Antonio's Bedroom

"Take a picture of me," said three little monkey's hanging in a tree.

Handyman

Everyone needs a good Handyman. Tim has been with us for over ten years. We schedule him in the Spring and Fall to take care of the fix it list that we have created in his absence. The children come running when they see Tim. They wanted to stay up one night to see him until we assured them that Tim would stop in and say good night. We had called him because we were having an electrical outage on half the house. When the kids are teenagers I plan on apprenticing them to Tim. Right now when something needs fixing they say, "We need to call Tim!" After the apprenticeship we won't have to go far to get help.

Jacob and Antonio

"Mom, mom, Jacob and I could go to the bathroom at the same time!" Antonio yelled, rushing out to the playground.

Being the son of two moms Antonio doesn't see many urinals. Jacob has a mom and a dad and was excited about getting back on the monkey bars.

Jacob lives in Richfield and also attends Spanish Immersion. Jacob, Antonio and Crystel will go to school together next year.

Writer's Group

One Saturday morning a month, I spend time with these wonderful writers and a few others who weren't present. My best work has been edited by them. Nicely.

Picture taken by Brenda who is now in Germany researching her father's childhood.

Why God made Superman

"God made Superman because he wanted no bad people in the World. He wanted the World to be beautiful and it's already beautiful. He don't want any bad people to hurt the whole World cause it looks beautiful and God made it beautiful and he loves it. He don't want it to change cause it looks perfect. He love everybody." So says Crystel.

Bandit Rose - the day after sugery and Superman watching over her.

Alright, alright, the training wheels are back on.

"Oh, I love you mom. You're the best mom in the world. Here let me hug you. Oh, and a kiss. Let me kiss you. You make me so happy."

All of this for putting the training wheels back on Antonio's bike.

I had it in my head that it was time that both of the kids learn to ride their bikes without training wheels. I had an agenda. This summer I wanted to run around Lake Harriet while the kids biked next to me - and to ride to the park and to friends houses.

"I'll learn when I'm eight years old mom. Maybe seven," Antonio said as he wheeled away.

I mean his cousin Danny who is eight months younger than the children learned how to ride without training wheels when he was three years old. Look at him in the photo - no training wheels! Yes, I know, he does have older brothers but - but - my kids are so athletic. And besides I learned how to ride a bike when I was six. You'd think they would welcome the freedom.

Instead there were tears and tussling.

Crystel scrunched herself on her Care Bear plastic three wheeler that she got for her third birthday and wouldn't give it up to her younger not yet three year old cousin, Jack. I realized then that something was wrong with my thinking. Here I had two perfectly wonderful bikes in the garage that they couldn't ride because before the first nice day arrived this spring, while it was still dark, while the children were not yet awake, I did the deed.

They are so happy when I change my mind.

Bandit Rose before Surgery

"I know how babies are born," Crystel said yesterday.

Antonio, Crystel and I were in the car and I was explaining how Bandit Rose was going to have surgery to not have babies until she stopped me with that sentence.

Two weeks ago, while passing a cemetery, Crystel had asked if Mama Jody and I exercised so we didn't get fat and have a baby. "That's not how babies are born," I said. We went on to have the 'discussion'. Jody, of course, fears I tell her too much. I thought for sure that Crystel would enlighten Antonio as soon as they got together. She kept the prized information to herself for fourteen days.

"How are babies born?" I said.

Crystel explained almost verbatim what I had told her.

I thought Antonio was getting it until he said, "I'm going to have a baby."

The kids and I took Bandit in early today. She had fasted since 5pm yesterday. I don't like being hungry. I don't like children being hungry. I don't like animals being hungry. I was getting worried that Bandit would start eating the bird seed that had spilled from the feeder. So I hustled everyone into the car.