Life in General

These are the days of our lives...in January. The daily minutiae of our lives is what sets us apart from the other families with 2.5 kids (the dog is the .5, not the half-pint with red hair) and also gives us something to talk about when people ask "what's new with you?" So let's see...
We are reading the BFG by Roald Dahl. My HC remembered this book from his childhood and since I can count the number of books he admits to having read on one hand, we immediately checked it out and started reading it with the kids. This is a bit disturbing to Ian, who is apprehensive abou the idea of giants reaching hands through windows and munching people like popcorn, but the pictures are cute and the part about the BFG tooting is so funny, it eclipses all the yucky parts. I have had immense fun doing the voice of the Queen of England (and the whispering butler). Erin tends to fall asleep during bedtime reading (praise the Lord), but she also enjoys the pictures until she does. When we were finished with this one, we're going back to the Magic Treehouse just in time to correlate "Revolutionary War on Wednesday" with the same topic in History. Yay. So definite school points there.

Erin is going to be ready for pre-k next year. She is very interested in what Ian is doing and loves our one on one time when we work on Cubbies (Awana). I am hoping that she will actually say her verse this week during check-in time, though even the 4 year olds get all bashful and hug a leg when put on the spot. ;)

Ian is about to finish one of his reading books next week, the Robinson Crusoe reader with all the neat craft/drawing ideas that go with it. So far we've made a popsicle stick boat(that's what it's supposed to look like), a tiny island, some rocks, a tent and cave out of various materials, a playdoh goat and a big stack of illustrations. Mr Cheaterpants has been insisting for a couple of weeks that Robinson Crusoe will be finding a strange man on the island with him. I have been denying this, since we haven't read anything about that yet, thank you. Today, we got to the part where Friday is delivered to the island by savages and escapes, where Robinson Crusoe welcomes him and feeds him bread and raisins. Ian was elated and gloated like mad. "See, Mommy?! I TOLD you there was another man. I was right!" Add the victory booty dance to that. And a giant Mommy eyeroll. I will be sorry to finish this book. And a couple of weeks after that, we'll be finishing his other reading book. And by the end of February, he'll be finishing the dreaded, hated Phonics. I gave him the option of just doing one page per day instead of two. He was excited about this until I told him that it would extend Phonics until May, or we could continue and finish by the end of next month. He chose next month. :) It looks like math and spelling will be our long running subjects for this year. Those are two things that have more to do with understanding and less with grunt work. (Like the phonics rules, word-writing and language story-writing.)
We'll be starting a new chapter in Science next week and we'll be spending a lot more time on these than we have the rest. It has to do with sea creatures, with one animal per lesson. We're making an animal notebook with our drawings and colorings. I am very excited. The chapter after that is land animals with more of the same. I hope we can go to the zoo for this chapter! Ian will be happy to be finished with history, but I think he'll enjoy the next chapter on Pioneers. We will attempt to make a covered wagon. haha.
And we're only to the Capital H's in cursive, another hated subject. I'm not being too strict there. He traces a lot and just has to try to write it on his own. I am more concerned with him learning how to form them correctly than doing a bunch of wrong ones on his own. There's plenty of time for cursive in the future, right? Says the 98% of people who still don't form letters correctly...
So there, boring minutiae, yet the kind that occupy my days and thoughts. And it's Friday evening finally. So I'm out.

Corn Maze!

Today we went to the Right Choices Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Southwest City, MO (pop. 855). It was a nice drive up, about an hour and change for us, and pretty much a straight shot, so we made it there without hassle. It's a working farm, run by nice, pleasant Christian folks. We got there and promptly visited the small, red, barnlike structure that were nice, clean restrooms. We paid, went inside and ate a picnic lunch at the picnic tables next to the concession stand. Then all the homeschool group gathered in a large wooden area filled with benches for a lesson about the history of the area, the history and uses of corn, and how to farm a giant corn field. We had a great time, as you can see in the following:



Everyone piled into tractor-pulled carts with hay seats for a tour of the fields and woods. We went all the way around the maze, ending at the line of farm equipment and attachments that were used to farm the field (and new pumpkin patch). Erin had more fun pulling hay out of the bales and scattering it everywhere.



After the hay ride, we lined up to ride the cow train. Erin hopped right in.



Ian decided that he wanted to go too, and the Train (tractor) Conductor said that the big barrels were for grown ups, so I piled in too! (I was the only adult in the whole train.)



The Train went into one side of the maze. The tractor moo-ed the whole time. It got slightly annoying, but there were enough little kids moo-ing along with it that it wasn't so bad.



This is a picture looking into the outer wall of the maze. There ain't no cheating by going through the wall, folks. And there are also mesh walls to hold it together, as we found out later.



There were two slides built into the side of this big hill. The other one was slower, for smaller kids and required riding on a gunny sack. This one was the roller slide and required plywood squares. My adventurous cutie piled into line with the big kids and loved every second. Doubters be gone!



This was close to to the concession/picnic area and was a triple level accumulation of shin-deep corn kernels. And yes, it got everywhere. Ian dumped plenty out of his shoes in the car. Erin shucked her shoes off after a few minutes and kept playing.



This was on one side of the Corn Box.


There was a Hay Tunnel and an Echo Bale. This was the Hay Jump, outside of the opening to the Short Maze (the long one is a couple of miles; I was completely fine with the short one).


Ian took the map with the clues and did absolutely nothing with it. He guessed at every turn and it took us about 20 minutes longer than it should have, but he had fun being in charge. Erin just ran around. I trudged behind with the cooler and my purse.


We survived and were completely worn out.

We went to the Farm Zoo and visited the cute animals. The pig and chickens were Erin's favorite. She 'talked' to one chicken for quite a while (I was going down the slides with Ian, yee haw). Then we did the Corn Cannon, where they help you shoot ears of corn at targets. It was noisy and Erin was tired and crying, so we did not linger. I could tell that Ian could have camped out there for another hour.



So we quickly picked out our baby pumpkins and piled our tired selves into the car for the ride home with a movie and a cold drink.

And guess who conked out on the way home? So now I am ready for bed and everyone else is recharged. Sheesh.

Homeschooling

I have been reading a lot of blogs and articles lately on homeschooling. As a normal female, I am inherently curious as to what everyone else in the barnyard is doing and am also on the lookout for new helps, advice, curriculum, etc. And of course, I want to evaluate what I am doing to and for my kids. :) One blog in particular I read is the Pioneer Woman Homeschooling blog. She has different moms contribute to this particular facet of her site. It talks about homeschooling, has discussions on general opinion and stigmas, what different homeschool moms face, etc. I have been asked why we homeschool by a few different people. They seem to expect a passionate diatribe about spiritual conviction, the evil of the world, or some kind of mental genius or handicap. So, for personal clarification, this is why WE homeschool.

1) Easy situation. We're different. Not in the, hello, I'm-a-freak-of-nature-way. I am already staying home with a younger child. I am not quitting a job to stay home. It was not a huge sacrifice to keep the older one home and torture him with Phonics. (Ask me that later when I am lying on the floor with a cold compress on my brow, moaning "Why?!" to the ceiling.)
2) Food allergies. We are allergic to a bunch of stuff. It was a pain in the butt to pack breakfast and lunch and various birthday cupcakes and holiday treats last year for Ian. And he still got a hold of stuff that made him sick. So, it was a mark on the + side when we considered homeschooling. (Yes, I made a list with little pluses and minuses.)
3) Concern for our child. Our kid seemed bored in kindergarten and was redoing stuff that he had learned in pre-k. When he was out of school for a week with a broken elbow, he did his entire week of make-up work in a hour. I asked for harder stuff for him to read at home. I didn't get much of a result by asking. I got the feeling that his teachers, who are great ladies, thought I was a pushy parent. I saw my kid getting disinterested and lazy and stop trying.
4) An Inkling. My husband and I homeschooled (but not together, though he did pretend not to understand math so I would 'help' him). I did 11th and 12th grade enrolled in Christian Liberty Academy, which is a correspondence-type school. They send your books and tests, you do the work and mail in the tests. You get graded and graduate when you're done. I liked it. I also tutored a bunch of younger kids in their various subjects. So I know how it feels to get to a point where your parents are no help at all and hide in the closet when they see you enter the room with a textbook. Like...Chemistry! Or Saxon Algebra 2!
No permanent scarring, though it shook my belief that my mom knew everything. Haha, Mom.
With the younger kids that I tutored when I was in high school, it was an eye-opener. There were kids that did just fine. There were kids that were several grade levels behind what they should have been. There were kids that the other kids thought were weird. There were normal(ish) kids. There was one boy with atrocious table manners. Those who were in the tutoring group will remember him as well as their inability to enjoy a meal when they were seated across the table from him. Or next to him. Or in the same room with him.
The point is, it's easy to say that you have these beliefs, opinions or feelings and you're going to homeschool. It's quite another thing to sit at the kitchen table for 5 hours a day, more or less, and try to get your child to understand the rules of plural, why you have to carry the 1, and why qu is spelled with a qu when it makes the 'kw' sound. And that is just first grade, with just one child.
I know the parents meant well and they thought they were doing the best for their children. But I wonder if they would make the same decision again, now that their children are grown and their lives are set. The ones who did not do well homeschooling hated it. They still hate school. Some of them got so far behind that they quit school. The ones who did well may have loved it, or may have secretly pined to be in a public school. Others did fine and went on to trade school or college and lead productive lives. We did not suffer from not going to prom or having a commencement ceremony. [Be honest! When you reach the 3rd hour of any commencement, are you still excited to be there? No! You wanna get it over with and go eat! All during my college graduation, I thought about how nice it was to have skipped the high school one.]
But it is important that I remember to give myself the option and freedom to change my mind if things don't work out the way I have envisioned. One day we may go back to public school. If the kids absolutely want to, then they have a say. But right now it's going pretty well.
5) State laws. We live in Oklahoma, a very accomodating state for homeschoolers. A couple of miles away, and the state our co-op is in, is Arkansas. I'm not exactly sure, but I think they are required to do state testing every year. Different states have different requirements. Some states make it very difficult indeed, like having lesson plans and checking in with a state-certified teacher once a month. We avoided a lot of these difficulties during my childhood in Florida by being enrolled in an actual school, even though I completed it by mail.
6) New oppoortunities! There are some neat things in our area that I wasn't aware of (or interested in) in my time. There's a play group at the library every Tuesday. The library is continuing it now that Cherokee Nation has pulled out. At least it will be a specialized play time and there are books to read and crafts. It is for children 5 and under, but Ian is still welcome. It is good for Erin to be around other kids (sharing is always a noisy debate) and Ian as well. We also joined a homeschool co-op. It costs $20 a year for dues. They have low-priced field trips, learning days, special classes, special ticket prices to performances at the Arts Center in Fayetteville, and more. We went to a swim day at the coolest pool ever in a nearby larger town. There were lots of other homeschool kids there and mine had a blast. Next Friday we're going to a Fire Safety Field trip at the Fire Station there. And October 1 is the Corn Maze in Southwest City, Missouri! There's no way we could find out about (or afford!) these things on our own. And meeting other families that share our daily trial is a great encouragement.
7) Curriculum Choices. I can't give all of the above reasons without mentioning that we get to focus on learning opportunities that would not be an option in public school. Our curriculum includes science from a Creationist's perspective as well as a Bible course. And if we want to take a bunny trail and make a covered wagon out of a shoe box, then we can do it together and have a good time. We take extra time on things we're interested in, like pirates, castles and volcanoes. And it's really nice not to get every question wrong because you skipped a line and wrote all the correct answers on the wrong line. Had to put that one in there.

If anyone is making or considering a decision to homeschool, here is my humble opinion. These are our reasons. I won't gush and say that everyone should homeschool because it's the ONLY way. To quote Pioneer Woman, "It's not for everybody, but it works for us." And obviously, I also don't think that public or private school is the only way. In the end, our goals are the same. We want our children to learn and grow and prosper. And we want to make it through without bald spots and facial twitching. I'll let you know how that goes.

Muddling Through

For big, happy announcements, Saturday was Anniversary Day for me and my HC. 6 Years! Crazy! On Friday we had an appointment to have the kids' pictures taken, for a Child Abuse Task Force fundraiser. Antiquities: Unique Portrait Fundraiser. They dressed the kids up and had the neatest props. Got some really sweet pictures. For our $10 donation, we get the sitting and a free 10x12 of the kids posed together. Then for an extra couple hundred dollars, you can get all the poses and a few pictures. But they are really wonderful pictures; just wish we could justify the expense! I'll be going back on the 30th for our "portrait selection appointment."
Since we were in town for the portrait sitting (my HC met us there in his unit), we decided to have our night on the town a day early and save some gas (Tahlequah is a 45 wind-y, long drive from home). So we went out for Chinese! Woo hoo! It's been a Looooong time. It was a little tricky with the kids' allergies, but Ian loves boiled shrimp and fruit and rice, so that what he loaded up on. I couldn't peel shrimp fast enough for him. Erin was not hungry, having enjoyed her Burger King french fries from earlier that afternoon. Ian was too busy on the playplace and the slides and tunnels to think about eating, so he was ravenous for dinner. (We can't go to Tahlequah unless we stop at the BK play place; it's a Rule. There will be mutiny otherwise and who can pass up a chance to expend all that energy?)
So we had our chinese....mmmm.....culinary delight. My HC took cranky Erin out, so he didn't get his seconds, but it was good enough (and inexpensive enough) that we have plans to return. High praise indeed from the selective HC. I love chinese food....sesame chicken. Mmmmm. And the dumplings with spicy sauce.
Then I got to pick out my anniversary present: a new sewing machine! Woo hoo!



Had an old one, but with bobbin case difficulties. Ended up being unrepairable. So I've been diddling with my new machine. HC got a new drill, so the loose siding is fixed on the house and some other odds and ends on The List are taken care of. Who knew all we needed was a drill to complete these onerous tasks?
Meanwhile, we are proceeding with our homeschooling plans for next year. We've checked the state laws (surprisingly lax, compared with Florida), perused curriculum, and will start homeschooling this summer (lightly, don't worry) when kindergarten is finally over. I am optimistic and confident about our educational future.
My HC is also looking at pursuing a degree as well. We are currently talking to admissions, etc, trying to see if it's something that's realistic for us right now (or should I say, him, since he'll be doing all the work). We are grateful that he has an employer that is excited and very encouraging about further education and is willing to work with his employee/students. HC was very impressed with a coworker in his 50s who just completed his Bachelor's degree.
My HC is taking it slow. No commitments yet, but we're just checking it all out.
Prayers would be great, especially about finances. I am hoping for a bunch of student aid, since he's working full-time and we's po'!
Still waiting for house to sell, though there is genuine interest from people moving due to road construction and widening. The gov't is buying their houses to tear down for new lanes and they are relocating, hopefully to our house! But first they are waiting on state to pay before they can buy. Who knows how long that could take? But it's good enough to keep our hope alive!
That's about it. We are pottytraining at our house. Having graduated the dog, we are working on the ErinNoodle.

New Schedules

Well, we have officially gotten into the swing of school and the new job. Erin is increasingly hard to keep busy, since she is constantly saying stuff like "Daddy door. Ian door." Which means that they've gone somewhere without her (through the door). The nerve of those guys! I've been on a housecleaning kick because it makes me feel like we'll sell the house quicker if everything is clean. The real estate agent came to take new pictures of the house since it's been on the market since Feb of 08. And those pictures show dead grey grass. Unfortunately, we've done a lot of work on the house since those first pictures, but she likes the old pictures of the unpainted kitchen cabinets and drab walls better than my paint jobs, so those pictures are still on the description. I'm sure if anyone does come to tour the house, they will wonder if they're at the right one.
Ian still says that kindergarten is long. No nap time, so I guess they work instead. The new teachers are....serious. It's a big change from pre-K because they were young and bubbly and enthusiastic about everything. In K, you're lucky if anyone cracks a smile. Not too crazy about that, but there's nothing I can do. They've also told me that Ian is immature, but he did just turn 5. It's hard for me not to get a little riled at that, but a lot of the class is 6 or turning 6 soon, so I guess that would make a difference. I comfort myself with the fact that Ian is smoking the rest of the class's butts in reading. He is also finding it hard to make friends. Several reasons being: Daddy was a cop in town and so has arrested a lot of parents and relatives; Ian can smoke everyone's butt at reading; he has food allergies, so he brings his breakfast and lunch every day and has faced ridicule because of it. So there's no friends there, really, but it just makes us want to move! New start, new teachers, new classmates! It would be really nice. But until then, we will deal with teachers that really need an attitude adjustment and look annoyed and tired all the time.
My HC is loving his new job, even though it takes a lot of hours and we are both bone tired every night. Movie nights are now only on the weekends. We don't even watch tv. He is also becoming quite the filing guru. I am very proud of him. We are still excited about visiting the dentist when our insurance starts.
The kids are recovering from the first school-borne illness. Ian got a cold and a stuffy nose. He still has the stuffy nose, but feels fine. Erin got it and it turned into a raging ear infection. The meds prescribed gave her raging diarrhea and rash, so she was taken off of it. Now we have to go back to the doc's on monday. I really dread these dr visits. I hate sitting there for 2 hours just to be told to keep drinking fluids and taking tylenol. Waste of time!!
In the meantime, we are doing ear cleaning with prescription drops because I don't believe anyone has ever seen the inside of Erin's ears. All 3 of the doctors and specialists that have tried just say "There's too much wax in there to see." After I got annoyed and asked a nurse how to fix this problem, I got a scrip, instructions and plenty of help. Gee, why didn't anyone think of this before?! Honestly. Is it small towns or what?! Ridiculous!


Lest I get all het up again, I will brag about my brilliant HC. The people next door moved and left a bunch of junk, including 2 broken headboards to twin beds. My HC took them apart and used the lumber to make me a coffee table! I love it. I get to stain and varnish it and I'm so excited. We are completely table-less in our living room and now we have something to put our glasses on instead of the floor! And we have something for the kids to snack at and color at (not on, Erin!) and it's a gorgeous wood. I have none of this ability and am amazed that my HC would be motivated and able to do it. The staining and glossing are done and we are so impressed. It's a bit darker than I expected, but that way it won't show Erin's scribbles too badly. ;)
Now I think I've caught everyone up to now, having skipped a week or two. Can't believe that next week is September!!
And congrats to my friend Rachel for delivering a gorgeous baby Elias last Thursday! Mommy and baby are doing great and should be home by now. Thanks for all the prayers! The fun has just begun, Rachel, but I know that you're enjoying every bit of it.

Job, School and Grandparents!

To be short, since I'm sitting in the library and my hoodlums are being hoodlums, my HC started his new job, which has so many initials, I'll just keep him as my HC. This was his first week and he's been busy, but he really likes it. I think he likes eating lunch out even more, since he can eat whatever he wants without the guilt of our munchkins and their food allergies. He had pizza. Twice. sniff sniff. I think I've forgotten the taste of cheese. sigh.
So that is going wonderfully. Still no bites on the house, which makes my HC's commute rather miserable. And school is starting next week. We were hoping to have been moved before school started, but you do what you've got to do. Ian is excited about his new teacher, since we know her from church (it's his Sunday school teacher) and he's got some friends in his class, so that's even better.
And Gramma and Papaw are coming to visit! That's the best! They'll be here for his Meet the Teacher and for his first few days of school, so we are all excited about that. And there is the promise of Red Lobster. Mmmm...
And did I mention that my birthday is Sunday? August is turning out to be a pretty spanking good month. Now if we can just hold out until payday. Transitioning to one payday a month stinks, but we'll get used to it. :)
And my bestest college friend, Rachel is due for her first baby in the next couple of weeks. So August is good for more than just me. So if you're eating a pizza or a really good mouthful of cheese, think of me and enjoy a little more. And if you see a little bundle of joy at church or the grocery store, think of little Elias and how eager we all are to see him when he manages to come out into the world.

Improvement

There has been improvement on several levels over the past few days. The weather actually improved for 2 days, allowing us to mow and weedeat the jungle that had shot up in the interim. It also allowed Erin to discover just how much mud she could step in before it sucked her shoe off of her foot. She also discovered that she didn't like the feel of mud on her feet or her hands and expressed her feelings by wiping it off on me. Ian discovered that he'll miss his teachers an awful lot after school ends in little over a week. His attitude toward school has improved somewhat.
Erin's health has improved so much, it's almost uncanny. The runny nose, wheezing and cough is completely gone. She is focusing on being as ornery as possible and getting into everything that's not nailed down. If it is nailed down, she knows where the toolbox is.
I have improved the oatmeal muffin recipe, or I actually followed the directions. One of the two.
We have decided to improve the interior of the house, having done our yard duty. The kids and I moseyed on over to Lowe's and got us a gallon of Brilliant White Flat Ceiling Paint. You never realize exactly how yellow your ceiling is until it is directly compared to Brilliant White. It also helps that I spackled all the cracks. But as for the color, think of the Crest White Strips commercial.
We also got us a five gallon bucket of Summer Rapture. It's the same minty/leafy green we painted the laundry room/bedroom. I think the house is ready. It is desperately needed in the hallway and in the kids rooms, since I've scrubbed all the old paint off along with a lot of pencil and crayon drawings. The blue ink remains, however. I disintegrated a Mr Clean Eraser trying, but to no avail.
Another improvement that has everyone smiling. My HC gave his written notice today at work. Yay! One more week to go and then you'll be able to see every one of my HC's teeth when he smiles. Then our stress levels will just float away. And that will be the biggest improvement of all.

100 Days of Crazy

Last week, Ian hit his 100th day of Pre-K. They celebrated by doing a project that involved 100 items, either brought in or stuck onto a posterboard. You would be astonished at how many parents had problems with the number 100. I saw several posterboards that only had, say, 16 dots or pasted shapes, or 65 M&Ms. Interesting. Ian and I did a paper chain (yes, 100 loops). He cut out all of the strips and did color selection. I drew lines and stapled. He has it hanging in his room. But for this special occasion, the teachers made special "100" hats for all the kids. They are just too cute.



Erin, in the meantime, has been occupied with shoes. And socks. But mainly shoes.
She tries on everyone's shoes. She likes the slip-ons. Sometimes she likes just walking in one shoe. Even Ian thinks it's funny when she stomps around wearing his cowboy boots, since they come above her knees.


The weather has been wonky. Warm one day, freezing at night, warm with a really chilly wind, cool at night. But tomorrow, it is forecasted to rain/snow. Hm. We'll see. Though no one is as skeptical as they were before the Ice Storm.




I have been painting. We went to Lowe's and bought some red paint so I could redo the kitchen cabinets. My kitchen seems to have adopted an apple theme and I really like it. I've never seen myself as a theme type of girl, but I really like my Appley kitchen. So much that I painted my cabinets (4 on the bottom, 4 on top and one drawer) apple red. After a couple of days of double-taking, I'm starting to get used to it. But then I had all this red paint left over. Even after 2 coats on the cabinets. So I decided to do the kitchen door (to the carport) to match. My HC suggested that I do the little carport porch and storage door too. So I did. And then we thought it would be nice if we did the front house trim (the strip of wood under the roof line all down the front). So I clung, white-knuckled, to a ladder and did that too. And the carport beams. And the front porch railing. But I'm not quite finished with that yet. So that's pretty crazy for me. Normally, it could be accredited to a mid-life crisis or some other relevant life passage. It's strangely exhilarating though. Maybe like wearing a bikini at the beach for the first time (but without the inevitable sunburn or strange tan lines). There's a certain freedom in escaping from the beige doldrums and making your own vibrant mark on your street. Now it's not the little brown house, it's the one with the bright red trim. I would take pictures of the front of the house, but it's dark outside. No matter what, though, it sure does perk things up a bit. Now Ian is waiting for us to do the floors in yellow.

Mismatching and Messes

I think the mismatching went rather well, don't you?? And of course we got to school and everyone else had on relatively normal clothes with mismatching socks. Go figure. The teachers had forgotten all about it and hadn't even worn their jeans.
But when we got Ian from school, we discovered Something Important in his folder.
REPORT CARDS!
It is his first report card and he didn't care one whit about it. HC got it first and was squinting at the tiny print and rows of skills and the corresponding letter. S = Satisfactory, W = Working on Skill, N = Needs Improvement.
There were 42 skills and only 2 Ns. For scissor using and for gluing/pasting correctly. There were 5 Ws. One of those was for skipping. Poor kid. THAT'S hereditary. Uncle Steven had a hard time skipping. I think it's one of those things he kinda skimmed over all his life, because I haven't seen him skipping since. Ian just said "The girls skip. I run fast." And that's all he had to say about that.
But the teacher left a comment in the comment section and I quote: "Ian is doing great this year. The things that he needs improvement on are due to his later birthday. I wouldn't worry about it; he will get it as he gets older."
There are a lot of kids who are already 5 or turning 5 all year. I'm not worried at all. The longer it takes for him to use scissors, the longer I don't have to worry about impromptu haircuts on dogs or little sisters.

For the ones who mismatch and stay home, we spent our day a little differently.

Erin was climbing where she shouldn't have been.








And making messes.


And I was following, trying to pick up. I'm not going to show an 'after' picture, because not much has changed.
And now I am going to turn the heaters back on. Because after our heat wave that got us up to the 50s today, it will be cooooold tonight. And I'm starting to feel it already.

Penelope Pig Picnic--Updated

Update below!


School is back in full swing. We've had homework: new words to learn, "Mother" and "Sally" and today some cutting with scissors to do. You know the world is changing when you have to explain to your 4 year old that Mother and Mom and Mama and Mommy all mean the same thing. He didn't question Sally as much as he questioned why we've been calling her "Baby" in every story until now.
But I digress.
Tomorrow is a special day because Ian's class will be having a Penelope Pig Picnic at lunch time. I can only assume that Penelope Pig is the character of a book they read during storytime. The whole class will be eating on old blankets in the classroom and there is a stipulation. The children have to bring their lunch and they have to bring items that start with the letter "P". Then the teacher gave a rather strict admonishment that I am curious about. She said to let the children think of their own "P" items.
So for the first half hour after I read Ian the letter from the teacher, he said "Popcorn." Boy are we SO glad for that Jiffy Pop that Gramma and Papaw got at Thanksgiving. It was really hard not to start barrelling off "P" items, but I got a brain wave. I told him to go find the popcorn and then look in the pantry and in the fridge for anything that started with "P". He got distracted halfway, so I had to steer him back to the pantry and help him find the popcorn.
He found some Peanut butter. Yay!
We went to the fridge. He found pickles. Yay! Yay! We looked for fruit that started with "P". He thought of peaches, but he couldn't find any. Mommy found a fruit cup that had peaches, pears and pineapple in it. I was a hero!
Then Ian asked for Punch juice to drink. We couldn't find any Juicy Juice Fruit Punch, which is what Punch juice is. But I did find some sugar-free Fruit Punch mix that we made up this afternoon.
I think Ian is more excited about taking his lunch box than anything else, though.
There were things that he thought of that did not make the cut like Peas, porkchops, peppers and a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. He opted for pbj instead, though I don't see anything wrong with my PB & P childhood favorite.
I did help, I admit it, but it was Ian's idea to put it into his lunch box. I made some Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars today, because we are out of everything sweet and my HC was starting to bang his head against the wall in despair.
And I stuck some peppermints in the lunch box too.
I can't wait to hear about it tomorrow. I am really waiting to see which parent sends a pomegranate or a passionfruit or a pulled pork sandwich on pumpernickel.

Update: The picnic was a great success, but the only thing Ian will tell me about is popcorn, peanut butter sandwiches and pickles. And now he wants pizza.
Oh and next week is Homecoming (again?!) and Monday is Mismatch Day. We'll see what Ian picks out.

Getting My Husband Out of Jail

Today was finally Saturday, the day of the Christmas parade and the school Winter Carnival. We bundled the kids up and walked to the town's main street (which is not Main Street, ironically. Main Street is a residential street that ends at the train tracks. Don't get me started on street names how half of them change names anyway if they do go over the tracks...). We only got a couple pieces of candy this time. Clearly we need to stick to the other side of the street. But we did see some cute little floats and some frozen kids from the local Head Start who were strangely catatonic for a trailer full of 3 year olds. This year there were only 11 fire trucks, as opposed to last year's 15 minutes worth. They only blared a little bit, thankfully. The band ended up playing at the end of the street where no people were (??) and not many people smiled or waved, but Ian didn't care. He really liked those fancy cars that had pretty girls on the tops. What? Girls? No, he liked the cars. And the truck that had bows all over it, but that was more of a mocking type of 'like'. But Ian saw Santa on the back of his fire engine and waved like a loon. We decided to skip the line of crazy, mean, rioting parents (and the innocent kids who just wanted to see Santa) and just see Santa at the school carnival.
We walked home from the parade, attacked the kids with tissues (that wind was Cooold) and drove to school. At first we weren't sure where to go, but then we found The Line. The Ticket Line, to be exact. And it was a whole lot longer than it looked from outside, but it did happen to snake past the water fountain and the bathrooms, so that was good. We finally got to the table. The tickets were 25 cents a piece, most activities took 2 tickets. Santa and the concession stand took cash. Excuse me? Santa is HOW MUCH? $5 for a picture with Santa? No personal photos at all? They let Ian and Erin talk to Santa (a REAL looking Santa with the real hair and beard and little belly! He was such a nice guy.) and sit on his lap, but it was a let down that we didn't have the money to pay for pictures. Ian chattered away to him and had to give him 2 hugs. sniff sniff. Erin wasn't so sure and would only get close if Daddy held her. Maybe we'll go on over to the mall and get some pictures there. Because we sure missed the freebie after the parade. Sheesh.
We talked to Ian's teachers for a bit and I admired their camera (it was so beautiful; Rachel, go ahead and drool).
Then we hit the games. Most of the games were 2 tickets. We did the Alphabet pond (think Duck Pond, but with floating letters) and the bean bag toss, where Ian kicked booty (clearly he got his coordination from my better half). Then we did the Yum Yum tree, where you pick a sucker out of the tree. If the stick has a mark on it, you get a special prize, but none of ours did, so we got to keep the sucker and get a piece of candy for trying. There was a kissing booth, where you closed your eyes and chose a Hershey kiss from a bowl. If you chose a red or green one (most of them were silver) you got a prize. Ian picked a green one, but he was more interested in eating the kiss. He still picked out a prize. And he got a stamp on his hand (he looked horrified when they offered to put it on his cheek) of a red kiss (kissing booth, get it?). There was a Pop Walk (pop as in Coke), where you do musical numbers. When the music stops, you stand on a number. If they draw your number, you get a 2-liter bottle of soda. Ian won on his second try. There was another, harder bean bag toss that Ian kicked booty at and won a beanie baby. Erin stole it and wouldn't give it back. It was a cat. She hugged it and talked to it for the rest of the afternoon. Then Ian got a spare at the bowling booth and got another beanie baby, a hammerhead shark this time. He hit the fishing booth and the cake walk (no luck there) and we started hearing the loudspeaker announcing that there were "warrants" for certain people. We had noticed a little corner that had been made up into a jail. With bars and everything, and two little old guys dressed up like cowboy sheriff's with badges, red bandanas and cowboy hats. It was great. Evidently, for one ticket (1 Ticket!) you could 'issue a warrant' for anyone of your choice. Then a 'deputy' would go find this person and escort them to jail, where they would serve their 2 minutes. We were getting Ian's face painted (I sneaked over to the concession stand to get a drink) when my HC's name was called over the loudspeaker. There was a dead silence, then a lot of laughing and vengeful snickering. I wasn't too happy because he transferred all the candy, prizes and 2-liter bottle over to me to hold and I was already holding Erin. He went and did his two minutes. When he got back, he counted our remaining tickets and started figuring how many people he could get into jail for paybacks. Later, we were standing in line at the cookie decorating table (4 tickets got you a huge Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookie, a little tub of green icing with a popsicle stick spreader and another tub of sprinkles, stars and a small red licorice string). Of course it took an ice age or more for all the kids to get it done, but it was so cute. Ian was working hard on his when the deputy went and got my HC AGAIN. This time he was really contemplating revenge. That jail was only about 3x3 and it was pretty full almost the whole time. I think a lot of people went by a few times just so they could laugh at my poor HC. He was giving the evil eye a lot, too. hehehe.
Funny part: Ian was decorating his cookie and there were two little girls across from him. One of them was in his class and they were chatting. She was having a hard time finishing her tree because she kept tasting the contents of her little tub of 'decorations.' Her friend kept tasting the icing. We had helped Ian with his icing so he could place every tiny sprinkle (clearly we would have been there for hours otherwise!) and he found his little candy star and put it at the top of the tree. The little girl in his class looked at Ian's star, then looked at her friend's star on her tree and then started digging around in her little container looking for it. "Where's my star?" she asked. Her friend crowded in to help her look. Ian glanced over, then resumed sprinkle placement. "Where's my star?" she repeated a few more times, each time more shrilly. She dumped the entire contents onto her paper plate, but to no avail. Her star was not there. Big gasp from her friend. "I don't see a star," I said, willing to go ask the teacher for another one to avoid a disaster. She took a deep breath. I cringed. "I guess I ate it," she said in a normal voice, and went back to decorating her cookie. After a minute, I laughed my head off.


Finally my Cute Convict got out of jail and raided my pockets for remaining money. He bought more tickets and used them all to place his acquaintances (anyone who could have possibly done it to him) in jail. Then we left.
Ian was not pleased. He really wanted to stay and play everything again. I just wanted to put Erin down and go to the bathroom.
Ian wasted no time in eating his cookie (though he did share a small chunk with Erin). I'm just glad that everyone is out of jail.

Okay Pumpkin?

This past weekend was the Weekend of the Pumpkin. I had gotten a couple of small cooking pumpkins and let Ian decorate them to drippy splendor with his Crayola markers because he was very disappointed that these weren't his promised jack-o-lanterns. Saturday morning was The Morning.


I carefully followed the instructions on the Pioneer Woman website and lopped the stems off and cut them in quarters. Then came the fun part of getting the seeds and strings off. Ian was not so enthusiastic about this part, but he still helped. The chunks were cleaned and baked and then baked some more. Then they were skinned and stuck in the food processor and made about 8 cups of pumpkin puree. Go away Libby's! I don't need you anymore! I have Home Made Pumpkin Puree! It is stacked nicely in my freezer by cupful in baggies. :D
Sunday afternoon, after I finally finished chiseling dried pumpkin strings, etc off of every conceivable surface (evidently Ian had a BUNCH of fun helping), I decided to try out pumpkin pie. My only problem was the recipe. I had a great recipe in my big folder of recipes, but someone (cough cough) had messed with the computer before the recipe was printed off and instead of 2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of ginger (or whatever) there was 4^%2346549822 tsp cinnamon, 233%$#@&&$@23354 tsp of ginger.
Chaos ensued.

Then I remembered that there was a pumpkin pie recipe on the one can of Libby's pumpkin puree that I had left in the pantry.
So I used that one and the can it came on...I guess I'm saving my puree for the next one.
*Update*: Since the above portion was written, there is now nothing left of said pumpkin pie but a tiny sliver. It is for my HC when he gets home; sort of a little pick me up after he sees the empty pie plate in the sink. ;)



Tomorrow is Ian's first field trip to his teacher's farm/dairy. They will be back by lunch time, but he is more excited, I think, about getting to ride the bus than he is about seeing a farm. We'll see, I guess.

"Don't Wanna Go To School Today!"

Today was the first time I heard this momentous phrase. And I'm positive that it won't be the last. But we got tears dried and the nose wiped and plopped him on his bike for the ride to school anyway. He didn't want to get up this morning and he didn't want to wear those pants and he didn't like those shoes and he wanted fruit snacks for First Breakfast. And when I said no to the fruit snacks, that's when the outburst occurred.
I didn't want to get up either. I don't think anyone did because it's all cloudy outside. We are supposed to be getting rain for the next 4 or 5 days. And hello Ike.
On a happier note, a week or two ago (I have no clue as to the passage of time due to recent illness and many sleepless nights) we went to the grand opening of the town's new ambulance building (it was privately owned, but the town decided that it needed its own ambulance, so they bought it). We went to it and got a tour of everything and got to see the inside of the ambulance.



I think Ian was expecting to see blood or something because he spent a long time in there and then he asked if he could drive it. But he couldn't find anyone that would give him the keys....



Afterwards, we didn't feel like going home yet because it had turned into a nice day, so we went for a drive. And we ended up here:


Ian really had fun and didn't want to leave. We threw a whole bunch of rocks in and put leaves on one side and ran to the other side of the little bridge and waited to see the leaves come through. It was fun.



Erin and I took a more spectator-like approach, though we did get to splash some. I tried to stand on a rock in the middle while I was holding her, but it turned out to be deceiving and unstable and we almost fell in. I got my shoe wet in any case.



Now we have decided that we need to find a stream and camp out beside it. We have talked about going camping in the fall (hello? is it fall yet?) when it gets cooler, using one of my HC's sick days. But it gets trickier and trickier when you add in school days and days off and then the weather.
But we'll see. I'm sure that Ian wouldn't mind taking a day off of school to sleep outside and play in a stream. Nope, I don't think he'd mind it at all.

Is it Friday Yet?

Ian was a little more excited about going to school this morning. I guess yesterday was rough on him because it was raining and they couldn't go play on the playground. Evidently the whole class had a hard time with it. He had to change his color a couple of times yesterday, but his teachers assure me that every day is better. They have the equivalent of a stoplight for their behavior, I think. If they're naughty, they change the color to yellow. If they're still naughty they get red and if they're naughty after that, they get a note home. (*"Bad kids have to go to the office," I was informed by a whispering Ian) If they are good all day or redeem themselves from the yellow, they get a sticker on their behavior chart. When the chart is full, they get a little surprise from the treasure chest. I think it will be a while until then. My little guy just has SO much energy.

Erin is teething, along with her cold/allergies. So there's slobber everywhere. She has learned to give kisses (mouth wide open, goober city) and Ian has learned to flee whenever she gets the urge to kiss him. Evidently, the thought of cold slobber oozing from her face to his makes him gag. Who knew he had such a sensitive stomach? (How did he get it?)

We are also in the process of refurbishing Ian's bike. It was a hand-me-down, to see if he would actually ride it. Chris spray painted it black yesterday and now we are looking for a new back tire, a new seat and a bell for the handlebars. I guess if they don't have cars to spruce up, bikes work just as well?

I just want him to have a helmet. Don't get all gaspy on me, no one here wears a helmet, so we will be breaking ground. No one puts their kids in carseats either, but that has never been an option for us. My HC is quite the advocate and writes a lot of car seat tickets.

Today is picture day for school. It took Ian a lot of deliberation to pick out his outfit. They told us to wear bright colors. He ended up wearing a red, white and black little basketball outfit that he got for his birthday last year. We are definitely getting plenty of wear out of these nice clothes! It's great.

Ian is also excited that Daddy doesn't have to work today or tomorrow and then it will be Saturday. He's glad about that. :D And so is Daddy.

Right now my HC is at a mandatory class for the police department, learning about some kind of online report writing that no one is interested in. Overtime is overtime, though.

Erin is up from her nap and shouting her displeasure at being made to wait. Is it just me or has August gone by SO fast??

News from School

It was Ian's first Monday of school. He hemmed and hawed about school being too long and how much he'd miss us, but he really likes riding his little bike to school. He hugged and kissed both of us and sat on his little spot on the rug. Then he zeroed in on the screen and we ceased to exist. After school, Erin and I picked him up (my HC is on a 3-11 shift during weekdays! ugh!) and we got a huge hug. Then he sped off towards home with us following in his dust. Thank the Lord for STOP signs or we might not have caught up.
He got some down time at home and played and snacked and took his shoes off. But the really sweet time didn't come until after bedtime, when Erin was ensconced in her crib and Ian was lying in bed and didn't want me to leave the room.
So I sat on the floor next to the bed and we talked. The neatest thing about the kids getting older is the way they get older. They get more expressive and opinionated and have more interesting likes and dislikes and finally one day they can tell you WHY. And I love how Ian and Erin both have their own unique sense of humor. Erin laughs her head off when you get her making loud kissy noises. Or if you make funny faces or put something on your head, like a cup or a book or anything, really. Ian was harder to amuse at that age and ended up mostly giving you a "what planet are you from?" look.
Late Saturday night, Ian had an incident and I went into his room to help him change his pjs and his sheets. He immediately curled up on the floor and dozed until I was finished. I put his bed back together (not the most convenient time to have a bed tent....sigh) and tucked him back in. I was tip toeing out of his room and tripped (naturally) over a toy. I had a 1960 [or whatever] Cadillac permanently imprinted on the bottom of one foot, thank you very much, and I was trying to get out of his room and into the living room where I could make a little more noise and examine the damage done to my foot. I staggered out into the hallway and heard some noisy giggles. I crept back into his room and Ian's eyes were still closed. "Ian," I asked. "What are you laughing about?" More giggling. Some impressive eyerolling on my part. "That was funny," he said clearly. "What was funny?" "Mommy stepped on a toy." Then he turned over and went straight to sleep.
I wasn't laughing until then. His reaction was funny to me, though I have to admit, I prefer the painless amusement of girls. It seems like boys laugh the hardest when someone gets hurt, slips, falls off of something or chases them making weird noises.
Oh well. I guess that's what Daddies are for. To pretend to (or really) get hurt, slip, fall off of something and chase them making weird noises and not get their feelings hurt when the little guy rolls around on the floor and laughs until his little face turns blue.

Back to tonight. I was sitting on the floor beside the bed and he was in a mood to talk. We talked about school and how many days until Friday. Today was the 3rd day of Pre-K and already we have all of the weekends on his calendar marked with smiley faces.
Then I started asking questions and he started giving answers. This is what I found out:

• He had chocolate milk for breakfast. And carrots and broccoli (uh....).
• He had chocolate milk for lunch and applesauce.
• He had crackers for snack time.
• He played with play-doh and made something (not sure what it was he said he made, but appropriate oohing and nodding ensued).
• They had a craft today and traced their hand. A Hershey kiss was glued to the top of the paper and eaten as soon as we got home.
• One kid cried because he wanted to go home.
• A girl cried because her band-aid came off.
• PE was great, but Ian got time out because he was running around in circles when he was supposed to be sitting still.
• Mrs. Williams gets mad when no one listens (snigger snigger).
• Mrs. England is nice and he likes her a lot. She gets to hold his hand (his words).
• Ian played on the race track on the playground (and from the amount of mulch in his tennis shoes, he had a great time).
• They read a story today about a spoon and a bowl and they played and it was funny but no one laughed but Ian (he is SO my kid). (Obviously, the other kids were not paying attention properly.)
• Nap time is long.
• Ian has friends and they are boys and girls. I asked him what their names were and he garbled off some unintelligible stuff. I assume he doesn't quite know their names yet.
• I asked him if they sang any songs and he said yes. He then proceeded to chirp out a tune. I think it's a new song for him because he sounds like I do when I try to sing along to 80s music. "Take On Me....take me oooooh....I'll be whooooo, shweee oh WHEEEEEEE" is just an example of how I may sound. I trust Ian will learn the words and more of the tune soon so I can figure it out. Otherwise I can predict a frustrating time for him next time we sing songs and he wants me to sing that one....eeek.
• He did admit that they knew the Wheels on the Bus, but they don't sing the Whale Song. I am appeased.
• We also made up a new kind of kiss. There is a normal smacky kiss, a nose kiss (he has NO clue what an eskimo kiss is and I have been told that it is not PC to call it that [get a grip!], butterfly kisses (my HC is much better at it than I am, since his eyelashes (and Ian's....and Erin's) are at least 4 inches long) and a new one. Take note. Elephant kisses. This is where we rub our ears together and flap them around some. It was Ian's idea and I thought it was brilliant. Elephants could do it if they really wanted to. But that is now a favorite and never fails to bring a smile out.

Then it was time to go to sleep and I was dismissed. After a last drink, a tuck-in, a kiss to Bunny, tucking in Elmo, simulating Elmo snoring, helping Elmo get tucked in under the blanket for a blanket snuggle and one last kiss. Then I tip toed out. And I didn't even step on any toys. And Monday is over.

First Day of School--part 2

The end of the day, and my little munchkin was still smiling.






It seems the best part of the day was playing and having chocolate milk for breakfast and for lunch. Though he did say something about 'tatoes at lunchtime.

The first thing he did when we got home was to take off those hot shoes and socks. He also told us he wanted to go back tomorrow, so that's a relief. :D



My HC talked to the teacher, who said he was good, except at nap time he didn't want to be quiet and had to lie down next to the teacher's desk. whoops. We also got a copy of the classroom rules and such and it looks like Ian will have a challenge ahead of him. I will use quiet walking feet. If I don't make it, I won't break it. I will use a quiet inside voice. Those are just a few that may be a challenge for him to conquer.
Big sigh of relief! We made it through the first day!

First Day of School!

It has come. [cue sound effects] The first day of school and we were so excited! Chris teased me about taking so many pictures on the way to school that you could use it as a flip book, but I only took, uh....20? And so what if the school is two or three blocks away?

As you can see, it went very well. Ian is so excited and boy are we praying for the teachers. Only saw a couple of kids in his class sniffling and only one huge drawn out scene with a sobbing [albeit toothless] mother (?) and a very upset sobbing-more child who was removed from his mother by a teacher and herded inside the classroom.

As you can see, Ian was directed to his place on the rug and was at once mesmerized by the pull down screen with the program on. School announcements? He said he'd miss me, gave me a half hug and that was it. Mommy ceased to exist. He's going to have so much fun! I could tell it was weird for him to leave the house without breakfast. That will take some getting used to. He was too excited to pee before we left too (eeeek).

The walk home was strange too. What are we forgetting? Oh yeah, the noisy one. I did not cry. Chris kept saying things to make me laugh and Erin just looked confused (Chris says 'peaceful'). She will now enjoy free reign of the toys until 2:45. So thanks for all the prayers. I'm doing fine. And I'm sure Ian is too. Can't wait to hear about his day later. And I can't wait to hear what he has to say about the school food! Hahahaha.

Erin was not upset at all by the prospect of playing alone.

Walking to school on Lake Street. That building is the bus barn.

Don't we look perky at 7:55am??

Ian is enjoying his status as a walker and not a stroller-rider.

Ian decides to run ahead to get the lay of the land.

He gets a little too far ahead and is called back.

Erin is still wondering at all the commotion. See the stroller loaded down with school stuff?

Now we are going into the doors of the school.

After all that running, Ian needs a drink out of the water fountain. It has steps just for little guys like him, but he needs help pushing the button.

We found Ian's classroom. Lining the hallway are all the cubbies. We find his name andput all his stuff in.

This is after I said goodbye. He is sitting next to the monkey with his name on it. Everyone is getting a name tag. I heard the teacher say that they get a fun sticker if they can keep their name tag on until the end of the day. I wonder how long Ian's will last?? :D