Happy 92nd, Grandmom!

In honor of Grandmom's 92nd birthday, we colored a card, sang a song, and choreographed and performed an original dance (music "At the Ceili," performed by the Celtic Woman on "A New Journey: Live at Slane Castle").

Escape from Crocodile Lake or Let’s Go to the Chewy Bar Store!

This is but the first chapter (approximately two minutes long) of a much longer thriller Pablo spun for us this morning when we asked him to tell us what he dreamed about last night (transcript below).



"[I was going] through the woods and went past the trees, but then I saw Crocodile Lake. And I went swimming, and then the crocodiles bit me in my leg. And then I was crying, and then another crocodile bit me in the arm, and I was crying very, very, . . . And then I got out, and I had boo-boos, and they were bleeding, and I needed a Band-Aid on my arm and my leg, and nobody . . . Then I went to a candy stor,e and nobody had any Band-Aids for me. And then I went to a chewy bar store, and Mommy was there, and she had a bar, and she was buying chewy bars. And I said, “Mommy, can I have some chewy bars?” And she said, “Yes.” And then she got some Dora books. And she got some more Dora books, and she got a fairy tale land Dora book, like a big, big one, like with all kinds of Doras. And she took some French fries to our house, and then she was done, and we took French fries home. And then we went through a forest and then the wiggling trees. And we wiggled with them. And then we got to a Kingdom Castle, and you [Grandmother] and you [Niina] and you [Daddy] and you [Emilio] were all there, and ya’ll were waiting with us on top of the castle. And then a witch came and she was mean. And she made the steps be gone, and we couldn’t climb up there because another witch came and she made the castle dead. And we couldn’t fix it." [At this point the narrator took a breath.]

The High Side Ponytail

Sometimes, Nina comes home from school rocking a new hairdo. Today it was the high side ponytail.
Pablo is happy to help her through the photo shoot.
      

A bath and a show

Post-shower Pabi chooses Toot and Puddle; Nina opts for Dora

Dinner: whole grain linguini with parmesan cheese, baked beans, broccoli (Pabi ate the heads, I ate the stalks), peas (an Emilio staple), hummus with pita chips (Nina's request).

Dessert:  plain yogurt with blueberries.

We see Mari on Skype Almost Every Day

   

Hot and Cold: A Backyard Mystery

Everybody had a green day in school yesterday, so we all went to the ice cream parlor to celebrate (Nina had a chocolate cone, Pablo and Emilio had chocolate chip, Grandmother had vanilla, and I had a Oreo mix with frozen yogurt). Once we got home, I challenged my young Sherlocks to solve a backyard mystery. As I was filming their investigation, it occurred to me that there using "hot and cold" as clues on a scorching Oklahoma afternoon might seem counterinstinctual to some young detectives. Maybe this explains why when I told Pablo and Nina they were getting near the hot spot, they tended to run away as fast as they could.

Aunt vs. Ants . . .and Table Talk

On Day Six of Dad's Interregnum, Aunt Carolyn got serious about the ants in the kitchen. She located and destroyed a loose marshmallow that was providing sustenance to her rivals, concocted a distasteful (to the ants) brew of water and vinegar that she sprayed on cleared cabinet shelves, and bought plastic containers in which she placed all of our loose dry goods (though the ants don't really go for beans and such, it does provides some welcome order to the cabinet--which I very much appreciate).

Having stocked the Fort Worth fort, Mom returned to the Ada frontier Monday at midday. In the evening, we fetched the little 'uns and the six of us had a looooong supper in the kitchen supplemented by healthy stretches of conversation, laughter, and guessing games (some of the answers:  James Monroe, James Buchanan, Austin, giraffe, a chicken, water buffalo, a monkey, Slinky Dog, mango, and blueberries).

For Nina, Any Book is a Create-Your-Own Opportunity

Faced with this stretch of tranquil independent reading activity, Aunt Carolyn and I decided not to press the Irish field trip option (not too crowded on Sunday morning). Twenty minutes later, when Emilio finished his James Buchanan word search (15 presidents down, 29 to go), I gave him the option of an Irish outing or a game of "baseball" in the piano room. He asked whether the Irish option would include computer game play or if would it be restricted to sliding and stair climbing. When I told him it would be physical play alone, he opted for piano-room baseball.

Spotlight on the Brothers

Day 4 of the Dad Regime: The Workout

On the 4th day of the Dad regime, we took turns standing in the middle of three-some poses, loved on Pablo, changed into a dress in the afternoon (Nina), practiced jump shots and free kicks. And woke Aunt Carolyn up at 6:40 to make sure she got in a full two hours of out-loud reading before breakfast.

    

Adventures with Dad (Day 3 of Mari's 18 in Spain)

So the calendar on the front door of the fridge says today is "Crazy Hair Day!" at Monte Vista Academy. I saw a sign outside Emilio's classroom yesterday that testified to the same. And Miss Ada reminded Mom of the fact. So today on the way to school, I stopped by the drug store and bought hair spray and sprayed my guys up. Mom took Emilio to his class, and I took the twins to theirs.

Well, as it turns out, the only kids with crazy hair in Nina and Pablo's class are Nina and Pablo. Apparently, the calendar on the side of the fridge is different from the calendar on the front of the fridge. The side calendar is for Nina and Pablo's classes.

Oops.

Day 2 of the Dad Regime: We've Lost Our Water!

Some time around 11 a.m. on Thursday, much of the  city of Ada lost its access to water.  ECU shut down early.  According to the Ada News (the source of the photo at left of a storm drain near the intersection of 18th street and Stadium drive), "there were several breaks Wednesday and Thursday and crews were working as fast as possible to fix the problems. The breaks left much of the city with low water pressure. According to experts, when the ground becomes too dry, it shifts and can cause pipe breaks."

Thursday was to be shower and bath day at La Casa Ruiz Benton, but I was forced to call a road trip audible.  We ended up on the road to Pauls Valley (30 miles west). We sought buffalo and found them along the way, dined in a recommended Mexican restaurant (a first; Pablo loved Tio's guacamole; Mom picked up the bill--gracias!), desserting (cookies and milk) in a little Irish place that was mostly empty, using their facilities (the plumbing worked), and exploring their indoor castle (different from the Irish castle in Ada) and video soccer games (Emi scored goal after gooooo!!).  We got to bed later than usual, but on the whole, I think we handled the day challenges pretty well.

Two down, sixteen to go.

Farewell from the Underwear Clowns

On Wednesday the 20th, Mari catches a flight to Madrid, where she will get to see her new nieces, Rita and Uxue (born July 1st).

While there, she's getting fitted for a couple of crowns. It's significantly cheaper to get such dental work done in Spain, even though we are fully insured.  But to complete the process it is necessary for Mari to stay a minimum of ten working days, so she won't get back to the States until late on Saturday, August 6th.

That's 18 nights that the kids will have to to sleep without hugging and kissing their mama, which is 18 more nights than they've ever had to do that before.

Fortunately, Mom and Aunt Carolyn will be helping out here (Mom arrived on the 19th, making a three-hour drive up to Ada, two days after making a 14-hour drive home from Colorado; Aunt Carolyn is coming on Friday to take the weekend shift). But we're going to miss the Pastusa wing of our family terribly!

Wild Dog Pack Attacks Local Marathoner

I wish this were a joke.

Home from School

I Am Forty-Four

 

Maria worked and the kids woke up late, which would have jeopardized their school nap, so I kept them home with me today.

When Mari came home, the gang gave me a cool book that is full of their recorded answers to questions about me. Mari also gave me American Apparel white t-shirts, and three books that were on my wish list: Bossypants by Tina Fey (the first I will read), Deaf Sentence by David Lodge (I always enjoy his work), and The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman. Add these to: The Big Book of Basketball which Brian, Lyndsae and Olivia gave me (I immediately went on a Pyramid-reading binge) along with a credit card balance designed to pay for an HD-quality DVD player; a swim shirt from Lisa and Melissa; a cake made by Freddie and a party hosted by Aunt Carolyn; generous infusions of cash from Mom (and Dad) and Grandmom; telephonic good wishes from Jaime and Maria Rosa; and a wild shopping spree at The Container Store sponsored by Dad (and Mom), and I had quite the haul. The Ruiz-Benton five topped it off with our first collective devouring a chocolate molten cake at Chili's

One Last, Post-Nap, Pre-Trip Dip