She’s No Princess Leia, But…

…you can call her Obi-Worn Kimono. Here she is with Darth Vader, aka Aiden. The duo rang doorbells around his galaxy this Halloween night.

Turning Japanese

Our daughter is going as a Japanese princess this Halloween. Her school put on their Halloween party today, which was highlighted by the costume parade. Here’s the group before they went a marchin’.

Heard a Penned Drop

Olivia’s given songwriting a go. She’s given us the timely song of “Happy Halloween Drops,” which is to be sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” It’s definitely an earworm—a song that takes residence in your brain once it burrows its way in.

Orange You Glad…

…that the color orange figures so prominently in the autumnal season? I know that Olivia thinks that I am. She insists, against reality, that orange is my favorite color. (For the record, blue is my fave hue.) She probably believes this because I own several pieces of orange clothing, or because I consume an ungodly amount of mangoes.

Either way, I was pleased to see that Olivia helped deck the halls with items of my “favorite” color.

Water Blogged

We’ve continued to outsource swim instruction to the experts. Olivia’s moved on from beginners swim lessons to group ones. She’s now expected to hold her breath underwater, float on her back, dive in from a seated position, and jump in from the edge of the pool.

Grandma Moose, here this week to help care for Beni, was along for the ride poolside.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

…draw a lemonade stand. Those orange-ish, inchoate objects floating directly above the girl selling lemonade? They are hearts, and according to our illustrious illustrator, they represent the love she has for everyone in the world…and for lemonade.

On a related note, it’s fun for me to see how far Olivia’s artistic abilities have come in a relatively short amount of time. Here’s something she created six months ago.

(Notice how the birds that G added to this picture have migrated to Olivia’s recent works.)

Playing the Grace Card

There is one bright spot of Beni’s ongoing battle with hyperemesis gravidarum: being able to witness the collective grace, love, and charity of our friends and family. We cannot thank enough all of those who have helped out in one way or another. I credit our loved ones for getting my sickly wife from a state of bedroom semi-permanence to an occasional sofa sitting. So to all of you, muchas gracias for your grace, and merci beaucoup for your mercy.

Olivia, for her part, has turned to the healing power of cards and drawings: every time we’re in a store that carries greeting cards, she insists that we pick one up to pick up one’s spirits; during free time at school, she creates pictures upon pictures of her mom—I think she believes that she can will Beni back to health with each successive pen- and brushstroke.

Decoration of Independence

Our child thinks she’s old enough to take on the world. She insists on doing most everything by 'self, including swimming (Dana Torres she ain’t), bathing, and voting for the president of the United States of America. We hate to squelch her youthful exuberance, and so we try to let her do as much as she wants or is able to within the boundaries of law, time, and safety. With these parameters in mind, we nixed her request to carve the family pumpkin by herself but encouraged her to decorate her little gourds with markers.

Home Run

Olivia put on her mom’s iPod before setting out for her run around the house.

Out on Bale

Olivia popped a squat on a hay bale during our trip to the nursery, but of greater significance, Beni emerged from the sick ward for her first extended trip out in over a month. In her brief public appearance, she helped us select our family pumpkin and other seasonal items.

Here’s that rare Beni sighting:

A mom among mums

Like a Doornail

Having missed significant portions of preschool in the last two weeks because of illness and travels, Olivia looked forward to her return today, as did her friends.

Beni: "How was your day?"

Olivia: "Good. My friends were excited to see me."

Beni: "Oh, yeah? Did they miss you?"

Olivia (nodding): "They thought I was dead."

Holy Matrimony, Batman

My brother, Erick, was the best man at my wedding. I had the distinct pleasure of returning the favor today.

I’m thrilled he’s found someone who’s as quick to laugh at him as she is to laugh with him. The ease by which the two of them banter and share laughs is refreshing. To the cynic, the playfulness of their interactions can be chalked up to the fact that they’re newlyweds, but I see it as their foundation for a long and happy marriage. Six years ago I married my best friend; today Erick married his.

To the happy couple, I wish you a future together as lovely as your wedding day.

Every Dog Has His Day

Tomorrow happens to be Max’s: our guy turns 10, and Olivia’s seriously bummed that she and I will miss celebrating with him in person—in dog, in Max’s case—because we’ll be out of town for my brother’s wedding. (Beni, who continues to be as sick as a dog, will miss the wedding but not the birthday.) Olivia’s requested that we pick up a card and bag of bacon strips so that we can present them to him in belated celebration on the night of our trip back home.

Kitty Glitter

The cat’s out of the bag, sort of speak. Well, technically…the cat bag’s out, as in out in public. Olivia proudly held up her bejeweled kitty purse for all to behold. She’d gotten it as a gift from my aunt over the summer.

Constructive Comments

When noticing the construction barrels lining the sides of a road we take on our route to her preschool, Olivia remarked, "Those things are over there because it’s almost Halloween."

Kegler Party

Questions: In bowling, is someone who consistently misses the headpin considered a pinhead? Does someone who keeps leaving the 7-10 combo suffer from a bad case of the splits?

[Insert groans here.]

The lack of sound, most notably of laughter, is so pronounced that you could hear a pin (or several) drop. Spare me, you say, from your gutter-al remarks, and strike such inane inquiries from future posts. To that end, I’ll keep striving to perfect my game so as to avoid missing the mark so badly in the future.

I’ll push the reset button now to tell you that Olivia joined Aiden this afternoon for his birthday-bowling bash. The kids had a ball. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Homecoming to Grips With

Homecoming is that time when we reconnect with old friends, whether they be classmates from yesteryear or the school mascot we find so fascinating that we spend most of the third quarter of the football game chasing him in the stands for the opportunity to hold his hand.

Et Tu, Zoe

(Background: Zoe is a new girl at their preschool who Olivia’s quite fond of.)

From Olivia’s lips to your screen:

"Zoe thought I was perfect. She said I was a perfect, nice girl."

Scarecrow Tactics

My hometown of Midland, Michigan loves to adorn its downtown streets with public art exhibitions created by local artists. The idea is nothing new: these displays started in Zürich in 1998, moved (moo-ved?) to the U.S. with Chicago’s Cows on Parade in 1999, and have since been a staple on many Main Streets.

Midland has gone with trolls (don’t ask), foxes, and now scarecrows—these straw men and women spun and decorated by employees of local businesses. Olivia, like many a crop-bound crow, was scared at first by their presence, but she eventually showed that imitation is her sincerest form of bravery.

Shady Ladies

When Olivia saw Grandma Randi rocking her sunglasses, she insisted on getting hers out. The bespectacled pair were bedazzling on their recent trip to a home improvement store.