That's a Good Question

Zachary, my 6 year old, has always been very inquisitive and analytical.  I remember him telling me that he sang "the old lady who swallowed a fly" in preschool one day, and  just could not understand why that lady would eat *all* of those things, just to get rid of a fly.

As he's gotten older, his questions most often turn to superheroes, the most common question being the "Who would win" question.  "Who would win, batman or spiderman?"... "Who would win, Superman, or that guy who can't get hurt?" (That would be Wolverine)  but sometimes they would branch out to, "who would you rather be?"  or "who is your favorite?"

These questions require a lot of brain power on my part.   It takes a considerable thought to compare all of the individual powers of each superhero & then have an imaginary fight in your head in order to answer a question like that.  "Well, spiderman could catch batman with his web - but batman is very clever and always finds a way out of every problem.  Plus, he's got those throwing star things, to cut himself out of the web. but spiderman..... wait a minute, does Batman have Robin with him?  because that would put the odds in his favor..." 

You can see why these questions might become a bit tiresome for me.  So when Zachy started finding new subjects to ask about, i was relieved.  And then I went from relief to laughter, because his thought process is so random.  Allow me to share with you some examples from a recent car ride.  --and while you read them, keep in mind that these were all asked in a time span of about 15 minutes while we drove from the store back to our house.  As soon as I would answer one question, he's ask the next:

*  If you didn't need food or water, and you couldn't open your mouth for your whole life, would you live?
*  Would your mouth get hot?
*  Is it cool the way your body works?
*  Why?
*  Who was the first person alive after the flood?
*  Why is your breath hot? (this one apparently didn't get a satisfactory answer, because he still continues to ask questions about how our breath gets hot when we breath in cold air, and it's hardly spent any time in our body before we breathe it out)
*  How do spiders make webs?
*  If you shot an arrow really hard right through your pupil, would it go to the other side of your eye?
*  How do you get throw up?
*  Why do they make chapstick so yummy if you can't lick it off?
*  Which is importanter:  Christmas or Sunday?
*  If we didn't have the word, "ow," what would we say when we got hurt?
*  Why do people buy scarecrows? 
*  Why are they called scarecrows if they scare other kinds of birds?
*  Aren't our eyes like windshield wipers?
*  Why is every question that people don't know the answer to, a "good question?"

And now I find myself wishing he would go back to asking me simple superhero questions.

So how about you?  Which is your favorite question and how would you answer it?  And for 5 bonus points, who would win, Superman or Ironman?  --and for the sake of argument, let's assume that Ironman does not have access to any kryptonite.

Science vs. Fairy Tale

Today's science lesson began with an introduction to the animals of Australia & its surrounding islands.   I read to the children, "Unlike other mammals, monotremes do not have any teats.  Instead, baby monotremes lick up milk that seeps out of glands in the mother's skin."  This very interesting fact was followed up with a question from Evelyn, "What's a teat?"  I answered matter-of-factly, using simple words that she would understand easily, "It's like a mamma's boobie, where the baby gets it's milk from."  The light turned on in her mind, and she exclaimed knowingly, "Oh!  Like Boobie and the Beast!" 

Shortly after, we learned about the birds of New Guinea.  Our book described the way male birds of paradise fluff up their feathers & show off their good looks in order to attract a female.  It went on to tell about bowerbirds, who atract their females by building elaborate "bowers", decorated with flowers and berries.  The female selects the male whose bower impresses her the most.  (as a sidenote a bower is defined as, "A large nest made of grass and bright objects, used by the bower bird during courtship displays; A shady, leafy shelter or recess in a garden or woods; A woman's bedroom or private apartments, especially in a medieval castle; A picturesque country cottage, especially one that is used as a retreat" --isn't that romantic!?)   Check out this picture of the beautiful bower that was built for one lucky chick. (found on Nick Triantafillou' flickr site--a great photograph don't you think?)

This lesson on how birds pick their mates seemed like a great opportunity for me to teach my children the importance of picking a good mate for themselves.  I explained how, just like birds, different people are attracted to different things in a husband or wife.  Some people are attracted to a good looking person.  Some are attracted to someone with lots of money, or a nice home.  Some people want someone with similar aspirations, etc.  Then I said (especially to the boys), "Do you think that if you choose a wife just because she's pretty, that you will be happy for the rest of your life with her?  People's appearances change as they get older, and they won't look the same as they did when they were young.  So if that's the only thing you look at when you pick someone, you might be disappointed when you get older."  Zachary thought about this for a minute, while I went on to talk about other things you can look for in a spouse.  And then he said, "Then you should pick someone because you like their hair, because your hair stays the same when you get old."    Guess that's what the handsome prince was thinking  when he rescued Rapunzel. 

The little old lady...

Zachy always amuses me with the way he looks at the world. He thinks about things (or at least verbalizes them) differently than most kids. Today, i picked him up from preschool, & asked him what he did. He tod me that he heard about "a very old lady who ate all these different animals, like a dog and a spider and a fly!"

so I said, "Wow! that's crazy! I wonder why someone would do that?"

"I'm pretty sure she did it to catch the bugs that she ate.... and i'm pretty sure she ate the whole cow without even cooking it or anything! .... mom, do people drain the blood out before they eat things like that?"

"yes, they drain the blood."

"how do they do that?"

"I don't know... but you know, Zachary, that's just a pretend story. A person couldn't *really* eat all of those animals, right?"

"yah... unless they cut them up into tiny little pieces first.... and did you know she ate a dog and a cat, too!?"

"no!"

"yah! and they tickled her in her tummy!"

:) I don't think I know of anyone who's put so much thought into that story before. :)

I wonder what he'll be when he grows up. :)

a great Zachy-ism

along with the theme of, "you're the best mom i ever had!" that i posted a couple weeks ago:

zachy told me today, "you're the best mom in the whole world! I never had a mom who gave us our *own* sponges and let our grandma come visit!" :)

My Crazy Kids

Thought you might enjoy the latest photo of my kids. :)

Happy Birthday to Zachary!!!

Zachary turns four today. :)

This last year with Zachy has been so much fun. He's beginning to develop his personality, & become his own little self. It turns out he's extremely sensitive. (i never would have thought that before). He loves quiet cuddle time with me, & likes to have serious talks -- and loves to tell stories. But it takes him awhile to get out exactly what he wants to say. (hmmm sounds like me). He doesn't like to be teased, or to wrestle too much. But he's all boy, and loves to tease & has a silly sense of humor. :)

UPDATE: LOL! just went back & read this. it sounds like a "personals" add. :)

"sweet senstive SWM, who enjoys serious talks and cuddle time with Mommy seeks SWF... "

pictures

Zachy & Evy asked to pose for some pictures the other night. so fun! :)

Zachary

I had fun trying out my new flash the other day. Here are some pictures of Zachary:

The other day, when we were running errands, Zachy told me he thought it was mean to put people in jail. So i asked him, "if someone did something bad, what would *you* do with them?" His answer? "I'd catch him with a net and fight him with my shiney sword. Then I'd stomp him with my boots and poke his eyes with pointy things so he couldn't see. Then I'd throw fire poison balls at him til i killed him!" Because that's a lot nicer than putting them in prison. ;)

Hair day!

Last week, we all visited our hairstylist. What fun! Chris, & Evy got the usual; I got a new color (which is "the usual" for me.) Gideon wanted "spikey" hair, so she did her best for him; Zachy got a mohawk; and chloe wanted a new look, so she got her bangs cut. It's amazing how different she looks! It took me awhile to get used to it. :)


A funny story about Zachary: while we were at the salon, i was looking through magazines, and found some pictures of a handsome blond guy, who looked very much like zachary. So I showed him the picture and said, "Look, Zachary. This is what you're going to look like when you grow up." He looked at the picture, & said, with an appalled tone of voice, "no, mom! I'm going to be a dinosaur when I grow up!!"

Fro Boy

Ruth asked how I dressed for halloween. Well, nobody took a picture of me, but Zachy wanted to try out my wig. :)

Hat fun

Monday fun

You may recall my visit to the dentist last month, when I was told that Zachy would need his frendulum cut. Well, today, we took Gideon in to have his pallet expander adjusted, and they happened to have time to squeeze Zachy in as well. So, spur of the moment, poor little Zachary had a mini surgery done to his mouth. he'll be drinking shakes the rest of the day... :) i think I'll miss his cute little tongue.

so now his tongue is normal. he can move it up and down & way out just like ours.... but he can't. if we ask him to stick his tongue out, he still curves it down over his lip. And when we asked him to point it up, he couldn't figure out how. it was pretty funny. :)

Three Years Ago, Today

My little Zachary Peter was born. Poor Zachary didn't have a middle name for a few days (which is more than I can say for Gideon!). We just couldn't decide between Peter or David. For months after he was born, Chloe and Gideon would say, "Mom, is it Zachary Peter, or Zachary David?" And I honestly didn't know, because I couldn't remember which one we had picked. :)

Zachary is a joy to my life. He's full of fun an energy. He's all boy. He's boysterous, and playful. But he loves to cuddle with his mamma. And he adores his baby sister. It's so fun to watch your children grow and change before your eyes. It's exciting to see how much more he'll change in the next year.

Robot

April Fools!

Every morning when we start school, we have calendar time. This is when we look at our calendar and talk about the days & months, and all the exciting events that are coming up. At the end of March, I told the kids about everything that was coming up in April, and I explained what April Fools day was. The kids loved the idea, but didn't quite understand that it was just *one* day each year. Zachy likes to tell me, "mommy, you have two hands." And i say, "yes, I do, Zachary." and he says, "April Fools!"

more exciting news

I forgot to mention that Zachary asked Jesus to come live in his heart, last week. :) Yay, Zachary!

Zachy's Tower

I couldn't believe how tall Zachy got his tower to be! he's really good at stacking things well. :)

Zachy and the bug

I took some really fun pictures of Zachy playing w/a rolly polly the other day. i posted them all on my flickr acct. You can see them here. That page also has some fun pics i took of the kids playing w/snails on Easter. :)

Some day...

This is my last picture from last Monday. I like it so much that I'm giving it its very own post. This gym is right next to Chloe's ballet studio. The boys have befriended one of the men who works out there, and he lets them come in and hit the punching bags while they wait for Chloe. This day, the man wasn't there. :(

Some day, I'll bring my camera with me & take pictures of the kids boxing. The lighting is great in there & I've always thought I could get some really good pictures.

And this is me, pretending to be a photographer

Here are some more pictures I took last Monday while Chloe was in ballet.

Window Shopping

Pouty Face

Deep in thought

I like this one.

Going for a walk.

Peek-a-boo

Getting ready to play




Zachary likes to go behind these bars and ask, "Mommy, why you put me in jail?"

I don't know why like this one wo much, but I think it's neat.