Tigers and Pirates and Elephants, oh my!

It's been a while since I've posted anything but it's been crazy here. Last weekend was a mad rush. We had circus tickets for Saturday morning, so Alex and I headed out on a quest for clowns. There was some confusion about what to expect on Alex's part. He's been to the circus before, but it was a scaled-down one-ring version that Ringling Brothers did a couple of years ago. So, I thought he knew what was going on. Then he started asking about the rides - would they have a Ferris Wheel? He was confusing it with the fair we went to in October. When I tried to explain it was like the thing we went to at the basketball arena, he started asking about the game they played there. After much thinking we realized he didn't mean the circus, or basketball, but the LEGO Robotics tournament that we've been to for the past few years. (That's a whole 'nother story - crazed fans cheering for high schoolers who've rigged up robots to play games - Alex is a devoted fan!)

Anyway, we loved the circus. I only had to buy one souvenir, something called a Boom-A-Ring. It's like a boomerang but more complicated. As if my level of coordination allows me to operate either. Art has been practicing with it, to limited success. The clowns made it look so easy. Darn clowns. I loved the circus. Alex did, too, mostly. Sample quote: "That is IN-SANE!" His favorite parts: clowns, elephants, tigers, tightrope walkers, trapeze artists and motorcycles in the giant steel ball. I loved it all but we part ways on the acrobats. I am in awe and amazement at these people doing jumps, flips and various acrobatics. After about five minutes Alex looked at me and said, "Enough of this! Where are the clowns?" My theory is at 5 years old, you think you can do all of that - what's so special about cutting flips on a trampoline? He already thinks he can defy gravity.

Day two of the weekend was just as exciting. Due to the snow storm (see earlier posts), a play we were going to rescheduled. So we set out for "How I Became a Pirate." It was a children's theater production and we'd seen a couple of theirs before. I think Alex may have enjoyed it more than the circus. There were lots of pirates, some fighting, singing and dancing, and a storm. He insisted that we stay and get autographs when it was done. Everyone was really good in it. When we saw Willy Wonka there, the actors were mostly kids with a few adults. This play had a boy as the main character and everyone else were grown up - including a few high schoolers. It always amazes me how they can transform the place with good costumes and fairly limited scenery/special effects. Alex got his autographs - everyone signed their characters' names. We're looking into season tickets for next year. Alex is still miffed that he's not old enough to act. Whenever he heard me telling people we were going to the play he was quick to point out, "Just to watch, I'm not going to be in it."

Slight controversy at school this week: they have a new kid, and he has "girl hair." Art asked what, exactly, that meant. Alex motioned with his hands around his neck, "You know." "He has long hair?" "Yeah!" I asked the teacher about it when I dropped him off this morning. (A digression: "dropped off" makes it sound easy, like he goes willingly and complacently. HA!) She said there was a class discussion yesterday about whether or not a boy could have long hair. I'm not sure if there was a plan for what to do if he couldn't. Ms. Brandi told them that different people have different length hair, and it was all okay. I don't think the 3 & 4 year old classes are convinced. Poor kid. I haven't seen him yet. I will report back when I have.

Creating New Mardi Gras Revelers

A few months ago the school sent out a questionnaire asking parents if they'd be willing to volunteer in the classroom - teaching a craft project, reading books, etc. I said we'd be happy to (I'm sure Art loved that!) but hadn't heard anything from it. As I was off for Presidents Day today AND tomorrow is Mardi Gras, I asked if they'd like me to come in and tell the kids about it. Alex was thrilled that I was coming to school with him. Okay, maybe he was thrilled that we went to school an hour later than usual and he got to go home as soon as we were done. Anyway, I read a book to the 3 and 4 year old classes about Mardi Gras. Then we split up and made necklaces and masks.

The masks were pretty easy. Michaels actually sells cut out cardboard masks. I gave them green, gold and purple crayons and let 'em have at them. Then we added feathers. Very exciting. Since everyone was allotted two and we stapled them to the top, Alex is calling them antlers.

The beads were ziti that I painted green, gold and sort-of purple. Here's a craft tip: if you need to paint ziti, the easiest way to do so, by far, is to put them in a zip-loc bag, add paint and shake them up. (That was the third method I tried.) Another tip: pasta doesn't paint purple. So we had beautiful green and gold ziti "beads" and then a brownish colored third set. It was fine - the kids loved them anyway. They strung them on elastic bands and wore them along with their masks. I brought real beads, too, which caused some discussion. Apparently none of the boys minded wearing necklaces, but there was some debate as to whether or not purple was a "girly" color. Their teacher explained that royalty wore it, so a few adventurous boys (and most of the girls) picked purple.

I found a great bakery nearby that cooks king cakes. I was kind of surprised, but everything they make is delicious, and our king cake was also beautiful. In an absolutely unbiased, totally blind choice, Alex got the piece of cake with the baby in it, and was crowned the king of Mardi Gras. He had a sparkly purple crown with rhinestones, green and gold on it. The picture above is he and two of his buddies in all their finery. (Alex is in the center.) After all that excitement I was amazed to see that we'd only been there for about an hour. I think preschool teachers are really underpaid.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last week at school Alex had to take his address in so they could work on a super secret project. He spilled the beans Friday evening. They had made valentine cards for their parents and mailed them. He had decorated them and his teacher had taken dictation as to why he loves his parents. The first one read, "I love my parents because they let me have chocolate pop-tarts for breakfast, and because we have movie nights together."

The second one reads "I love my mom and dad because they let me do a lot of fun things. They also let me go to Waffle House and McDonald's and I like that, too. I also like that they let me watch TV." I know, I know, such healthy pastimes. Last week when we went to Waffle House (Art had a meeting), it was the cook's last day. He told us he'd miss seeing us on Tuesday nights. I'd like to point out it's not EVERY Tuesday night. Sometimes we alternate with McDonald's.

On to more food topics: we had a great Valentine's Day dinner to celebrate all the LOVE in the household. We had Aunt Nancy's brisket, pumpkin ravioli, peas and a dessert of raspberry brownies. Alex said he didn't care for the "crust" on the brownies. Perhaps he meant the raspberry layer. I couldn't tell because he ate it all. Sorry that he didn't like them! Anyway, here are the recipes:

Brisket

1 beef brisket 1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 medium bottle soy sauce 1 medium bottle Italian salad dressing
black pepper (optional)

Trim fat and cut slits in brisket. Rub soup mix into brisket. Marinate brisket in mixture of soy sauce and salad dressing at least 6 hours or overnight. Turn occasionally. When ready to cook you may add black pepper if you desire. Cook in marinade in a pan covered with foil. Cook 4 1/2 to 5 hours at 275 degrees. When done, remove brisket from pan and allow to cool. Slice on the bias.

Aunt Nancy includes instructions on how to make gravy, but our household is not a gravy-eating group. Also, our brisket was small so it didn't take that long to cook. I consider it a success as Art sliced it for dinner, and before anyone tasted it, put aside a portion for his dinner on the night he gets here late from work. He made sure to show me and tell me its intended purpose, apparently so Alex and I wouldn't raid it. Not us - we're going to McDonald's!

Pumpkin Ravioli

1 c pumpkin
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
won ton wrappers

Combine ingredients. Spoon a tsp of mix into center of a won ton wrapper. Moisten edges with water, fold to form triangle. Pinch edges to seal. Boil with 1 t salt. Cook 7 minutes, drain. Boil 1/2 c chicken broth and 1/2 T butter. Add ravioli, toss to coat. Sprinkle with parsley.

Notes: if you use an entire can of pumpkin, you can almost double the recipe. That uses up an entire package of won ton wrappers. If you don't want all of them at once you can freeze them on a cookie sheet before boiling. I don't usually toss them in the broth and butter. We usually boil and drain them, then saute them in a skillet with browned butter and balsamic vinegar. Alex, of course, thinks they are poison, despite loving pumpkin, Parmesan and pasta. Sigh.

Winter Wonderland

Friday afternoon the snow starting really coming down. By the time I got off work it was sticking to everything. When we got up in the morning, we had three or four inches on the ground. We bundled up and went outside to play. It was too powdery to make a snowman or snowballs, but Alex was happy throwing handfuls of snow and running around in it. After half an hour or so, we were as cold as we cared to get. By the time the sun got up good it all started falling from the trees and melting. Just the kind of snow we like - no icy roads, the electricity stayed on and we got to play in it before it was slush. Here are some of the pictures.

Houseguests

Mom and Dad (aka Mimi & Paw) stayed with us through Wednesday morning. We all enjoyed the visit, especially Alex. On Tuesday he got them to himself for the whole day while Art and I went back to work. They played in the morning, took me to lunch, then went to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Squeaquel". Everything went smoothly for most of the day. Mom said there was a slight hitch in the morning. She told Alex to tell me about it. After tossing his room looking for a toy, she told him he had to pick it all up. He told her that he did not. She insisted. In his words, "I did it - but I didn't want to!" They were the only three moviegoers in the audience, and despite Dad's worries he was able to follow the sequel without having seen the original!

Excuse of the Day

Alex was being wild this afternoon and threw and/or hit something. When I told him to stop, he said, "I just can't control my robot arm." Of course, he also claimed that he'd already washed his hair in the tub tonight. When I disputed his claim, he said "How did you know?!" The dry hair kind of gave it away.

Mimi and Paw are here visiting and Alex tells everyone we see that his GRANDPARENTS are here to see him. Poor Art had to work today so we did some shopping and went to the park. There on the playground, Alex was scarred for life. He'd been to this park only once before and refused to go on the highest slide there. (The only way to reach that level was on a ladder and he was very uncomfortable going all the way up.) He got brave and decided to try it. Unfortunately there was some sort of difficulty getting in the slide. It's very twisty and covered until the very end. Reports differ - I thought he tried to go down the normal way but Dad said he went headfirst. Anyway there was a thunk, and many loud cries. He hit his head in one of the turns and came out bawling. I had to pick him up and carry him to a bench to console him. He was able to tell me that he wasn't hurt but he was terrified. It took a good 5 minutes to calm him down. Paw tried to get him back up there but he refused. He may never slide again! I don't think he even got on the lower slides again. Next time we'll try the other park.

Tomorrow Alex gets his GRANDPARENTS all to himself. Keep your fingers crossed that everyone ends the day unscathed!

Super Bowl Highlights

Mom and Dad are here for a visit and Alex is so happy to have them here. Since my dad loves sports we planned to watch the Super Bowl last night. Here are the post-game highlights:

- Saturday at lunch Art and I were reading the paper when he looked up and said, "Is tomorrow the Super Bowl?" Not sports-obsessed, or oblivious to his surroundings. Not sure which. He spent most of the game on his genealogy surfing Revolutionary War pension records.
- We asked Alex who he was cheering for in the game. He needed to see their colors. He was terribly disappointed that the Tigers were not playing. Then, he said "I thought they were BOWLING!" He refused to watch after that.
- During the halftime show, while The Who performed, my Dad looked up and said, "That's the CSI song!" When Mom and I looked at him, he said, "Isn't it?"

Since we are from Louisiana, the game went well for us. Uncle Brad is over the moon I'm sure. He's been a Saints fan for years and even got to go to one of their games this year (even though it ended badly). So everyone here had a good Super Bowl even if they didn't see any bowling and the Tigers didn't play.

In the News

Alex was in the living room while we got dinner ready last night. Art had the TV on the news and apparently Alex was actually watching it. He came into the kitchen and announced, "The people in Haiti have had enough and they are going to another state." I don't blame them. I think what he saw was a story on some of the injured being airlifted to Florida. Who knows.

When I picked him up from school today he was in timeout. I couldn't get the reason why out of him. When I asked how his day was he told me, "That's really none of your business." Sigh. I told him we didn't talk to each other like that. That was several hours ago, and I still don't know why he was in timeout. There was a timeout on Monday and the teacher explained that it wasn't so much for the offense as it was that he showed a complete lack of remorse. I told her to get used to it.

Superheroes, Spies and the Icestorm that Wasn't

Alex finished up his birthday thank you notes this week. I noticed on the ones to his friends he added extra letters to his name, so that his signature read "A-L-E-X-o-i." I asked what they were. "Oh, when I put those letters on it, that's my spy name."

The big news around here Friday evening was the coming ice and snow. It did not look good for us as it got dark. Alex had a birthday party to go to Saturday, but I just knew that it was going to be cancelled. Finally, right before his bedtime, there was a dusting of snow. We went out on the driveway so that we could see it on the car and the deck, and he could catch a few snowflakes on his tongue. (I stopped him from eating what he scooped off the car!) Saturday morning, when we got up, it was a bust. Almost no snow, and nothing on the roads. We had about an hour to get ready and get a gift before the party. We met other parents at Wal-Mart, though, so we weren't the only ones who were misled by the weatherman.

The birthday party was at our gym, and the kids were supposed to swim. Alex really wanted to go to the party, but told us that he wasn't going to swim, no way, no how. In fact, as we walked in from the parking lot he told me, "I want you to know, I am not even putting a toe in the water!" Yes, sir, understood! The cake, games and presents came first, and they had a ball. Jack had a blue Lego cake and they ran all over the place. Then came time for everyone to change into their swim trunks. I'd convinced Alex to let me bring them with us, just in case he wanted to change and hang around by the pool. First, he wouldn't go out to the pool. I told him we'd just go tell the guys bye on our way out. When we got to the indoor, heated pool, he decided we could stay and watch the others playing. Then, blessed event, he had to potty. He decided in the bathroom that maybe he could change into his trunks and sit by the pool. We hadn't gotten out of the dressing room good when he was on the first step. He stayed on the first two steps the whole time (except when one of his buddies pulled him further, thank goodness for floaties), and had a ball. When we left he told me, "This was the bestest party EVER!"

We were disappointed that we didn't get more snow as the day went on. I explained to Alex that weathermen "predict" and what that meant. He was indignant. "When I do the weather," (he filmed a segment at the children's museum last month) "the things I say happen. I make them happen." Turns out that's one of his superhero powers - weather control.

Since there wasn't any ice around here, they started back to school at the usual time this morning. I heard him waking up about 6:30 this morning, tossing and turning and whimpering. I asked him, "What's wrong?" He thought for a second. "My stomach hurts. I don't want to go to school, and I still can't fly." That's a lot to face on a Monday morning. But maybe I need to change my attitude. Maybe if I expected the power of flight (or invisibility or super-strength) when I got up in the morning, one day I might get it. Hope springs eternal!