7 Quick Takes-Almost Too Late

-1-

The busyness continues, and I'm just not finding time to organize my thoughts and write them. If all goes as planned, we will be in Asia the beginning of November. Never mind that we have a house two sell, eight years of marriage and three kids worth of stuff to go through, visas to obtain, and any number of other things to accomplish by then. Oh, and we need to find good time to spend with family and process this whole moving thing.

-2-

That leads to take number two, in which I tell you that I am not sleeping well...at all. For some of you this may be normal, but not for me. Even when I have a newborn waking me up multiple times at night, I sleep exceptionally well. In fact, sometimes my husband has to wake me up to tell me a baby is crying. All three of my kids sleep through the night now, and I have always been one to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and not wake up until the alarm (or a child) wakes me. This lack of sleep due to stress is new for me, and I am not handling it well at all. Any suggestions other than just drinking lots of caffeinated drinks? Help, anyone?

-3-

On a brighter note, we spent Labor Day weekend in the mountains and took Monday totally off from moving/support raising/totally uprooting our lives work. It was lovely and cool and clear on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and we stopped at my favorite apple orchard (definitely the most scenic in the world) for some apples. We've already made applesauce and will be doing apple butter and pie tomorrow. Yum!

-4-

I have been thinking a lot of deep thoughts lately, but I just haven't had time to process them in writing. I have been thinking about how we spend so much time living our lives for an audience and documenting them that we don't actually live them. With blogs and digital photography and Facebook and Twitter, even those of us who try to avoid it often end up spending more time thinking about how to present our lives to others than actually living them. Because I have spent so much of the summer having to live in the here and now and not even having a moment to consider blogging or taking pictures or updating Facebook, I am realizing how much better life is without all of that. I think the generation becoming adults right now is growing up more narcissistic than any before because none of us have thought through how to use this new technology well. I heard about this book on NPR the other day, and would love other good resources that discuss how to live well without becoming a luddite and rejecting all technology.

-5-

I've also been thinking about Muslims in America. I want to hate that crazy preacher in Florida who wants to burn copies of the Qu'ran. I want to hate him, but that would make me just as bad as he is. So instead I want to be like Catherine, who is finding ways to reach out to her Muslim neighbors. But can I still be mad at 24-hour news media? If it weren't for their need to have something to report on, the Qu'ran burners would not have national coverage, and the hatred that they are showing would not be the fuel for more hatred, toward Muslims or toward Christians. I'm pretty sure the Jesus I follow said something about loving my neighbor. In fact, He even said something about loving my enemy...I guess that includes the guy in Florida as much as it does the 9/11 hijackers and even the news media.

-6-

On the parenting front, I have loved this article from Leila of Like Mother, Like Daughter (whose blog you really must subscribe to). Her parenting articles (and others as well) are so sensible and down to earth. This one was even better. I especially liked the alternate version of Ma Ingalls telling Laura to go in the house when there was a bear:

Today's child, in the false comfortable world of prosperity where parents think they have the luxury of listening to "experts" (who have no obedient children themselves), would cause this scenario:

"Laura, get inside!"

"Why?"

"Sweetie, get inside, please. Mommy needs you to get inside. Mommy doesn't want to scare you, but there's a big bear and she needs you to make a good choice now and do what she says."

"Will you buy me a treat?"

"Yes, sweetie, please, go inside."

"Where's Daddy?"

"Mommy knows you have questions, and that's very smart of you. I'm so proud of you. Please go inside now."

"He's never here! Why isn't he here? You TOLD me he'd be here!"

"Sweetie, when you argue with me, you are making a bad choice. What did we say about bad choices? Now, you'll have a time-out if you don't do what I say..."

Meanwhile, the bear eats them.

Why? Because Mommy is so patient that she allowed every interaction with her child to be an exchange between equals rather than a strong wall that a child can't breach. For her own sake.

My husband and I took her advice on having obedience practice, and it has worked wonders. We randomly ask the boys to run to the middle of the room and stand on one foot or hide behind the curtains. They do it the first time we ask because it is so funny, but the great thing is that they really caught on and started obeying the first time we asked them to pick up their toys or do something helpful for us. It was...well...wonderful.

-7-

On a purely frivolous note, my team plays Oregon tomorrow. We are totally outmatched. But we are playing at home, which is an intimidating place for even number 7. It could be an upset. I can always hope...

Just Five Days...

...not that I have an obsession or anything...

Other Things

Yeah, I'm still alive...just learning that some things need to take a backseat for awhile so that I can enjoy life here and not just survive it.

So I am busy reading this and this and this...all well worth your time. And I am purging and cleaning and organizing and preparing. Oh, and of course checking ESPN every few hours to find out the latest news about my team. Also spending a lot of time praying for this and for my cousin who landed in Haiti just in time to see the airport collapse and is at an orphanage right now. Mostly, I am trying to enjoy my boys some more and invest in them while they are young enough to let me.

I will check in every once in awhile and hope to use this space to contemplate Lent a bit. I'm still reading your blogs, even if not commenting. Wishing you a lovely winter!

7 Quick Takes-I Miss This Blog!

I miss writing and processing and using this space to help me think more clearly! But life is just so very busy now that Linus is on the move. I'm grateful more than ever these days for Quick Takes on Fridays. Otherwise, I might never get a post up. Head on over to Jen's blog for more Quick Takes.

1

We have recently discovered Howard Pyle's books here in the TwoSquare household. Have you read him? If you have boys in your home, you really must. (Recommendations for other good boy books are appreciated!) We are reading Men of Iron aloud right now, and Calvin loves it. He walks around all day speaking in this lovely antiquated language. "Nay, mother, I will not do that, quoth he." It's hilarious, except that he thinks it's clever to say "no" to us this way.

2

We discovered Pyle because we were looking for good versions of the King Arthur legend for Calvin. It seems the space obsession is fading, and we are into all things King Arthur around here. I am excited about the possibilities here. A medieval themed dinner, a knight's quest party for some boys, and making swords with Daddy are all possibilities. This is what my husband has been waiting for since Calvin was born. Considering he owns swords and chain mail, is it so surprising?

3

It has been raining for three days here, and today is likely to be another one. Over four inches of cold, miserable rain, three days stuck in our tiny house, and a baby brother who needs some bit of quiet to nap made for some restless boys. So yesterday we pulled out the couch bed, popped some popcorn and watched movies for the afternoon. It was SO good for me to just enjoy being with my boys and stop worrying about all that needs to be done around here. SO GOOD. I need more of that.

4

You may be noticing that these snippets of family life don't include a lot of real homeschooling. I think I am already a homeschool failure. I certainly don't think we are doing what works for our family. I scrapped any plans I had and am starting to pay attention to how we work as a family and how my boys learn best. Unschooling is seeming more and more appealing, combined with some more structured classical learning when they get older. Is that even possible?

5

One schooling thing that is working is Chinese Preschool. For so long I wondered what we were paying the tuition for, but in the past few weeks, both Calvin and Hobbes have discovered the fun of showing off their Chinese for us. I often hear them singing Chinese songs and using Chinese words around one another, and they are finally willing to speak it for us. I am amazed how kids learn a second language so intuitively. I studied this, so I should know it. But seeing it in real life is so fascinating!

6

Advent is in less than three weeks. Are you ready? I ordered a few new Christmas books for the kids, and I found a couple of Advent activity books that I may try to use. We are planning to do our usual Jesse Tree and other Advent traditions. Check out this post and this one and this one if you are interested in knowing what we do around here. And this post tells what we do about Santa. Let me know what you're doing, too!

7

So...not that anyone but me cares....but things aren't looking so good for Tennessee's football players. I have long thought the quality of the players reflected the caliber of the coach, his ability to inspire discipline and hard work and his modeling of a life of integrity. It will be interesting to see if this current disaster is a reflection of the way things are going to be at UT under our new coach. I sure hope not. I'd hate to be ashamed to wear my orange.

A Pilgrimage and Some Calvinisms

So, I have a good excuse for not being around this weekend. Saturday night, after nine years of talking about it, I finally took my husband to watch my team at the 8th Wonder of the World. All three boys came with us, and though it was exhausting, it was totally worth it. The weather was perfect, our team won, and the boys loved it. Even Linus was too excited to sleep.

Watching Calvin was even more fun than watching the game. He is definitely excited about football right now, and when we suggested leaving with six minutes left to go and a score of 56-28, he exclaimed, "But we can't go! A LOT can happen in six minutes!" (Fortunately for the Vols, a lot didn't happen.)

...

I don't have time to write much other than that, what with needing to catch up on my sleep. (Twelve hours of driving in three days, a weekend away from home, and boys off any semblance of a sleeping schedule have done me in for the time being.) So I leave you with some Calvinisms.


Angry at something that didn't go his way: "I'm not just a little bit sad! This is a much bigger sad. I am MEGA SAD!"

When I asked him if he would be warm enough in his t-shirt outside this evening: "I won't get COLD; it's a Star Wars shirt!"

Enjoying the thrills of cable television at my mom's (ESPN, anyway) and watching some NBA clips (which we have obviously never watched before): "Look, Mommy, those hoops are really short!" "No, Calvin, those men are just really tall."

After listening to me rant about the terrible traffic on our drive over Friday: "Mommy, I just prayed for God to get you out of this terrible traffic."

...

I have so many things on my mind that I would love to write about now, but they will have to wait. Until then, leave a comment, even if you usually don't, and let me know what's going on in your corner of the blogosphere. Peace.

Excuse Me...

...while I watch some football. First Saturday of the season. Best day of the year.

7 Quick Takes-What's Working Right Now

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

My brain is slowly atrophying. I am so busy with mothering stuff and homemaking stuff and moving overseas-support raising stuff that I am finding it hard to read or to keep up with current events or even to watch movies. Certainly, I am not finding time to write about any of those things. All that to say that this is yet another boring parenting post. But some of you might find it interesting or at least be able to weigh in on some of it. If you could care less about parenting, just skip to number 7 for what's really important.

1. Attentiveness. Responsibility. Respect. A friend of mine recently mentioned these as three character traits that are the focus of the Christian, classical school where her husband teaches. I thought they were pretty good words for what we want to foster around home as well, and they seem to encompass most of the problem areas of behavior. So the boys and I made a poster with those three words, talked about what they meant, and drew pictures and wrote some ideas under each word. It's great to have key concepts to point out ("Calvin, is that showing respect?") that the boys can then attach to certain behaviors.

2. Reward charts. I resisted them for so long because I so snottily assumed they would teach my kids to work for external reward and/or to be people pleasers. Know what? Those things are okay! They are how kids are wired, and with maturity comes a greater pull to internal gratification. In the meantime, we have two charts with space shuttles in the corner, blasting off from Earth and following a trail through the solar system to Pluto. Once all of the dots on the trail are covered with star stickers and the shuttles reach Pluto, the boys get a treat. Each time I see them making a special effort to be attentive, responsible, or respectful without having to be asked and/or without complaining, they get a star. Calvin is especially into it, and Hobbes is because his brother is.

3. M&M's for dinner. Okay, I'm not really feeding the boys candy for dinner, but this is another reward system that is working for us. During some meals, when I want the boys to work on a particular table manner, like staying in their seats or, heaven forbid, eating with utensils instead of hands, I put five M&M's on the table for each of them. When they do whatever we are working on avoiding, I take a candy away. They get to eat whatever pieces are left at the end of the meal. Sometimes Hobbes says he didn't want candy anyway, so I am not sure this external reward thing is as effective with him.

4. Not-so-baby food. Linus still has not developed the coordination to feed himself, has no teeth, and is constantly hungry, like a linebacker. My only solution has been using this food mill to grind up our dinners whenever possible and feed them to him. It is the only way to get enough food into him without sitting there for hours. He is still always hungry and nursing every three hours during the day, but we are slowly figuring out how to feed him.

5. Common Sense Advice. Have I mentioned my new favorite blog? Go check out Like Mother, Like Daughter for some fantastic common sense, mommy-guilt-free advice about parenting and homemaking. Her worksheets on the sidebar are excellent. Really, delete all other parenting blogs from your reader and read hers. It is SO refreshing.

6. Homeschool. Yep, I'm giving it a try. Calvin loves Saxon math, but may be done with the first grade curriculum before Christmas at this pace. He begs to do more each day. I am hoping to get into a morning routine of doing the calendar and weather and daily/weekly schedule. Since we have a small house, I decided to make a small, portable "bulletin board" out of a pocket folder. I know this idea isn't original, but I thought I would throw it out there. I will do the calendar and weather on one side of the inside and the schedule on the other. I plan to use a combination of sticky notes and velcro tabs for attaching the month, day, weather, and schedule cards to the sides, storing the extra pieces in the folder pockets. I'll let you know how it goes.

7. Football. More important than the previous 6 points. The season starts tomorrow. Go Vols!

Milk Madness

In the part of the country I currently call home, people get a little crazy around the month of March. In fact, some may describe their sickness as a sort of madness, March madness. Fortunately, I am not one of those people. I get crazy about sports alright, but my madness comes in the Fall, when the best sport of all is played. (And before my basketball loving readers can jump in, I do realize that football would be much better with a playoff system. Still, every game counts in football, which makes it much more exciting!)

But this post is not about basketball, or football. No, I am here today to talk about milk. It seems that the babe is not gaining enough weight as of his two month appointment. Our guess is that my milk supply is low. Now, I can't imagine why, unless having feedings constantly interrupted by two older boys fighting over toys has something to do with it. That, along with having a baby with mild reflux and serious colic, has led to some milk-flow issues. Thankfully, he IS still gaining weight, but his curve is dropping.

Isn't this every nursing mother's nightmare? I have had two good nursers who gained weight well, so this is new territory for me. I had cut out dairy in hope that it would help his colic, but that often left me feeling hungry and unable to get enough calories. In trying to help my baby, I may have actually hurt him. I am not sure the dairy thing is even the cause of his colic. I guess that means I am saying "so long" to the dairy fast for Lent.

While I stock up on ice cream and cheese, I am also settling in for what my friend calls "nurse-apalooza." We are going back to the newborn days of nursing every hour or hour and a half. Basically, whenever I can, I am going to have that boy eating in hopes of getting my supply up. I am not looking forward to all I will have to let go (cleaning, laundry, getting anything done, leaving the house), but he's worth it. I am not desperate enough yet to go with formula, and I am going to try my best to avoid it. If he really starts getting fussy or actually losing weight, then I will consider it.

In the meantime, excuse me if I don't write for awhile. I've got a baby to feed. Now if only there were some good sports to watch on TV...

But It Can Get Worse

Update: My friend, Catherine, tells me that Mr. Rogers is gone from all PBS stations. Please consider e-mailing your local PBS station and the national organization, asking them to return the best children's show on television. (Go to PBSkids.org and send an e-mail from the "help" page.) I truly cannot imagine my kids growing up without Fred Rogers' compassionate, respectful, and loving way of interacting with children. It just makes me sooooo sad.

Unfortunately, things have gone downhill since yesterday.

My team lost. In overtime. With a missed field goal. To and unranked team. They looked terrible.

And then I just discovered that Mr. Rogers is no longer being shown on our local PBS station. No Mr.Rogers?!?!? It makes me sad to think my kids suddenly won't have access to him anymore. We can't buy DVD's because Mr.Rogers is only available on PBS, no videos for sale. I am almost as sad as I was when I found out he died. If you can't imagine being sad about losing Mr. Rogers, here's why I love him.

Orange Shirts, Football, and Free Chick-fil-A...Does it get any better?

That's right folks. Today is it, the day everyone in my family is forced to wear orange and prepare for the opening of my beloved Vols football season. It's been a good day so far. The boys slept late. I spent the morning on Skype with a dear friend who lives overseas. And we just returned from some Labor Day shopping and a fun lunch. After naps we are headed to a cookout and swim party with church before coming home to prepare for Tennessee vs. UCLA tonight.

What a sight we were today, all four of us wearing bright, obnoxious, lovely orange as we strolled through Babies 'R' Us to buy Calvin a new booster seat for the car. Then we headed to Chick-fil-A for our free chicken strips. If you are near a Chick-fil-A and love it as much as we do, put on your team gear and head over for a free 3-pack of strips.

There's nothing a pregnant mama likes better than having her husband home on a Monday and getting an almost free lunch out! Except of course, watching her team win tonight...Oh, I hope they do!

Wish that I was on old Rocky Top...

Farmer's Market and Football

Time was when I would wake up early on this particular Saturday morning of the year with one thing on my mind...college football! I still think this is the best time of the year. I love the opening of the football season. But since my Vols don't play until Monday this week, I was freed up to actually think about going to the market. I almost didn't make it; this baby is doing me in. I woke up at 2:30 this morning feeling like my stomach was going to digest itself if I didn't put some food in it. Needless to say, getting up early to go to the market was not first on this pregnant mommy's mind. But since I hadn't been able to go in a few weeks, I made myself do it.

And I was so glad I did. I always come home from the market in a good mood with a basket full of treasures. This week, I came home with my usual batard, farmer's cheese, and pastries for breakfast and lunch. I also bought two fresh chickens, as we'll be out of town next Saturday and unable to get one. Corn, arugula, radishes, homemade raisins (out of this world good!), radishes, eggs, melon, peaches and mozarella also found their way home with me. I picked up some eggplant and red pepper to add to my CSA goodies this week for some ratatouille.

My favorite finds are always the new ones. This week I stopped by the goat cheese guy's booth and talked to him a bit about his operation. My mother-in-law used to keep dairy goats, and when she lived in France for a few years, she took a cheese making class at a genuine French dairy farm in the countryside. I picked up a bit of chevre for her, though the feta and cheddar were tempting, too. I also found out that they host a dinner at the goat farm once a month. A local chef who uses their cheese gets invited to cook a multi-course meal for a few lucky folks in the old farmhouse. What a great date night when we have some money!

As I was leaving, I had $2 left to spend, so I decided to pick up a treat for the boys. The little guy in the photo (and his friend who is napping with Hobbes) just had to come home with me, finger puppets crafted by a local artisan. I rarely have money left to buy crafts or soaps or any of the fun things that are sold at the market, but these were in my budget. The boys loved them! What made it's way into your basket this week? Write a post and go on over to Kerry's blog to link to the Farmer's market report.

Counting Down

We are doing a lot of counting down around the TwoSquare household these days. Calvin's recent obsession with space travel (which is also Hobbes' obsession by default) means that I hear "5-4-3-2-1 blast off!" at least 462 times a day. But we are counting down to other things as well, which though not as exciting as a trip to Pluto, are still mostly fun.

24 hours until we head to the beach for some end of summer fun

10 days until my husband starts his grad classes for the Fall and life gets crazy

$2.75 left to earn until Calvin can buy his book

16 days until Calvin returns to Chinese school and I send Hobbes off to join him...only two mornings a week, but I'm not sure I'm ready...

23 days until kickoff...Go Vols!

6 weeks until the mornings begin to smell like Fall...a girl can be hopeful

3 1/2 weeks until we fly up north to reconnect with dear friends

And most overwhelming of all...

20 weeks (or somewhere thereabouts) until a third baby makes its appearance into the TwoSquare household...

That's right folks. Despite my controlling nature when it comes to childbearing and my questions about my adequacy as a mother, I find myself grateful to have been given this gift once again. Scared to death, but grateful. I was slow to announce it here because my miscarriage in the Spring left me anxious. I probably won't write much about it for now. I have sort of enjoyed keeping one area of my life baby-free for the time being. But now that he/she is kicking and rolling around, I figured it was time to let the secret out. Besides, January 1st will be here before I know it, and y'all might wonder about my honesty on this blog if I failed to announce anything until then. Here's hoping for an early delivery (though not too early) to avoid paying two deductibles!

A Three-Year-Old Teenager

Today was a bad day. Just a bad day. It will only get worse if LSU loses the BCS Championship tonight. I fear I am becoming the mom I never wanted to be. My kids were definitely not the children I wanted them to be. There was so much yelling and grabbing and biting and fussing. But with my boys around there is always a funny story to tell. Calvin especially has a flair for the dramatic.

At one point today, Calvin was in time out for biting his brother. I was sitting in the same room, holding an injured Hobbes, whose sobbing was a bit overkill for the actual pain inflicted. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, my little thespian began screaming from his time out spot, "You are ruining my life! Mommy, you are ruining my life!" I thought I had at least ten more years until I started hearing words like that. I don't even know where he heard them. Cars? Really, there are a lot of things that he hears from us and repeats that I wish he didn't, but I don't recall either of us ever saying that.

Regardless of where he heard it, I am sure that a two-minute time out did not ruin his life. Now, a football game? That might do it.

LSU just took the lead. Maybe neither of our lives are ruined.

On the eighth day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me, a victory for Tennessee. Way to go Vols! I do have to say that Wisconsin was an opponent I can respect. Their team played with dignity, and their quarterback was amazing. He took three hits that would have knocked many a QB out of the game, AND he injured his knee and hand. He played almost the whole game after that! That's one tough guy.

And in other news, it seems I am taking an unannounced blogging break during the twelve days of Christmas. While the rest of you are packing up your trees, we Anglicans and other liturgical types are still reveling in the feast. My kids even get a little present for each of the twelve days. We are enjoying my husband's extended time off and good time with family here and in Tennessee. Aren't you jealous? I hope your holidays were wonderful, too.

I'll be back after Epiphany. Calvin starts Chinese preschool on Thursday, so I am sure that we will have lots of fun stories, not to mention more time for blogging while he is at school!

Happy New Year to all!

Football Hangover

I have been nursing a football injury today and recovering from an exhausting day of football watching. No worries, it's just a bruised hand, and I should be completely better by the time the SEC championship game comes around. (Feel free to laugh.)

As I slammed my fist into hard objects and watched my team play into four overtimes yesterday (and win!!!), I commented that I would hate to be the kicker. Games so often come down to a field goal or an extra point, especially in overtime. Having just made that observation, I read this post by my friend Farrah. It seems I am a football kicker, or at least a lot like one. I'd love to hear what you think, and I'm sure my friend would, too. Go on over and add your thoughts on the pressures of motherhood.

And don't forget my giveaway! All you need to do is leave a comment on my post with your e-mail address if I don't have access to it through your blog.

It's Like Getting TiVo for Free!

We were driving back from a beautiful day in the mountains yesterday (more about that later), so I missed my team’s game. We don’t get cable anyway, so I would have had to go to my in-laws’ house to watch it. But the football gods were good to me. I am so in love with ESPN 360! Needless to say, I was thrilled when I realized that the crude setup of the computer on the coffee table and the TV tuned to baseball would allow me to watch two sporting events at the same time. This Luddite had finally arrived in the 21st century.

I was able to watch the football game, every tense second of it, and scream my head off while throwing sharp objects, all after my kids were in bed. And my husband was able to check the final score before I had finished the game in case he needed to prepare for the worst.

Some of you may be media junkies who wouldn’t settle for the crude picture on a computer screen when you can have PIP on your TV, but I learned last night that I can only handle so much easily accessible media. You see, ever since Hobbes’ ball obsession got me hooked on the playoffs, I have been inexplicably emotional over the World Series. Colorado losing makes me want to cry, and I don’t even like baseball! My extreme sadness over the baseball game and intense excitement over the football game were more than I could handle. My husband wisely made me turn the TV off. People may be able to watch NFL, record the NASCAR race, and occasionally check on the golf tournament while reading the Sunday paper and checking their e-mail, but I have discovered that I am not one of those.

So while I am extremely grateful that ESPN found a way to keep me from missing my team’s games, this house will stay cable, TiVo, and HD TV free for a while to come. Just don’t take my high speed internet!

They're My Boys

It's been a bad night. When I say my kids regularly sleep until eight in the morning, you may think I live in mother wonderland. Oh, how I wish! If he takes a nap, Calvin can be awake until 10 or 11, not always out of his bed, just awake. And Hobbes has been having an especially difficult time going to bed as of late. It was 10:45 before they were both asleep tonight. So here I sit with a Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale and a can of peanuts, nursing my frayed nerves while watching the Rockies lose. I only watch about 7 games of baseball a year, but somehow, watching those nice boys from Colorado lose to the Red Sox (who are second only to the Yankees in terms of sports evil in my book) is more than my fragile emotional state can take.

I expected Calvin to be up until late since he took a good nap today, but I had no idea what I was in for with Hobbes. His love of all things involving "baw" continues, but the lack of midweek football makes life difficult. Luckily for us, we have baseball. I allowed him to watch a bit while I rocked him tonight, and when I put him in his crib, he cried for an hour and a half because he was angry at missing ball on TV. I finally gave in and brought him back out, but as soon as he drifted off, I heard a choking noise. A screaming Calvin came running from his room at 10:30 having swallowed a nickel he took to bed with him. You can comment on my poor parenting skills all you want. All I know is that I was pretty sure I was going to lose it at that point. My amazing husband handled that ordeal, even fishing the lost nickel out of the toilet when Calvin spit it up, and I went back to ball and Hobbes, who finally drifted off. I only had to carry him back to the rocking chair twice before I could lay him down without waking him. So now you see why waking at eight in the morning doesn't mean my kids are getting a ton of sleep.

In an attempt to redeem the night, I share two stories that remind me how my boys really are all mine, so fun to parent, even if they are night owls like their daddy.

I mentioned that it was time for bed on Monday night and went back to cleaning up the kitchen. When I turned around, Hobbes was walking up with his blanket in one hand and my copy of Sports Illustrated in the other, with cries of "baw." He just needs his comfort items to sleep, football and blankie. He has been reading SI all week, flipping through for football pictures. That's my boy!

When we were playing in the boys' room this week, I decided to put on some music. I asked Calvin if he would like to listen to Louis Armstrong, figuring it was time to introduce him to some different music. He declined, but what do you think he chose instead? Not the Cars soundtrack, not Veggie Tales. My dear, sweet boy looked me right in the eye and said, "Lyle Lovett, please, Mommy." That's my boy!

They're my boys. But I sure am glad they are asleep.

College Football High

Kudos to LSU and Florida for playing the best football game I have seen all season, a grueling, grinding, battle to the finish. I was so tense the whole time, and it wasn't even my team playing! And thanks to Stanford for defeating USC and helping to prove that preseason rankings are pointless and unfair and that the SEC really is the best conference in the nation. No contest.

I should mention that I didn't see the Appalachian State-Michigan game earlier this season, so I can't say how it compares play-for-play with last night's game. Certainly, it was the biggest upset in recent college football history and maybe ever. If you read my blog, you know that I loved seeing a team from Appalachia beat up on a Big Ten school. Go Mountaineers!

A Proud Parenting Moment

My friend, Catherine, posted some lovely pictures of her family enjoying Fall. Though it continues to be miserably and unseasonably hot here (86 today and 90 tomorrow), we are doing our best to get in the spirit of Autumn. We took a family hiking trip this morning at a local state park, and Calvin and Hobbes loved being outside. My mountain girl heart was happy, too. But here is what made me even happier.

On the way home, we stopped for a late lunch and a peek in a really fun toy store. We kept talking about needing to get home for mommy's football game. That's right, I am the sports fan in the family. When we got in the car, Hobbes kept yelling for "baw" (I can't do justice to his adorable Southern drawl combined with a lack of final consonants), and we finally turned the radio to a football broadcast. I thought he was asleep when I pulled in the driveway, but as soon as the van stopped, I heard another "baw" from the backseat. We set him on the driveway, and he went racing toward the door.

Though it was naptime, I decided to rock him a bit while we watched the beginning of the game. After our first touchdown, I put him in his crib, and immediately after I shut the door, I heard pitiful cries of "bawwww...bawwww...." coming from his room. I gave in and brought him back out. We rocked and watched my team doing well, for once, and his "baw"'s became more and more feeble as he drifted off to sleep to the sounds of our fight song. Nothing could make this Southern football fanatic mommy happier than putting her babe to sleep to the beautiful sound of helmet-on-helmet. Now if only my team will make me as happy...