Fun With Magnets

A couple of weeks ago, Patrice's friend Dan visited. He brought along a really cool set of magnets with which one can build and manipulate into all sorts of sizes and shapes: Fantastic! The kid will learn geometry without even knowing it! Unless, of course, he plays with them like this:

in a long, straight line, pulled by his magnetic Thomas train.

Or if he "puts them all in one" spread over the carpet.

He did attempt to make a "circle tube" but it was too frustrating for him. His circle was too big and it collapsed on itself. Even if he wasn't learning geometry, he was having fun!

Question (and Answer) of the Day

"Mommy, do you know what giraffes sound like?"
"No, I don't. Do you?"
"Maybe something like this: awp awp awp."

Before and After; or Days Like This Make Me Wish I Had a Wide Angle Lens

Primary Day After; The Results

We did pretty well with our votes. Almost everyone we voted for won their primary, with one grand exception. So to all of America I would just like to say sorry about McCain, we tried.

Primary Day

President Eisenhower once said "The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter." I met Patrice at our polling place this morning to do our part as American Voters to hopefully secure the future of this republic. Even if it seems like we are constantly choosing evil by voting for the lesser of two evils, I am still proud to be an active participant in our democratic process. If nothing else, participating gives me the legitimate right to complain.

This was Patrice's first election. I was glad and proud that he took a few minutes out of his day to go to the polls and make his voice heard.
Here he is outside the church where we voted, proudly sporting his "I voted" sticker.

As John Adams said, "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." Whichever of our candidates win, their phones and e-mail boxes will be full of messages from me (and hopefully many others) holding them to principles.

And on a completely unrelated side note, a couple of ladies from church popped in and one of them was wearing this piece of hand-made jewelry:

The picture is fuzzy, but you get the idea. It is two washers with scrap-book paper decopaged (is that a word?) onto them. Cute, I thought.

So my message for the day is go vote, and make cute jewelry!

The Scorpion Count...

...is up to 11. This time, the little stinker was alive, walking with his tail curled up. Totally not cool.

The Dentist

I had my first dental appointment in roughly 20 years the other day. I was a little nervous, but once I got over my breakdown (I blame pms and comcast) I found out that my teeth are healthy, strong, and clean. I also found out that the reason my wisdom teeth never bothered me is that they never formed. I don't have wisdom teeth! Weird.

Perspective

For an afternoon treat, I'd like to offer a little something I call perspective. Do we recognize that picture? Do we remember exactly where we were, what we were doing, and the feeling in our throats and the pits of our stomachs when we realized what was actually happening before our eyes, on our soil? Do we remember the unity, brotherhood, and patriotism that joined us as Americans?

Does anyone think it would be appropriate to raise a shinto or buddhist temple at Pearl Harbor? Or a church of the Aryan brotherhood near Auschwitz? Would that be seen as community outreach? Building bridges? I doubt it.

The hypothetical shinto temple and aryan church in those places would be seen as nothing less than flipping the bird, spitting upon those who suffered, survived, and endured unspeakable horrors. The all too real mosque at ground zero is nothing less than a big F-U, America, a mark of conquest from our would be conquerors. Do they have the right to build a mosque there? Absolutely. Is it appropriate? Absolutely not. Is it offensive to Americans, especially New Yorkers, and most especially survivors and families of the fallen? If it isn't, it should be.

For Madame Speaker, Fancy Nancy McCarthy, to suggest the federal government investigate the opposition, let me lend a hand. I am the opposition. No one is funding me, there is no conspiracy, just pure, common sense understanding of the offense against America. Does that mean I group all arabs and muslims among the terrorists who attacked that day? Not at all, though I would love to hear a dissenting voice among the "peace loving" and "moderate" muslims.

And to people like Bill Maher who think we wouldn't be so touchy if something had been built in the last 9 years, I might call into question the fact that the Greek Orthodox church that was actually destroyed in the attacks has been blocked at every turn from receiving funding to rebuild.

This isn't a question of rights, it is a question of what is right. And it is wrong.

A Far Better Rest

This is Patrice's great-uncle, Ton Ton Andre. I didn't know him well, but I loved him. I have sparse memories of him, but they are treasures. I remember seeing him, an 80-some year old man, walking every day, working every day. I remember his gentle looks and touches to my little baby. I remember on the day before we left France the first time I went there with Patrice, Andre took my face in his hands and told me how glad he was to have met me and that he hoped I would return soon. I told him I would and his eyes lit up and his smile spread across his face and he said "she understood!" and gave me a big hug. We all shed tears in 2006 when we said our goodbyes, not knowing if we would see him again.

Andre was strong, feisty, tender and gentle all at once. He was wise. He was a prisoner in World War II, he served his country and the world at that terrible time. He suffered and endured much, and yesterday, he passed away. While he will be missed, it is a far, far better rest that he goes to now than he has ever known.

To Colorado and Back Again

I had to take a business trip to Colorado to find a new management company for our Littleton house after the ugly divorce with our previous company. Nicco and I arrived on Monday and had a relaxing evening with Mom and Dad, enjoying the cool of the mountains and watching the wildlife wander through the yard...

We saw that mama and baby deer a couple of times in our visit. Periodically throughout the week Nicco would go over to the windows or out on the patio just to look for deer.

I got up early on Tuesday and headed down town for four meetings, errands, (one of which was getting a $25 "one time courtesy" refunded to Dad on a prescription that cost $10 last year but nearly $100 this year. Hmmm...I can only think of one dramatic change since last year that would cause such a dramatic change in the price of the prescription. Thanks, Dear Leader!) and an appointment to meet our renters. It was a busy, productive, informative and successful day. I also got to visit with our old neighbors for a bit. The house looked great in spite of the portraits of Elvis on the walls and all the drag racing memorabilia on the shelves. Our renters asked if we plan to sell the house. I reassured them that we would not sell it out from under them (as long as they want to keep paying our mortgage, we are happy to have them!) Then I wondered if they were suggesting that they may want to buy it. He mentioned that his sister is a realtor and said the house is probably valued at $252,000 (which is another reason not to sell now...) then he said they just don't want to move ever again. That is good news for a landlord to hear! I called Patrice when I got back up to Bailey and told him that I was tired, my feet hurt, and I had a lot of information to process, and that it felt a lot like a working day! He welcomed me to his world and I begged him to never make me do that again!

Wednesday was a resting and relaxing day at home with my "mother and father" as Nicco referred to them. Thursday was a play day. I enlisted my school-teacher friend to spread the word to our mutual friends that I would be in town and anybody who felt inclined (aka my real friends) should meet us at the park. We were so happy to see both Nicco's friends and mine.

It was just like old times for Nicco, Tommy, and Eli. When I told Nicco on Wednesday that we would be playing with Tommy and Eli the next day, he jumped up and down and clapped his hands and said "I'm going to have so much fun!" Of course when they first saw each other, all 3 boys clinged to their mommies. Once they ventured onto the playground it was just as though the year apart hadn't passed at all. It warmed my little heart and made me a little sad too, especially when Eli left and asked his mom if he would see Nicco at school now that he is back and when Nicco asked when he will see his friends again. Sigh.

Tommy and Eli had to leave before us due to cranky younger sisters in need of naps. Darn those little sisters! So we went to the petting zoo with Riley, who had no other obligations. They enjoyed the ducks in the pond. Nicco attempted to climb the wall, perhaps the pond reminded him of his pool back home...he also quacked at the ducks and informed me that he speaks duck. Like last time, Nicco was not too excited about actually petting the animals but Riley's lack of fear encouraged Nicco to pet the lambs.

This tom turkey strutted around puffed up as big as he could get. I felt a little bad for him, he looked completely on edge the whole time. I don't blame him, with all the wild young children running around.

We rode the little train around the park, but we didn't get seats by our friends.

On Saturday, Riley had a mountain adventure at our house. He loved climbing on the rocks. Nicco likes to take walks around the property, but he has been a little shy of climbing the big boulders, which is okay with me. Once again, Riley's fearlessness and adventuresome spirit rubbed off on Nicco and he joined in the climbing fun. I made him put on pants and better shoes when it was evident that he would do a lot of climbing with Riley.

Here he is, enjoying the view and the fresh air.

After lunch at the hot dog and lots of hiking and climbing, Riley and Kirsten were ready to head back to Westminster. I invited them to come in for ice cream, but Riley had a meltdown when his mama suggested it was time to go, so she just packed up and went home without a cold treat. It was a fun visit and we were glad to share our mountain home with our friends.

There are some things that we always do in Bailey...we always go to the park, the hot dog, watch for deer, and walk along the paths our neighbor made between our two properties. Nicco looked for signs on the path indicating which way to go.

He was always thrilled to see the next sign. "That means we're going the right way!"

It has been a wet, warm summer in the mountains, so there were many varieties of mushrooms along the trails. Nicco pointed them out but did not touch "because they are dangerous."

Sometimes he needed to take a rest. I was glad that he never asked me to carry him!

Nicco and Grandma playing fish. We played Obama rules for a while, where there were no winners or losers and if you caught a fish that wasn't your color, you gave it to the person with that colored boat instead of throwing it back into the pond to make the other players fish for themselves. After a few games, we worked on playing by the actual rules. It was much more fun.

Grandma documented evidence of Nicco amidst his messes.

Here I am, giving Nicco a pull on the swings. He had a couple of mishaps at the park, but stayed brave and played through scraped and muddy knees and elbows.

Evidence that Nicco is growing up...he was never quite brave enough to tackle the climbing equipment at the park. I think this is a combination of the influence of his older cousins and growing up a bit.

Nicco reading his new favorite book with Grandma...Nothing Ever Happens on My Block (by Ellen Raskin, isbn 0440840686 for Danae's information...) I didn't get a picture of Grandpa on this trip...what the heck is wrong with me? Nicco always loves to help Grandpa feed the fish, and expressed concern that they would suffer without him because "they really like me, I help feed them. I hope they will be okay when I'm gone."

Getting packed and ready to go...Nicco was a little upset about the conflict between going home and staying with Grandma and Grandpa. He needed a hug and a kiss, and finally decided it would be best to go home. We sure had a great time, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa!

Night Swim with Glow Sticks

Patrice's friend Dan came to play for the weekend. He always has some fun toys on hand. This time it was magnets and glow sticks. (More on the magnets another day...) With the promise of a fun surprise, Nicco finished his dinner in less than two and a half hours. It took me about that much time to find a camera setting that captured the fun!

Playing and swimming by the light of the glow sticks. Nicco uses them to chase away the ghosts because "ghosts hate light, you know."

Poor quality pictures, but a fun effect with the lights.

Three silly boys with their toys!

After about a half hour or so in the pool we felt a few small rain drops. Within five minutes, the winds kicked up and the rain was pouring. We hustled our muscles and got towels, clothes, and cameras inside out of the rain and about five minutes later it was over.

Birds, Bees, and Seeds

The other day Nicco and I sat at the island eating our dinner. Actually, Nicco was stiiiiilllllll eating (and talking, and playing with his plate and fork and straw and tapping music on the table and blowing bubbles and doing basically anything BUT eating and I was done, but waiting with him.) He looked at me and asked "Mom, how did you get me? I mean, how did you get me in your tummy?" I don't want this to be all secret-secret forbidden talk, but I also think 4 is a little young for total frankness. The conversation proceeded like this:

Me: It is like when you plant a seed in the earth. The seed goes into a nice, dark, soft place and you give it water and sunshine so it can grow into a plant.

Nicco: Or a flower, or a tree, or a cactus.

Me: Yes, any of those things. Daddies have special seeds, and Mommies have special places to help them grow into babies. Daddy planted his seed inside me and you grew in my tummy until you were ready to be born.

Nicco was satisfied with this explanation. (Phew! I'll have to get a better one ready for the next time the topic comes up...) Then last night he asked me "What did you call me when I was a seed?" (Ugh. "Seed" talk might be more frequent than I hoped for.)

Home Again

We spent one more partial day in Fairview with Mom, Dad, Di, Nae and their kids. It is such a happy, peaceful place, free from the worries and duties of home, work, and the woes of the world. We also got in a quick visit with Mom's two siblings and another cousin before heading to Di's house and on to Tucson. We were happy to come home and find that without the AC on for four days it only got up to 87 in the house. When Nicco woke up on Tuesday, he asked how many more days until our next vacation. Lucky for him we do have a trip planned, now only a week away!

Now that we are home again, Nicco is developing his stand-up routine. His jokes follow the "What's black and white and red all over? A penguin with a sunburn" pattern. In his room the other day he looked around and asked me "What's a mommy....holding....a basket? (I don't know buddy, what?) A wheel!" (Ha ha ha ha ... wha?)

Also home again, the scorpion count is up to 9. All dead, which is good. I guess that is what the heavy duty industrial strength spray does. Poisons them and they squeeze inside to complete their death throes. Still, eeesh.

Also home again, we FINALLY went to the grocery store. We bought this watermelon on Wednesday, and I cracked it open on Saturday. Blech!

And, monsoon season began for real.

Vacation: Fairview Lakes

A trip to Fairview would not be complete without a trip up the mountain to the lake. Very often, the wildflowers are still quite spectacular in July.
See?

Nicco and his Daddy wandering through the meadow...

...gathering flowers for the Mommy! Sweet boys.

Our Boudou Family

Nicco on the tree horse. Every kid, grandkid, and great-grandkid of my grandparents has climbed this tree, I think.

Throwing rocks in the pond. Nice follow through, buddy!

Relaxing by the fire with Grandma

Roasting marshmallows and burning sticks.

After eating watermelon and s'mores for dessert, we all headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to watch fireworks. The kids all oohed, ahhed, clapped and squealed while their parents and grandparents tried (some in vain) to stay awake in their chairs. It was a satisfying end to a fantastic visit. My Dad said that we honor his parents by returning to this place and enjoying each other as we have for generations, and continuing old traditions as well as creating new ones. I'm sure they were smiling down on us from their heavenly vantage point.

Vacation--Parade and BBQ

Pioneer Day in Fairview begins each 24th of July around 6:00 a.m. (I swear it was earlier when I was a kid...) with the Firemen's Wake-Up: sirens screaming, horns honking, cannons exploding, up and down the streets. I know I slept through a few of these wake-ups as a kid, but I don't know how. Nicco popped his tired little head up after about 5 minutes of noise and said "This is driving me NUTS!!" He promptly fell back asleep. I had to try to stay awake to keep my eyes and ears open in case Cannon, the only cousin left sleeping in the trailer, came inside. The others were all off at the early morning fun run.

When the runners and their cheerleaders made their way back to the house, we ate breakfast then packed up our lawn chairs to go to Uncle Vaughn's house for the mammoth parade. (Not the kids' parade, or the horse parade, or the ATV parade. Fairview-ites love a good parade. And not so good parades, come to think of it!)
92 (or 93?) year old Uncle Vaughn in his place of honor on the patio. Going to his house for the parade sometimes reminds me of the Godfather...one by one, everyone pays homage to our elder and thanks him for hosting the parade party.
Our nation's colors. I wasn't thinking fast enough to get a picture of the VFW float.

Honoring our country and our heritage.

Some things never change...my uncle (dirty old man!) still whistled and made catcalls to the small-town royalty, and my boy cousins did the same. (pervs!) One of my cousins told his sweet little girl to say "moo" when the royalty floats went by because the girls "like it." (eye roll!)

Waiting for some candy...

A handful of my grandparents' great-grandkids lined up to collect the spoils of the parade.

A tootsie roll jackpot!

After the parade, we went home for our traditional turkey BBQ. Someone put my husband to work. Either that, or he saw the job someone else was doing and decided to take over...

And, Nicco's OCD on display: salt and pepper shakers lined up in a pepper-salt-pepper-salt pattern, biggest to smallest, in a nice, straight line.