Halloween is coming...

Yesterday in the car on the way to his last preschool class session (only his end-of-the-year graduation ceremony and picnic remain), Connell asked me what they will be for Halloween this year. I counted the months and realized that with only 5 months remaining, we better get on that! We brainstormed a little and came up with a great idea --- Connell was all excited about it and actually every member of our family will play a part this year provided that I can find a few thrift store items, do a little creative sewing and do some art as well. Problem is that each boy will have their own Halloween party and without mom and dad in costume and attending as a singleton, each costume won't be quite as cute. But as we all dress up for trick-or-treating in the neighborhood...look out fellow Dupont Path residents for the Hagen family! (well, at least the 8 of you that we will see as we hit our 8 house trick-or-treating limit - ha, ha)

Two Cool Cats

There's nothing better than a new pair of sunglasses from the Dollar Tree! Don't the boys look like two cool cats?!?!?!? (oh and some hearty Twins fans to boot!)

A Simple Update

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Orchestra Hall with Connell's preschool class to the "KinderKonzerts" production. It was very nicely organized.

Tonight it's out with the ladies' night out group --- supper at Carbone's and then to the Marcus Rosemount Theater to see "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". Sounds like a good "chick flick".

This weekend we have very few plans (or at least I do, but I am sure Ray has his share of work to get done around the house).

Neighbor/friend/colleague Marta and I have planned a trip (ladies' weekend away) for June 26-28 in Lanesboro, MN. It's about a 2 hour drive from here and we plan to see a professional production of "The Rainmaker" at the theatre there, take some tours (trolley tour of Lanesboro, Niagara cave tour) and check out the scenic trails as well as visit some cultural museums and some quaint restaurants, boutiques and the local winery. I was in Lanesboro back in the 80's with my folks and grandparents and I thought it would be a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the Cities. We're staying at a cute place called Brewster's Red Hotel and the pictures on the Lanesboro website alone are getting me excited for the 48 hour trip (we'll leave Fri around 3 pm and return at the same time on Sunday afternoon).

http://www.lanesboro.com

'Tis the Season

Here is why I haven't been blogging much lately. We have been spending about 3-4 hours outside most days. The boys love their bikes and their scooters. They play with all the neighbor kids (and there are a LOT of neighbor kids on our block) or by themselves if the kids are at school or gone.

Regarding the bikes -- both of their bikes were Goodwill specials --- $5./ea. Connell is able to ride Liam's without training wheels, but his own is too high and shaky to go without the training wheels for now. We suspect that within a month or so, he'll have mastered his without the training wheels as well. Liam is a great little rider. My greatest source of exercise during the day is to go to a park with the boys and then have them bike while I walk briskly around on the trails. Connell has to periodically wait for me to catch up, but Liam bikes about the same mph that I walk. I suspect we'll be doing lots of that this summer. It's a blessing that the two bikes and two scooters all fit in the back of the Highlander at one time, so I can take all 4 "vehicles" with us when we go somewhere and we can "play it by ear". They are at a fun age now.

Kids say the funniest things...

So Connell came home from preschool yesterday with two pictures -- one was a person that was supposed to be me and one was of a checkerboard with red and black checkers in the squares (he is obsessed with getting another checker game since he has been careless with the checkers from previous games!) Since they don't normally draw pictures at preschool (their art projects are usually a little more advanced than that), I asked when he drew them. He stated casually, "while I was in time out." So then I was a little agitated and pumping him for information as to why the time out. Finally he gave in and told me the story about his friend Bryce and how the two of them got a little wild and started throwing things across the room at each other. Apparently, Bryce was put in the one corner with books to look at and Connell was put on the other side with paper and markers to draw with. After talking through how wrong this whole situation was and assuming that Connell really internalized everything wrong with the situation, I asked him, "So what did you learn?" He responded, "That I like to draw!" Ugh!

French Contest Report

Well, the French contest went relatively well. I am still cleaning up from it (schools that somehow have the wrong number of medals, etc.) and I have to go to the American Association of Teachers of French Board meeting tomorrow to give them a report and to look to future years. Within a week I think everything will be packed up for next year (which is supposed to be my last although we don't have anyone committed to taking over as coordinator).

This year ended up having 738 students competing and we awarded 224 blue, 359 red and 139 white medals.

Oops

This happened to a sleeper of Liam's last week. I thought it was a fluke and thought nothing of it. Now I realize that it happened to another one today. They were both size 3 sleepers and some of you may know that Liam has gone through a big growth spurt lately gaining a few inches in height and probably one whole shoe size. Well, here are the results I guess. No more 3T sleepers for Liam...