eternally chaotic

Christmas this year introduced a new member to our family named Red.  And NO to those of you thinking the unthinkable – the family head count remains at a solid seven, including the dog.  This little persons name, after much enthusiastically and somewhat fanatical debate among existing family members was determined to be “Red”.  Red the Christmas Elf.  He would only be around for a few weeks out of the year, didn’t eat much and pretty much remained stationary throughout the day – at some point during the day, when our eyes were cast elsewhere, he would just vanish until the next morning.  Red had some specific rules about being touched or bothered as well – certainly the kids were to strictly forbidden to touch him and to leave him alone lest he lose his observational and somewhat magical powers granted by the spirit that is Christmas.  Red’s job was to cast a watchful eye upon his family, take score of the good versus bad and report back to some higher power a recommendation as to which list each household member might befit.  Somehow during his strictly “observational” process he would always find a way to cause mischief and leave a mess.

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.

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A recent foray into the kids school yesterday to return a book bag overlooked by its rightful owner upon exiting the van while hastily headed to stand in a magical line.  Said book bag in hand I signed into school and applied my sticky name badge identifying myself as non-hostile.  It was then that I noticed an unusually large number of kids standing in line around a corner, a destination somewhere unseen, and sound decibel levels near rock concert pandemonium.  Earlier the kids were excited about purchasing a special pencil at the book store before class so I figured Piper, the rightful owner of the abandoned book bag, would be in line somewhere.  Searching, I was passed by kid after kid, each with a pencil in hand, or tucked up under their nose, all sniffing heftily.  The line continued down a hall and around a corner and at the end I saw the destination of each of the queued – an ordinary looking table, attended by ordinary looking teachers, selling ordinary looking pencils.  But wait.  The kids near the front of the line were vibrating with joy and excitement.  Looking past each ahead with both envy and hatred that they might reach their destination first and by chance deplete the stockpile of tabled treasure.  I heard then from the peddlers up ahead, a dreadful announcement, “Only three left”, followed by a roar of elementary curses and a crushing push from those in line trying to rush the table in a last ditch effort to get their clammy hands on the last of the vehicles of their writing desire, the type of rush you would expect when Great White uses pyrotechnics on stage.  It was at this moment that I learned of the connection between this now hysterical line and what our kids had been robbing piggy banks and having lucid dreams for.  Smencils.  These crafty little gems things are drugs but for entry level fiends.  These magical little rolls of graphite surrounded by wood and topped with a squishy colored eraser might as well be laced with Florida Snow or Fatty perfectly disguised for private consumption for the level of obsession they insight.  The line alone to purchase one of these was on par with how the Mac-ites enthusiastically lines up days ahead to offer paper donations to their fruity deity.  I finally caught up to my bag-less princess and her brother skipping their way to class from the now broken line of envious onlookers.  They were not in the lucky bunch to get a hit but both were optimistic that the next time the peddler came to bear gifts that they too might be able to fly.

The kids are back in school, summer is at its height and the daily scheduled grind has taken hold.  Thank goodness for the break brought by Labor Day.  We had not ambitious plans and wanted nothing other than to spend some time with the kids and enjoy our time off.  There was plenty to do however that we talked about through the summer but just couldn’t fit in so we planned to take full advantage of our few days of free time and get in some activities with the CoTC.  Specifically we wanted to see the DragonCon Parade, Atlanta Aquarium and Stone Mountain Laser Show.

DragonCon was back in town and while I would have preferred to have purchased tickets and gone sightseeing at the actual show, it was cost prohibitive to take all the kids – even if the cost was right there was no way I was taking them to wait for tickets in the six hour line that literally wrapped around the block.  The parade was a good second and something I had never seen as well.  The kids loved it.  We found a nice spot to watch above the road and behind some glass that we were able to squeeze in to – certainly better than being at ground level with four munchkins that couldn’t see over a shrubbery.  The costumes were pretty awesome and all of us had our favorites.  Jacob took the only pictures with his camera and the rest of us just soaked it in.

Next up was a walk to the Atlanta Aquarium.  We had been planning to take the kids here all summer but just couldn’t find the time to do it.  Labor Day probably wasn’t the wisest choice in timing though as it was packed wall to wall with people.  Crazy.  Oh well, tickets had been purchased already online so at the very least we were able to bypass the ridiculously long entry line and head straight in.  Having been many times in the past we were hoping to see some of the new exhibits that had been added such as the dolphins but they were not open unless you purchased another ticket specifically to view them.  We instead took our time strolling from room to room and soaking up the sites.  Many times just sitting in front of a particular wall and watching everything swim around.  We managed to time our trip to the main viewing room of the large tank in time for the feeding of the massive whale sharks.  The biologist would drop buckets of krill onto the surface and the whales would basically inhale massive amounts of water and filter it through their gills each eating twenty pounds or so of these obviously delicious morsels per bite.

We did not end up going to Stone Mountain as it started raining early in the evening.  With the laser light show changing this year to something new and supposedly now in a type of 3-D where it looks like they are inside of the mountain we were bummed and will hopefully get to check it out before the season ends.

All in all a great weekend with the family.  Lots of time away from the house but also plenty of time at home to just take it easy and chill.

The kids are challenged by their school to read, read, and read even more.  All in an effort to get them reading at or above the state mandated reading recommendations for their age group and class.  The program is called “Read to Succeed” and requires the kids to read six hours of material over two months.  We take the program a step farther and turn reading into a nightly bedtime requirement.  Thirty minutes before lights out the CoTC head up to their rooms, grab their latest chapter book, board book, Lego magazine, game manual, or whatever might float their fancy for the evening and partake in some serious forced leisure time.  More often than not they pass through several books during this time and certainly rack up more hours than required by the program.  The reward for this challenge is a free ticket to Six Flags Over Georgia.  That is quite a great deal for us as well since kids tickets run $45 and adult tickets are $54.  Lump that into a quick buy one get one free coupon for Carol and I and we end up getting a day of fun for something we would enforce regardless of the program requirements.

Our family outing to partake in combating Georgia heat exhaustion while getting our thrills happened to be this weekend.  Everyone was excited and pumped to go.  We spent the evening prior with the boys watching various rides on YouTube so that they knew what they were getting into if they decided to ride some “real” roller coasters.  Isaac thought there were all cool but wanted nothing to do with actually riding one.  Jacob adamantly wanted to ride the Mind Bender.  The girls had recently been to Kings Island in Ohio with Grandma and Grandpa and were psyched as well to see what Six Flags had to offer.  Weather checked, bag of snacks and water packed, sunscreen applied, we headed out toward adventure.

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Upon request the now 6 year old princess Piper wanted to celebrate her special day with a Breakfast Brunch for family and friend.  Pancakes were a must, and as we have learned they are a large part of every up and coming princess’ diet.  The pancakes as were liberal helpings of syrup, scrambled eggs, bacon, yogurt and fruit.  A morning feast if you ask the cook.  There was even an option to build your very own BLTs, complete with bread and mayo for those party goers so inclined.

After breakfast was consumed and we all had full bellies it was time to make things official.  Once we stopped singing Piper made her wish and tried and tried to blow out the candles.  Must have been some wish….

She didn’t want to waste any time getting to the gifts (and a few of her guests had to leave early) so we skipped the cake and headed for the treasure.  Plus I think everyone’s bellies were still full from pancakes and BLTs.  She had been telling everyone that all she wanted for her birthday was Pet Shop, My Little Pony and Zu-Zu Pet toys.  Well they certainly listened and delivered and Piper was overly excited and thankful.  After each gift she ran across the room and gave hugs and kisses and thank yous to everyone.  Another thing that she had been asking for was “girlie” games for her Game Boy or one of the other game systems around the house.  Most of what we have (and most of what is out there) is focused either on some generic market or boys – well she wanted girl stuff.  ”Uncle” John delivered along with Carol and I at helping with this fix.  In particular Carol found a copy of a My Little Pony game for the Game Boy, something she had been asking for over and over for the past few months.

Auntie Autumn picked up a hula-hoop as part of her gift.  Piper wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to do with it so Autumn decided to demonstrate for her.  Piper still didn’t give it a go but it was certainly worth the entertainment.

The best part though was when Piper received a Justin Bieber book.  I didn’t even think she knew who he was, let alone cared.  Wow!  Can a dad be wrong or totally oblivious.  Piper turned into a pile of mushy fawning pre-adolescence girl, going on thirteen….I’m not sure I am ready for all that.

Happy Birthday Piper!!!

On a recent occasion I had the pleasure of greeting the kids after school when they got off of the bus.  Nothing special or unusual as the big yellow Twinkie pulled up and spit out its contents of three speed wired kidos ready for the weekend.  It was Friday after all, and the Friday before spring break at that.

Each in their own time ran up to, past me and into the house.  I was standing on the porch, leaning ever so comfortably against the railing, enjoying the spring air.  Piper however slowed as she approached and with a wry twist of her expression looked upon me as if I had materialized into some creature from ether origins.  She look not directly at me but above and beside me.  To be certain I was curious.  As she approached, ever slowing her stride with each step until she stopped before me.  Her eyes had grew large and her mouth had dropped open, a small pointy finger came up from her side and aimed at the location for which she was so quizzically focused.

“Daddy! Watch out!  There is a spider on your shoulder!  Watch out!”

All said with such despair that this thing, this monster, this wicked forbidden creature at which she peered had bared its venomous fangs and was about to end me.

I jumped to the side that rush of adrenaline surging through my veins, flushing my cheeks, focusing every sense to a heightened tingle.

Then a giggle, followed by another.  Then those monumentous words said with sheer delight that can only be delivered by a kindergartener that just got the best of her dear old dad.

“April Fools !!! Ha Ha!  There is not spider silly !!  April Fools !!!”

I definitely fell prey to a viscous creature but thankfully it wasn’t a blood sucking venomous eight legged one – although i am not sure which is worse.

Tonight was Piper’s first concert in kindergarten.  She has been excited about it for the past few weeks, continuously singing around the house and wanting to show us her “moves”.  It was very important for her to wear a formal princess dress during the performance.

In anticipation of the concert Violet has been learning the songs and moves from Piper.  Tonight all through the show she was insistent that she should be on stage performing.  It wasn’t until afterwards though that she got her chance.  Both girls wanted to get on the stage and show us one of the songs from the concert, they decided on “The Bear Went Over the Mountain” as their masterpiece.

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It was a rare treat to get some one on one time with Piper, let alone doing something new.  We took a friend up on an offer of Ice Skating and had a great time.  I cannot remember Piper ever having been on Ice before, well at least not intentionally and prepared.  She was skeptical at first – that initial step being something akin to loosing any remote sense of balance and traction with her spider little legs going every which way.  I would have love to have recorded the first moment when she stepped on the ice but both of my hands were required.  It only took a moment though and we were doing laps in the center of the rink with the other beginners – well beginners and some of those that just like to show off, spinning and twirling like the are dancing on the wind with butterflies between their toes.

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Fall and Halloween are now a touch behind us but I still wanted to share a few moments we had together at Jaemore Farms in Alto, GA in early October.  It was a perfect day for picking up pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing some festival games and generally enjoying the perfect weather.  The games were pretty cool.  Our favorite two were the Apple Sling Shot where Isaac made a bullseye and won a free pumpkin (that got to be my pumpkin) and the duck race where you had to pump a well handle to make the water flow as fast as you could so that your duck would get to the big pond on the other side the fastest – the CoTC loved this and did not want to leave.

It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing.  This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day.  It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate.  It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around

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.