The Perils of History

Before bed last night, James was watching some Horrible Histories songs.  (It's a British comedy kids' show about history.)  Then in the middle of the night, he came into our room and seemed a little upset. I asked him this morning what had been wrong.

James: "I had a nightmare!"
Me: "What was it about?"
James: "I wish I hadn't learned about that English guy.  You know."
Me: "Oliver Cromwell?"
James: "Yes, he was trying to kill us!"

Too funny. :)

Here's the song he was watching, about the English Civil War: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXUBkko4utg  (Most of the Horrible Histories videos are a bit better than this one and actually have the video from the show as opposed to typo-filled lyrics.)

Future Dog

I have been browsing Petfinder, and a couple weeks ago we found a dog that looked a lot like Stanley!  Unfortunately, she was adopted by someone else, but I kept checking at the same rescue organization (which is based in Houston but does dog transports to other parts of the country), and Elsa (pictured here) came up!  We put in our application right away, and they picked us to adopt her. :)

Their usual car transports have been somewhat disrupted by the hurricane, so they asked if they could fly her. Since there are no direct flights from Houston to Buffalo, we'll be going to Cleveland tomorrow to pick her up (assuming the vet clears her to fly at her visit today).  We are excited!

Matthew is especially excited. The other night he said, "Since she's a new dog, she'll probably be constantly begging for treats. And I'll fall for it every time!  We'll go through the whole box of treats in one day!"

Elsa's Petfinder listing: Elsa is a sweet tempered 2 yr old standard schnauzer mix (we have no idea - she is NOT hypoallergenic nor nonshedding). She is house trained and loves people dogs and cats, kids. Very loving and wants to curl up on the couch. She's about 30 lbs. 

Apples and Oranges (orange pumpkins, that is...)

It was unseasonably hot this weekend -- mid to high 80s -- but that did not stop us from going apple-picking!  James even tried a couple of apples, which was impressive given that he is still missing his two front teeth.

The boys were also excited to pick out pumpkins. (They have named the big one Fireball.)

Soccer and Social

 Although you wouldn't know it from these pictures, last night was the school Book Fair and Ice Cream social. Matthew found some books he liked (not surprisingly, some with a Minecraft theme.) We didn't actually make it to the ice cream part this time (long lines as usual, and the ice cream ran out just as their friend Jake reached the front of the line!), and James didn't make it to the book fair part. :)   But he had a great time at soccer practice beforehand, and they both enjoyed the playground.

James is really doing well at soccer -- he's not shy about going after the ball and not bothered even when he gets knocked down.  (Some of the kids in U10 -- the 10 and under league, or maybe it's under 10 -- are noticeably bigger than he is.) Now his coach is just reminding him (and the other kids) to stay in their formations.  The coach is the parent of one of the kids James knows from school, and he's really good. It's nice to see them working on new skills/strategies of play.

Path of Totality

Auntie Erin got NASA eclipse glasses for all of us, and their backyard was in the Path of Totality for the solar eclipse. We were a little worried that the cloud cover would ruin the viewing, but fortunately it cleared up enough for us to see most of it.  The total eclipse itself was pretty amazing; it wasn't full-on darkness, but sort of a strange twilight.  The ring of light around the moon was gorgeous.  (And so far none of us appears to have gone blind, so it's all good!)

First of Third

 The boys had their first day of third grade today, and it went well!  Matthew's teacher is supposed to be really good, according to Jake's mom. James's teacher has the same name as the music teacher, but she is actually a different person. :)  James says she's very nice.

Jake and Ryan -- James's two best friends -- are both in Matthew's class.  James was quite disappointed about this, but he rebounded a little when he found out that our neighbor Chase was also in his class. (As it turns out, James's class has two Jameses, two Chases, two Bens, and he thinks two of some other name!  That's going to be a crazy year!) Matthew is, finally, the only Matthew in his class. (That was the one request I made regarding his placement -- the other Matthews in K and 2nd grade both required a lot of correction from the teacher, and it didn't seem fair for poor Matthew to keep hearing his name called out when he wasn't doing anything wrong!)

Cooking with Gas

 Isaac got a new pizza oven, and the pre-eclipse pizzas were delicious!  (A ton of work for him, though!)