The Grand National

Tonight H and I went to a play, written by my former colleague and current client. It was a study of depression and how untreated mental illness can lead to despair and ultimately disaster. It was amazing to see the brainchild of someone I know brought to life on stage. If you have read my blog (and I realize I am addressing no one at this time other than perhaps my mother) you know that I hold writing, in any of its forms, in very high regard. So I was impressed, and humbled, by the efforts and accomplishments of the playwright. If the play wasn't ending on Sunday I would recommend it.

The Roses stayed home with their nanny, who worked a 13 hour day (God bless her). Rose #1 brought home a very cute crop of school pictures (unlike Rose #2's pictures, that came back displaying an unpleasant grimace on her face...). Rose #2 is - knock wood, cross fingers, cross hair, whatever - at least arguably on the mend, though I think she is going to stay home tomorrow just to be sure. Rose #3 is cheerful and begged me to read Amelia Bedelia. Anyone else out there get sort of annoyed at the number of times you are required to repeat Amelia Bedelia in any of those books? I realize that repetition is part of the charm and the appeal for kids, but sheesh.

Sick Child Central, Can We Help You?

OK, no one has been officially diagnosed with flu, but they sure have flulike symptoms. We have sick people everywhere here. I picture our house as a petri dish of virus. Poor Rose #2 - she is pretty darn sick. She has a high fever and actually asked to go to her own bed. This is NOT normal behavior for her.

Rose #3 appears to have recovered. I am being very lawyerly and couching my language. It is likely, notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, that Rose #3 has recovered. Knock wood.

Rose #1 - not sick. Yet.

You should not come into our house if you have not contracted the flu virus yet this year. The pizza guy wisely stood at the threshold of the door. (Yes, we ordered pizza. On a Wednesday. My menu act leaves something to be desired this week, and poor little glassy eyed Rose #2 requested pizza. She ate some, too! And broccoli!)

I won't lie, I am a bit worried about Rose #2. I was worried about Rose #3 also, and she seems to be fine. I hope Rose #1 escapes this evil bug.

The Latest Halloween Blog Post in the Blogosphere

Rose #1: Anakin Skywalker (thanks to my colleague for the loan of the costume!). This is our front porch with all six - count them! six! - pumpkins. I actually got all six candles lit at the same time.

Rose #2: A Bat! Homemade with umbrella parts! And face paint. She asked to be a bat, and by golly, the bat HAPPENED.

And Rose #3, who was unable to trick or treat because she wasn't feeling well. She started out the night in costume, but things disintegrated from there. After the trick-or-treaters got home, she rallied for the great post-event candy debrief.

Here is the Halloween gathering at Guppy's. We had bat (Rose #2), Commander Rex (Sam), Cheerleader (Maddie), Anakin (Rose #1), Princess (Rose #2), Cat (Bea), Grandmother (Guppy), Chicken (Kate), and Mouse (Gus).

Another great Halloween. Rose #1 and #2 may or may not have stolen Rose #3's candy bag today, however. We can't prove anything but they were remarkably willing to share with her until her bag is located...

Singing Sunday

Rose #1 is in Children's Choir at church. Yesterday was the first Singing Sunday for the choir:

She just loves it. This Sunday they sang "Turning" and "The Earth Is Our Mother." The kids are all so earnest, and cute. I wish they would stay that way...

Rose #3 is sick...think it is the flu. Poor baby. Her fever broke in the night, though, and she was sleeping soundly when I left. This is going to be a dicey week.

Day 1 of 30 and Post Halloween postmortem

No pun intended...post-Halloween postmortem. Never mind.

No pictures in this post because I cannot find where H saved the Halloween pictures onto our network. A network is like a warren of confusion and mystery and trickery, if you ask me. Just a way to find places to hide files. We took some darling pictures of Rose #1 as Anakin, Rose #2 as a homemade bat and Rose #3 as a princess. But you can't see them.

Rose #3 is still under the weather, so she and I stayed home and answered the door last night. She kept calling trick-or-treaters "customers," and she confidently grabbed handfuls of candy to dole out. We didn't get many - 50 maybe - but our house is in a strange position on our block.

We had six pumpkins on our porch! Three carved by me, three carved by Guppy. Each kid had 2! And we have a respectable sized tupperware of roasted pumpkin seeds. My theory on roasted pumpkin seeds is that they are better in concept than in reality. Kids like to know that their moms are going to ootch through the goo and pick out the seeds, then roast them, even if the kids never intended to eat the roasted seeds in the first place. Oh well, I like roasted pumpkin seeds.

TTFN. Gotta work.

Neglect, A Sad State of Affairs

I've been neglectful. But never fear, I signed up for NaB0loPoMo, so I will hopefully be posting every day in November.

The Roses are fine. Rose #1 is gearing up for Spy Day at school. She has a magnifying glass and a small notebook (for clues, you know) and she will wear a face paint mustache. Query why school is making us come up with a costume on the day before Halloween (that is different, I might add, from her actual Halloween costume). But, no one asked the parents. I guess.

Rose #2 has made several confessions to me over the past few days. One: She got in trouble in science class for talking. She had to go to the time out chair. (Kindergarten science, you understand.) Two: She has a "boyfriend." I have no idea where she came up with the concept that she has a boyfriend, and I actually shared with her that I did not have a boyfriend until college. She seemed less surprised at that news than I would have imagined. Maybe I am 100x dorkier than even I suspect, and my children are in on the secret.

Rose #3 is full of news from preschool. She sits in circle time with "listening ears." They talk about firemen and policemen during circle time. She loves her new friend Eleanore. She was running a low grade fever tonight, and of course I am worried about her. She is just so sweet and good, and plump and juicy like a fruit. I want her to be healthy and happy forever.

Little Fins Fall Outing

Saturday was the fall outing for Little Fins, our group for families of kids with limb differences. We went to an orchard in Delano (did I say Delano? I meant B.F.E.) which was actually worth the drive. It is a working farm! Despite the fabulous pumpkins in the picture, we did not end up buying one. Unfortunately. But Rose #1 looks cute amongst them, doesn't she?

There were many, many animals at this farm. I should mention that we had the place to ourselves, since the owner is kind enough to open the orchard to groups after regular hours. The girls loved petting the goats, holding the chickens, etc. I, on the other hand, may or may not have obsessed about removing their clothing the instant we arrived home, putting it straight into the washing machine, and scrubbing their little bodies down in the shower pronto. Which did not happen, actually, since we got home really late. Anyway, here is Rose #1 petting a goat.

And Rose #2, not to be outdone, also made friends with this goat. There were tons of baby animals, too - in October! The Roses held baby goats and chicks.

If you live in the west metro in the Twin Cities, you might want to check out this orchard. It was a fun time and our Little Fins group is simply wonderful.