"I Don't Know Where the Bottom Drawer Is!"

This was Willie's reply when I asked him why he didn't change his underwear this morning.

Phenomenal

Luke and I just attended our first parent-teacher conference. It made us feel all warm and fuzzy, like we're doing our job as parents. Or, it could be that Emmeline is just a great kid. She is aparently the most well-behaved, academically advanced kindergartener. Aw, I'm blushing! Her adorable teacher told us that she had to make a deal with Emmeline that when the class is doing flashcards, Emmeline has to count to three before she is allowed to say the answer. So cute. Emmeline will also be receiving an award for math excellence at an assembly next week. We are so proud! (Are the grandparents carrying on the tradition of sending money for good report cards?)

It is interesting, though, I wonder if, in another part of the country, Emmeline would be quite as "advanced." She has a certain advantage here, being a native English speaker. The first trimester goals for kidergarteners are realistically within Joshua's reach, so it's all relative....

In other news, Joshua is amazing us with his death defying scooter stunts, and Benjamin is amazing us with a language explosion (yay, the end of screaming is within our reach!). We have great kids!

A and B

A. Translation please: "dah op uuum!"

B. Is it possible to fall into a deep depression because baseball season is over, and Joe Torre made a deal with the Dodgers?

Halloween!

Unfortunately, Benjamin suffers from the malady of being almost two. One of the symptoms of this disease is extreme emotional swings. He started the trick-or-treating night by crying because he had to walk instead of riding in the stroller. When he realized he was getting candy, though, he warmed up quickly.

Another symptom of being almost two is being small and unnoticeable in the dark. This worked in Benjamin's favor as he let himself be lost in the crowd. To illustrate, at one home, he stood next to the homeowner as she bent down to pass out candy to the other trick-or-treaters and nonchalantly filled his candy bag. When the homeowner finally noticed him, he got more candy than the others because "look at him so cute just waiting here!" I wonder if she noticed her bowl was almost empty, or if she noticed Benjamin's candy bag dragging on the ground as he left her house!

As Benjamin got more and more comfortable, he began letting everyone know that he was Superman--"Nanan!" He also made himself at home in about three houses, just walking in the door when the homeowner went to get the candy.

All in all, the kids did well, had fun, and I'll post pictures at some later date.