Such Darling Children

Anonymous. Or, Steve, my "little" brother.

Someone - you know - anonymously, but not my brother - posted in the comments a few days ago about how cute my brother's kids are and requested more posts about them. Ahem. Well, they are cute. And, I very well intended to get around to posting more photos of them. But, since my blog reading public of maybe 3.1 readers - it's growing - has made the request, even if it was possibly - I'm not saying for sure, but probably, well, possibly written by their father, today's post is about three of my sweet nieces and nephews.

Veda, Deacon and Cora.

When we visited in August, we had dinner at my mom's house one night and spent some glorious time out on her screened in porch, where the weather was just perfect. The kids played, Steve played the guitar, we visited.

It was a nice visit. But, to bring this post up to today, I interviewed the kids to include in this post along with the photos from August.

Veda is the oldest, at a ripe old age of 7. She is in the second grade. When I called for the interview, she had a friend over playing with her. So, I had to act fast so she could get back to playing with her friend Gracie.

Me: What's your name?
Veda: Veda
Me: How old are you?
Veda: 7
Me: What grade are you in?
Veda: 2nd

So, she was indeed the child I intended to interview.

Reading a book.

One of these days I'll post some photos of Veda from day one until now...let's just say I've photographed these children hundreds of times, and many of those photos are my favorite photos. On with the interview.

Me: What is your teacher's name?
Veda: Miss Cheatham
Me:What is your favorite color?
Veda: blue
Me: What is your favorite food?
Veda: spaghetti (editor's note - I think this means just the noodles - no tomato sauce)
Me: What is your favorite thing to do?
Veda: read

These days, it's hard to catch Veda without her making a face.
This one is actually no face, I think.

Me: Who is your best friend?
Veda: Grace
Me: What are you going to be for Halloween?
Veda: a witch
Me: Have you carved your pumpkin yet?
Veda: No
Me: When you carve it, what are you going to do?
Veda: Stars for eyes, a triangle nose and a scary mouth

This one is also unrehearsed.

Me: What's your favorite TV show?
Veda: Ummm...I don't know - Spongebob?
Me: When are you going to come visit me in Texas?
Veda: Hmmm...I don't know

Here, she caught me and started to "fake grin."

Me: What do you think of the current global economic crisis?
Veda: What?
Me: If you could vote for the President of the United States, who would you vote for?
Veda: Obama
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Veda: Ummm....a soccer player

And, well, another fine "natural" grin. I get a lot of these from Veda these days when the camera is out.

Me: Do you love your mommy?
Veda: Yeah
Me: your daddy?
Veda: Yeah
Me: Sister?
Veda: Yeah
Me: Brother?
Veda: Yeah
Me: Your Aunt Amy?
Veda: (laughs) Yeah
Me: OK, just checking.

The trick is to catch her concentrating. Here, she has no idea I'm even around.
Funny face or not, she's a sweet and pretty girl.

Me: Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Veda: Yes. I love you.
Me: Awww, thanks kid.

Then, she ran off to play with Grace. I had interrupted forward progress long enough.

When we were up in August, they practiced making paper airplanes and flying them. Here is a "before flight" and "after they actually flew" duo of photos:

I love it.

Next up was Deacon. He is 5 and in kindergarten. Deacon actually came to the phone first. He was the first child to be otherwise not disposed. So, I tried to explain what I was up to in greater detail to him than I did later in the phone conversation with the others.

Deacon's fond of Uncle S.

Me: Hi Deacon
Deacon: Hi
Me: I'd like to interview you for my weblog.
Deacon: Huh?
Me: I have a blog that I write on the Internet and I want to interview you for it.
Deacon: What's an interview?
Me: I want to ask you some questions. Would that be OK?
Deacon: Sure. OK.

Deacon showed us his Superman tattoo

Me: What is your name?
Deacon: Deacon
Me: How old are you?
Deacon: 5
Me: What grade are you in?
Deacon: Kindergarten

Again, we've identified the right child.

What can you say about that mug?

Me: What is your teacher's name?
Deacon: Mrs. Muhsuh.
Me: What?
Deacon: MUH-SUH MUH-SUH
Me: What? Can you say that again?
Deacon: M-U-H-S-U-H
Me: (remembering his predilection for leaving out R) Oh, Mrs. Mercer?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: What is your favorite color.
Deacon: Orange. (long pause) And black.

Deacon showed off his throwing arm with the airplanes in August.

Me: What's your favorite food?
Deacon: Pizza
Me: What do you like on your pizza?
Deacon: Pepperoni
Me: What's your favorite thing to do?
Deacon: Play on the computer
Me: What do you do on the computer
Deacon: Play Eddie (I didn't get clarification on this, but I assume that is a computer game)
Me: What is your favorite TV show?
Deacon: Spiderman

Throwing another airplane. Look at that dimple...

Me: Who is your best friend?
Deacon: Noah
Me: What are you going to be for Halloween?
Deacon: Army man (actually - this one, since it had an "R" was also a back and forth until I finally got it)
Me: Have you carved your pumpkin yet?
Deacon: No
Me: What are you going to carve into it?
Deacon: A big letter M and then a line underneath that.
Me: OK

He's a sweet boy.

Me: When are you going to come visit me in Texas?
Deacon: On fall break.
Me: Isn't that tomorrow?
Deacon: On FALL BREAK
Me: Isn't that tomorrow?
Deacon: FALL BREAK
Me: But, isn't that this weekend?
Deacon: O-N F-A-L-L B-R-E-A-K!!!
Me: OK, next question. What do you think of the current global economic crisis?
Deacon: What?
Me: If you could vote for President, who would you vote for?
Deacon: I don't know what the President's name is.
Me: OK, but can you think of anyone you know who would make a good President?
Deacon: No
Me: OK. Then, what are you going to be when you grow up?
Deacon: I haven't decided yet.
Me: What have you been thinking about being?
Deacon: A policeman.

Deacon pal-ing around with Nana.

Me: Do you love your mommy?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: your daddy?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: Sister?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: Brother?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: Your Aunt Amy?
Deacon: (pause) Yeah
Me: OK, just checking.

Deacon and Cora playing at Nana's in the kid's kitchen

Me: Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Deacon: Can you go back to when you were talking about doing something on the computer?
Me: Yes, do you mean what am I doing with these questions?
Deacon: Yeah
Me: Well, I have a website and I'm going to post our interview there. Your mommy and daddy can show you tomorrow.
Deacon: OK. Bye.
Me: Bye.

Last up, but the second to be interviewed on the phone - Cora. She is 4 and in pre-school. I interrupted her third game of Candyland, which she eventually won, to conduct this interview.

Cora knows what to do to look cute.

Cora: Hello?

Me: Hi Cora, it's Aunt Amy. I want to ask you a few questions. Is that OK?
Cora: Yes.
Me: OK, here we go. What's your name?
Cora: Cora
Me: How old are you?
Cora: 4
Me: What grade are you in school?
Cora: pre-school

Correct child has been identified.

Cora, looking contemplative.

Me: What is your teacher's name?
Cora: Miss Sandy, Miss Tanya, Miss Mary and Miss Shannon
Me: Whoa, that's a lot of teachers
Cora: It takes a lot of teachers to corral us 4 year olds. (OK, not really - she didn't say that.)
Me: What's your favorite color?
Cora: pink
Me: What's your favorite food?
Cora: spaghettios

Cora was concentrating on making her own airplane in this photo.

Me: What is your favorite thing to do?
Cora: Play Candyland. That's all.
Me: What is your favorite TV show?
Cora: Ariel. That's all. It's a movie.
Me: OK

In Indiana, in August, Steve started playing some tunes on his guitar.

And, as he played, Cora danced.

Boy, did she dance.

Me: Who is your best friend?
Cora: Nora
Me: What are you going to be for Halloween?
Cora: A pumpkin
Me: Have you carved your pumpkin yet?
Cora: No
Me: What are you going to do to it when you carve it?
Cora: Make it look like a bat.

And she danced...

Me: When are you going to come visit me in Texas?
Cora: I don't know.
Me: What do you think of the current global economic crisis?
Cora: What?
Me: If you could vote for President, who would you vote for?
Cora: Uh...I don't know.
Me: What are you going to be when you grow up?
Cora: (without hesitation) a doctor

...and she danced, with props.

Me: Do you love your mommy?
Cora: Yeah
Me: and your daddy?
Cora: Yeah
Me: and your sister?
Cora: Yeah
Me: and your brother?
Cora: Yeah
Me: and your Aunt Amy?
Cora: (with exasperation) Yes!
Me: OK, just checking.

Veda got in on a little dancing herself, as Cora danced on. It was really good music.

Me: Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Cora: Yes.
Me: What?
Cora: I love Candyland! Bye.
Me: Bye

Veda was clearly telling it like it is in this photo, and Deacon was scoffing at such knowledge.
Cora was in her own world.

So, that concludes my very in depth investigative reporting and post on three of my many cute, sweet nieces and nephews. They are, no joke, very sweet, and I love them a bunch, too!

Thank you, Veda, Deacon, and Cora, for taking my call and answering my questions with such honesty. We don't get many straight answers right before an election. Ahem.

I'm sure this isn't the last you've seen of these kids, Mr. Anonymous. But, hopefully you enjoyed the nice big dose you got today!