Overheard

ME: Sophie, can you put that passport back that you took out of the drawer? We don't want it to get lost.
SOPHIE (as she walks out of the room): MINE. Buh-bye!

We tried this tonight

It's a winner.

Overheard

Emma calls her "jelly shoes" her "jam shoes."


Photo by Emma.

Duckpin bowling

We took the kids duckpin bowling last night to celebrate Ethan's spelling bee victory. The bowling alley is on the 4th floor of an old building in downtown Indianapolis. Going there is like stepping back in time. I don't think there's anything in the bowling alley less than 50 years old.

Hi-lo?

Even the shoes seemed 50 years old. (Except for the velcro, I guess.)

Duckpin bowling is kind of like a cross between skeeball and regular bowling. Its popularity peaked in the 1920s, but there are still a few duckpin alleys left, mostly on the east coast. The pins and the balls are much smaller. Because the balls are smaller, there are no finger holes--you have to cradle the ball in your hand before letting it loose. The pins are connected by wires at the top so the machines can easily set them in place. The lanes aren't as slick as in regular bowling, so the guy behind the counter told the kids they could walk out onto the lanes when bowling.

It's much harder than regular bowling! Ethan was the only person who managed to get a spare. Nobody got a strike. But it was a lot of fun!

Sophie likes to give out kisses.

Here's Sophie showing us how it's done.

Hooray for warm weather

Bragging rights

Ethan won the first grade spelling bee today! In an assembly for all the first grade classes, he successfully spelled "voyage" to seal the deal. This is quite an accomplishment, considering the school has nearly 4 million first graders. Hooray!

He followed in his older brother's footsteps, and now the title is back where it rightfully belongs, under our roof. Emma's already feeling the pressure.

The kids said they want to celebrate this weekend by going bowling.

Overheard

ETHAN (to Andrew): You think your stuffed panda is alive.
-ETHAN HITS THE PANDA-
ETHAN: See? If it was alive it would say "Ow."
ANDREW: He IS alive, Ethan. He just doesn't have a nervous system.

Fathers and Sons

Ethan, Andrew and I went to our church's annual Fathers and Sons Campout this weekend. For Andrew and me, it was our second night of camping in a row. (We spent Thursday night getting soaked in the rain at third grade camp in Southern Indiana.) It was fun, as always. Andrew even brought back a souvenir in the form of a tick that Ginger found crawling in his ear after church on Sunday. Yes, you read that correctly. Very exciting times around here.

Self portraits

Overheard

Tonight during our FHE on phone safety...

GINGER: What do you do if someone asks for mommy or daddy on the phone and we're not home?

ANDREW (totally serious): You SLAM IT DOWN HARD.

I love working at home

I know that working at home probably can't last forever, but I'm sure enjoying it in the meantime. This morning I found Emma practicing ballet with her shadow.

Sophie the Dragonslayer

The boys don't like going to dark parts of the house alone, so they always ask someone to go with them. When mom and dad say no, this is who they enlist to provide security detail. "Sophie, come with me," they say. Unaware of the dangers, she usually goes right along, two fingers in her mouth, the other hand holding those fingers steady. She's tougher than she looks, but I'm not sure how helpful she would be in a bare-knuckled fight with a monster.

The Big 7

Happy birthday to Ethan, who turned 7 yesterday. It's hard to believe he's so old already! He's a loving brother (especially to little Sophie), a good friend, a smart student, a wonderful artist and musician, and lots of fun. We love you Ethan!

The story behind this picture: Ginger and I bought these fancy sparkler candles in England, thinking they'd be a big hit. But as soon as we lit the candle the kids fled from the table in a panic (except poor Sophie, who was strapped in). We told Ethan to get close to the cake so we could at least take a photo, and this is where he drew the line. We have three more of these panic-inducing candles to use over the next year, yippee! You will have fun, kids.

Overheard

EMMA: I know how bad smoking is for you... Two-hundred-thirty-nine-sixty. Right dad?

Today was the Mother's Day Program at the Preschool

It was cute.

Overheard

EMMA (while I was wiping jam off of her thumb): Ow. That hurt my fumb.

ME: Your fumb?

EMMA (making an extra effort to articulate): My FLUMB.


Except she said it in a loud and slow way so it sounded like fah-LUM-mah. The way she said it clearly meant, "Dad, you know nothing."