The one where I laughed at my son...

My son (who just went back to school today after 5 days of stomach flu) had to write a number story you solve by subtracting. His story? "I ate 18 pickles. The next day I threw up 15 pickles. I have 3 pickles in my stumck." Hilarious!!

Overheard

A: Mom? Why do we have to finish our dinner before we get a treat?

Me: So you don't finish early for the treat and end up hungry later because you didn't eat enough.

A: When I'm old, I'm not gonna be so mean to my kids.

Overheard...

Tonight at dinner, A asked, "Mama? You know at church - is it Palm Sunday or Pom-pom Sunday?"

Well, at least she was close...

Audrey: Mocha, do you know about your vines?

Mocha (my mom): Vines?

Audrey: Yes, Mocha. The vines in your body?

Mocha: What vines in your body?

Audrey: You know - the vines that carry your blood?

Mocha: Oh - you mean veins?

Audrey: Yeah, veins.

bucket of love

bucket of love
Originally uploaded by jen_lancaster

Ah, if only the contents of my laundry basket were always so sweet!

He makes it!

He makes it!
Originally uploaded by jen_lancaster

Not too much going on here. Oh wait, yes there is! Nothing monumental, though. Mostly working around my physical therapy, which is 3 times a week. My ankle feels more stable when I walk without my brace, so I think it's helping. I'm finishing up my class this week, and need to seriously clean my house for the Superbowl party. Yuk! I think there must be a secret dust manufacturing plant in my house. That and getting ready for the Valentine's parties at the kids' schools.

N made a basket last week during his basketball game. It wasn't his first one, but it was the first one when I had my camera ready...He is the blue shirt #4 in the video. As I type this, A is loving her Dora movie from the Library.
"Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping!" " Oh, maaaaaaaan!"
"I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map... I'M THE MAP."
"Backpack! Backpack! Backpack! Backpack! Yeah!"
Sheesh! Who comes up with this stuff? Although I must admit, it *is* better than PeeWee's Playhouse. *shudder* Well, the bus is here and I must start dinner.

Cheerio!

Jump!

100_0631
Originally uploaded by jen_lancaster

Well, here's another trip down memory lane. This was the day N finally realized how to keep himself upright in his "super suit" (I called it that because that's my favorite part of the Incredibles, when Frozone needs his super suit and is wife won't tell him where it is...that is hilarious!). He must have gone off the diving board 50 times in a row, all while holding the green turtle thermometer. Where have the last 4 years gone?

Anyhoo - I started PT for my sprained ankle, which is 3x a week for a couple of weeks (dr. ordered 4, therapist thinks 2 might cut it, so we'll see). I'm also in week 2 of another online class for me recertification. One more week to go! This week N brought home a joke book from the library. Who needs waterboarding as a torture technique when you have a barely literate 7-year-old butchering jokes NON-STOP? It wouldn't be so bad if he could read better. I get things like, "What...did the...sp...sp....sp...spingle...say when he got...murred...at the...g...g...gostel?" Don't get me wrong - I'm glad Mr. "I don't really like school" is having fun reading, but does it have to be so painful? A lesson in patience, I guess...

Overheard

Yesterday I was filling out a form that stated whether N would be going back to the same school next year. When I explained what it was to him, he stated he didn't want to go back next year. Hmmm, I thought, I wonder if something's going on? So, I asked him where he wanted to go next year. His response,

"Well...I don't really like school."

It's gonna be a long 11 years until graduation...

Seven years...

Well, I'm a few days late, but here is my "stroll through memory lane" in honor of N's seventh birthday. I can't believe he's so big! He is a sweet boy and is quite funny. As I was looking through his pictures, I thought it was funny that I could hardly find any scowling or crying pictures (see my tribute for A's birthday in September). I did, however, find some pretty hilarious ones. Enjoy!











































Gotta love that shiner!

































This was a favorite expression of his for a while...



















Sadly, the colander-hat went missing a few years back. *sniff*



















I think he would have made a really pretty girl!

































Superstar!



















This was right before we invested in a few "boy" dress-up items...















Rock on!















The picture (that I took!) the evil Walgreen's lady refused to print for me! Grrr!





























In case you run out of q-tips, just use nerf darts!
















































He loves skiing!





















May you all have a blessed Christmas! (skiing pictures coming soon...)

What do you get...

What do you get when you cross a 6-1/2 year old boy and a camera?

Two weeks down, one to go!

Well, I'm almost done with my online class. Only one discussion question and one 1500 word research paper to go. I will be soooo glad when it's done. I'm seriously contemplating doing no more "real" classes and just sticking with the pud computer ones. It doesn't help that some of the info I need isn't there. For example, in week one we were supposed to critique a school crisis plan using the provided rubric (a rubric is a set of grading criteria). Well, a bunch of us were frantically posting on the message board that we couldn't find the rubric. After a day or two, the instructor finally realizes it somehow "got deleted" from the system. Aaaaaaack! I'm much too easily excitable for this sort of thing. Add to that my first-born tendancy to obsess over things that aren't sone "right", and, well, you have a leetle beet of stress. (Of course, we won't discuss the fact that I'm just now starting my research paper...) Anyhoo, busy week on tap - N's conferences (and book fair, and conference dinners for which I'm setting up/tearing down, bringing dessert, and picking up the fried chicken) and A's field trip. Should have some cute pics from that one.

Funny story:

Two weeks ago A's teacher told me about a playground "incident". It seems that a child rushed over and said, "A's crying!" The teacher rushed over to find A lying on her back on the ground sobbing. The teacher thought she had fallen off the playground equipment. When she asked if A was hurt, A replied, "No one will play with me!!!" The funniest thing was, she had a posse of about 10 kids gathered around her by this point! Never a dull moment with that girl...

When a photo shoot goes bad...

Well, I thought it would be nice to shoot a few pictures yesterday for A's birthday. I thought, "We'll go outside before we head to school, nice and easy, and have some good pictures to remember her special day." *sigh* Here's how it went...
















Our first picture was very sweet and nice. I'm thinking, "What a great start! I CAN be a photographer!"





















For our second picture, A wants to do a goofy "hands-crossed-shoulders-up-cheek-crammed-into-my-shoulder-chin-crammed-into-my-neck" pose. I vetoed that one in a hurry. After all, I *am* the photographer.




















Uh-oh! We're not too happy with the photographer...



















This photo shoot's over!

(In case any of you were wondering why there were several scowling pictures in yesterday's post...)

OK, so maybe I'm not a real photographer.

Yet...

Happy Birthday!

Well, today my baby turns 5. Can you believe it?? I thought a trip down memory lane would be appropriate...






























































































































































I actually have several more of these, um, "lovely-expressioned" pictures that I could have posted...





















Yesterday she helped me make cupcakes for her class, and she got to do the sprinkles.















Yeah, baby! That's my girl!
















Mmmmm...

She did it!

Well, after much cajoling and pleading, it's finally done! A's finished with her training wheels! As you can see, one of them was pretty much shredded! We celebrated with a family ride in the park yesterday. Yay!



















































And to commemorate...

First day

A had her first day of school this week. She went last year, so she had several friends in the class, and was SO excited to start again. She was awake at 6:30 that morning! Then, at breakfast, she said, "Mommy, do you know why I'm smiling at you? Because today is my first day of school!" The first day theme was cowboys and cowgirls, so we did what we could. This meant an old, smooshed-up hat and a bandana (pink, of course!). I had fun playing with some of the pictures in PSE.





















Howdy, Pardner!


Of course, no day at preschool is complete without a visit to the "housekeeping" center. A particularly likes to dress up.






















Being a princess is hard work!

Overheard

We've been having quite a problem with fruit flies lately. They have been much better recently, but when I was peeling an onion this evening A asked, "Mommy, do vegetable flies like veggies?"

How sweet!

Summer fun

Ahhh - the magic of a beautiful summer day and a package of water balloons!