ABCZ

Yeah, there is a phrase I never thought to use, but Anna definitely still loves math. We were driving today when she started the following conversation:

A: Does 8 squared equal 64?
WTH? Where did that come from?!
C: Yes. What is 10 squared?
Without missing a beat...
A: 100
C: How about 20 squared?
A: 200...no, wait, 400.
C: What is 9 squared?
A: 81
B: How did you figure that out?
A: Well, 8 squared is 64, so I added 8, so that's 8 times 9, then I added 9. See? 81. Easy.

DEFINITELY takes after her Daddy...lucky girl. :)

We had a fun visit with Grandpa, Uncle Will & Jen last weekend. Both kids had a blast with a whole new crowd to entertain. Jen and Will spent most of the weekend making craft projects and origami with Anna. Anna and I both cried when they left. Hope to see you all again soon! Thanks for coming!

Last weekend, we had a big celebration in our house! Zach was baptized! We filled half the church with friends and family who came to celebrate with us. Then we had a little brunch at our house afterwards. About 40 people made it to celebrate with us, including Grandpa, Uncle Will & Jen, all the way from Colorado! It was so neat that they could be there with us. God bless you, Zachary Charles!!!

We had Oma and Pa over for Thanksgiving this year, as usual. It was a nice quiet day, and we had a great time...with lots to be thankful for! But we did have a near disaster...

We were playing a game called Things. The idea is that you are given a topic, and everyone writes down an answer secretly. Then you take turns guessing who said what. The topic on this turn was "Things that do not really exist, but you wish they did." Someone wrote 'smart democrat', another was 'leprechaun'...and then we read, "EASTER BUNNY". As Curtis and I both gave Pa (because we ALLLL knew it was Pa) a "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING???" look, Anna chimed in with, "It said things that are NOT real, Pa! Of course the Easter Bunny is real! Where do you think all of those eggs come from? Duh!" *whew* We almost had to have The Easter Bunny/Santa Claus/Tooth Fairy talk...but Anna saved herself from it.

On the next round, the topic was "Things You Shouldn't Name a Children's Book." Although, Anna's answer of "Crap!" (only after whispering in my ear at ask permission to put down a bad word, just this one time) was funny, I was partial to Curtis' answer, "Why The Easter Bunny Didn't Exist."

We bring to you, interpretive Downward Dog, as interpreted by Zachary. What do you think, JL? How is his form?

This is Zach's current favorite sport. He likes to wrestle his sister to the ground and then keep her pinned with a well placed palm to the face or a big slobbery kiss to the tummy. Fortunately, Anna is more than happy to be his jungle gym!

The little boy has been busy this week! He's been commando crawling for sometime now, but a few weeks ago he started REALLY crawling. Then, one day, I set him on his tummy to brush Anna's hair,and when I looked back, he was sitting up! He got there all on his own!


Then, just a few days later, he started pulling up on things to stand! It won't be long now, until he's walking! (Unless, as my friends says, we sweep his feet, to keep him little longer.)

Zach ate his first Cheerio the other day (yeah, Zach!) and when I told Anna about it, she said, "So I can feed him stuff now?" Curtis and I replied, in unison, "NO!" Then, by way of explanation, "He needs supervision."

She thought about it for a minute and said, "Why does he need super vision? Can he not see them very well?"

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Anna has a VERY expensive Lego set on her Christmas list this year. Trying to lay the foundation for it NOT showing up, I said, "Well, that's a SUPER expensive toy, so I'm not sure that's going to be a Christmas present this year." She said, "I KNOW it's expensive, that's why I put it on SANTA'S list, so we don't have to pay for it!" If only...

Subtitled: Uncle Brian Always Pops Up In The Strangest Conversations

We went to Yosemite last weekend. On a walk up to Bridal Veil Falls, we saw this tree, that looked to have been stuck by lightning or something, because there was very little left of the tree. Thinking we’d play junior conservationist, we started quizzing Anna about this tree. Why do you think it looks that way? What do you think happened to it? Anna looked at the tree for a loooong time, then got this excited look on her face and said, “I know what happened to it! UNCLE BRIAN!!!” When Curtis and I doubled over laughing (me crossing my legs trying not to pee) she said, “What?!! He SAID he likes to eat wood!”

Happy Veteran's Day! Today the kids and I went to Petaluma to watch the Veteran's Day parade. It was fun, but not the same without Curtis with us (no holiday for him! Boo!). Anna is so proud that her Daddy served in the military.







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Just the other day, we were in Target, and Anna saw this display of Christmas nutcrackers, but they were dressed in themes (ballerina, rock star, soldier, etc.) She really wanted the soldier one, and I veto'd the purchase, on the grounds that I won't buy CHRISTMAS stuff in September...just on principle! The following conversation ensued:

A: But it will remind me of Daddy, because he was a soldier.
B: You don't need to be 'reminded' of Daddy, you see him every day!
A: But not when he's at work.
B: If he's at work you can call him anytime you want to.
A: No I can't.
B: Yes, Anna, you can. He's always available by phone if he's not at home and you can call.
A: But last week you told me I couldn't call Daddy right then because he was in a meeting, and I would have had this nutcracker to REMIND me of him then.
*sigh*
I did NOT cave and buy the nutcracker though. (Well, until later, when I went back and got it when she wasn't with me. So I guess I did...but she doesn't KNOW I did...yet.)
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Anna wanted to make Curtis something for Veteran's Day today. She said she wanted to make a Lego sculpture of something he used when he was in the Army. I said, "Hmmm...I don't know. He mostly blew stuff up, honey." This THRILLED her. She was off to the Lego bin, and worked all afternoon on her own version of Lego dynamite, burning fuse and all. Then after she gave it to Curtis, she wanted them to pose for pictures as if they just lit and were running away, Mythbuster Style. Funny little girl...

Every fall we take a trip to Yosemite, courtesy of Curtis' company. It has come to be a family tradition that we look forward to with our own family, as well as with his 'work' family...many of whom we have become good friends with. This years' journey was fraught with trials: car sickness, traffic, a crying baby, fevers, more crying baby, etc. But the time we actually spent at the park, with the fall leaves in full changing color, and just hanging out with the 4 of us, was worth it.

Have I mentioned what a great sister Anna is? This week, she's determined to teach him to play the piano on a little 'piano book' that she has. But she confided in me (quietly, so that Zach wouldn't hear) that, "Apparently he's not that good at this. He just wants to eat the book, and that is NOT a good way to play the piano."