2013 Wrap-Up

Happy New Year from the residents of Michael Delving!

Seimi's toast: "Poo-poo stinky toast!"

Ela's toast: "Be careful when you toast.  We lost one of our best play cups downstairs when we were playing "Pub" and Boookie threw the cup up on top of the wardrobe."

Boookie's toast: "Happy 2014 and congratulations to Daddy on doing a good job in his class!"

Hobbit Wife and Mayor's toast: "Here's to 2014, the year the baby boy comes!"

moving on to flu patient number four...

quoth ela, "it's like i'm a dormant volcano. i'm not active but i could erupt anytime."

and the hobbit wife makes three

blerg.

but never fear, for the mayor of michael delving is keeping us under his watchful care.  thank you, my love.  it is all i need: a jug of gatorade, a sleeve of saltines, and thou.

now a not-so-wee lad has the stomach flu

"you're just the best mommy ever!  thanks for caring for me!"
-boookie, age 8

(yes, that is a direct quotation.  no embellishment on the part of the scribe.)

seriously, what 8 year-old speaks that way?!  these hobbitlings are such a joy!  i am the most blessed mommy in all of fluville!

this is SO last month, but...

Jesus, THANK YOU for indoor plumbing!!!

a wee lad has the stomach flu

"mommy? please may i have some more alligator?"  (that would be gatorade.)
-seimi, age 3

it bears mentioning: never has there been a more delightful flu patient.  after the initial few early morning go-arounds which involved every spare article of bedding in the house, this little dude began scurrying himself tubside each time he needed to be sick.  cleaning up after him became as simple as hosing down the tub while he chirped, "bye-bye, throw-up!"

oh.  and he sings between heaves.  he sings!  i didn't know that was diaphrgmatically possible!

Of Crowns and Beards

After significant research it has been established that the Mayor and the Hobbit Wife have some common history, their ancestors having both been at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The Mayor's ancestor, Humphrey with the Beard, was the first of the Bohun (Boone) family, from which the Mayor is descended by his great, great, great, great grandmother, Charlotte Boone.  There are no records of Charlotte's facial hair.

The Hobbit Wife's ancestor was some bloke named William, from which the Hobbit Wife is directly descended (eighteenth in the line) by a family with the dorky name of Plantagenet.

So, yeah, we know who's royalty... and who's the yeoman with epic scruff.

Unforgivable Taste

Ela has been a pop music princess since she was in diapers.  Credit/blame belongs to the Mayor who's had a strong, albeit quiet, taste for pop music since he was in diapers.  It was really just a matter of time before they joined forces in music.  Tonight, the Hobbit Wife asked to be excused to another room after the Mayor and Ela took turns hitting repeat on the undeniably pop CCM anthem, "Pushing Back the Dark" by Josh Wilson.  The Mayor is looking forward to attending pop concerts with his little girl in the coming years! :-)

Military Alphabet

While Boookie quizzed the Hobbit Wife on the military alphabet, Seimi piped up, "No-vember! Yes-vember!"

Officially Fall

We enjoyed the summer up to the very end.  Here are some pictures of the hobbitlings playing outside with the last bits of summer.

 We celebrated the last day of summer/first day of fall with our traditional "hobbit feast".  Here's the east half of the table.

 And here's the west half of the table.

 Here are the hobbitling costumes for Halloween this year.  Leading things off is our very own 3-year-old Cap 'Merica!  He's shown here holding a small Cap 'Merica figurine that is his favorite bedtime toy.

And next is our six-year-old princess bride, with her stunning pink and white wedding dress ensemble.  The hoop skirt on the dress was the clincher at the store for this beauty.

 

And bringing up the platoon is our eight-year-old Navy SEAL.  He's bringing his map case for trick-or-treating this year because it will mean he's able to carry even more candy than in previous years!

Here are the brothers outside on a mission, Cap 'Merica helping out the brave Special Forces SEAL. Their mission: wait patiently while their sister finishes getting dressed.

 And here's the assembled, costumed hobbitlings.

And here's this year's band photo.

Wrapping Up Summer

It's been a rich and full summer at Michael Delving.  A year to the day after cutting up his pack to splint his ankle, the Mayor went and got a new pack.  Here he is showing off the capacity - it easily holds a 3-year old and his Lee.

Here are the three hobbitlings mugging poses in the summer sunshine.  Guns, dressup and lots of fruit were all in heavy rotation this season.

As one season ends, another begins.  Here is the brand-new math curriculum in the dehydrator after someone spilled their water bottle on the bag of school work on the way to the library.  Here's to a joyful fall!

the social perils of paleo

(loudly) "ooo!  look!  CROISSANTS!"
-ela, age 6, upon being served caesar salad croutons

(loudly) "oh, thank GOODNESS!-  mommy's buying ECLAIRS!"
-boookie, age 8, upon noticing a bag of english muffins in the shopping cart

(loudly) "mommy!  NO BREAD!"
-seimi, age 3, also upon noticing the english muffins in the shopping cart 

(i think we need to include a new homeschooling subject, don't you?-  BREAD 101: IDENTIFYING AND CONDONING CARBS WITH CRUMBS.)

Fabulous hair

Ela and the Hobbit Wife were discussing the hypothetical question, "Would you rather have $10,000 or perfect hair?"  Ela said, "I would take the money, since my hair is already amazing and one shouldn't be too stylish."

Boookie's 8th Birthday - TMNT Style!

Boookie's 8th birthday celebration started with camping with The Mayor on his actual birthday.

The Mayor's old camouflage hat and the knife the Mayor received on his 8th birthday from his father were passed on to the next warrior generation.  Added to the warrior gifts were dogtags and a map case.

"Cutie Kittie" the meerkat was an intrepid part of all the birthday celebrations, along with "Favie," Boookie's favorite blanket.

Preparations for the birthday party happened over several weekends.  Here's the Mayor's outside workship after finishing ninja weapon production.

The Hobbit Wife chipped in her touch to decorations and foodstuffs.

Leonardo portrait #1

 Leonardo portrait #2

Donatello portrait #1

 Donatello portrait #2

Michaelangeo portrait #1

 Michaelangelo portrait #2

 Rafael portrait #1

 Rafael portrait #2

The kickoff mission was for the turtles to defeat the evil Kraang balloons, which took no time at all, thanks to the awesome ninja turtle skills!

 Searching for any missing Kraang balloons...

 On to the next mission!

 Watching the action from inside, safe away from swinging weapons...

Here's a small sewer rat enjoying the party food.

Dessert was sewer dirt cake with toxic ooze Jello.

Everyone enjoying the dessert.

The Hobbit Wife's mad decorating skills were on full display.  The sewer lid was a true masterpiece in cardboard and paper bag.

Boookie/Leonardo thoroughly enjoyed time with his turtle and human friends.

food for thought

"mommy, are pasta and scrambled eggs cousins?"

"you know, i really can't WAIT to join the military and start learning all kinds of cool survival skills!  like peeling potatoes!  did you know that peeling potatoes is important for warrior training?  because i sure didn't.  but NOW i do, and i bet i'll be REALLY GOOD at it!"

"if anyone wants help finishing their dessert, i'd be honored."

boookie, age 8

So we may have watched a bit of "Top Gun"...

"When I grow up, I'm going to invent a plane that looks just like the F-14 Tomcat and is called the F-14 Tomcat, but it's better.  So far my fighter squadron has shot down 3 Libyan SU-33s and 1 MiG 29 Fulcrum." -Boookie

boookie howser, md

extended, self-directed study of world wars I and II has prompted bookie to diagnose himself as having a case of trench foot.

trench foot.

our young scholar currently enjoys discussing this self-diagnosis wherever we go.  for example, yesterday, while our groceries were being bagged at trader joe's, he asked our cashier if she could recommend an over-the-counter remedy for trench foot.  the elderly gentleman in line behind us was heartily amused.  the cashier, however, could only give bookie stickers, a complementary juice box, and a wide berth.

not that we blame her.  can't be too careful when it comes to trench foot.

supraorbital-ridge irony is...

...a three year-old's loud, incessant whining about his "eyebrats."

(i've checked him repeatedly for symptoms of skin irritation, etc.  he appears to be fine.  i think he's simply disturbed to discover he has hair growing on his face, and i can't say as i blame him!)

overheard

"do you know what's my favorite part about drinking chocolate milk?- the little brown rainbow that gets on my lip."
ela, age 6

into uncharted waters

it is worth noting that our six year-old daughter has her first official celebrity crush: the forty-four year-old lead singer of a newfoundland folk band.

this is a very proud moment for us.

reason #763 why he does not suffer his head to be washed

"NOOOO!!! MY HAIR'S TOO THIRSTY!!!"
seimi, age 3

unrefined

"mommy, can i have one of those carb-thingies we bought for making s'mores?  you know, one of those... what are they called? grandma-crackers?"
boookie, age paleo 

Deadly style

Ela calmly announced from the back of the van,
"I smashed a spider with my movie star sunglasses.  They're danger for bugs."

Homegrown enemies

In cleaning up the hobbitling room, the Mayor asked Seimi about one of his Duplo creations.
"It's facto-lee!" he said proudly.
Boookie chimed in, "I've been teaching him how to build factories with his Duplos so he can be North Korea and I can be the Americans and blow them up."

You can't make this stuff up.

Creations

We've been doing a lot of things with creations lately.  Here's Seimi with his battleship (aircraft carrier).  This was built without prompting or guidance from anyone.

Ela has a one-bouquet-per-day limit and today was a good day.  She said, "When Mommie lays an eyelash on these flowers, she will love them!"

Here's Boookie's OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter.  He recently got a book about helicopters from the library and after reading it for awhile, went downstairs and built this awesome model.

Naval gazing

This morning, Boookie came trotting out of the bedroom and said,
"Daddy, you know on the first scene in 'Top Gun?' The captain's hat said CVN-68, so they must have been on the Nimitz."
...The Mayor did a quick search and said, "I think his hat actually said CVN-65."
"Oh, so it was the Enterprise, then!"

Fiscal Funnies

Yesterday, Boookie announced, "I'm really into Power Man right now.  When I grow up, I'm going to have them make a movie about Power Man.  He's pretty much just like Iron Man, except I don't want to have to pay to use the name Iron Man."

This morning, Ela came sobbing in to see the Hobbit Wife, "I really need your help raising some money since I can't afford to buy all the things I want!"

While the Hobbit Wife is Away...

The residents of Michael Delving have taken to kicking the Hobbit Wife/Mommie out of the house on Saturday mornings to the strains of N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye."  The Mayor and hobbitlings put that time to good use, such as making cardboard tanks...

 ...re-purposing out-of-use respirators to make fighter pilot masks...

 ...and the Mayor maaaaaayyyyyy have introduced a seven year old warrior trainee to shooting an air rifle in the backyard.

The Mayor has to add that he violated none of the cardinal gun safety rules as part of the training, and to top it off, the Mayor has substantial evidence from his teen years that while this .177 cal air rifle is capable of taking down a sparrow, it does no real harm to beer bottles or cats.

now we are six

once upon a time... like, a couple of weeks ago... a little princess turned four.

she was the fairest and most deliciously apple-cheeked sprite in all the land.

and then, something extraordinary befell the poor king and queen, her parents.  

they blinked, and suddenly...

their little princess was six years old.  and not quite so little as she once had been.

to ease their shock, the king and queen threw a birthday party for their six year-old princess.  they invited from neighboring kingdoms far and nigh all of her beautiful princess friends (whose parents were likewise reeling in amazement at how quickly little girls grow up.)

little princesses, may 2011

not-quite-so-little princesses, may 2013

 (photobomb courtesy of young prince seimi's underpants.) 

on the day of the party, a royal pavilion was staked.  sparkly streamers festooned the bowers.  shields of bold knights were hung in honor of the festivities. 

and to the ringing of an expertly-played celtic bodrhan, the party began!

 there was a great feast:  'bangers and mash' and veggie arrows with dip...

will-o'-the-wisp cookies...

bear paws...

and ever so many apples! 

feasting commenced within the pavilion! 

there was bead-working... 

with the crown jewels.

there was joyous picking of royal nostrils. 

there was recreation on the moor...

complete with expertly catered entremet.

there was reading of lovely, hand-decorated birthday cards.  and with a flurry of gossamer tissue paper, there was much unwrapping of  birthday presents from dearly loved friends and many squeals of delight from the blessed little princess.

finally there were cakes...

candles...

wishes...

...and royal sugar highs.

in the wake of the beautiful party...

a delightful wheel of friendship...

we love you, princess ela!