Of course, on the picture heavy day of the year, I can’t get pictures to upload to Flickr. But you all already know what Fuller’s costume is, so just imagine that and lots of candy.

Ever since Fuller first put on the amazing Captain America costume, we have been counting down the events where Fuller “has” to wear the costume and then retire it to the costume box where Fuller can then put it one whenever he wants. And you would think tonight would be the final event, but it isn’t. Tomorrow we have the Fall costume party for church, then the costume can be retired to the costume box.

Fuller is currently conked out in bed, having fallen asleep soon after hitting his pillow. I can’t say I blame him, since we started our fun yesterday at the library, where costumes were encouraged during the Halloween themed story time. This afternoon we ventured to Toys R Us for a photo op with Geoffery, free candy, and a costume parade. And finally, this evening we headed to the Sunders for trick or treating and a pizza dinner/ birthday celebration. Damon participated by being the great dad who walked the trick or treat walk with Fuller, which ended when Fuller fell down some steps. I stayed at the house and helped pass out the candy.

Fun was had by all (hard not to have fun when there are eight other boys to interact with). And after tomorrow, Fuller can be Captain America whenever he wants.

Damon entered a contest on instructables.com on how he made Fuller’s Captain America costume. If you wanted to check it out and rate it (if you have an instructables account), please feel free. It has received excellent feedback, and my favorite comment so far says, “Just in case you didn’t know, you are a great dad! I hope your son runs for president someday so they can exploit those awesome pictures of him in the campaign literature.” I know Fuller loves his costume and Damon is an awesome dad for spending the hours using his creativity in this way.

Technorati Tags: Halloween, costumes

Last week’s Library Storytime theme was all about travel. I held an internal giggle when Miss Halee was asking about kids and their trips because really, we average a trip a month in our family. Fuller is a traveling pro!

The books varied on all aspects of travel- airplane trips, donkey rides, going all over the world, and packing our luggage.

When we entered the library we were immediately whisked behind the librarian’s desk to have a picture shot for the morning’s craft. I was in charge of both Fuller and Liam that day, so it was tricky getting them to wait their turns. The craft involved making their own “passports” which both boys opted to not color that day and when we returned home for lunch Damon put Spider-Man stamps in each book, making it a treasure for always. Or at least that’s Fuller’s take on the item.

Fuller was very distracted with having his buddy Liam by his side, so I picked out our books this week:

Apples and Pumpkins- I couldn’t resist the Fall theme of books this week. As our area speeds toward colder days and changing leaves, I thought it was a great way to discuss Fall with Fuller. This book, with a red headed main character, explores two facets of Fall- apple picking and the pumpkin patch. Fuller really enjoyed it. And I held my breath, waiting for him to ask when we would do those things. Um, not this year buddy.

It’s Fall!- Again with the changing of the leaves, the discussion of chilly weather, and explanation about the warmer clothes we have to wear these days. (Fuller asks me every morning, “Is today going to be chilly?” which he has decided is his cue to pull out the long pants and his rain boots.) The cut-paper illustrations are beautiful and really focus on the different aspects of Fall.

I Know It’s Autumn – This is the last book in my “exploring Fall” series. I liked how the book placed emphasis on environmental changes beyond the changing of the leaves- the darker mornings and geese migrating. It also mentions acorns falling, which is a different element than sticking to leaves and apples.

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?- The hands down favorite this week, with multiple readings. Fuller even took time to “read” it to our dog Lively, who, Fuller explained, liked the story. I chose this book to emphasize the change in our wardrobe this month. While the book didn’t go into that kind of detail (it just discussed the different times of day), it was a good springboard for the kind of discussion you can have with a four year old about why socks are important when the temperature is colder.

The OK Book- This book was OK. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Actually, the fun in this book is the illustration where the word OK is turned on its side to look like a person and the person tells us everything he/she is OK at performing. The character tells us he/she likes to do lots of things, even if he/ she is just ok at them. Fuller got a kick out of the drawings, and really got into the repetition of the word “Ok.”

Today is a Halloween theme and the kids are encouraged to wear their costumes, so Fuller will get a whole new audience to show off his Captain America costume. Can’t wait!

Technorati Tags: reading, preschool reading, book reviews, library time

Yesterday morning our family dressed Fuller in his Captain America costume and drove over to the National Guard Armory and set up another photo shoot of Fuller. We had been building up the trip by telling him he would get to see some tanks, which I guess flipped a switch in his little boy DNA and made him really, really excited.

Damon called the armory first to ask about the possibility of us coming over and taking pictures. There is a menacing black fence around the armory, with lots of “No” signs posted (as Fuller took delight in telling us, since it was “No! Just like on Sight Words!”), so we figured marching in with a three foot Captain America and our camera equipment (which included a step ladder) wasn’t a great idea. Damon got the go ahead last Thursday and then Friday it rained all. day. long. We tried to go over on Saturday but they were closed. (The PX was open though. Military personnel have to get tax-free stuff on the weekend too!)

Yesterday was the magic moment. The sunlight was great, the gates were open, and the people were fine with us climbing all over the “tanks” (they were actually Howitzers) with a four year old who inexplicably has a fear of heights.

I took over 100 pictures and Damon narrowed it down to these seven to show the internet. My favorite moment was when I, the pregnant lady resembling a beached whale, got down on the ground to shoot upward to get the American and Tennessee flags in the shot.

On a related note, Damon submitted a photo of Captain America in the Wired Geeky Halloween Costume Contest. All you have to do is go here and then scroll down to the widget. Scroll down on the actual widget (you will see pictures of other people dressed in their geeky costumes) to find Fuller and click on the green UP arrow. That means you like it and voted for him. Probably a lot easier than voting for a new president.

Technorati Tags: Captain America, National Guard Armory, Howitzer, Tank, Wired, Costume, Halloween

When the opportunity to review a book by a Nigerian author, Kunle Oguneye, I jumped at the chance. While I have never been to Africa, various bits of its culture has touched me through the lives of my friends and family. Two of my college roommates, Rinnie and Esther, grew up in Kenya. Rinnie’s husband, Erik, also grew up in Kenya is is quite involved in the African technology/ blogging arena (check out Ushahidi, his project to help track violence in Kenya and South Africa). Grace and her husband Sila are friends of ours who are both Kenyan. My Uncle Tim and Aunt Lois have lived in many places in Africa (they are working on getting to Nigeria soon), raising their four children in Chad. My dad was stationed in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

So, all this African influence in my world and I was excited to get to review this children’s book about friends Sikulu and Harambe, a spider and a hippo respectively. The story, By the Zambezi River
, is a familiar one to me, a retelling of the Bible story The Good Samaritan.

The universal theme of kindness to those in need was very obvious. But the story was also a wonderful introduction to African culture. It brought in geography (the story takes place in Zambia along the Zambezi River), new vocabulary (with an excellent glossary in the back and pronunciation keys in the story), zoology (various animals are the main characters in the story), and the mention of the Ku-omboka Ceremony which is explained in further detail in the back of the book.

I have to mention the illustrations, by Bruce McCorkindale, which were very colorful and easy to follow the story from the pictures. I could read the book to Fuller who could look at the illustrations and visualize what was going on (“Mommy! the clothes are going in the water!”).

From what I can tell from the book cover and the Sikulu.com website, Sikulu and Harambe will be traveling to different areas of Africa in upcoming books. I’m looking forward to following them around the continent and helping Fuller also learn more about Africa. Maybe he’ll actually get to go there one day.

Technorati Tags: Kunle Oguneye, Sikulu and Harambe, children’s books

Two weeks ago the story time was dominated by the theme of “apples.” The kids started story time with the craft- painting paper plates red and applying a green leaf or two. They started with the craft so it would have time to dry, a very smart move by Miss Halee. The movie was the first half of Johnny Appleseed.

We got to see the second half the following week when the theme was “trees.”

Since Fuller traveled in the middle of the two weeks we kept his books for two weeks. Here is our run down:

Martha Speaks – This is the last Martha Speaks book I will let Fuller check out for a while. It was hands down his favorite because he is used to seeing Martha on PBS and I grew tired of the story being read out loud as well as coming from the TV. The idea of a talking dog is interesting to Fuller, though he knows it is all pretend. I just want a different book.

Today is Monday – The Eric Carle books are such a wonderful visual for anyone, and this book is no exception. Fuller loved helping me “read” by remembering what food was on each day. This is based on a song, which I couldn’t sing, but Fuller still enjoyed it a lot.

The Subway Mouse – The story of a mouse trying to make it to the end of a tunnel was one that stuck with Fuller for quite some time. We illustrations we detailed and gave Fuller even more of a picture of what it would be like to be in the tunnels of the subway. I tried to convince him a subway and the train we took in Atlanta were the same thing, but he didn’t really get it.

Delivery – Eh. This book has wonderful illustrations, so it was great for quiet time, but the story was really lost on Fuller. He prefers more wordy details to get the story across.

Here Come the Babies – Again with the babies. I like the idea of preparing Fuller for his new brother using books and this one was great for pointing out the baby will not be coming out of me and be ready to play super heroes.

I’m looking forward to returning these books and moving on to some new ones later today.

Technorati Tags: preschool reading, library, story time

Well there it is. Proof our family will be growing in testosterone next February and continuing to outnumber me. To spell it out: we are having a BOY. (Click the picture to see it bigger.)

We are very excited about this since we really like boys and would not mind a few more of them. Don’t get me wrong, girls are neat, but we just seem to be the types who prefer to stick to the snips, snails, and puppy dogs’ tails. I cried with happiness when the ultrasound technician typed the word BOY on the screen.

I think it will be difficult to convince Fuller of this since he is still thinks we are having a girl. Yesterday he was using a magnifying glass to peer at my belly button and kept telling me, “I can’t see her. Is she still in there?” We are happy he has made a breakthrough in pronoun usage, but it will have implications when he figures out he gets a brother, not a sister.

Sorry to my sister who is also expecting a little boy. This means we can’t swap baby clothes. My new son will be needing them himself. But I’m sure our sons will have a ball when they get together to play.

And, if you are now wondering what the name will be, I can’t tell you because I don’t know. In our house Damon is in charge of naming the boys. And in the last conversation we had about the subject, we decided to keep the information to ourselves until Baby Boy 2 makes his appearance in February.

Whoo! Bring on the baby stuff.

Technorati Tags: pregnancy, ultrasound, baby boy