Back to School

David had his first day of his last year of preschool today. Same great teachers as last year, most of the same great friends. He was very excited to go back. He picked out his favorite Star Wars shirt and "matching" shorts to wear. He got to choose his favorite lunch to give him energy: Tri-color rotini with sauce and grated cheese and strawberries. And he wore his new Clone Wars backpack. When I picked him up he looked happy as a lark. Pictures to follow...

A few other David tidbits...

The other day he picks up his violin and says, "Hey Dad, listen to what I can play!" And he rattles off parts of Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart and Dancing in the Dark. Gotta love this kid.

He is very interested in math these days. He has learned several "rules." He knows that any 1 digit number times 100 is "that-digit-hundred" (e.g., 5x100=5 hundred.) He knows that any 2 digit round number times one hundred is "the-first-digit-thousand" (e.g., 50x100 = 5 thousand). He loves being able to solve those "big" problems.

As you may also have noticed, he loves to email. If you haven't yet received an email from him and you would like to, please let me know. I'm sure he would be happy to oblige ;)

Today, he says out of the clear blue sky to me: "I know how to spell "castle." C-A-S-T-L-E." "That's right, David! How did you know that?" "I saw it written down once."

Oh right, of course. I think we call that "photographic" :)

Putting Us To Shame

Michael got a fly with the fly swatter today. I feel like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid. I chase the darn thing all over the kitchen for 5 minutes, looking like a fool. My 2 year old picks up the fly swatter and within a minute - BAM! The fly is dead. Beginner's luck.

A few other Michael stories:

We were at Family Camp this weekend in Detroit Lakes, MN. I told Michael we had to get ready to go back to the dining hall for dinner and that the beach was closed. "How can the beach be closed, Mom? It doesn't have a door!"

Lately, Michael's big word has been "HATE." He hates this, he hates that. I have threatened him with tickle torture every time he says "hate" instead of "really don't like." His response: "I hate being tickled."

Sweet and Sour

My Michael said to me this morning, "Mom, you are the best girl ever." And 2 nights ago as Brian walked past his room at night, he said, "Dad, you are a great dad." Sweetie pie boy. Let's just ignore the fact that yesterday he said he "hated the world" and didn't like God because he doesn't have shoes ;)

Sioux Empire Fair

For a while now, Brian has been highly motivated to increase the boys' amusement park ride repertoire. We have told the boys that we aren't going back to Disney World until they get some guts with regards to the rides. So, Brian especially, was looking forward to the fair this year as an opportunity to practice some of the more intense kiddie rides. Namely, the roller coaster. I, being 32 weeks pregnant was not allowed to go on the rides, but Brian went with the boys for their first ride of the day. Michael's face revealed that he was loving it. David, not so much. By the end of the ride, David had vowed that he would not be going on it again. We went and did some other rides, and eventually, Brian brought them back to the roller coaster and insisted that they ride again. Michael was all for it. David not so much. In fact, it turned into quite a scene with David wailing away that he didn't want to go, and Brian and I not giving in. (These are the moments that I question myself as a parent and wonder if it's worth the "trauma." That being said, Brian and I were both wimps as children and only discovered the joy of roller coasters much later in life. If somebody had "pushed" us a little, we might have enjoyed many more years of roller coaster bliss...) Brian patiently explained to David that it often takes a while to get used to new things and to realize how fun they can be. He gave David several examples of new situations of which David was initially scared, but eventually came to love (e.g., going underwater). Long story long, they went on the ride and David tolerated it. He came off saying that it was better than his last ride. Daddy encouraged the boys to yell silly things (like Geronimo and Cowabunga) on the way down the hill, which seemed to add to Michael's exhilaration and to relieve some of David's anxiety. We went off and did some other things, ate some nasty fair food, passed on some even nastier fair food (Fried Kool-Aid????What is that???) and before we left, Brian asked the boys if they wanted to ride the coaster one last time. To our amazement, both boys said yes! They rode one more time with Brian, and then, at David's request, rode again one last time...all by themselves! Brian and I loved seeing them have so much fun, screaming with delight all the way down the "big" hill. The video clip I have attached is short, not in HD, and hard to track, but at the very least watching it helps me remember the joy on their faces. Shout out to Daddy for knowing when to push a little bit. All in the name of roller coaster fun!

Making Fun of Mom and Dad

David is 4 years old and already cracking up over the ridiculous things that his mom and dad say and do.

First of all, as some of you know, he recently got his own email address: davidguarraci4@gmail. He is obsessed with it and checks it often. He's not so big on replies, but he understands that you need to send emails in order to get emails, so he does send a few short emails out...When he was writing out his first email, to be sent to close friends and family members, I instructed him on how to type out his daddy's email address. bguarraci@yahoo. David started cracking up when he saw the address: "Booger-aci! Booger-aci! Dad is a booger-aci."

Brian is doing the P90X workout, bless his soul. David and Michael have not only seen him doing some of these super intense work outs, but have also participated in them! They love "exercising" with their daddy. The other night, I was doing a yoga exercise from my prenatal yoga deck that my sister gave me when I was pregnant with David. It involved standing with your back against a wall and doing a very subtle roll of the pelvic bone that basically rolls the base of your spine up and down the wall. It is designed to relieve lower back pain, and I must say that it does a pretty darn good job of it considering the simplicity of the exercise. David saw me seemingly standing against the wall and said, "Mom, what are you doing?" "I'm doing a special exercise," I said. He starts cracking up and says, "That's not an exercise! You are just standing there!" Ok, so I'm not maxing out my heart doing crazy push-ups and calisthenics, etc. But these are about all the exercises I can manage! A couple days later, David stood up against a wall and made like a statue (complete dumb-butt look on his face) and said, with a definite mocking tone, "Look Mom. I'm exercising." Stinker.

Some Cute Things About Michael

Even in the face of constant corrections and hearing these words/phrases pronounced differently by others, Michael insists on saying...

Hiccup Truck instead of Pick-up Truck

Lightning The Queen instead of Lightning McQueen

Last Sunday at church, Michael was being very loud. I told him his voice was too loud for church. "Why?" he asked.

"Because all these other people are trying to talk to God and your loud voice makes it hard for them to do that."

"But God is way up there. He can't hear them!"

"He can, Michael. maybe you should try to talk to God, too."

"Hi, God." Pause. "I still have that sickaness in my tummy. I've been trying to make it go away but I can't do it."

"Maybe you can ask God to help you with your tummy, Michael."

"Will you help me God?" Pause. Pause.

"He didn't hear me, Mom."

(Note: All of Michael's musings/statements, etc are said at full value."

Some Cute Things About David

When we went "out West" over Memorial Day weekend, we saw a picture of Sitting Bull. I was telling David about Native American names and how they are different than our names. Like Red Cloud, and Crazy Horse. Then I asked him, "If you had an Indian name, I wonder what it would be." he thought about it for a moment, then leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I think my Indian name would be CuteButt."

David is such a math nerd. It is becoming an almost daily occurrence that David will either ask to play a math game, or will randomly offer the answer to some math fact (e.g., Mom, I know what 4 x 4 is. OR Mom, doesn't 4 x 10 = 40??). He gets that from his Daddy ;)

David and Michael have nicknamed the baby Kitzi. I have explained to the boys that Kitzi is her nickname but that Daddy and I will ultimately choose her name. Nevertheless, David asked me the other day, "Mom, do you think her real name will be Kitzi???"