Crazy Hair Day

This morning during breakfast, The Brain was sporting a nice "fro" as his hair was just drying from his bath. Honey Bear thought it looked great but, I was hoping for a more put together look for my children. So we went to the bathroom to tame his locks.

While combing I remembered, "Oh no!!!! It's Crazy Hair/Hat day.... I almost forgot!"

Too late to leave the "fro" so we spiked it. Then Honey Bear suggested we comb down just one side. The Brain loved it. But, he started crying. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Last year on Pajama Day you forgot, and I was the only kid wearing regular clothes."

He had never said anything at the time. I guess it really scared him. Good thing I remembered the special school day this fall... even though we almost missed it. I've got some flakiness from last year to make up for, apparently.

Mr. Fingers was to wear a hat since he has not much hair. When Honey Bear suggested we shave him a mo-hawk, Mr. Fingers loved that idea. We didn't have much time at this point... but we quickly got out the shaver and went to work. Honey Bear was the barber, and for some reason it wasn't working. So he just shaved all of his hair off. Good thing Mr. Fingers can pull off that look.

It was cold, but that isn't why he was crying. He didn't want to go to school. He doesn't want to go to school every morning, and every morning he cries. When I ask him why, he tells me that school is boring. Then he comes home, and has always had a wonderful day and loves school again. He's driving me crazy. I don't know what to do with that one.

We brought his hat just in case, and he decided that he wanted to wear it. At this point he has seen other kids wearing crazy hats, and sporting crazy hair, and has almost decided that he likes school again. Go figure.

Walk

Fact: 800 steps from my front door to the neighborhood elementary school.

Fact: 1 am Kinder, plus 1 all day 2nd grader, equals 3 round trips to the neighborhood elementary school.

Fact: 4800 steps, or 42 minutes spent in my on foot commuting daily.

Fact: watch out, at step #680 there is dog dukie on the sidewalk... has been there for over week now.

The Snake is my ever faithful commuting buddy. Even though the stroller he rides in is cheap (and broken) he still looks forward to our numerous trips to the school on foot.

This is my token ugly mom sweater. I love it, but it embarrasses the children.... maybe I love it BECAUSE it embarrasses the children.

Here is some of the view that I enjoy.

Some moms feel like chauffeurs, driving kids around all day. No, I feel more like a pioneer. I just need a bonnet, an apron, and forget the stroller - I should just throw the Snake in a handcart.

This is what I do. I walk. Sometimes I sing while I do it:

"I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more..."

"Walk this way... da da da da da Walk this way" (I don't actually know that song, I just fake it.)

"Pioneer children sang as they walked, and walked, and walked, and walked."

"Walk tall your a daughter, a child of God."

"Walk like an Egyptian."

This is a fun game, I could keep going. If you think of any good "Walking" songs, post them below.

White Belt No More

It was a dark and stormy afternoon. All of the students were nervous about the big day of belt advancement exhibition. None so nervous as the newest member of the Karate group.... Big Brother.

The crash of a thunder clap rattled the rafters as Big Bro. stood up in front of the sea of spectators. From somewhere deep inside, Big Brother found a reserve of strength and confidence that he didn't know he had. With an intense focus, he faced his Sensae, and preformed like he had never preformed before.

He punched

He kicked

He blocked

He counted in Japanese... and all were amazed by the prodigy Karate Kid that they were privileged to witness.



Then, with the crowed stunned, and amazed... Big Brother preformed the greatest feat of all. He approached a block of wood, resting calmly on top of two cinder blocks.

That poor block of wood. It did live a happy, and peaceful life as any piece of wood would. That is, until Big Brother came along.


HIIIIIIIIIGHHHHH YAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Now, the block of wood is no more.

The belt that was once white, is white no more. Today is the dawn of a new era. Today is the day of.....

YELLLLLLOOOOWWWW BELT!

Lil Sis, you're too cute ;)

Congratulations Big Brother! We are all so proud of you.

The Mean Kid

I'm sorry, but this is a GREAT story!

Friday was Mr. Fingers kindergarten interview (that's when the teacher does a little skills assessment and Mr. Fingers gets to see his classroom). She let us find his desk and we looked at the name of the kid he would be sitting next to.

"Oh, look... you sit next to insert kid's name," I said.

To which Mr. Fingers replied, "I don't like insert kid's name. He's mean."

Well, I was a little embarrassed at this point that my kid was passing judgments on someone he hadn't even met yet, in front of his new teacher. "You don't know insert kid's name yet, I'm sure he is a nice kid," I quickly assured.

On the way home Mr. Fingers told me that insert kids name was in his pre-school class and that he was always hitting, pushing, and yelling at all the kids. I let him know that we live in a very large town, and it most likely is a different kid with that name.

First day of school rolled around and I sat down Mr. Fingers at his desk and gave him a hug before I left. As I was leaving insert kid's name sat down and his dad said something that made my jaw drop.

"OK, insert kid's name. You're going to be nice this year and not mean, right?"

Turns out it was the same kid! His parting word to his son totally confirmed poor Mr. Finger's story. What a laugh!!! Hopefully insert kid's name won't be a mean kid this year :)


Here he is, the Big Kindergartner:


It was so cute when they all lined up, waiting to go to their classes for the first time. The all looked absolutely petrified.



Finally, every one's in school. Staggering the first days makes a first day of school picture difficult, but I still got one.

This kid...

So, Mr. Fingers walks into my room wearing a different set of clothes then what he was wearing earlier, and brown marker all over his face.

My first reaction was frustration. "You are old enough now to use a marker with out getting it all over yourself," I said.

He just looks at me.

"Why have you changed your clothes?" I asked. "That isn't what you were wearing a minute ago."

He just looks at me.

"Go wash off....." -then it hits me.

"Are you pretending to be The Brain?" I asked.

He nods his head.

Then I laughed.

Big, Big Day

Today was actually the "Second Day, of Second Grade (clap, clap)" - sorry, Veggie Tales song...

Yesterday was the BIG DAY!!! We have been waiting for this day and it FINALLY CAME!!!

When we were back to school shopping, I tried so hard to pick out some clothes that I thought were nice, but I'm a mom... what do I know about fashion these days???? (apparently not much). As far as shirts go, he was only interested in the ones that had "kids stuff" printed on them. That's why on the first day of school, my son is wearing a Bakugan shirt.... sheesh.

He sat down and got to work right away on the Frog name tag that was sitting at his desk. On the way to school we were talking about what he might learn in the 2nd grade. He was excited to learn new math skills, and not to mention all the interesting books he would be reading this year.

I think The Brain was disappointed at the end of the day when he hadn't learned any long division yet... I told him that, "First days are usually filled with a lot of house keeping kinds of things."



But, for breakfast we had birthday cake! (there was also fruit and sausage links mom). It was 'lil sis's birthday!! She turned 5 years old. I had this brilliant idea to make her a scooby-do cake with little scooby-do dolls on it. Well, I put a layer of marshmallow spread in between the two cake layers and.... we had a bit of a landslide.

Not to worry, Scooby and the Gang all stayed safe from harm. Even though it wasn't the best looking cake ever made, it still tasted great... that is the point, isn't it???? And she sure loved her Scooby toys, in addition to all of her other gifts.

Happy Birthday Girly!!!




As far as first days of school goes, that's one down. Lil Sis starts pre-school today. Big Bro. goes to private school and starts tomorrow. Finally, Mr. Fingers will start Kindergarten on Monday. Then, my college classes start on the 28th... can't we all just get our routine going already??? I'm getting antsy....

Summer Eulogy

A reverent silence falls over those attending Summer's funeral service, as Bug approaches the podium.

It is hard not to morn the loss of our dear friend... summer 2009. So, instead of tears of sadness, we are shedding tears of joy, as we remember the good times we shared.

There was the wonderful trip we took the the Osborn Aquatic Center. I can still feel the burn in my leg muscles from having to climb the stairs to the water slide over, and over, and over again, as The Little Snake would cheerfully exclaim "AGAIN," when we would finally splash into the pool. Summer, by this time our friendship had grown to the point that we didn't even need - sniff, sniff - to put sunblock on anymore; thanks to our nicely browned skin. For that, we thank you.

Your delicious treats, dear summer, though quickly eaten/slurped, will not quickly be forgotten. You even taught us how to share... so that everyone could partake of your Hawaiian Shaved goodness.

And every day at noon, we would walk the single block's length, down to the elementary school for our free lunch. Because a Bug refuses to pay for something she can get for free. Then we would gather on the back porch and eat Popsicles to our hearts delight.

Thank you summer, for the beautiful days at the park (a single tear drop falls onto the podium). For allowing scene and scenarios, where our imagination could take us to so many interesting, playful, and beautiful places.

Time spent with summer wouldn't be complete, with out a couple trips to our favorite swimming hole.

Even with out the kids, Summer provided exciting adventures.
Like, riding on an Elephant at Mary's Peak.

How we look forward to the day when we will once again be reunited. When we can splash, and climb, and slurp, all in your warm summer's sun.

Oh Summer, how you will be missed!!! But now is not a time for such sadness. We are looking on to new horizons, with back packs, newly sharpened pencils, brand new sneakers, and smart new hair cuts, we march on... into the next phase of our life... Fall.

Over the I-5 and past Portland...

.... to Granny's and Pooh-Pa's we go.

What fun we had at their house this summer!!!

Pooh-Pa took the two older boys (and their begging mother) for rides on his motorcycle. :)!!!!!
If only you could see Mr. Finger's face. It isn't possible for his smile to cover any more square footage.


Also, we learned that it isn't kosher to wave at people from a bike. Bikers have their own way of acknowledging other people's presence on the road.




No trip to Tumwater is complete without a trip to the Falls. This was just one little water fall on the side... there are much, much, bigger ones to be seen. There are also lots of rocks that need to be thrown back in the river (the boys were kind enough to oblige). Also, they found a secret hide out in some really cool trees. We love this place.

One of the best parts of the trip was this little cutie pie. He was scared from the sound of the motorcycle starting up right next to him. Don't worry, his cries last all of 0.005 seconds. He lets out one really loud yelp, then he's done.

He's so cute.

I love my nephew!

I guess The Brain has a maternal, nurturing side to him. He may look like he's more interested in The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody then his cousin, but when I asked him if I could have a turn he flatly refused.

We also had a lot a fun at the bowling alley. Can you guess who this is "bowling his Brain's out?"

This trip was actually a couple of weeks ago... I got a little behind in my blogging. Since summer is wrapping up I thought I should do a little catch up.

Remembering my TERRIBLE, ROTTEN, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Every mom has this day. Hopefully not very many. The Lucky few only have a couple. My friend who I lovingly refer to as my twin, had one yesterday. Her story reminded my of my TERRIBLE, ROTTEN, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY that I had one Halloween, a couple of years ago. If I don't write about it I'll probably forget it. And that was a day that deserves to be remembered.

I had such high hopes for that day, when the sun came up that morning. I had planned out the perfect Halloween. Here was the plan:

Noon - After lunch dress the boys up in their costumes and go down town to trick or treat
The Brain was ready to be - Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) He had a red over sized shirt that I drew black stripes on, black shorts, red converse all star sneakers, and a little tiger beanie baby for Hobbes. We were going to spike his hair.
Mr. Fingers was to be - Denise the Menise. He had a white t-shirt that I had drawn red stripes on, overalls, and a sling shot for his back pocket.
The Snake was a little baby, with a big, bald, perfectly round, head. He was to be - Charlie Brown. We had the classic yellow Charlie Brown shirt for him, black sweats, a stuffed snoopy for him to carry, and the best of all... we were going to paint the classic Charlie Brown squiggle hair on the back of his head.

I know, so cute.

2:30 - Get back from trick or treating down town, so I could start the dinner in a pumpkin. Never done one before. Looked like it took lots of time, so I wanted to give myself the afternoon to make it.

5:00 - Eat dinner (the FABULOUS dinner in a pumpkin)

6:30 - Attend the Trunk or Treat at the Church

7:00 - allow the children to have a couple of pieces of candy

8:00 - send happy children to bed

That would have been a nice day. But here is what really happened:

Things went south when the boy's dad (my then husband) called to say he had an appointment and wouldn't be home 'till a little later. I told him we would wait for him, so we could go down town trick or treating together as planned. Well, he didn't roll through the door 'till 2:30.

In the mean time, the afternoon was melt down central. Mr. Fingers, and The Snake refused to wear their costumes. They were acting like they were afraid of them or something. So after MUCH fuss, I finally caved on every one being matchy matchy, and let them be what they wanted to be for the day. Mr. Fingers ended up being a football player, and the Snake was Yoda (costumes that were kicking around my dress up box). When my ex finally came home, we headed off to the down town event.

When we got back things got really exciting. I caved AGAIN and let them have one piece of candy when we walked through the door. I put The Snake in his high chair with a sucker and started on dinner (it is now 4:30 and dinner takes and hour to bake... UGGG!).

The Snake dropped his sucker.

I picked it up and rinsed it off, then gave it back.

Then he got it stuck in the few wisps of hair on his baby head.

Fine, I went and put him in the bathtub.

While the water was running, Mr Fingers runs into the bathroom screaming. He had a splinter in his finger from the wood in the window seal. I couldn't get it out with my fingers, I needed a needle. I told him to wait in the bathroom.

I came back with the needle and a lighter to sterilise it. When I lite the flame, Mr. Fingers screamed bloody murder and ran down the hall crying, "Don't burn my finger off."

Completely exasperated at this point, I realize I need to turn off the water in The Snake's tub. I turn to him and see... that he has pooped in the tub and is eating it.

I sat down in the middle of the bathroom and cried.

Once I came to my senses, I had "Dad" take care of Mr. Finger's finger, I got the baby all cleaned up. Now it is 5:00.

I finally started to make dinner... I was so determined to make that blasted dinner in a pumpkin (I should have just sent "Dad" to McDonald's or something)

6:30 rolls around and dinner wasn't out of the oven yet, so I sent the two older boys with their Dad to the Trunk or Treat at the Church.

They got home, and we ate my DINNER IN A PUMPKIN at 8:00. Because dinner was so late, the kids had eaten so much candy... bed time was impossible.

What did I learn from that day?
-Dinner in a Pumpkin is dang yummy... especially if your determined to eat it, and like it.
-I don't get to pick out what my kids are for Halloween (even when my idea is better)
-don't sterilize the needle in front of the patient
-Babies don't die when they eat their own fesses
-The best laid plans.... oh you know the rest.

Quarantine.. and something else.

Since we had all the kids the last couple of days and The Snake had a cold, I kept him in our room at night sleeping on the floor. Guess what??? He was sleeping on my side of the bed and I'm sick now too. So we kicked Honey Bear out last night, and set up camp in my room. We had the humidifier going, we were vapor rubbed, had our night time sneezing, coughing, stuffy head, fever, aching, so you can rest, medicine... and of course our essential night time companions.

The Snake is not a very good bed mate. It is hard to tell a kid to shut it and go back to sleep when they are singing in their sweet little 3 year old voice, "I am a Child of God." He then proceeded to talk to his stuffed friends. I looked at the clock and it was 3:30 a.m. I have new found appreciation for Mr. Fingers complaints about The Snake keeping him up at night.

Also, I think The Brain has been spending too much time STUDYING - that's right, not reading, STUDYING! his Calvin and Hobbes comic books. This morning Mr. Fingers came to me and asked for fifty cents. I said, "What do you want, a pop?" ... that's how much one cost back in my day. "No" he said, "I need it so I can buy some insurance from The Brain."

Well, that sounded interesting. So I gave him the quarters, and he came back and showed me his receipt.

That isn't what bothers me most. Yesterday, I had the boys sit down at the table and said, "School is starting next week and your teacher may ask you to draw a self portrait. So we are going to practice."

I was a little concerned when The Brain finished and showed me his...