Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

-Shel Silverstein

And he put his face in the water!

Last week was M4's spring concert. Doesn't he look thrilled? No really, they were so cute! And he got to play the xylophone. Although he was upset he hadn't worn his tie (clip-on which doesn't match in any way!). For two weeks, the Kindergarteners have had swim lessons. M4 still is terrified of floating, but at least he's (semi-) dunking himself and putting his face in the water for a split second!

(I've been supervising the little boys getting changed for the lessons, which is its own brand of hilarity.) M4 does know how to turn on the camera-ready smile when I ask! Maybe he'll float a bit by the end of lessons!

State Invention Convention

Yesterday we went to Ames for the state Invention Convention at ISU. It was really well organized and nice, even though they read the names of all 300+ kids and their inventions! Gina and Mitch came to check out M3's invention, and they we all went out to lunch. It was a very fun day! Thanks for coming, Gina and Mitch! Little exhibitor.

Proud inventor.

Walking across the stage and shaking the hand of ISU's Dean of Engineering. ("Small" was the smallest size shirt they handed out!)

M3 with her fellow 3rd grade inventors who were invited to state.

Please excuse the crass consumerism...

Per request, here are some pics of the new appliances. Notice the lovely unpainted spot behind the stove where the microwave used to be. Even though I feel like a bloated American consumer, I am LOVING these! And we did support the local economy, so I feel good about that.

You can fit three teeth in there!

Finally, the other front tooth came out! It hung on for a loooooooong time....

In other milestones, M4 put his face in the water at his Kindergarten swim lesson today!! Multiple times!! And there was only one moment in which he seemed to be overcome with terror! Baby steps...

It doesn't help that we aren't going to have a pool this summer, because I think it is his summer to learn to swim. The city pool will be closed for the construction of our new aquatic center (which will be awesome), but in the meantime our choices are limited. We could go to the college pool, but who wants to be indoors in the summer? Plus, I've heard it's freezing water, and I'm getting too old for that. We could join the Country Club, but guess what? It's a club based on money. No, thank you. So I think it will be the backyard inflatable and trips to pools in surrounding towns. Guess we can manage that, even though I will probably whine about having to drive 20-30 minutes (sorry, Angelenos)!

Happy (late) Easter!

Egg production!

M3 and M4 worked very hard at decorating the table, although they used jelly beans from their own baskets and were concerned that our guests might *mistakenly* eat those!
They found all the eggs!

Nana and Boppa treated us to Boppa's famous pizza on Saturday!

Current events

M4, at the kitchen table drawing, absent-mindedly pipes up: "They changed the subject...they were talking about the President. Now they're talking about rockets." (This in reference to the radio news.) Curious if he was really absorbing what he was hearing, I asked, "Do you know where the President was?" "Mmm...Turkey." Well, yes. Sheesh...