Called Up From the Minors

It's a new year, a new school semester, and Joseph has started Pre-K. He's been getting ready for weeks, finding school supplies and a backpack, practicing his letters, and learning the rules he'll need to know. Yesterday was his first day, and he was so excited to meet his teacher and get started.

(He wants you to see the monkeys on his backpack.)


I dropped off Elena first, then went back to get Joseph, since our appointment with his teacher was after the first bell had rung. Jonathan made sure he got a good breakfast and his coat on, so he was ready to go with plenty of time.


He got to explore the classroom while Ms. S. and I went over a few things. He found the play food and put things on the balance scale to see what was heavier. He didn't get to see Pablo, the class guinea pig, until later because Pablo was sleeping when we got there. His teacher took a picture of him to put on the letter board.


Here he is, ready to start his day!


After school, I picked him up and Ms. S. said he settled right in, followed all the rules, worked well with the other kids, and had a good day.

Elena's day? Not so good. She refused to do any of her work and thus lost the After-School Party on Friday that she'd earned by turning in her Christmas Break homework on time and got sent to the principal's office. Her report card was not too snappy, either. We've had serious discussions about getting our work done and doing what the teacher asks us, when the teacher asks us. She will not be starting the next Harry Potter, as we had planned, until she can show us she's doing a better job. And you know what my immediate thought was when her teacher told me what had happened? "Oh sweet gravy, I've spawned myself." Mom? How did you not kill me? 'Cause seriously, I want to know.

New Favorite

Thanks to the wonders of Harry Potter and YouTube, Elena has discovered a new favorite song--Bananaphone by Raffi. We've watched several different versions, starting with The Potter Puppet Pals (or an animated ripoff thereof), through some "skunks" (her word, I think they're actually badgers), and on to our favorite, a faster version with very simple animation. She loves the silly words, and can already sing some of it.

P.S. - You can get cell phone slipcovers, to make your very own bananaphone, here.

Done

It's ten 'til six and I'm done. It took reading along with Jonathan to get over my fear, but It's done. Wow...

Pictures of the 20th

Now that I'm feeling somewhat better (not "good," yet, just "better"), I'll fill in the gaps of our exciting evening, last Friday. First was dinner and dancing at Texas Old Town in Kyle. We invited Stephen and Cynthia to join us when we asked if they could babysit, and they graciously agreed to join the party. We didn't get fireworks since it'd been pouring rain all day, but it was still fun to get out and see friends.



Barnes&Noble was holding a two-hour party for Harry Potter, but because of the stake's we only got there for the last 30-45 minutes. I'm not sure what you can see from the picture, but that's the store way back in the packground, and we're in the closest available parking spot, 5 stores away and on the other side of the lot. It was packed!


Lots of people were in costume. This guy's is probably the best, of what we saw, though there was a really good Rita Skeeter, too.


Someone took the liberty of doctoring the countdown sign.


Here we are, book in hand, before dashing to the car to read the first chapter outloud on the way home.


It was a really, really fun night. At the Pioneer Day party we had good food, a live band, and great dancing. At the Harry Potter party I saw a friend from work, my buddy Matthew; I made a Weasley clock; everyone was really cheerful, even though it was crowded; the employees didn't look too harrassed; and the line went really quickly. If I hadn't gotten sick, I'd have been perfect. Come to think of it, I'd been feeling weird all Friday, too... I'd just assumed it was nervous excitement, but I'm not so sure, now. Ah, well. A few more days and I'll hopefully be back to normal.

Harry!!!

Our Stake Pioneer Day party was Friday night, and was very good, but we left early to get to Barnes & Noble for Harry Potter. Yes, I dressed up (Ravenclaw school robes). Yes we took pictures of us buying the book. Yes, we read the first chapter in the car on the way home (Oh. My. Good. Ness!). Yes I stayed up 'til 7am reading. It's seriously intense, folks, but I had to stop reading. *very minor spoiler warning* Harry finds a picture that Lily had sent to Sirius of baby Harry riding his first broomstick. Since I had been watching my own videos of Joseph pushing his truck around just the day before, the two become utterly inseperable. Harry was Joseph, and Joseph was Harry. All those horrible things had happened to my baby. I needed Harry to survive because he was MY baby. The emotional investment had increased a hundredfold and it was making me, literally, sick. I must have already had something viral, or eaten something questionable, though, because I actually threw up. I can count the number of times I've been that sick in the last 12 years on one hand, and three of them are pregnancy related. (No, I am not pregnant, for all those who have asked.) I haven't dared touch the book since. I'll finish it, sometime, but I need recovery time and some emotional distance first. And Jeri, I really wanted to come! Missing Tanner's big day was really hard.

Sorting

Marin asked for help sorting Sariah into a Hogwarts house in time for the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this weekend, and it made me think about my own kids. Joseph is into everything--jumping on the bed, climbing over anything that sits still, pushing his truck through the mud, giggling madly at silly faces, all that good stuff. He's a lot like Fred and George Weasley, really, so he's Gryffindor all the way. Elena's a little trickier, though. She likes to play the map puzzle on the Build-a-Bear website and knows all of the lower-48 states. She knows their names and even puts them into the right places, and has done it inside the 6 minute time limit at least once, all by herself. That's just one example of what she can do. I'd say Elena's Ravenclaw, but Hermione Granger's Gryffindor, and she's the smartest kid at Hogwarts.

Then I thought about the fact that house sorting often goes in families, so what am I? I'm not ambitious, manipulative or power-hungry enough for Slytherin. I may well be too lazy for Hufflepuff, though hard work and deliberation may not be their only defining characteristics. I'm smart, yes, but I never did that well in school because I'm, well, lazy. So does that mean I'm Gryffindor by default? Am I the Neville Longbottom of the family?

And here is my challenge to you. I want you to *honestly* assess yourself and comment here with what house you think you should be in.

**Update: Upon further reflection, I decided that Ravenclaw wouldn't care if I'm lazy since I still love learning and like having intelligent conversations on weird (esoteric?) subjects. Does that mean I'm a Ravenclaw? I don't know--there's aren't many internet tests sensitive enough. Most have me with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw neck-and-neck, the lead depending on whether they're testing for ethics, personality or habits, respectively.

We Have Date

With Jonathan working so many evenings, it's hard to get out, but we managed it today. We've been so excited for the Harry Potter movie, so we've been saving up for it. Regan may have quibbles, but I thought it was the best adapted of all the films. It may not have been straight from the book, note for note, but everything flowed well and made sense. Considering that most of the book, Harry is alternately shouting at people or sullenly sulking, I think it was wise to turn the focus of the film to the battle for control both Hogwarts and information on the Dark Lord. It reminded me a lot of WWII movies, and also the book, 1984. Especially that giant poster of Fudge. Having reread all the books, and now seen the film, we've started forming theories on the importance of the archway, the continued existance of Kreacher, and what is up with Snape that he feels he needs to serve in the Order as a penance for what he's done. (If you desire more info on any of those, just ask...)