Looking Fancy

This past weekend I had the boys with me while I stopped to pick up a few groceries. Theo saw a bag of sweet-tart hearts and declared that they were his teacher's favorites! I agreed to let him purchase a bag for Mary. Monday, he forgot to bring them and was a little bummed, but put them in his backpack that night so he'd remember on Tuesday. The next morning after breakfast I told him that it was time to go up and get dressed. He asked if he could wear his flannel shirt. I asked if he meant the one he had gotten from my pal Laura. "Oh, any flannel shirt, I just want to look fancy!" he declared. I asked why. "Today is the day I'm giving my hearts to Mary!!" It was an adorable little declaration and he went off to school in a smart looking flannel and a pair of khaki's. When he handed the bag over to Mary, bashful is the only word to describe him. I do declare that he has indeed given his heart to Mary.

Ode to Minneapolis

My friend Amy wrote a little ode to Minneapolis this fall after she started biking to work. Now I have to join the chorus. This past Saturday, on a sunny and warm winter afternoon, my husband dropped a friend and I on the (frozen) shores of Lake of the Isles with our skies. 1.5 hours later we arrived at the Theodore Wirth golf course clubhouse, thirsty as can be and fully in love with Minneapolis. Due to the upcoming "City of Lakes Loppet" ski race, there are (or were, yesterday's rain probably did some serious damage) groomed skate and classical trails from the lakes out to Golden Valley. We had to take our skies off twice to cross small roads, but otherwise we were blissfully skiing over lakes, down channels, through culverts, over 394, and through the wooded wonderland of the Theodore Wirth corridor. It was a hoot. And to see what seemed to be the entire population of Minneapolis out enjoying the warmth and snow was also wonderful. Lake of the Isles has a humongous rink cleared off. I bet there were 300+ people out on skates. And the lake was being circled by skiers, bikers, runners, and dog-walkers. Deb and I probably went 10-15K, and we took almost the shortest possible route from point A to point B. If we had done all of the side loops, we could have skied until nightfall. If the warmth and rain didn't ruin it, I highly recommend you give it a go. Check this link for maps and information. http://www.skinnyski.com/trails/traildetail.asp?Id=448

Frozen North Shore

We had been planning an skiing/outdoor adventure weekend up on the North Shore for a while. As if finally approached I was dismayed to see forecasts of -5 degree highs, with -35 degree windchills. During the day. But the North Shore worked it's magic once again. We stayed in the Sea Villas at Lutsen, with the above view out the window. The lake was steaming and all the rocks looked like they were wearing stocking caps. The wood burning stove and the sun through the windows had us all in t-shirts while we were inside. And we did put on many layers and get out each day for a ski. The cold cut out any kind of glide, which made it all that much easier for Eli to ski up hills, and the nice controlled downhill at the end of our ski on our last day had him declaring, "That was GREAT!!"

It was a nice reminder that you can enjoy the outdoors even in these crazy low temperatures. For a short while, when you have a fire waiting for you.

The making of a politician

Eli recently found our old Othello game. He and Jon dug up the rules online because we couldn't remember how to play. For the first game, Jon took on Eli. Jon lost. By a lot. The next night Eli offered to play me. I have memories from my youth about being really good at this game, so right away I decided that maybe I should go easy on him so that he did not get discouraged. By about turn four, I barely had any white guys left on the board. So I decided it was time to play for real and buckled down to the task of whooping my 8 year old son. It didn't happen. He beat me handily. Afterward, as he was savoring victory and I was searching for any excuse for my humbling defeat I said, "But Eli, you have to admit that I pointed out a few good moves to you." "I don't remember you saying anything, Mom." Really? Then, "Well, atleast admit that quite a few times I reminded you to flip the pieces on the diagonal." (I did do that, I promise). "I have no such recollections, Mom." With a straight face! No such recollections! He briskly folded up the game, tucked it under his arm, and flashed me a wicked grin as he bounced up the stairs to try to victimize his poor father.

NOTE: Eli just read this entry and said that, actually, when I tried to make claims that I had helped him, he had said, "I deny everything." Now he just came into the room, saw me working on this and said, "Truth Patrol!!". I don't know if we should be relying on Mr. I Deny Everything to be the truth patrol, but maybe that's just me.

To be a cool dude

When Theo feels a little under the weather he loses all ability to play by himself. Usually he will go off with the legos and only come up for air when he has to eat or go to the bathroom. But Sunday he was suffering from a headache and followed Jon and I around the house begging for us to play legos with him. Jon did a great job of complying while Eli and I were out for a ski. When we got home, it was clearly my turn. I suffer when we are just free-lancing with the legos. I love putting together a new set with directions, but when faced with 7,653 legos and no plan, I get stymied. So I sat down in the office with Theo with a bit of a bad attitude. But then he started chatting about school, and it turned into one of the sweeter hours I've spent with him lately. His kindergarten class has reading buddies from a 5/6 grade class. Theo started telling me that his buddy wasn't "really.....a ..chick...No, he's not a dude. He doesn't have like cool dude hair or anything. Cole's buddy, now he has some cool dude hair! But my buddy is a good reader, and really that is what matters most. Right??" It was fascinating to watch Theo try to put into words his impression of his buddy, and to note that he is already perceiving this difference between 'dudes' and 'not-dudes'. Today, while I was at Expo, I was telling his teacher about this little convo. She took me over to look at the pictures of Theo and all his classmates with their reading buddies. And by looking at the pictures, I think I agree with Theo. And then Mary looked at Theo's buddy, and she said, "Yep, his teacher says that he picks his nose a lot..." So, it looks like it's time that I start paying more attention to my own hair styling techniques. I can't have Theo labeling me a 'not-dude' or a 'not-chick' as the case may be. And for the record, I did, after one hour of hard labor, make a pretty cool lego screen porch for one of the 27 buildings Jon had constructed earlier in the day.

You so embarrassed me

Last Friday I was walking home from Expo with Theo, Eli, and cousin Espen. We walked past a neighbor who was waiting at a bus stop for her children to come home from school. She asked if we were having a fun Friday playdate with a friend. I said that we wished we could, but we were just delivering Espen to his parents. Then I mentioned that he was a cousin. Eli had walked ahead quickly and when I caught up to him he said, "You just SO embarrassed me Mom!" I had no clue, none, of what the offense might have been. This was the first time he had ever told me that I had done this to him and I was furiously backtracking through my memory of the event to find the offensive moment. He then did a little imitation of my introduction of Espen as a cousin. In HIS mind I had been quite theatrical and had spread my arms and enunciated cousin in several (completely embarrassing) ways. For the record, this is not my memory of my behavior! He quickly was laughing and over the issue, but I see where this is going. The days when we are warmly received in his classroom as volunteers may be nearing an end. In fact, yesterday, Jon secretly signed up to be a classroom reader in Eli's class. Jon was sitting in the reading chair when the class came back from science and initially Eli's eyes bugged out and he looked delighted. Then Jon read the story and answered questions. After several kids had their chance to ask something, Eli put his hand up and Jon called on him. Eli's question? "Um, do you think I could go to the bathroom? This is getting kind of long and we need to get to snack soon..." So that ended that! Really, he remains as sweet and as endearing as ever, but I think the veneer he has put on us is starting to crack just a little. Shoot.