PYHO: Always Obstacles

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a letter from the County School Board two weeks ago granting Little E's variance for the 2012-2013 school year. I wrote about my concerns back in May whether or not he would get to attend Miss K's school. I was stressing about the long wait I may have been facing and if he didn't get it.

I thought all my worries were over now that I had this piece of paper in my hand. I was wrong again.

I went by the school this Monday to drop off the letter for the school registrar and talked to my friend in the front office. She is like the school secretary/ school website web master. I asked her about the teacher list for the upcoming year so I could confirm which teachers I would request for Miss K and Little E. She told me she had just posted it online just a few minutes before I walked in.

Which meant if the new list was up, the teacher request form would be up also. Nope. My hopes were deflated. There's always an obstacle in my way, it seems.

She told me that the principal has decided to do away with teacher request forms due to new salary regulations on teachers being based on student performance. She is hoping to have the classes more balanced without having all the high scoring kids in the top two favorite teachers rooms.

The plus side, is that she is accepting letters of your child's needs and will take that into consideration when choosing the class for your child. She will not accept letters with a teacher request in them.

I am more worried about Miss K than Little E because it's only Kindergarten. The school handles this grade with "kid gloves" and I'm sure he will do just fine with minor adjustments from his new teacher. He aims to please.

I didn't know that I had a choice when his sister entered school and we got what teacher the school chose.  Which was an awesome teacher and one of the top picked Kindergarten teachers in the school.

Having dealt with several years of inability to focus, short attention span and limited short term memory with Miss K, she really needs a compassionate teacher. Some one who can understand that she has ADHD and won't treat is as a label. A teacher who can have open communication with me and be able to recognize when she is "slipping" and needs positive encouragement with a firm tone.

Miss K is a loveable child who has three previous teachers (not counting 1st grade-she was not a great teacher) who absolutely love and adore her. Especially last year's teacher who was the most help in accomplishing many goals we had set out for the school year.

I'm hoping that I can get this across to the principal that is is very important for Miss K academically, to be placed with a teacher like we hope for.

I'm praying this all works out for the good. I know that my prayers may be answered differently than I expect and I am prepared for that. I'm willing to deal with that but hoping for an "easy button" this time.

PYHO: Little E

Bittersweet moments in my life.

Last week, my Little E graduated from preschool. He is only a few months away from entering into his formulative years in school.

In thirty nine days he will turn 5. A milestone birthday. At least in this house we consider it one.

I sat back today and reminisced over the day last August we walked into the preschool where he was going to attend and remembered the excitement in his eyes. We chose a Montessori based school, based on high recommendations from a friend.

Little E couldn't wait to pull out a play-mat and join in.

Convincing him that he would be back in just a few weeks was something he just didn't comprehend. Now thinking about it, it seems like it was just yesterday. It brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat when I realize that almost another year has gone by.

How much longer will my little boy run to my arms for comfort from mommy hugs? School changes a child. They become more independent. The comfort of mom is saved for home, where friends cannot see.

I am mentally preparing myself for another year that I hope will not fly by. I hope that the birth of baby #3 does not overshadow the accomplishments that my second born will do.

My soon to be middle child. How will this change and mold his personality? My sweet "double" kisses boy. So many changes ahead for this little guy. A year of many firsts ahead. Am I ready?

Loving

Sweet, uninhibited hugs surround my side. Arms too short to reach up higher. A voice whispering " I love you mommy". Knowing it's all for me.

Leaning down to embrace the arms that are reaching for more. A tender moment. A moment repeated several times every day.

"Mommy, can you push the swing? Just eight times. Five times?" Gently giving the big push. Starting the momentum until a new push is needed. Running late to work to enjoy those moments.

It's all worth it.

Because I know all too soon that they will be memories... stored in my mind. They will come farther between. 

My heart aches at the thought. I will embrace the hugs longer. Cherish the ten kisses given to me.

All too soon, this to will pass.

Why can't they be little forever. 

PYHO: Fear of the Unknown

My fear that Little E may not be able to attend the school his sister goes to have resurfaced again. Last year I wrote about this worry and later felt that it could have been premature. I felt relieved that he would more than likely get the variance and be able to attend at least two years in the same school as Miss K. That would have given me more time to prepare for homeschool or any other option.

So last week I signed Little E up for Kindergarten at our zoned school. I requested the variance form and informed the registrar why I was asking for it. While going over Little E's paperwork she stated that this coming school year, the state had not listed "Choice Schools" for the NCLB Act. She said it was talked about that students who were going to other schools besides their zoned school could be required to go back to the school they were zoned for. I was in shock!

This whole time I was worrying about getting my son into the same school as my daughter and I never thought about her losing her spot.

So today I called the zoned elementary school to inquire about Little E's variance form. The registrar told me that she had sent it on to the other school early this week and it might be at the School Board Dept. She gave me their phone number and the extension of the department I would need to speak to. What a very helpful and thoughtful thing for her to do. Especially for a parent who doesn't want their child going to her school.

I debated on whether or not I should call. I didn't know how my inquiring would affect my son's forms. I went ahead with the motherly instinct and called. I'm not sure if I'm glad I called or not. I spoke to the lady in the zoning department and she told me that his variance form had not come in yet. Not surprising. I'm not too worried because it's not like my answer will come quicker if it was.

I was told that I would have to wait until at least July 1st or later to know if we have been denied or accepted. I was concerned about Miss K's position at the school and was routed to another department. The lady that I spoke with was very helpful too. She reassured me that Miss K would not lose her place at the school she currently goes to, even though the NCLB Act has been rewritten by the Florida Department of Education.
 Without going into much detail, the Act that the Federal Dept of Education created did not accomplish the goals that it set out. 

The bad news, Little E could be denied and have to attend the zoned school while Miss K gets to stay at her school. Which is not an option I want to go with. I do not want either of my children to attend that school. The lady told me if that happened, I would need a Plan B. Whatever my Plan B is. She said I always have the option to appeal the school boards decision. Which if turns out to be the case, I will have to build a rock solid case. Not just gut feeling or mother's intuition. My other option would be virtual school at home. Which essentially is home school. Or private school, which in no way I could afford. Or charter school for both kids or just Little E.

I never thought that this could happen when I signed him up for school. I thought it was an open and shut case and then I would have to worry when Miss K left the elementary school to go into middle school. Nope. Life is never that easy. So I will now have to sit, worry and pray my hardest that God works this all out. Please God, just give me one more year. Just let Little E go to Miss K's school for one year. He really wants that opportunity. Please pray for us that it all works out.

I am posting this late for PYHO and glad that I did. Since this all came to light on Thursday.

A Gift from the Heart

Yesterday I decided that I was going to make a new bow for Miss K. I haven't made my own in quite some time because I just couldn't get them the way I wanted. I'm such a perfectionist so if it wasn't "perfect" I wasn't satisfied. I had retired my box of bow making equipment and have been buying bows from the store, my friend and most recently from a vendor at a community business event. I got this wild idea that I would google how to make bows and then follow along.

I will siggest that you watch the video in it's entirety before starting your bow. I followed along while the video was going and did not like bow #1. I tried to use the same bow in the next video I watched, but her bow had a twist in the fabric. So I attempted to salvage the bow and hated it.

I found an awesome tutorial on bows and was more than satisfied with the finished project on the video. I was really excited that the lady suggested using "scraps" of ribbon in various colors. Was she reading my mind?!

I took the "quiet time" I had while the kids were playing down the road to start my bows. My "time" didn't last long enough to get it done uninterrupted. I'm surprised I got it finished with Little E sitting next to me munching on S'mores Goldfish and Miss K sitting behind me trying to work on her homework. With her occasionally stopping me to ask a question about her math. Then Little E starting digging through my scraps of ribbon and snooping through my container of new ribbon.

He decided he wanted to make a bow for his friend Sydney at preschool. She is all he talks about most days. She is the tiniest 4 year old in the preschool and she is so stinking cute. He said she likes bows and he wanted to make her one. So I had to make Miss K's bow and try to help him with his gift bow. And I was running out of time. By the time he decided to do his project, we had 15 minutes before departure for dance classes.

Talk about stress. But it was ALL WORTH IT.

We finished both bows except for a clip on Sydney's. Which I had to pull out my glue gun for this morning. He wanted her to be able to put it on after he gave it to her.

Little E packed her bow safely into his backpack and raced into class, not even stopping for my goodbye kiss. He was so proud. And the sweetest part, her boy cousin (that goes to preschool there too) put it in her hair. It was not the cutest bow, it was mismatched and had ribbon tied over a bow and was not perfection at all. But it was special.

It WAS ALL WORTH IT. He was so happy that she liked it. I was somewhat broken hearted, my little boy has some one else in his heart. Even if he is only four and half.

PYHO: Hanging on by a Thread

I'll eventually get to writing about why I've been on hiatus for about four weeks, but today something bigger is on my heart. I've been struggling with my youngest, Little E with his behavior. I partly blame myself for being a softie and letting him get his way. I admit it, I have coddled him way, WAY too long. And now it's biting me in the butt.

I also blame the behavior on preschool and the fact that he's four years old. I thought the three's were bad, but now that I look back at Miss K's year of four, she was a tough cookie too.

It didn't start over night. And it's not like his attitude change didn't happen on his birthday back in July. It has gradually gotten worse and my threshold for his badness has reached "the level".

Little E was always a sweet, kind little boy and reflected that behavior when he used to go to daycare.We never had any problems with him.Then before turning three I pulled him out and he stayed home with me. To prepare him for school next year, I placed him in VPK at a really nice montessori  based daycare/preschool. Since then he has complained about other boys treating him unfairly and excluding him.The teachers have not complained about him being bad to anyone at school, but who knows.

The problem: he's trying to befriend the wrong kids. The bullies, the "pretty boys", the rough kids. I can't choose his friends but when he starts reflecting their behavior at home, something has to give.

We've all heard the saying boys will be boys but that doesn't mean it's okay to come home and smack your sister because she won't give you what she has in her hands. And it doesn't mean when you don't get your way with mommy that you go to your room and kick the wall for ten minutes.

Dealing with the way he's been acting, doesn't make trying to get him to eat "big people" food any easier. I finally pout my foot down recently and will not cook him his own meal of either, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fish sticks or mac and cheese anymore. He has to eat what we eat for dinner. We're on day five today and it's been awful to say the least.

I'm hoping this is just a phase and we grow out of it. Of course, he may grow out of it but I know we won't successfully make it unless I keep up with punishments and time outs.I'm open to suggestions from moms of boys who survived or are surviving the younger years.

Surprise Surprise

There's nothing like enjoying the afternoon at Sea World with your husband and kids. Even when you forget to pack extra clothes for your four year old. The four year old who has a tendency to forget to tell you that he needs to go potty when he's having fun.

Or when he's having constipation issues again.

Five minutes after walking into the park I needed to head to the restroom. Both kids accompanied me and I let Little E go into a stall by himself. That was my second mistake, after forgetting to pack the spare underpants.

I'm standing outside the door and he tells me his pants are wet. Just great! In a hurry to sit down to try to go poop he forgets to pee first while standing up and just sits down. Now if you are a mom to boys, you know what this means. Inexperienced boys forget to hold down their "noodle" and close their legs and the pee goes straight out to the pants.

I'm frustrated at this point and take off his pants and throw out the underwear that are soaked. It's not like I was going to be able to convince the hubs to put them in his backpack and carry around urine soaked underwear for seven hours.

This was like a flashback to the time at Disney CityWalk back in December '10. When I actually remembered to bring spare clothes, but Little E kept wetting his pants and I ran out of clothes. We spent an hour searching the shops to find him underwear. I was lucky that time but spent a small fortune to buy Disney underwear.

We didn't get as lucky this time. No underwear are marketed by Sea World so they don't sell them. But they do have vending machines that sell diapers and anything else that you might need when traveling with small children. The catch? One pullup will cost ya $4.00.

It was pretty painful to drag the kids from the front of SW all the way back to other side of the park to locate one of the four vending machines in the park. All the while they keep asking to stop and look at this or that.

After getting the pullup on Little E, I told him not to go to the bathroom in it, to think like it was his underwear. Yeah, best laid plans.

While waiting for the Pets Ahoy show to start, Little E loudly calls out "mommy, I need to go poop!" What?!
"Are you sure?" I'm hoping he says no, because I was alone with both kids watching the show while the hubs was riding the Kracken roller coaster. So we would have abandoned our seats for another potty break.
"No. I'm good." he says.
I should have known better.

A couple of hours later I took the kids to the restroom again. It was so hot out and trying to keep the kids hydrated so what goes in, must come out. I was surprised again with a mess in Little E's pullup. Poor guy was having such a time with constipation that everytime he passed gas, it was not a pretty sight.

So we headed out again to locate another vending machine. So $8.00 later, I could've bought a whole package of pullups for what I spent on two!! The price of convenience. It's still a hard to pill to swallow.

Thankfully the second one we bought was the last one. The rest of the evening went well. No more accidents and Little E skipped dinner for a much needed nap.

I'm going to make a mental note for our next trip out and it doesn't matter where we go. I'm packing underwear, shorts, socks, wipes and a ziploc bag. I'm tired of being empty handed. I thought my diaper bag carrying days were over when the little guy was potty trained. I guess not.

Happy Birthday

We had an amazing time today celebrating this little guy's
fourth birthday. After all the guests had packed up and left
for home, we took some time to play
on the playground where we held the party.

Little E is a great subject for photography.

He and his big sister love to pose for the camera.
And he still got to enjoy running to everything
on the playground while I chased him with my camera.

Happy Birthday to my sweet boy.
You are growing up too fast
my little man.

Rockin the Baby or Babies

I'm linking up this week with my good friend Shell at Things I Can't Say for her Rockin the Baby link up. It was so hard to choose just one photo of my sweet kiddos when they were just little babes so I picked two of each. That was even pretty hard to do because I could just go crazy linking up photos of my kids.

Miss K at 5 months

Miss K at 9 months

Little E at 1 month

Little E at 6 months

Now that you've enjoyed looking at my little babes, head over to Shell's to check out the blogs who have joined in and maybe you can link up too!

Don't Blink, They Grow Overnight

It seems like yesterday that I was having contractions and was about to meet this little boy who would steal my heart the moment I held him. In less than two months he will be four years old. Little E will be old enough to attend Pre K in the fall and get to go back to school. Last year when I decided to stay home and work barely part time, I pulled my little boy out of daycare.
Since then he has learned so much staying home with me. Daycare gave him the building blocks, so to speak, in his learning foundation. I don't try to boast but he is a bright little boy. I had considered enrolling him in the summer VPK (Voluntary Pre Kindergarten) but I know that if went now, he would be bored with the fall VPK program.
I used to worry that my little boy was going to have trouble since he waited until after a year old to start talking and saying more than mama and dada.I compared him to his sister who started speaking at 6 months and could communicate with me. But I think he has done quite well.
He surprises me all the time. Little E used to only recognize the letters in capital form, now he knows the lowercase letters. He can count to 15 and recognizes all the numbers from 0 to 9. He knows his shapes, colors and basic commands like up, down, inside and outside. He surprised me last night by spelling his name. I thought it was a fluke, so I asked him to spell it for daddy tonight and he did it! He was SO proud of himself.
I was beaming!!
I have started teaching him how to read using a book that my friend, who was a teacher before having her own children uses, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons , by Siegfried Engelmann. He is so excited about learning this book and keeps wanting to do more than one exercise a day.
I still can't believe that my little boy will be going to school this coming fall. I'm going to enjoy every moment now. I will relish in every moment of prayer time when he asks me to read the prayer book one more time. I will sing him Itsy Bitsy Spider an extra time if he asks. They grow up too fast. I am taking every day, one minute at a time.

PYHO: Getting the Grade

When my husband and I decided we wanted to move out of our apartment in 2004, we didn't consider schools as a reason to choose the city we would live in. The housing market was crazy and finding a home in our top two choices was impossible. We decided to purchase a home in the city I worked in but didn't think about the school that our children might have to attend.

I actually hoped that we would be able to sell our home after living in it for five years and Miss K might only attend the school one year, but the market fell. Crushing my idea.

Thankfully in 2007 a new elementary school was built and I thought we wouldn't have to send our children to the old, old school that supported the city. Wrong.
I didn't realize until after the school was built that our house was not zoned for the new school even though we are 5 minutes away from it.

So at the end of 2007 I enrolled Miss K at school A. (the old school) One month later I got a letter in the mail from NCLB (No Child Left Behind) because the school we enrolled at did not meet State Requirements and I could choose another school for my child. Yippee!!! The letter stated we had two choices one was school B (the one Miss K currently attends) and school C (a new school built in the next town). We chose B and got it.

I always figured that Little E would attend the same school since his sister goes there. Obviously not. I was recently told by some one that I would have to enroll him at school A and apply for a variance for him to attend school B. I will have to apply for the variance each year and when Miss K leaves that elementary school to go to middle school I can get denied. This is what worries me.

Now I know that I don't have to worry too much until the next year, the school year 2012/2013. But I want to have my ducks in a row and know what I'm up against. I am preparing an email to the School Superintendent that handles Choice Schools to get some answers. I don't know if I should risk enrolling him and hope he gets a choice option which would lock him into the school I pick. Or do I go for the variance and when Miss K leaves fight for his right to go to that school still. Or hope that in three years we get to move and maybe move into that school zone or an even better one? Or if I do choose to Home School Miss K when she goes into middle school like I have planned and just home school Little E too.?

I'm such a worrier and I know that I really don't have to worry about it too much at least for another year though. But.... I am concerned because the school we are zoned for is not a well performing school and I know my child will have a better chance to succeed at school B. Thanks for letting me vent and any advice would be great.

Sea World trip 02/19

We took the kids to Sea World on Saturday
It's so nice to have annual passes so we don't have to rush in
and rush around the park to see EVERYTHING
in one day. We took our time seeing the shows that we wanted
playing a few games while daddy rode the Manta. (Miss K was still not tall enough)
Little E LOVED the shark encounter and checking out the manta rays.
This was the first time we took the kids to feed the sting and manta rays
they LOVED it!

Miss K looks so funny. She was telling me about the games and
trying to win the stuffed animals


Riding down the conveyer through thee Shark Encounter tube

Sea World has changed how you feed the dolphins and it's
a much better experience. We had a great time!

My two sweeties waiting for mommy
Daddy took a great pic!

Thank God for the Blessings

There's nothing cuter than a little 3 year old boy who just got
out of the bath tub wearing a froggy hooded towel.

I love my little man who is such a ham.
This little boy who warms my heart every night
when he wants to be such a big boy and try and wash his own hair.
Even after I have suds-ed his head and rinsed him clean
then I find him squeezing shampoo into the tub.

I just love his sweet smile and giggles
when I try to take his photos.
Thank you Lord for blessing me with this sweet little boy.

Volunteering: Little E

After eight weeks of waiting for my application to be verified, my background checked and whatever else they needed to dig up on me, I am officially a volunteer for Miss K's school! Last week the resource officer called me to give me the good news and wanted to know what kind of volunteering I was interested in. I was willing to work in any classroom even if it meant doing so in Miss K's class. She said she had a teacher that needed filing done and seeing how I would be bringing Little E with me, this teacher would be more understanding since she has a toddler herself.
I started my firs day of volunteer work this morning. I was nervous about how Little E would do. Would he be shy and act like he does when a stranger talks to him? Or would he feel at ease and go through all the cabinets, cubbies and books like he was at home? Well.. it was a little bit of both. I was so nervous about it that I had a hard time concentrating for the first 30 minutes.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well he did while I organized homework sheets, filed papers and checked folders. The 3rd graders took to Little E like he was one of their own and he was in heaven. Since it was Friday, the classroom schedule was more relaxed and the teacher played some music and let the kids walk around the room during an exercise. Little E joined in and had the biggest smile on his face!

Once I had finished everything Mrs. P had for me to do today, I told her how relieved I was about his behavior. She told me he did fine and that the students are like "mam hens". I finished telling her that I wasn't sure what to expect from that age group, but it worked well so far. I can't wait until next Monday to see how it goes.

Halloween Costumes

Photo Credit

So I've decided what the kids are going to be for Halloween.
Miss K is going to be a fairy, complete with wings, tutu, leotard
and all the glitter you can handle.
I'm being pretty crafty this year again and I'm putting
the kids costumes together myself.
I bought the tulle to make the tutu myself.
I went online and found instructions on how t make one.
Wish me luck!

Little E will be this!

Jack Sparrow the pirate!
He doesn't know that is who he is
going to be, but he knows he'll be a pirate.
We're changing it just a bit since I only have the headband with
dreads from the costume.
So it's going to be combination of Jack Sparrow
and Captain Hook.
Complete with eye patch, earring, hook and sword.
My little guy is going to be soo cute!

Eat this, not that!

After Little E's three year old check up back in July and our "poop" issues, I am no longer making separate meals for the kids. They will be served the same meal that everyone eats and be required to at least try it. We have had our moments where the "king of picky eaters" flat out refuses anything but bread and yogurt and I give up and send him from the table. You would think he would be hungry and cry for food later but nope.

The start of simple dinner turned into a power struggle all over a simple cheeseburger. It's one of those foods that you know your kids will eat along with french fries, chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. So when I planned Saturday night's meal with burgers, fries and sweet corn I didn't think anything of it.

This time I decided to take a stand. I needed to get my control back from a three year old and show him that mommy is in charge. We sat down for dinner and everyone had a burger with cheese except for Little E,his was plain. As we dug into our burgers and fries he munched on the fries only. I told him to take a bite of his burger which he did but only bit the bun. I was not surprised so I cut his burger in half to expose the meat. He threw a fit about seeing the burger. I ignored his screams and told him firmly that he needed to take a bite.

Of course he changed the subject and said he would eat his applesauce. This continued on for a few more minutes until I asked him again to take a bite of his burger. He flat out refused to eat it and ate more of the bun. I finished my dinner along with the rest of the family but Little E still sat there staring at his plate. I told him to take one bite and he could get up from the table.

This was the deciding moment. I could have given up and would have been taking another step back in proving to my child that he has the power but I didn't. I demanded that he take a bite. He bit the meat and did not chew. He held the bite in his mouth and started crying. I told him to chew it up and he could wash it down with his chocolate milk. He was not going to budge. This went on for about 10 minutes. He chewed that meat and bread into mush but would not swallow it.

After 10 minutes I decided that he would have gone to bed with it in his mouth if he had to and no one was winning at this point. I told him to spit it out and I told him that he would be seeing that burger for breakfast, lunch and dinner the following day. He knew I meant it and went to his room to sulk. He even told me that he was mad at me. I was sad about what he said but knew he didn't mean it.

So today I was nice enough and served him oatmeal for breakfast. But at lunch when he requested a sandwich you know what he got? The reheated burger on a fresh bun. Nothing else. He skipped lunch and I told him that he would see that burger for dinner. We had some family over for dinner and Little E was being shy about coming out to visit. It worked t my advantage and he missed seeing what we were eating for dinner. So when he came to get a snack after our meal was cleaned up, I told him that the only thing he had coming was his burger.

Yes, I did. I served him the burger again. This time I cut it up into chunks and let him choose a dipping sauce. He picked sour cream. Sounds disgusting to me but if he likes it, the so be it. I served him one chunk and he tried to sit with it in his mouth again. I thought, he we go again. He spit it out on his plate and I told him that if you do this again, I will serve this burger again tomorrow. He dipped another piece and ate it. He chewed it up and smiled at me. I told him he needed to eat two more pieces and then he was done and that I would throw it away.

He ate those two pieces. He said the meat tasted good. I had a talk with him after he was done. I hope that I taught him a lesson. I hope that the next plate of food he isn't sure about that he'll remember that burger. I hope.

What boys are made of....

Lately being with Little E has been pretty comical. I think because for six hours a day he is solely with me and doesn't have to share my attention with his sister. I am sure I have noticed his personality because he doesn't go to daycare and we're hanging out 24/7. Today he had me in stitches several times. He's pretty nosy and likes to dig through stuff that doesn't belong to him. He has been told by grandma to stay out of her desk at work. But as usual he can't keep his hands to himself and has to look in her desk. I guess he's looking for candy or snacks. Which I am sure of today because after a special request for eggs and toes (toast) he refused to finish it.
I was not at work for more than 15 minutes and he comes up to me and says "mommy, did you bring me any popcorn?"
Me: "nope, sorry baby." He cocks his head and holds out a blue bowl. "but mommy, I need popcorn in my bowl so I can watch a movie. Can you get some?"
Me: "I can't honey. I'll call grandma and see if she'll bring some."
"Okay mommy"Soon after my phone call to my mother he goes missing again and comes out with a green plastic bowl. My dad gets on to him for digging through grandma's stuff and tells Little E that grandma is going to whoop him. He hides behind a desk and waits until my dad leaves the sales area and goes to the service department.
Little E comes out from behind the desk and looks pretty sad with his pouty lip and close to tears. "Why's grandma gonna whoop me mommy? Whad I do?"
Me, trying not to smile: "You shouldn't be digging through her stuff sweetie. Put those bowls away."

After Miss K's dance class this afternoon/evening we were heading home. I was on the phone and Little E starts interrupting me. I couldn;t comprehend what he was saying. After hanging up he says to me " my foot".
Me: "what?"
E: "my foot itches"
I look in the concave mirror that allows me to view the backseats and see his sock and shoe removed foot sticking up towards my chair. eww.
Me: "I am not scratching your foot. You scratch it."
E: "No! My foot itched, I scratched it. Can you kiss it?"
Me: " No way! Honey, I love you to death but I am not kissing that sweaty little foot."
I could not stop laughing. I just can't kiss all the boo boos. I have to draw the line somewhere.

This evening before bed Little E finds a tiny beetle in the house. He proceeds to take it to bed with him and requests something to keep it in. Daddy provided him with a plastic container with a lid. About 15 minutes after being tucked in he starts calling me. "mommy! mooommmmmyyy!"
I go in to find out what the situation is."mommy, where's my beetle?"
I walk farther into his room and see the lid on the floor and no container in sight. I half figured I would find the bug dead in the the container on the morning. Guess I'll find a dead bug in the bed in the morning now. Gotta love boys. You never know what's going to happen next.

GTKY: 08/08

Wow! It's been a busy week of school shopping,
bowling, movie theaters,
home made dinners, birthday dinners,
go cart racing at Fun Spot, video games for tokens,
house cleaning, laundry and some sleep in between.
Glad to see the week is over and I'm resting in my recliner and
finishing up the week with some GTKY.

The Q's.

1. Do you think mustaches are sexy? sexy, nah. Required? depends on the guy. My husband looks great in his when he's got it neatly trimmed.2. What's the last concert you've been to? umm, seriously. I am too embarrassed to admit the last concert I went to.

3. What was your favorite 80's sitcom? The Cosby Show. I loved watching the Huckstables (as I am sure that is spelled wrong) .
4. Were you named after anyone? no

5. When you buy new clothes, do you wash before wearing? nope. I bought a pair of capris from Kohl's today and needed to wear them to the party so I kept them on from the dressing room and tore off the tag at the register when paying for them.

6. If you didn't blog, what would you do with your spare time? read books, learn to crochet and sew more

7. What is your favorite department store? Kohl's

8. If you were to get Laser Hair Removal..where would you get it? my face. I have this peachfuzz all over it that I really don't like.

The ending to a great weekend
napping in the car on the way home
from Fun Spot.

A Little bit of this..A little bit of that

In twelve days the summer will come to an end. It seems like only a few weeks have passed during the fun. This by far has been the best summer I have had since I was a kid myself. I have enjoyed beach days, days at the park, playing at the splash pad, picnic lunches. cheap movies, play dates, shopping trips, slushee stops at Target and lazy days hanging on the couch watching television. Those are just among the fun things I have done with my babes.
Today was another adventure with a cheap movie at the theater. Who can resist the $3.00 special that includes a small popcorn and child sized drink for each person? Yeah so what if it's a movie that is already on DVD. The kids didn't care. Watching the movie in the dark, with full surround stereo on the BIG screen eating popcorn with your little friends. They loved it!
Then we enjoyed some Italian cuisine of cheesy pizza at Papa Joe's Pizza and Pasta. I enjoyed a yummy dish of baked manicotti and it was soo delicious! then we headed for some free bowling at our AMF bowling lanes. If you haven't heard of this it's great! We signed up at KidsBowlFree (they have a Facebook page) and each week we get bowling coupons for the kids to bowl two free games each day. The kids loved throwing that silly 6 pound electric green ball down the lane!
The best part was when Little E threw a ball down there and it was going so slow it looked like it was rolling back towards us. It actually stopped rolling and the lane guy had to go down there and get it.

We finished the day with a quick trip into Target for a few items and made our usual stop at the slushee machine. Of course after a few kid arguments in the shopping cart I had to stop in the Starbuck's in the store and get a Frappuchino to go. What a relaxing way to end the day with some fully loaded caffeine coffee yumminess!

These last twelve days are going to fly by! In two days Miss K will turn 7. On Friday my little girl is a year older. Then on Sunday we are celebrating her party. Then next Friday is my birthday, followed by my mother's 60th birthday (shhhh, I didn't tell you that. she's not taking that age well) and then school starts Monday the 16th.

It's crazy. Life flies by. Can you believe that Christmas is 144 days away? Yeah I know. I heard it on the radio yesterday and I wanted to climb into the radio and smack that DJ. I don't need to stress about that now too! Can we get through Labor Day first? Maybe mention it after Halloween?

Post It Note Tuesday-All the cake is gone