Singin' the Ode to Dr. John

5 Great things about today:

(1) Walter's fever is gone!

(2) Walter is reading an entire book silently to himself for the first time! Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot and something or other.

(3) New York Super Fudge Chunk all for myself.

(4) Gas for $1.89 a gallon!

(5) A night out at B&N tonight.

This morning I got serenaded by Kerry with the Ode to Dr John, our beloved first veterinarian for Hokie who, in his inimitable style made the pronouncement that entered our personal lexicon: "Can't cure stupid." I was really tired because I was up until 1 a.m. undoing the Gordian Knot that was my cashmere yarn. Don't even ask how it happened, because if I knew it wouldn't have happened! Misery. Sheer misery. I also don't know if I dropped a stitch, and if I dropped it, whether the ladder went all the way down to the cast on. Sigh.... I fear for my career as a fanatical knitter. I'm just too much of a space cadet to knit! I'm starting the hat again, and again, and again. It will be beautiful, I swear!

I'm sort of regretting eating so much ice cream. Blah. Not really the best option for a late lunch. Kerry met us at ballet, which was a first this year. She's making so much progress now--paying attention, following directions, becoming so much more limber. Gymnastics and ballet are a little much, but she seems to be blossoming in both. Ollie is also pretty amazing these days, walking on his hands, doing flips over into a bridge. I wonder how their progress reports will go next week with gymnastics.

I cleaned out the van somewhat. Still didn't find the missing handset to the phone, which was my impetus for taking the vacuum outside and wading through the crumbs and the muck. There's never really enough time to finish anything. I can't figure out how we trash things so quickly!

JGB went fairly well today. I was disorganized with my photocopying, so I didn't get everything together in time. The most impressive thing is that another boy was wearing the same shirt as Walter, and it's not like this space monster shirt is something you see every day. Today's story was about gnomes and a tree that goes to the other side of the hill, so Walter was right in his element. Some of the other older boys thought it was too babyish, but the topic of how travel changes a person, how it broadens perspectives, how it teaches the tree about himself...lots of material to discuss next week. I'm certainly learning that 30 minutes in that intense an atmosphere with 5 kids is the breaking point--they can't handle any more that than, and the breakdown happens quickly. Walter's drawings during the session are just incredible. He made the running tree and has branched well out beyond the stick figure, and he made a gnome with a huge red hat and he drew the reflection in the lake. If I master transferring pictures, I'll try to get a shot of it up here. Drawing during the reading sure makes for better attentiveness.

Afterwards we went to Sunday Park. We witnessed a minor miracle in that no one fell into the mud, especially the wet it under the tire swing. Rutledge loves being held by the Nentwiches, so I had some empty arms for a bit, but then he was hungry and tired, and he's a handful in the sling these days; pure dead weight. It was a gorgeous day, unseasonably warm, and a change of pace from the wetness we've been in. Makes me feel guilty about the leaves that have not been raked once this year. There's always tomorrow.