Calvin's world

Hi, we're still alive out here. Both Doug and I had a very busy run of work, but we've had some time to de-stress this past week.

Today we're going to talk about Calvin, who has been a busy kid lately. Now that the rain has begun to dry up and sunny skies have returned, he's spending a lot of time in the front yard. I've posted a few of these photos on Facebook, but for those of you who get the latest Calvin news here...

His most ambitious venture was planning a dance party last weekend. He posted the invitation on a stop sign out front:

Translated, the sign reads: "It is me speaking. I am a little boy. I am 6 and almost 6. If you want to come over into our house for a dance party you can."

He donned a superhero cape so he would look like a prince and queued up Beauty and the Beast to await hoped-for guests. He thought of everything: "Mama, I need a tray so I can serve snacks!"

Then Calvin realized he needed to advertise. So he and Finn sat outside ringing a bell and shouting at passerby: "HEY! YOU WANT TO COME TO OUR DANCE PARTY?"

"Fourteen people ignored us," Calvin reported.



A few days later, he appropriated the last of the homemade lavender lemonade and a stack of Dixie cups and set up a lemonade stand out front. On the side, he offered to enhance Shamrock shakes by adding butter, lavender, and cinnamon sticks. (He did pretty well with the lemonade, however.)

A few days later, he began hauling his blue plastic table out front yet again, this time with a pile of stuff he wanted to sell: a toy helicopter, sneakers he finds uncomfortable, a ViewMaster. The sun was going down, so he had to postpone his mini-yard sale.

Today I saw the front door propped open and found Calvin seated behind the blue table on the corner with a handful of granola bars and a few Starburst candies he found in the pantry. He had just sold a bar to a neighborhood mom for a dollar.

"So, is this going to a charity?" she asked.

"No, I just really want some money," he answered.

And the fun just keeps going: We made a surplus of mint meringues, so I suggested we drop some off at friends' homes. He liked the idea but suggested a few changes. Which is how I found myself carrying a basket of cookie bags this morning, accompanying a little leprechaun and his sidekick as they snuck treats on neighborhood doorsteps. One little girl almost caught herself a leprechaun, much to everyone's delight.

The effort involved here merits a closer look:

And finally, one last picture: Calvin brought a book on World War II home from the library. He was fascinated, and after the first reading swiftly dressed Boo-Boo as an infantryman. (There was a tiny paper uniform too, but that didn't stick.)