Greetings Mr. Slinky

I'll give you two guesses as to where the slinky being held by the naked 7 year old boy wound up and your first one doesn't count.

The Six Year Old Boy's Very Serious Question

"Would you rather eat a booger salad or be sneazed on by five giant elephants?"

Ponder that.

Rain Rain Go Away Come Again Another Day

It poured down rain all day, so we were stuck inside. The kids were bummed that their first soccer games of the season got cancelled, but a trip to the donut shop for breakfast cured their disappointment.

I had a hair appointment today and got about six inches chopped off. Maybe I'll show up in a picture at some point. I ran into a former colleague of mine at the hair salon. Like, from before my son was born. It's always fun when those random run-ins result in a nice little chat. After I got home, the whole crew went to Blockbuster (perfect for a rainy day) and I snuck in a solo trip to Walmart for grocery shopping.

Little man got his reading in today (he was hiding from the camera):


The little girl wanted to play outside in the rain, so she put on her winter coat (even though it was nowhere near cool outside), filled up her watering can and got to work watering her foot:


I wonder if it will grow once the sun comes out.

Tonight we had dinner, watched a movie we picked up at Blockbuster, and broke out the crayons and coloring sheets. They can both now download and print pictures from www.pbskids.org themselves.

Tomorrow is church and hanging out at home. I love the weekend.

The Inner Workings Of A Four And A Half Year Old Mind

"Mommy, there's something wrong in my brain," my little girl said when I asked her about her day.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's because my allergies are going crazy."

"What's happening in your brain?" I said.

"I'm making these plans."

"What kinds of plans?"

"Plans where I make bad choices," she said, putting her hands in her face.

"Like what?"

"Like eating paint and sucking the ink out of markers."

Oh. Those plans.

The Disappearance of Fun on School Nights

First grade is an adjustment. For me. My little man is doing just fine, but it's only day 2 of the yellow folders and the Reading Log and I'm wondering how we're going to get through it all. The yellow folder is the homework folder. Fortunately, he does the yellow folder homework in the after school program at school before we pick him up. This is good.

But in our family, we get home from work and school and sit down to dinner around 6:30 or 6:45. If there is soccer practice, it's a little bit later. By the time dinner is over it's 7:15 or 7:30. Then, we have play time and bath. I used to read to the kids at night, but now we have the Reading Log.

The rules of the Reading Log: First graders have to read for 15 minutes and write down in a log the name of the book, the author, how many minutes were spent reading and a word to describe what was read. Then, at the end of the month, they turn in their log.

Now, completing the Reading Log would take me two seconds. But, my little man is not me. I'm figuring out that we need to allocate 15 minutes to the reading and at least 5 minutes to the writing.

So, what's 20 minutes?

It's not the 20 minutes. It's that we only have an hour to get them bathed and in bed after dinner and that doesn't include any fun time.

And I feel bad for even saying that, because we totally value education and want his school to be demanding. I want them to expect him to read every day. I expect him to read every day.

I'm being selfish here because I don't want an already jam packed two hours, of what I consider to be my time with the kids, to be impacted. Due to my lack of patience.

Because he is VERY diligent in his writing. And slow. Because he is a perfectionist. Like his mother.

Paybacks are hell.

First Day

This is my sweet girl on the first day of school with a 102.8 degree fever:


Needless to say, she did not go to school.

This is my little man in his classroom on the first day of school. I can't believe he is in 1st grade already! In stark contrast to last year at this time, there was no hugging of the leg or physical extraction from the car at carpool. Success!


Finally, on Thursday, the fever is gone and she is on her way to Pre-K! These are her teachers. We were lucky to have Mrs. Winslow (on the right) teach her at camp this summer so the transition was not hard at all.

I still am in denial that my baby is almost 5 and my little man will be 7 in November. I am really trying to savor each day because pretty soon they won't want to snuggle in my lap or give me one more hug. Before I know it, I'll be watching the backs of their heads as they ditch me for their friends.

Why I Love My Pest Control Provider

John-

As I sat on my sofa and ate my breakfast this morning, I watched a cockroach walk through my family room. Then, I went to take a shower and there was a spider in my tub. What’s the soonest you can make it by my place to spray?

Thanks.

Kandice