Kate

... and their vocabulary skills are excellent.

This weekend was Gracie's baptism, and after the service we all went to Becky & Manny's for sandwiches and cake. We had quite a crowd, including two babies in addition to Grayson and my niece and nephews all running amok. The babies were all in a gated play area, crawling all over each other and having a good time. My nephew Pike (7) thought this was great fun to watch and quickly dubbed it the B.R.L.

That's Baby Wrestling League, in case you were wondering. We did explain about the silent 'w'.

Throughout the afternoon Pike served as the announcer of the matches, declaring winners and calling on the 'refs' (read: parents) if things got out of hand. It went something like this:

Baby Andrew crawls over Grayson and makes her cry. Becky picks up Grayson.

Pike: Oh, Gracie is eliminated!

Baby Andrew's mother pulls him out of the play area to explain about being gentle, leaving Baby Jack alone in the octagon.

Pike: That baby got disqualified! Jack wins the match by default!

Elsewhere, my nephew Maiken (4) thunders through the living room yelling 'Victory is MINE!' while Mer looks on, and Sheridan (now 10) reminds me that it is her birthday. She's reached double-digits, and she's perfectly alright with celebrating next weekend since this was Gracie's special day.

******

Tracey's sister is not doing well and she's out of town to spend time with her in what is looking like her last few days. Mer and I are helping to get the kids to and from school/daycare while she's gone since Richard works from very early until well after the school day ends. Sher and Pike go to a 'school of choice', which doesn't provide bus service to and from their house, so they have to be dropped off.

This morning I was driving them and Pike was telling me about a story he had to write about a monkey. Sheridan started asking questions and they had a very serious conversation comparing Pike's character, Super Bill, with the main characters from one of Sheridan's stories, Carrot Man and Pickle Boy.

Pike: ...and he rescues people and the Asians try to get him.

Me *thinking*: What? The Asians?

Sheridan: So, is Super Bill like Carrot Man and Pickle Boy?

Pike: No, he's a monkey. They're vegetables.

Sheridan: I mean is he a superhero.

Pike: Yeah, he's a superhero, but he's like Batman. He doesn't have any powers, but he has a lot of gadgets.

Sheridan: Carrot Man and Pickle Boy have powers. They have the power to cook, which, believe me, comes in handy. And then there's The Claw. His arms are tongs, so, you know, they're like a big claw. He tries to grill them.

Me: *stifled laughter*

By the time I got lunch today, I was starting to shake from low blood sugar. I was eating pretty close to my usual time, but this morning I stopped and picked up venti Mocha Frappucino goodness. I don't normally have more than a small cup of coffee in the mornings. Then I had to walk to the other building and back, in the heat, shortly before lunchtime. Physical activity is not my strongsuit, being the chunky monkey that I am. Now I've eaten my six-inch Spicy Italian from Subway, and my body is telling me I should have gotten the 12-inch. I figure once I start to digest a bit, the amount I had will be plenty. It's just that my body hasn't quite come off of its frantic mode.

This doesn't happen to me often, but it's gone on periodically for a long time. Diabetes swings from most branches of my family tree, and I fully expect to end up with it myself, though I have not been diagnosed with it yet. It's not fun, and yet that hasn't been enough to push me to eat any better. Or to exercise. I can be very dense about some things.

In other news, Becky and Manny got a kitten last night. Her name is Gigi. She's very cute and looks a lot like Meredith's cat, Lucky.

My nephew, Pike, just got accepted into the accelerated program at school. Sheridan is in it, too, of course. Yay for Pike!

My niece, Jessica, has just moved to Orlando. She graduated from nursing school this spring and is waiting to take her boards. She'll be working in the bone marrow unit of a local hospital. Her boyfriend of several years has lived in Orlando for about six months. Being good Christian kiddies, they are not living together, though we expect news of an engagement at any time.

Meredith had to do a project for her ASL II class. She had to make a videotape where she introduced herself and told about her life. Then she was to transcribe it and make a photo album of the things she talked about. Since it was due early this week, and her aunt's boyfriend works in video editing, and they were both in Hawaii, Steve made the video of Meredith on their trip. It's turned out really well. Meredith stood by the balcony, wind in her hair, with a view of a pretty canal behind her, and signed all about herself. I don't know how her transcription and photo album compared to the other kids', but I doubt anyone had as neat a video.

Risa (forgotten_poems on MNFF) made me the icon I'm using. Since only she and I were in on the conversation where that quote came from, I don't expect many people to understand it. It cracks me up, though.

Picspam:
( Meredith, tanning, and the telephone - her dream life )