Happy Autumn!

Hip!

Hip!

Hooray!

Food Tyrant or Responsible Parent?

So anyone who reads this blog knows that I have some particular opinions on food. Some might say that I am even a bit of a snob about food--I like to think it is more about having a semi-refined palate. This most often gets played out in our household when I refuse to stop at fast-food joints when time is tight. The boys all know that I really, really prefer that we don't eat prepared, institutional food and have no problem sharing my opinions on this matter with others.

Now that said, I know that given schedules, it is sometimes almost unavoidable that there are times when fast-food is the answer, but the boys still relish the chance to point out that they got to indulge. As evidence, I offer up two exchanges from this week.

1. At a school event this week:

School Principal to the Engineer: Hey, there is that new Wendy's nearby. I stopped there and had those new spicy chicken nuggets. They were pretty good. Do you like those?

Engineer: My dad doesn't like us to eat fast food.

Nice. The eight-year old giving the school principal some nutritional education.

2. A Wednesday night (note that Wednesday's at our house are crazy as the boys go straight from school to piano lessons and then have to go straight to baseball practice--including a uniform change in the van and I race from work to practice):

The Captain to me after getting home at 8:30 pm after baseball practice (in a gleeful 5-year old voice): Hey Papa, guess where we ate dinner tonight? You're going to be angry! McDonald's!

Win some, lose some!

The Next Time the Brothers Say They're Bored

I believe I will show them this to provide some inspiration!

Hat tip to Josh Spear via Mashable Twitter List.

Happy Birthday to the Engineer!

Happy Birthday to The Engineer who turns 8-years old today!

Love you SC!

Happy Birthday to The Artist

Who today turns the corner into the world of double-digits!

I love you dear Blue.

Happy 5th Birthday Captain!

Tomorrow the Captain has a birthday that we have been celebrating all weekend and I didn't want to miss it here in the mess that will be tomorrow (otherwise known as Monday). Captain, how old did you say you were going to be?

Oh right, 5.

A high five!


Say goodbye.


Friends and family know where to get the details.

May This Always Be The Case

Tonight, as I watched the Artist and Engineer read books to their little bro, The Captain (and loving, as best as I can, all the chaos of that), I was thinking about all the talk about parent/children relationships. And while I hope we will always have a great relationship with our boys (or perhaps continue to cultivate one would be a better description), what I most hope is that these three are inseparable. Play, fight, whatever, I simply hope that these guys will always have each other's back.

Lessons from the Road

We have once again made the trek up to the north shore to visit family and friends in Cleveland for the holidays and, as is always the case, I learned a few things in the car (and before) on the way up (some of which you think I would have learned already).

1. If you get your children a Wii for Christmas, it is best to not stay up the night before until midnight playing Super Mario Brothers instead of getting the packing and prep done for the trip (but it sure was fun).
2. We know far too many of the employees at the Bob Evans in Breezewood.
3. It appears that he who rides in the back--in this case, The Captain--seems to be the best traveler of the bunch.
   
4. I would really like to hang out with They Might Be Giants when they write a song for one of their kid's albums.
5. Even though it seems like a good time to plan some things (like say, life, for instance), we never really manage to do it.
   
6. If it is slanting-southern-sunny day, create some sun-blocking device for the Engineer's window since he sits on the side facing south and he is going to be HOT!
7. Tunnels are endlessly fascinating.
8. Thinking that a long road trip is the perfect time to listen to that stack of discs College Roomy sent earlier this month is based on the faulty premise that you can hear the music well enough to attend to it.
9. The Artist has thought of a lot of alternative (and faster, much faster) means of transportation.
   
10. Arriving just as a nice winter storm starts is perfect timing.

We shall see what the return trip has to offer.

Holiday Music 09 Installment Two: For the Kids

Yes I said I would be posting about holiday music and yes I said I imagined it was going to mostly focus on jazz as that seems to be the mood I am in, but see we had this little snow blizzard thingy that changed things. First it resulted in a lot more time hanging inside with the boys (who basically had their holiday break extended to two full weeks by the snow) and that meant more holiday music oriented toward their tastes. And that means, you get to hear about one of my favorite kid holiday discs.

Now the Veggie Tales cartoons are not for everyone I realize, but I do find the humor to be of that special kind that makes both kids and adults giggle alike and that is true on A Very Veggie Christmas. The basic premise of the disc is that the various characters (yes they are all vegetables) are all gathering at Bob the Tomato's place for a sing off with each character singing a holiday song in a different style (kinda). This is complicated by the fact that (stay with me here) Larry the Cucumber was in charge of food and has ordered it from the Oscar the Polish caterer who runs notoriously late and so the food jokes run throughout the disc until Oscar finally arrives--with various wrapped meats.

I won't go on here--you will get the gist from the music and banter below featuring Pa Grape and Family, the French Peas (my personal favorite--anyone have a good French Christmas music recommendation BTW?), and the whole cast singing along with Oscar. It really is a good one for the kids--trust me that it has been well tested and approved by the boys in this household.

Veggies Talking

Go Tell It On the Mountain

More Veggies Talking

He is Born, The Holy Child

Still More Veggies Talking

The 8 Polish Foods of Christmas

And in case you aren't keeping track, it is almost time for Santa to take off!

Working the Christmas Countdown

Conversation this morning with The Captain upon seeing new presents under the tree:

Captain: Can we open them after breakfast?

Me: Not until Christmas.

Captain: There are only nine days until Christmas?

Me: Um, today is the 15th, so (counting on my fingers) 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25--that is eleven days.

Captain: No. It is nine.

Me: Okay, no fair counting Christmas since it basically starts at the crack of dawn, but since it is the crack of dawn now, today should count, so it is at least 10.

Captain: No. It is nine.

At which point I realize that:

1. I am debating Christmas with a four- (almost five-) year old and, really, do I think I am going to win that one?
2. It doesn't matter to me (other than I am short on days to get everything done that needs to get done by Christmas) . . . but it really does to him.
3. Perhaps he will grow up to be a state budget officer who realizes that you control what counts as the fiscal calendar and if you just adjust the calendar by a day, you can argue that your budget is balanced (at least until next year).

And, so my life continues to be a weird combination of family and work.

Two Worlds Collide!

So when I was a younger man (even a boy), I was a wee bit of a Queen fan, er, -atic. Now The Artist, who is nine, is into all things puppets and animation and at the top of that list for some time has been The Muppets (which somehow always seem to appear in our NetFlix queue). So today, the news of this video means my eldest and I are going to have a good time on the YouTube tonight!

Hat tip to Mashable.

The Sugar Haul

Happy Halloween to all. The boys successfully brought in bags of candy last night, which combined with the end of daylight savings time (a convention that drives me a bit crazy) has led to requests for candy starting at 8 a.m. this morning! For those who haven't met the boys yet, here is your legend for future reference here at cps consolidated:

• The Skeleton = The Artist
• Obi-wan = The Engineer
• Captain Rex = well, The Captain

Friends and family know where to get more details and photos about the Brothers K Halloween.