Ain't Nothin' Like a Good Costume

Grandpa's Here!

Lemonad and Cooce Sale

Ever since our big cookie baking extravaganza at Christmas, Anders has wanted to have a cookie sale. We waited until the weather was nice and we had enough time to bake. So Anders and Kuba helped bake vanilla chip cookies and painted the signs.
"A bag uv cooces 50cents, a cup of lemonad 25cents."
The sign wouldn't be complete without the glass full of lemonade and the cookie, though I like Anders spelling the best.
I think the boys made about $10.00.
That meant absolutely nothing to them.
The experience though, was priceless.

ANTS

Kuba has a thing for ants. We had them in our house this spring and he has since become obsessed. At first he just watched them crawl. He then moved on to trying to pick them up and take them outside. He has since hardened his heart and has started to squash them. Yesterday we spotted an enormous pavement ant colony attempting to conquer a nearby colony. Thousands of battling ants. Kuba was mesmerized. He could not take his eyes off of them and repeatedly reached down to touch the pile of moving ant bodies...sometimes coming up with a finger full of ants that he quickly shook off.
Fun.
Really fun to watch him watch the ants.
I think life is one big science lesson with my boys.

My Garden Statue

Balloon, Balloon Come Over To Us!

Two years ago Kuba and I were taking a walk around a pond near our house when we spotted a hot air balloon in the sky. It was a perfect summer evening and it seemed as if the balloon was headed right in our direction. I made up a spontaneous little jingle "Balloon, balloon, come over to us!" which we sang and sang hoping to lure it closer. I soon realized that it wasn't headed our way, so I took Kuba and we jumped into the car to chase the balloon. The whole time Kuba and I continued singing our catchy little tune until finally the balloon made a crash landing in a big box store parking lot. It was thrilling. Kuba was only 18 months old and still remembers when the big balloon hit the building. The balloon and everyone in it was fine, but it was slightly surrealistic to watch an enormous hot air balloon floating slowly over a thousand parked cars. We chased a few other hot air balloons that summer and that little tune stuck with us.

Last summer Anna, Anders, Kuba, and I chased a hot air balloon across 3 towns until it landed in a giant open meadow. It is indescribably fun to chase down a balloon. Everyone needs to keep their eye on the balloon and predict where it is headed. Lots of wrong turns, u-turns and then a big hallelujah! when you find the landing sight. And you have to be quick because you want to be there for the landing. Last year when we found the balloon we parked, jumped out of the car and charged across the field to watch as the balloon was caught and brought down. We stayed and watched as the basket of people unloaded, as the balloon was deflated, rolled up and packed.
They always take flight on beautiful summer evenings right before sunset, so the evening and weather is always perfect.

It now seems to have become a family tradition because just the other day we spotted yet another hot air balloon in the sky right near our home. Yes, we jumped into the car and followed it! We predicted that it was going to land on the college campus near us, so Anna parked the car and we chased it on foot. This was even more fun than following it by car because it was low as it slowly sailed over us. It was magical. We chased it to a nearby field and watched as they brought it down. Anders, his friend Hazel, and Kuba even helped with the packing up of the balloon this time. And of course we sang our tune...."Balloon, balloon, come over to us!"

This is Anders

Here is Anders' painting. At age six, his artwork is dominated by hearts, family names, self-portraits (see the pink head with and A on one ear and a T on the other?) and his latest interest, cartoons. (see bottom black figure with a word bubble that says "Yeah") This was painted after he painted a heart with the names Kuba and Anders in it. Hearts have dominated his artwork all year, but the cartoon word bubbles are a direct result of his cartooning lesson last Friday at school. I like the line details he has painted into this. I also like the fact that hearts dominate his artwork right now. And I know that I will never, ever get tired of his hearts.

This is Kuba

This is the way my three year old son draws and paints. It's like his fingerprint. His three year old style; these shape and line patterns that seem slightly inhabitable, geometric, maze-like, and somewhat alphabetic. It happens on the sidewalk with chalk, on paper with pencil, and here with paint. I love watching him. He has a running dialogue going while he is working. He begins with one shape and then starts making connections and additions. All the while talking about the different spaces and shapes with bridges to connect them. He is aware of the area he has used and the negative space he has not, and works until he is satisfied with the way it has filled up. Totally fun to watch. Do you think his other mother is an architect?

Spirit Week

There is only one week of school left and to celebrate, this week was Spirit Week.
Each day had a theme: blue clothes day, hat day, button day, crazy hair day, and it culminated with Arts Field Day today...a fantastic day focused on the arts. It was so much fun. Anders was in a group of 20 kids grades k through 5 who wound their way through the assortment of stations designed to be ENJOYED by everyone. Imagine this...drumming with an African drumming troupe, drawing cartoons with the state's cartoon laureate, playing musical chairs to live fiddles and banjos, painting giant wooden bumblebees, carrots, and beans with a local artist, costume relay races, story telling with a story teller, and the list goes on.
What a wonderful way to celebrate a year of hard work and learning. It is so much fun being a part of Anders elementary school life. We are a lucky family to be sure. I can not believe how quickly his kindergarten year has gone by and how much he has grown...remember his first day of school back in September? Amazing, simply amazing.

Chicken Nugget, Chicken Nugget

It is my plan to have my blog printed into a book for the boys when they grow up. I want to write things and show things here that capture ordinary and gleaming moments of their young lives. So, with that in mind, this post is specifically for Kuba.

Anders received an old fashioned bike horn from his aunt as a gift and when Kuba heard it, to him it sounded as if the horn was saying "chicken nugget." I heard a multi-syllable honk and he heard "chicken nugget." The first time he told Anna this she laughed so hard. He kept on saying it just to get her to laugh harder. It has morphed. "Chicken nugget" has now turned into a family phrase we say whenever we want to get someone to laugh. It's oh so silly, and it's our first private family joke. (Only now it's not private)
I plan on saying it when Anna and I are arguing about something really stupid.

Barn Boy

Jessie, our beloved babysitter, snapped this photo the other day of Kuba playing up in our barn. He's standing by his kitchen cooking. It feels so magical doesn't it?

I've got you, You've got me.

Sometimes when the boys go to bed at night one of them feels scared and climbs into bed with the other, or one of them feels alone and needs to lay right next to his brother. Last night this was so. Anders climbed in with Kuba because he wanted to be close. Kuba was scared. They goofed and played a bit before settling down. Accidentally Kuba hit Anders and Anders cried, which made Kuba cry because he didn't mean to hurt him. This resulted in the two of them hugging. While still hugging, Kuba said "I've got you, and you've got me." Anders replied "Yeah, I've got you and you've got me." Kuba echoed this back to Anders. And this went back and forth, back and forth, as the boys quieted down. I believe they fell asleep one arm over the other.

These are the moments I never want to forget.
I am a witness to this love they have for one another,
and they are such beautiful brothers.

"Bread, Fresh Bread for Sale!"

A very local very good bakery has taken to peddling fresh bread around the neighborhood. The boys were in the back yard playing when they heard the bread peddler calling. You would have thought it was the ice cream truck by how excited they were. So, we bought a loaf of warm sourdough wheat and immediately buttered a few slices.

Bubbles