Jake and Josh's Mum

Nursery Rhyme Hoe-Down

2009-11-06T14:29:57Z

At Jake's school they have been studying nursery rhymes now for the last few weeks. Humpty Dumpty, 3 blind mice, Jack and Jill....all the oldies but goodies. This week they end their studies with a Nursery Rhyme Kindergarten Hoe-down. The idea is that the kids dress up as one of the characters in the nursery rhymes that they have studied and have a big party. The only guidelines were that the school said "This is not an opportunity to get dressed up in halloween costumes and if the kids aren't dressed appropriately, they will be asked to remove their costume". I racked my brain on what to do for this. Little Bo Peep? Too girlie.....Itsy Bitsy Spider? To icky.....Jack and Jill! Perfect! I told Jake that I would give him a pail, write the name Jack on it, and send him in tattered clothes and draw scrapes on his arms and face- he HATED the idea......I finally got him to agree to be "all the kings men" from Humpty Dumpty.....now to find a knights costume.....So I found a shield and a chest plate and a helmet for $4 at the halloween store (After Halloween when everything is 75% off). Yesterday Jake said "I don't want to get dressed up- what if no one else is"....So I asked him to check with his friends to see what they were going as. Last night he told me his friend Jack was going to be a Knight too.....so I thought I was golden.....then I realized last night that the directions from school said "NO HALLOWEEN COSTUMES" and Jake's really is a costume.....And i never even thought to hand make this- Im just not that artsy....so now I have sent Jake to school and Im figuring he will be told he cant wear his 3 pieces...I hope not....but Im really worried...I wish I had of thought to be crafty! Have I mentioned that Im not a big fan of this here hoe-down!?!

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QotD: Your Choice of Beverage

2009-11-05T14:05:05Z

If you could only drink one beverage for the rest of your life (not including water), which one would you choose?

Wine and Christmas Lights

DUH! WINE! Of course I would be a drunkard......The question says to not include water, so Im assuming that I could also drink water along with my wine....I would be a very happy gal! And I would have variety too! Red, White, Pink, and I would argue Champagne woudl fall into this category.....What did you think I would pick? Juice? Milk? Gatorade?

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My dog is Ridiculous!

2009-11-04T12:24:35Z

Breezy Wheezy

Can you say spoiled? My poor dog- ever since Summer (her sister) died last Christmas this dog has become super spoiled. She sleeps all day and if you walk in the room and she is on her pillow and she isn't covered up, she will whine and whine until you get up and throw a blanket on her (trust me, the whining gets to you!). She now begs at the table, she sleeps on the couch (which used to be a big no no) and if she is outside for more thank 5 minutes at a time she claws at the door and whines like you are beating her. Yesterday was the most gorgeous day and I put her out to run errands. The minute I got home I hear this terrible noise coming from outside- whining, crying, scratching....I thought she was hurt- but it was just her wanting in.....I love my dog- I just don't like how spoiled I've let her become.....at age 10 though, Im not ready to make a stance with her...I guess she will die an indoor dog, wrapped up in a blanket.

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Star of the Week

2009-11-03T14:55:18Z

Josh is the Star of the Week at Spanish Schoolhouse......that means more work for me.....specifically I had to make a posterboard of pictures of Josh and his favorite things....Just what I need- more art projects for me! Anyways, here is what I came up with...I have to say that Im kind of impressed with me really...I think it shows who Josh is and what he likes. Favorite color: Yellow and Pink, Favorite Animal: Elephant, Favorite Ice Cream flavor: Vanilla, Favorite Sport: Soccer and Hockey....On top of the posterboard I need to come up with a show and tell for today and thursday....Today he took his favorite game: Littlest Pet Shop......not sure what Thursday will be.

Regardless of how much work it was, the smile on his face when he saw the posterboard was priceless....and the fact that for the first time in 6 weeks, Josh was chomping at the bit to get to school today....It made my day.

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Conversation between 5 year olds

2009-11-03T13:14:38Z

Jake coloring in his class- 1st day of school

Yesterday I went to Jake's school for lunch and I love doing that. First of all it made him really happy that I was there. Secondly, I get to listen to some great conversations between him and his friends....like this one between Jake and Kirstin:

Jake: "My Mum is 39 years old"

Kirstin: "My Mum is 40 years old and my dad is 41 years old"

Jake: "My Dad is 43 years old"

Kirstin: "Its a good job hes not 49 years old or he would be OLD!"

Nice......

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Our Halloween Weekend is in the books

2009-11-02T17:20:23Z

Superman and GI Joe

What a fun (and tiring) weekend it was. We tricked and treated, we boo bashed, we decorated cakes and we even played oh so nicely together.....it was a very busy weekend, but one that I think everyone enjoyed. Here's the run down...

Friday Night:

We took the boys to the Young Chef's Academy. It was a drop off event, which meant I could go home and read my book for a while in piece and quiet before I had to return to get the boys. On the other hand, the boys were busy busy. First they made pizza, then the got to frost and decorate a big cake shaped like a pumpkin (which incidentally was the worst tasting cake I have ever eaten) and lastly they got to decorate a cupcake to eat after their pizza. When I returned at 7pm they hadn't eaten their pizza yet, or their cupcake, so we didn't leave there until about 7:30 or so. And I nearly didn't get Josh to leave- he LOVED it there. It was his first time there (Jake's second) and Josh wants to go back, pronto. The girl that runs the place did say that after thanksgiving they will be doing gingerbread house decorating, so Im guessing we will be signing up for that. I love that the boys love to cook.

Saturday:

Dr Rubin, the boys dentist, was hosting his annual Boo Bash, so we went, along with the boys' friends Ella and Nate. This was the coolest thing. There were a ton of games there to play, art to do, face painting, a train ride, a bounce house, balloon makers, popcorn and a photographer making buttons to commemorate the event. The weather was amazing too- mid 60s and sunny. And being that the event was hosted by a dentist, all the prizes were actually prizes, not candy! BONUS! Then to top the whole thing off, we won a Build a Bear in the raffle! That was pretty cool- until we opened the box and saw that the bear was a GIRL bear complete with an orange pumpkin dress and wings and bows in her hair...and her name was Princess Pumpkin....the boys didn't want her then......Luckily, we had a party at Build a Bear later in the day, where I saved the day by buying Princess Pumpkin a basketball uniform and she became B-Baller Bear...

As I said earlier, we then went to the mall to a party for our next door neighbor. It was at Build a Bear and the boys each made another bear......Josh picked a rabbit, named Brownie (he's brown) and dressed him in a volleyball uniform and Jake picked a Monkey, called him Climb (I thought he said Klein) and dressed him in an OU Sooners Football uniform. We now have 6 build a bears. 1 Football player, 1 Soccer star, 2 volleyball players, 1 Hockey bear and 1 WNBA basketball player.....didn't I mention that earlier? So I saved the day by converting the bear from a princess to a basketball player, but it wasn't until i got home that I realized the uniform said WNBA, as in WOMENS Basketball.....SHHHHHH don't tell Josh or Im a dead woman!

The 4 Kids...Jake, Josh, Marlee and MT

Saturday night of course was Trick or Treating. We left the house around 6:15 and made the rounds until about 8:15 or so....the kids were so exhausted at the end. Jake went as GI Joe, but without the mask he just looked like a muscle man in a black outfit- even with the mask no one really got who he was. Josh was a bit more recognizable as Superman, but his costume was a little too big on him so he looked like he was also wearing a super diaper. We went with the kids next door- they were a greek goddess and a magician. The night was beautiful and there were a ton of people out enjoying it. Near the end of the trail we came across a house that had a free bounce house so we of course had to stop there for 20 minutes.....Now we have a ton of candy that I don't want.....but its all good....Halloween is always alot of fun.

Sunday:

We had a soccer game on sunday- the last of the season....we didn't win, but we came oh so close.....the boys love soccer so I have signed them up again....Josh and I also went for a bike ride and we played at the park.....but mostly the boys just played together....for hours they just played. There wasn't alot of fighting, it was just fun....its been so long since they have done that....Im hoping we have rounded the corner on Josh's temper tantrums and we are into sunnier weather with him.....Of course, the time fell back, so we started the day at 5am.....grrr.....but it was cool towards the end of the night...we put the hot tub on and when it got dark at 6:15, the boys got to swim in the dark....they loved that...and the best part of all was that by 7pm Josh was asleep and Jake followed suit around 7:15pm......That is the up side of saying adios to daylight savings time....its the ONLY upside that I can see......

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Halloween Festivities

2009-10-28T14:48:31Z

Pumpkins at the Spanish Schoolhouse

Seems like this year Halloween is a HUGE event for us. Here is a list of some of the festivities we are partaking in....

Earlier this Week:

Josh had to decorate a pumpkin for Spanish School House for their Pumpkin Patch. I had him paint a small pumpkin and add glitter glue to it, but it was all his creation. I took a picture of the kids' pumpkins yesterday- as you can see, I think some parents helped out a bit.....Ther was even a princess pumpkin with fur lined hat and a glitter wand!
Jake got to visit the pumpkin patch with his whole class and got a free pumpkin to bring home and made art projects and played tons of games
The YMCA after school had a dress up party where all the kids got to wear their costumes to school! Cool huh....

Thursday:

Spanish Schoolhouse is having a Halloween Party where Josh gets to dress up in costume and the kids all trick or treat to other classrooms and they get a walk through the pumpkin patch (made from the pumpkins mentioned above) and eat special Halloween food like mummy dogs and spider cookies (these stay at home moms are REALLY good at this stuff! BTW Im supplying party favors....who has time to make mummy dogs!) and make halloween arts and crafts.
The YMCA is having a Boo Bash where all the kids (and their siblings) that go to the YMCA after school programs in Frisco can come and decorate cookies and trick or treat and have a party. FUN!

Friday:

Josh has a tailgate party at Primrose complete with Trick or Treating
I've signed the boys up for Young Chef's Academy with their friend Ella and they are going to decorate a halloween cake and make pizza and treats for 90 minutes. I cant wait to birng home 2 halloween cakes!

Saturday:

The boys' dentist, Dr. Rubin, is having his annual Boo Bash on Saturday morning where the kids can go and play games and pet animals and have their faces painted and just have fun!
That afternoon we are going to Build a Bear for our neighbors birthday party
Of course its Halloween night and the weather is supposed to be good, so we will be trick or treating!

Sunday:

EAT CANDY!!!!!!

Exhausting......

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Stop and Stare

2009-10-27T14:05:08Z

I haven't done such a great job with the boys about pointing and staring at people.....especially people that are different for some reason.....people in wheelchairs or blind people or people with special needs....I guess because there aren't that many teaching opportunities and when one presents itself, and my kids do point and stare I get embarrassed that they are doing this and I hush them away quickly....which is EXACTLY the wrong strategy.....I really need to work on this. Yesterday Josh and I went to pick up Jake and there is a boy there at Jake's school that is in a wheelchair and Josh saw him when we went into get Jake and he just stared at this boy....and I felt terrible for it.....I told him it wasn't polite to stare and we went and got Jake....when we were leaving, the boy was driving his wheelchair to his van and getting into the van and Josh said, quite loudly "Why doesn't he know how to walk? And why does he have funny glasses?"....Im pretty sure he said it loud enough for the boy to hear....andI feel terrible about this- that I haven't educated my kids yet in this.....So last night I sat them down and talked about the fact that not everyone in the world can walk, or have 2 arms or can see or can hear, and that these people are still people with feelings and pointing and staring at people is not something we should do because it makes them feel bad. I tried to use the example of Johnny or myself wearing glasses- I asked Josh is he would like it if someone pointed at Daddy or stared at Daddy because of his glasses- and he said no. So maybe its sinking in???? I find it hard to quantify to my kids why its ok to point at an object but why its not polite to point to a person. I know some of you have special needs kids, so if you have any advise on how to talk to my kids on taking into account feelings of your kids and yourself, I would love to hear it. Right now I can just reiterate weekly about this to them, but i wont know if it will sink in until we are in that situation again.....OK- thanks for listening to me! This is something I am desperate to correct and feel terrible that Im so delinquent in this.

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We have Jack O' Lanterns

2009-10-26T15:33:28Z

The boys and their Jack O' Lanterns

"Pumpkin Pumpkin
Big and Fat
Turn into a Jack O' Lantern
JUST LIKE THAT!"

On Saturday morning we carved pumpkins....not because I particularly wanted to carve pumpkins but because Jake had an assignment to make an art project out of pumpkin seeds that he collected and cleaned from a pumpkin (nice huh)....so guess who got stuck with the disgusting job of gutting a pumpkin and cleaning the seeds? Yup- ME....when I was a kid and my Mum used to do this for us, I swore up and down that I would NEVER do this for anyone- no matter how much they asked or how much I loved them...The thought of sticking my hands into a slimy pumpkin that smelled like, well, like pumpkin, was just too gross for me to imagine.....but fast forward 30 years and its amazing what you will do for your kids....Here I am with my hands inside 2 slimy pumpkins! ughhhhh....I hated every slimy stinky disgusting minute of it, but I gutted 2 pumpkins, and I separated the seed from the goop and the boys helped me wash the seeds and we carved 2 really great pumpkins....At least I was proud of the designs. The boys came up with the ideas for their pumpkins, I did the cutting and they pushed out the pieces....a great team effort and here is a picture to show for it! But now Im glad that's over for another year.....ughhhhh...I really don't like pumpkins....

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I love a good hockey game

2009-10-24T12:53:39Z

The boys watching the game

The Texas Tornado are back in Frisco after a 1 year forced hiatus (due to the fact that the city of Frisco wanted to remodel their brand new Arena to accommodate more seating for future graduation events). I'm SOOOO happy they are back too...but I don't think the word is out yet that they are back...for an area that probably holds 10,000 people, there MAY have been 1000 on hand- MAYBE.....Good for us in that we got to choose where we wanted to sit....bad for the team....but the season IS just starting, so I hope the word gets out because its just good entertainment. I think watching Jr Hockey is WAY more entertaining that the NHL- first of all, its in our city (vs. a 40 minute ride to downtown Dallas)....you get close tickets, the kids all play hard because they want to catch scouts eyes, and you don't have to pay $30 a ticket for nose bleed seats. We got 4 tickets for $14. And free parking! How can you beat that!

Blue Cotton Candy in case you are wondering

Besides all of those good reasons, the very best reason on all is that the kids LOVE the hockey game. They watch it and they ask questions, and they get upset if the tornado lose and they love the music and the cotton candy and the popcorn (can you blame them really?). Last night we stayed until the end of the game- that is a first for us. We normally leave after 2 periods, but the kids wanted to stay so we did. The Tornado lost in the end 2-1, and Josh was upset at that, but it was a good game- minimal fighting and good scoring chances. Definitely something we will do again and again this season.....please let us know if you go....we may join you!

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