Just another quiet night at home

Jump Around!

A Saturday serenade

Danny was singing the theme song to the "Winnie the Pooh" movie at dinner tonight. Listen very carefully and you can make out "a donkey named Eyore."

Going on a pumpkin hunt, going to pick a big one

"Who do you want to win, Mom?"

Tonight, as I walked the dog around the block, Bob Uecker's voice drifted from a radio in someone's garage as the Brewers took their time getting around to beating the Diamondbacks. I hear that voice and the roar of the buzzed Milwaukee crowd in the background and suddenly it's 1982 and I'm 8 years old again. I'm pretty sure I didn't know a lot about baseball then -- in fact, for some reason, my strongest memory is of the cutaway shots on TV to Robin Yount's wife, Michele, in the stands and her fantastic Charlie's Angels-like hair. But I knew Milwaukee's magical run to the World Series meant something to everyone around me, and I absorbed it into my DNA. So tonight, I could hardly stand to watch ... Will they? Can they?

Gavin is not much younger than I was three decades ago when the state was transfixed by the Brew Crew. And it seems since he started kindergarten that his interest in sports teams and who we're rooting has suddenly come into sharp focus. This is an amazing time to be a Wisconsin sports fan; he is blissfully unaware of how lucky we are. Don remembers crying as a kid when the Pittsburgh Steelers lost. Here's hoping we don't see any tears this fall.

The many faces (and demands) of Danny

Danny is very focused at mealtimes on getting what he wants. The word "please" we are still working on. He seems to think being very cute will carry him far enough to avoid it altogether. 

Our K-Star!

Since the start of kindergarten, Gavin has been counting down the days until his turn to be the "K-Star" in his classroom. Since his last name comes toward the end of the alphabet, he's been waiting awhile.

His job was to fill out a special poster that includes things like his height (46 1/2 inches), weight (50 pounds), things he likes to do (swim in the pool), his favorite place (Florida) and a picture he drew of his family and his friends.

The most challenging section was called, "What I wish for."

Gavin thought long and hard about this. First he proposed one I am sure most kids have come up with:

"I want every day to be Christmas."

From there, he considered a wish that I can only assume was inspired by recent repeated viewings of the movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs:

"I want it to rain crackers."

Finally, he honed in on his final answer, which when you consider the fact that he is a 5-year-old boy, is not a surprising choice:

"I want our house to be full of dinosaurs."

So, here we are, the night before his big K-Star day and Gav is having more than a little bit of a hard time falling asleep. Is it because he can't wait to share himself with his class, or is it because he thinks his wish might come true?

A magical place

We first toured Gavin's preschool when he was 8 months old. I was still freelancing from home and we were looking into options for someplace he could go a couple days or half days a week to allow me to get some work done. I was hooked from the word go and it has not disappointed me, not as far as the things that really count. When he finally went, it was full time and I do not regret a minute of it. He has always come home exhausted from activity, is known by every member of the staff and has learned how to paint, use the potty, cook, make friends, read, speak Spanish and climb trees. He has learned the power of observation, imagination, music and working with others. I have no idea what kindergarten will bring -- I think my greatest fear is somehow it won't measure up, that it's all downhill from here. But then I realize that he has developed some amazing tools and a love of learning that he gets to bring to the table from the word go. And, I hope, with that, the sky is the limit.