wall street occupation

as you know, k thinks the most evil thing that can be imagined in the world is the republicans winning. (see my post on facebook for references).

today she was impressed by this photo of pilots. when i explained that they were workers saying that their bosses did not respect them and they wanted more respect and fair pay. she was indignant about the injustice. i told her that lots of people were protesting on wall street because they did not feel like money is being distributed well.

wait until she can read graphs and i can explain the chart to her.

i did not explain class revolution to the kids. but they have a good sense of what is fair. far more than most adults. i think if you asked children about wealth distribution, they could tell you that consolidating it in the top 1 percent makes no sense. and taxing that group so more can people can have what they need makes sense. but apparently what we know as children does not apply as adults.

ps for those of you who do not know. there is a movement going on to occupy wall street. a movement of the 99 percent that lobbyists do not represent, that do not profit from trading, that are the working people of america. you can read about it in many places. let me know if you need links. i can post.

k wants to know

when are nani and nana and grandma sue going to come again?

i will ask them.

yesterday's events:

ro ate sushi and japanese food and loved it.

k ate agedashi tofu and miso soup and loved it.

we celebrated dad's birthday at a japanese restaurant.

RO ATE SUSHI. can you believe it? i am so happy.

k liked the udon noodles too!

mom stayed up late reading about locked knees. not good -- nani's got meniscus tears i think. went to sleep with computer next to bed.

dad is happy with birthday -- ate lemon cupcake, k ate chocolate cupcake, ro made progress on triple vanilla cupcake.

today's events:

children knocked water into mom's computer. gone.

children made a suit of armor out of construction paper. awesome.

children and dad shot water bottle rockets onto the neighbor's roof. superfun.

nani has an orthopedic appt. job accomplished.

mom submitted a national grant. she was selected as the representative from the umn. first woman and first person of color. mom is a rock star without a computer.

kids played wii. mom and dad are exhausted from helping.

so we lost an 1800 computer (again). but we gained sushi. have to look at the positives...

tomorrow is another day. and we have a birthday party, a game party with BRYON. and we might go see the leaves because it is the peak of the season.

so there are many things that we are doing that are destroying the planet -- the pollution, global warming, fracking, war. but i have to believe that we are trying to leave it in better shape than how we find out it. and the simple joys in life are to be cherished.

bacond

this is especially funny if you know r's passion for a certain food. while r spelled "arachnid," "observation," and other tricky words correctly on his spelling tests, he wrote B-A-C-O-N-D. apparently when we linked bacon and second in our practicing ("put secONd servings of baON ON your plate"), we yoked them a little too well.

brave knights

First day of kindergarten and second grade

State fair -- Sept. 5 2011

Hangin' in the kitchen with dad on a sunday

Quest for monarchs -- a tagging we shall go

Peek at K's camp

At art camp -- monsters and magical creatures

1) cover for "Black Hole Monster"

2) egg stage

3) adolescent stage

4) adult stage (hops on one foot)

5) face with open mouth (eats planets)

Fun day continued

Fun day with mom

2 peas in a pod

first day of school

kindergarten went well. k was very excited to give her teacher an art project that she had made. she gave him the fish and then showed him all the art on the back that she had drawn for him -- a cat, dolphin, and turtle. she happily played with another girl that she knows and seemed to be quite happy with her day. they did patterns (clapping and rhythm), tag, art (she made a plane), reading, lunch, and 2 recesses and snacks.

ro read, had gym (played zombie tag), and played with friends. he was fragile afterwards. and it is clear that being "different" is starting to become an issue. we knew this would come and know we have to discuss it with him. but also we can tell his experience is off. hopeful but feeling like the combination that is r doesn't thrive in institutional settings. it is heartbreaking.

teacher is gentle and he likes her. but it might not be enough to help kiddo. we had some small heartbreaks getting home. it is hard to help him make a path for himself.

a peek into camp life

thought you all might enjoy a clip of r's projects in a lego camp

this one is from monster trucks and dragsters:

a photo

a video

and this one is from lego amusement park

bridge (he built the bridge!)

and the log chute

overview

labor day weekend

FRI: k and auntie hot hot walked around campus spying on the undergraduates. they were out in full force in their gold tshirts and mini-backbacks. auntie hot hot and k observed that they only see people who are their own age, hence MH and K were invisible to them. K was very excited to report on what the undergraduates said. we also had a late lunch and spent time talking. it was lovely. mom also got to sneak out with MH to go see Harry Potter 7 Pt 2. this is the only film mom sees in a theater during the year. considering she is a media studies professor, it is a little bizarre. but more importantly, it was a bookend experience as mom has seen all the films with auntie hot hot over the years and now auntie hot hot is far away. there was pizza and wii at home with tired children as well.

SAT: kids enjoyed a late start. we all vegged and had a late breakfast. mom and dad thought through the first week of school and did schedules. the kids played some kind of rescue game and then had a great time building forts all over the house. we dragged them out of the house around 3 after some lunch to go see auntie hot hot and other friends in st paul. no state fair trip with MH but nice to hang out with her. then off to auntie karen's 40th birthday party. the kids had a great time and we came home tired. nice to visit friends on a weekend and enjoy social opportunities for kids and grownups.

SUN: cooking and cleaning day. kids played, dad shopped, mom decluttered. but the highlight of the day was going to the monarch butterfly tagging at the hyland park. last year R grew a butterfly from an egg and then released it for its annual migration. monarchs migrate to mexico every year. and there is a study at monarchwatch.org that is tagging and following them. it was a cold day for the park and we walked on and off trail through prairie plants searching for winged creatures. at first we saw many non-monarchs. and finally it warmed up as the sun came out and we caught one! we took it back for tagging and then set it free for its migration. very exciting. a quick stop at target. then reading and screen time and sleep.

MON: kids were playing that they were miners today and looking for "ding-dongs." apparently they are undergraduates and bad. (see above). mom is a part-commander of ding dongs because sometimes they listen to what i tell them to do. fairly accurate! we dragged dad to the state fair. the usual stops were made -- the miracle of birth center, all you can drink milk, butter princess sculptures, mini-donuts, giant slide, crop art, french fries, ferris wheel, fun houses, bumper cars, bumper boats, more fun houses, and then home. we added bacon on a stick this year. and mom tried fried apple pie and corn ice cream. the pie was better. mom is sticking to fresh peaches instead. came home, ate dinner, said hi to nani and nana, and prepared for school.

now summer has officially ended.

welcome to fall everyone. tomorrow is a new school year. wish us luck!