Two nights before Christmas however, Red left something additional in each of the stockings of the Children of the Corn.  A gold dipped envelope containing a silver inked letter from The Man himself.  Now was the time of reckoning.  The time of knowing.  Was it the good list or the bad.  What did Santa think?  What did he know?  When we opened our weary eyes the next morning would they sparkle and shine from majestic reflection of silver and gold or be dim from broken hope and disappointment.

Each of the Children red aloud so that we might know.
Only two more nights to go.

We must have been doing something right,
As when we gathered together for Christmas night.
We found a letter attached to our tree.
A letter that could only be from He
Was attached to our tree.
What might it say, what could it be,
this letter attached to our tree.
Opened and red by Carol Lee
Was this letter attached to our tree.
Inside was a riddle that brought us to glee.
A mystery that we must unravel to see,
why the letter was placed in our tree.
Through the house the children did chase,
To find the wrapped boxes Red did place.
Each in turn leading back to the tree
Where displayed for all to see,
was a cleverly disguised box holding a Wii.

After the paper was cleared and calm was restored, midnight munchies were set out for Santa and the reindeer.  A concoction of cookies, fresh oats, granola and some whole milk – a taste that goes straight to the mid-section and was likely the reason there are nine reindeer instead of eight….also a taste shared by Uno.  He sampled the goodies but we didn’t mention that to the kids.  It’s hard to tell the difference between teeth marks from a Red Nosed Reindeer or a Sheppard.

In the end Red delivered his report to the Big Man at the north pole and at some point during the year, unbeknownst to their parents, the Children of the Corn must have been good little boys and girls!!!

Merry Christmas Eve.

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2010 was the year that I got my dad two katana swords for his birthday.  Which I thought was really cool.  The sad thing is that I didn’t get to play with them until last Saturday.  Also because it was one year since I had got those swords. They’re really cool and it was worth the waiting!  They are made of white oak which is a very strong type of wood. One of the swords is over half the weight of the other!  I could barely lift it.  Well, anyway I asked my dad, “Can I get the ninja swords out and play with them?”.  “Gosh, I totally forgot about them!”, dad replied. “Well, all right.”

I found the swords in the closet next to mom’s bed.  I ran downstairs in a fury to get to the backyard, with the swords in my hands!  Dashing to go get dad. I suddenly run into the door and I fell butt first onto the floor.  “I must be too excited”, I thought to myself.  I stood up and opened the door and ran outside to get dad, this time without bonking my head on something.

I find dad at the grill cooking steaks.  I say, “Dad, look.  I got the swords.  Here, you take the heavier one.  I want the lighter one so that I can swing it faster.”  Dad takes the sword and says “Sure okay” and then we head down to the yard.  First, dad thought me some moves with the sword.  Moves like the upper slash and the stab.  Before we fought for real, we practiced attacking each other, seeing if we could block the attacker’s sword.  When I was ready dad said, “I think you are ready now” and he started our battle off with a swing which I blocked.

Next, we fought like Dark Vader and Luke Skywalker, deadly foes. Then, my brother, Isaac, joined in.  Before Isaac and I fought dad, dad gave Isaac his sword which was the heavier one.  I offered to trade him with my sword because it was much lighter.  I thought it would accommodate him better because he is not as strong as me.  We started to fight dad who now had a Nerf foam sword instead of a wooden one.  Since Dad has more experience with this type of stuff he was very much winning.  That was until Isaac had a very fast and frightening blow to Dad’s finger which we think broke it but we are not sure.  Dad kept on fighting but, eventually he surrendered and we were victorious.

It was fun fighting with them.  Jacob was never very aggressive with the sword but Isaac most certainly was.  He had not fear and kept coming and coming.  He smashed my knuckle in one of these attacks, a crack that stayed blue for nearly a week, I think I know who gets the foam sword next time.

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Jacob was interested in shooting his first rifle and after a few months of talking about it and learning the various safety aspects of doing so, it was time.  They both hear me talking about going to the range and have been interested in joining me.  I thought that would be excellent as well and have been working to that end.  I certainly want them to understand and respect weapons as they grow, in particular if they have an interest – one of those instances where if they have an itch it sometimes helps to let them scratch it with you versus with someone else.  Regardless I want them to understand what is acceptable and what is not.  What rifles, shotguns and pistols are for, how to be safe around them and what to know and do when they might handle one.  This was our first hands on lesson.

The day had finally come.  We don’t have a small caliber rifle and I was wanting to start him out light with a 22 so both the noise and recoil didn’t give him a bad taste from the beginning.  The range had a nice bolt action Ruger 22/77 with a low power scope that we took out for a spin.  I was hoping for something with iron sites as a start but this was what they had and we made the best of it.  It was a bit heavy though and there was some awkwardness in holding it because of the weight but the boys made the best of it and shot quite well.

Jacob won the coin toss and got first shot.  He did remarkably well considering he had never shot before and we were in a very crowded and loud range with lots of noise offering easy distraction.  His first two shots found their mark near the center and he was excited to continue.  We let each of they boys run a clip through and took turns at the reload.  Isaac had some initial trouble with sighting through the scope and adjusting to the weight.  We propped it up on a towel that the range had for just this scenario and let him hold it a bit short and he was able to find his mark.  After a few errant shots he slowly worked his way into the black and orange and as the shooting continued he was able to keep his mark most of the time.

Jacob took his time and challenged himself after the first clip was through.  We started at 25 feet, then 35, 50 and 75.  Each time he was not only able to continually hit the target but most of his shots found their mark well inside the inner circle.  He continually showed us that he could remain calm, patient, and generally take his time, all the while being a great listener and asking questions when he didn’t understand something.  He genuinely enjoyed shooting and told us so.  He did say the rifle was a bit heavy but he didn’t mind.  Next time around we will have to find a youth version with a shorter stock, iron sights and a little less hefty.

Carol and I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to get in our range time either.  We have been practicing with a new Kel Tec P11 9mm subcompact.  It shoots great even if it is a bit small to absorb the recoil.  We finished the day off with a new target and put a clip of both the 9mm and 22 through it before cleaning up, checking out and heading home.

Interestingly – or more so – fantastically, when we were checking out the boys were looking at all the targets and they found a series of various zombie targets that you can purchase for the extra special kind of practice.  Next time I know what we will be using.  It never hurts to spend some extra time preparing for Z-Day.

The boys did a great job, behaved like young men and generally made us happy.  I am very proud of them and look forward to our next trip – Zombie target practice or not…

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Boys cooling off in the misting fans, lol.

I would like to share some photos of the boys. Some photos are with animals and some are with statues and signs (weirdly the wanted to have photos with almost all of them).

Zoo Atlanta offers a few rides and attractions for the children. Here is a look into their rock climbing skills, carousel fun (which the road at least 7 times, lol) , the old school sloooow train and a very clean petting zoo.

Lastly I would like to share some photos of the boy’s favorite animals. The worthy photos that is.

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Within minutes after we arrived the boys had their skates laced up and were ready to go. The moment they stepped on the rink, everything that they had boasted about was washed away. I was able to get them around the rink one time. After that they were done…”I want to go home” – “can we play games – “I don’t want to skate”. Poor babies, they were so disappointed on how “not easy” it was.

What to do….What to do….hmmm . As I skated around the rink a couple of times pondering how to get the boys to join me, I came up with an idea. Bribery, lol – that should work… Naughty Mommy. I made a deal with them, every lap they completed they would earn fifty cents. So for two times around the rink they would earn a dollar. Hehe – Mommy had eleven dollars in cash on her.

This was Isaac’s first time on roller skates and he actually did quiet well, he was successful on two different occasions to bring himself and Mommy to the ground (I might add, it was hilarious). Before the day was over he was brave enough to tackle the chicken dance and the famous “Hokey Pokey”  (little stinker one a prize for it as well).

Jacob on the other hand has been skating a couple of times in the past with school. It has been many years since then. I felt so bad for him at times because he would literally fall 4-5 times in a row busting his knees up and eating the ground, but that child has got crazy determination in him, he refuses to give up once he has his mind set. Before the day was over he was trying to speed and dance around people, sometimes he was successful.

I was so proud of them both, and Mommy’s plan had worked like a charm

Eventually the dollars ran out and to my surprise they continued to skate – YAY!!!

I left the rink that day, a very proud and happy Mommy!

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Jacob was certainly shy this year for pictures and while opening gifts but he had a great time and when the spotlight wasn’t pointed in his direction he opened up and enjoyed himself.  I guess ten is that magic age where things start to change and you notice when you are center of any type of attention.

Jacob received a pile of gifts from everyone.  He has been enthralled in particular by a few.  One is a book that doesn’t put down called “Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5000 Years of Combat“.  This was a special gift from Mom.  Another was a set of HexBugs.   The kids all had some of these from Easter as well and now they vibrate their way through the house at all random times of the day.  The larger, remote controlled versions, slowly and meticulously march forward looking for prey.  To us they are like some large weird bugs waiting to be smashed.  He also received some cool gifts from his Dad, one that has been built and is now on display in his room, a Lego version of a rescue helicopter and a Nerf submachine gun.

With Jacob turning ten and with his interests going back and forth between being a kid and growing up I opted for something a little different that he and I could play with together.  Something just out of the toy range but not quite into the teenage range.  Definitely something that Jacob would have to learn about, pay attention too and practice with.  I wanted to sink this point home, that the gift was for him, a growing boy, so I wrote all over the box various message about it being “not for girls” and “danger inside” and “under pressure” etc….  Well this was taken to someplace unexpected by all the kids.  Suddenly this box was now a weapon of mass destruction filled with the oh so deadly fumes of “Mr. Isi’s Gaseous Emanations”.  Everyone played into this and the house errupted into ewws and yucks all around.  Most of the kids held their noses waiting for Jacob to open the box, unsure of what to expect inside. Violet, fearful of the coming explosion could not decided if it was more important to hold her ears for the noise or her nose for the smell….have to love them.

The gift was a set of entry level spring action airsoft pistols and a gel target that we can shoot them at.  They even came with a laser sight that is accurate only if you are interested in shooting the person next to you.  Jacob has had them out a few times since his Bday and loves to use them.  Still has trouble cocking it back between shots to load the spring but he is learning.  Once he gets some practice with these and gets a little more comfortable with the rules around them or any type of gun we are going to head over to the Gold Eagle AirSoft Range and have some fun – maybe even with a CO2 version.  (I bet we could trade them a modern website redesign for some range time.  I think any of our four kids could color something better than what they currently have….I digress)

The next day Jacob, Collin, Christopher and I went to play Q-Zar Laser Tag.  Jacob has been asking to do this for a long while and it was the perfect cap to a birthday weekend.  We had a blast playing three games.  Only one quick picture from the phone as I forgot the camera – and that was on the go in the dark with the flash.  The games were awesome.  About 30 minutes each we were bushed after each.  They scored us individually and as a team.  I think we have 15 or so on our team.  We had our tail handed to us in the first game but won the second too – I guess we were pros by then compared to the other folks coming in for a one off game….Suckers.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!

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The last thing we did was head to the corn maze figuring it wouldn’t take more than thirty minutes or so to work our way through.  We even had a system to let each of the kids, in turn, pick which direction we should turn when we came to an intersection.  As backup we had a color coded map, blue and red, that when viewed with 3D glasses revealed the correct path out of the maze assuming you could first figure out where you were at.  To help in the process there were a number of stations describing various wildlife native to Georgia that could be lined up with the map.  All this was well and good until the sun went down and we learned quickly that the meager light of our iPhone was just not enough to illuminate the map so that the harmonious path to freedom could be viewed.  We tried for a while, a long while, and finally had to stumble into track down one of the staff who continuously roamed through the maze and ask them for some direction.  We likely could have worked it out eventually but we had to head back to civilization so that we could feed our army and put them down to rest.  Still a lot of fun.  Next time though I think flashlights are in order – flashlights, energy bars and water….no excuses!

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The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless.  The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold.  Great times ensued !!!

It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.

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The first part of the show was what I would call a typical elementary school music class presentation. Each of the kids in the third grade, all dressed the same, were lined up on a raised platform and sang a few songs for onlooking, camera happy parents. The second part was nothing I would have expected. We had to leave the cafeteria, the location of the first event, and head to the gym. Parents were situated around the edges while the kids populated the center, spaced nicely apart. Now I thought we were going in here for a “dance” were we might get to spend some time doing mommy-son or daddy-son dances but that certainly wasn’t the case.

The first song they danced to – and i do mean danced – was Michael Jackson’s “Thriller Night”. It was amazing fun. I would have never expected this from a third grader class. They all knew the moves and danced in unison from their assigned spots. Jacob was full of energy and fantastic to watch. He was situated at the very end of the gym somewhat in a row by himself and he took advantage of the space to show off his moves. The second dance was the “school dance”, the Berkeley Lake Bear Shuffle. I didn’t know schools had dances…and well maybe they shouldn’t…the kids had fun with it jumping in circles for a few minutes. The last one was also not expected – The Macarena – seriously. I would never have believed it had I not seen it. Forty or more kids dancing to the beat of the song and doing the moves right along with it.

Once the kids were done we got to come out and dance the Macarena with them – a couple of drinks and we could have made this a good night!

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