Category: Uncategorized

Art is a braggart.

Tonight Art, Lewis and had dinner with our friends Amy and her daughter Elsa.  Elsa is 2 1/2.  Before we left Art smiled with a can-you-believe-it? face and said, "Elsa doesn't want me to touch her things!  She takes things from me!"   I agreed and added that she's younger and still learning how to share and that Art, too, had a really hard time sharing when he was that little.  Then Art said, "But I'm a really good sharer, now.  Watch this!" and he held the toy pliers in his hand in front of Lewis and said, "Lewis!  You want these?"  Show off.

April fools post.

A few people, including my dear father, thought the post about Art and I hunting was real. It was a joke! Art did not shoot a gun! Didn’t see a deer die! I cringe thinking that some folks may have thought that was for real. I tried so hard to make it unbelievable towards the end. Cutting a deer’s heart out? Anyway, here are the photos I used to create the ones that looked like art was hunting. so funny.

this photo:

plus this great photo:

combined to make this photo:

and this photo:


plus this photo

combined to make this photo:

Lewis gets his second official haircut.

Lewis’s hair is straight and I’m just not as confident about cutting it myself as I was with Art’s curly hair. So today we went to Great Clips for Lewis to get his second non-mom haircut of his short life. He did NOT want to sit in the chair and cried until I explained that Art and I would be there the whole time. And that he could have a gackoo. Then Roma cut all his long locks off while Art and I looked on.

Art sat in a chair right next to Lewis and occasionally went close to his brother to check in on him.  When we got home from the haircut Ben was waiting for us.  Lewis said, “Papa!  Haircut!”

Hunting.

each year over spring break the Minnesota DNR (dept of natural resources) runs a youth hunting event. I covered it once for the paper, a bunch of kids hunt with their parents and a DNR safety person. The groups are given one day hunting liscences and take to the woods in a MN state park. it’s actually a very well run thing where kids get to learn about safety, shooting, the woods, habitats for different animals, etc. So today Art and I went.

We drove a couple hours to Lake Maria State Park (click here for aerial view of the parking area was started from). I certainly had mixed feelings about Art shooting a gun (he calls them shoots). Even the smallest one was still almost too heavy for him. But he managed, and was quite proud of himself. They had earplugs for the kids. In the parking lot they had target practice which was basically a bunch of kids shooting into empty woods. At first Art didn’t want to shoot, he just watched everyone else. “I smell the smoke, Papa,” he said. eventually he pulled it up and shot towards the woods.  I immediately felt bad as he was rocketed back a couple feet and fell to the ground. I didn’t realize how strong they are.
Art watches nature shows nearly every night and has gotten entirely comfortable with the idea that animals die so others can eat them. So it didn’t seem like a stretch in my mind that seeing a deer killed so we could eat it would be that big of a deal. I realized hunting for real is not like natures shows, you know? Anyway, he didn’t shoot his gun the rest of the trip, but was happy to lug it along (on safety) and pretend to shoot at stuff. In fact, none of the kids actually shot a deer, although one kid (10-year-old named Leo) came real close.

The DNR fellow who was with us managed to get one. We spotted it across a field and watched as our guide aimed and fired. It wasn’t a lethal shot so we had run and follow its blood trail back into the woods. We found it and the DNR fellow shot it again as it limped along, gushing blood and heaving, barely alive. Not easy to watch, especially for Art, who seemed more or less in shock. The legs kept twitching for a good five minutes as he explained about how deer populations need to be thinned and this is all a good thing. Then the DNR fellow butchered it on the spot, cutting out its heart and passing it around so we could feel how warm it was. Warm blooded animal are warm!  We were coated in blood by the end of the day, stinking of dead deer and gun smoke. Art said he never ever wants to go hunting again, but I don’t believe him. He seemed to have a wonderful time!

april fools!

Art’s discovery.

Last night Art was taking a bubble bath. His hand was under the water and he looked up as if he made a real discovery.
"Papa, there's a ball in my penis!"
I tried to contain my laugh. "Yes, it's actually called a testicle. You have two of them."
He thought for a bit. Then, delighted, he looked at me hard just to make sure I wasn't kidding. "I have two of them!?"