to keep (shoo-wop) your pre- (shoo-wop) cious loooooove

The kids and I went to the Krazy Daze (I do not approve of this novelty spelling) sale at R&R, and like every trip with all of the kids it took years off my life. But everybody got some glorious piece of crap that they were excited about. It's the American way! Ike bought a cheap little flashlight with his own money, and he was tickled pink. He was so cute and excited about getting change back that I just wanted to pinch him. I like when he's happy, because a lot of the time he isn't. I don't know what happened--he was such a smiley, laughy baby. Maybe he has cirrhosis.

I bought Grant a Leatherman for his birthday a month early at the sale. He was pretty jazzed, as well he should be, because it was the most money we're going to spend on him until the next time he needs sixty bucks. He wants to take it for Show & Tell, but I think we all know how well that would go over in our new wussified Zero Tolerance world. I ask you, what is a grade-school education without witnessing at least one knife fight? What is this world coming to?

Emmett planned and helped cook the meals today to pass off some requirement for Scouts. He did a good job, too. He is very useful in the kitchen, and I was even able to offload some of the mushroom slicing, since he was champing at the bit to use his new Old Timer knife (also Krazy Daze).

Willa is sort of terrible all day long, with occasional spurts of being not awful, but story time is the golden hour. She is happy and engaged in the story and basically makes up for every rotten thing she's done that day by being thoroughly charming. Tonight it was that Richard Scarry word book, and I think everyone should have a chance to listen to her say "bear." It's turrible cute.