Crud.

I had an entire entry typed up and ready to go when *wham* IE experienced some "exceptional error" or "magnificent malfunction" or what have you, and shut down. I hate it when that happens.

So, where was I? I think our frog is stuck. There's a baking pan on the porch. He hopped in there a few minutes ago and seems to be making the rounds. I wish the boys were up- they'd love to be able to get up close without fear that he'll jump into the house (which he's done- he seems driven to try to get in). If he's not extricated himself from the pan before I head to bed, I'll let him out. Poor thing.

The boys are... well, they're boys. They are wonderful, active, creative, funny, exhausting little boys. I just want to snuggle them til their little eyes bulge. (...and I will luv him and squeeze him and name him George...*) Today was not particularly splendid, but it was nice and filled with many good things.

Diving Deeper- this is an issue for James. I'd love insight if any of y'all have it. For some reason (couldn't have anything to do w/ my genes, right? ha ha!) he doesn't particularly care for "mastery". He just wants to know if he can do it- is he actually, physically, technically capable? If so, then he's good-to-go, let's move on! I know I haven't relayed to him the Einstein quote about memorizing what you can look up, but somehow he senses it on a very instinctive level. How do you get a highly motivated, accelerated child to slow it down a bit, take a breath, do a little deeper? Now how do you do it without dulling his exuberance or making things feel droll?

Protecting the World- John wants to be a soldier. He says that he wants to be an Army soldier, but maybe he wants to fly planes, too. We'll see. Either way, that works. Today he saved us from flying dragons and small, multi-headed beasts. We've got to get that kid into fencing. He's downright deadly with a sword. And don't even think about trying to play dead and then jumping up and roaring because if he is anywhere near you, he will thwack you on the head with his rubber sword. His fight-or-flight reflexes are finely tuned and ready for action, but there's no flight option.

Jacob had his first M&M today. You'd think after the brownie pouncing adventure, we'd be more careful with our dainties, wouldn't you? Nope. We were camped out on the floor, enjoying math questions and M&M's when suddenly, like something out of The Swamp Thing, he emerged from under the coffee table and in a flash of Carter's prints and drool, nabbed a handful of the brightly colored treats and they were gone. (For the record, they will melt in your hand if you've previously slobbered all over it.)

Zorak was not well today. He slept for 16 hours straight. I am amazed at the body's ability to completely shut down for repairs. He's feeling markedly better tonight, and I had a serious V-8 moment when I realized, much to my embarrassment, we had the car all day and didn't go anywhere! D'oh. It was a great idea, in hindsight.

Alrighty, it's time for a Windows update to fix whatever this magnificent problem is, and then perhaps new pictures? It's been awfully quiet around here lately. Let me know if you've found us ok!

Dy
*if you can do the voice w/ the reference, you get extra points for being cool!