It’s Halloween…Brody was a JEDI (what a shock!), and Mo was a Kitty Cat. 

This was the first year that Mo really wanted to hit a lot of houses, so she, a friend and Dayna went out.  They had a great time and the gals were very well-behaved.

Brody…is growing up.  This year he wanted to go with a bunch of guys and then had a ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’ party at the guys basement.  He left at 5:20 and just got back at 10:20 p.m.  He had a blast.  We missed having him with us, but pleased he’s having fun.

As we live in a rural area, many of those far more ‘rural’ than we, come to our sub so they can get more candy than they normally would on their dirt roads.  Seriously, you can’t find a parking space on the street, on either side in the whole sub…by 7 p.m., all their rusty F150’s are lining the M-59. 

That sounds smarmy, but I don’t think we really care.  We start at 6 p.m. and the goal is to close at 8 p.m.  But with so many kids, we’ve never had enough candy to make it past 7 or 7:15.  This year, we really stocked up (and I did a better job of not giving the kids handfuls of candy) and made it to 7:49.  That still represented over 340 kids…and they were still coming when we put out the lights.

It was a great night though, lots of good costumes, mostly little kids and nice to see the neighbors out and about.

Happy Halloween.  (click to enlarge)

     (Jedi's hate cats)

My thanks to the teacher’s at Brody’s school for distracting him from Star Wars and introducing him to the world of super heroes!

I wonder if he’ll ask for today's equivalent of the Farrah Fawcett poster rather than more galactic heroes now?

One year Brody asked why we didn’t come to the classroom as often as did other parents.  Feeling bad, I took the day of his Halloween (yes, he still has Halloween, the weird losers of any political or religious persuasion that seek to change it to a harvest festival have yet to invade our wee burb…they must be in some other county not getting their vaccinations…hopefully, they’re not heading our way) off to participate in the party and enjoy the parade.

It also was a great day for a motorcycle ride!

Thus…a TRADITION was born. (or was it conceived and born later…our should I use birthed?)

Anyway, Dayna and I did it (no, not that…ran out of time – we went to the party) this year so both kids had parental representation.

Both classes had very nice parties, activities and a parade.  Following are a couple photos. (click to enlarge)

Brody has always been rather outgoing and friendly with strangers.  Mo on the other hand is shy and suspicious.

The kids and I stopped at the library tonight; Brody needed a book for a report. 

I had given each of the kids nice, leather-like bound note pads (think those little flip ones cops use on television) that I had absconded from a vendor.  The kids loved them and both brought them into the library.  We hit the computer and Brody anxiously copied down the call numbers.

After we found the books for his report, he wanted a couple for pleasure.  He, on his own, search the computer and came up with some options (only one was star wars related!).  When he couldn’t find one, he asked a teen volunteer for assistance.  He actually occupied a lot of her time (turns out the book was on-order and due in soon) that I thought he had asked the gal out (or was working up the courage).

Mo decided she too wanted some books; however, she wasn’t into the big picture books.  She wanted American Girls (she always gets a short term interest when a catalog arrives…I’m not paying 150 bucks for a toy doll, so that catalogs have a tendency to disappear quickly before any preference can solidify), most specifically, Julie from 1974.

I actually had difficulty finding the section in the computer, so she said ‘No problem Dad.  I’ll go ask the librarian’ and she was off.  Now this is a person who barely speaks to family she knows and never talks to strangers.  She went right up, said ‘ Excuse me…Miss Librarian.  Where can I find American Girls?’  She took her to the section and she picked out three chapter books.

I was very proud of both of them.

As an aside, I recently donated all of my graphic novels to the library.  They were taking up a lot of space, I read them infrequently and I’ve stopped collecting comics.  I thought it would be great for others to enjoy them as I did and worked with the children’s librarian to donate my collection and have it shelved (vs. selling them at a sale).  It was especially nice as they had a really crappy graphic novel section (they had Maus 1 and 2, which is a requirement and most likely the greatest graphic novels every, but beyond that…it was non-existent).    So I enjoyed seeing my copy of ‘Batman: War’ (a giant sized graphic novel) on display as part of a Batman movie tie-in display.    

The kids and I were on our own for dinner; as I didn’t want to go with the standard Dad ‘let’s get a pizza plan’ I decided the kids should fix dinner.

They selected breakfast and were quite excited to get it going.

As a matter of fact, while I was finished putting away laundry, they got it started:  nabbed their own cereal, got the toast, waffles and syrup going; set the table and got out the eggs.  Each got to crack two eggs and both did great…not one shell fragment found in the scrambled eggs. 

Brody was in charge of toast toppings…for himself, he selected a traditional butter basting (apply immediately after toaster discharge for immediate melting); Mo decided she wanted he own famous recipe of peanut butter and cinnamon!  Brody located the cinnamon, but unfortunately chose the container with a large opening (rather than a sprinkle friendly one) and Mo’s toast ended up looking like a gingerbread man threw up on her toast! 

When it was done they each got a very small piece of the fudge they were given by Grandma over the weekend.  Once they were all set (and I had taken a sizeable amount away from each of them as they had attempted self-serve) I offered some cold milk.

Brody immediately replied; ‘Yup, but make mine a double!’

Mo is still working building her lexicon…so they other day she asked Dayna why her (Dayna’s) parents got ‘reversed.’

We all know we should exercise…but we don’t.

We all know we should eat right…but we don’t.

We all know that we need to reduce, reuse and we recycle…but we don’t.

Brody and Maura have their debuggers memorized and know they should use them…BUT…

I have recently finished reading ‘Selling Sickness’, a great book that shows how Americans (and apparently Australia as well, go figure) are being duped into taking medications that may or may not actually make a difference (e.g. a drug is touted as reducing your risk by 50%, which is true, but it actually reduces your over risk from 2% to 1% - so while it is a 50% drop, it’s really only a 1% reduced risk) and for conditions that aren’t even recognized by the AMA (look for the word ‘disroder’ at the end of the condition-that indicates it was made up by the marketing department, not the reasearchers).

My favorite was a quote from the CEO of GSK who basically stated that the problem with their industry was that only the ill needed medication and that they were out to ensure well people also started requiring pharmaceuticals.  (e.g. and now we have Adult ADHD where they can sell the drugs to adults forever, vs. just a few years to children).

SO, I’m not here to rail against pharma, it’s actually to frame my state of mind when…the dentist told us that Brody needed braces and sent us to the orthodontist next to his office (with which they have some interest).

I’ve never had braces, nor did any in my family; so I’m unfamiliar with this area of dentistry.  However, my recollection was that kids didn’t get braches till middle school later.  I thought, he needs this at eight?  Sounds like someone just noticed we had good coverage (we have two complimentary dental insurances so everything is paid for) and wanted a new boat, house, Lexus or a younger wife. 

Between my unfamiliarity and my anti-establishment paranoia’s (tin foil hat currently under construction) I was very reluctant to persue.

However, I wisely deferred to my spouse who had braces, so we could draw upon her experience and she could research .  After several visits and then viewing the impressions that were made (see pic below) demonstrating the need, we proceeded.

Brody actually doesn’t have braces just yet, he has a Rapid Palatal Expander.  This widens the upper jaw by separating the midpalatal suture allowing for more space as permanent teeth erupt (that’s funny, the technical term is ‘erupting’…makes the mouth sound so much more exciting, doesn’t it?).   Another pic is below.

Brody has been an incredible sport through all of this.  Multiple molds were taken, spacers were put in to make room for the appliance (which he said felt like having a permanent pop corn seed stuck between his teeth), and ultimately they had to put it in.

I took him the day it was installed (don’t know if that is the technical term, but if you get an ‘applicance’, ‘installation’ seems like the appropriate verb) and was really worried for him. 

It was sad to watch as his primal senses kicked in and he would instinctively reach to bitch slap the doc as he was putting this in (it was painful and way in the back of his mouth).  The doc would ask him to put his hands in his pockets…Brody would lower them but more waist level (like a boxer waiting from the other guy to stand back up after getting knocked down).

At this point I have to ask…does anyone really feel more comfortable because medical professionals say ‘You’ll feel some pressure’ rather than saying (more accurately) ‘This is gonna hurt like hell, but we gotta do it. Don’t be a wussy and at least retain some self respect.’

At the end they offered him some items from the little box of plastic crap.  Brody was like ‘Yeah, a plastic spider ring will make me forget about the shock absorber you just crammed in my throat.  But the tech insisted; annoyed, he grabbed a pink rubber ball for Mo (awwww).

Every night now we have to go in with a ‘Key’ (they call it a key, it’s really just a bent paper clip on a plastic handle) and twist the appliance.  The first few nights Brody was clearly felling ‘PRESSURE’ and was fearful most nights.  He’s now resigned to the fact and doesn’t seem to notice as much.

I think through all of this his biggest frustration is having to retrain his tongue.  Eating is weird now and he has difficult enunciating and with excessive spit (ala Shelly from South Park – view video).

As we rushed into latch key this morning (we were running a little late, but that really was me just having trouble kick starting the ol’ motor-vation) Brody thought of a simple question that he needed answered before playing dodge ball. 

Little known fact: Gandhi, most of his best thinking was just before some heated foosball matches…so as it is with Brod.

Today’s easy question:  What is heaven.

Sure, I can answer that as I toss your back pack in the cubby, peel your sister off my leg as I leave her room and walk you to the gym!

After giving it much thought I went with an evasive, ‘many people have different ideas on what heaven is…fancy buildings, flying, hanging with the deity of their choice…I went a little more Zen (my default) and said you only get one shot at life, so heaven is the here and now if you choose to make it such and enjoy the little things (e.g. time w/ family) versus constantly seeking to purchase happiness (e.g. a DS game). 

Actually I think that was pretty damn good…Brody gave me a puzzled look and then took off to enlighten someone else’s head with a rubber ball.

Tonight, after the kids had played outside, had dinner and completed their home work…the kids read to us.  I sat on the front couch ( a lovely antique piece bequeathed to me by my Aunt (somewhat begrudgingly on the part of my Uncle who had paid for some serious reupholstering) that sits in the front room) while Brody read ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’.  I just relaxed, had my eyes closed, feet up, occasionally looking up to help with a word. 

All the while Mo was practicing her sight word books with Dayna in the family room.   

The moment was peaceful, tranquil and one where you felt close to your kids and family.  I stopped and told Brody…this is heaven.

I still don’t think he got it…but at least he didn’t bean me with a ball.

I’ve mentioned in recent posts about our kids lexicon.  Now, I will admit, it only seems to be accessed in our presence; I’m sure to others Brody sounds like the seagulls in ‘Finding Nemo’, constantly repeating ‘DS. DS. Can I play my DS?’ and Mo seems like the bashful offspring of Mimes, but when it comes out…it is adorable.

Each week the kids go to the library at their school and check out books.  To check out additional books the following week, one has to return the previous weeks books.  On occasion the kids forget their books and they can simply return them a following day (there is a bin outside the library). 

So the other day, we get a note that she hadn’t returned a book on Tiger’s and that we owed them seventeen bucks.  Dayna and I were positive we had returned it, but immediately, she started searching the house.

Maura was digging under something and said ‘I’m really concerned Dad.  We’ve got to find that book.’

Again, is ‘concerned’ a normal word for a kindergartner?  That was a very precise description of her state of mind.

However, she did confirm her status as a kindergartner later when she asked by volcanoes keep ‘interrupting’ (vs. erupting).

Is it good or bad advertising to put the baby changing unit right next to the condom and novelty machine in the truck stop men’s room?