Kung Fu Tampa

Charlie's first official day of Kung Fu is tomorrow...hope he likes it.

Kung Fu = Hard Work

Nerd Gun

Last nights activity involved one nerf gun and Jeopardy. Poor Alex Trebec didn't stand a chance against the suction cup dart that whizz from the nerd gun - we know it's a nerf gun but it's just so much sillier when you say nerd gun. As Charlie explained it - mommy laughs and says nerd gun, like we're shooting nerds!



Now of course I am NOT advocating guns or shooting but what's the harm in a cute little dart gun? Last years marshmallow gun was a TOTAL flop - making a sticky barrel and inedible marshmallows - what's the fun in that?

Check Out the Visual Symphony

Found it on Harpers.org. Love the transformation of birds on wires into an entirely new dimension. So...August Rush.

Dog in Training

Charlie has a big dog named Rudy. Rudy is one year older than Charlie and two times his size but you wouldn't know it from how well they work together.

Sure he steals Charlie's pizza, occasionally munches on his video game system, and sometimes just smells really, really bad.

But this dog and this boy are buds.

Maybe next I'll post the pic of this 70-pound pooch tasting Chaz when he was 3 months old - or maybe he was younger. Whatever it is - they're both good guys.

Happy Day? not so much

Well it started as a happy day - but Chaz isn't too into being in photos these days.

Charlie the Coastal Explorer

For the past two weeks (just two-days a week) Charlie has been attending Costal Explorers - a program for 4, 5 and 6-year-olds. It is the Marine Biological Laboratory's kinder-version of Science School - a very cool program my brother attended and was involved in when he was younger.


Here I had just slathered on the sunscreen before day one; inevitably it gets all in his hair too. This photo is reminiscient of another photo I took of Charlie before he was one - and also right before he face-planted in the sand, and right about the time I decided going to the beach for the day was too hard with a baby. (I like for my fun to be fun.)

In Woods Hole, Charlie learned about vertebrates and invertebrates, living and nonliving organisims. He made a foam visor, visited the aquarium, touched sea critters, "went on a walk," and "rode in a van full of carseats."

Gullible me believed even that which I could not see - he later confessed to Mimi that the van was more of a creative liberty than a true ride.

I have proof that he:

• Created a clay imprint necklace of a shell,
• Squshed a tee-shirt onto a painted fish - of this he told me that one kid squshed a little too hard and what should be inside the fish gushed out, he also detailed the smell - this was corroborated by a fellow explorer, Peter, though I have my suspicions. His shirt does have a gooey matter above the fish print that one could assume was fish guts. But like I said, I'm not so sure.
• Wore his new frog boots nonstop.

I have reason to believe that he either ate or threw away:

• 2 cheese sticks,
• one oreo dunkums,
• one bag of cheetos - though this is highly questionable as no orange fingers came home
• sandwich parts

As they did not come home in the pack.

So what he did I am not exactly sure and have discovered the fastest way to amnesia is to ask a kid immediately following said occasion what he learned, liked the best, or just simply what he did. But as the conversations unwravel I find how much of a little scientist he really is.

Questions have always been his strongpoint - "what's that?" being the longest lasting, most universal, and ultimately most annoying. I will never forget a 50-yard stroll down the snack, chip, and a variety of bottled water aisle of Publix. Approximately 30 yards of one side of the aisle is dedicated to this liquid wonder. Every other step the question was repeated. Again, and again, and again. With a voice more than lacking enthusiasm, I told him again and again, "water." And that is how the game is played. He finds something he likes, latches onto it, and I attempt to vary my approach. Why do I feel outwitted?

Today he learned what sea stars eat - scallops, hermit crabs, energy beams (those are the things that are in water - there are beams of all sorts in water) and sea clams - shells. He also learned that starfish eat with their stomache - just their stomache, not their mouths. They use their mouth to eat plankton but not their stomache. They are called sea stars NOT Starfish - they are not fish at all. They live in the sea. Their stomache opens up wide and then closes when their predators come. A sea star regenerates an arm or leg when it gets cut off. Ed - isnt that a good name? - is a scientist who spoke to the Explorers today possibly while they were at the biological laboratory about...you get the drift.

All in all it was a good day.

Kung Fu = Hard Work

8-5-09 - Charlie earned his White Sash in Kung Fu. As a treat he got a cherry dipped twist in a cup from Dairy Queen. I sat by and watched... as usual Charlie made a friend, Caroline.

What a good guy. He really digs kung fu.

Project Wildflower - Step One

Find a pot that fits - and a place where it will not get direct sunlight.

Charlie and I headed out to our shed in jammies and flip-flops to find a container that would be the right size.

We sprayed off the pot, which is actually the bottom of a huge planter. When I rubbed some chunks of dirt with the tips of my fingers Charlie said, "Gross Mom! Why on earth would you do that?"

I turned to him and said, "What, YOU'VE never gotten dirty?"

The next step is to soak the paper in some water, which I suppose means another container - good thing we brought two in...

Project Wildflower

Charlie belongs to Publix Preschool Pals - every few months in the mail he gets something neat. This is the most recent. At first glance I thought it was a bookmark made of recycled paper, but then when I flipped it over I read that it is a paper embedded with wildflowers.

The directions read:

THIS PAPER CONTAINS:

Wildflower seeds

HOW TO GROW YOUR FLOWERS:

1. Soak seed paper in water for a few hours.
2. Place the entire card in a pot of soil and cover lightly.
3. Keep out of direct sunlight and water two times a day.
4. In a week or so, sprouts will grow.
5. Move outdoors when the weather permits.

Handmade paper is 100% recycled

This morning we are going to follow the directions and start our wildflower garden.

Happy Spring!

Lagging Behind an Angel Face

Last night when I was flipping through some old magazines, I decided to give this a try. I love to get caught up in artsy projects where my hands can be busy and my mind can do what it will.

By the time I was through - this is what I had.

Now - granted, my boy is not QUITE this angelic, but I certain features ring true. Years down the line I am sure that he will be chastising me for the alfalfa do, but I just couldn't resist!

An update on the imaginary friend front - To Market and Sign have their own - albeit it very, very small - car. I was informed of this as we left them behind in traffic. I didn't even know they were still hanging around. If you are lost - well, welcome to my life on a daily basis. To Market is one of my son's imaginary friends. He is a boy and apparently tiny but able to drive. Sign is also an imaginary friend - but Sign is a witch. They, along with Humpty Dumpty, are my son's nemesis (neminisi?) nemisises. They antagonize Charlie and ultimately end up getting him into trouble. This seems to be why he was pleased to see that we ditched them on MacDill.

Absent an excuse for his daily spells of poor behavior since then, I assume Charlie has come to the realization that they were merely lagging behind.