Bits & Bobs

A gallery of the boys paint session from last week. (Conner's are the ones without his name on them.)

A picture of Bagpipes that Conner drew to hang on our door to welcome our Burn's Night Guests.

Aidan reading us a bedtime story. He read the whole thing with little help from us. Though, he was a little slower than we would have read it and at one point Conner said "Is he going to read the WHOLE thing?!"

The last couple of days have been a little quieter in our house. Aidan starting feeling very badly on Wednesday. Thursday his temp was up to 104.5 (gasps from the parents). Friday he was diagnosed with Strep Throat. Today he is feeling much better and very frustrated not to be able to go outside until 24 hours of antibiotics have passed. And it's a little louder in our house, again.

Conner adds a twist to the Twister game. There has been a lot of game playing over the last few days.

Charlie & Lola

Wish you were here!

Due to a Teacher workday, the kids were out of school yesterday. They started the day by pretending they were drinking tropical drinks at the beach.

Followed by a picnic lunch...

A little outdoor art...

Then, an introduction to Taekwondo...

I'm not sure if this last event was such a good idea. Aidan really wanted to try it after attending a birthday party at this place. I thought Conner might like the ritual of it. I'm hoping after the initial excitement wears off, they will focus more on the self-discipline aspect of the class and not solely on the kicking and hitting part. Yeah, right.

Burns Night

Last night, we held a Burn's Night Supper in honor of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland's National Poet (He wrote Auld Lang Syne.) These suppers are held formally and informally every year in Scotland. The common ingredient being Haggis and Whisky. Our guests were mainly lads from Euan's work and our neighbors from across the street (so the kids and I had friends to play with.)

Euan started the evening with The Selkirk Grace:

Some hae meat and canna eat,

And some wad eat that want it;

Bue we hae meat, and we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be thankit.

This was followed by a starter of "Cock-a-Leekie" soup (chicken and leek soup.) Then the Haggis was brought in. It is traditionally supposed to be piped in but we substituted with the Braveheart Soundtrack playing in the background. Euan recited an abbreviated version of the Address To a Haggis (written by Burns) followed by a whiskey toast. We then all dug into the haggis served with "tatties and neeps". I also had some salad and chicken sausages on hand for those who didn't feel up to the haggis but surprisingly almost everyone gobbled theirs up.

Dessert was "Tipsy Laird". My first ever attempt at a trifle...

And some other sweets for those who do not like their desserts so tipsy...

The meal...

The Whisky...

After dinner, our neighbors headed home and I left the men to their whisky and business talk around the table. All they needed was cigars. I'd like to say I retired to the sitting room to drink some sherry and do needlework but no I cleaned the kitchen and then retired to my bedroom to watch sitcoms on TV.

The Pianist

Just a sweet picture of Conner.

Aidan's new ride

I think he wishes it was real but alas, it is only a remote control car. A very large one! Thanks to Papa whose Christmas gift was an IOU for breakfast with Papa and toy shopping. This turned into Aidan spending all day with Papa. (thanks Papa). Aidan was a very happy camper with both the toy and the day!

We created a freeway and town for the car to drive around.

And some other artwork, too!

Lemonade

The boys picked some humongous lemons from the neighbor's tree over the weekend (with their permission of course). Yesterday, they decided they wanted to set up their first lemonade stand.

I helped them with the squeezing and the measurements. But the rest was all them.

They set the price, made the sign and dragged the table outside.

Luckily it was one of those days that tricks you into thinking spring is coming. It felt almost balmy. They got a little impatient at first but in the end they sold 8 cups of lemonade and made $3.50. (People gave more than the 1 cent asking price.) Right away they asked if they could go buy toys with the money. But then they forgot about it and it is still sitting in the bucket waiting to be divvied up.

Hike on Mt. Tam

Yesterday, Euan took the boys on a "hike" on Mt. Tam. (I was sitting in a dark theatre watching The Curious Case of Benjiman Buttons.)


It was a gorgeous day.

They love anyplace that they can climb on rocks.

An example of how deceiving photos can be...

from cute little angels to, well, boys in seconds flat.

Silhouettes

Finally before Christmas, I attempted silhouettes of the boys. I had seen them everywhere and really wanted to try it. I was surprised how easy it was. I also did one of Ben that I gave to my Sister and Brother-in-law for Christmas. They are a little rough around the edges, but I think you can tell who is who. Can you?*

Coincidentally over Christmas, my sister and I were going through old photos at my mom's house. We came across this silhouette done of her when she was a teenager at Disneyland. The quintessential 50's girl.

* top is Aidan, bottom is Conner

Hang in there baby!

Charlie and Lola have fallen into the habit of making mad dashes out the front door every time we open it. At first this was OK because they didn't go far and were easy to catch. Now they dash across the street and straight up into the trees. Charlie makes it down fine. But, Lola hasn't quite gotten the knack yet. She climbs high, out of ladder reach, then walks out to the end of the branch, meowing to get down. As she tries to turn around and come back, she ends up swinging underneath first holding on by all fours, then by the front two paws. She looks just like that classic poster from the seventies. Of course, there is a lot of excitement and screaming from the kids and moms on the street. I usually manage to get under her and break her fall (as do some branches). So far she doesn't seem hurt. Hopefully, she's learned her lesson.

We really do love our little dust-mop.

Introducing the Conner and Aidan Rock Band...

On Sunday, we were invited to a rock concert. They introduced themselves and informed the audience that cameras and phones were not allowed (pirated photos). Then they played for our listening pleasure, a rock version of Jingle Bells. During rehearsals, there were more original rock songs. But, I guess they decided to keep it simple in front of a real audience.

Smoothie Face

This is sick Aidan. No, the purple and red spots all over his face are not part of his sickness. He just has a cold and cough. The spots are the result of turning his glass upside down to try and drink a too thick smoothie. The whole thing plopped right down covering his whole face. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper. He was even more unhappy when Mommy couldn't stop laughing. He would have been even more unhappy if I said what I was thinking at the time, "Sweetie, can you hold it right there while I grab the camera?" Luckily, the good mommy in me kicked in and I wiped his face, stifled my giggling, and comforted him. Then I gave him a new smoothie. This time with a straw.

The undoing

Yesterday was a mellow rainy day. Finally took the Christmas decor down. Aidan was sick and our neighbors were away so it was quieter than usual. We took advantage of the quiet to read, watch tv, complete puzzles and basically just hang out.

Of course, we still had these sweeties to deal with...