I love Raleigh

I've been meaning to post this pic for two weeks now, and also I need to add a new post just so the latest thing on our blog is not Michael's political rantings. (By the way, from now on you will have to check to see who is posting since Michael has finally decided to participate in the family blog.)

One of Raleigh's nicknames is the "Smithsonian of the South" because they have so many museums here. They also seem to be keen on festivals considering that there has been a festival in Raleigh or one of the outlying towns practically every weekend since we've been here. That's okay, I love small-town-style festivals...

So two weeks ago was Bugfest at Raleigh's Museum of Natural Science, and it was freakin' awesome! Cole looooves bugs, so he had a great time looking at all the displays in the museum. And Michael, Eli, and Cole each got to eat ice cream with toasted ants on top. Yes, you read that right. Toasted ants.

Meanwhile, I attended a workshop on Backyard Beekeeping. Again, freakin' awesome. I am totally getting bees someday.

In other "I love Raleigh" news, I took my kids to the library right before the Bugfest, and the librarian said to Cole, "Your boots are so cute." I mentioned that we were heading over to the Bugfest, and she asked my boys, "Are you going to eat some bugs?" Then she told me my kids are cute and said she hoped we have a good day.

Why is this story significant, you may be wondering...Because I didn't get yelled at by the librarian! And not only didn't I get yelled at, she told me my kids are cute! In Silver Spring, I got scolded by various librarians at least once a month. Apparently, librarians in Maryland don't think my kids are cute (or well-behaved). That is one of the many reasons I am so happy to be back in the South.

Not to be too political...

One of the reasons I haven't posted to this this "family" blog yet is because during this time of the year I mainly just think about work and politics. I don't think any of you want to read about my thoughts on proper lexical scoping or hierarchical inheritance vs roles. And politics can be pretty divisive, so I'm trying to stay away from that as much as possible. But I saw this and thought it was just too juicy to pass up.

If you've been following the recent Wall St. troubles and the Bush administration's proposed $700,000,000,000 bailout then this quote might be as funny to you as it was to me:

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions.
Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems
in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to
correct itself.
-- Republican Party platform, 2008

Cole says...

"Momma, I'm boring..."

He meant to say, "I'm bored." He said this over and over yesterday. It kept cracking me up, and it was making him really mad that I was laughing.

I just read...Someone Knows My Name

After reading several so-so books in a row, it was refreshing to read a novel by an author that can actually write. This book had it all - beautiful prose, gripping storyline, strong and admirable heroine. For me, the historical information was the most interesting part, from the account of life in Bayo before Aminata was abducted into slavery, to the information about slavery on the islands off the coast of South Carolina, to the untold story of the Black Loyalists.

I only had two criticisms of this book:

1. Hill admittedly changed several historical details to make the story flow. I didn't mind this at all (it did make for a good story), but don't expect to be able to use this as a textbook.

2. I hated the resolution of the plotline involving Aminata's daughter. It seemed like a contrived happy ending, and while I wanted Aminata to have a happy ending, I wish it had been more believable to fit in with the rest of the book. If Hill wanted Aminata to have a daughter at the end, he shouldn't have written her out of the story halfway through. Or if he really wanted to have that kidnapping plotline, he should have found another way to give Aminata a happy ending.

Cole and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

This afternoon, I took Cole and Eli with me to the thrift store. While I was browsing the racks, I saw Cole pick something up off the floor - a small piece of plastic that probably came from one of those marble run toys. I continued shopping, assuming that he would put it back on a shelf, or at least drop it back on the floor. An hour later, we were at Burger King, enjoying a spontaneous ICEE treat when I hear a "clink" on the floor. "What was that?" I said. "Nothing," Cole said. I looked under the table and saw the piece of plastic from the thrift store. *sigh* Apparently, Cole had not only stolen it from the store, but had realized he had done something wrong so tried to get rid of the evidence at Burger King. I spent the next thirty minutes debating whether or not we really needed to take it back since it was a piece of junk that must have fallen out of a box of toys and wasn't something they were really trying to sell. In the end, I dragged Cole back to the store kicking and screaming, gave it back to the storekeeper (while holding Cole who was still kicking and screaming), and apologized (now furiously angry at Cole who was still kicking and screaming).

Warning, swear words ahead...

Fast forward another hour. As I'm sitting in the living room feeding Rylan, I hear Cole start shouting angrily at Eli, ending with "you silly ass!" This is a phrase the boys picked up from the musical version of Peter Pan. I have told them over and over that they can't say it, and finally the last time, Michael threatened to wash their mouth out with soap if they said it again. I had another internal debate - should I pretend I hadn't heard him? - before calling, "Um, Michael..." Michael carried out the punishment, and then we got to hear 30 minutes of Cole wailing, "I didn't mean to say ass. I didn't mean to say ass. I didn't mean to say ass."

The highlight of the day...

We went to the lake for Family Home Evening and rented a paddle boat. Cole was sitting behind me and announced, "I'm glad I'm behind Momma instead of Daddy because I love Momma more."

I said, "Cole, I'd rather you loved us both the same."

Cole replied, "Well, that's too bad because I love you more."