The Empty

Well, it finally happened.  We're outnumbered.  There are now five animals in the house and only four people.  The wife felt the need to get two parakeets (budgies) in addition to the three dogs.
I've never kept birds as pets before because I don't see the point.  They are one step above fish in the pet world for me - slightly more than a decoration.  We'll see.

I saw someone mention Chore Wars online today.  Being a geek that enjoys something that sounds like a game of some sort (maybe an RPG!), I went to check it out.  It looks awesome!  Basically, it is an alternative to the piece of cardboard on the wall that gets gold stars stuck to it for a child's good deeds - chores, tooth bushing, toileting, etc.  Housemates/kids gain XP (experience points) for chores done.  Eventually, you even level up.  Check out their help/faq for more info.  A 'basic' account is free, but you can pay $10 to avoid ads and get unlimited chore history, etc.  Very cool and possibly more effective against the computer savvy kids these days that are no longer impressed with gold stars ;)

Ah, yes.  It is time to get TinyMan into organized sports.  Like his old man, soccer is the one.  We went to the first practice this week.

We were a bit late as I thought it started 30 minutes later than it actually did.  Luckily, my google calendar reminder smacked me upside the head in time to not be catastrohpically late.  I had explained to TinyMan a few days earlier that he had special equipment to wear for this: his shinguards and the long socks to put over them.  On the way to practice:

"Daddy, do we have my shinguards?"

"Yes."

"Do we have my long socks?"

"Yes we do.  You're all ready for soccer."

Nice proof that he listens :).  At any rate, one of the activities they had them do was they split them up into groups (there were like 30 kids) and then split those in half and put either half at opposing nets.  The kids got numbers so that they had a matching opponent on the other side and the coach would call a number and toss a ball in.  The two kids with that number run in and try to get the ball into the net on the opposite side.  Ya with me?

Well, TinyMan is all psyched up to go kick the ball into the goal but he didn't get it that the other kid was going to try to get the ball and take it to the other goal.  He was a bit overwhelmed by this and the next couple times used his hands to take the ball away from the other kid.  I realized that TinyMan had never competed before.  So he's not only learning soccer, he's learning to compete and try to get the better of an opponent.

The kid TinyMan was paired up with had no problem going right for the ball and taking it.  On the last go, TinyMan tackled the kid after he stole the ball from him.  Hehe.  Then I saw why this other kid had the competitive edge already: he had an older brother.  So soccer for TinyMan is turning out to be socialogically interesting.

TinyLady also could not be left out.  She is not signed up since she is still too young,  but she wanted to go play so badly, too, I gave her a ball and let her toddle into the fray.  With that many kids around, they didn't notice.

Well, we roasted a turkey this weekend with dressing (some may say stuffing), mashed potatoes, gravy - all homemade. Yes, I know it was a few days early, but damn it was good. I even made a turkey stock from the leftover bird and used that for soup tonight. Nummy. I love my Soups & Stews Cookbook. Since we'll be away visiting family over Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to do the turkey dinner and also started putting up Christmas decorations. The TinyMan was especially excited about this. He found a Santa hat amongst the decorations and decided he loved to wear it. He also ethusiatically helped build a gingerbread house that he could not then keep his hands off of :). It was all a lot of fun.
As a bit of a holiday bonus, I booked a ride on the Polar Express for us to go to the North Pole. The TinyMan is super psyched for that. Every time we get in the car now, he asks if we are going to the north pole. It's really cool to see him starting to understand the holidays now.