Grandparents

I started this blog so the grandparents could keep track of the doings, but I have a feeling that none of them read it very often, if at all.  Hopefully someday the kids will look back at what I wrote and be able to see how much I loved them.

Magic Tree House

We just finished reading the first 37 Magic Tree House Books.  I am surprised that, for the most part, each one is entertaining and I learn something from each one.  Only a little predictable.

I think Ethan can relate to Jack - Ethan knows Jack's favorite phrases are "Oh, man!" and "Oh, brother!" and can appreciate that Jack has a little sister that likes to act first and think about things (or plan things out later), while Jack (and Ethan) are both fans of planning.  In fact, one of Ethan's favorite phrases when things aren't going well is "that's not part of my plan" or "I wasn't planning on this".

Just started The Magician's Elephant - Karri's recommendation.  Seems good so far.  From the author of Desperaux (sweet story, but not saccharine, with a good mesage), which we all really liked.

We try to get Ethan to read chapter titles and words, but he thinks "his eyes are tired" more often than not, so I am not pushing it.  Which is hard for me, but doing my best.

Really Loud High Pitched Scream

If you are at a playground or on our street and you hear one, it is probably just Willa being extra-excited.  Kind of cute when you are outside, kind of damaging to your hearing if you are right next to her inside.

Jew-Fro

Haircuts are coming this weekend, but Ethan is currently sporting a great Jew-fro.  Super cute on him.

For those of you out of the loop, even wikipedia knows about the jewfro:

A Jewfro (portmanteau of the words Jewish and afro) or Isro (portmanteau of the words Israel and afro) refers to a curly hairstyle worn by certain people of Jewish descent. Its name is inspired by the afro hairstyle, which it resembles.

The term has its roots in the 1960s and 1970s when many prominent figures were described as sporting the hairstyle. The Los Angeles Times called college football star Scott Marcus a flower child with “golden brown hair...in ringlets around his head in what he calls a Jewish afro style”.[13]

The New York Times in a 1971 article on Harvard University’s “hairy” basketball team, wrote that Captain Brian Newmark, “hasn’t had a haircut since last May and his friends have suggested his hairdo is a first cousin to the Afro...in the case of the Jewish Junior from Brooklyn, though, the bushy dark hair that is piled high on his head has been called an Isro."[14] Novelist Judith Rossner was described in a Chicago Tribune profile as the “grown-up Wunderkind with an open, oval face framed by a Jewish Afro."[15]

These are a few of my favorite things...

In the case of Willa, it goes something like this:
Willa: Is that a girl? [pointing to any illustration in a book with a dress, wearing pink, with a bow in her hair, or long hair]
Us: Yes.
Willa: I like her; she's my favorite.