Thursday, October 30, 2008

a last word about the election

Today, Norman cast his ballot for the presidential election -- pooping on a lawn that displayed a McCain/Palin sign.

We hadn't done much talking about the election in front of Elian. But after correctly sounding out an Obama sign on someone's lawn, he would point them out to us every time he saw one. We had a conversation about what the signs meant -- how the people who had the Obama signs wanted Obama to become president and how the people who had the McCain signs wanted McCain to become president. He asked us who we wanted to be president. And since then, he may as well be knocking on doors campaigning for Mr. Obama.

When I picked him up from pre-school the other day, out of the blue he said, "We don't want John McCain to win." Then, the other day, he and Ed were looking over a sample voting ballot. He spotted the word "no" on a referendum and said, "That says, "NO, to John McCain."

On that note, how about one last clip before the election?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

and speaking of creepy, demonic forces

I'll let this one speak for itself.

I can only imagine the kind of coverage this would get if Obama was the one being annointed by a witch hunter.

creepy, creepy, creepy

Ed's parents gave Elian this creepy little pumpkin for Halloween last year. Sure, looks innocent enough in a photo. But if you wack it on something, it gives off this maniacal crazy-pumpkin-killer laughter.

I had taken it out of the box of Halloween decorations and set it on the bottom step. Occasionally on his way upstairs to bed, Elian would give it a whack and make it cackle. Fast forward to the other night. I went out with a couple of friends. When I came home, Ed and Elian were both asleep. I crept upstairs and quietly climbed into bed. About ten minutes later, I hear at the bottom of the stairs. "Muahh haa ha ha ha ha ha...!" I wake up Ed in my terror. He reports that it's been going on for a while. I try to settle, but then it happens again. "Muahh ha ha ha ha..!" And again. I know I'm not going to be able to sleep with a psychotic pumpkin laughing maniacally through the night. So I go downstairs to "have it removed." I figure the only place that I can put it where I won't be able to hear it is in the basement. So I creep down the stairs and set it on a shelf. As I turn around and make my way up the stairs, I hear, "Muahh hahahahahaha!"

halloween crisis

After he got over the fact that he couldn't be a chicken butt for Halloween, the little man told me he wanted to be a dalmatian. I lost the bidding war on Ebay for a Disney costume, so a few weeks ago I picked one up at Party City instead. It was a size 2-4T. He wears a size 3T. I figured it would be fine. I mean, aren't Halloween costumes supposed to fit big?

There's a big Halloween party tonight at the Children's Museum. So yesterday we took the dalmatian costume out of the bag to try it on. The costume was so teeny-tiny, it looked more like 18 mos. I tried squeezing him into it. No luck. I knew they didn't take returns on costumes at Party City. But I thought if I was going to do an even exchange they might make an exception. They said they would IF I had my receipt. I didn't.

We got home. I was feeling like a failure as a mother when the little man said to me, "That's okay, Mama, I'll just dress up as a...as a... BOX!" We both laughed. Then he said, "No, wait. I'll go as a... as a... TABLE! no as (looking around the room) a... as a... CHAIR!" We both got going naming off all of the inanimate objects around the house that he could wear as a Halloween costume. Luckily I have a son that relishes the wearing of costumes as much as his father and he didn't seem too phased by his Halloween misfortune (unlike his mother).

This morning the two of us took a trip to Target, Old Navy, Kohls Department Store AND JC Penny and striked out at every single one. No Halloween costumes for my little man.

Soooo....guess who's wearing a box to the Halloween party tonight?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

taylors falls

Yesterday we took a little drive to Taylors Falls to enjoy a little fall-y goodness. See for yourself.







Most honorable mother, Tiki Tiki Tembo has fallen into the well!





look what papa brought back from l.a.

what he said

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

turns out if you say something enough, the nuts, i mean people, will start to believe it

It's no secret that I prefer Barack Obama. But I've decided to keep my commentary positive and just shut up about the other team. I've resigned myself to the understanding that if someone hasn't changed their mind at this point, nothing I can do or say or do will convince them.

But the coverage in the last week has made me sick. There are people out there who are buying this "Barack-Obama-is-a-terrorist" message and articles like this one and this one don't even begin to paint the picture of how frightening it is (you need to see the video footage of the death chants to fully appreciate our nation's wack-o factor).


This truly frightens me:




And how 'bout THIS guy:


Watch CBS Videos Online


But leave it to John Stewart to make it all so very funny.




So as much as I would like to see Barack Obama win, I fear for his life if he does. And sadly, I won't be at all surprised if he doesn't.

Monday, October 13, 2008

a four-part message to papa in california

And, why yes, we do do a lot of filming at the dinner table -- what's it to ya?!?! (It's the only way he'll sit still long enough to record anything.)

part 1




part 2




part 3




part 4

Saturday, October 11, 2008

good morning

For the past four mornings or so, we have been woken by the sound of one little boy singing this song.

Friday, October 10, 2008

miso hungry

Ever since the little man's discovery of Pythagora Switch, he's been wanting to try miso soup. Since many of the Japanese restaurants around town are on the pricy side and don't really cater to the three-year-old diner, we've been putting off the introduction of Japanese food. Until tonight.

Tonight we dined at Obento-Ya where our little Japanphile had his first taste of miso soup (loved it) and devoured the Okosama Bento WITH CHOPSTICKS!

I really hope he doesn't lose his adventurous palate as he gets older. We really couldn't have asked for a cooler kid.

Next stop: Ethiopian!!

Monday, October 06, 2008

apple of my eye











quote of the day

E: Mama, how did I get out of your tummy when I was born?

M: You came out of a special spot that only mamas have.*

E: Your BOOBIES?



* Yes, I realize this is not entirely accurate.