Principia Gastropoda

Cole had his own entry in our story writing exercise. He opted for the more traditional paper-based writing material but kept with the mollusc-based theme.

Here is the transcription:

Once there was a slug. His name was "Slimee" and he was going to school but he found some sand and he started to play with it but he was late for school. The end.

Pulitzer Aspirations

Grant has produced another literary tour de force and he's experimenting with different, more durable, writing media. He brings a whole new meaning to "board book".

Here's a transcription:

Once there was a slug named "Dooglee". He was going home but he was getting poked.
And that was because he ate a porcupine but he did not know it was a porcupine so he spit out the porcupine. The end.

Grant - Journal Entry

This entry is undated but is estimated to have been written in late spring of this year.

Translation of the left hand page:
Grant I
mumble.

Transcription of the right hand page:
I froo a plant in u
bd gis undrpants.
It groo tu bee a big
sunflawr and
it wus sticeeing
awt uv his undrp
ants.

Translation of the right hand page:
I threw a plant in a
bad guy's underpants.
It grew to be a big
sunflower and
it was sticking
out of his underpants.

It is unclear who the uni-browed, sandal wearing man on the left is.  The lack of a sunflower sticking out of his underpants would seem to preclude his being the bad from the story on the right.  However, it is possible that this portrait was from happier days before his bad guy ways took over and resulted in the agricultural assault described.

The Luveing Book

I think this is Cole's kindergarten masterwork. He brought this to me tonight and asked if this was how to spell "loving". I lovingly explained the slightly more correct spelling and then read the rest of his book, filled with more loving phonetic misspellings.

The cover is simple enough: the author's name, the book's title, and a sticker with a picture of a pill bug. Nothing says luveing like a pill bug.

Inside the front cover is the first real hint of brilliance. The protagonist declares that, "I Go with My Mom to my friends hoAoos."

Turning the page we see a series of wavy lines. We can't know what they might mean until we look at the facing page.

"I an t i ritinge crsiv." Now it all becomes clear. He is writing cursive and the wavy lines obviously represent lines of cursive text.

On the next page and its facing page we see a chiastic couplet, entirely free of creative spelling. "I love Mom."

"My Mom loves me." Even the pictures are mirrored.

Another page, and our hero is blasting off, "I am fiinGonArockeT", the words compressed as his body experiences the G-forces typical of space travel.

This rectangular motif on the facing page may represent something to do with flying on a rocket but the symbolism escapes me at the moment.

Turing the page we see the astronaut back on earth and going from outer space to the inner space of a body of water. "I Am swimming." he declares, as if he dares anyone to contradict him.

The page facing the swimming has a very abstract feel, similar to the rectangle of the previous page but more random in its execution, and the single word title "celr." declares that this image is the author's homage to color.

We turn another page and the colors from the rectangle and "celr" have organized themselves into a pointed arc overlaid with a bold declaration containing my favorite creative speeling of the book, "I like ranboose". Despite the non-standard color spectrum (not to mention spelling) it's easy to see that he does, in fact, like rainbows.

Facing that page, the rain gives way to sun and he is back in the water. "I amm swimming." The crooked purple smile reveals that he enjoys swimming very much.

As he returned to his beloved swimming hole, he also returns to writing in cursive with the soothing green waves of stylized writing and his final declaration, "I am ritinge crsiv."

I hope you have enjoyed Cole's book as much as I did. Look for the sequel to be released soon.

Cole's Credo

Here's a boy who's got it all figured out.

Of course, that last line may need some updating...

Polar Pen Pals

The boys left notes for Santa next to a plate with some crackers, M&Ms and a cup of eggnog. I particularly like the use of the Star of David in the accompanying pictures.

Cole's note:

Grant's note (see the interpretation below):

"From Grant to Santa. Thank you for the presents. Thank you."
For those of you who haven't spent time reading notes from a 5 year old, thank you is spelled "faing cyooe". The figures with hats are all various representations of Santa.

Santa's Response:

That's right, a personal response for the big red guy himself! We're all thrilled.

The Right Stuff

Since NASA has decommissioned the space shuttles, we thought that they might be looking for replacement crews.

Crew Member: Bryn
Age: 2 years 11 months
Specialties: giggles, princess wrangling, soft and slightly damp kisses
Award: Miss Congeniality

Crew Member: Grant
Age: 5 years 7 months
Specialties: counting (up and down), launch control
Award: Highest Counting (900+)

Crew Member: Cole
Age: 5 years 7 months
Specialties: rocket retrieval, launch preparation
Award: Fastest Retrieval

Now a few pictures of our crew under launch day conditions:

Prepping rockets for launch.

Keeping everyone's spirits up.

We have liftoff!

Scanning the range for signs of re-entry.

The retrieval team in action.

The cheer squad in action.

We wish you a fond farewell as we blast off into the sunset.

Crew wardrobe provided by oakiwear brand outdoor clothing.

The Joys of Literacy

The boys have taken their first steps on the voyage of discovery that is READING. They love to practice writing their favorite words, which they can spell backwards and forwards.

We're hoping they move on to the non-palindromes soon.