Five little speckled frogs

Since Liam returned home from tae kwon do this evening, he has mostly been singing the same song: "Five little speckled frogs Sitting on a speckled log Eating the most delicious bugs Yum yum. One jumped into the pool Where it was nice and cool Now there's only four speckled frogs . . ." After one round, I asked him what 5-4 was and 4-3, etcetera. He got them all right, not surprisingly. I then asked him some addition questions, because we've done them before. I first asked, using my fingers to help, "What is 1 plus 1?" His response? "Eleven."

Celebrating Grandpa & Grandma's 60th Anniversary

Today, we celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. How cool is that? When they were married (at age 20), they had a party line (with a rotary phone), lap-style seat belts (3-points didn't come out until ten years later and then only in Volvos originally), and black-and-white photography. They raised 5 kids in a succession of communities, camped for real (tarps spread over a clothesline for a tent sometimes), traveled when they could, spent frugally, saved wisely and loved immensely.

Grandma now owns a digital camera (a gift from the grandkids), but couldn't believe how well she could hear me when I called her this summer from Alaska. They have 15 grandkids (plus spouses) and 10 great-grandkids (and of course their 5 kids and spouses) who spend as much time as possible hanging out with them, because they're really cool.

I think it's safe to say that each of us hopes to one day be just like them, having spent decades with the one they love, surrounded by the family they raised.

Perspective

I think I've mentioned this before, but Liam absolutely loves to draw. He will sit at his table or stand at mine and draw page after page after page. We have books of animals, monsters, dinosaurs, soldiers, airplanes. Today, he drew a picture of a pirate with a ship in the ocean, treasure chest with treasure. He was a little annoyed when Cole came up and drew a horse, but got over it quickly. We then had a very interesting conversation.

He showed me all the parts of his picture and ended with the horse. He said, "That's a horse, but it's far away." I asked, "How do you know that?" to which he replied, "because it's little. When things are far away, they're little, and if they're big, then they're close." When I asked who taught him that, he said Mrs Wettergren. I had no idea that they teach perspective in kindergarten, but I was very impressed.

(The horse, by the way, is the little purple squiggle on the bottom, by the pirate's right foot.)

Get low and go

Today must have been fire safety day at the schools, because both boys have talked of nothing else all evening.

Liam tells us there was a fireman at school today and they saw his fire truck on the way home. They were taught that if their clothes catch fire, they should "stop, drop, and roll" and proceeded to show me how that's done. He also told us that if you see smoke you should "get low and go" so that the bad air doesn't get in your lungs. He has inspected our house to make sure there are fire detectors and has decided that we should gather at the back of JoEllen's house. He doesn't seem convinced that the front would be better. He's a little worried that there will be a fire tonight before we can buy a ladder for their window and come up with a family emergency plan, but I think we'll be okay.

Cole seems to be getting into this, too. He told me as Liam was climbing into bed that we should stop and grow. Yes, I would like to stop growing, but I don't think that's what he meant.

We also talked about 911 this evening. Liam knows the number well. When I asked him where he lived, he said, "the white house next to the brown house." Then he decided that we should call JoEllen next door in case of an emergency to find out where Matt was. I think I got him back to 911. We're still working on the address though.

Cover your cough

All of us, aside from perhaps Sadie, have had a cold. Jeff never really got much of it, and I'm basically over it, but the boys still have the sniffles.

Yesterday at dinner, Liam announced that he had the flu and needed to be done eating. Very rarely he complains of a tummy ache and gets nauseated, so I thought that's what he meant. Not two minutes later, though, he announced that eating and sleeping is what would make him feel better, so he finished dinner and then went to bed (at 5:40). This morning, he announced that his flu was gone. (I certainly hope influenza, should he get it, treats him as well.)

Cole, on the other hand, has been coughing more today than before. At preschool, they've been working very hard at covering coughs and washing hands, so I was very impressed this afternoon when I caught him coughing into his elbow. He told me, "I catched it in my arm. See, there's more cough in there. My tummy is not full."

76 Trombones

Anyone who knows my father-in-law would not be surprised to know that my sons know the tune to "76 Trombones". Liam even knows many of the words to the first verse and sang them to me yesterday.

Jeff has talked for awhile about letting the boys watch The Music Man, but we finally got around to it today. Liam sat through most of it before getting bored, but Cole spent most of his time being in the marching band. When I got home, he was a trumpet player, or perhaps trombone. He stopped before I found the camera, and wouldn't do it again, but did pretend to play flute for awhile.