Happy Halloween!

Annika was not doing so well after having missed her nap today.

For Halloween this year Ezra was Franklin the Turtle and Annika was Harriet the Turtle, his little sister. If you are wondering "who the heck is Franklin?" click here. Most people thought they were "Mutant turtles," pretty close, I guess? I made their costumes this year. Every year after Halloween I think "I am going to buy costumes next year. Making them is too much work." And then every time Halloween comes around I think "I can't buy their costumes. I have to make them. It's way cooler." It's a vicious cycle...

We were able to go trick or treating with this little rabbit:

Aren't they cute?

Ezra and Annika couldn't believe their luck when they learned what Halloween was all about. Here's some conversation from tonight:

Ezra: Dad, why are all these people giving me candy?

Dad: Well, because on Halloween you get to dress up in costumes and people give you candy because they think you are cute.

Ezra: Oh. (pause) Dad, I like Halloween!

And some more:

Mom: Annika, your bag looks really heavy. Can I hold it for awhile?

Annika: No! My candy!

So, needless to say, Halloween was a hit around here. Now, what are we going to do with 10 pounds of candy??

The turtles trick-or-treating

Scary photos in honor of Halloween!

In honor of the fact that I have finally attempted (with success!) to use the scanner part of my printer and in honor of Halloween tomorrow, I am uploading some really "scary" photos of me when I was a kid. Now, I realize that I was somewhat of a tomboy when I was a kid, but seriously, I can't believe I walked around like that! Wow. Another funny thing about this photo is that 95% of photos taken of me during my childhood shows me holding one cat or another. Too funny.

Here's another scary photo of me in spandex! Those were all the rage back then. Also, check out my skate or die brothers. Sweet hair! Besides my three brothers, also in this photo is my mom, my best friend Tiffany and her mom.

The pic on the left is of my and my brother Alan taken by my Grandma Childs before school one day, with my cat C.C. (named after C.C. Deville!- from the band Poison- haha) The one on the top is me with my brother Barry and on the bottom is my brothers Casey and Brad. So these photos really aren't that scary but they go along with the others. So there you go. Happy Halloween!

Truffula trees?

The fall is so cool here. The trees are already starting to lose their leaves and turn from an amazing brilliant color to duller, more subdued tones. The branches are more pronounced, etc. but they are still amazing.

Growing up in Wyoming, the seasons were a bit different. There was hot-hot summer. That turned the grass brown. Then you saw a leaf or two fall off the tree. Then it snowed for eight months. Repeat. (Not that I don't love Wyoming, because I do, but it really is like that!)

So, after growing up with two seasons, we have really noticed and appreciated how beautiful fall can be. Which leads me back to my Dr. Seuss thing...

I cannot believe how much these trees remind me of the kids Dr. Seuss wall (which is now 95% done and I suppose I can post a current photo of it here for comparison.) Do you see what I'm talking about?

Pumpkin Patch

This photo was taken of us on the way to the pumpkin patch last week. I love this time of year.

love

For the record can I just state how much I love this little girl? She is so unbelievably sweet, adorable and cuddly. She melts my heart daily, no hourly. Here is my love note to her:

I love how tonight when I was strapping her into her car seat she asked me in her most serious voice "Ann-ita driving the car, yeah?" As if she fully expected me to let her drive.

I love how when I ask her if she is ready to take a nap she will stand up toss all current toys to the floor and yell with excitement "YEAH!!" and run and fling herself onto her bed.

I love how she will state her love to every member of the household at least 20 times a day.

I love that mommy is her favorite person in the whole wide world.

I love that any problem can be resolved by merely mentioning the word "ba-ba."

I love that she can sometimes be a lot of work. I love that Jonathan and I have done (most all) of that work completely by ourselves.

I love that it is my job to teach her all about the birds and bees and all girly things (really I do!)

I love that she has her daddy totally and completely wrapped around her finger.

I love that she has a serious sense of humor. This kid is hilarious! She makes dramas into comedies.

I love that she is mine, mine, mine- for forever.

Throwing the disc.

We've been spending much of our autumn afternoons playing disc golf. Disc golf is a lot like regular golf, except it abandons all the bourgeois elements and keeps all the fun. In other words, it's free and open to everyone. 

It just happens that the greater Cincinnati area is the disc golf mecca of the United States, with 29 courses within 25 minutes of us, including one of the top 3 courses in the world. 

Further, it just happens that a certain little boy in our household happens to own an absolutely perfect disc golf stroke. It's taking everything I have to keep from going Tiger Woods' dad on this kid. I mean, his disc throws are pure poetry. If there was a chance a pro disc golfer could make more than 3000 dollars a year, I'd have Ezra out there every afternoon, throwing discs for 4 hours and crushing his resolve to do anything else with his life. He's that good. 

Look at this follow through on the practice swing

He's also a world-class caddy for daddy's errant throws

Here Ezra's coaching me: "keep your eye on the basket. All the weight should go in your front foot. Try not to look so lame when you throw--this game's supposed to be hip. If you're going to break the sabbath, make it count..."

peas anyone?

The other day Jonathan and I were walking down the sidewalk with the kids when we past by a lady talking on her cell phone. She looked up at us as we past and told us "Excuse me, but I just have to say that you have the cutest family!"

And that was before Ezra put the frozen peas on his eyeballs.

Book of the Week!

This week's book of the week is the wonderful "I am the Dog/I am the Cat" by Donald Hall and Barry Moser. Hall is a great poet who wrote, among other things, "Without," an amazing book that chronicles the death of his wife, the poet Jane Kenyon. I read "Without" when I was in college and I thought it was the best poetry I'd ever read.

More importantly, however, Donald Hall also wrote the book that has remained a favorite for Annika for months and months: "The Ox-Cart Man," another favorite of mine as well. He won the Caldecott Medal for that book. Needless to say, Hall can write.

Barry Moser is a great illustrator who has done a lot of different things, including great etchings adorning the cover of my favorite Ralph Waldo Emerson biography and my favorite Henry David Thoreau biography. He's great.

"I am the Dog/I am the Cat" tells the story of life from the perspective of the dog and the cat. Ezra laughs at this story at least 5 times each time we read it. It's a really simple book, but it has great humor and amazing illustration. I think Hall does a great job getting the personalities of the dog and the cat (and, by extension, the personalities of the people who own dogs and cats). It's funny for kids, funny for adults, and funny the second and third time you read it. Since kids around our place like to read the same book about 15 times in a row every night, this one is a good one to keep around.

So if you're hunting for a hilarious, beautiful, and re-readable kids book, check this one out. You won't be disappointed.

The first chronicle

Welcome to our new and improved blog! 

We've made a name change. (About the name change: when I was a little kid, my brothers used to call me, among other things, "Tink." It sort of stuck as a nickname, hence the name "The Tink Chronicles.")

We've made a few additional changes:

1) Determination. We will update this blog daily. Well, I mean, we'll try...No, we'll do it! You know, if we can...We can! and we will! probably.

2) Comments are now required. We've rigged the blog such that you cannot look at a post without leaving a comment. If you do, your computer will self-destruct.

3) We may add some new and improved features to the blog such as- book reviews, recipes and other surprises. How exciting!