The only bad thing about having pretty fall leaves is that they come down. Saturday we moved at least a dozen truck loads of leaves out of the yard. If I just had a market for used leaves....
SHE'S SO VAIN. I forgot to report this but last Sunday morning Vicki came into the kitchen where the rest of us were eating breakfast. She was completely ready for church except for her makeup. Upon seeing Vicki Jenna said, "I don't like your hair. No, wait, it's your face!"
NONE OF THE ABOVE. Since Vicki had cooked for the last several nights Tuesday night was leftovers night. That means we can pick which leftover meal we want to eat. After hearing his choices Ben said, "Is that all there is? I don't like any of those things."
TRICK OR TREAT. We did our Trick or Treating Saturday night--three hours of it. And only six Reeses Cups! We started up in Cross Plains at 6:00 and walked up and down most of Main Street. After that we hit all the neighbors around us. Thankfully two of the three can buckle themselves into their seats. And most of all, it was a very pleasant night to be out and the kids behaved very well.
The kids really did look cute. Jenna was a parrot, Ben was a cowboy and Nate was a puppy dog. I need to say a word about Ben's outfit. It included the horse. His legs slipped into the horse's back legs and the reins looped around his neck to hold up the horse's head and front legs. He kept telling everyone it wasn't a real horse.
A CONVERSATION WITH MY BOY. The other afternoon Ben came in where I was and said, "Hello, Daddy."
I replied, "Hello, Ben. Did you have a good day today?"
"Yeah."
"What did you do today."
[Short pause] "I don't know."
"You mean to tell me that you were wide awake and with yourself the whole day and can't remember a thing you did today!"
"Uh-huh." A few moments later he adds, "I sure don't know why that is Dad but I don't remember a thing I did."
HOMEWORK BY RADIO. After school today Jenna had some reading homework. Usually Vicki helps her but today she was upstairs doing some work on the computer while Jenna was downstairs completing her assignment.
We have a set of walkie-talkies that Ben got for his birthday. Jenna agreed to do her homework by herself so long as Vicki took one of the radios upstairs with her. When she came to a word she couldn't read she simply spelled it into the radio and Vicki transmitted the correct pronunciation back. Then Ben would take the radio and make a comment or two to Jenna. It made homework great fun!
NO, NO, NO, NO.... For the last few months Nate has always closed his doors and turned off his light before going to bed. He has decided he doesn't want to do that anymore so when we mention it to him he just grins, shakes his head and says, "No, no, no, no, no...." I think he feels a sense of obligation to at least say no about bedtime. Once you put him in bed he lays down and goes right on the sleep though.
A PRAYER REQUEST. I heard some news yesterday that is really sad. Randy Chatman is a friend who is just a few months older than I am. He grew up less than a mile from my house and we went to school from the 1st grade through the 12th grade together. While we haven't seen each other much since graduation he has always been one of the nicest people I've known. He has just been diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). I am at such a loss to understand and simply devastated for him.
Joe
