Friday, May 2, 2014

Whalie goes to work

Whalie had the chance to go to work for a new
company today.  He tried on many hats...
 
...but found he was best suited for a shelf fish.
 
 
Part of his responsibilities is crisis intervention, and
even on his first day, he was called to talk a duck
off a ledge.
 
 
It was a success, but boy did he need a few minutes
to cool down after that!
 
 
Once he'd had a chance to collect himself, you should
have heard him spout about it to the boys around
the water cooler.  The tails of that whale!
 
 
A successful day, all in all -- the job a good fit -- and
he handled himself with the utmost professionalism
even under stress.
 
What's that?
 
 
Oh!  Whalie...

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

My Special Person

Will's school has a theme for this year - "Readers are Leaders" - which they try to incorporate into various programs throughout the year.

Today was Special Person Day.  I was picked (through a very intense round of 'eeny, meeny, miney, mo' against Dan) to be Will's person today.

He decided he needed to look extra-spiffy and pulled out the red puppy dog bow tie.  Good choice!


We met up in the school library and were able to pull out as many books as we could read in an hour...in between bites of chocolate chip cookies and muffins :) Yum!

We started off with Dinosaur Days (a new favorite now and I was instructed to see if Amazon had it available), followed by Will reading to me One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.  It has 64 pages. Will read through page 27 and deemed it hard and tricky to read (as most Dr. Seuss books are!) and I took over. We ventured to a book about Uranus...but attention was quickly lost.  We finished our reading marathon with Mrs. McBloom, Clean Up Your Classroom! 

We didn't quite finish that one...and Will said he would check it out on his next library day....or ya know, Mom, look on Amazon!

I love all of the opportunities I have to be a part of his first exposure to elementary school.  He is definitely my special little person and we have the best time together!

Off to peruse Amazon!


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A few moments with Will

Zonked -- with the rest of his pack.  He has a very active nighttime, drifting from his room, to the couch, sliding sneakily in, to cuddle with mom and dad.
 
 
Sometimes that makes waking in the morning extremely difficult.

 
The couch is a favorite sleeping perch -- here, collapsed in the afternoon during the plague of a thousand miseries -- fingers are a favorite feast. 

 
What is this?  Sleeping in his own room!  That happened once...
 
 
Eggs, toast and fruit are big bro's favorites for breakfast, and occasionally Will likes to emulate him.  However, as it takes a while for him to rev up an appetite, more often, he'll just have a quick toast -- finger, preferably -- or dine in the car, after he's had a chance to wake, fully.

 
On the sleepiest of days, other provisions are sometimes made.

 
That morning, he had insisted he wasn't hungry and wouldn't be hungry.  On the offchance he changed his mind, a bowl of cereal was left on the counter, which didn't help at all as we waited in the school parking lot and Jared began musing about the different food options he was considering for lunch, later that day.  Will grabbed his stomach and moaned, "Stop talking about food, or you'll make me more starving!"  So we winged off for a quick bite.

 
We drop Jared off, first, then have, technically, almost an hour before his day begins.  However, I would be unemployed if I waited that long to drop him off, so he attends a pre-school program.  Consequently, he will never be close to late for school, and yet, he worries, always, that he will.  At McD's, he kept asking for the time, and at 8:17, leapt up promptly and declared we had to go, or he would be late!
 
We weren't sure how he'd take to the program, initially, and earlier in the year, he began complaining that he didn't like being dropped off to the before school program.  We felt bad, until he explained that he just didn't have enough time there!  So, instead of waiting as long as possible, we came to the agreement to drop him off exactly 30 minutes before school started -- or, 8:20.  He just hates to be late to before school!
 
 
A pensive moment outside Guiseppe's:

 
Or possibly pouting:  He loves going to Guiseppe's, seller of oils and vinegars.  They have cubed bread in jars, extracted with little tongs, and little cups, in which a touch of the oils and vinegars can be decanted and sampled.  William will go through an entire jar of the bread, carefully removing the lid, pinching a piece with the tongs, then carefully and quietly replacing the lid.  He'll pour just a touch of oil in one of the cups, then dip in the bread, enjoy, and let out a happy, "Mmm!"  Then, he'll toss the cup, grab another, and repeat the process!
 
He said he'd wait outside after we suggested he should stop -- after 30 or so samples and they had to re-fill the bread jar, the worker nervously rubbing her hands together as she watched.  Just kidding!  They love him there, and said he could have whatever he wanted.  He decided to go wait outside like a big guy, while we wrapped up the purchase -- no doubt, why they don't mind!
 
Will's collection of Skylanders, etc.

 
Carefully lined up, around the couch at Grandma's -- in no particular order, he assured me!  He also consoled that his friend had helped. 
 
A nighttime raid on Meijer, in pajamas. 

 
He quickly grabbed the loot, but they were right behind him!

 
No worries for the Zen rider.

 
 A few days ago, a box arrived for Will from his Aunt Rachel -- that was supposed to remain closed until Christmas.  Alas, we are tremendously irresponsible parents and it was cracked open upon arrival.  He was absolutely delighted to find a rattlesnake inside, naming it Rattleshake (after the skylander, of course." 
 
We have since found it variously, tied to chairs, posts and around the Christmas tree.
 


20131214 083658 from Daniel Endicott on Vimeo.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Beginning of winter

Apparently taking a stand against this becoming a temperate region:

Friday, December 6, 2013

it's possible

The poorly furnished basement was re-arranged last night, shifting the computer and guitars to the left, keyboard and shelves to the right.  Old vaccuum tube tv and massive stand were ditched then substituted with a inadequately used shelf and the living room, slimmer-profile tv.  All that shufflin' opened up a space for a funky futon.
 
Will was helpful with the pickup, steering the dolly to the car, and after unloading, weighting down the dolly on the return trip back into the store.
 
 
We wanted to make a place that was more comfortable for the kids to lounge about, moving the gaming systems down as well.  It appears to have been successful:  Will taking in bubble guppies, Jared absorbed into the computer, Ari preoccupied by her phone. 

 
The most fun, though, was had with the packaging!

 
We initially were using it for trash, but that was soon replaced with a Will. 

 
Getting in and out was a challange, so a door was added.  A bit dark -- definitely in need of a window.


Krampus

Back in elementary school, one of the teachers dressed up as Krampus, every year, and would visit each of the classrooms, beating the children with a broom -- it was tremendous fun

After all the kids were sufficiently terrorized, I believe an "angel" or something would follow with a treat for all the good kids.  I didn't care I never got one, I just liked tusslin' with Krampus!

Gallup/Getty

Millionaire to give $5M toward protecting DIA art and Detroit pensions

A local philanthropist said Thursday he’ll donate $5 million toward protecting the Detroit Institute of Arts’ renowned collection and city retirees’ pensions — and he hopes to inspire others to give.
Millionaire A. Paul Schaap said he plans to meet today with U.S. Chief District Judge Gerald Rosen, who is serving as mediator in Detroit’s bankruptcy case. Rosen has been trying to persuade at least 10 charitable foundations to put up $500 million to spin off the DIA from the city, which could then use the money to reduce pension cuts and improve services.
“I have to believe there are more of us out there who want to do something and didn’t quite know how to approach it,” Schaap said.
Schaap said he hoped his gift would stimulate major foundations to agree to participate in the Rosen-mediated fund. So far, leaders of 10 local and national foundations who have met with Rosen have yet to commit. One of Rosen’s goals is to turn the DIA into an independent nonprofit free of city ownership and protected from creditors seeking billions and pushing for the sale of city assets..

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Fun

Make sure to maximize this for the best effect.