Welcome, Annabeth and Percy Jackson!

Our new little family members were welcomed home at the end of a scavenger hunt. Here were the clues:

1. Across the street where you like to play, look under the tallest structure and be on your way (clue was at the top of the slide)

2. Ulai and Olu live very near; the second clue is located here (at the neighbor's house)

3. the best place in the 'hood to make your hair look good (the barber shop)

4. this new joint has the name of "Bop", it's right next to the barber shop. you can get Korean food with rice, or even a hamburger, very nice! (the Korean-American restaurant down the block)

5. The corner store's got stuff to buy: milk and pop and pumpkin pie. The guy in front has your next clue; he's also got some candy for you! (the convenience store)

6. You've been all over the neighborhood--now come on back to where you first stood. (back to the house)

7. The scariest place in the house is where Zion's gift lurks--go down if you dare, but don't get hurt. (basement)

8. We're your new pets from the middle east. we're very peaceful little beasts. (on the gecko tank, next to the washer and dryer).Zion was absolutely ecstatic! I wish I had gotten some footage of his reaction, but the whole process of discovery was very frenzied as 8 5th graders tore through the house! Annabeth and Percy Jackson are leopard geckos, named after the characters in a series of books that Zion just finished.

Pow Wow

We have these wonderful neighbors, Gilo and Mia Kwesi Logan, who are always doing really cool things with their two kids, Ulai and Olu. Zion has been lucky enough to join them several times since we've moved onto the block. They took the kids to a Native American Pow Wow in Chicago a few weeks ago. Zion had a blast--he came back with all kinds of news and stories. Here's a picture.

Zion's 11th Birthday Party

So I decided that Zion hadn't had a birthday party for a few years, and I wanted to help him connect with some kids from his new school. I wanted to keep it cheap and simple (unlike some of the galas we've had in the past, with 50 people, ponies, reptiles, etc). I finally decided that we'd just have a simple celebration here at the house for a few friends, with pizza and video games. Surely a small group of 5th grade boys could entertain themselves, right? Zion was enthusiastic about the idea. His list grew and grew, so I helped him pare it down to a few kids from class, a kid from his new play, and some neighborhood friends--about 9 kids in all. I also thought it would be nice to invite the parents to stay and hang out, so Sam and I made a huge batch of his special chili and stocked the fridge with good beer. We planned to order pizza for the kids, and I made the "cake" myself. The morning of the party, Sam surveyed the back room of the house where the kids were going to be hanging out and commented, "that's kind of a small space for a bunch of 5th grade boys to be for 4 hours. Did you plan any games or activities for them?" Hmmmm...I started to get nervous at this point. I HADN'T planned any activities--aren't 5th graders too cool for activities? I didn't really know--I've never taught 5th grade, so my experience was limited. And this 6:00-10:00 thing...that WAS a rather long time. I guess I was drawing from past parties, where families came when they could, and left when their kids got tired. Maybe I was thinking that 4 hours was a hell of a lot shorter than a slumber party, which is a big event for the pre-teen crowd. I got a burst of inspiration from Sam's anniversary present to me a few years ago, where he led me on a scavenger hunt around the house before presenting me with a series of small gifts and a Wii fit game system. "I'll make a scavenger hunt for them around the neighborhood, and it will lead to Zion's present!" I was very pleased with my Aha! moment. I set to work on a series of verses that would lead the kids to clues around the area and finally back to our house. (see latest post) Zion had a blast at his party, as did the rest of the rambunctious crowd. Live and learn--4 hours WAS a long time; thank God for the scavenger hunt, the beautiful weather, the park across the street, and the two moms who stayed to help (Thanks, Faye and Mia!) The partygoers finally filed out of the house at 10:00 as stated on the invitation, trailing a wake of cupcake crumbs and pizza crusts. Thankfully, our house is still in one piece and no one had to go to the hospital. Glad we had one last party for Zion--but that's it! I retire!

More Halloween

Halloween 2009

Our trip to Iowa to visit Vince and Tracy didn't happen--we were disappointed, but we did have a good time taking Zen, Zion and Ben trick or treating in Schaumburg. We hooked up with aunt susie, Kim and Madison along the way. The little ones held up quite well. We ended up doing almost all of Denise and Joel's neighborhood before heading back to their house for some family bonding. Zen wore the only Halloween costume of Zion's that I ever kept. He loved being Winnie the Pooh!

Fun Leaves Video

Zion did more entertaining than raking. He was jealous because I got to use the leaf blower :-)

Leaves

I love the trees of Evanston--mature trees are everywhere, spreading leafy canopies down tree-lined streets. Evanston's trees are rich with nuts and seeds and pods of all kinds for us to play with--Kentucky coffee pods, cottonwoods that provide spiky balls for us to roll down the slides at the park, buckeyes for us to stomp open and expose the rich, smooth seeds inside...We finally created time to actually rake the leaves that were covering our yard for weeks. It was a family project. Here are some pictures.

Zen

Only 3 weeks from his 2nd birthday, Zen's favorite (and most intelligible) word is
"no-no-no!" He adores running and jumping, playing with balls and marbles, visits to the park, and hanging out 4 days a week with friends Nathan and Beatrice. Zen's schedule is packed with activities--weekly speech therapy, gym class, music class, regular play group, speech therapy playgroup, Sunday school...He's actually the busiest member of the family!