Politics in first grade

Jay come home from school yesterday saying that John McCain steals money from people. After my husband and I stared at each other in disbelief we asked "were did you hear that?" Jay goes on to tell us that someone in his class said it and so did his teacher. We couldn't believe our ears. Jay was insisting that it was true. Why? Because his friends said so. We tried to explain how there are two parties (later the word was changed to teams because Jay wanted to go to the party with us) and how some people will vote for Obama and others McCain. We also explained that neither candidate will "steal" money from anyone but that we have to pay money in the form of taxes. This is way over his head but we tried our best.

Today was my day to volunteer in Jay's class. I spoke to the teacher regarding the statement above. She told me that some in class were saying that and she tried her best to ignore the statement. They were talking about the candidates in terms of where they are from and their families. They have specific instructions to NOT discuss these types of issues in class. She now realizes she should have probably made a statement to address what was said. Hopefully, there will be no more political debates with first graders. Now we have to try to win him over to the other side.

This really opened my eyes to the fact that kids tend to listen and believe their friends without asking parents for their input. This certainly has started early which draws me to the conclusion that we should be the first ones to talk about these subjects so they are not so easily influenced by what they hear. Luckily, they can not vote and they don't really know enough to form a solid opinion on their belief system. But I am sure there are many other topics that will come up that will have to be addressed before long.

Update and pictures

Planning the event this past week has really put me behind. So here is what we have been doing. EE and Jay played basketball on Saturday. They both did really well and seem to like the sport. I love to watch it. Their last game is this coming Saturday. I hope to have some video soon. Saturday night the boys were invited to their very fist Halloween costume party. They had a blast. They did several games, one of which one person wrapped another in toilet paper. EE and Jay were partners with Jay was being wrapped and from what I understand he didn't like it too much so it didn't stay on.

Sunday the boys had their last baseball game and the team did not do well at all. I am not sure what was going on but as the boys put it "they got smoked". The boys husband was finally able to get the pumpkins carved. Then the neighborhood has a small Halloween party which we went to for a very short time.

I was able to make it to school to see the boys get their medals for completing the summer skills book. I was a little surprised that more kids did not complete a book. Out of the 6 first grade classes there were only between 8 to 10 kids get medals. Here are a few pictures:


EE is in the red shirt. He would not look at me.

Jay in the blue striped shirt.

We have 2 parties to attend Friday before we head out to trick or treat. The boys are so excited.

*************************************************************

The baby has had so many falls lately. He is so into everything. He must see, touch and put his mouth on EVERYTHING. I turn my back for one minute and you know he will find something to get himself into trouble. On Tuesday as we were leaving the gym, he fell on his face. He went to hang on a bar and it was wet so he fell and got a bump on his head and a scrape under his nose. The very same day as I was unloading groceries he fell on a pitcher and busted his lip and hurt his upper lip again(this time just a little bit of blood). Here is a picture of his very messed up face.

The Hoe Down

One down and three events left. I think I mentioned that I on the Special Events Committee for the PTA this year. What was I thinking? The whole decorating thing is not my thing. Luckily, my co-chair, who also happens to be my neighbor, is very crafty and has great decorating ideas.

We spent a lot of time prepping for this event. We popped popcorn and bagged it, I made 5 gallons of lemonade and had 5 gallons of water, we dipped pretzels in chocolate and my neighbor made all of the table centerpieces (which were so nice). I wish I would have gotten some pictures of some of the various pieces around the school.

This event was the finale to a 2 week program the school had with an Artist up here. His name is Slim Harrison. The kids could made an instrument and bring in to play along with Slim and then they would do some dancing. This really wasn't our event to plan but we kind of got stuck with it because the other more appropriate committee didn't step up. So be it and we did what we had to.

EE and Jay did not want to attend the event at all. EE kept saying he was NOT going to dance and we couldn't make him. I did have the husband bring them up and they did not have to activity participate but they did watch.

We had an overwhelming response to the event. More than I ever anticipated. We got maybe 10 RSVPs yesterday and the school office phone rang off the hook with people asking if they could still come to the event. There were so many people there last night. We ended up running out of food and drink. There were also lots of little kids that kept coming up for another pretzel or muffin. We finally had to close the cafeteria doors and call it a night.

When the room cleared out I was dumb founded on how poorly the kids behaved and didn't pick up after themselves (or the parent didn't direct them to clean up). Popcorn was all over the floor and trash left on the tables. Anyone hear of a trashcan?

I am glad to have this one over with. Next up is basket bingo in the winter. We have decided to sit down next week to start planning for this one with a time line and volunteers in place. This one should be a lot of fun to plan.

The Poopy chronicles

I just finished cleaning the cabinets and mopping the floor. After breakfast this morning, I got the baby down from his high chair. I had poured my cereal into my bowl and had taken a few spoonfuls when the baby comes trotting over to me. His hands were covered in something, it looked like it was oatmeal. I was holding his hands thinking how would he have gotten into oatmeal because I washed his hands off already. Then the smell hit me. It was poop on his hands. It was on his face and my other boys were laughing as they were telling me it was ALL over the floor. Somehow the poop fell out if his diaper and he decided it would be fun to play with and maybe smear on some stuff. For one very brief moment, I thought I should grab the camera. Isn't this a moment you would want to keep forever? Then I came to my senses and got the baby upstairs and into the tub.

Cleanup started after the boys went off to school. I kept finding little bits on the cabinets. So I had to clean each and every cabinet within reach. My niece turns to me and says wouldn't it have been good if the detergent would have fallen today instead of the other day. Why yes that would have been really good. All I have to say it Thanks God it is Friday!

I thought about this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov1d50yOtVg

You want me to do what?

One should read emails very carefully before responding in such a haste. My husband forwards a note to me today regarding a work bake sale. In his note, he asks me to make something for the bake sale. Well, he knows I love to bake and I love sweets so yes, of course, I will make something. It will give me the excuse opportunity to eat something really yummy. A while later I was thinking about what I read and realized he wants me to make something for tomorrow. Doesn't he know that a baker needs time to plan and get ingredients.

*************************************************************************************

My kids brought home a package from their art class. Included in the package was a order form, a list of products that could be purchased and most importantly artwork from each child. This is the artwork that I received.

Jay's is on the left and EE's is on the right. I received a note on EEs that it still needed to be colored (will that help it?). Also, EE told me he did not make the teeth. I could be the proud owner of a shirt, mug and a host of other products with my kid's artwork. I love my kids, you all know that. But I will not be buying a shirt with this picture on it. This is a fundraiser for the school so I guess I will be guilted into buying a magnet. Lucky me will have a one of a kind.

It can only get better right?

Since we don't have to leave for the baby's My Gym class until 10 on Wednesdays, I usually take some time to get caught up on cleaning the house and starting laundry. We made a trip to the store with the bulls eye design, which so happens to be one of my favorite places, this past weekend. I purchased a large bottle of laundry detergent to replace the almost gone one in our cabinet. I bought the one that has a cap at one end and a dispense on the other. At present time there is no room to put the new one until the old one is all gone. The detergent got placed on top of our washer. Do you see where this is going yet? I started the load of laundry in our front load washer. I was standing in the kitchen (very lucky) as the spin cycle started. All of the sudden I hear a thud, look and see that cap of the detergent broke off and detergent was going all over the floor. I felt like I was moving in slow motion but I ran over there and picked it up. Clean up started and everywhere I looked I saw splashes of detergent. It was all over the wall, door and even landed on my kitchen counter. As I was sitting here a moment ago I noticed I had something sticky in my hair, you guessed it, detergent. I think I will be seeing blue drip marks for a long while. So although there is a nice aroma in my house right now don't' be tricked that it is actually clean.

Speaking of clean, last week I called my house cleaner and told her that we were cutting expenses and this was one of the first things to go. I felt so bad and she asked me if they did anything that I didn't like. She did a really nice job cleaning. But I have heard from several people that I am paying way too much. So I will have my neighbor's cleaning person come on Friday to give me a quote.

Saturday Shenanigans and the big 40!

My neighbor's husband planned a surprise 40th birthday drunkfest party on Saturday evening at a very nice restaurant. My neighbor, I will call her Gladys, had absolutely no idea about this party. She was very surprised, it was so much fun keeping the secret for the last month or so.

As a side note, I was one of the only that was not drunk. I had two glasses of wine before dinner and stopped drinking. My husband drank to keep up with everyone (and he knew I was designated driver). Some people were drunk before the guest of honor arrived and then kept drinking.


Two of Gladys' friends came in town for the event. Oddly enough the 2 friends lived in the same house. The house in question has had 4 families live in it within the last 7 years. The first family was friend A, the third family was friend B and now the lady I wrote about in this post lives there. Both friends have VERY strong personalities. It was a riot watching both friends try to maintain all of the attention for the evening. Friend A and B don't really like each other much, they have probably only met one other time. As friend B was roasting Gladys friend A was making a ruckus and not really listening. It went on all evening.


One of the gifts given to Gladys was a bottle of Tuaca. This is the worst smelling liquor ever! I have never tried Tuaca and I probably never will. I actually had never even heard of Tuaca until I moved here. Well, once the bottle was brought out shots started. Gladys had several shots and was passing them out to all of her unsuspecting friends. The bottle was finished by midnight. There were few people spared from the shot glass.

The night ended at midnight for us, just like in the Cinderella story. Most of the others went on to a piano bar where the birthday girl was given the title as the worst tambourine player ever. It was a great night with a lot of good friends.

This party got me thinking about my birthday early next year in which I will turn forty. Yeah that is right the big 4.0. In a lot of ways, it is hard for me to believe I will be forty. But what does turning 40 really mean. If you google "turning 40" you will get a gazillion of links to many different types of sites. I even found a website all about turning forty. Why is turning 40 such a big deal? It is one year after you turn 39 and one year before you turn 41. Is it supposed to be a turning point in your life? Will something mysteriously happen on the big day?

I am not sure about what turning 40 means, but I do know some things about my life:

1) I don't feel like I am 40. As a youngster, 40 seemed so darn old to me.

2) I am one of the youngest in my group of friends around here...yes it only may be by a year but I am still younger.

3) I always thought my children would be older when I turned 40, but I have twin 6.5 year olds and a 1.5 year old.

4) I am in better shape now than I ever have been.

5) I am very happy with the way my life has turned out.

6) After many years of worshiping the sun, I have started to take care of my skin. I finally figured out in my late 20's that I should be using sunscreen.

7) I definitely have more thoughts of getting a little help with the facial lines...ok wrinkles.

8) I am who I am....take it or leave it.

Well, not sure exactly what 40 will bring....but I am ready bring it on!

Shooting the hoops

Basketball Pictures from Saturday.


A little warm up by EE (number 2) and Jay (number 1). The baby decided he needed to do some jumping jacks with the kids as they were warming up.

The boys had a great time at their game. They have really enjoyed basketball. I asked them today which sport they liked better basketball or baseball. EE said he liked them both and Jay said he liked basketball better. The groups split up into two teams of four. So they all get a lot of play time. They each were able to handle the ball and make baskets. The baby unbelievably sat with us and watched and played without making too much of a fuss.

As I was snapping pictures during this game I realized how much I dislike my camera. It is a digital camera. The one where you push the button and then have to wait 1 minute before the picture actually shoots. I missed out on so many good pictures. I think next game I will take the video camera.

*************************************************************************************

On a separate note, the boys had dentist appointments on Friday. This was the baby's first visit. He did great. You know it is bad when the Dentist tells you to start saving your money for corrective measures. I am sure at least 2 of the 3 will need some work done.

The husband and I went out on Saturday night. Can't wait to dish about that!

Golden shoe race

Each year the school holds a Golden shoe race. The race is done by grade level. First Grade ran 1/2 mile. The higher grades run at least a mile. I am not sure how the scores are calculated, but I believe that the class who had all of the students come in before any other wins the golden shoe. Neither EE or Jay's class won. However, Jay was the 3rd runner in and EE was the 7th. WOO-HOO! Jay has talked all week about wanting to win that Golden shoe. It was a fun event. Of course, I forgot my camera.

On another school note, I received a note from the school yesterday stating that there was a fire in the 5th grade bathroom. The fire was contained and put out by the teachers and the parents of those responsible were contacted. I surely would not have expected something like this to happen in Elementary school.

Lastly, my co-room Mom came up to me today and told me that I had such sweet boys. Last year she was room Mom for EE's class and this year we are sharing the duties for Jay's class. She chaperoned the trip to the Aquarium this past week and had Jay in her group. She could not stop saying nice things about both of them. It is nice to hear that other people think you children are well behaved. It is also nice to know that they behave and are respectful with other adults.