Oh, Boy...

This morning, Matt said he wanted to make a pea shooter.

Em said, "What kind of pee? Pee like pee, or pea like food?" She was serious. I can only imagine the images that swim around inside these kids' heads.

Trees

Behind our house, behind the barn was a pasture which decended steeply into a canyon. That canyon was my playground as a child. When I think about the places that define me, that canyon is always on my short list.


At the bottom of the pasture sat a pond--not useful to a child as it was neither clean enough nor deep enough to swim in. The pond was surrounded by a barbed-wire fence that this six-year-old girl was, of course, forbidden to cross.


The real treasure lay just below the pond in a stand of aspens sprinkled along the hillside. A path worn by cattle meandered through the trees, and I would linger there in summer just to listen to the trees as the wind softly shook the canopy. On one of the trees, a bold SIR was carved with purpose and dignity. On another, TSR, and another, JLR. Lower down the path, ARN, my friend from childhood. I would labor over my carvings, trying to make them perfect, give them style.


I visited the aspen stand again last year, 30 years after the carving and more than 20 since my brother died. I was looking for the initials. It was important, really important, that I find them. I'm not sure why. Validation? Proof that those times were more than just a memory? A permanent mark on the world?


I took my kids (big mistake), and after a series of crises (broken flip flop, knee-high thistles, barbed-wire fences), we made it to the aspens. The cow trails were gone. Amid much whining and distress, I combed the hillside for some sign of my past. Nothing. No wait...finally a sign, as magestic as the day he had carved it: S - I - R, 1974--my dad. I finally gave up on my search for the others. The kids were done, and frankly, the magic was lost in their shrill discomfort.


I'm planning another trip. I need to see those carvings, if for no other reason than to remind myself that I existed in that point in time. And it was good.

More Matthew-isms

Ohhhh, Matt was full of it this morning! It makes me wonder what's really going on inside his head. When I think of a brain working, I see a series of cogs and wheels turning in unison; inside Matt's head I see birds flying in every direction, symphonies playing, and children laughing. The utter chaos and commotion makes for interesting mornings.

The kids are going to a special event with their grandma this weekend.

Matt said, "I'm going to do a candle line!"
"What's a candleline, little buddy?" I asked.
"You know. Da-ta-da-ta-DA-TA!"
"Ohhhh. That's a CONGA line."

And then... "I want you kids to get ready, lickity split, this morning," I said.
"Who's that?" he asked, "some man?"
That one took me a second or two.
"Oh, like Lemony Snicket?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said, "him."
I had to give him that one.

At breakfast:
"Mom, mom, the milk went down my throat and hurt my heart!"
I laughed and said, "Matt you are giving me a lot of Matthew-isms this morning."
He wasn't pleased. "Oh, yeah? Well, you are giving me Jillo-isms."
I'm not sure he got the gist of that conversation at all, but that kid has a comeback for everything.

Another One-Liner

Matt gets 90 minutes of "Wii time" each day. That's plenty. He loses 15 minutes every time he gets in trouble. Most days he loses 15 minutes, and that's all. But this weekend, while we were traveling, he lost it all with a little lie. "No Wii time tomorrow" from Dad brought him to tears. Still, I think he got the lesson.

We were sitting in the hot tub for our morning ritual, and I said, "Well, Matt, if you play your cards right, it looks like you will get to play Wii today!"

Both Em and Matt turned to me and said in unison, "What cards?"

You're Gonna Miss This

I made this slide show for Emily, and on my computer it plays to Trace Atkins' song, "You're Gonna Miss This." Apparently, adding the music to the slide show on my blog is beyond my technical capabilities at the moment, but I plan to keep trying. You just never know...

Sleepover Success

We survived! Matt had his first sleepover last night, and miraculously, all of us are still here to talk about it. In fact, I've decided (based on the limited evidence at my disposal) that boys may be easier to manage at sleepovers. Who would have thought?

In all honesty, the little guy we had stay over is about as good as they get. I'm sure I could count the words he mumbled on two hands, and all of those were in response to direct prodding from me. Aside from peeing with the bathroom door open (as any six year old might), his manners were impeccable. And when it came to be bed time, they were snoring almost before I turned out the light.

The boys stayed with Ryan while I went to teach my class, and Emily planned to "babysit" while I was gone (because everyone knows that little boys need a female eye on them). When I got home, the boys were playing outside, and Emily was nowhere to be found. I hunted her down; she was up in her room playing alone.

"Uh, Em. What about those boys?"

"What about 'um?" (She's turned into quite the little sassy pants lately.)

"Where are they?"

"I don't know."

"Are you babysitting?"

"Ohhhhhhh. I forgot."

No babysitting license for her for a few years. Luckily, she had backup.

Yeah, OK, I Did It Again

I really have a hard time tooting my own horn, but since one of the three words in the title of this blog is "write," I almost feel obligated to share my latest accomplishment. Drumroll, please. (Oh, come on. In your head, you can do it. Humor me.) My third book, The MLA Pocket Handbook, is finished and available at Amazon. All I can say is "whew." It's been a long road.

Such a work should be easy. In theory at least. Unfortuately, creating a comprehensive, readable, intuitive handbook on MLA documentation the size of your pocket is harder than it sounds. So many decisions, so many examples. Anyway, I'll quit whining and celebrate. I'm happy with it--I wish I had had it when I was in school.

The book has actually been finished for almost a month, and for a while Amazon was selling them at a pretty good clip. But as I'm learning, Amazon is such a mamoth company that sometimes the right arm bites off the left one and has to grow it back before it can start selling your books again. That has already happened to me with this book. Amazon says "out of stock" when we know they are in their warehouse. Can you imagine the size of that warehouse?

I'm sure it will sort itself out. In the meantime, take a look here.