My gosh, Alanna is just getting too old, too fast. She is 5 going on 45, as her teacher put it a few weeks ago at our conference.
Tonight at dinner we were discussing the fact that we can't tell whether a person will be nice or not based on their appearance. So as I started to this conversation, Alanna chimed in and interrupted me with "Yes, and I have something to say about that. One, if somebody's skin is light or medium or dark , that doesn't tell us anything about if they are nice or not. And Two..." well, to be honest, I don't remember exactly what she said because I was just stunned by her very articulate and grown up discussion. Her tone of voice and expression were WAAAAAYYYYYY beyond that of a 5 year old.
THEN...I mentioned that we were going to read a few more chapters of Charlotte's Web before bed, and she proceeded to tell me that she read a really sad part last night, and she ruined the story for Aidan and Emory. If you have never read Charlotte's Web (or at least seen the movie - I mean really...is there ANYONE who doesn't know the ending that would be reading this?)...stop reading. She told me about how Charlotte died and Wilbur promised to take care of her babies, but that only three stayed behind and how he named those three spiders. Oh yeah, and we had only read about a quarter to a third of the book when I told them goodnight. She finished reading it...
Really?
Then later, I read the next 3 chapters to Aidan and Emory, and Alanna listened again. After we finished, she took the book to her room and started reading (again) from where we'd left off. When I came in after tucking Emory in, Alanna proceeded to act out a scene from the fair.
I wasn't really sure how much she was understanding when she reads chapter books, but I guess she gets it.
She is a conundrum.
Aidan is still coming along with his reading, and he can do more than he willingly lets on. He doesn't have the same level of interest as Alanna (obviously), but he notices the difference in their skill levels, and he wants to do more. Believe me, I have not pushed anyone in this house to read.
And then there's Emory - who is sounding out words already - reading more than Alanna was at the same age.
I think I should be afraid - very afraid. These kids are going to be smarter than me before long.
I've been helping to fight the city council's plan to convert 1400+ acres of restorable wetlands in Redwood City. As a fly fisher and supporter of the environment, I am appalled at the level of greed and short-sightedness being demonstrated by my city. We don't need more condos, we don't need more development, and we certainly don't need any of it here, on the banks of the bay. What we need HERE are wetlands, protection from floods, habitat for wildlife and a healthier ecosystem for our damaged watershed.
Even if we didn't need all of those things, which we do, we simply cannot afford the water and electricity needs of such a massive project. Remember the electrical shortages that resulted in brown-outs? Would you welcome water rationing? You might not think about it now that it's fall and the rainy season, but come summer, we will all remember what that pain feels like.
The city is chasing money, pure and simple. Cargill and the developers won't be around later to reap the ecological rewards of such a misguided plan, and even if they are they'll be too busy counting their money to care.
For a while, it seemed the misinformation campaign they were running was winning, they won at the ballot box by confusing the voters. But now people are discovering how truly awful this plan is and they are starting to do something about it.
I am, and you can too:
Spread the word.
Dear karen,
We are glad to report that there is a growing rebellion against Cargill's plan to build a city in San Francisco Bay. We wanted to update you on these developments and ask for your continued support in protecting the 1433 acres of restorable wetlands in Redwood City.
In an important opinion piece in the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto City Council member Yoriko Kishimoto calls out Cargill's plan as a grave threat to the Peninsula's future: "A proposed development in Redwood City so breathtaking in its size and misguided in its scope that nothing of its kind has been seen in half a century." She points out that "this is not an infill site and this is not the place for housing."
And the Redwood City Daily News recently reported that the Menlo Park City Council is moving to declare the project an environmental hazard to the region. Menlo Park Council Members Kelly Fergusson and Andrew Cohen agree that "the current Cargill/DMB development proposal seeks to reverse long-standing regional and local policies to protect the Bay and its wetlands."
Meanwhile, in an opinion piece published in the Redwood City Daily News Redwood City resident Marsha Cohen expressed concern that the city "is stonewalling requests for public records." She points out that the mayor works for business lobbyist SAMCEDA, a strong public supporter of the Cargill development. Ms. Cohen wants to know what advice was given to the mayor about the conflict of interest.
You can join these Peninsula leaders in the battle to save the Redwood City salt ponds. Please write letters to the editor in response to these pieces, expressing your own opinion:
letters@dailynewsgroup.com
Palo Alto Weekly letters can be sent to:
letters@paweekly.comCurrently, the Redwood City Council is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to determine whether Cargill's application should move forward. Clearly, many leaders on the Peninsula have found a much cheaper answer: It should be dead on arrival.
Go to www.savesfbay.org/redwoodcity for more information and to sign our petition, and stay tuned for more interesting updates.
Sincerely,
Stephen Knight
Save The Bay Political Director
510.452.9261
So apparently Emory feels it is her duty to add to the authenticity of our haunted house. It must have been, in her mind, a little too perfect looking - not dilapidated enough. Over the course of the last two weeks little pieces of candy have gone missing here and there. I always seem to catch her red-handed though - when the candy is still in her mouth.
Yesterday, after our little date, I had gone upstairs for a few minutes with Taylor and Alanna. Aidan was still at his party, so Emory was left alone downstairs. When I came back down, she was running little laps in the kitchen (in her snow white dress.) This was my first clue that she was up to something. Then as she turned toward me, I noticed the area around her mouth was tinged...black. Hmmm.
Me: Emory, what are you eating?
Emory: blank stare....long pause...."nothing"
Me: Why do you have black stuff around your mouth?
Emory: I'm not eating anything. I don't know.
So I looked at Taylor who had come downstairs, and the haunted house sprang to mind. So we inspected it, and sure enough, there was a large, round-ish, shiny, wet spot on the icing on the roof encompassing what was left of a candy corn. Bingo. She just wrapped her little mouth right around it and bit it off. So dainty, she is.
So Taylor excused herself before Emory saw her laughing. I couldn't help but just think it was hysterical, so I couldn't come up with anything to say. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. She is too much. Very sneaky.
Saturday was a big day here - it was dreary and rainy - but we had a lot planned. Aidan was invited to a birthday party at our neighbor's house. This was a first....Aidan was invited, but not Alanna or Emory. The little boy was allowed to invite 5 kids, and he only invited boys. Well, Alanna was just crushed that Aidan would go to a birthday party and she wouldn't Emory was a little offended at first, after all, the little boy is in her class at school. But ultimately, she got over it. Alanna, on the other hand, would just melt every time the subject came up. So, I decided to make it a little bit special for the girls. I don't intend for this to be a trend that will continue, but hopefully it served as a nice buffer for the reality of the fact that everyone will not be invited to every party forever. When Alanna is the only one invited, I'm thinking we'll take Aidan bowling.
SO, Saturday arrived and Aidan was pumped about his boy time with Daddy and the other kids at the party. He waited very patiently for the festivities to begin at 1:00. Meanwhile, the girls and I had a date with Aunt Maureen and Taylor M. to go on a Fancy-Nancy-style date. That meant serious dress up! So at 10:30 we started bedecking ourselves with dresses, "jewels," glitter and tiaras and polished our nails and added little heart appliques. We had berry yogurt parfaits and pumpkin muffins for lunch, and then we left for our yet-to-be-revealed destination for the girls. So we drove downtown and arrived at The Cupcake Shoppe. It is such a cute little place...very feminine decor...just perfect for a fancy girls date. We got a lot of looks...but what would I not do for my little lovebugs? I tink most people thought it was cute. Yes, I will wear a fancy dress, a dress-up tiara, jewelry that doesn't match, and a feather boa downtown for my girls. So, the girls picked their very own decadent cupcakes, and we enjoyed every last bit. Between the five of us, we all got a different flavor - and not even on purpose. Mint Condition (chocolate cake with mint frosting), Pretty in Pink (strawberry cake with strawberry frosting), Cookie Monster (vanilla cake, vanilla buttercream frosting rolled in crushed oreos), Black and White (chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream) and a Peanut Butter Cup (chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting). YUM! They even had, in honor of the state fair, chocolate bacon cupcakes. I wasn't going there...it was definitely odd to see crumbled bacon on top of a cupcake!
All in all, I think it was a big hit. However, Alanna told Jason that all the hair styling and nail polishing was "too much work." Next time, she wants to just dress up and throw a tiara on...she's my kind of girl...low maintenance! I love it!
Aidan had a great time at his party - a dinosaur theme. They got to go on an "archaeological dig" at an "excavation site" on an empty lot in our neighborhood. It was really cute. Jason said when Aidan found his dinosaur hatching from an egg, Aidan wouldn't continue digging until Jason had reassured him that it wasn't a real dinosaur. Too cute.
Ah, my little munchkins. They are just growing too fast!
Last weekend we decided to hit the pumpkin patch near the kids' school. It was a simple patch - pumpkins arranged around cornstalks and a gigantic inflatable pumpkin to attract attention from the road. Jason's parents, who were in town for a little over two weeks, accompanied us, though I think they would've preferred warmer weather for the jaunt. They're are used to the warm Florida weather! Jason and I were in heaven with the Fall crispness in the air though! Anyhow, the deal was...the kids could choose the biggest pumpkin that they could carry. It was the easiest way I could keep things on a reasonable even scale, and it seems like it would be a applicable for years to come. It also made it a little more fun and drew out the process a little. They tried their BEST to try to get some BIG pumpkins! Very cute and good for some laughs.
So we came away with five cute pumpkins, but I have no ideas whose is whose at this point. I hope the kids can't either! We are hoping to carve one night this week - or at the latest Saturday morning. Jason and I went to a pumpkin carving party in the neighborhood last night, and they set the bar pretty high. I'm not sure we're gonna be "up to snuff." They carved some really cool pumpkins!
I will get some pictures up when I get some time.
know your audience.
Last week I had a hip arthroscopy to repair a torn labrum in my hip. Healing has gone well, with rest, excellent care by Henry and plenty of pain meds. Things were moving along peachy, with increased use of my hip and even some time on an exercise bike, when I started getting nauseated and having odd vision. I looked in a mirror and saw my left eye pupil entirely dilated, while my right was normal. I became worried.
A trip to the ER and an amused doctor later, we concluded that I got atropine in my eyeball, left over from a motion-sickness patch I had been wearing behind my ear. Atropine is a chemical also known as belladonna and has been used by women to dilate their eyes. The idea that women ever purposefully did this to their eyes for beauty amazes me. Of course, we also wear high heels.
There is nothing I can do but wait. I asked for an eye patch because one eye being dilated was too uncomfortable, and also because I've never had a valid reason to wear one. I've been hobbling around my house with an eye patch, on crutches, and anxiously waiting for my upgrade to a cane on Thursday. It doesn't get much cooler than this!
We are really gearing up for Halloween now. The kids are excited, and I think Jason and I are most excited about the fact that Aidan has changed his mind about reprising his role as a pumpkin for the 3rd year in a row. Now, he says he wants to be soccer player...he said that last year, too. And he ended up going as a pumpkin. I'm hoping this year it will stick. He is slow to adapt to change...so maybe the idea of it was enough for last year, and this year he'll actually do it. A year is enough time, right? We broke out our copy of The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything today. I just love that story; it's so cute.
This weekend, we broke out our gingerbread haunted house. Jason got things started with the kids, while I got all the frosting mixed up. Mostly, they just wanted to eat the decorations; I'm sure that's par for the course, though. It took some convincing to get them to save the candy for the house. Jason let them go to town on some frosting though. Emory was pretty persistent in the frosting arena, she really pushed her way in to get her finger under the decorating tip whenever she could. When I finally cut everyone off while I tried to use up some of the leftover frosting, Emory tried to frost her finger again. When I reminded her that I just said we were done with the frosting, she responded with "Whatever!" Say what???????? Then Jason gave everyone a small bowl with their own little palettes of frosting...I can't tell you how excited I was about that. BUT...we were leaving to go on a date, so we didn't have to deal with the sugar high and subsequent CRASH. So, whatever!
