Four short stories

1. Snail and fish breeding
While walking home from school one day, I told the kids that I had a surprise. They asked if it was a new baby! I told them that actually it was LOTS of new babies and some eggs. Of course they sprinted home to see what was going on. "Ducks! I bet it's ducks. Ducks come from eggs," I heard Zach say. Instead, they found dozens of baby snails and some penmark-thin baby fish swimming about. Our fish and snails had laid eggs, and some were hatching! Zach established a nursery to protect the youngsters from their hungry parents. Here are the proud owners of our little school:

2. All things done in order

The boys and I had a wonderful time collecting and sorting food for some food pantry Thanksgiving baskets this year. These happy workers sorted four three-tiered carts full of holiday food one afternoon! Some kids were darting around, quickly memorizing where the different types of food were kept. Others specialized in macaroni or stuffing and built up a pile. 

The one who got me laughing was Jacob, who painstakingly reorganized the entire Jell-o reserve into columns according to type, flavor, and brand name. It must have taken him half an hour. Bless that meticulous, darling boy. 

3. Rocking out with Samuel Hutchinson

One night Eric and Max went to bed early. Max had missed his nap because of church, and Eric had missed most of the last night's sleep because of an emergency surgery. So I told the boys that we were going to go singing at the Overture Center as if we were famous. They caught the enthusiasm and loaded up. The annual Christmas hymn sing is a free event where the audience sings along with the "colossal Klaus," performed by the classy and exuberant organist Samuel Hutchinson.  

Darling Michael sang every word for over an hour--Jacob and Zachary were riveted as well and even attempted the unfamiliar selections. Adam fell asleep in my arms for most of it. When we finished, we all felt pretty famous:

4. Zach's watch-rental business
Several months ago Zachary invested his saved chore money into a calculator watch. The watch quickly became the envy of the second grade, with friends asking to borrow it for a few minutes, a lunch period, or a day. When Zach began turning down requests, the kids started making offers. A quarter for a day? Two quarters? But apparently none of the kids had any actual money, so they traded in the next best currency: Matchbox cars. Zach now regularly rents his watch out at a rate of one Matchbox car per day. Once he got a crazy cool rainbow loom bracelet for a week of wearing privileges, but other than that, it's all cars. Here are some of them. I'm pretty sure he's earned back the $12 he spent on the watch already. He's an entrepreneur if I've ever seen one!