Alice Cooper - School's Out

Lovin' the Mom Help

In my neighborhood there lurk some really cool women who volunteer for just as much stuff as I do. CB is one of them. This year she stepped up and helped to earn a badge with our GS Troop. The Career Badge. It took up 2.5 meetings. Can I clearly express Just How COOL it is to have 2.5 meetings planned and taken care of by someone who is NOT ME? And to have it be CB makes it that much easier...........because I know she is going to complete the task at 100%.

It is help and support like this that keeps me in the position of Girl Scout Leader. Thank You CB! Can't wait to see what you cook up for next year!

Girl Scout Celebration Night '09

"Day is Done...........Gone the Sun..........From the Lakes..........From the Hills............From the Sky..........."

If you are a Girl Scout this might mean something special to you. To me it was the beginning of the song that my mom (my Brownie Leader) had us sing at the end of every meeting. I will admit - I tried to follow in her footsteps and have our troop sing it at the end of every meeting, but.........we seem to run out of time almost every meeting and we get to sing it SOMETIMES. However, on this particular day - it was the closing song for our Celebration. I am not 100% certain if there is an official Girl Scout name for this event - some call it a Bridging Ceremony, but since we had 2 out of 4 troops NOT Bridging to the next level it seems more appropriate to call it a Girl Scout Celebration. In any case it is similar to the Boy Scout Blue & Gold Banquet.

BigGuy was kind enough to take some pics for me!

What Happened to Mothers Day?

I know...............it has been super busy..........is an often appearing line in this blog. And my apologizing for being "behind" in posting holidays is also a reacurring theme. I will let you in on a secret............I am not really sorry. Honestly.........I don't think you really care all that much as long as you are seeing new things. Am I right?

That said - It Has Been Really Super Busy Around Here!

I did post the Talent Show - let us hear a round of applause for those talented kiddo's!!! Spidey, SuperStar and MissMB are staples in the house lately. It has been nice to start having kids that are regulars. Spidey has picked up a few too - MissLW and the B boys are over all the time too. Yesterday I got a glimpse into the future of teens. Spidey, B1 and B2 came into the kitchen.....
"We're hungry can we eat the pizza?" and with that they swung the fridge door open, grabbed all the leftover pizza, a few juice boxes and it was gone. Gone baby gone. And they are only 8,7 & 6. What will it be like when they are HUGE?

So what have we been doing?
* SuperStar had a field trip
* Spidey had a field trip
* Girl Scout Sleepover
* Girl Scout Celebration Night
* Last Day of Preschool (wept on that day.......no more break time!)
* Last Girl Scout Meeting (seems small - but this means no planning for 3 months)
* Baseball, Softball, swimming and all those other fun everyday kinda things.....

Now I am going to try to catch up a bit. Or at least post some things that I have laying around in wait. I give up on "catching up" - it really is a silly term anyway. And we will start with Mothers Day..............

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Remember those who served. I will be thinking of my Grands.

MissB - our final Talent Show performer

This post is another one of my favorite performers - MissMB - aka - one of SuperStars bestest friends. MB performed directly in front of Spidey - she is very good and fortunately for Spidey she played a more serious piece. So his silly Yankee Doodle did not have to compete with her. MB has taken piano for several years and her mom, CB, also plays well and has a true love for the instrument. So MB is looked over closely and has learned her art well (not that I am saying SuperStar, Spidey or TheKing will suffer at the fingertips of BigGuy and I - just that CB is way better suited for this art).

So with no further delay - and because the only "funny" story I have at the moment about MB is not related to her beautiful performance - here she is - keep in mind - she was The Very First Act - so she OPENED the Talent Show (no pressure there) -

SuperStar and the Talent Show

As I mentioned in the last post - SuperStar was also in the talent show. With a group this year. There was also a Theme for the Talent Show - if I remember correctly it was Back To The Beach - if I am not remembering correctly then it was some sort of Beach something or another.

At first the girls were going to a sing a group song to something by one of those witches on Disney channel. Then, after the teachers running the deal mentioned to MrsS that No One was doing anything related to the theme - and because I don't think either MrsS or I much cared for the "girl rock song" - MrsS convinced them to go with the theme and sing Surfing USA by the Beach Boys. And thus an act was born. There was a lot of negotiations this year. Although swimsuits would have been a terribly easy choice for costumes - the girls wouldn't be caught D-E-A-D in a swim suit on stage in front of ALL THOSE PEOPLE!! (gasp). And since SuperStar kept telling everyone - "my mom will sew us this" or "my mom will do that" - and - because I told MrsS that she could count on me to help out - we ended up creating an outfit for the girls. Tshirts, flower lai's and another teacher heard us talking and offered us her beautiful hawaiian skirts to put on the girls. It really did look nice. They were the most Matching in Costume of the theme.

And - somehow - MrsS (she is sneaky, but right on target) got it in her head that because I am crafty - and because we had to figure out how to create some "props" for the girls act (waves, surfboards or something beachy) - I would be the perfect victim - er, I mean Volunteer - for the job of decorating the stage. She helped of course. A kind of - I figured out what we were going to do - told her what to do and she helped me do it. It was actually a very nice team - I would work with her again. And the stage ended up being nice enough that MrPrincipal asked us not to tear it down. Nice compliment - and our stage usually is nothing special to look at. On a side note - the waves should be an interesting backdrop for the Girl Scout Ceremony I am putting on later this week in the same gym.

Anyway, back to the girls. They were ALL GUNG HO about the performance. SuperStar was the center and had parts to yell out - and encouraged the other girls to make eye contact and smile and all the other things they said at the Musical she was in last winter. And then it was time to hit the stage - and she changed - she became a giggly and "oh my gosh I have stage fright" kinda girl - I had no idea who she was (and to her dismay have no tolerance for - please, like she is going to become shy now..........hmmmmmmmmm - I guess this is when all that self-conscience stuff hits). So this performance was a bit different. Can't say it was my favorite since she acted shy - however, I do know that she had an absolute blast and totally enjoyed the "group"ness of being on stage with the other girls.

Here is their performance - oh and the musical notes were not part of the stage decorations - we couldn't take them down and weren't tall enough to cover them up.

Talent Show Time

So last Friday was the school Talent Show. SuperStar was signed up for the Talent Show before it was even posted as a possibility - and this year Spidey signed up too. Although he said he didn't want to - I kinda encouraged him to anyway. Originally we tried to talk another little friend to do a piano duet with him. The other guy said, "No thanks" and a piano solo was born. As Spidey got into it he was all about doing it.

There is a funny on him.............. Talent Show practice was Monday after school, Wednesday after school and Friday really early before school. Each "after school" practice the kiddo's stayed at school and we picked them up - or that was the plan. Monday went perfect - BigGuy picked them up at the right time without being reminded even. Wednesday was going well too..........TheKing was napping - I was working on GirlScout stuff in peace - dogs were napping on the back porch - there was 1 hour before I went to pick the kiddos up and size SuperStars group for their costumes. All mine to get work done. Then...........ding dong............ding dong...........ding dong.

Crap!! That is going to wake TheKing up. Then.........whoooof whoof whoof (really loud though).

Crap!! That for certain is going to wake TheKing up.

So I bounded up the steps to see who was ringing the doorbell. Not waiting on any packages. Not expecting any guests. Spidey. Standing there - ding dong ding dong ding dong - then upon seeing me - stopping ringing and smiling. "Where were you Mom? Why is the door locked?"

Not completely shocked he was there I said, "Ahhhh.....why are you here?"

"Mooooommmmmm........the bus drops us off here EVERYDAY at this time." with a "duh" kinda sound to his voice as he pushed past me and dropped all his stuff to the ground.

"Did you notice that SuperStar is not with you? Where do you think she is?" I asked him.

"Oh, she is at the Talent Show prac..............oh!!! I am supposed to be at practice!!" he exclaimed. Glad he was able to remember - although a bit late. It was now 3:20 and practice started at 3:10 and ended at 4:15. TheKing was upstairs (all the ruckus had woken him - so at least getting him moving wouldn't be too hard) so I headed up to get him changed and ready for school. Told Spidey to put his things away and get ready to head back to practice.

Upon returning back downstairs with TheKing prepped and ready to leave I found Spidey preparing an elaborate snack. I told him we were headed out and he responded by saying - in an obvious voice - that "I always have a big snack when I get home." This is true - but usually there is plenty of time in which to have a big snack.

So I snapped, "Dude.......we have to get you back to school for practice! Grab an apple and head to the car."

Very calmly he grabbed the apple, looked at me casually and said, "Mom, don't worry. I am the first act at the Talent Show - they can't start the practice without me." and sauntered calmly into the garage.

Oh to have the world revolve around me like Spidey has.

In the end we made it to the practice - he was great and by Friday he was ready to rock the house. Here is his performance..........(and yes, I know he goes to playing with 2 fingers - guess he was a little nervous afterall).

Why We Shouldn't Teach Our Children Things.....

So yesterday evening Spidey, TheKing and I are tooling around in Office Max. Weird picture? Not used to stories that include me anywhere but a bathroom, kids game, school or grocery store? Well there you go - I also hang out in Office supply stores. Actually I love places like that - so many different tools to organize yourself with. Aaaahhhh..........the thought of it actually relaxes the tension in my spine. Seriously. I may not be organized anymore, but my body actually prefers it - so even though we (my body and I - you know some days my body is the only sensible other person in my life - yes, maybe I will be the crazy older person later talking to myself - my body - but at least I will have someone when the kids are in college and BigGuy finally does stop talking) have adjusted to the chaos that surrounds us on a moment to moment basis - we still prefer to have organization and cleanliness (Sunny has started shedding - aaaaarrrgggghhhhh!).

Okay - so yesterday - before swim lessons (BigGuy and SuperStar were at her softball practice) - we went to Office Max to get pretty paper to print the Girl Scout Celebration Programs. I stick TheKing in the basket seat (because we only had a set amount of time and I didn't want to use it up chasing him) - then Spidey begged to sit in the back of the basket (this actually helps to calm down TheKing because he sees it as Spidey being caged too) so in jumped Spidey. The two of them were like a tag team comedy duo. The only thing missing were rubber chickens, a giant horn to honk and a cream pie. Fortunately for me I am immune to the comedic efforts of the duo - unfortunately for others they aren't. Fortunately for me it was dinner hour and there were not as many customers (I mean they were so giggly and loud - all happy like - that the woman checking ppl out at the front (and we were at the middle right of the store) could hear these two and was openly chuckling at them and their non-sense) - unfortunately for others the only other customers they were in the same isle as us.

Now..........what does this have to do with teaching children things? Well.......just as we were about to leave (you always think you are going to get by without anything embarassing happening - and then just as you are about to escape something embarassing happens - unless it is a clothing thing, then the embarassing things happens at the very beginning of whatever you are doing so you have to sit in the soiled clothing for the whole event) the two start making these really loud barn yard animals noises. There are people in the paper isle with us - the perfect people for this - a woman who looks like she teaches Sunday School with a religious vigor that only a woman who never had children, but does have an extreme impatience gene would have - and a man who looks like he loves the comedic talents of the comedy team I am pushing around - but primarily he loves them because he isn't with them (that kinda of "glad it's you and not me" look parents give other parents). Back to the boys - they are "Mooooing" and "Baaaaahing" (really really loud - I mean head back so they can suck in enough air to really let a barn yard noise go) and giggling like crazy - which is whipping TheKing up into a frenzy.

And I make the comment, "Why did I ever have kids in the first place?"

And Spidey says - really loud - "You had kids because you had SEX with Dad, Mom. You know - the thing that you told me about that we aren't supposed to talk about with kids at school. Oh, I already said it though." then he adds, "But we aren't at school."

Spinster Sunday School Lady looks at us with a disapproval glance that I think she truly must practice - and Glad It's You and Not Me Man starts to giggle - which attracts Spinster Sunday School Ladies ire and let's me off the hook long enough to leave the isle and head to the check out.

Really what Spidey said wasn't so bad. He was right. I had kids because of sex with BigGuy. But maybe we should have taught him about it when he was old enough to be mortified everytime he thought about it. You know - that icky mortification that comes with picturing your parents together.................that might have saved Spinster Sunday School Ladies ears.

I am Sooooooo not Above Blackmail

Judge me if you will.......but the end of August is just NOT that far away. This boy HAS TO BE POTTY TRAINED in order to attend Pre-school (some weird rule that they have here in Central IL - in STL (yes another comparision) we were able to have kids in preschools that were not potty trained - and - gasp - the teachers even helped us when we were potty training!!! Not here though - if you are not potty trained you are not going to preschool - end of discussion) and it is my Life's Ambition at this point to make certain he is in pre-school Mon, Wed & Fri this fall!! So we as his interest in sitting on the potty wanes a bit - my interest in Blackmailing him with things he Loves Begins!

So far we have been adding in the teaching of his babies to potty. In the pic above Baby TheKing (named for himself by himself) is trying to be successful - while human TheKing stands and holds Baby Daddy (named for his dad by himself - notice how huge this baby is? Hence the comparison to his dad - I on the other hand am the small baby doll not pictured laying on the floor waiting my turn - Baby Mommy. What are Baby SuperStar and Baby Spidey like? Well.....they are stuffed Baby Shreks that he has - so basically he has likened his siblings to ogres. Fitting in a way - from a tortured 3 yr old perspective that is). Baby Daddy was not successful at his potty attempt this particular day - Baby TheKing was however and unfortunately Baby Mommy was left laying on the floor - to wet her invisible pants (but know that she was also left behind in a quiet bathroom which probably made her happy - Baby Daddy was drug by his feet and bumping his head on walls as stuff - Baby Mommy is happy to lay on the bathroom floor given the alternatives).

The other blackmail attempts I have made? Cars. TheKing LOVES cars - so I bought a few - taped them to the cabinet above his Potty Chart (love charts!) and as soon as he Poops (cars are worthy of Poop) on the potty he can grab one down. These cars have special meanings - TheKing chose them himself. The one on the left is supposed to be "Doc" and the lavender one is "Sally" from the Cars movie. We will see how many months they remain taped to the cabinet (hey, I am realistic).



and so the potty exploits continue.......

SuperStar the Poet

SuperStar had an assignment in class this past week. They were working on Poetry. The assignment was to write poetry in several variations - Haiku, Color Poems and such. After writing them they were also asked to type them up, add in a few poems by other authors that they admire and then have 3 other people read the poetry they created themselves and give the poems a critique. SuperStar was soooooooo into this. Everyday after school for 5 days she came home - grabbed a snack and then headed to the computer. Even though she had worked so hard on these I didn't think the outcome would be as awesome as it is -

Here are a collection of poems by SuperStar -

A Cinquain Poem

Books
intelligent, informational
telling, improving, teaching
intelligen things that teach
words
Rain
wet, refreshing
falling, splashing, dropping
refreshing the plants well
water

Hair
long, short
flowing, changing, cutting
you can change it
string


Color Poems -
Red is blood
Red is lava
Red is roses
Red smalls like burning
Red tastes like apples
Red sounds like burning wood
Red looks like your heart pounding
Red feels like rose thorns
Red makes me want to run
Red is hatred

Blue green is the color of my eyes
Blue green is the ocean
Blue green is one of my favorite colors
Blue green is blue and green mixed
Blue green smells like salt water
Blue green tastes like the ocean
Blue green sounds like water sloshing
Blue green looks like a sea
Blue green feels like lake water
Blue green makes me want to paint
Blue green is beautiful


Who What Where When and Why Poem -
Who: Dad
What: wanted to watch t.v
When: at ten o’clock
Where: in the living room
Why: so he could watch spider-man.

Haiku Poems -
playing a new game
trying something new today
having fun with friends

coming into class
lots of noisy voices here
me taking my seat

doing my homework
putting it in my binder
writing, erasing

Original Poem -
I look around me and I see many things, the good and the bad. The nice and the mean, the predator and prey, the simple and the complicated, the right and the wrong, and the obvious and the hidden. I look around, and there are so many things.

I think about the day ahead, and possibilities swim through my head. I wonder is it a good day or a bad? Is it an embarrassing day or a humiliating day? Will I like it or not? All the time I wonder.


My brothers are chaotic, my brothers are a mess. Can mom and dad control them, who is to know? They are bouncing off the walls they are sitting peacefully. You have no chance of predicting them… but it doesn’t hurt to try though.


Five Senses Poem

Talent looks like amazing stunts.
Talent tastes like good pie.
Talent sounds like applause.
Talent smells like sweat.
Talent looks like achievement.
Talent makes me want to jump.

Happiness looks like smiles.
Happiness tastes like sweets.
Happiness sounds like laughter.
Happiness smells like people baking together.
Happiness looks lik people hugging.
Happiness makes me sooooo happy!

SuperStar is Truly Amazing!!

Hey Batter Batter

It's that time of year - Crack of the Bat - smell of popcorn in the field - and all that rot. This year we (I) actually will be paying close attention to the swing of hte bat and the fly of the ball - at least 4 nights a week. This year both Spidey and SuperStar are playing ball. We will have a lot of time invested as both SuperStar and Spidey will have 2 games and a practice each week.

Makes for lots of Peanuts & Popcorn. Shoot - TheKing already knows all the words to Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

The other weekend we went out and hit some balls at the batting cages. We brought MB with us. They all looked super cute in their hats. Their swings - eh - but it is just the top of the season.

Feel like joining us for a game? Just let us know........I am sure we can hook you up.

Thomas and TheKing

This past week was a seriously busy one - every night we had an event - and Thursday night was no exception!! It was the biggest night of the week - for TheKing at least. It was his first "Out on the Town - Mommy, Daddy, King Date". And we spent some big bucks to take him to see Thomas the Tank on stage.

We left the house and SuperStar and Spidey behind with our wonderful neighbor and their favorite babysitter - MissK. I don't think SuperStar or Spidey even blinked at the fact that they were not getting to attend the outing - simply because MissK was coming over. However, TheKing was not so keen on the idea that he was not getting to stay at home with MissK and go with us. He squawked a bit as we were walking out the door and buckling him into his seat. Then as we started to roll he got into it. This isn't the first time he was out with just BigGuy and I - but it was the first time he had been out "for fun" with just us and it was dark outside - so that struck him. "Hey, it dark outside! It time for bed?" and he seemed a bit worried that perhaps we were taking him somewhere new to go to bed. When we answered, "Nope, it is time to see Thomas." he seemed to relax and start jabbering about things we really didn't understand.

Then we arrived. It wasn't terribly crowded, but it was a Thursday night - 7pm - and this was a kids show. Who planned that? We found our seats - on the floor, 4th row center - and surprisingly enough we also saw one of TheKing's classmates! Sitting right in front of us. The boys pretty much ignored each other. I went back to get some popcorn and a drink. Then the boys (BigGuy & TheKing) started snacking. TheKing was having a great time - seemed happy with the stage - happy with the snack - happy with the attention - and then the lights went out. Sir Topham Hat came out - a clown - a newsie - and TheKing seemed good - then..............Thomas came out (he was biggish) - and TheKing ducked. First into my arms, head kinda tucked, eyes covered, but watching - then over to BigGuy - but absolutely not thrilled by the turn of events. He watched - wary of whether the giant Thomas was going to roll off the stage and onto us. Then Percy came out, Gordon, and another one (really I am faking the names - I know they are right, but I have no clue which is which). There was also a helicopter that went over head and a circus car that didn't talk. None of them seemed to thrill TheKing. But he watched.

Intermission seemed to bring a change-a-bout for him. He ran up and down a bit. Then reluctantly sat back down for the second act - and TOTALLY got into it this time. Clapping, shouting (kinda) in the right spots, smiling, giggling, pointing. Guess the fear of wayward traveling trains was gone. He was having a great time - which is good because BigGuy informed me that I was wrong about how much he had paid for the tickets - my thought was that at the price we paid he better be smiling when we leave.

And then it was over. TheKing sat for a second waiting for us to say it was "like a commercial" and when we instead said, "Time to go home it is all over - yea Thomas!!" with our hopeful smiles - he threw a fit screaming and trying to find a spot to throw his little body on the ground. BigGuy picked him up - and then we had to be careful TheKing didn't kick an innocent bystander since he was now at head level for the shorter people in the crowd (me). But within a few minutes (well....maybe 5) he was calm and we were happily walking out the door.

It was money well spent.....but I still can't tell one engine from the next.

Forward Thinkers

The end of the Girl Scout Law goes like this.........
"and to be a Sister to Every Girl Scout"

And at the end of saying it at each meeting I add.........
"and Boy Scout"

Why? Well, basically because I want the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts in my family (and troop) to understand that it is the same goal in both groups - to become a good person who gives back to their community, works to be a strong and helpful leader and embraces all roles to be done as well by boys as girls.

What do my girls say after I have made this statement (keep in mind it really is EVERY meeting I say this) - in the beginning they said something like, "No way..........boys are gross." And honestly - we are still kinda at that point - although a few girls now debate those girls continuing to say the "no way" by saying, "Boy Scouts are good too". But then I saw a shift at Girl Scout Day at the Capitol.

We took a Boy Scout with us...................



and even though he INSISTED that his shirt be just like everyone Else's - he did NOT want it to say Girl Scout (so as you can see I doctored it a bit for him) - he wanted to spend his day with the Girl Scouts. So my own personal children get that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can live in unity - and they are excited to share in the meetings of each others troops (they do too - Spidey and SuperStar participate in each others troops events). Now I was just hoping that the girls in the troop would see the same...........and they did!



There was a shift part way in the day. None of the girls ever shunned Spidey - they just kinda avoided him at first. Then he slowly became part of the group and no one seemed to treat him like an "icky boy". Then...........I overheard some girls in another group say, "What is that boy wearing a Girl Scout shirt for?" and "Why is he here, this is for Girl Scouts." and I heard one of my girls step in and say, "He is a Boy Scout and they are just as good as Girl Scouts" and another say "We should be sisters to every Boy Scout."

They got it!!!! They got it!!!!

But I didn't want to point it out - might have ruined it.......instead I just walked past them and squeezed their arms in a vague hug. Maybe all the work and time it takes being a leader is a good thing after all.

Girl Scout Day at the Capitol

This was the view as we marched down Capitol Street. Actually I took quite a few pictures as we marched toward the Capitol. Thought that might bore you a bit - given that I have the myriad of photos on the slide show below too..........so I just chose the one that best depicts what we saw. Reportedly there were 2,500 Girl Scouts that attended the Capitol event with us. How cool is that? We brought just over half our girls. The day was a promise of learning about our Government - about our states History and about Ourselves.

What did we learn? Gosh - we learned some interesting facts about the Old State Capitol - we learned where Lincoln sat in the House of Representatives - we learned that we are good at crafts - we learned to read the directions for events better next time - we learned that our girls really do get along well together and are quite funny.

What did I learn? I learned that the dread I felt about the event was unwarranted - it was a lot of fun! - I learned that the early bird gets the worm - I learned that a Girl Scout event can create ungodly bathroom lines - I learned that many of my girls are freaked out about talking politics with representatives - and I learned that it was all worth the effort. The girls had a blast. One of my favorite things was that (although the guest speaker was a beauty queen) many of the speakers were Women Politicians - I thought that was cool - not a single male politician got up on the podium. Yeah, my girls were bored to tears listening to them, but the fact that all the Senators and House Reps that were boring my girls to tears that day were Women made me super proud!

On a Final Note - so you should know that sometimes your Girl Scout leaders are teaching their Scouts to take the initiative. Is EVERY woman in sight standing in a Huge Tushie line that is stretching around the main area of the Visitors Center waiting for the bathroom - while a Men's bathroom is COMPLETELY empty??? Well...........when we arrived at the visitors center that was the case - and quickly we remedied that situation - as soon as our two male scouts were in and out we Commandeered the bathroom and took over - followed by another Girl Scout troop in need of a potty break - until eventually the Huge Tushie line to the women's room had dwindled and both lines were manageable.

Now.......later in the day when we arrived back at the visitors center - we looked at the line to the women's bathroom and then glanced over to the men's (thinking of course that we would be using that one again) - NOPE - apparently they did not like what we started the last time around and hung a sign. So we caused some problems apparently -



They printed it out to look Official and EVERYTHING!! You know what though - we still snuck a few girls in there - don't tell!

The Little Red Hen

Last week I had the honor of directing The Little Red Hen. Some would say that I got suckered into being the director of this play - others would say that I was given an honor to participate in my son's class and that tomorrow he will be a grown adult and I will cherish every second. The reality of it is - I am pretty much the last parent standing in the "volunteer" line of Spidey's class. The rest of them are done for the year (with the exception of sending things in or sending money in - they are all done physically volunteering). So when I went in on Wed. to do my weekly "reading helper" gig (I read with the kids who need extra assistance to get their reading skills up to grade level) - the teacher kindly asked me to oversee The Little Red Hen. The class was learning about Fairy Tales - and then were divided into 4 groups and assigned parts to act in the Fairy Tales. Our teacher directed The 3 Little Pigs - our student teacher directed Goldilocks and the 3 Bears - our Specialist Teacher directed 3 Billy Goats Gruff - and I took on The Little Red Hen.

It was only 4 days of rehearsals and 1 performance for parents. No real biggie. Yet it is amazing how much time disappears. Still...........like one person would say - worth every moment of effort put in for the memory and time spent with Spidey.
Plus - I got to use words like "thespians" and "my actors" and such. Made me feel important!!

Here is his play (he is unfortunately blocked by the duck).

Happy Mother's Day!!

If you click on the pic then it will open up to be larger and you can read it better. Or you can get a magnifying glass - remember those?

Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong - Bad Mommy Moment

Lately SuperStar has been "taking care of" TheKing. Kinda like BrotherSitting - only she isn't asked and she doesn't get paid - she just plays with him. He LOVES this.

When the bus pulls up every afternoon - if TheKing is awake (and it isn't raining) he stands at the door and then runs out onto the driveway to hug SuperStar "hello". Then Spidey says, "Can I have a hug too?" and raises his arms out. TheKing turns away and doesn't even answer - Spidey will often ask again and TheKing will turn and say "NO" and then continue running back into the house.

Now, this is enough to make anyones heart hurt. You see you little brother run and welcome your sister in a happy shrieking way - then you get the cold shoulder. Yuck. So each time this happens I hug Spidey and tell him how wonderful he is and what a stinker little 3 year olds can be.

Today Spidey is home with what I think is a ficticious illness. But I am not going to complain too much - he was warm, complained of stomach yuck and looked a bit out of it. A few other kids have reportedly gone home today after throwing up in class or at lunch - so it was probably good he wasn't there anyway. TheKing is LOVING that Spidey is here. Someone to play with. This is a bit of a turn from the usual when he shuns Spidey for SuperStar - so I want to make use of this attention. And after awhile - when I thought Spidey was doing okay - I let them go outside to play in the backyard together - making Spidey promise that if he comes in he bring TheKing with him. They went in the backyard and got on the trampoline to play. Spidey zipped the tramp up and all was good. Usually the kids will jump for a good chunk of time - so I headed upstairs to put a basket of laundry away - checked out the window - boys on trampoline - all is good. Went down to the kitchen - checked out window - boys on slide - all is good. Went downstairs to get my GS booklet - spent 5 minutes there - heard the doorbell....

Ding Dong Ding ......a trample of heavy feet - wait...if both the boys are outside who is running on the wood floors? Then as I am climbing the stairs.....Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding........Spidey is now saying, "Hey, how did you get out there?" and I can see he is talking to TheKing who is standing on a front porch chair he has pushed to the doorbell (a favorite passtime of his). He has climbed the backyard fence - made his way around the front door and then started ringing the doorbell to get inside.

Bet you thought Spidey was going to up-chuck on the trampoline and my mistake was letting my nauceous boy jump after eating lunch? Ha! Gotcha - I am way worse of a parent then that. My Bad Mommy Moment was thinking that my 7yr old could be trusted to remember his 3yr old brother - knowing full well that TheKing could climb the fence.

Bad Mommy.

Secret Addictions

The other day I was cleaning house - shoot, EVERYDAY I am cleaning house. Most things have a place and they go IN their respective place. A few things seem to kinda get shoved around from place to place. They don't OWN a specific spot and yet they can't be thrown away because they might be useful. Eventually this stuff begins to look like clutter.

Some people are very very good at just tossing what they don't need -

Some people read FlyLady everyday and have learned to take 15 minutes each day and pick 1 specific area in their house to do a Decluttering activity -

Some people have helpful cute bins to place the things they no longer need, but can be recycled to be used elsewhere - like schools, churches, etc. -

Some people are way more perfect then I am because I have 1 Secret Addiction that I have a hard time letting go of -

My Secret Addiction is MAGAZINES!!!

I Love Them!!

We have Parenting, Time, Teen Titans, Girl Power, Discovery, Girls Life, Handyman, PTO Today, GS Leader, Boys Life, Highlights, ZOO Magazine, Christian Marriage, PaperCrafts, Memory Makers, This Old House, People, Womens Health, Self, Boys Life, BS Leadership and Healthy Cooking - then.........because we get so many magazines delivered to our house......the mail person gets all confused and when there is a magazine that has no label on it SHE GIVES IT TO US!!! So sometimes I get Better Homes & Gardens and this really evil kinda Hobbit weapon magazine (we really wish we knew who this one belonged to so we could avoid that neighbor - it is seriously creepy).

And with the exception of the creepy hobbit weapon magazine - I read EVERYONE of them. I LOVE Magazines!!

The problem is what to do with them, because they end up here -

















and even here -


which feels like clutter - so I group them up - People to Mom, ZOO is stashed for use later by the kids as reference - crafting magazines in a tub in my craft room - and the rest go to school for teachers to use if they wish. Yet - they are clutter - often tucked away where visitors won't see it - thus keeping the addiction secret.

Next time you are here look in the laundry room and see if you can catch it.

Simple Reflection on an Easily Made Statement

Not a biggie type post today - just thinking about something someone said in a passing conversation that I don't think they realized -

Haven't talked to said person in years - don't even really know said person all that well - a reconnection on Facebook relationship - you know the surface type banter that is done on that venue - I posted a picture of my youngest (who is adopted) - the person made a comment about how cute he was - I thanked them and made mention of their kiddos (acquired through marriage) - they mentioned how they would like to have a child they get to raise from start in addition to the ones they have, but that their spouse is done having kids so they will be looking at other options to do so - I figured that meant adoption and I congratulated them, also giving my knowledge if they ever want it as they look into those options - then they said it would be surrogate if they do it -

and this is the statement -

because they want a child that is "their own"

Now I am sure - no certain - that they meant NO disrespect toward my own feelings of devoted love and "ownership" of our third child - who is adopted. I have heard people say before that they want the experience of a blood related child - and I have no clue what it would feel like NOT to have that experience because our first 2 kiddos are biologically related and born directly from me. Yet, in that one statement they completely alienated me from them. Because in all honesty I do see that what their clumsy, not thought out completely, statement meant is that my third child is Not One Of My Own.

And this person is Simply, Completely and Beyond A Shadow of a Doubt - Wrong.

My DNA may not be written all over all 3 of my children, but my Love, Devotion, Joy, Frustration, Patience, Family and Entire World are written all over all 3 of my children. There is no difference between my 1st child, 2nd child and 3rd child - in reference to how much "my Own" they are.

I wish this person luck - surrogate, adoption or natural - if you devote you heart to a child and raise them - They Are 100% Yours.

Are Traditional Marriages really threatened?

So here is another Political Topic in the news a lot lately. I read this in an article on line - I think the New York Times, but I forgot to copy the link and don't feel like searching now -

"The reigning Miss California has gone to Washington to help launch a campaign opposing same-sex marriage.

Carrie Prejean told NBC's "Today" show Thursday that she'll be working with the National Organization for Marriage to "protect traditional marriages."

So my first argument is - do we really want to hear what a woman who would subject herself to such sexist roles as a Beauty Queen thinks about what is proper and moral? I mean is is right for her to be in a role that degrades women and then later judge others? Not that I think Perez Hilton was nice about how he put her on the spot.

Then, even after that there is - Okay - and we care why? I mean the sentence - "protect traditional marriages" caught my attention. Well I am married - most likely since it is to a man it is considered "traditional" - but how does another person marrying the person they love - who is of the same gender as themselves - endanger MY "traditional" marriage?

Does it make my marriage void if Same Sex Couples can marry?
NO
Does it cost me any money? (I mean that could be a problem)
NO
Does it make it harder for Opposite Sex Couples (aka Traditional) to marry?
NO
Hmmm......

So I googled "danger same sex marriages imposes on traditional marriage". I found a lot of interesting things. The comparison of Gay Marriage to Slavery in an article I read only once because I don't think I will ever understand what that person was trying to convey - heck, I am not even sure which side they were on.

Then I also found a lot of statements about how marriage is an institution that a man and a woman come into to create the next generation of people. That a marriage between 2 men or 2 woman would not be able to create such an act - which is how God meant it to be. Hmmm.........really? I am sure a few of you can cite me some bible passages here - Leviticus.......what else you got? But then I think about ALL THE KIDS IN OUR FOSTER SYSTEM WHO NEED PARENTS - let's see - 2 women who Love Each Other Dearly and want to raise a family........2 Traditionalists who created a baby and left it behind............hmmmm................maybe God created Same Sex Marriage to give homes to the kids who need them?

Plus - honestly - lets say that Gay Marriage ISN'T legal. Will the Gay men and Lesbian woman get married "traditionally" just because that is the ONLY way they can get married - AND - they are dying to try marriage out? No. They just won't get married - but they will continue to love the person that makes them happy. So there aren't going to be a bunch of children created for the next generation by them anyway.

Then I found this:
The Missouri man and homosexual "marriage" proponents categorically reject the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Instead, the sole criterion for marriage becomes the presence of "love" and "mutual commitment." But once marriage is no longer confined to a man and a woman, it is impossible to exclude virtually any relationship between two or more partners of either sex--even non-human "partners."

What? How do you jump from talking about people who are the same sex wanting to marry to someone wanting to marry a non-human? Who is even thinking about this? Ah...maybe a twisted person. Wait......is this because of all the Vampire movies that are out? Because Bella in Twilight is in love with a vampire and then later marries him in book 4 (sorry did I spoil the surprise?) - or maybe it is because in the Sookie Stackhouse novels vampires and humans are given the right to marry in the later part of the series? Is this "non-human" silliness a prelude argument to cover future vampire basis? Wait - does that mean that these conservatives believe in vampires?

In the end I come back to - Why would God care if 2 people of the same sex married as long as they Love each other - Contribute to their community - Believe in Him - and live good and wonderful lives as he has directed us to?

In fact - wouldn't he be more angry at us for Judging others instead of letting them make their own choices? Maybe I am wrong - maybe God isn't cool with Same Sex marriages - but still isn't it HIS atonement these men and women are looking for? Not mine.

SuperStars a Pre-Teen....

You know I never much went in for the whole thought of a "Pre-Teen". Yes, when I was counseling I did notice that around 4th grade there were more girl groups coming to see me because of a bit of drama here and there - and by 5th grade all 3 schools I worked in had a girl drama group coming to see me on a fairly regular basis - but still "pre-teen" meant very little to me. Probably because I didn't have anything personal at stake. Now I have SuperStar. And she is almost double digits (just 3.5 months away) and then will officially be a "Pre-Teen".



Now I know that the real deal - Teenagers - are given a bad rep because of Attitude. They roll their eyes, think we parents are the biggest dorks in the world (which of course I will NEVER be thought of - ha), give their siblings the cold shoulder and the business whenever is possible, and the world is a DRAMA that we adults could never EVER understand because we are so darn OLD!

I am not as clear about what makes a Pre-Teen a Pre-Teen - but I am fairly certain that the qualities of this life experience is beginning to surface.
* At least 2x per week a new BFF surfaces - there aren't any fights, but there are changes in the structure of who is friends with whom. Most of SuperStars friends are guys - E,S,I & E - then there are a few consistent girls - A,M, M & L. But they are all shifting.
* There are crushes - SuperStar leaves signs of these crushes in the way she talks about the SAME boy over and over and over - what he does - what he is reading - what he did during recess, etc.
* There is the torture of her middle brother and the over abundance of love for her youngest brother - usually this adoration for TheKing is done only when Spidey is within ear shot and can see how much he is not loved (sad - and this one bugs the crap out of me - so I do step in).
* The GIGANTIC sighs - over and over and over - usually proceeded by statements like, "I'm bored."
* Her shift to wanting to eat healthy - nothing but water with meals, sweets only 1x per week (which within 2 hours then switched to 2x per day - and then seemed to switch to Sweets All Day Long by the end of the week).
* And then there are the notes that she leaves me. Recently she left a funny one (well it probably wasn't funny to her) and if this note left on my pillow the other night is any indication of "pre-teen-ess" then I am probably starting to get a sneak preview of the Pre-Teens

"I am not feeling anywhere close to okay and I could barely get up to write this. I didn't want to bother you and I couldn't make it to you. Hope I'm not dead when you read this."

Oh the drama!! She wasn't dead by the way - she lived to see another day - although if the emotional torture of Spidey continues the story might change.

Welcome to the Pre-Teens (at the age of 9.75)~

What Color is your Farmer?

My intent was to lay low on the "personal views" topics for a bit - but dang things that spike my personal views keep coming up and writing them out makes it easier for me to not attack the goofballs I come in contact with in person. This particular topic doesn't give me any feelings of agression - more it is just very important. Honestly - this goes directly back to all the posts I did in Feb. about White Privilege. While it is getting easier for me to spot - some days I miss it completely. I completely missed this one. CK brought it to my attention after it occured. She was on the ball.

So what happened? Well - TheKing has been creating tons of art work lately. CK and I joke that the art work they do in class really seems to be more done by the teachers then by our little artists. TheKing doesn't see it that way - He LOVES to show off his art work and as soon as we get home each day he has me tape it up on the window to display it. SuperStar and Spidey are great at coming home and noticing the art work and cheering TheKing on for his abilities - which makes it all the more worth the tape we waste doing it.

Lately the art work has been about farms. One day a horse, another a pig and then a chicken. The other day TheKing brought home a farmer. Now, I picked him up that day and my mind was on "did he poop? please I hope he didn't poop yet." - not what was the art work. The teachers made a big deal about how TheKing and his bestfriend, E, (CK's son)picked the same color shirt for their farmer (see all the pieces of the farmer had been "precut" by the teachers - shirts, overalls, face with arms and a hat - shirts were in different colors for choice) - not caring I went back to "did he poop?" The teachers talked about the little bit of potty training that day - congratulated TheKing for doing so well (he had not pooped) - and I left with the boys. We dropped off E and headed home quickly - to get on the potty (my mind is focused on potties this week).

After the potty - sticker - gummy bear and taping up the farmer - the phone rang. She wanted to know if I had looked at their art work. Yes, I had. She wanted to know what TheKing's farmer looked like. Not getting what she meant I responded "farmer like". She asked what color TheKing had chosen for his farmer. Then I told her the story the teachers had mentioned about the shirts. She asked if I knew if the farmers faces and bodies had come in different colors. It hit me. She asked if I noticed if any of the farmers coming out of the room had been anything but white (well, really they were peach colored). No - they were all peach colored farmers. I had completely missed it.

White Privilege.

CK was ready to shoot an email. Rightly so. She would have been nice about it - just point out that our brown sons might have liked to have a choice in skin tone - heck, the peach colored kids might have wanted to create a farmer that wasn't peach - but none of them were given a choice. Later CK mentioned that she forgot to send the email, but I had already composed a conversation to be had with the teachers - nicely. These are very nice peach colored women who I am sure did not intend to limit my brown colored childs view of where brown colored people fit in the world. And on the next school day I approached the teachers and - giving them the benefit of the doubt (I mean hey, my son is surrounded by peachies all day long - maybe he was given a choice and chose a peach colored farmer because that is what his world reflects to him most of the time) - and asked if there had been any brown hued farmer faces or bodies available for use in that art project. They were apparently not surprised I mentioned it. They admitted there had not been another body color choice and immediately started to apologize - the reason was that they had said they ran out of other colors of paper - and that there was only DARK brown left to use. My thought was BOTH of the boys ARE dark brown so it would be a perfect choice. They were worried you would not see the drawn on eyes and mouth (in black ink) on the dark brown paper. Hmmm......so basically using a skin color that matched the boys colors just didn't work well in the scheme of the artwork in the view of the peach colored teachers. Lame, but they were being polite. And, I wasn't looking for an apology really. I mean honestly, if CK hadn't pointed it out I might have completely missed it. Very obviously it was uncomfortable for them to have me ask this question. I think I made them feel guilty - or like I was putting them on the spot instead of just kinda pointing out something that might help them help students better in the future. I wasn't looking to make them feel badly - more looking for an awakening of their thought to see all the students in their class and consider what their students might be needing as they begin to explore who they are and create through art images that reflect themselves. It isn't fair that the peach kids are given peach people to represent their world and the brown kids aren't (regardless of the darkness of the brown colored paper).

White Privilege.

In STL (I know - again with the STL comparisons) our preschool teacher had these. When I first saw these Multicultural Markers I thought they were the coolest thing. After the peach colored farmer came home I immediately remembered these markers and I made a bee line (what is a bee line anyway?) to the local teacher store to pick a pack up for everyone of our kiddo's teachers (if I had the money I would buy one pack for each kid in the classes they are in - but these are $6!!). When I got there they had 1 package. The woman who ran the store was sweet and said that they normally have more, but that they don't order them as often as the others and they are quickly purchased.

My request was for her to please order more - many more. Our teachers need them. I bought the only pack they had and gave them to our preschool teachers. They thanked me - had never heard of such a thing - and tucked them away. They explained again that if they had More Money to buy More Paper, but they just didn't have the funds. So I clearly explained that in the public schools the parents are asked to buy all sorts of things for the class - I am not opposed to helping purchase some skin tone colored paper for this class either. And I will be.

You Want What? When?

This month is a blur and we haven't even started it. Yesterday I spent the day running around doing school stuff the entire day. All the way into the evening. Morning was spent in Spidey's class. In need of extra help I have been hired to direct a small Fairy Tale one act play. Being an overachiever I have found props, began rehearsals during our period of time allotted, gathered various types of paper from the teachers lounge (poster board, large white sheet for backdrop, a red sheet to make a prop), I have a box for a dog house (we are doing the Little Red Hen) - remember the year I dressed SuperStar, Spidey and myself up as Momma Duck & Baby Ducks for Halloween? Well............the duck costume is being used again (mental note - it pays to not throw things out).

Babbling - so after that we went store to store to pick up items for the student teacher we love who is leaving. They are creating a "teachers bag" for her and we helped to fill it. Then I went to get things for Teacher Appreciation week for all the teachers we have. Then I went to the teacher store to get Multicultural Markers (see tomorrows post). Then back to the school for the Volunteer Thank You Lunch. Keep in mind that my 3yr old (TheKing) - who is potty training - is with me this full time. At Michaels - as I have just collected EVERYTHING I was looking for and ready to head to the front TheKing says, "I gotta poooooooooopieeeee" - I dropped every darn thing I was holding - grabbed him and whisked him to a potty quicker then I could imagine - knocking things down in my way. A worker heard the whole statement and said, "No worries I got the fall out." False Alarm - although I think TheKing was very impressed by the fact I had him across the store, out of his pants and on the toilet in 5 seconds. Following the lunch we came home for the 2 hours left of the school day - he napped, I prepped dinner and cleaned - olders arrived - homework ensued - then dinner - and then - you think this is where we relaxed? Nope - time for the schools Ice Cream Social - whooooo hooooo!!!

Now.......before we are leaving (like right before) to go to the ice cream social (which I did kinda look forward to going to and see some of my girl peeps) Superstar says, "Oh, when we get home I need you to help me sew a costume for tomorrow. It is retro day at school."

"You want what? for when?" was my response.

"Oh, and I need a retro cool costume too." add Spidey.

I do believe I glazed over. BigGuy didn't seem to even notice anyone was talking. SuperStar continued on with this impossible list of things she needed to create some costume that was supposed to be a likeness of Madonna and stated she wanted to be something from the 80's. Wait - are the 80's "Retro" now? Am I old enough that the things we wore are now RETRO?? Dang!!!!


Nixing the idea of making any purchases - siting the fact that you can not decide 3 hours before bedtime that you need a costume and expect us to head to the store - or even worse try to sew it - my brain went into "what can we cut up" mode. Flash Dance came as my first thought. That girl in the movie (the welder girl) wore ripped up sweatshirts, tights, impossibly short shorts and muscle shirts that you could see when the sweatshirt fell to the side. SuperStar seemed unconvinced - until we got home, I pulled out a sweatshirt and started cutting (she thought that was cool - note to self watch closely when SuperStar asks to use the scissors - and hope she asks before using the scissors). In the end it turned out cute.























Spidey's costume was going to be a "Sosh" or "Preppie". Funny.....when we need him to dress in Khaki's and a Polo for a nice event he whines like we are using Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (thanks Mr. Chaney - great term) on him. When we say this is what Retro Preppies wore in the 80's he is all "Oh this is so cool" - the only difference was the turned up collar. Sheesh. Unfortunately - when he put on his Dockers they turned out to be a size 5 and he is in a 7/8. He looked like a NERD - and his costume was born. We switched the Polo for a white button up - shoved some pens in his pocket - buttoned him up all the way and tucked his shirt in all wonky in the front - pulled a belt - some visibly white socks (due to the flood water length pants) and some black tennis shoes. He begged for some glasses and tape - bingo - BigGuy had eye protector glasses and we put some electricians tape on it. He is in NERD heaven!!

2 costumes - Zero Cost - 2 Happy Kids in Retro 80's costumes and 2 parents still thinking Retro can't pertain to the 80's.

Oh - and - we put these costumes together in 20 minutes with stuff from around the house. Stressing here AGAIN that it was all for $0.00. Halloween will never be $30 per costume again. The kiddo's agreed, but I am not sure they really understood.