Superhero BFFs

We have a great event on the Friday before Halloween called Trick-or-Treat on Main Street in which the local businesses hand out candy and there are costume contests and a jack-o-lantern viewing all together in the same place on the same evening. It's a place and time when superheros of all kinds can come together in friendship and camaraderie, and in a show of unity,... they can hold hands:

Rhys was Iron Man, Matthew was Captain America, and Logan was Spiderman. In the background was Alanna as an adorable little ladybug.

Farewell, Rock Mountain

We finally have no more piles of rocks sitting around our yards, taking up physical space, causing serious mental anguish, or entertaining kids (but causing muddy-laundry issues). We are free! All that remains in the back is a ghost-like dusting on the walls, that is actually quite beautiful, I think.

Rhys is the only one who is missing the piles. As we pulled into the driveway the afternoon after Aaron had spread the last of the piles around the front/side yard, he sadly asked where the rocks had gone. When I asked him why, he replied, "I like to climb on them!"

The Twleve Days After the Frost...

Here's a sample of the many variations of The Twelve Days After the Frost that Aaron's been singing for the last several days (to the tune, pretty obviously, of The Twelve Days of Christmas):

On the fifth day after frost, my dear wife brought for me
F-i-v-e green tomatoes!
A green tomato pie,
Fried green tomatoes,
Green tomato casserole,
And some green tomato enchilada sauce!

We're, um, inundated with green tomatoes. We pulled them the morning we left for our trip to Idaho because a frost was forecast, and while it did indeed frost, the couple of tomato plants left in the garden weathered it just fine. I estimate we picked around 30 pounds or so of green ones, and when we returned from the trip there were about 4 or 5 pounds that had ripened sufficiently, so we added those to the 5 pounds in the freezer. We also picked another 3 pounds of ripe red tomatoes tonight, another 3 pounds of yellowish tomatoes, and there are at least 3 more pound of green tomatoes on the vine. The green tomato enchilada sauce line in the song above comes from the 12 cups of sauce I made and froze this afternoon. I managed to give away at least 10 pounds of green tomatoes earlier today, and we're hoping to unload the 15 pounds in the next couple of days.

Any ideas for green tomatoes? I still have 6 or so pounds of the best of them...

Alannaisms

Alanna has been experimenting with language, and the results are sometimes hilarious:

• As Daddy was reading stories and spending time with Alanna before bed, she announced, "Daddy, you're my Great One."

• As I was doing the same as Daddy a few nights later, she stated, "You're my favorite daughter, Mommy."

• Alanna has been trying out the prefix "un-" and here are a couple of results:
• "Un-hold me, Mommy!" as we were waiting in line at the store (she kept running away!).
• "Un-scoot me, please," after she had finished her snack while sitting at the table.

There have been some others recently, but I'm going to have to remember them first.

Joke

I'm on the patio typing, and watching Alanna splash in the pool, fully clothed. Rhys insisted on one last play day with the pool, and Alanna hopped in with all her clothes on after she got up from her nap. The thing is, a second ago, Rhys asked me, "Why is Alanna's shirt wet?" Ummm. What?!?!

Why is Alanna's shirt wet? (This sounds like a joke. Here's the punchline:)
Because she got into the pool with her clothes on...

I wonder if Rhys was trying to ask a different question? But what would he be asking?

Daddies

Just overheard:

"No, my Daddy is Big Daddy and you are Old Daddy!"

We're at my parents' house in Boulder, and Rhys was telling this to my Dad, otherwise known as Grampy.

We're having a good time!

Evil Asteroids

It's amazing how differently brains work. (As an aside, Rhys informed us a few days ago, "Everybody's brains are different. They're all different colors.") My experience today highlights the difference between a 34 year-old Mommy brain and a 5 year-old Boy brain.


This is our new seat cover for the desk/extra table chair:

I had a simple idea in mind, one that I didn't think would pose any problems. I asked Rhys to draw a family portrait on the white cover (in fabric markers), with the intention that this chair would then be a cute, story-worthy piece of furniture that would be unique and loveable. Well, it's unique. Here's the narrative (paraphrased): The big blue guy is Daddy. His mouth is going, "Aaahhh." Here's the asteroids coming to Earth, 1, 2, 3 [the pink, purple, and black scribbles with red fire lines showing they're falling from the sky]. Here's Mommy standing on top of the Evil sign. E is for Evil. Mommy and Alanna are red. They don't have faces. Alanna has short legs. The two robots are evil guys holding Daddy's arms and they live back behind the Evil sign. This is me [in yellow]. I'm wearing green armor all over my body and my head.

So. A family portrait. Illustrated by a Boy brain.

I wonder what color Rhys's brain is? And mine? I don't know if I want to ask him to elaborate on his theory...

I guess the chair is story-worthy, too.