Where does the time go?

Andrew has been my driving buddy for the last twelve weeks. Since he started preschool at Villa, which is a block and a half from my office, we have been carpooling together every morning. HOV lane! Bonus! I didn't know what to expect or how he would handle an hour commute. (As an aside, I find it so interesting that as humans we tend to fear change but it is specifically those changes that make living amazing.) After we bid our fond adieu to the ladies (think Titanic leaving port) and set forth on our daily journey in BBT, we commence our morning checklist of time, temperature, direction of travel, audio entertainment and route of choice. Then we partake in consuming the delicious breakfast his mom made us while rocking out to our favorite tunes. I would tell you what they are, but I won't. Secrets are important between dad and his lad, you know. Once done with chow, it's time to get serious, so we begin with the joke of the day quickly followed by the seminal question- If you were an animal today, what would it be? Then its time for math games, which take up the majority of our trip. We go through sets of numbers and build on it every day. We originally started out with some pretty simple addition he could do on his fingers but he has since taken it to a whole new level. 2+2=4. done. 10-6=4. September. 9x9=81. That was mid October. 16/4=4. Easy day. He is killing it now. Give him 100x 76 and he knows the shortcut of adding the zeros onto the other number and -bam- 7,600. He recently told me there are 15 zeros in quadrillion. We have a blast because he is learning and we are joking constantly at the same time. When we get onto Lincoln off the 51 we start to wind that down and talk about his upcoming day. We then put on two songs and sing at the top of our lungs as we pull into school and I park illegally in an alley so I can walk with him to class everyday. Any awkwardness/trepidation he may have had is gone. He is loving his class, his teachers and his friends. He plays kickety kick ball and does balance beam and plays in the sandbox before they ring the bell for the kids to line up. My commute in has now become one of the very best parts of my day.


My little miss Kate is, sorry everyone, but it is true, the cutest little girl in the entire world. I cannot believe that she is almost two. She has a force of personality that won't quit. She knows what she wants and will do whatever is required to get it. Her quirks, singing, shoulder shrugs, dimple, wild hair, hundred miles a minute energy and leg hugs and kisses are oh so endearing.

The kid is hilarious. A physical comedy genius. Ask Lizzie about teaching her to boink her nose in her ice cream cone or those moments when I catch her walking around in some article of clothing that doesn't belong to her. She actually knows she's super funny. It's a very entertaining age for us! She is constantly eating and asking for "snack" if I don't give in right away she starts asking for everything else: "I kee cope?" (ice cream cone), "popsi" (popsicle), "Coooka?" (cookie or anything sweet) when i say no, she just starts asking the same questions all over again...until she wears us down. Lorraine and I vow to be strong and not give in...but she is the second born after all and there are just those moments when her tenacity meets our exhaustion and if she adds her dimple, we have been known to crumble once in a blue moon! It's Aunties and Grandmas we have to watch! Our darling little Kate has also fallen in love, as some of you can attest to, the Disney movie Robin Hood. (Can you hear the theme tune running through your head?) I love hearing it over and over and over again and love seeing her run through the house with the DVD case asking for "Rob eeen?".....





Halloween

What is the highest level physical manifestation of devotion and love that a man can have for his family? Is it flowers? No. Is it pulling them out of a burning building? No, but better. The very highest level is, drum roll......... being a 6' 4' 200 pound 32 year old man wearing..... a Mickey Mouse suit! Halloween for us is the beginning of the long and glorious holiday season. Yard ornaments. Check. Interior Halloween decorations. Check. Homemade cookies, little pumpkin cheese dip, delicious butternut squash penne pasta, pumpkin ale. Check, check, check and double check. (Fellas- it pays BIG dividends to be married to a world class cook!) Beyond our normal festivities around the house, we attended the Villa Montessori Halloween festival with the kids a few weeks back. We also happened to volunteer as well, where I played a scary Hannibal Lecter in the haunted house and Raini goaded young male teenagers into a competitive peer strength contest at the strength tester (you know the one- hurl giant hammer over your head onto the pad and make the puck hit the bell). Meme joined us and great fun was had by all.

Halloween itself was on Saturday this year, which meant that we had the opportunity to spend the entire day, not just a few hours, cooking, cleaning, costuming and cooking. As the sun started to set, our family got all jocked up in the aforementioned Big Mickey/Big Minnie/Little Mickey/Little Minnie garb in preparation for our journey out into the suburban wilds for a nights spoils.

I am going to take a moment and step up onto my electronic soap box to communicate to the uneducated masses appropriate Halloween evening etiquette. There are little children with fragile hearts all over the country who wait in breathless anticipation for this one happy, glorious night where pretend crosses over reality. This, however, is lost on those that do not submit to the societal norms of Halloween etiquette.

Issue #1- Keeping your light on and not answering the door. If you hate children and puppies, find your heart 3 sizes too small, and don't want to participate in bringing a smile to a young child's face, then TURN YOUR BLOODY LIGHT OUT, CAPECHE? The Walkers (yes, that's us-we who adventure out to engage in a slice of Americana and celebrate traditions) have a limited amount of time and energy per kid. If your house is dark and none of the lights are on, you are either a HATER or are at someone else's house. We understand. But if you leave the lights on, well, that makes us think you are home and are a loving individual who wants to bring joy and happiness to the world in the form of small, delicious sweet things. But when you don't answer the frigging door, it drives dads like me crazy. Don't make the big guy in the Mickey Mouse costume CRAZY..... OK? Don't make me go Disney on your house.

Issue #2- Parents who let their pre-teen and teenage girls dress like hookers. Where do I start? Really? Enough said.

Issue #3- Driving down residential streets on Halloween as if you were at Indy. If I catch you, they will make a movie based on it called "The Night Mickey Gets Medieval on Your Ass". Got it? Slow down.

Anyway, back to Halloween. The kids loved it and I had so much fun seeing Kate enjoy her first Halloween being an active participant. Big thanks to the friends and family who joined us for the festivities.

There is so, so much going on in our lives right now. Things are crazy, but crazy good. We hope to find more time to update the blog more often but can only do our best given circumstances.

I leave you with a smile and some thoughts: Challenge is Good. Change is Great. Growth is Wonderful. Traditions are Important. Life is Grand. Love is Real. Beauty is Everywhere.