"I got a popcorn ball!" "I got a rock."

Alex came home from school this morning with the corners of his mouth twitching. "Mom, the silliest thing happened in school today. Today was a day when the teacher had prizes for us all, and we all got turns choosing."

I'm not exactly sure why the teacher does this--if it's part of a reward system, or what--but every once in a while Alex brings home something odd. A marker. A visor. And, once, a little tom-tom, made of real hide and wood.

But today, he held out...well, a little glass jar with three sticks in it.

"Mom, she said that this is sugar, and I'm supposed to eat it, but it doesn't look like sugar to me."

What? Wait...what?

"No, she really did, mom. She said this was sugar. Do you think I should taste it?"

Wait, I don't understand, Alex. Did she give these twigs to everyone? Is it a science experiment? Is there a cocoon in there somewhere?

"No. Some people got glittery magic wands. Some people got golden and silver rocks. But I was the last person to choose, so I go this silly thing! Should I eat it?"  At this point he was really giggling.

I looked dubiously at the twigs.  They didn't look like cinnamon, or anything else remotely edible.  I told Alex that I'd try it for him.  So, and I kid you not, I unscrewed the top of the jar and tried to take a bite of one of the sticks.

"Alex? This tastes like a stick."

At this point, Alex just couldn't help himself: he totally collapsed into giggles. He could scarcely get the words out: "Why...would...she...try...to...feed...me...sticks?"

When he finally got ahold of himself, he told me, "Maybe I can turn them into very useful sticks. Look!  I can turn the jar into a bongo drum!"

"Or maybe they could be teeth for my disguise."

"Or maybe they could be a very bad tic tac toe board."

Oh, I love that about Alex, how he's able to laugh at the ridiculous situations that he finds himself in, here.  He's got such a great attitude, and I think he'll find a lot of happiness in this life.

Ella's reaction to Alex's story was a little more normal.  When she came home, Alex told her about the sticks, and the prizes that the other kids got, and her eyes filled with tears at the injustice of it.  "But...aren't you angry, Alex? Other kids got beautiful sparkling magic wands with lovely streamers hanging from them, and you...you got sticks?"

"Oh, no, Ella. I LOVE my sticks." Said Alex, still laughing.  "See? They're very useful."  And he proceeded to show her the many uses of his three sticks.  By he got to the bongo drum, Ella's tears had dried, and she grinned back at at her brother.  "Alex, I think that is my least favorite use of your sticks. Mom? Do you have any mushy tomatoes?"

Alex came home, too, with a little sheaf of pictures that he drew in Kindergarten. I asked him if he was the only one who was drawing today, or if the whole class was coloring.  "Oh, well, I did these in free time, but the whole class chose coloring and we all colored together....well, everyone except for Marina. She's the new girl, and she speaks Spanish and a little bit of English, but she doesn't speak German. She only knows how to say 'Baby-Ecke,' so she had to play in the Baby-Ecke all by herself.  I know how she feels. I used to have to do that, too, but now I know a little bit of German."

Oh, no!  Poor Marina!

But Alex does seem to be doing pretty well in school.  He's friendly with all of the kids, and he's going to a birthday party on Monday for one of his favorites.  He actually is pretty reluctant about that, though: "Oh, no, mom, I don't want to go," he told me, very matter-of-factly. "Because I'm shy, of course."  And he is, but he eventually changed his mind when I told him I could stay with him for a little bit and get him settled.  It'll be a small party, so I think he'll be just fine.  So this afternoon the boys and I took a field trip to the toy store and picked out a board game.

When Ella got home from school, she rushed through her homework and jumped on the computer, in the mood to play a math game that she hasn't touched for a while.  For those parents out there, though, it's a really lovely program, for grades K-3, developed in Seattle: dreambox.com.  My kids love it, and we shared our subscription with my sister.  To sign into their individual accounts, the kids have to click on their avatars, and for their password, they have to choose on one of a dozen icons: a kitty, a flower, a turtle, and so forth.

Somehow, Ella's cousin Autumn (or was it YOU, Aunt Kathy??) made it through this super-secure system, guessing that Ella's password was the turtle.  And she changed Ella's avatar from the little blond-haired, brown-eyed girl to....gasp! A BOY!

Ella and Alex though this was a wonderful joke, so they spent about a half-hour hacking into Autumn's account ("I've got it, Alex! Her password is....the flower!")  and changing her avatar many, many times until finally deciding that the skateboard dude was the funniest.

Your move, Autumn.