Many of these status updates had to do with interesting moments in Twitter, related to research in the service, but I also find my personal Twitter museum has collected a number of profound, hilarious, and striking status updates from others around the world. Here are fifty of my favorite Favorites …

this superbowl needs more vuvuzelas.—@djbender

Apparently there’s a sequel to Super Bowl 44 today – do I have to know anything about the other Super Bowls to prepare for today?—@trobinson79

After a brief flirtation, I’ve turned away from Quora. It’s too structured to be social and too closed for open talk. Also, it’s boring.—@shelisrael

I mean really, Mubarak should have done that speech while sitting in a swiveling chair and caressing a white cat. #Jan25 #Egypt—@KarlreMarks

The Spider-Man musical doesn’t need to close – it needs to be the next season of Survivor.—@moonandserpent

Assembly Hall just went from being the loudest place in America (after Hulls 3) to one of the most quiet (as Watford shoots free throws)—@IUSportcom

Now that the astrological birth signs have been recalculated, thousands of awful lower-back tattoos just become even more regrettable.—@justinkeller

My 5th grader has a paper due. It needs to be double spaced. She very carefully typed 2 spaces between each word.—@MacksMind

Glad they’re making Great Gatsby in 3-D. My favorite part of the book was when Gatsby threw knives at the reader’s face.—@BorowitzReport

I guess “A Christmas Carol” will forever be known as the episode where the shark jumped Doctor Who.—@lmcalpin

Google Wave Lesson: If a product is named as a Firefly reference, expect it to go the way of any Joss Whedon show.—@jeffcatania

If my quick glance at my twitter stream is correct, Brett Favre & Wikileaks are building a mosque in NYC.—@bmk

someone should submit The Economy to kickstarter.com—@jingman

Do all these muscles make me look fat?—@OldSpice

I’m glad I never have worry about forgetting whether or not Jesus saves. Thanks, bumper stickers and billboards.—@cmbeck_

The Emergency Alert System on the cable is preventing me from watching the local stations which will show me where the storm actually is.—@bubbas_brain

Discussing with my lawyer a new idea: adding “Agree to Disagree” option to my EULA dialog box, and let the user use the soft anyways.—@migueldeicaza

The cure for boredom is curiosity. The cure for curiosity is worksheets.—@alfiekohn

DON’T MAKE ME CRITIQUE YOUR COMPLICITY IN MALE PRIVILEGE. YOU WOULDN’T LIKE ME WHEN I’M CRITIQUING YOUR COMPLICITY IN MALE PRIVILEGE.—@feministhulk

If plastic bags live for thousands of years in a landfill, they’re like little time capsules. Why don’t we encode cool info on them?—@jingman

I saw a guy playing Solitaire on the iPhone. That is wrong in so many ways.—@SoundSystemSDC

Hotel internet is to internet as rice cakes are to oreos.—@clifflampe

Calling Butler “America’s Team” at this point is like commenting on a blog post with “First?!!!”—@tacojohn

My biggest fear of traveling back in time is that I’ll waste it explaining what it is that I do for a living.—@cmbeck_

incessant drumming. Me: Stop or I’ll have you committed. @cmakice: what’s that mean? Me: locked up in a room. @cmakice: Oh. With drums?—@amakice

One of the most painful things about being an academic is that no mater what you research, there’s always someone telling you how dumb it is—@whazlewo

wouldn’t it be great if we all pitched in to help people even when there wasn’t a disaster?—@aschweig

#Twible Ex 20: G’s Top 10. No gods, idols, blasphemy. Keep Sabbath holy & love Mom. Don’t kill, cheat, steal, lie, or look @ Xmas catalogs.—@janariess

Jim Zorn suspended practice, called investigators. Forensic experts determined white substance unknown to players was goal line.—@chucktodd

the Nobel Prize for Obama is really a Most Improved Player award for the USA.—@muchosalsa

Johnathan Frakes is directing. Yesterday, he called me Number One. My heart made a noise that sounded like awesome.—@NathanFillion

Why is the “default” image on most sites a male silhouette? I find it offensive when women are represented as a shadow of a man.—@zephoria

how many hipsters does it take to screw in a lightbulb? eh, it’s this really obscure number. you’ve probably never heard of it.—@treyp

When I take my pants off in public I’m being lewd. When I willingly do it in airport security i’m a patriot.—@cmbeck_

I always wondered how I could make “obituary” rhyme with “millionaire” and now I know. Thanks country radio!—@ryanvarick

My 6 year old son got a new watch. It’s 3:10 everybody.—@theaudioprof

@trotzke and I are now Bonsai buddies. Something he doesn’t know: I’m going to grow the hugest bonsai ever!!!—@BigDaveSmith

if nice guys finish last, then who would win a nice guy contest?—@StephenAtHome

wisdom of a 4 yr old: “the most important thing when deciding where to eat is if it has a gumball machine”—@mtwolf

Looking up the synonyms for unique.—@trotzke

@oprah ur caps r on, btw—@THE_REAL_SHAQ

Hey Twitter, you’ve been Punk’d. @aplusk is really a 14 year old kid who lives in Encino.—@SoundSystemSDC

@amakice I suggest the online moniker of Ma~—@benfulton

Hoosier Music Mt. Rushmore: Axl, Michael Jackson, Mellencamp, Wes Montgomery. Suck it, Hoagie Carmichael.—@SnailTrax

OH: Me: what are you doing? Archie: taking the onions out so I dont taste them. Me: they’re onion rings.—@amakice

OH: Nanna: “Is that his name? French Fry?” Archie: “Yes.” Nanna: “For Certain?” Archie: “No. French Fry.”—@amakice

Time to reset the Illinois governor sign once again to “This office has been criminal-free for 0 days”.—@dickc

I’m standing in the foot prints of giants.—@whazlewo

Charlton Heston is dead? Who is goign to take the gun out of his cold dead hands?—@zebtron

If you’re reading this now, I can only assume it’s because your family is boring the crap out of you.—@StephenAtHome

It looks like they’ll soon get an opportunity to a larger work. Bloomington is expecting 5-9 more inches of snow tomorrow.

We were in a house and we heard a PFF and we walked into the bedroom. In the bedroom we saw a Percy Jackson book, ripped. Out of nowhere Annabeth came out of the Percy Jackson book and walked out of the bedroom and went by the ocean and then something pulled her in.

Right when I got to the ocean a pathway magically appeared. I walked down it and when I got to the end at the water I noticed that it went underwater. I had scuba diver gear on. I went under.

When I got under the pathway ended and I saw a cave. I walked into the cave- everything wasn’t wet and I saw a red devil squid about as tall as Nanna. When I saw the red devil squid I tried to shake hands and then it tried to grab me and tried to pull me but I kicked it in the stomach.

Then I saw Annabeth in the cave.

The lyrics are:
Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, I wonder somehow
If you don’t matter, it won’t matter now,
and if you ever wasn’t here,
we’d be a sad, sad, sad, sad
one.

6:00p – We convinced Carter to stop playing Wii to join us with our election watching. Archie, though, is watching Scooby Doo on the other iMac.

6:35p – BBC World News coverage rocks. Great for kids, too, since they explain everything. Lots of Brits and foreigners to educate.

6:43p – “90% say candidate’s race not an issue” text is juxtaposed with discussion of the Bradley Effect. Boys are whining over spilled milk, hoping the liquid will disappear on its own without interrupting Scooby.

6:58p – Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, and Vermont kick off the electoral college watch. It will be 6a in the UK by the time Sarah Palin’s Alaska closes their polls.

7:01p – projections: Kentucky (8) to McCain … Vermont (3) to Obama.

7:07p – The Brit announcers all have red poppy flower things in their lapels. Also, Liverpool won their football game on a penalty kick.

7:15p – Indiana plays the most prominent and pivotal role in the success of Barack Obama, according to Newsweek.

Newsweek Scorecard

7:24p – Watching the huge crowds in Grant Park and thinking about 13 year old girls in Somalia. Wondering how much effect changes in the US could have around the world.

7:28p – WFIU is giving Indiana back to Mitch Daniels. Bummer. Hoping for an Obama bump that would put Thompson in charge and get rid of Daylight Savings Time.

7:30p – North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia polls are closed.

7:34p – BBC reports FOX is calling West Virginia for McCain. BBC won’t call anything until they get their own information.

7:40p – Teeth in Archie’s mouth are brushed. Time to read, perchance to dream. America, don’t do anything foolish while I’m gone.

8:14p – Carter greeted me with news that his NaNoWriMo story is going to incorporate a Presidential race. Also, Monroe County voted for Mitch Daniels, but Elizabeth Dole lost her race (to the “heathen”).

8:18p – Obama is up 103-34 in the electoral vote count, thanks to a projected win in Pennsylvania. Only 32% of Indiana reporting thus far. … John Sununu lost his Senate seat, bringing the Dems up 5 seats. w00t!

8:25p – Best tweet of the night so far belongs to Jake Panovich: “Right now CNN reports Obama has about 1.337 million votes. How eleetist.”

8:31p – I’m loving our family politicking, but I’m jealous of my Informatics colleagues camped out at the IMU with Luke Russert of NBC. Obama up 103-49.

Luke Russert Reporting for NBC from IU

8:40p – Now added group chat on Meebo with Richie and other locals. Very multi-modal. We’ve got Twitter + chat + BBC + two computers + liveblog + NaNoWriMo. Still 90 minutes to Comedy Central. … Fail Whales starting, alas.

8:45 – Lake Shore Drive from 33st avenue to Grand is blocked off in Chicago. Sis-in-law Meg can’t get any closer, but she took a picture of George Bush frowning on the Crown Fountain.

8:55p – Locally, Geoff McKim and the other Democrats move into the lead for Monroe County Council with 5% of precincts reporting. BBC folks see 52% of Indiana in with 51-48 McCain lead.

9:01p – TechPresident is hosting the VoteReport liveblogging of the election. Obama up 171-52 now.

9:09p – Carter is at 4168 words in NaNoWriMo. He then exclaims: “This is so exciting. I never realized boring old votes could be so exciting.” … BBC says FOX is calling everything early, “Trying to get it out of the way, it seems.” Pip pip.

9:16p – BBC has two people sitting at laptops surfing the web for information. One mentioned Twitter, and then said an insider in the McCain camp in Florida says they lost the state (and probably the election).

9:24p – Indecision 2008 servers are swamped. Just trying to confirm when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are going to entertain. There is a chance Obama will clinch the nomination before it starts. I hope they are watching John Bolton put the “ass” in Ambassador.

9:35p – Obama leads 195-90. Katrina chased most of the Obama supporters out of Louisiana, giving it to McCain. The H-T has had their local election site down for most of the hour with the message: “Please stand by while we adjust for changes in accounting procedures at the clerk’s office … ”

9:42p – Carter, bounding around when Obama reached 200, has now been contained under a blanket on the couch. Just in time for Texas to give all their votes to McCain.

9:58p – Stunned by how far CNN’s breaking news email is behind Twitter. About to say goodbye to BBC World News and hello to Comedy Central.

10:07p – Epic intros by the Indecision ’08 folks. Stewart has blue cards. Colbert has red. And another favorite tweet by Noah: “Wolf Blitzer just told us that the red states are for McCain and the blue states are for Obama… ”

10:14p – The H-T came back up. Geoff McKim is in fourth, about 400 votes behind. Jason Jones is “live” in Chicago, in front of a Disney set of bluebirds and deer: “This is what Chicago looks like when Obama is in town”

10:18p – A special Twitter account, wfiuelection08, is reporting: “presidential race is tightening in Indiana, now 50% to 49% for McCain, 86% of precincts reporting”

10:26p – Flat-tax advocate and editor Steve Forbes is on Indecision 08. The last time I saw him, Daily Show was making fun of him for not blinking during an entire interview as a Presidential candidate in 2000, suggesting he was an alien. Also, Stewart on McCain: “Isn’t it odd that a guy with 14 houses is done in by a credit crisis.”

10:34p – Stephen Colbert is live blogging about Twittering tweets. … Monroe County is stuck on 73% precincts reporting, and Indiana is at 88%. Obama trails McCain by fewer than 4,000 votes, or the equivalent of an IU football game home crowd.

10:45p – Archie is up again, asking for water and ready to fall asleep again on the couch. Carter is demanding that Comedy Central be “live” … a problem when we are trying to filter out the late-night ads.

10:51p – Charles Ogeltree, a friend from Harvard, jokes that he thought the Obamas were going to be Republicans. Colbert is now looking at tonight as a big win. The answer to http://isobamapresident.com/ is: “Almost”

Is Obama President? … Almost

10:54p – Indiana just went Obama, with 93% of precincts reporting. About 6500 vote lead. Obama also just won Virginia, Democratic for the first time since “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho.”

11:01p – Jon Stewart called it for Obama, conveniently before signing off. CNN just called it, with 297 electoral votes for Obama, 145 for McCain.

Is Obama President? … Yes!

11:08p – Back to BBC. Ready for news about Indiana. 94% reporting. Archie is racked out on the couch, but Carter is happy like the rest of us.

11:17p – Just got Colorado to move to 306. Waiting for McCain’s concession so we can hear Obama’s victory speech. BBC is interviewing Tracy Chapman. Um, OK.

11:18p – McCain is conceding. His crowd is booing Obama. He offers sympathy for the death of his grandmother. “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but in offering goodwill to come together.”

TwitScoop at the start of John McCain’s concession speech

11:30p – The boys didn’t make it through McCain’s speech. Glad Carter got to be around for the moment Obama got his electoral votes. The only suspense left: Will Indiana officially become blue, and what will the president-elect say?

11:45p – As anticipated, there was a huge surge of Twitter traffic the moment the word came that Obama got his 270 votes. I’m still getting the catch-up tweets. Looks like Obama may be speaking in about 15 minutes.

11:50p – This is the first time I have voted for the guy who won. Dukakis … Perot … No one … Nader … Barbara Lee … now, Obama. Lots of primary disappointments between 1988 and 2008. BTW, Gore Vidal is giving the BBC guy a difficult time (“I don’t know who you are” and “If you let me talk …” and “I’m surprised you asked the question, because I know so much about the topic.”). In true Brit form, the newscaster closes with, “Well, that was fun.”

11:58p – Up 23 seats in the House, some. Indiana is at 97% with a 6K lead for Obama, who is about to speak.

12:00p – “Tonight is your answer”

12:15p – “We are not red states or blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America.” … “Change has come to America.” … “We, as a people, will get there.” … “This victory tonight is not the change we seek. It is the chance to make that change.” … 106 years of America, as seen by Anne Nixon Cooper. …22 seats gained in the House. 6 seats gained in the Senate. And one new puppy in the White House.

TwitScoop in the midst of the Obama victory speech

Stuck at 97%

Still no word on Indiana. Still, not a bad day for a skinny kid with a funny name.

Carter and Archie: WA WAAA WAA He blah blah blah and He did this and that

Me: (reciting to self: I am calm, I am competent, I can help my kids solve this problem) Let’s get all our concerns on the table. Carter? What are you concerns?

Carter: He wants to use all the pillows for the pillow wall, and we need them for the pillow barrier. I told him, “be reasonable,” but he won’t.

Me: Okay. So Carter’s concern is that there won’t be enough firm pillows for the barrier. Archie? What are your concerns? (rinse and repeat several times, as Archie won’t stop crying, and Carter won’t stop talking)

Archie: I want to make a pillow wall. I need pillows.

Me: Archie is saying he wants to make the pillow wall now- what solutions can we generate here? Carter is concerned about the barrier and Archie wants to make the wall. (Thinking to self, any minute now boys will be working together to create solutions, bonding their friendship for life).

silence.

Archie: We could make the wall first.

Me: Archie has an idea. He suggests we should build the wall first. Carter? What do you think? Do you have any solutions?

silence

Me: Carter?

Carter: What? I’ve been plugging my ears if it’s not my turn to talk.

Eventually, I tire of the pillow debate and send them outside. After my own therapeutic flower-picking activity, I wander into the backyard.

Carter: Mom!! Watch this! (executes crazy-ass swing off of playset, slightly onto inflatable jumper, then onto ground)

Me: Wow. That doesn’t scare me at all.

Carter: Why should it scare you? I’ve only hit my head on the playset once doing this.

Yep, I’ve got some concerns today.

The long-awaited application process for induction into the Evil League of Evil surfaced last week. The Makices responded with a Sunday afternoon video project at the Informatics Design House.

Selected Applications to the Evil League of Evil

Evil never rests, and neither will I after sporking my writing schedule right before a televised Bears game. But then, the hammer is my penis.

Aunt Meg climbs at Chicago Children's Museum

We spent our days exploring the Field Museum, Chicago Children’s Museum and the park near Aunt Meg’s place. Using our Wonderlab member card, we managed to do it all for the cost of gas up there and bus rides.

Archie talks on a yellow phone

Carter talks on a green phone

Notice neither boy is listening. I was unable to find a picture of either one not talking. In fact, I am unable to find a memory of them not talking except when unconscious. Even then, silence is not a sure thing.

It was a fun week, but we were glad to come home to Kevin. As Archie put it, “I missed Daddy so much I almost cried without being hurt.”

Carter and Archie smile in front of Lake Michigan.

Carter’s overheard tweets cover the gamut of educational to just plain crazy. Here are a few of my favorites.

Scientific:

“But Archie, a mosquito is so small it’d be dead before it finished sucking all your blood. There’s really no reason to be afraid of it.”

Negotiating:

“Even though we’ve seceded, since we live so close could you help us out and hand us a couple of spoons?”

(In response to me telling him it’s time to come inside) “It can’t be! I haven’t seized the day yet!”

“Mom? Do we have any rat poison? We need it to add an element of death.”

“You could grant me $50 or alternatively you could be the subject of a comic strip called ‘mindless mama.”

Speculative:

“It’s not likely I’ll be a competitive world class swimmer or diver. Much more likely I’ll be a noted musician.”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if someone’s last words were ‘you have mustard on your chin?’”

Unusual declarations:

“I’m playing a blues oboe solo in honor of Dad. At least it’s a slightly sad oboe solo. I don’t really know how to play the blues yet.”

“Mom, don’t bake this, it’s got gunpowder in it.”

“I want to make a movie called ‘movies’ about a movie company that makes nc-17 movies targeted for 6 yr olds.”

Archie is younger, and his reflect a different developmental stage, although there are certainly similarities.

There are the painfully sweet:

“Mama, I’m still your sweet little man- only now I look bald.” (After a haircut)

“You’re so dumb mom,” (shocked silence) “I mean, funny dumb, Mom- the good kind.”

The unexpected:

(Speaking as his Bionicle) “You shall feel my BATH!!”

“Can I play with Yeltsin? He’s funny and his head comes off.”

“Mom? if we get a parrot, can we make a pirate ship?”

The “I’m developing people skills” category:

(In response to Carter calling me the MEANEST PERSON IN THE WORLD) “Actually, Dad is a little meaner.” (note: later that day he told Dad he was just saying that to make me feel better.)

“I feel like he punched me in the face. He punched me in the back, but it felt like being punched in the face.”

“He used to be my brother, but now he’s dead, and I don’t like dead people, so he’s not my brother now.”

Carter: Did he really live on a peanut farm?

Archie: Or played in a park?

Carter: What is the favorite pet he ever had?

Me: How about you ask something that we couldn’t answer by searching the web.

Carter: Okay- what’s his favorite color?

Archie: Does he have a question for me?

Carter: Does he play Packrat?

Archie: Has he ever met George Washington?

Carter: Is he excited about Spore?

Archie: Does he even play Spore?

Carter: No one plays Spore. It isn’t out yet.

Archie: I meant, does he make creatures on Spore?

Carter: That’s called Spore Creature Creator.

Archie: Does he do that?

Carter: Does he think Obama should be president?

Archie: Has he ever had toys?

Carter: Every kid has toys.

Archie: I mean as an adult. Has he had adult toys?

Me: brief moment during which I am transformed into something from Beavis and Butthead

Archie: Has he ever tried to eat Panda Puffs?

Carter: If he doesn’t think Obama should be president, who does he think should be?

Archie: Has he ever made an oven?

Mmmmm. Not sure if Talk of the Nation is ready for our questions.

Earlier this week they were playing with friends Robby and Teddy and creating their club.

Carter: (waving a big stick) This is my staff of leadership.

Robby: So, does that mean you’re the president?

Carter: Well, we could vote. . . .

This conversation resulted in several unusual voting moves, documented in our special investigative report- How many votes is fair?

Later this week, Archie and Carter got back to work sorting out leadership for their newly formed club, G.R.O.W.P.- Get Rid Of Weird People. Carter later admitted that he liked the sound of “Get Rid Of Weirdos” better, but had already drawn the shirts:

G.R.O.W.P. official t-shirt

Archie: I’m the president.

Carter: Yes, you’re the president.

Archie: So I tell you what to do.

Carter: Well, I am the supreme leader of all eternity.

Archie: So does that mean I tell you what to do, or you tell me what to do?

Carter: Let’s just not worry about hierarchies and stuff like that.

Archie: Okay. (heading out to play)

Carter: But I am still the supreme leader of all eternity.

After all, he does possess the staff of leadership.

Archie dreams of existentialism

Archie: Are we going to have another baby?
Kevin: Well not at the moment. Maybe someday.
Archie: (after thinking for a while) Will it come from Aunt Meg?
Kevin: What?

Archie: How do babies get here?
Kevin: What do you mean?
Archie: Well, the first baby. (pause) Where did I come from?
Kevin: You came out of Mom.
Archie: Where did she come from?
Kevin: She came out of Nanna. Nanna came out of her mom, and she came out of her mom, and so on.
Archie: Where did you come from?
Kevin: I came out of Grammy. She came out of her mom.
Archie: But where did the first baby come from?
Kevin: That’s an interesting question. Some think God made the first baby, others might believe that we changed from other animals.
Archie: What do you believe?
Kevin: I believe that we’re part of a large continuum of life. That’s what I believe.
Archie: (after a pause) If I could ask God a question, I’d ask where he came from.

Well?

Archie at Picnic with the Pops (photo by Monty Howell | Herald-Times)

Archie was captured playing the violin at one of the kids exhibits at Picnic with the Pops at Ivy Tech Community College. After Amy played with the Community Band, we skipped the fireworks in favor of a drive-in double feature at the Starlite.

Some of these conversations happen while we’re actually reading the book:

Carter: (upon hearing an exerpt from the book describing Hades as wealthy) Why would they make the god of the underworld rich?

Me: Ummm I don’t know- maybe it’s related to the whole “money is the root of all evil” thing.

Carter: (Surprised) Money is the root of all evil? Wow. (Thoughtful) We must be really lucky then.

Later, there was a section of the book explaining why a Christian preacher would wind up in the Greek underworld. “Humans see what they want to see,” the character answers.

Carter: Hmmm. Mom? So if you believe in Heaven then, do you go there?

Me: Gee, Carter, there’s lots of ways to look at that- different people believe different things. . . (trying to find a way to explain what I believe without discounting others, or inadvertently closing Carter’s young mind)

Carter: I believe in Mars. Do you think I’ll go there then?

Then today I overheard Archie searching for a lost toy.

Archie: It’s so lost, it can’t be found. It’s so lost, even Zeus can’t find it. It’s so lost, (long pause) even Santa couldn’t find it ever.

Assimilation at its best. Piaget would love watching my boys make meaning.

Well, We’re in Power Ranger suits. We have them hooked on to grappnals right on my tummy. Our mom was chasing I jumped on her back. Carter got knocked out. When Carter wakes up, I jump on Mom’s back again. After that, we just realized the guns were killing the cities. And then, a ball of purple floats over. It sucks us in and goes right into the city and shoots us out into the city. We save the city. The End.

Here’s Carter’s:

We’re doing karate practic when Evil Jovian Leader (Mom) gets up onto out Ninja fighting platform and chases us around, going AHHHHHH then she pretends to get knocked out and I pretend to trip and fall down. Mom wakes up and grabs me. Archie jumps up and grabs Mom’s back and coers her eyes. Then the Evil Jovian Leader crawls away and we realize that the radio waves we’re using to destroy the Evil Jovian Battle Androids is causing black outs all over Earth where it’s Father’s Day. We save Father’s Day.

The area where they were in the most agreement was the dedication. I had to cut it a bit short, as they couldn’t stop listing the many things that could happen while they would still love Dad. Aliens, long toes, being dumb, being dead, being born- throughout all of those circumstances, they love Dad. Me too.

Without further ado, here’s the flick:

In honor of his last day, I’m including a few of our favorite pictures of this year at “school.”

He’s chased bubbles.

He’s climbed through windows. (Without a grown-up saying, “Be careful you don’t fall down!”)

He’s followed friends through windows.

I love this school (and the school Carter attended) because they honor who children are. They treasure their ability to find new ways to use old things, the imagination that turns an ice cube into a submarine and the learning that happens when you put kids next to empty boxes. Most importantly, I love these schools because they nourish the joy that comprises the soul of childhood.

A willing client

Unlike his brother—who may be trying to grow hair like Rapunzel—Archie was a willing client. His last haircut was short, like his friend Max. This time, his ideal coif was inspired by Luke Skywalker. (Technically, Luke was second choice behind Yoda, but fortunately I couldn’t describe what that meant.)

The mirrors were a source of entertainment while the hair got shorter in the back of his head. By the time the stylist reached the front, Archie was serious. As the haircut proceeded, Archie became more and more intense, possibly channeling the young Jedi. The stylist had to cut his hair twice since the first pass wasn’t Luke enough for Archie.

I was concerned what the reaction would be when he reached home. However, both Carter and Amy greeted him with, “It looks like Luke Skywalker.” Mission accomplished.

Put on a happy face

Part sheepdog

Getting into character

There are several of Kevin’s pajamas:

He snapped lots of photos of Carter, although many of them are closeups of his teeth. Here’s the only one that isn’t full of teeth and doesn’t include menacing gestures:

Seven self-portraits so far- mostly of Archie’s feet and the back of my head:

Archie has invaded my face with the camera, resulting in lots of fodder for future hilarious family albums, and giving me an idea of how I appear to my kids. I included them the first time I wrote this post, but thought better of it. Suffice it to say, you can tell I miss Kevin.

Thanks to Aunt Meg we have a scapegoat for everything. Mess on the couch? Aunt Meg did it! Cat vomit? Aunt Meg did it! A few days ago we read Book of Bad Manners by one of our favorite authors, Stoo Hampleand the kids ended each page with a resounding “Aunt Meg did it!”

Archie doesn’t completely grasp the passing of the buck- his chanting is generally followed by, “See? I burped and said ‘Aunt Meg did it’!”

Then the other day we were watching the History Channel. Carter and I were learning about Egypt and paranoid government officials, when it cut to an oilfield covered with flames. The narrator tsked while talking about so much oil that it could spurt gas out of the ground to burn.

The boys two voices raised as one:

Aunt Meg did it!

This is the cookie we sent her for her birthday- Apparently, “Aunt Meg did it” was too much for the cookie person to grasp and so it reads “Aunt Meg dit it” whatever that means.

Archie: Mama- knock knock, knock knock!

Me: who’s there?

Archie: Love!

Me: Love who?

Archie: Love you Mama!

Archie: knock knock.

Me: Who’s there?

Archie: Nipple.

Me: Nipple?

Archie: Nipple.

Me: (Making a mental note to follow up on the speech therapist) Nipple?

Archie: Nipple.

Me: (giving up) Nipple who?

Archie: Nipple you don’t have a car do you? (room is full of baffled silence) do you get it?

Me and Carter in unison: No.

Archie: (puzzled) What, are they supposed to rhyme or something?

Carter and Archie have recently started a similar game– they call it “I’m baby and you’re big brother and Mommy’s the babysitter.” We were setting up the boys’ room for it the other day and Archie had a request.

Archie: (climbing into a laundry basket) Let’s pretend this is my cage!

Me: Your cage? What kind of people are we that we keep our baby in a cage?

Archie: All babies have cages, Mommy. I need a cage.

Me: A baby cage?

Archie: The cages babies have that are up off the ground. They can sleep there.

Me and Carter: (getting it at the same time) A crib?

Archie: (not letting go of his terms) Yes. A crib cage. I want one of those.

They spent the next hour or so with Archie in a laundry basket, covered in baby blankets, Carter with a leash attached to the basket and then around his waist, pulling him through the house like my own little Clydesdale.

Archie: I made a pyramid!

Carter: (still building) Actually, Archie, it’s a triangular prism.

Me: (Inhaling to urge Carter to respect Archie’s joy of learning by not constantly correcting him, pausing because I can’t figure out how to convey my message without constantly correcting Carter)

Archie: (just as gleeful as his first exclamation) I made a triangular prism!

It takes more than a bossy big brother to quell his excitement.

The first shoebox center consisted of Hamster Champs, from the MathStart series, several different triangular wooden blocks, matchbox cars and a protractor. On the floor, I left the big container of other wooden blocks to use as supports.

As soon as Carter read the book, they started making ramps and testing them with the cars. Carter used the protractor to measure the angles on his ramps.

The other shoebox center was a science “magic” trick. There’s a video of it on Saturday’s science links.

In the box was a towel, a white bowl, pepper and a small container with dish soap in it. I asked for two volunteers- one to shake pepper on the water and one to stick a finger in it. While they were distracted sprinkling pepper, I dipped my finger in the dish soap. Archie had volunteered his finger, so he stuck it in the middle of the pepper resulting in no change. I waved my “magic” finger in the air and then plunged it into the water. The pepper scattered.

Both boys tried it, and somehow graduated to mixing in green cupcake sprinkles, baking soda, vinegar and oil, which they measured, then boiled, then measured again. Pepper and vinegar boiling make for a smelly house.

Notes: The pepper/soap trick has to do with soap breaking the surface tension of the water, causing the water to move. Pepper and vinegar boiling and smelling up the house is not a requirement of this shoebox.

Archie: Mom! Mom! You should be watching this!

Me: Why?

Archie: It’s about having a good day because you finally got some sleep. You can finally have a good day!

This optimistic declaration was from the most frequent interrupter of my sleep.

Good night.