School Rhymes

How is it that these rhymes have been passed down perfectly from generation to generation? I don't know exactly who is teaching them to Todd, but he has been coming home repeating some of the rhymes I learned at school.

It's raining. It's pouring.
The old man is snoring.

Missed me. Missed me.
Now you gotta kiss me.

Trick or treat. Smell my feet.
Give me something good to eat.
If you don't. I don't care.
I'll pull down your underwear.
[Todd didn't want to repeat the last line in front of me, because it had a "bad word".]

Liar, Liar, pants on fire.
Hang them up on a telephone wire.
[I don't think I've heard Todd repeating the second line. Maybe he hasn't learned it yet, or maybe he doesn't know what a telephone wire is.]

One I haven't heard yet from Todd, but expect to in the new few weeks:
Jingle Bells, Batman smells.
Robin laid an egg....
[I actually don't even remember the rest of the verse! We'll see if Todd can teach me.]

Mile Club

Today, Ryan and I went to Todd's school for Mile Club. Mile Club is an activity hosted by the P.E. department. Every Thursday the students run or walk laps around the track. They carry a card with them as they go around. Every time they finish a lap the coaches check off a square on their card. After they have marked off the twenty-nine squares on their card (equivalent to about five miles) they receive a "toe token" as a reward for their accomplishment. The "toe tokens" are small plastic charms in the shape of a foot which they can keep on a little chain. The kids get to pick out a toe token for each card they complete. The kids can continue adding tokens to their chains each year at the school. Parents, siblings, and grandparents are also invited to participate in the activity.

Ryan and I missed coming to Mile Club a couple of times at the beginning of the year. However, we have faithfully been going each Thursday, and received our first toe token today. Ryan has been looking forward to this all week. He couldn't wait to finish his first card and get a toe token like the other big kids at school. Todd finished his first card about two or three weeks ago. Ryan picked a clear orange toe token and a white chain. I picked out a red toe token and a purple chain.

Ryan can't wait to show his toe token to Logan this afternoon. For someone who thinks walking to Todd's bus stop is "too faaaaaarrrrrr," keeping up with the kids at school and even running on the track sometimes is a big deal for Ryan. And I am proud to say that although we got a late start, we are still ahead of some of the kindergartners.

Two Good Things I Did For Ryan

I love it when you do something right for your kids, and you know it immediately. I don't always take the time to play super-fun, messy, or inconvenient games or activities with my kids. Last Friday Ryan asked me to play "camping" with him. He was asking me to play with his camping toys, but I went a step further and suggested we build a tent. As soon as I started getting blankets and the dining room chairs Ryan got so excited. I knew right then that constructing this tent was the best thing I could be doing with my time. Ryan had a blast playing in it on Friday. We played "camping" together, then later had some quiet reading time in the tent. When Todd came home from school he thought it looked great, and Ryan and Todd were able to enjoy it together. I kept the tent up all weekend (until Sunday night--after the kids were in bed--when I couldn't stand looking at the "mess" anymore and the boys had started losing interest).

Friday night was also the last home football game for the high school. Papa took Todd to two other football games this season, and they thoroughly enjoyed watching the games together. Ryan doesn't quite have the attention span to handle watching a full game yet; at least, not if he is expected to actually sit and watch the game. Ryan also gets tired earlier, so it is really best if he stays home. When Todd found out that this would be the last home game, he told Papa that they would be going together. Papa readily agreed.

I felt a little sorry for Ryan that this would be the third night out that Todd got, while Ryan didn't have any special one-on-one dates. So, I decided to take Ryan out for ice cream. I didn't want to go very far, so I went to a Hershey's Ice Cream less than 10 minutes away. I wanted Ryan to be able to go somewhere where he could look at a ton of different ice cream flavors and pick whatever he wanted. This was our first time here, so it was a treat for both of us. We (at least I) drooled over some of the different flavors, sampled two, and made our decision. Ryan went with chocolate chip cookie dough in a plain sugar cone (he declined the dipped-in-chocolate-and-covered-with-sprinkles sugar cone!). I went with the red velvet cake ice cream in a cup.

I don't know if Ryan regretted his choice at all. He certainly ate all his ice cream that night. But since then, he has told me we need to go back again so we (either one of us) can get the Superman ice cream. The bright red, yellow, and blue Superman ice cream is a swirl of strawberry, banana, and "blue moon" flavors. Yes, the flavor was described as "blue moon"--what is that, really?

I regretted going back into the dining room to finish our ice cream. We started eating our ice cream at the tables outside, under the protection of the outside awning and an umbrella. It had started raining earlier, and there was quite a bit of lightning (no thunder though; but enough to cause the football game to be cancelled). Ryan said the lightning was making him scared, so we went back into the (freezing) dining area inside. Unfortunately, there was a TV in the restaurant playing the Disney channel. For the rest of our date I sat there trying to make pleasant conversation with Ryan while he finished his ice cream. I found myself talking to a TV zombie who kept asking me questions about the show which I couldn't see, since my back was to it. Next time we go we can get the Superman ice cream, but we're sitting outside.

Night Owl

The house is relatively dark and quiet. The boys are in bed. Brett is close behind. I have already put on my pajama pants. The doorbell rings; Brett answers. It is some of the youth from church. They are having their annual canned food drive before Thanksgiving. I always participate, but tonight I forgot that it was Wednesday night and that they were coming by. I quickly grab a plastic bag and throw in cans from my pantry.



It is only 7:30pm!

And I'm in my pajamas!!

And people have now seen me in my pajamas at 7:30pm!!!

What kind of night owl have I become?
The kind who gets into her pajamas at 7:30pm and sits at the computer or in front of a movie or reading a book 'til 11:00pm.

Showing Her Age

I had to take Sandy to the vet this morning. A couple of weeks ago we noticed a lump around her rectum. I was hoping that it would simply be a swollen gland that needed to be drained. However, the vet confirmed that it was a growth and would need to be surgically removed. She will go in on December 9. It does not seem to be bothering Sandy right now, which is good. Hopefully, the lab results will not bring further bad news.

It is so sad to see Sandy getting older (she turned 10 in April). Her face is quite gray. Her fur has lost most of its natural oils and gets matted easily; it takes constant attention to keep it under control. For some time she has been moving more slowly. She has not been able to jump into Brett's truck or onto the bed for a long time. And it seems to take longer and longer for her joints to warm up after she has been laying down for a while.

But she still has energy in her.

She still gets excited when Brett brings out the Aerobie. She still jogs to retrieve the Aerobie when Brett has thrown it. She still barks at passing walkers, joggers, bikers, and dogs. She still likes meeting new people (grown-ups), doing her happy growl with a toy in her mouth--not because she wants them to play with the toy, just because she wants them to notice her. She still likes getting her dog biscuit from the UPS guy. She still does her happy moaning (her version of purring) when she is especially enjoying a good petting session. She still likes laying out on the grass on a sunny day. She still likes going wandering two doors down, tapping on the back door to get a treat from our neighbors who also have two dogs. She still goes wandering over to Brett's parent's house occasionally when she wants a day away from home. She still comes running (okay, trotting) into the kitchen when I open the peanut butter jar getting ready to give her her Heart Guard medicine, a tradition we started who-knows-why when she was a puppy. I still don't understand how she knows when the peanut butter is for her and not a sandwich for Todd or Ryan the other twenty-nine days in the month. She still tries to hide by me whenever she hears thunder or the bombing on Eglin. She still loves chasing squirrels up a tree, waiting by the trunk for an hour to see if the squirrel will come back down. She still gets excited when I pull out the leash. She still hates taking a bath, but loves the drying-off game with the towel; she was in such a playful mood after her bath on Monday afternoon.

When we came home from the vet this morning I left the door open for a few minutes so Copper could go outside. When I looked out to check on the dogs this is how I found them.

Are they related, or what? Sandy is on the left; Copper is on the right.

Ryan wanted to get in on the pictures, too. He went right up to give Sandy a little hug. Though Sandy is still a little hesitant when it comes to Ryan, she has grown quite tolerant of him. Sandy has never been very fond of young children--something we attribute to the first eight months of her life spent in the family with a young toddler who did not treat her well. Sandy has learned that although Ryan's movements may sometimes be more erratic than she is comfortable with, he does not try to hit her (anymore) and usually just wants to give her a quick hug or petting. She used to give a quiet growl any time he walked by her to let him know that she really didn't want his attention. Now, although I can tell she is a little tense sometimes when gets down beside her, she will usually give him the benefit of the doubt and relaxes when she sees that no harm is meant.

Logically, I know that we could lose Sandy at any time. However, it wasn't until I went to the vet this morning and started writing this post that it hit me again. I have always know that Brett would have a hard time when that day comes. Although Brett had a dog growing up (Brandy, another Golden Retriever), Sandy is Brett's first dog.

Today I know that I will be crying when that day comes too. I'm not ready to say good-bye yet. Let's hope I don't have to for another good year or two or three....

An Evening With the Missionaries

Last Sunday the missionaries asked if they could stop by in the evening and share a message with us. I had thought that it might be a message about how we needed to share the gospel more with our friends and neighbors. To be honest, I was a little nervous about how Brett might receive a message like that. I accepted their invitation to come over anyway, and was glad that I did.

The missionaries are not able to go tracting (door-to-door) after dark, and because there are still hours in the day where they could do some good, they decided to spend some of that time being a support to the members. They shared a message with us based on 1 Nephi 3:7, about how the Lord will strengthen us to do what he has asked.

The missionaries directed much of their words to the boys, and taught this simple message to them. The boys were participating and interacting well with the missionaries, for the most part.

Occasionally, Ryan would say something random (off-topic, of course) that he thought the missionaries might enjoy hearing about. Sometimes Ryan asked them things like, "Do you want to see my room?" or "Do you want to see this toy that I have?" During this time Ryan was also climbing over and between the throw pillows and generally not sitting quietly, although he was still paying attention. I apologized to the missionaries about these interruptions and asked if they experienced this often. They said they did. I replied that at least Ryan had not shared anything embarrassing yet.

The missionaries concluded the portion of their message directed at the children, then told the boys that they were going to talk to Mom and Dad for a minute and ask them a question about the lesson. Todd quickly piped up, "But don't ask Daddy. He doesn't read the scriptures. You can only ask Mommy. She reads the scriptures, but Daddy doesn't." I laughed and observed, "Well, I guess it wasn't Ryan who said something embarrassing after all." Fortunately, Brett does not get embarrassed that easily and he took it well. We were able to move past the awkward moment quickly and still enjoy the rest of the visit.

What surprised me about our visit with the missionaries was how much the boys really enjoyed it. The next day at preschool Ryan said to his friends, "Do you know who came to our house last night? The missionaries!" I also heard him saying this to his friend Maddie the next day as well as a few other people.

It made me realize that I really need to have the missionaries over more often. They were not in our home for very long, but I was grateful that they chose to spend those few minutes sharing a simple message with our family that Sunday evening.

We've Missed You - Take Two

We had such a good time at the beach the Saturday before last, that I decided to take the boys again on Veteran's Day since Todd was out of school. The weather was a little cool and windy while we were eating lunch at the pavillion (around 12:30-1:00pm), but the longer we were there, the more the wind died down. I even dipped my feet into the "tide pool river" as well as the Gulf and was surprised that the water wasn't freezing. Personally, I wouldn't go swimming in it, but it was pleasant enough wading up to my ankles.

Todd's activities including filtering sand through his fingers, writing in the sand, rolling in the sand, and smiling--lots of smiling.



Ryan's activities included digging--lots of digging--and at one point, walking like a "frog" (though it looked more like a crab to me).


I talked Anne into coming with us with Maddie and Wyatt. They ate lunch with us and played for a little bit, but had to go home a little early for naps. We'll have to plan another beach date when we can play longer in the sun.

Here's proof that Anne was there. Somewhere out there is proof that I was really there, too.


I made the boys keep their shirts on and stay out of the water until our friends left. Otherwise, Anne would have killed me for letting Todd and Ryan tempt Maddie and Wyatt getting into water right before she had to leave.

By then, the weather was rather pleasant. I took off my sweatshirt, rolled my sweatpants up to my knees and looked oh, so stylish (luckily for me, there's no photo to prove that).

I had so much fun watching the boys. They played together so well, looking in the tide pools, finding and collecting little white shells, running, splashing, and digging together. Knowing that the beach can change significantly from day to day and that the tide was higher this afternoon, I was suprised that we were still able to locate where the tide pool ("puddle") was from the previous Saturday. The boys also discovered the "pit" where Ryan had been digging, though it was now filled with water.

What another lovely afternoon!

J is for Jellybean

This week was my second chance to teach preschool. As I mentioned earlier, I am part of a preschool co-op with five other moms from church. Our kids range in age from a little over two-and-a-half years to four years old (Ryan is the oldest and the only four-year-old). Each Monday we take turns teaching the six children from 8:45am to 11:00am. Which means that for five weeks in a row I have two hours to myself, which I have to chosen to spend volunteering in the library at Todd's elementary school. [Today one child was sick, leaving me with only five to teach.]

This week went more smoothly than my first week. I just knew what to expect a little more. I also planned on things for them to do during the transition times. My first time around I moved the kids as a group from activity to activity. That was a little troublesome because some of them finished more quickly than others. It was also difficult when I needed to help out in the bathroom washing hands, etc. By having activities for them to work on between activities, they were more productive and were not running around getting a little crazy.

I understand the need for flexibility, especially if the kids are having a hard time focusing on an activity and you need to deviate from your schedule to keep everyone happy. However, I was able to follow the outline pretty well without it feeling too forced. The schedule helps me to budget my time and I was able to accomplish most everything I wanted.


[Click on the photo for a larger version if you have trouble reading the text.]


The activities in the parentheses are the suggest activities for each time slot.
8:45-9:00am Circle Time (Free Talk, Game, and the Pledge)
I welcomed everyone and had the kids sit on their carpet squares in a semi-circle. We did the Pledge.
We looked at our calendar and the kids took turns adding numbered leaves to the calendar since the last preschool day (good practice counting). We briefly reviewed what month this was and the days of the week.
We looked at our circle weather chart. The kids were a little bothered and had a hard time agreeing where the pointers should be. In the end, we agreed that there should be three points rather than two. The weather was sunny, windy, and cold.

9:00-9:15am Intro to Lesson (Letter and Word of the Day)
I spent a little more time on the this section. We started by putting together part of a floor puzzle. The puzzle was an Alphabet Train. I put down the engine piece then gave the kids the letter puzzle pieces to build our train until we reached today's letter, "J". Then we said the names of the letter all together, after which we sang the entire alphabet song.

I read a Sesame Street poem called, "The Jolly Juggler", then gave each child a scarf for them to "juggle" with. None of us was very good (I demonstrated juggling with two scarves-not that impressive to anyone older than three or four), but we all had fun trying.

To continue with the J-theme, I said another little poem as seen on the No Time For Flashcards blog. I changed the colors around, based on what I had available (i.e. no purple), and added a verse so that each child could take home a jellybean.

6 little jelly beans,

that I want to try, [or "that we want to try"]

I'll eat the yellow one,

now there are five!

I did the poem once, and the kids loved it when I gobbled the jellybeans. They asked for an encore. The second time around I substituted their name as I handed them the jellybean and they pretended to gobble it up. Very cute.
Now that we had introduced the letter of the day, it was time to introduce our lesson: shapes and sizes. I focused mostly on shapes. We quickly reviewed our simple shapes. I handed each child a shaped block which they identified and put into a simple shape sorter.

Our next activity was to build a house with shapes (inspiration from here and here). I had cut shapes of different colors which I had taped to the back of my dry-erase board. On the front of the board I had drawn a house, tree, and sun, tracing the shapes I had already cut. I did not let the kids see the front of the board until we were ready to match the colored paper shapes to the picture on the board. First, I picked a paper shape and started singing a song (also seen on No Time for Flashcards). I never got past the second line of the song before the kids had enthusiastically called out the name of the shape. Then I handed the shape to a child. After we had identified all the shapes and each child was holding a paper shape, I turned the board over and they took turns matching their shape to the picture. [I was so bummed that I forgot to sing the Herman the Worm song. I thought it was really cute.]

9:15-9:40am Art (Project or coloring sheets)

Because I spent more time on the lesson portion, I probably only spent 15 minutes on art. We made shape pizzas. I had prepared all the pieces for the kids and just let them identify the shapes and glue them on themselves with Q-tips and glue in a cup. This is what we used to assemble our pizzas.

pizza dough - cream circle

pizza sauce - wavy red circle

pepperoni - jaggedy brown circle

ham - pink squares

green peppers - green rectangles

onions - white squares

pineapple - yellow triangles

cheese - orange rectangles [I messed up with this one. I was thinking: a) We already have a yellow topping; besides, I like cheddar on my pizza. b) covering the pizza with tiny pieces of cheese is going to be a pain; why don't I just make long, thin rectangles? The result was that my cheese ended up looking like carrot sticks! I should have done some smaller yellow rectangles or just let them color their own cheese on before gluing on the toppings. Live and learn.]

I was so impressed that that two of the younger students (in the left photo) were able to do their pizzas completely independently. Even my two older students, my son included (in the right photo), needed a little assistance with the gluing. I was very pleased with the end result of this activity, and the kids seemed to enjoy making pizzas. [Ryan even asked me today when he'd be able to eat his pizza. Ha, ha, ha.]

As the kids took turns washing their gluey-sticky hands, those who were finished played with the alphabet magnets (thank goodness for transition activities in the circle time area!).

9:40-10:00am Story Time
Before beginning story time I took out my Oreo Matchin' Middles game. I let the kids take turns pulling out a cookie, opening it, and naming the shape.

Some books I read for story time included The Biggest Snowball of All, My "j" Book, I'm the Biggest in the Ocean (a big hit), Big and Bird's Big and Little Book (I kept this book from my childhood--it is one that I loved and the kids loved it, too). We also looked at a couple of poems and shapes pictures from some of my Wild Animal Baby magazines.

10:00-10:15am Snack
After story time I started to tell the kids that we were going back into the kitchen for writing. They wasted no time in correcting me. They are evidently familiar enough with our preschool schedule, though it varies a little from teacher to teacher, to know that snack time comes after story time and before writing!

In addition to drinking juice (which starts with the letter "J"), these are the shapes we ate:

circle - peanut butter sandwiches cut out with a small biscuit cutter

circle - pepperoni

rectangle - Club cracker

oval - raisins

triangle - cheddar cheese (I sliced and cut)

square - Alpha Bits cookies (bonus - reinforce letter recognition!)

10:15am-10:30am Writing (Letter of the Day and Name)
I had printed out some worksheets for the kids to practice tracing the letter "J" or they could just work on coloring the picture. I had used a fluorescent market to write their name on the top--"ghost writing"--for them to trace. I found writing time an activity where some kids (the younger ones) were definitely done before others.

Below you see Charity saying hello to Copper under the baby gate before she made her way to the circle time for some transition activities. I love this intense look on Mason's face as he colors.

Don't let her baby face fool you. Amber was a pro at identifying her shapes. Charity found a heart.

Ryan and Claire are still hard at work on their coloring/writing pages.

10:30-10:45 Music and Games

Our preschool group is planning on singing at a nursing home in December, so we spent most of our time reviewing some Christmas songs that we will be singing to the residents, especially "Away in a Manger", "Jingle Bells", "Christmas Bells Are Ringing". The kids will also be reviewing a few more at home with their families.

10:45-11:00am Free Play

The moment they have been waiting for. Charity saw these animals last time, and couldn't wait to spend more time playing with them this week.

Whew! I didn't mean for this post to go on forever. I'm excited about being able to put together ideas for these preschool lesson plans. I was intimidated at first, but I am really looking forward to teaching again in January. (Read: you don't have to hear about my minute-by-minute account again until then).

A "Ya-Hoo" and a "Thank You"

These two simple phrases made my day this morning.

First:
Ryan has a Speed Racer shirt which he inherited from his nieces (or he stole from them, I'm not sure...). Ryan would wear this shirt day after day if I let him. In fact, I have had to tell him to put it back in the laundry basket more than once this week. Ryan was disappointed (again) that he couldn't wear it today. Luckily, Todd had good news for him. "Ryan, Mom is washing your 'Mini-Do' shirt this morning." To which Ryan happily replied, "Ya-hoo!!" That's every bit as good as a "Thanks, Mom!" in my book.
[I couldn't tell you why they refer to Speed Racer as Mini-Do. I'm still trying to figure it out.]

Second:
Every morning I make Todd's lunch before school. He has a few Lock & Lock containers which I use to pack his lunch in. This morning I had the square container with four small compartments. I try to give Todd a variety of moderately healthy foods, including at least one container of a fresh fruit or vegetable. This morning I prepared a chunky peanut butter and marshmallow creme half-sandwhich on whole wheat bread, dried mangos, carrot sticks, and some Nabisco Honey Maid Bees. Todd had been watching me make his lunch, wondering out loud what I would put in the compartments. When I was finished he reviewed my selections and said, "Thank you for such good choices, Mom." His comment made me feel so good that I snuck a small sugar cookie in with the honey bees.

Perhaps my young children really do appreciate my efforts as a homemaker. Joyous thought!

We've Missed You

Best decision I made on Saturday? I took the boys to the beach after an afternoon of shopping. Ryan started asking me to take him to the beach about two or three weeks ago (before it got windy and cold), but our schedule didn't permit. Then I got sick last week and wasn't up to going, and I knew that I had been neglecting my housework.

I have not taken the boys to the beach since summer. I know they love going, so I wanted to make a point to take them. I didn't have anything scheduled on Saturday, and I was in the mood to get out of the house and take my time running my errands. I told the boys that I would try to take them to the beach for a short time after we were done with the shopping. So, I was moderately prepared--I had the beach chair, camera, sand toys, extra outfits--but somehow we left the beach towels at home and had to make do with hand towels that were (fortunately) in my beach bag.

From the pictures you can not tell how cold and windy it really was. Although I did change into shorts when we got to the beach, and left my flip flops at the stairs, at no time did I remove my fleece sweatshirt. In fact, I had to angle my beach chair slightly away from the water so I wasn't facing the wind. As you can tell, the boys did not mind at all. They were just so excited to be there. I made them pose for me when we first got there. After the obligatory photo was taken, they were off and having fun.

Ryan immediately started digging and building in the sand. He continued to do that the majority of the time we were there. Todd, on the other hand, did not stop moving. There is only one word to describe Todd at the beach this day . . . F R E E !

Todd chased after birds, including the seagulls who were accosting some fellow beachgoers (who were innocent and not offering the gulls food). He jumped and slid off the one-and-a-half -foot dropoff to the water. He found shells. He ran up and down the shore. He tried playing catch (we had to give up after three tosses--the wind was way too strong for the light ball we had with us). He watched the waves.

Todd jumped and dove into the pit that Ryan found and was digging in (Ryan: "Mom, this is off-limits because we are working in here right now. You can't come in."--building/safety codes, I guess).

Todd found and examined a "tide pool." (That's funny! A tide pool on the Gulf Coast?!? I think they are examining some green slime and a Starburst candy wrapper. No sea anemone, urchins, starfish, or barnacles here. [Check out Ryan's hesitation--shorts hiked up so high you can see his underwear!]

Todd takes off his shirt (brrrrr!) and after wading through the puddle...I mean "tide pool"...he starts splashing in it, then starts walking from one end to the other, then backing up a ways to get going fast enough so he can run all the way through it. He gets his brother Ryan to do the same.

Before I know it, both boys are in water. They go back and forth between the puddle and the Gulf.

Finally, I decide that although they are still having fun, it would be wiser for me to get them out now before they get too cold. I had already gathered our things, and as soon as the boys got out of the water we ran to the bath house. I asked the boys to at least rinse off the sand from their hands and feet. Todd was scared to touch the water coming from the spigot. He thought it would be freezing. After about three minutes of protesting we both notice that not only is Ryan rinsing off his hands and his feet, but he has stuck his head under the spigot to rinse his hair and is now sitting under the spigot letting the water run over his back. I put my hand in the water and am surprised to find that it is almost warm. It takes me another minute to convince Todd, but finally he feels the water. Next thing you know, both my boys are sitting until their own spigot warming up (wish I had a photo). I took this opportunity to run to my car, which was just down the stairs, and grab their dry clothes. They quickly got changed, and as soon as we were settled in the car they asked me to crank up the heat. I was sweating, but I was glad my boys were able to warm up easily.

It made me feel so good seeing the boys, especially Todd, 100% happy. We were only on the beach for a little over an hour, but it was the best hour of the day.

Volume Control

Do you ever wish your child's voice had volume control? Have you ever wanted to turn up their volume? I have. In fact, just the other day as we were driving in the car Ryan was trying to tell me something. Between the noise of the fan, the hum of the motor, the subdued voice of the child, and the distracting words of his brother, I was having a hard time hearing what Ryan was saying. After asking him to repeat what he said, I actually reached for the volume control knob on my car stereo (which was off) and tried to turn it up. I caught myself and laughed. What's sad is that this is not the first time I have tried turning up Ryan's volume in the car. Am I going deaf? I hope not!

Spooky Mic

My boys have not been playing with the toys in their room as often these days. The weather has been nice in the afternoons, and most days you will find them playing outside when Todd comes home from school. I'm happy about that, but feel sad for their neglected toys sometimes.

This Sunday, one of these neglected toys was retrieved and provided a good hour of laughs. The boys found it funny because Mom was having so much fun with the toy, a Magic Mic. We received this toy microphone for Christmas last year. One thing I like about this microphone is that it doesn't require batteries and does not really amplify one's voice. Rather, it creates an echo directed back at the user--meaning that the user has the most fun and only becomes annoying to those around him/her when he/she won't stop talking or singing just for the sake of hearing his/her own voice.

Case in point--once I got the Magic Mic in my hands while I was preparing lunch for the boys, I had to sing/say everything directed at the boys through the mic. [singingly] "Please get a plate, cup, and fork." [la, la, la] "What would you like on your sandwich?" [la, la, la] . . . that sort of thing.

The real fun started when the boys asked me to make a spooky sound. We discovered, much to our great amusement, that the Magic Mic is perfect for making silly, spooky ghost noises, "oooooooOOOOOOoooooo". The boys would pretend to be scared of the ghost (laughing the whole while) and would hide for a minute. When the ghost got a little quieter they would peek around the corner, which would just get the ghost going again.

The ghost had great fun testing the sound of her howl, seeing how high she could "ooooOOOooo" before the echo caused the tone to become unpleasantly distorted.

What a great Halloween-y activity.

I was just thinking that I probably would have really enjoyed using the Magic Mic about three/four years ago when I was struggling with impatient toddlers. Todd had a hard time waiting for me to prepare his meals, but because I was juggling taking care of a baby and a toddler, it was difficult to get much food prep done until they were both strapped safely into their chairs, unattached to Mom. When the screaming would start (from the kids) I was often tempted to scream in return. Instead, I would expend my frustration-energy through (loud) opera singing, "Dooooon't you seeeeee that I am fiiiiiixing your luuuuuuunch?? It will be reeeeeeaaaady veeeeryyyyy soooooooon." Imagine how much better that would have felt, and how much more amusing it might have been to my children if I had been using the Magic Mic!

Happy Halloween

Halloween lasted all day long for us. Actually, more than that since we attended the carnival at the church on Wednesday night. Those photos will have to wait for another post. This is all about our Halloween Friday.

It started early with a kindergarten costume parade at 9:00am. The kids were supposed to wear/bring their costumes to school in the morning. For whatever reason, Todd did not want to bring his Indiana Jones accessories on the bus with him. At the last minute, I let him get on the bus in his brown pants and tan shirt, not looking like much of anything since the accessories make the outfit. I told him that I would bring the stuff to school when I came for the parade. I showed up about 3 minutes early. I had been hoping to get there earlier than that, but figured it would take a while to get a bunch of kindergartners dressed and organized. Besides, how long does it take to put on a hat and shoulder bag? Imagine my surprise when I saw that they had just started the parade--early!

Todd's teacher had put a cowboy hat and bandanna on him, and though I offered to pull Todd out of line for the 10 seconds it would take to change out the accessories he wasn't interested. He was perfectly happy to be a cowboy (just like another friend in his class who came sans costume).

I had no idea that the kindergartners were putting on a 30-minute show following the parade. It was such a nice surprise. They were so cute singing all their Halloween songs. Here, Todd and his classmate stand up for the cowboy verse of one song:
Nine little cowboys saying "Yee-haw!"
Saying "Yee-haw!"
Saying "Yee-haw!"
Nine little cowboys saying "Yee-haw!"
For this is Halloween

After the parade and show Ryan and I returned home to finish baking the sugar cookies I signed up to bring for Todd's class party at 1:00pm. It was a fun little party. Ryan was excited that he could stay and play on the playground with Todd's class for recess before leaving for the day.

We had some time to relax when we got home before heading out for our evening activities. We decided to go to Oma's house and show off the costumes. On the way over, the boys came across a "bad-guy" tree that needed to be whipped into shape.

These whips that I made are no longer soft, harmless toys. Ryan has figured out how to control it better. Look at how he gets the whip wrapped around the tree. We had to establish the rule of no using the whip close to people. They usually remember, but unfortunately for me, when they don't remember it doesn't feel so good.

Trick-or-treating at Oma and Poppa's door:

Like (grand-)father like (grand-)son. These two are like peas in a pod. They both loving playing games and other quiet, thinking activities (puzzles, Legos, etc.) together.

I consider the boys lucky to have an active grandmother who is so much better at sports than their mother. Oma puts me to shame. Here, Ryan warms up at the plate:

The pitch:

Rounding the bases:

After a beautiful afternoon with Oma and Poppa, including an impromptu dinner, we headed back home to go trick-or-treating on our street. The boys had a great time going up and down our street. I'm so happy that we didn't skip out on that part of Halloween. I think the neighbors were happy to see the boys. I had one neighbor who sincerely thanked me for bringing the boys by. We have such few young kids on our street, that most of our neighbors know the boys or at least recognize them from playing outside.

Here the boys pose with Mr. Bones (so named by them two years ago). Our across-the-street neighbor really decorates for Halloween and Christmas. The boys were so excited when they saw Mr. Bones set up at the beginning of the month. The first time that our dogs saw Mr. Bones two years ago they wouldn't stop barking at it. This year I don't think Mr. Bones elicited a single woof.

It only took us about 45 minutes to do trick-or-treating. After that we went to OrangeFest, an activity open to the community every Halloween. It is hosted by a local church, and we have attended the past three years. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. Ryan poses with the crash-test dummies and looks like he just witnessed a crash himself judging by the expression on his face. Todd was too shy join in the picture, even though I offered to go with him.

The boys played some carnival games--bean bag tosses, that sort of thing--but what Todd was looking forward to most was the inflatable slide. Unfortunately, because there were so many people there, the lines were bigger and the boys only went on the slide once.

They did get to try another inflatable, an obstacle course which they loved. I could not believe how quickly Todd climbed the wall. He was halfway up before I got there to take a photo.

I did not realize how much Ryan was looking forward to getting a glow stick until the night was almost over and we still had not been able to find one. Donna had to stop by the grocery store on the way home and saved the day by coming out with a bright glow stick for Todd and Ryan. The boys got everything they wanted this year! They were so happy.

They had fun with Daddy when we got home, playing games with the glow sticks in the front yard. They would throw it high into the sky and call it a shooting star as they watched it fall. There was a little glitch in the game when one of the sticks landed in our neighbor's tree. Fortunately, it was easy to spot and was not far from the ground. One of their favorite games to play with the glow stick was spinning it around and around in the dark.

We will never dress our dogs for Halloween (or anything else). This year's joke, however, was directed at Sandy. Ryan had wanted to "take Sandy for a walk" (inside the house) a few days before Halloween. Surprisingly, Sandy cooperated and let Ryan put on a collar. Since the collar is really Copper's, the joke was that Sandy was dressed up as Copper for Halloween. And there were a few times when the disguise fooled me!

Hope you had a happy Halloween as well.

Now that Halloween is over, I can't believe that the other big holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Anniversary, New Year's) are just around the corner. Would you believe they started playing Christmas music at Walmart this weekend? Don't get me started! That's too early for even me, who loves Christmas music.