Ramadan?

Met Susan and Josh at BK for lunch today. Josh got milk all over his shirt, and that before sticking his French fries into his milk bottle, and then simply not eating anything at all.

 

BUT he had a great time, as did we. :-)

 

On the way out we held the door for two young black women pushing a baby in a strolled. Josh said happily, "Baby!", which delighted them. Then as they were about through the door he said, "Is it Ramadan?"

 

What they are teaching him at Montessori?!

Sam's Cadets Troop had their annual pinewood derby last night. Sam and I worked hard on his car, which is the red, black and gray one on the right, below. After noodling around about various designs, he suggested cutting out the middle section, which we did with a jig saw.

 

There were many good designs. Below are some designs from the senior cadets.

 

 

The design on the right below features a scorpion's tail--and if you pull the metal ring it draws the stinger down. Nicely done. It and the Lego car (above) were essentially tied for best senior-cadet design. Among the juniors Sam came in 3rd place for design (out of 8).

 

Here's the track, with Sam to the left watching the cars charge down. Physics says the mass of the car doesn't matter, at least as far as friction's concerned. Air resistance is also negligible. Two things do matter (aside from graphite lubricant): if the car doesn't go precisely straight then it will lose some momentum glancing off the sides of the track. Also, physics will tell you that if you can keep your center of gravity toward the rear then you will have slightly more potential energy, maybe on the percent level.

 

But wheel alignment is clearly most important, and Sam's car pulled slightly. He came in second over and over in the heats.

Sam came in 4th out of the heats, and the top four went into the finals, where he pulled up, to be tied for 2nd. He and the other car tied for 2nd then did two time-based race-offs. He won the first, but then for some unknown technical reasons that race was scrapped, and instead of two they did four, and in the end Sam lost by six milliseconds. Felt a little sorry for the car which was 3rd going into the finals and got edged out. Interestingly, the cars in 5th-8th place were way, way below in the standings.

 

Sam also came in 3rd last year. He said he was a little discouraged at not moving up, until he thought about the kids who didn't place. If that's the lesson he takes away, I am happy.

 

Totally unrelated, a drawing Sam did during church on Sunday. (One of the benefits of long sermons. :-) Love the expressive eyes.

 

Susan's been giving Josh his lunch in a lunchbox lately, just for fun. And as you can see, it is fun!

Waiting for the bus last week on a raining morning.

Waiting with Sam for Sam's bus, again in the rain. Any excuse to use an umbrella is a treat.

A view of Sam's future. Especially if he decides to become an 18th-century inventor or explorer.

Josh chilling in his jammies.

Not warm, but sunny this weekend, so we got out and played in the verge of the sandbox. Also added 350 lbs of new sand.

Sam and I are working on his pinewood derby car. The race is Wednesday of this week.

Sam's new game is to swing as high as he can, then fling his sandal over the 15-foot tree at the corner of the house.

He's really into it, too.

Saw some of these with Josh.

And one of these.

Josh, mugging.

This is a game Sue and Josh played during our recent Columbus trip. Had Josh in stitches. :-)

 

Sam's written another piano piece.

 

And Josh is comfortable with pushing a stool over to the fridge and opening the freezer. The fridge has a latch on one door, but not currently the other. Have to remedy that.

That's all the news fit to print!

An Evening At Eastman

The weekend had a smidgen of warmth--enough for Josh and me to spend some time drawing with chalk on the driveway.

 

 

Susan, for no reason, made chocolate cupcakes over the weekend. Josh's somehow turned into a moustache. 

So much for the old photos. This evening we had a piano lesson. Sam's missed the last two due to illness or feline demise, and this Friday we are out of town, so we shoe-horned a lesson into the middle of the week.

First, you have to know that this old building has some fun quirks, such as little glass-doored closets which I think used to house fire extinguishers. They have no interior door knob, so if you got stuck inside you'd have to break the glass to get out. Josh loves to play in these, so naturally Sam wanted a turn too:

 

This is Josh behind a stairwell railing. Surely does look like he's doing time.

 

This evening we couldn't explore Kodak Hall because of an Eastman Wind Ensemble concert. The concert begun shortly before we left, so on the way out I went in to see if we could catch a snippet. I have always wanted to hear the world-famous EWE (and I think it breaks Stu's heart that I live here and don't go to hear them at least once a year).  Since they were in the middle of a piece we had to go up to the very back of the balcony. Here's the view:

 

 

And here's a bootleg snippet from their performance of movement four, Scherzo, from Jeff Tyzik's Trilogy. Just amazing! The boys were rapt--they really felt the electricity of a live performance, and it didn't hurt that the music happened to be exciting and accessible. The performance previewed pieces which will be on an upcoming CD.

 

 

Half an hour earlier I snuck in the stage entrance to the auditorium and got a very short clip of the ensemble warming up:

 

 



Very exciting!

Oh, and Sam continues to really enjoy piano, and his teacher is happy with what he's doing as well.

Other snippets from Susan:

Josh, riding his balance bike in the driveway: I'm going to Africa! Now I'm in Africa. This is Africa.
Me: Cool. Where are you going next?
Josh: Wegmans.

and

Over breakfast this morning, while I'm walking around the kitchen:

Josh: Say, "Are you okay?"
Me: Um, all right. Are you okay?
Josh: Say, "Oh be careful!"
Me: Oh be careful! What happened anyway, Josh?
Josh, mournfully stroking the edge of the island counter: I bite this.

Oh, and can't forget these:

I brought Mr. Potato Head out for Josh for the first time, but Sam suddenly got into the act...led to some interesting experiences for Mr. Head. Sadly, he sustained a terrible wound at one point and lost his guts. Bounced back nicely.

The morning routine ranges anywhere from peaceful and cheerful to a traumatic sprint--we never know when we get up what to expect. Here are some breakfast anecdotes from Susan:

I buy a lot of breakfast cereal. Not Fruit Loops, but stuff the boys like: Cheerios, Rice Chex, Kix, Frosted Mini-Wheats.

We were out of Kix, a particular favorite, and I tried to buy more but the store just didn't have it. I thought, "Raisin bran. Haven't had that in ages. That sounds nice."

So this morning I say to Sam, "Look, the store was out of Kix, but I picked up some raisin bran. I thought that looked really good. I haven't had it in ages." Sam groused. (Well, hey, it's Monday.) He left the kitchen for a minute. When he came back, he said, reprovingly, "You know, Mom, you have to buy stuff that the family likes too."

Yup. Because I bought raisin bran. Once. One time in like five years.

I am such a selfish person. It's all about me, folks.

And:

A ballad, to be sung to the tune of whatever's stuck in your head at the moment:

Oh don't look under the kitchen chair,
for it's scary what you may find down there.
Today was waffle and syrup day,
and the children dropped aplenty.

Oh the rain boots are wet,
the jammies are flyin',
the elephant's sticky,
his fur is a-dryin'.
Today was waffle and syrup day,
and the children dropped aplenty.

Oh don't look too close at the older boy's head,
for his hair is tangled as if he had bled.
Today was waffle and syrup day
and the children dropped aplenty.

Oh the sneakers are tied,
the bus is a-comin',
the lunchbox is closed,
and Mommy's a-hummin'.
Today was waffle and syrup day,
and the children dropped aplenty.