Connor, the Magician

Connor has a new hobby; "magic", via card tricks.

Over the course of the last month, each week Connor is excited to show us a new card trick that he learned from videos on the Internet.  

We're all skeptical while watching him, then try to debunk his methods!   We're quite impressed!!  After he shows us the tricks, he then tells us how he did it.   Magicians aren't supposed to give up their secrets, but I'm glad he does; it's fun learning how he dupes us!

I wanted to take a video of him doing one of his tricks, but he "politely declined".  I think he was being a shy teenager!   Maybe I'll snag one later on.  :-)

Happy Halloween!!

Ah, Halloween... personally, my second-favorite holiday!  (Christmas is always first.)
And Fall, one of my four favorite seasons (*wink*); the beautiful rich autumn colors in nature, plus decorating the house is always so much fun!

Connor is 14, so he's not "into" dressing up anymore, but Daddy and Ramsey searched online for Halloween costumes.   They found lots of fun ideas.  Of course, everything was related to Star Wars!  Would he be a Snow Trooper (one of Ramsey's favorites), BB8, Kylo Ren?  When the notion came up for Momma to be Princess Leia, here's Ramsey's reaction:

If he was looking at the Princess Leia gold bikini costume, I could completely understand why he'd be laughing!  (Eeek!!)  But, it was the white dress outfit, so...?

Eventually, Daddy and Ramsey finalized that Ramsey would be BB8, the little round droid from Star Wars 7.  So here's the costume we originally had in mind:

Realizing that we didn't have enough time to create such an extraordinary costume (plus we were quite certain that Ramsey probably would NOT want to wear a large cumbersome ball or a stifling helmet on his head at Age 2), we took the easy route; a few mouse clicks on a big box website and we just bought one (plus some cute BB8 pajamas to wear underneath)!

Prior to Halloween, Eric and I did take on some creative work and had some fun with pumpkin art.  I took two pumpkins (from the beloved Pumpkin Ranch) and painted them to look like BB8.   Note: Later, I had added small wooden dowels into the top of BB8's head for antennae and also glued a clear round bubble mold for his camera/eye.

Eric tediously carved Darth Vader into another pumpkin.   It was awesome when he lit it up with candles.   Ramsey was a little afraid of it at first.  It was just that cool.  :-)

On the "big day" of Halloween, I took off from work early so Ramsey and I could get ready and do some fun things in the afternoon.    We were planning to go the police department to see Daddy, the staff, and the police cars... and then go see Connor and go trick-or-treating.

We visited Daddy first in his office, then went around to all of the other departments to get candy!   Ramsey was NOT shy at all.  He went into people's offices, used "the force" on them (Vader-style - envision nice "throat hugs"), and was "getting them" with his Han Solo and Darth Vader figures, making funny verbal gestures.  And, of course, up and down the hallway, he ran... and ran... and ran. 

 He stopped into Chris' office and, without coaxing, he seated himself into one of the guest chairs.  Chris and Daddy teased that he looked like he was there for a job interview.  When Chris asked him why he thought he'd be a good addition to the Detective Division, Ramsey looked him straight in the eye, put his hands up in the air, and shrugged.   Then, he bolted.

 ...only to return to ask for some Halloween goodies.  Chris didn't have much for candy, so he gave him a pen, a crumpled-up piece of paper... and later found a Green Lantern action figure.

Daddy then took Ramsey to see the police cars so he could see the lights (no sirens this time!).  That got his attention!

Ramsey and I left to run a quick errand and Eric went to pick Connor up from his after-school activities (weight-lifting at the Y!).   

We met up with the boys at Bethlehem Lutheran; they had a Trunk or Treat event with many people dressed up, handing out candy.  

We had fun, but Ramsey just wanted to RUN.  So, we got some candy, let him run for a few minutes, and finally headed home.

Happy Halloween!!

Fishing Times

After school about a week and a half ago, Eric grabbed Connor and they took off for the new fishing hot spot!  
For the first hour or so, it was quite solemn, with no bites.  But, at Prime Time, the catch was "on"!
The boys caught their fill of walleye, plus a huge white bass, and happily returned home!

Now, I had been PLANNING to hold off on this post until the boys' second trip.  They were going to make it a "combo" trip with both fishing and hunting.  They would hunt on the way to the fishing spot, then get out the poles when it was just about dusk.

Their first once-over with the pheasant hunt proved to be only hens.  When they were getting back into the truck, they heard a "hisssssssssss".  Oh my, they had a flat tire.   They had to call a nearby town's tire store... at 4:58 PM (luckily, someone answered).  An hour later, the tire guy hadn't shown up yet, so Eric called me.  I called the local county police department, they hunted down the guy (they knew him - aaaah, love small towns!), and he was there in 15 minutes (the guy couldn't find them, out in the middle of nowhere, and they didn't have Eric's phone number!).  They didn't make it in time for the big catch and only got one bite before they threw in the towel (plus it was dark).

On their way home, they stopped in that small town to grab some gas and a bite to eat.  And guess what?  Yup, another flat tire!  They had the same crew help them fix it.  I will spare the colorful details on the boys' frustration, but they were NOT happy campers.  When they got home (around 10 PM last Monday night), they were ca-rabby!  And who can blame them?

Eric told his buddy about this (the one who knows the locals in the fishing area).   The friend concluded something that we too had suspected; the local farmer must have put tack strips down on the road to divert hunters and fishermen from the area.   

What should have been a very FUN and prosperous hunting/fishing and father-son trip turned out to be quite a catastrophe.  Oye.  :-(    But, they got the time together.  That was the up-side!   And... they have quite a story.   ;-)

Happy Learning by Little Gamers

Every kid loves the newest technology; learning games, strategy games, entertainment games, watching video clips on YouTube.  Our kids are no exception.    To say that learning how to use the technology starts at a young age and that mastered skills are the outcome is certainly no exaggeration.

Connor as a wee tot playing a computer game, using commands to pass through doors, down corridors, etc:

One of Ramsey's newest favorites is a strategy game called "Thinkrolls 2" that involves careful contemplation of moving blocks, popping balloons, putting out fires, etc, to maneuver through mazes.  Everything must be done in a precise sequence to finish the map and proceed to the next maze.   Here, he's having some "alone time" in our bedroom, playing his Kindle.

Together, Connor and Ramsey are bonding over Scribblenauts tactics (Connor is being a great Big Brubby and showing Ramsey some new ways to accomplish his mission):

Giggling at Scribblenauts (apparently the wizard is quite a hoot):

Sidenote: Yes, our kids do have "limits" for their usage of devices but it amazes us how much actual learning can be done while having fun.   

Prime Time Fishing... in October

Fishing in October?  ...sounds strange in our neck of the woods, doesn't it!?!?!

Eric had caught wind of a new fishing spot that was proving to be a major hot spot lately.  It turns out, Eric had been to this hot spot before (at least ten years ago), but he was there to ice fish.   The big bite, he was told, is at dusk, so Eric took off yesterday afternoon to check it out.

Fishing in his waders, his first bite was a big northern that chomped his jig.  Thereafter, it was smooth sailing with continuous bites of beautifully-sized walleye and perch.   He stayed longer than he needed to (caught his fill quite early on), but stayed to catch and release, as he was having a good time!  (Who wouldn't!?!)

I kept Ramsey up past his bed time so he could see the fish.  Eric was excited to show him his loot!
And, Ramsey was excited to see!

He caught his limit of walleye, plus a jumbo 14" perch.

Sidenote:  While cleaning the fish, we were a bit shocked to see the perch and the female walleye were full of eggs.  We'd never thought about it before (and hadn't cut into a Fall fish), so it was something new.  I'll be Googling more about fish gestation, egg production, etc.  I'm curious!

So excited!!

Eric has already planned to take Connor to the new hot spot this Friday, after school.  Hopefully they'll come home with a packed cooler of fish!

Our Trip to the Pumpkin Ranch

'Tis the Season... for pumpkins!   Fall is here!

Last Saturday, Eric, Ramsey, and I visited the local pumpkin patch, just a few miles away.   It was the last weekend for the patch and we had a nice sunny (but a little windy) day for the venture.

This lovely treasure patch has a plethora of various types of pumpkins, squash, and gourds to choose from.   They also have hay rides, cart rides for the kids, nicely-decorated photo opp areas, and friendly horses for the kiddos to pet.

At first, it might have been overwhelming for little Ramsey, as he looked around the acres of plant life in amazement.

He certainly didn't waste any time though and "got to work", finding squash, pumpkins, and gourds.

Ramsey was so busy looking around and gathering treasures that he wasn't interested in taking pictures where he had to "be still and just smile".  I tried!

He found this beautiful pumpkin which he thought he could pick up.  ...turns out, he needs a few more muscles to be able to grab it and go!

He found this fun green gourd too.... which he apparently adored, as he kept kissing it on his way back to the wagon.

 The search continued for the best pumpkins.

 There were weeds everywhere.  Ramsey contemplated for a long time, whether or not to tromp into them.  I'm happy he decided otherwise! 

Now that we have these wonderful pumpkins and gourds, we have "projects".  I will be painting a set of pumpkins to look like BB8 from the new Star Wars movie.  Eric plans to create a detailed carving of either Darth Vader or Kylo Ren from Star Wars.  Ramsey is pretty excited; Star Wars is his favorite!

Getting Some Air

For months, we've been waiting for Ramsey's speech therapist to bring a trampoline for Ramsey to try.  She thought that he'd benefit from it, from a sensory perspective, and they have a toy-lending program at Avera.

The trampolines are apparently tough to come by and are always in use by the physical and occupational therapists.  So, knowing Ramsey is a wild man and loves to jump on couch cushions (and figuring I could use as an exercise device if he hated it for whatever oddball reason), I bought one (that has a "safety handle" on it).  

It has quickly become one of Ramsey's new favorite toys.  This kid gets some serious air when he's jumping!   Eric says he needs a helmet.  :-)

Right after we put it together, NO ONE could come near it; it was Ramsey's and there was no sharing that was going to occur.  Since Day 2, I'm the only one who can jump on it with him.   I can't tell you how many times in a day I hear "Mama, UMP!" (he doesn't say his hard J's yet).   It's pretty darn fun.  

We do have to watch Ramsey, not only from a "safety" perspective but also because he laughs so much he gets the hiccups.  And, sometimes when he gets the hiccups... well, we'll leave the next  part unsaid.  :-)