Spreading good news!

Jackson's preschool class made the historic trek to Bethlehem today, dressed as shepards. ("Let's go to Bethlehem to pay our taxes!" Jackson keeps telling me, even though his line for their upcoming Christmas program is "Let's go to Bethlehem to see the baby!" Stay tuned for the outcome of that one.) His little class was truly, truly adorable as they told everyone in the foyer they were going to see baby Jesus. They searched until they found the barn and the manager -- a nativity displayed in the hall. Once they found it, they kneeled and said a prayer, posed for a group picture, and then told everyone the good news -- baby Jesus is born!

You'll see from the pictures Maeve actually believes she is part of the class, and her very kind brother catered to this, holding her hand and leading her around. There were a few tears when mom made her stay out of the class photo. Oh, the woe of the younger sibling! I get it, babe, I do.

It was an exciting and touching morning and made for an absolutely precious memory.

The great candy buy-back

So our neighbor was looking for information on a post-Halloween 'candy buy-back,' and I still had the newspaper with the information (s0 I am turning into my newspaper-cherishing mother after all!) so I gave her a call and recited the details. This was at about 4:30 on Monday night, and the kids are at my feet in the kitchen 'playing' with our miles and miles of candy collected on Saturday night. (Which was a blast by the way -- the kids zooming from house to house with the neighborhood crew, myself running behind with Maeve in arms, Maeve shivering out the words "Happee Halloweeen!" by the end of the night, Drew toasty warm thanks to the beers and bottle of wine hidden in his handy-dandy Trader Joe's insulated bag tucked in our red wagon.) Jackson had about 25 tupperware containers out so he could sort the candy by type, color, size -- you name it. He was lining it up, mimicking the sound of a grocery store scanner. Perfectly content to admire -- but not eat -- all this candy. Maeve on the other hand would sneak any piece she could get her hands on. Sweet thing that she is though, she would hand it back to me -- all I had to do was ask.

So back to the details of the candy buy-back. "Martine Dentistry. Out at Stonegte. Yeah, Stonegate Drive. From four to seven p.m. tonight. Okay. Have fun. Bye."

Jackson, my little set of ears, of course overheard this conversation and was intrigued.

J: "What are they doing with the candy, mommy?"

K: "They are going to send it to the servicemen and women in Iraq."

J: "Are they gonna eat it?"

K: "Yes."

Hmm. Eyes are thinking. Jackson sets about four pieces of candy into my giant reusable shopping bag. I explain that you get one dollar for one pound, and four pieces of candy will not equal a pound. The rest is blurry as I tried my best to explain to him what one pound would look like, reassure him he will get money and that he will get to use it to buy a toy, and we go back and fourth over which pieces of candy our family likes, which we want to keep and which we want to donate. In the end I gave him a small tupperware to put all the "to keep" candy in. It seemed like it took forever, probably only about 10 minutes, but finally we ended up with a huge and heavy bag to donate and a little to keep too. (Seriously, I would have never asked my kids to give up their candy. I truly, truly love sugar.) So we got on shoes and coats and loaded up the car.

What a great setup and idea this dentist's office had! A servicemen greeted us in uniform, the ladies at the front took our candy and weighed it. We had ten pounds! I could not believe it. This was the limit, so it is a good thing we saved a little (good for everybody!). Then the kids had to sign a giant card that was being sent to the troops with the candy, (yeah, for Jackson for making his own J!), and follow some ghosts around the office to the banker. (The cartoons on the TV screens really sidetracked the kids -- a dentist with TV, how things change.) The dentist/banker then handed Jackson ten single dollar bills, one by one. We picked up a little goody bag with flashing toothbrushes Jackson loved and off we went. (You should have seen the dance he was doing with these flashing toothbrushes, buck naked, in the complete dark in front of the mirror in his bathroom last night. "What is this a rave?" Drew wanted to know.)

And then we all headed to one of my favorite toy stores to buy the toys -- five bucks each. The store even gives an "allowance discount" when kids use money they earned to buy toys. How sweet.

So, theoretically speaking, we should all have fewer cavities, fewer gained pounds, fewer sticky "what is this" to find, and fewer candy theives to catch. Another one of those unplanned plans that worked out perfectly. Love it!

In the car

Some of our discussions while shuttling about in the car (We do have some downtime between singing along to Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" replays on XM radio. Shouldn't we be finding something better to listen too?!)

#1

On the way to school from Jackson:

"Why did Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Remeander pick this church, Mommy?"

"You mean why is preschool at this church?"

"Yes."

"Because this is a nice place for school."

"I want to build Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Remeander a new, huge, huge school, Mommy."

Note that the school in question is no dump; in fact the facilities will knock your socks off. I think this desire to rebuild even bigger and even better is just genetically inherited. Like father, like son. Too funny.

#2

Out of the clear blue from Maeve:

"I love Georgie, Mommy." (As in Curious George. Maeve has a little Georgie she gives a kiss too before each and every nap and each and every bedtime.)

#3

From Jackson, again on the way to school:

"Look at that mini-excavator Jackson." (A Caterpillar 305CR).

"Is Papa in there working?"

See you in C-U

Jackson, Maeve and I took a little C-U roadtrip -- what a perfect day! Our great friends the Rahers meet us there for a little children's museum action and lunch at one of our favorite college spots. The kids had so much fun together discovering, giggling and just being buddies.

I heart fall

More fall fun: Jackson's crafts continue, ("Let's make the house spooky, Mom."), a "Pumpkin Party" in the park (at least that is what we called it) with pumpkin painting and hayrack rides, and one of the best parts of fall -- leave piles (thanks to our neighbor we now know how to play the game "leaf zombie").

Swimming take two

Jackson loved his second session of swim lessons, moving all the way past Goldfish to Guppies! He is absolutely loving the water, his teacher and "his kids," buddies in the class. Maeve and I enjoyed sitting this session out -- just sitting by the side of the pool and watching Jackson splish and spalsh.

Woo hoo! 26.2!

We were thrilled beyond words when my brother and his wife and our soon-to-be sister-in-law (that is one hyphenated title!), independently decided early this summer to train for the Indianapolis Marathon. We love, love the marathon event and definitely miss our Team in Training days back in Peoria, when we sometimes coached, sometimes cheered and sometimes ran events, all year long. Jackson was one and a half when I ran my last marathon, and so I so badly wanted to say yes when Corey asked me to run Indy. She almost had me too. Her call was perfectly timed -- after several cups of coffee and on my thirty-first birthday. But once the caffeine wore off and the reality of injuries (I had no business jumping into 10+ 'ers with an old running buddy while we were in Peoria, but it sure was fun!) and a house that needed to be unpacked and kids that needed to be settled into a new community brought me to the hard truth that I wouldn't be jumping back on the training wagon just yet.

Back to the point, we have been excited for months to have everyone come here to Indianapolis to run their events -- a first for both Corey and Rachel -- and I have been planning for just as long. The weekend was such a blast! Jackson and Maeve loved waking up to someone new in their house each morning -- first Grandma, then the Schupps, then the McCarthys, then two more Grandpas, and finally Brad and Corey. Jackson was to the moon when his "entourage," as his teacher called us all, came to pick him up from school Friday. We had a blast playing with the cousins in "The Park" the huge indoor play structure at school. Then we all headed to the expo -- Greg, Meg, Drew and I did run the marathon as a relay (cheaters!) -- and run a few errands to prep for the cold weather Saturday would bring.

Friday night we had a pasta party so the real runners could discuss strategies. We loaded them up with pasta and Clif blocks and jelly beans for their big run. Jackson had the night of his life when he left with Grandpa Parker to the hotel (Hotel Parker was overbooked!). Jackson was all about this special trip, packing his Thomas (the Train) luggage with his swimsuit and lots and lots of clothes (for one night -- just in case!). So ready in fact that he told Drew "shut the door" (to the car) while Drew and I were trying to tell him our good nights and I love yous. Jackson got to swim and stay up late, but as far as we know went to sleep right away for Grandpa (at least we hope so!). Back at the house, we stayed up late (in true Schupp woman fashion) making signs for the runners and running through the game plan with G&G Schupp for the next morning (they had three babies to wake, feed and dress and then three marathoners to cheer on).

The next morning we had fun waking up early and driving the runners to the start, then sending them off at the start. I kind of felt like Seinfeld and Elaine -- gotta set the alarm. Running the marathon in relay fashion was a fantastic idea too. We got to see our own three runners lots of times, and here is the part I feel guilty about -- enjoy the fun spirit of a marathon without the pain. Well, to tell the truth I was a little jealous of the pain. It does, afterall, confirm all the training and running the marathon, was done by you. A true feeling of achievement.

So I hope Corey, Rachel and Brian are as proud of themselves as we were of them that Saturday. They all faced their own challenges in training and in running the actual marathon, and they faced those challenges head on and came out the other side true winners. You are all awesome and inspiring! We're just glad we got to be there to see you cross the finish line!

And the best part -- they gave us all a reason to celebrate Saturday night! Cake, wine , pina coladas -- you name in we had it (or at least planned it!). It was fun to relax and talk about all the excitement of the day. Jackson broke out the ice cream cones and made sure everyone had some cake. (Even though he wanted the piece of cake decorated with the girl runner -- sorry ladies!) We truly enjoyed everyone's company and just wish we got to throw more parties like this with the people we love.

Sunday we honored Drew's request and hit our very favorite breakfast spot here in Indy (the cinnamon toast truly is to die for, as is the broken yolk egg sandwich, as is the coffee, . . .). Another fun time with everyone before Corey and Brad had to hit the road (ten hours, poor Corey!). The remaining crew headed to the children's museum for more fun. Jackson and Maeve are old pros, and Noah jumped right in the fun too. It was so much fun to see the little guy explore everything.

Sunday night Jackson and Noah decided to decorate Maeve in Halloween stickers -- or maybe that was her idea -- but anyways by this time they were all at total ease with each other and were having a total blast. It was hard to put them to bed that night and say goodbye to G&G Schupp, but Noah had an early, early flight and Jackson had school. The next morning I was so sad as I was driving back from the airport at 6 a.m., knowing I would be coming back home to a quiet house.

So thank you, thank you to everyone for making the time in their busy schedules to travel to Indy to cheer on the marathoners, take care of the kiddos and party with us. It was a weekend to remember. There's already talk about the next marathon, and we'd love it if the Indy marathon would become an annual event! Congrats to all of you on 26.2! We love you!

Jacks-sen!

Maeve loves her big brother. "Jacks-sen!" This is the best part about waking up in the morning -- hearing Maeve call out Jackson's name until he finally wakes up and then they both start giggling. She can often be heard calling out his name over and over until she falls asleep. Here they are having fun at the zoo.

Field trip firsts

"I want our bus to be purple," Jackson said as we drove into the parking lot of his preschool Wednesday morning. "With orange and yellow and red." Unfortunately, the color of the bus Jackson's class would take on their first fieldtrip didn't match his expectations -- it was white, and more of a mini-bus. Like one of those buses nursing homes use. It turns out several of the kids were disappointed, telling their parents they were expecting a 'bigger, yellower" bus. 

There was also some confusion about the farm we were visiting. "Lamb Farm" is what the calendar stated, however, you had to read the fine print to find out it was the Lamb Family Farm, not an actual lamb farm. A few confused parents and kiddos that morning. Thank goodness Drew did read the entire text before translating to Jackson, so we were in the clear on this part. 

It all just shows how excited the kids -- and the parents -- were for this milestone. Five other parents and I caravanned behind the "bus," which Jackson's teacher drove. It was so fun to see them climb on and off the bus; they seemed so little and so grown-up all at the same time. My heart melted when Jackson came back to hold my hand as we walked around the farm. But I was also proud he was enjoying his independence, joining his class, raising his hand, talking to his teacher and friends and Amanda the farmer, content to let me hang back and watch him in his element. 

And did we ever love the Lamb family for their Caterpillar combines and tractors. "You'll see a lot of yellow on this farm," Amanda the farmer said. "We love Cat." All of Jackson's little friends got to climb up inside of the cab of the combine, and we got to travel out to the fields to see the combine at work. Very impressive. As he was falling asleep at night, Jackson was recalling how the combine was headed straight for his class's bus. In his mind there was a big "crash." Luckily, there wasn't, this is just how a three-year old boy embellishes a story like this. We also got to see chickens, horses and sheep in the barn, which we also relived after the field trip courtesy of our Little People and Duplo barns.  

So all expectations aside, kids and parents alike had a blast on our outing to the Lamb Farm, and we learned quite a bit too. Like one of the main things produced from their soy crops is an oil used to make chocolate. God bless the Lambs! 

Honor thy teacher

The second picture here is one of those pictures that speaks a thousand words. On the left is Jackson, sharing with Maeve his "color book," a book he has been working on during the color unit at school. "I want to teach Maeve about colors," he says. A bit difficult as he finds out his student is less than serious on this particular night. I give him full credit for trying! 

 

Humor

On the back cover of Mem Fox's book "Reading Magic" (a book about reading to your children) she includes a joke told in comic strip form:

"I was going to be to be the perfect wife -- I was going to cook & sew & clean & clean & clean."

"So what happened?"

"They taught me to read."

(The credit in the strip is to "horqcek.")

Homecoming

A few weekends ago, we actually spent the weekend in Zionsville. I know we only missed out on one fall while we away, but I forgot how much there is to miss out on in the fall. A Midwest fall cannot be beat, except maybe by year-round bliss in Southern California, but that is beside the point. 

I have some catching up to do blog-wise, so here are some photos from what I call our own "homecoming." From the top: with the neighborhood gang, picking our "punkins" as Maeve would say, making s'mores on our new firepit, at the Fire Department's pancake breakfast, M&J showing off their new Halloween pottery. 

Just add food coloring

Today Jackson pulled out some food coloring from the cabinet and was ready for a project. Inspired by that TLC show "18 and counting" (you know the family with 18 kids or something), I took on that challenge. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I think these people and their kids built their own steel-framed house. This is at least what I gathered since the volume was low (it was early -- I didn't want to wake anyone up) and the treadmill is loud (so why not go ahead and pump the volume?!). 

Anyways, if they can build a house with their kids; we can think up something to do with this food coloring, right? Let's see, we've recently made colored crystals, dyed pasta shapes . . . what's left . . . how about a family favorite . . . icing?! One box of Honey Maids, one two-pound box of powdered sugar, some fall cupcake stencils (amazed we had these on hand . . . thanks Gma S.), two very engaged kids . . . and ta da . . . a halloween masterpiece resulted. 

Jackson and Maeve worked hard for a good hour making their treats (which Drew and I better stop eating since neither kid got one before bed, but they are really good). To be accurate, Jackson worked diligently while Maeve ate as much of the ingredients as she was allowed. "Mama, I needa dwrink," she said once we were finished. Of course you do! Jackson continued to be all business, using the dust buster to get every last fallen sprinkle. 

Some days it's just better not to have a plan.