An Update that has nothing to do with Politics, I promise!

I just received an email from a disgruntled grandparent...something about cutting off future summer camp funding if I didn't write something about the grandkids instead of about Sarah Palin...

The truth of it is this (and many of you know this from personal experience): two-year-olds allow no time for blogging, showering, peeing, thinking... I'm not even allowed personal phone calls until she turns three. It's amazing--Annie wakes up and wants to skip breakfast in favor of playtime. We play hard for four hours before lunch, then she sleeps hard for two hours. Then she's up and Jake comes home...so we all play outside until I make dinner. Dinner, baths, bed, "Heroes, Season Two," pack lunches, go to bed. It's true: I'm a slave to my toddler.

So here is my update. We really want camps next year...

Jake is absolutely loving second grade. Have I said that before? It's different this year. He seems to feel comfortable with his work plan at school, he finishes most of his homework on the bus, and somehow we have more time to play in the afternoons than we ever did in first grade. He's addicted to two things right now: Bakugan and "Age of Mythology" (a computer game he and Ike play together). I can't really say I get Bakugan--except I know the things are ridiculously easy to lose. However, we're actively encouraging the computer game because it's made him curious about Greek mythology. It's got him reading (as long as it's a book about something mythical--right now we're reading a series in which school kids end up with things like vampires and werewolves working at their school and in their camps), it's got him telling stories and playing these intricate games involving Bakugan pieces and action figures... It's very cool to see him so interested in something that he didn't just pick up from a friend, but found on his own.

He's now a Wolf Cub in Cub Scouts. Want a picture? Well, here you go:


Annie potty trained herself this week for the most part. She goes to the potty without (much) incident and wears big girl underpants all day. It's exciting for everyone involved...especially since her accidents have been relatively few in number...

She's still enjoying gymnastics and has made a few friends in the class. Not that she remembers their names from week to week, but that'll come. This past week the moms were allowed to sit in the observation area instead of being on the floor with the two-year-olds...which was like preschool for a whole hour! Annie seems to like tumbling best, since she turns flips all over the house. All the time. She has a new toddler-sized scooter (thanks to a friend whose daughter outgrew it), so every afternoon when Jake gets home he rides his bike and she rides her scooter.

I feel like I have hundreds of "Annie said" stories to tell, but wow. It's too much to tell. I will relate this one conversation in the car from Tuesday...

Tuesdays are the biggest days of the week for us. Because we're sharing a car right now, our day goes like this:

1. Walk Jake to the bus stop 6:45am


2. Take Ike to work 7:15am


3. Come home, get ready, go to the library 9am


4. Go to gymnastics 10:40am


5. Come home, eat lunch, nap, get Jake off the bus 12pm-3:30pm


6. Pick up Ike 5:30pm


7. Boys go to Cub Scouts, Annie goes to bed 7pm

And it pretty much happens like that back-to-back. So Tuesday in the car Annie and Jake were vying for Ike's attention after we picked him up from work. I tried to mediate by telling Annie to say something about her day (gymnastics), then telling Jake to say something about his (mean art teacher).

Well, it worked well for Annie: "Today I went to dymnastics [sic] and I jumped and I got stamps on my hands and we sang the 'Goodbye Tumblebees' song that goes like this." And then she sang the song.

Okay, then it was Jake's turn: "Today was good, except--"

Annie started back with, "Goodbye goodbye Tumblebees! It's time to go, but-hey Jake! I'm singing! Goodbye Tumblebees!"

And cut to Jake: "I don't like the art teacher. She's mean and yells--"

Back to Annie: "GOODBYE TUMBLEBEES I SAID! JAKEY!!!"

To Jake: "Hey Dad, can we--"

And finally Annie had had enough. "JAKEY, GOODBYE TUMBLEBEES!! SHUT UP!!!!"

All was quiet. Then we all laughed. Because really, what's cuter than a two-year-old yelling like a demon child in the back of the car...?

Anyway, so you want pictures of her too? This is a recent picture of what happens if I sit down to check my email and Annie finds sidewalk chalk.

I know, it scared me too. It looked a little better after she wiped a good deal of it all over our couch...


That's the news from our neck of the woods. Next week Ike and I will celebrate 11 years of marriage! We're celebrating by loaning the children to the grandparents and holing up at home...we will not be returning phone calls*, but we will accept donations for the "Let's Order Delivery All Weekend" Fund.

*Seriously. Don't call.