Nerds Rule the World

We have enjoyed some of the most pleasant fall weather. Saturday the boys and I had a great time taking a walk to earn a hiking belt loop for Cub Scouts. All of this year's crops have been harvested so all the fields are empty (though some winter wheat has been sown and is starting to sprout).

NERDS RULE THE WORLD. This year our family dressed up a nerds for Halloween, and I don't mind bragging to say we looked really good as nerds go.

We had Trunk or Treat at church Sunday night. I think this was the best one we've had yet. In planning the event Vicki told people to buy candy for about 300 trick or treaters. Several people ran out of candy. I know they also ran out of hot dogs.

It's always as much fun to see how everyone dresses up to hand out candy as it is to see the trick or treaters. The Swann/Raglin clan dressed as Sesame Street characters. They even had a backdrop with buildings painted on it to look like the Sesame Street set. Kenny, while not exactly a Sesame Street character, came as Miss Piggy.

SIGNS OF GROWING UP. There are subtle things about Jenna that lets me know that she is growing up and time with her at home is getting shorter. Most mornings now she has the hair dryer going to tame her hair. Was it really seven years ago that we took her to kindergarten for the first time?

SPEAKING OF TIME, as the kids grow up it is getting harder and harder to find time to record our activities. My goal is to try to write about once a week, but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I feel like I miss a lot of neat stories because I can't sit down to write as often as I'd like. I was reminded of one such story from this summer just the other day so I wrote myself a note to make sure I wouldn't forget.

One Saturday Ben was out playing in the yard. I don't remember what he was doing but he was running and jumping around as boys are prone to do. Above his head, and unknown to him, a baby bird was leaving it's nest for the first time, it's anxious parents close by watching as their chick learned to fly. In a moment of incredibly bad timing the baby bird fell to the ground right in front of Ben as he was in midair from jumping. He had no time to react and crushed the poor bird. That's when mama bird lit into Ben like windmill in a hurricane.

I remember him coming into the house being sad about what had happened and scared about the mother bird attacking him. He couldn't go outside that day without having to run for cover, and the next day he came under attack again as we were leaving for church.

IMPORTANT OFFICE. Now that Ben is in the fourth grade he is part of 4-H. Each class that participates in 4-H elects their own officers, and Ben was elected vice-president for his class this year. (Ben attended an orientation for all 4-H officers a few weeks ago. I was amazed at the number of kids there.)

The kids were out of school today due to Election Day so they came to town with Vicki to run errands. As they were driving by my office Ben noticed the 4-H sign on the side of the building. When he asked Vicki about it she explained that the Extension office has the top floor and my office has the basement. That's when Ben said (with concern in his voice), "Should I go in? I am the vice-president."

FLYING SAUCERS AND FAST CARS. Last time I wrote I mentioned that Nate would get to paint a concrete block in the hall at school. Nate came up with two designs, one featuring some UFOs with aliens inside and another featuring a fast car. Since he had trouble deciding which design to use he put it to the family for a vote. The UFOs got unanimous approval. When it came time to paint his brick on Friday Nate still liked his car so he decided to combine the two designs. The final picture features flying saucers chasing the car.

JOKES. It's book fair time at school and the boys have gotten to purchase a couple of books for themselves. Nate came home with a joke book and was reading some jokes to me. He got tickled with himself because he kept losing his place and reading me the same couple of jokes. I thought that was funnier than the jokes too.

Of course, one of the things I appreciate about my wife is that she can have an off beat sense of humor at times. Recently, after viewing A Hard Day's Night, she's been reading a few books on the Beatles (one book was over 900 pages). The other morning we were having our usual bathroom mirror conversation as we were getting ready for the day. She pointed at a book and began telling me about something she'd read and then, with a perfectly straight delivery, threw in, "Did you know the Beatles broke up?"

I guess that's a lot better than my nerd joke suggesting we make a sign for Halloween night to read, "Pies for sale: $3.14."

Joe