Creative Writing

Yesterday as I was folding laundry, Elena and I were making up stories. The start of this particular story was my favorite:

Me: Once upon a time, there was...

Elena: a little cow. And her name was Angela.

Me: This cow was very special. She could do something no other cow could do....

Elena: She could grow flowers out her udders.
(She actually said “gutters,” but I knew what she meant)

Birthdays

A few weeks ago (I'm worried most of my blog posts are going to start like this...), we had a party for both my dad's birthday and Seth's Aunt Amy's 50th birthday. As you can see, Papi had no shortage of help blowing out his candles!

Amy has down's syndrome, and at her party, I was once again reminded of how much we can learn from people with this disability (among most others). When we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she burst into tears of gratitude, and then, not wanting to leave anyone out, she requested that we sing "Happy Birthday" to everyone.

Seth's cousin, Pete, is a DJ so he provided entertainment. Unlike the rest of us who sat and watched, only coming out occassionally to timidly dance for the Macarena or the Chicken Dance before running back to the comfort of our seats, Amy and her friends (and the little kids, of course) danced the afternoon away completely uninhibited, with ear-to-ear grins on their faces. It was a joy to watch. Why is it so hard for most of us to give ourselves over completely to enjoying the moment, letting our emotions flow to the fullest, without fear or embarrassment that someone is watching?

I have a video of Amy busting out her moves to her favorite musician, Michael Jackson, but it's a little long. If I can cut it down, I'll try to put it up later. For now, here are Sam and Ian showing off their dance moves...of course, Ian stopped dance right when I started taping, but you can see a little. Ian's got some fancy footwork and Sam's all hips (he's been learning to dance from his sister).

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Minnesota Kids

I took the kids outside to play yesterday, making sure to get them bundled up since it was (at most) 40 degrees outside.

Within seconds, they had both ripped off their jackets. And their shoes. And their socks.

I'm just waiting to see how cold it has to get before our kids will notice it. It just started to snow as I was typing this message - maybe that'll do the trick!

Father-Daughter Talk

Elena: I want to go hunt deer with you, Daddy.

Seth: OK - when you're older, you can come hunting with me if you want.

Elena: Yay!.....I want to get a Barbie shooter!

Seth: I'm pretty sure they don't make Barbie guns....

It's a good thing we're not Buddhists...