Bedtime Stories

While Seth was reading Elena her books before bed, I overheard Elena ask, "Daddy, why is his name Quarter and then Roy?"

Look Who's 2!

My sister happened to have the week of Sam's birthday off, so we brought our kids to the new Science Museum in Brookings to celebrate. The museum was fantastic! The kids got to change the tire on a little car, experiment with water, make lots of noise in the music room, climb up into the clouds, go grocery shopping, report the weather, and harvest vegetables on a farm. I wish I would have gotten better pictures, but the kids were always very eager to check out the next thing. I was, too, actually!

100 years!

That's how old my grandma Marso turned on Nov 27th - and she's still kickin'! We had a big party for her the day after Thanksgiving and she smiled the whole way through. Her 96 year old sister was there to enjoy the day, as well. It's too bad grandpa had to miss it: he passed away at the young age of 92. She had another sister who died at 99.

With genes like these, it can be hard to convince myself that I should eat healthy and exercise...


Happy Birthday, Grandma!!! We love you!

Happy Hallowe...err...Thanksgiving!

We decided during our most recent Thanksgiving celebration that the get-togethers on Seth's side of the family may be twice as big, but on my side they are twice as loud. And gatherings on both sides are equally fun! This Thanksgiving, as always, we were reminded of how fortunate we are to have such joy-filled and loving families.

One of the highlights of the day was when the kids discovered my Aunt Mary's attic, which was full of old costume clothes. Some of us big kids decided to join in the fun, and we came down to do a little fashion show for everyone else. Seth's costume in particular was a big hit!

This was also the first time in many years that all of the cousins on my mom's side were all together. It was also the first time ever that Elena and Sam have been together with all of their cousins on my side. They had a great time playing together. Here they are (Hoku, Alex, Mahina, Sam, Elena):

The kids were pretty tired by the time we took our family photo, but at least they sat still!

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

Blood Bank

Seth gave blood today - Yay, Seth! - which is doubly great since he is a universal donor. (Actually we both are, but I'm small enough that if I gave a pint of blood I would probably pass out and require a blood transfusion which would sort of defeat the purpose.)

The volunteer who was checking Seth in looked at him and said, "I'm going to ask you a question that may sound a little weird."

"Ok..." replied Seth.

"Have you always been male?"

Of course Seth replied in the affirmative. Fortunately, she wasn't just asking that because Seth is such a pretty boy. Apparently, the last time Seth gave blood, he was mistakenly entered into the database as a female. Oops!

(By the way, Thanksgiving and Birthday photos are coming - Seth's computer monitor is not working so he has mine so I've lost access to my pictures for the time being.)

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...