and now I did." He did have a pretty fabulous time. He rode a couple of roller coasters--as a matter of fact, the first ride we rode when the park opened this morning was the Mind Bender, possibly my favorite roller coaster ever. Dennis gamely hopped on board, barely scraping the line that said he was tall enough to ride. He happily watched as we climbed the first hill. Then he huddled down in his seat and looked utterly terrified. He didn't cry or scream. He said afterward that it was really fun but also really scary, and he didn't want to ride it again today. When asked about it later, he said "I was too scared to cry!". He does love the fact that he rode a very big roller coaster that did THREE loops and didn't cry, and he said tonight that the best part of his day was riding the Mind Bender. I'm so proud. He rode ALL the kiddie rides (and there are lots), loved the train, loved the log flume even more, and drove a Hanson car with us as passengers. He didn't want to leave, but the park was getting more and more crowded, and we'd ridden everything he cared to ride by 3pm (not much of a wait when we arrived just before opening, so we didn't have much line standing to endure). It was different, taking him along. David and I love the big, scary coasters, and we rode the only one he was big enough to ride. It was hard to pass the rest of them by this year, but it was nice to not spend major time standing in line. We scored a few more superhero capes (the Flash, Green Lantern, and Superman) because they are less than $5 each at Six Flags and also a new Batman mask. Dennis 'flew' circles around us in his new capes as we walked through the park.

We stayed in a hotel that promised that it was walking distance from the gate, and it certainly was! We left our car there at the hotel and saved $15 for parking. Very nice. I can't believe we were done with everything so early--that was nice as well! We were back home before Six Flags even closed for the night. Dennis did a bit of trick-or-treating in the kiddie section, made his own Halloween mask, and admire the grisly and spooky park decor all day. We weren't there at dark (when the serious scary stuff started), and that's just as well. It was a perfect family outing, I think, and might have been more perfect if the Monster Plantation had been working. Dennis said "I love Six Flags and Disney World and the fair, too, but Six Flags is better than the fair!". Once we got home, he had to try on all his new superhero apparel and try out some new personalities, but he's gone on to bed now and we are about to do the same.

Six Flags bound

We have safely arrived in Atlanta, and we're tucked in at our hotel that's walking distance from the amusement park. We are making use of some free tickets tomorrow, and Dennis is about to make his first visit to Six Flags (and do his first trick-or-treating of the season). We will be limited to kiddie rides, I believe, since he's not quite measuring the 42 inches needed to get on the less restricted roller coasters, but I believe we will have lots of fun anyway. There is a kiddie coaster and a whole kiddie section, and there are superheroes everywhere in the park. I hope we all have a great time on our little escape!

Dennis barely knows we're here. He slept for the last half of the drive and collapsed onto the bed after I carried him up to our room. We made him go to the bathroom and then change out of his jeans, and he looked out the window of our room to a view of giant roller coaster before going right back to sleep, and I'm certain we won't be far behind!

green day rocked

The preschoolers loved my green-themed day. They played with the toy garbage truck. They snapped green beans. We collected trash from the other classes and rolled it outside to the big green garbage cans and dumped it in. And they listened with rapt attention to Green Eggs and Ham, each yelling out that they would not eat it either.

Dennis earned three stripes on his Taekwondo belt tonight. He will earn one more stripe and then test to move up to his yellow belt. He's very proud. And we're proud of him! The rest of his behavior today was less than desirable. At lunch I told him to stop touching Ryan's thermos, and as he looked me in the eye (defiantly), he reached over and touched it. Infuriating! He knew how angry I was, so when it was naptime, he dragged his Kindermat over to the floor space right beside the table and chair where I'd planned to work on my lesson plans. He said "I'm going to sleep over here next to you so I won't get myself into any more trouble." It would have worked if he'd managed to keep his hands off the table legs and the trash can! He told me tonight that he thought the devil was making him act bad and he was going to pray for Jesus to help him be good from now on. Isn't that what we all struggle with?

Dr. Seuss for all

The kids at afternoon care at school today gave me the usual fits. No one wanted to play anything that didn't involve yelling or fighting (yes, all boys today). They didn't want to nap. In fact, the only time they all sat perfectly still and got completely quiet was when I read Green Eggs and Ham to them. I had already pulled it from the office bookshelf to read to my class tomorrow (it's our Green Day), and I have doubts about if they can make it all the way through it (it's a long one). But if its complete taming of the wild boys was any indication, it might go over quite well. Dennis had me read it again tonight as his bedtime story along with two other Dr. Seuss stories. And when I finished reading, he left our room and PUT HIMSELF TO BED!!! Amazing! More Seuss for Christmas, please, Santa!

money for what?

I happened to see Mrs. Nancy asking Dennis if he'd lost the dollar that was in his pocket--he said he had it, but reached in to check and said "oh--it's gone!". She handed him the dollar she'd found on the floor. This would be totally unremarkable if I hadn't known that Dennis wasn't in possession of a dollar this morning when he got to school. She told him to tell me how he'd gotten that dollar. It turns out that the dollar was a reward for correctly saying the entire Lord's Prayer in class, something she's been working on teaching them. I didn't tell her he's known it for a year. Her version is a tiny bit different than the one I taught him ("debts" rather than "trespasses", etc), so he has now learned to say it two ways. And earned a dollar for it.

I forgot to mention this little tidbit from a week ago. David brought birthday cookies to school for me at lunch, and I decided to share them with the afternoon care kids. I first asked them if they were allergic to anything. Dennis said "well, I'm allergic to monsters."

self defense and excuses

Dennis attended a special event at Taekwondo tonight. He had his class, and then he had a board-breaking class (which he loved), and after that, there was a class on how to deal with bullies. David said he did really well at all the classes, and he was eager to show me his getting-away-from-a-bully moves when they got home. I hope it's knowledge he'll never have to use.

He's just gotten out of bed for the fourth time, telling me he had a bad dream about me punishing him. I warned him that's what would happen if he got up again. So I heard this big noise coming from his room and told David it sounded like he was moving furniture in there. He said he'd heard Dennis say "I'm going to make a lot of noise, and then Mommy and Daddy will have to come and check on me!". I guess he was telling the dog. Little monster!

lessons on Moses

Dennis and his Sunday School class had a fun lesson about Moses parting the sea this morning. I had them all act out the story, using two giant sheets of blue paper as the sea. The Egyptians ("bad guys") chased the Israelites ("good guys") to the edge of the paper. The Israelites stopped and prayed (their idea), and "Moses" held out a hand. I parted the two lengths of paper, making a path for the Israelites to cross. When the Egyptians got to the center, I covered them over with one of the sheets of paper. They screamed and wiggled under it. And then they all asked to do it again, and the second time, they wanted to switch roles (good guys became bad guys and vice versa). We had so much fun! They also loved the craft, gluing a path onto blue construction paper and gluing goldfish crackers on either side of the path. They glued some and ate a bunch! Dennis was so proud of his masterpiece that he showed it to the pastors after church and told them the story behind it. I especially loved when he said "and all the fish had to stop swimming because the water just stopped--I bet they thought that was crazy!".

piñata!

Dennis went to a birthday party for his friend Marshall this morning. It was a party-in-the-backyard deal with a football theme. The kids enjoyed Marshall's new swingset and sandbox and played ball and rode on his big wheel or power wheels tractor. A good time was had by all. The highlights for Dennis were the piñata and watching Marshall open his gifts. Dennis has always wanted to hit a piñata, and he got to take several good whacks at one today. He also enjoyed sitting on Marshall's left as he opened his gifts, getting to check out each box of wonders up close ("reading the back of the box"), filing things away in his brain, possible toys to ask for in the future.

He came home from the party and got into his own sandbox, and when he finally took his nap, he tracked in a couple of sneaker loads of sand to his room and bed. He had just enough time to rest up for the next party, Gigi's house building celebration. He was the life of the party for the first half of it, telling everyone who would listen about his own birthday party that he's planning (for next March--never too early to start, I guess). He just wants to be sure he gets a piñata of his own!

sharing Mommy

Dennis attended four days of school this week. I had to substitute teach one of the 4 year old classes today and I took him with me. He has some friends in that class, so I expected him to have a good time. He had a tough time, though, and he seemed to want special treatment from me all day. He didn't want to clean up, and he wanted to help me teach and distribute materials and everything. I felt bad for him trying to fit himself in, but he soon started a rousing bout of firefighter play with the other boys in the class. He makes friends easily and very quickly! He is especially tired tonight--that 4th day of school apparently exhausted him! It makes me feel a little bad when he asks "are you all mine today, Mommy?". It looks like the preschool is dropping afternoon care (enrollment for that is down to 3 kids) after this month. My paycheck will be cut in half, but I'll have afternoons free for Dennis. That will be especially nice for this last year before he starts kindergarten!

he blames the Sierra Mist

I'm thrilled to report that Dennis once again had a fabulous report at his dental checkup. This is especially good news since he is the one who is solely responsible! He brushes and flosses and rinses with an anticavity mouthwash, and he's been doing it all by himself since even before his previous checkup. No cavities, no soft spots, a super-easy cleaning; the staff had nothing but good things to say about Dennis' mouth. We're so proud!

On the way home from his dental appointment, he and David met up with Gran and Pop, and they brought him to meet me at the gym for his Taekwondo class. He was a totally different kid tonight in class. He was literally vibrating with hyperactivity, and he had to go to the bathroom 3 times during his 40 minute class. His instructor suspected that he'd had coffee, but he admitted thar he'd had Sierra Mist and Cheetos. He said "Sierra Mist has actual sugar--I think it made me act crazy!". So no more of that before class!

fire station field trip

Today might have been the highlight of Dennis' entire preschool career. The four year old classes walked to the fire station today and had lessons on fire safety. They got to walk through the truck and the station, and they got to watch as a volunteer teacher or parent got into the bucket on the hook and ladder truck to ascend to a height of 100 feet. That volunteer was me. You get a nice view of Clanton from 100 feet up, but even better than that was becoming a hero to my own child (because HE wanted to go up and couldn't) and many others at the preschool! Dennis posed with his class, tried to walk through the truck more than once (but was very recognizable in the fire jacket he wore from home and refused to take off even as the temperature rose). He must have charmed the firefighters because he got a special tour of the pumper truck and they let him ring the bell on the front. Each kid received a fire safety coloring book and Clanton firefighter hat and junior firefighter badge. Dennis proudly announced to any adult that would listen that he became a junior firefighter today. I enjoyed listening to him try to convince the firemen to let him slide down the pole ("I practice at home all the time--I slide down my pole over and over, and I put out fires--just pretend fires--every day!"). But when asked if he was going to be a fireman when he grows up, he'll tell you "I'm going to be in the Army--the 'ground' Army." He's not interested in the Navy or the Air Force for whatever reason.

boat birthday bash

I'm 36 today. When I got to school this morning, the preschool director called me into her classroom (where she was watching the students who come for early morning care). It sounded ominous, but when I walked into her room, I was serenaded by all the kids singing "happy birthday". My own class sang it to me at snack time. Also, my class gave me an excellent gift: no poopy diapers today! I don't know who gave them the message that's what I wanted for my birthday, but they collaborated and complied. Very nice. If only the afternoon care kids had taken naps, it might have been the perfect preschool day.

I had a lovely birthday chili supper, served on the pontoon boat as we took a sunset cruise on the lake. This, incidentally, might be the perfect way to unwind after a hectic day. Dennis enjoyed it all, and I'd love to say that he was well-behaved all day (but I would be wrong). He tested the very outer limits of my patience (and believe me, I have a decent supply of patience these days) with his flagrant disobedience and constant whining. But there were lots of cuddles and kisses mixed in with the badness, and that made it tolerable. It was a good day, good and long, and it's early to bed for all of us. Even Lemonade has sacked out early!

we heart fall

Dennis and Lemonade spent some happy hours outside this morning, mainly playing together in the sandbox (with Mommy nearby, keeping a watchful eye, mindful of another recent mountain lion sighting). Lemonade follows Dennis wherever he goes, and it gives me a very Norman Rockwell sense of the perfection of the "boy and his dog" relationship the two exhibit. You can't help but smile at the two of them as they romp together. I love watching the pup chase leaves blowing across the driveway in the breeze.

Dennis was my dinner date this evening--we headed to Cracker Barrel after his Taekwondo class. He was actually excellent company. He made observations about the decor, discussed his day, told our waitress about his new dog, and kept me nicely entertained. We worked on the kids menu riddles together and he solved most of them on his own. We shopped together afterward, admiring Halloween and Christmas things. He didn't like the long drive home, though, and told me "I don't like the dark in the car." And there were repeated questions of "how much longer?" and "are we almost home?". I handed him my phone and had some moments of peace while he played a game.

Tonight he complimented David, telling him "Daddy, you're smart like my dog!".

celebrating St. Francis

Today was so special. It started at church, our church, this morning. I was so busy getting the bake sale up and running that I forgot to wonder where Dennis was. I needn't have worried. He found Grace and they went to their Sunday School classroom and stayed until it started. I left the church service when it was time for Communion and quickly went to get Dennis. He was out on the playground with his class and didn't come when his teacher called him. I yelled out to ask him if he still wanted to go to Communion, and he stopped what he was doing, yelled "Communion? YEAH!" and came running! I can't find the words to express what it means that going to Communion is important enough to make him voluntarily (eagerly) leave the playground! David and I were charmed as we watched him solemnly bow his head and fold his hands (and we both noticed that his fingernails were completely gross). He is used to Communion by intinction and today we had to go up to the altar rail and take the juice in individual cups. He was excited by the idea as he watched the groups go up and whispered "do we get to do that, too?". When it was our section's turn, he stood at the altar rail beside us (he tried kneeling but couldn't see) and asked "are those the blood cups?" as he noticed the empty cups along the back of the rail. Afterward, he held a hymnal and sang just like us, and after the hymn concluded, asked "now how do I learn that song?". He was eager to talk tonight about Communion and he told me the crucifixion story and the last supper and the body and the blood (and he had everything right) and the soldiers casting lots ("playing a game to win Jesus' robe") and the tomb ("and the three ladies that came and found out that he rose from the grave"). I'm so proud and so touched by his spirituality.

This afternoon we went to the Blessing of the Animals service at the Episcopal church. Dennis loved this, loved seeing a horse and lots of dogs and cats and even some flying squirrels! Dennis held Lemonade in his lap as the priest came by to bless him. He'd been dipping a sprig of rosemary in holy water and letting each animal sniff it before he anointed their heads with it. Lemonade bit off the end of the sprig of rosemary and ate it (to the delight and amusement of the crowd). He still received his blessing!

Though it isn't technically his feast day, we honored St. Francis of Assisi today at the service. Animals are a blessing to us, and often a great source of both love and entertainment. This morning a bird was flying around in our kitchen. We were holding our basket of bake sale goods to take to church, Dennis and I, and we went into the kitchen to turn off the light before we left. There, flitting from cabinet top to pot rack to light fixture, was a tiny bird, panicked at finding himself in our kitchen. I've no idea how he got in but suspect some opening in the remodel project. I started to worry, looked at my watch, and decided "oh, well" and left for church. I left the bird to do as he pleased rather than get worked up over it and be late for the bake sale setup (since I was in charge). He'd flown out by the time we got home. This morning in my Sunday School class? Genesis 40 & 41, wherein the Pharaoh's chief baker dreams in prison about holding a basket of baked goods while birds ate all the baked goods. Joseph interpreted it as rather unfavorable news for the baker. Imagine reading that after a morning where I held a basket of baked goods as a bird flew around inside my home. Eerie!

pups in the patch

It was so beautiful out today, way too gorgeous not to take advantage of it. Sunny, breezy, highs in the sixties, first day of October...sounds like a Pumpkin Patch day to me! Dennis and Lemonade and I met Gran and Pop and Hobbs, and we spent a terrific afternoon picnicking and playing outside. Lemonade and Hobbs got lots of attention from the people there, and the dogs seemed to really like going on the hayride to the patch to frolic among the pumpkin vines. We humans enjoyed some frolicking as well, picking out big, pretty pumpkins to take home (thank goodness we brought our wagon!). Dennis rode the tractor train and spent so much time playing on the giant inflatables that he didn't complain when it was time to leave!

Lemonade's brain is showing some signs of intelligent life. Dennis let him out of his crate and didn't tell us, and I happened to wander by Dennis' room and saw the pup sitting calmly (!) on Dennis' discarded shirt. Dennis said he'd let him out "a while ago" and I panicked and checked for surprises he might have left, but the floor was clean. He wasn't chewing on anything either, also weird, and I chalked it up to his being completely exhausted after our outing today. But tonight, he ran to the front door when he needed to go out. Twice. I'm not kidding myself thinking there won't be mistakes, but any potty success (in a not-quite-seven-week-old puppy) after just 2 days of living here is encouraging!

The bake sale for my women's circle is tomorrow at church, so I've spent hours bonding with my mixer. I went on a grocery and saw blade run earlier, and while I was at Walmart (because where else could you buy groceries and a saw blade?), I picked up the last size small Optimus Prime Halloween costume that they had in stock. Guess who spent hours as Optimus tonight! I loved surprising him, sort of. I think he must have expected to get an Optimus costume because when I arrived home and presented it to him, he said (while jumping up and down in delight) "my Optimus Prime suit finally came! Thanks, Mom!". Maybe he'd prayed for it? Or maybe he'd asked for it enough times that he expected us to get it. He's had a happy week for sure: the county fair, a new puppy, a football game, AND a pumpkin patch trip. And it's all been so much fun!