School Pictures!

What parent doesn't love having their child's sweet smile documented year to year in the form of school pictures? Especially when said child's good nature and happy demeanor are so wonderfully showcased.


Unfortunately, that is not the case in our family. I present to you SP's kindergarten school picture:

I had been unconvinced that I wanted to pay money for the school pictures. When they sent home the proofs, I was sure!

This year, I didn't even consider buying them. Which is fortunate because this is what I have to commemorate first grade:

Fun to Share! Great for Gifts! Who wouldn't love to re-size that picture to portrait size and hanging it over the fireplace?

Sicko

I got a call from the school the other day. Seems SP's lunch made him sick and he wanted to come home. We've talked a few times about being sick this year and I had told him that when he is sick, I will come get him and then he will come home and have a nap. However, this particular day, I had a playdate set up for MKIA so that I could get my hair done. So I decided that I would go get him and then he could go with me to my hair appointment and keep himself entertained while MKIA went to play with his friend. I had one disappointed little boy on my hands when he realized that he was not coming home to play with MKIA and that he also would be missing the playdate that he had set up for after school with his friend. He argued rather eloquently that I could leave him home and he would be fine if I let him play Lego Batman while I was gone. He presented his argument with passion and theatrical displays but the judge was heartless and ruled against him anyway. He wasn't happy about the outcome but behaved himself admirably while I was getting my hair done.

I'm still not convinced that he was really sick because of the absence of symptoms. I think it was more of a case of testing what would happen if he did actually call home sick and I think that he will be sure that he is sick before he calls home again.

The Circle of Life

SP brought home some school-work that I found interesting. He is learning about animals and their habitats and food. The assignment was to draw his favorite animal. This is what he chose:

(brown bear, not bran bar although bran bars are very interesting animals!)

Notice the detailing on the teeth and claws!



Next, he was asked to draw the type of food that this animal eats:

(humans)

Of course this human is going to be eaten - his legs are way too short to run away effectively!


Not only is my son an excellent artist, but he has a firm grasp on his placement within the food chain!

Cuz We're Rednecks!

The Mister was gone over the weekend so the boys and I partied. There was a demolition derby on Saturday and of course we went. The Mister doesn't really enjoy such low-brow entertainment but we sure did! We had a moment of unpleasantness at the beginning when a couple of cool guys were talking rather loudly during the national anthem but enough of us turned around to glare at them that we finally shamed them to silence.

And then the real fun began!

We had flames

We had explosive radiators

And even geysers! Who needs Yellowstone when you can see geysers at the Demolition Derby?

Gotta keep that door closed somehow!

I wonder if the brick pattern helps reinforce the vehicle, making it less susceptible to damage?

Perhaps they should have continued the brick theme on the tires because that one's not looking so good!

There were alot of interesting after-market mods to most of the engines.

more mods

I really liked the hose hanging out of the front of this one!

more mods

more mods

Isn't that sweet!



This car took the most abuse I have ever seen! I didn't get very good pictures of the "Bash to Last" because it was too dark but I wish you could have seen how mangled this car was by the end.

Ooops! Someone lost a tire!



Guess they don't need that tire after all!



SP called this station wagon (#7) the Death Wagon because it just kept pummeling the other cars and never seemed to take any damage.

What Will I Do?

SP just had his 6th birthday. It was slightly surreal to realize that he is getting so big. He is so smart and responsible! He learned so much in kindergarten. And next year he'll be gone all day! What will NT and I do without him??

Now NT's birthday is coming up and he will be four. Soon he will quit garbling everything he says that makes me laugh so much. Today he started singing one of his Primary songs. I know you know it so sing along - "If you're happy in your nose, clap your hands!" Another favorite is "Eeny, meeny, no, no, no." I need to be better about writing these things down so I don't forget them.

I love being a mother to these boys. It's not always perfect but I always love it!

BTW, now that NT is turning four, I probably can't call him the Naughty Toddler anymore. So if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Tractor-Field Day

Today was Track and Field Day at SP's school. Or "tractor-field" day as SP calls it. It was also Crazy-Hair Day. SP has been really in need of a haircut and so I cut it and then styled it. I think it turned out rather nicely, but I'll let you be the judge:

As an added bonus, you can see the traces of watermelon still on his cheek!

He wouldn't let me cut any narrower down the sides - he kept complaining that the clippers were pulling his hair. During NT's haircut, I discovered that I had the blade speed set too low.

When we got home from taking SP to school, NT decided it was his turn.

I discovered my error with the clippers so I was able to get his more narrow.

Here they are together.

NT's has a little funny spot on the back where it really wanted to lay down. I think it looks kind of like Wilford Brimley's mustache if you turn your head to the side and squint just right!

It made me giggle so much everytime I looked at them that I semi-considered leaving it that way for a few more days just for the entertainment value. We did receive quite a few admiring looks as the kids were out and about playing this afternoon! But then when I picked up SP from his friend's house, I accidently stole one of their neighbor's bikes.* At that point, I decided that perhaps the new hair-do's were having an negative effect on me. I'll finish cutting them tomorrow and then they will have their new summer hair-cuts!

*SP had ridden his bike to his friend's house and then he left ahead of me. When I got outside to walk home, I saw what I thought was his bike still lying by the garage. So, thinking I was being a good mother, I pushed it home for him. I even had this whole speech prepared about how he almost lost his bike. But when I got home, I saw that SP's bike already home and then I realized that, although the bike I had was the same color as SP's, it was not actually his. But before I could take it back, a neighbor girl came over the play with the boys. This little girl had been asking to play for several days and everytime she came over, we were just about to leave and I didn't have the heart to tell her no once more. So I thought I would let them play for 15 minutes or so and then run the bike back, hopefully with no one the wiser. Unfortunately, SP's friend showed up about 5 minutes later and asked if he could get his neighbor's bike back.

You can imagine my chagrin.

Indiana Jones and #5

My brother (we'll call him #5 because that's where he falls in the list of brothers by age) sent my boys what may have been their favorite present. It was an Indiana Jones Lego set and they squealed when they opened it - especially SP. I made them wait until we got home from the Old Folks before they could open the box and put it together because it has 511 pieces. The first thing on the Monday morning after we got home, SP insisted on putting it together. So I read the instructions and told him how to put the pieces together. Two hours of construction later, we had the finished product and the mayhem began. The set came with an Indy figure, a Russianer (as NT says it) general, and two Russianer soldiers. SP decided that the teams needed to be even so one of the Russianers defected to Indy's side and is now named Hunter.

Hunter and Indy driving the Jungle Cutter

Ha, ha, Russianers! You'll never catch me!

Then one of the Russianer got attacked by the fire ants.

Notice the arms thrown up in horror at fate of his comrade!

Oh, no! Now the ants are after him! Run, comrade, run!

Uh, oh! The Russianers escaped the fire ants only to be cruelly run down by their traitorous comrade in the Jungle Cutter!

Run, Russianer! Save yourself!

As you can see, #5, your gift was a success. If by success, you mean fostering further inclinations towards violence and bloodshed in my children, that is.

Brothers

Sometimes I marvel at what good kids I have. Despite the fact that they tease each other like crazy, they also are very kind to each other.

As we know, NT likes to do things that he shouldn't. The other night, he was trying to hide behind my treadmill and tripped - scraping his chin and bloodying his lip. I pulled him out and took him to the sink. SP saw the blood (which always makes him worried) and took off upstairs. As I was holding the wet washcloth to NT's lip, SP came back with the bandaid he had got to help his brother. I love that his first thought was to do something to help out!

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store after dropping SP off at kindergarten. At the checkout, they sometimes give out Smarties to the kids. When they offered a Smarties to NT, he politely asked if he could have one for his brother also. He then gave it to me and asked to put it in my pocket for when SP got home from school. When SP got home, it was the first thing NT had to tell him!

Here we have NT helping SP up the hill because SP has his cowboy boots on

This is SP helping NT across the stream because the water was too cold for NT

Mutant Turkeys

We had a little playgroup activity at our house the other day. We made little marshmallow turkeys. I made these last year with the boys and they liked them so I figured the other kids would have fun with them. I tried to make the turkey bodies while the rice krispies mix was still too soft so the heads kept falling off but we finally got that figured out. The kids decorated them however they chose. Most did the standard turkey, but a few got creative.

One little girl did this "princess" turkey - notice the little marshmallow crown!

However, my son apparently decided to go a different direction, resulting in this :

It seems to be some sort of scorpion/stegosaurus/turkey mutation which he then used to attack the other turkeys. Especially the princess one.

Camouflage

NT does it again!

He is at that awkward stage where he needs a nap but doesn't. You know - so tired by bedtime that he's wonky and crazy by late afternoon and out before we finish our story if he doesn't have a nap but up so late if he does have a nap. So he only takes a nap every 3 or 4 days.

Yesterday was one of those days. Unfortunately he slept far too late and when it came time for bed, he didn't want to sleep. I could hear him playing so I went up to tell him to get back in bed and I find him rolled up in a ball at the top of the stairs under his cheetah print blanket. I stood there for a minute, watching to see what would happen. I even made a little noise so that he knew I was there. He didn't move except to peek out from under the edge of the blanket every now and then. I guess since I didn't immediately bust him, he decided that his camouflage was fool-proof and started wiggling towards the stairs. At this point, I say his name, but he keeps going. I finally pull off the blanket and he looks up at me with a look of complete astonishment. "I was hiding!", he says.

I bundle him off to bed before I laugh too much, but that's not the end. I found him twice more in different spots upstairs, rolled in a ball under the blanket, convinced that I wouldn't be able to see him each time. Maybe it's time to teach him about ostriches.

Is There a Thought Process Involved?

I'm just wondering about how the minds of little boys work. See, my little one (we'll call him NT, short for Naughty Toddy) woke up last night in the middle of the night because he had wet the bed. So I got him all cleaned up and back to bed when he asks for a drink of milk. My rule is that if he wets, he doesn't get any milk. I'm not cleaning up a peed bed twice in one night! Usually he grumps a little, says ok with a scowl and then is good. Last night, he didn't like that answer. He started to cry so I told him he couldn't wake up his brother. He calmed down and I thought that was the end of it. Nope. An hour later, he woke me up again asking for milk. And he had been awake since the first time he woke up. I said no again and put him back into bed. About 7:00am, I heard my older boy stirring around so I decided it was time to get up. When I got into the bedroom, I saw that NT had obviously been up and been busy for some time. The light was on, the blinds were open, his blankets and a few extra that he had pulled out of the closet were spread out over his bed and the floor.

Long story short, who knows how much sleep NT got last night. As a result, he was quite the grump this morning. And clumsy. I don't know how many times he came running up to me in tears because "I hurt myself!" Very sad boy today. So about 11:30am he wanted to go outside and when I told him no, he threw a royal fit which resulted in me putting him in his room until he calmed down. When he finally stopped yelling, I went to check on him and let him out. He had opened the window and since it was still a little chilly, I closed it again. As I was closing it, I noticed a trail of liquid running down the porch roof from the window. Knowing my boy and knowing that there wasn't any water in the room, I immediately knew he peed out the window! When I asked him, he 'fessed right up and his only reason was "Because."

So here's my question, what makes him think of doing something like that? Or did he think at all? Was it just a "crime of opportunity"?

Little Stuff

My boy makes me laugh. I put him to bed but he didn't think he should go to sleep yet. I left him with a stern warning and then went downstairs to finish up a few miscellaneous things. It wasn't long before I heard noise upstairs. When I got upstairs, I find him searching around in the drawer of my sewing desk. So I stand in the doorway and watch for a minute, waiting for him to turn around. When he does turn around and notice me there, he got the most defensive look on his face and said, "What!?! What, Mom!?!" And then went on to go get back in his bed as if I were the one making trouble! I've always said if he weren't so funny, he would always be in trouble!