Red Ribbon Week

It was "Red Ribbon Week" at our Elementary School this week. It was something the girls were SUPER excited about...which means, of course, that mom forgot.

Monday: "Red Day - Not Just For a Day, But For Life" - Wear Something Red.

Mondays are not our best days in general. Throw something out of the ordinary at us and we don't usually respond well. I don't think either of them wore anything even close to the color red. '

Fail.

Tuesday: "Crazy if You Do Drugs" - Crazy Hair Day

While we managed some fantastic hairdos, the girls were 20 minutes late for school. I didn't plan for the exorbitant amount of time needed to braid this much hair. 

Fail. 

But I did get some great pictures: less of a fail.

Wednesday: "Turn Your Back on Drugs!" - Wear Your Clothes Backwards

The goal was to wear your clothes backwards. We joked all week that Wednesday would be the day Ellie actually wore her clothes the right way! (She has a habit of putting most of her clothes on backwards each and every time she gets dressed. She has even worn her underwear backwards from time to time. Usually I am able to catch her and get her to swap it around...but not always.) But no...she wore them the true backwards way. Pants and all. 

Lindy struggled to find something that didn't irritate her. (And by "irritate" I mean "reduce her to mind-numbing tears.) It was touch-and-go for a while. For all of us. Finally she found a shirt that didn't make her turn into a screaming banshee and we were go for Backwards Day. (And on time for school.) Phew!

But no pictures. Slight fail. 

I'll just take some pictures of Ellie tomorrow. Recovery!

Thursday: "Hats Off to Being Drug Free!" - Hat Day

We've been through Hat Day before. Thus I was fairly convinced that we had at least one usable hat available to us already. I picked up an additional hat at the Walmart for Ellie and figured we were good. My bad. I've been a mom long enough to know that when you buy something new for one child, the other is bound to feel that the universe has cheated them. 

Fail.

However, our Ellie is our easy-going child (most of the time) and happily donned a different hat to let her sister celebrate Hat Day with the newly-purchased "cute" hat.

(Note to self: buy another hat (the same hat) right now and save them both for next year. Done.)

Friday: "Patriotic Day: Take a Stand For a Drug Free Land!" - Wear Red, White, or Blue.

Not the most exciting day...but easily accomplished with their existing wardrobe. 

No tears. 

They made it to school on time. 

No need for pictures.

And...it's over.

Awesome.

Lindy

School pictures this year were something of a nightmare. (It's a rather long story I don't want to bore you with...sigh.) So, I decided to hustle Lindy outside for a quick photo-shoot this morning...to see if we could (better) capture my 8 1/2 year old.

She's growing up waaaaaayyyy too quickly (in my humble opinion).

Crazy Hair Day

Lindy wanted her hair to be "crazy, but cute at the same time". Hopefully this was what she had in mind.

This is Ellie's first Crazy Hair Day. She was SO EXCITED! And who wouldn't be? "Next year," she said, "I want MORE braids!"

Crazy.

One Down...Two to Go

All good things come to an end. At least for the kids. I, for one, am excited to see my children's energy being diverted to school (and other adults). The only downside, for me, is that my days of sleeping in are over. Yup...school is in!

After only a tiny amount of outfit-picking drama, Lindy was primped, prepped, and ready to hit the third grade (or "grade three", if you are reading this in Canada) bright and early (it's all relative) at 9:00am.

We stopped in at the school yesterday for the Back to School Night (yes, an unbelievable 15 hours before school began--don't get me started) and met her new teacher, Ms. Sweat. In spite of her unfortunate name, Lindy and I already feel Ms. Sweat is going to be a wonderful teacher. Lindy was so excited to begin...so excited, in fact, that I didn't even have to issue a single threat this morning to get her out of bed. See? Excited.

Lindy informed me that they will be learning cursive this year. My first thought was, "When did she get so old?" (followed quickly by my second thought, "No one even uses cursive anymore.")

Shoes were, by far, our biggest source of drama this year. After 4 hours of ruthless searching last week, we were still empty-handed. One quick stop into an Old Navy outlet on Friday, however, ended the quest with these pink-on-pink leopard-spotted glitter shoes...which she actually loves. Phew!

Here we go again. Isn't it awesome?!!!

Me and My Daughter

At our first ever mother/daughter date Lindy was asked to fill out a little survey to see how well she knew her mom. She was supposed to answer the questions as I would answer them. I'm not sure if I should be very concerned or very proud:

During our "date" we both got ourselves some glitter toes, made some fantastic flip-flops, and Lindy made some peppermint bath salts. It was AWESOME!

Well, because I have an awesome daughter!

Ugly Pancakes

When Lindy was little I surprised her one morning with a German Pancake. As I pulled it out of the oven she grimaced and told me she WOULD NOT eat it. When I assured her that it was just a different way of making pancakes, she shrugged and said, "Yeah, well it's an ugly pancake." and walked away.

Her given nick-name has stuck. In spite of it's rough beginning, it is now one of the girl's favorite breakfast items and they request it all the time. Since it's an easy one, we end up eating it more than we probably should. (But, because it's delicious, I rarely complain.)

Puffed Oven Pancakes

(A.K.A. Ugly Pancakes)

4 Tbsp. butter or margarine

6 eggs

1 c. flour

1 c. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400˚. Place butter in bottom of 9x13 pan (glass pans work better) and place in oven for 3 to 5 minutes or till butter melts. In a mixing bowl use a wire whisk or rotary beater to beat eggs till combined. Add flour, milk, and salt. Beat till mixture is smooth. Immediately poor into hot pan and place in oven. Bake about 25 minutes or till puffed and well browned.

Cut into wedges and serve warm. Makes 12(ish) servings (which barely feeds my family of 5).

You can top with fruit, sprinkle with powdered sugar, or top with whipped cream. Our favorite topping? Smuckers Boysenberry Syrup. Yummy!

Recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book - 2000 Edition (doubled)

When You're Having Fun

Boy, how time has flown. Happy Birthday, Lindy. We LOVE YOU!

Tidbits

January 20 - Lindy's Prayer

"Please bless my mom to fix something other than cereal for breakfast in the morning."

January 23 - Curtis Discovers A New Phrase

Today Curtis didn't want to go to Church because "nursery hurts [his] feelings". Then later on, when I took away the remote I "hurt [his] feelings". When I didn't give him the food he wanted at dinner, I apparently "hurt [his] feelings". Then, at bedtime, he couldn't go to bed because his "pillow hurt [his] feelings".

What a rough day, little one.

Fallout

Lindy: "Mom, our family goes on the dumbest vacations."

No matter how hard I tried to convince her that we have actually had good family vacations in the past, she just kept bringing up the fact that we sat on a boat for "who knows how long" and didn't even go anywhere.

Sigh.

She Does Like to Draw

While lost at sea Ian spent a great deal of effort devising ways to entertain our bored and cranky crew of children. At one point he gave Lindy an "assignment" to help him procure some sort of sustenance for our malnourished family. (Yes, I exaggerate.) She was rather excited at being given such an adult responsibility and proceeded to follow Ian, bouncing her way up and down through the maze of cruisers.

A lady in line leaned over to Ian and asked, "Oh, is she autistic?"

Of course, Ian misunderstood and, thinking she has said "artistic", replied, "Well, yes...she does like to draw."

The lady clarified, "No, I meant AU-tistic. She was bouncing up and down and not saying anything."

Ian didn't know what to say.

And neither do I.

Crossing My Fingers

For as long as I can remember I've loved to read. The quirky, often volatile, relationship I have with my eldest daughter has made me worried that she would decide to hate books simply because I like them...

So, it made my heart happy to see her sit down at the airport the other day, whip out a book, and start reading.

(Yay!)

Give Us Your Candy

I just love Halloween! The costumes this year were so much fun.

Lindy:

Ellie:

And last, but not least, Curtis:

In spite of a blustery, rainy, miserably dark Halloween evening, the kids got their fair share (and more) of the candy from our neighbors. We'll be eating it for weeks!

And I Quote...

Lindy: "There's a teacher at school who is sooo loud. He's a boy, so it's natural. It would hurt if he yelled right in your face. Literally."

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Yesterday began like any other day. We woke up, we got ready...you know, the same old boring stuff. When Lindy arrived home from school minus one pesky little front tooth, however, the day suddenly had possibility. We knew that a visit from you would brighten things up. When bedtime finally arrived Lindy excitedly placed her tooth under her pillow and promptly fell asleep. We all fell asleep. All of us. Every person here. Adults and children alike.

You can imagine her disappointment when she woke up bright and early this morning to find the tooth still tucked snuggly under her pillow.

We can only assume that you had a busy night and were simply unable to make it to all the tooth-bearing pillows in the neighborhood...or that there was some sort of tooth emergency somewhere else. Out of state. Perhaps there were delays with your flight? Anyhow...we hope you have not suffered any debilitating memory loss (do you have kids?) or are experiencing troubles in the workplace.

In the hopes that you will be able to return tonight and take care of your responsibilities, Lindy will happily place her tooth back in the proper place. We look forward to your visit and wish you well.

Sincerely,

The Jones Family

The Not-So-Amazing-Race

When the PTA announced they would be holding only one fundraiser this year I think I inwardly cheered. When I heard that their one fundraiser would be a 5K/1K Fun Run, I'm fairly certain I cheered out loud. Not because it involved running (ewww) but because there would be no selling involved. Yippee!

I presented the idea of our family participating in the 1K Fun Run and was greeted with six enthusiastic thumbs-up from the little ones.

In hindsight, I suppose I should have known an 8am race was a bad idea for at least one of my children. But the "FUN" in Fun Run must have confused my already-impaired memory. So, at 7:20am, Ian and I prodded the offspring awake and dressed them in their race-day paraphernalia:

The 2 year old was happy. The 5 year old appeared out-of-sorts while the 7 year old appeared content. Then the whistle blew. I found myself watching Lindy S L O W L Y plod her way across the starting line. I panicked as it occurred to me that the next FUN Run wouldn't begin until the last 2nd to 4th grader passed the finish line. But in spite of (or perhaps because of) my best attempts at encouragement...followed by some fantastic threats...she would not be moved.

I was forced to leave Ian (who was busy with a still-happy two year old) in charge of the disinclined Lindy...partly due to the hopelessness of our mother-daughter dynamic, but mostly because we had lost Ellie.

Ellie surprised us all by running her heart out. The entire way. By herself. Not only did she come in way ahead of the rest of the Jones family, she also managed to beat a few students!

Then promptly had an asthma attack.

Lindy had to be literally DRAGGED across the finish line by her father.

And was decidedly unimpressed with the accolades (and ribbon) she then received.

What I learned today:

• Fun Run does not necessarily equal Fun. Especially if it also involves mornings.
• Racing numbers do not necessarily inspire good racing attitudes.
• I should never be in charge of motivating my daughter.
• We should always bring Ellie's inhaler.
• Next year I'm handing them a check...then happily sleeping in.

Movin' On Up

I've been anticipating the first day of school with mixed emotions. Part relief (it was a loooooong summer) and part nervousness (new teacher and all) made for a slightly tense mother. Lindy, on the other hand, managed the Back-to-School Night and First Day of School with ease.

I was concerned that Lindy's new teacher would have a tough time following in the shoes of her beloved first-grade teacher...but she scored big points right off the bat when she asked Lindy to be in charge of the class sign. Since the path to Lindy's heart has always involved making her feel important, I silently applauded the teacher's choice. Lindy was enamored from that point on. (Phew!)

Lindy had "the best day ever" and made "a ton of friends". I was also informed that I would not need to walk her to her class in the morning as she was old enough to know exactly where to go. Noted.

Second grade, here we come!

Post Edit: I should mention...Lindy's new favorite color is pink. I only bring it up because last year pink was her very, very, very least favorite color. She hated it. HATED IT. But, as an example of how the whims of a girl change, you should expect to see a LOT of pink from here on out. It is, after all, her favorite color.

Oh Dear

This morning Curtis had toast for breakfast. With strawberry jam.

Lindy leaned over and said, "Hey Curtis...will you pull Santa's sleigh tonight?"

Sometimes she cracks me up.

Pulling Teeth

Last Day(s) of School

Recently our two girls each celebrated their last day of school. It's been a wonderful year for both of them.

Ellie, our easy-going four year old, handled the event with typical nonchalance. On her last day, she had a little party, bid farewell to all her little friends, and took a goodbye picture with her teacher. Fortunately for me, I quickly discovered that my middle child seems to be just as content at home with her family as she was attending preschool. (Phew!)

My first-born has been another story. Lindy's last day of school was preceded by countless (oh-so-many) tears. Her final days of celebration were tainted by the fact that she would soon have to say goodbye to her beloved Ms. Alius. Each night she would spend several weeping moments bemoaning her fate. (I might have been less inclined to comfort her if it hadn't been for one simple fact: I was horribly sad to have to say goodbye to her sweet (and amazing) teacher as well. It's been a tough month for both of us.)

But the day eventually arrived. As the state-required hours were being tallied, the kids spent the morning playing various games and writing sweet notes to their teacher on the whiteboard.

And as the final moment arrived, more tears were shed.

Our daughter has been blessed by this wonderful woman. She went above and beyond to do her very best, every single, tiring day. And it showed. Her students LOVED her. And, more importantly, they also LOVED learning. She showed them endless kindness, patience, and love...all while maintaining discipline and order. Amazing!

Ms. Alius, you will be missed.

Now...on to summer vacation.

(Shudder.)

Anxious

I came home from a night out (with my book group gals) to find the following whiteboard message from Lindy:

Welcome Home Mom

P.S. When is our dentist appointment? Put it right here:

Apparently she's so overwhelmingly excited about our upcoming visit (next week) that she just MUST have the 411 PRONTO!

(And check out that creative spelling! We're rebels over here...we don't feel the need to follow anyone else's rules!! She cracks me up.)