Ladies Night

They ladies had a little night out. It was wild, it was crazy and I am super thankful to RoseAlba for taking out Mara on the race track as she was close to passing me. :-)

The Ladies


Mara's hair speaks for itself - really it does, it shouted, "Hey, I'm over hear!" during the entire laser tag match.


These crazy (and I really do mean they are all certifiable) ladies went on the "swing". I wish I had been able to capture some of their expression mid-ride, it did not entice me to try it.




Bumper cars. I was highly disappointed. The new bumper cars have super soft tubes around them so there was no whiplash sort of jolts. Very wimpy!

The Accidental 5K

Last Saturday I got up at 6:15am (crazy, I know) to go help out as a volunteer for a local St. Patrick's Day run a friend of mine puts on. It was a chilly couple of hours as I helped to input timing chip data in to the computer for those who registered the day of the race. By the end my knees were very nearly frozen and obviously so was my brain as I decided at the last minute to jump in and run the race as well.

I've never run a 5K race before and wasn't planning for this to be my first but the opportunity presented itself and well, you're only young(ish) once. Thankfully I have been running on my own and have successfully run that distance in my training but it was a whole new world to do it with 800 other people. I ran with my friend Lacey and it was a good partnership (I think) because we seemed to have the same pace (I think - she might have slowed down for me) and having her there helped me to not walk up the last hill which made me very happy. (who puts a hill at the end of a race?????)

As a result I readily admit the feeling was awesome and I am officially bitten by the bug and am contemplating what other races I can register for in our area. My only regret was that I wasn't wearing my VFF's but I can do that next time.

Mr. B's Perfection

Mr. B did it again. He's had two weeks in a row of perfect spelling tests:



On Wednesday night he and I spent 2 hours working on these spelling words. There were lots of tears and frustration on his part and he assured me that he would not be able to remember how to spell any of the words come test time.

Fast forward to today and Mr. B literally bounced off the bus and announced that he had gotten 7/7 on his test! He opened his backpack while we were still standing on the street and brought out the test just for me to see. His face was beaming and his pride was soaring.

I am so proud of him! It is these moments that carry me though during the next homework meltdown.

Beeb Time

Last Friday Beeb came home from school requesting that she and I have a picnic. I readily agreed and put together a fantastic feast to enjoy. It was a beautifully sunny day and I really cherished sitting in the warmth of the sun talking with my daughter.









Beeb provided the entertainment by showcasing her skateboard talents:




I even documented our unusually spring like winter weather by snapping some shots of my flowers that have been blooming since the end of February!








Saturday afteroon Beeb requested that we walk to the viewpoint of the falls. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time before the dark would set in so I opted to drive us over to the actually falls and walk around the newly relandscaped grounds:


Of course Beeb is quite the little goof lately so I had to document that too! :-)
















Where was Mr. B during all this? He was playing with the neighbor boys. Beeb's best neighborhood friend was gone all weekend so that is why she had to settle for playing with me (much to my delight).

Science Fair

Science Fair last night at the school. Here are some fun images from the event:








Beeb's sugar cube building (brown roof) on display.


That is a real dead brain. Beeb's statement afterward was, "I thought it would be more pink." Not so said the man holding the brain - that's just in diagrams.



The line to see the live kangaroo was too long but over all there were many fun and interesting things to see and do. Very well done!

Kick Star - Coolest Mom on the Playground

When I was in elementary school kickball was played like baseball. A ball was rolled to the kicker and after it shot off you tried to run the bases before the ball was returned and you were tagged with it. Thursday I volunteered in Mr. B's class and got to enjoy afternoon recess with him playing the new kickball. The new, and not really improved, kickball consists of two teams on two opposing sides of a court (think tennis court except it's not a tennis court) divided by the horizontal center line. If you want to earn points you simply have to kick the ball over the fence (about 18 feet high - there is one at each end of the court) from no closer than center court.

I ROCKED kickball. I was so good that my teammates would catch balls and bring them to me to kick instead of trying to kick them on their own. The kids on the receiving end had moved to the far side of the fence and would throw their arms up, screaming in anticipation each time I got a new ball. By the power of my bionic right leg I earned hero status from both sides. On my own team I was told, "We're winning!" several times as I was handed the ball. From the opposing team I was told, "You're awesome!" by some of the pint size players as the end of recess bell sounded.

Let me tell you, it felt good to dominate the kickball court. Mr. B literally glowed with pride that I was his mom. I held my head high and my chest out the rest of the day and told everyone within ear shot of my success and blatantly ignored the rude comments about my being so much bigger than these 5 to 7 year old wanna be master kickers. Size doesn't matter, it's all about skill and natural talent. :-)

Self Inflicted Hickies

I just got this from Mr. B's teacher. It made me laugh with remembrance of when my friends and I did this in elementary school.

Hello Room 12 Families-

Today we had a discussion in class about sucking on our arms and hands. I have noticed that children are sucking on their arms to the point that they are leaving marks.

We discussed why we do not do this to our bodies. We talked about the marks being a way for our body to tell us that it doesn't like being sucked on. We also discussed that at school there are many germs and licking or sucking on things causes the spread of germs and can make us sick.

The students had great ideas about reminding each other not to do this if we see someone sucking on their arm or hand. We also talked about not chewing or sucking on our sleeves as well. I was glad to hear the students come up with great ideas on how to solve this issue. They understand why we should not do this.

This is the first day that I have noticed these behaviors in several children and so am working to insure it doesn't continue.

Thank you for your support. Please let me know if you have any questions.

I don't think I'd make a very good teacher; I'd be laughing the entire time and probably enticing the kids to do more of the things that I did when I was their age.

Daffodils

It's March 2nd and my daffodils are blooming. Isn't that crazy? The east coast keeps getting slammed with snow storms by the foot and it was 63 degrees here yesterday. So very strange.

Yesterday after school, as I walked with the kiddo's home from the bus stop, Beeb noticed that our daffodils were blooming. She was so excited! I promised her that we could put some in the house to enjoy and so today, before school, she and I went out, hunted up the best daffodil in the garden and it now resides on Beeb's bedside table.



I love spring flowers (even though it is still technically winter). :-)

Bragging Moment

Be forewarned that this is a post where I get to brag about my daughter. It may get kind of sappy but I am so proud of her that I had to write it down and share it.

At this stage of the year in kindergarten kids are expected to know the standards such as all 52 letters of the alphabet (upper & lower case) and be able to count to 99. Beeb has been working on these at home and can not only meet the standards but is exceeding them in many areas.

Here's the bragging part of what Beeb has achieved:

Count to 200 and beyond (only needs to go to 99 for school)
Identify all the letters in the alphabet (upper & lower)
Identify all the letter sounds of the alphabet
Knows all the high frequency site words (only needs to know 10 for school):
I, see, the, like, you, me, up, in, my, to, said, go, do, yes, am, and, at, a, is, on, it, no, can, did, are
Prints her own name legibly (first and last)
Writes words using at least 2 correct letter sounds consistently
Reads aloud numbers through the hundreds (only needs to go to 20's for school)
Orders numerals through hundreds (only needs to go through 1-10 for school)
Identifies and extends a 4 & 6 part pattern (only needs to go through 2 & 3 parts for school)

In addition she has passed off:
Counting to 100 by 5's and 10's
Counting backwards from 20 (we are working on backwards from 50 right now)
Her art work is always a 4 (the highest level of detail) thanks to her weekly art lessons from Ms. Kori.

To say that Beeb loves school is a gross understatement. Beeb LOVES and LIVES for school. She is always excited for Sunday night so she can go back to school the next day and school breaks are spent questioning me as to how many more days until school starts again.

We are so proud of Beeb and her academic accomplishments. I pray that her enthusiasm for school lasts another 18 years (through her Masters degree).

Healthy Cooking Substitution

Thanks to Tresero's Blog I learned this new trick today for healthier cooking:

Unsweetened Applesauce Is The Wonder Substitute In The Kitchen
You may be surprised to discover that unsweetened applesauce is a great cooking substitution that can be used in place of oil and butter for almost all recipes. Simply match the measurement in the recipe exactly. 1/4 cup butter is substituted by 1/4 cup of applesauce and it will not affect the recipe except for reducing the fat content in the final product.

A great candidate for the applesauce cooking substitutions is banana bread. All you have to do is substitute the oil with the same amount of unsweetened applesauce. Believe it or not, you have eliminated approximately 950 calories or more than 100 grams from this recipe. You can still make that favorite bread with some basic substitutions. The banana bread with the applesauce substituted for oil is amazingly moist, flavorful and, with all those fat calories gone, healthy. Feel free to make the banana bread, your family will enjoy it and you will have the personal satisfaction that they are not eating an unhealthy snack.

Homework Blues

Mr. B wore me out tonight during homework time. We didn't actually get much homework done, mostly he just sat at the table whining and crying while I tried to ignore him by reading my book until he was ready to cooperate (which never really happened). It took him 45 minutes to do 3 math problems (this is only 1st grade math so we are not talking rocket science here). By the time we moved on to word families I made it into the second word of the first family when I reached my limited and tagged AH for his round with the boy. I fumed upstairs to cool off, which did happen, but the funk stayed with me and I've been kind of feeling blue the rest of the evening. I seriously hate doing homework with an uncooperative child. It's one of those areas where I have no patience. . . at all.

So I've been hunkered over my computer for hours now perusing my favorite blogs and websites, feeding off the inspiration of others, when I decided to add a new list to my blog. The list is of things I'd like/desire/want, but don't really need, and if you bought it for me I'd probably be your slave for life, kind of list. Anyway, while adding things to my "list" I came across the rug I LOVE so much that I even though I couldn't afford to buy it big I did buy it small for our entryway door and it makes me happy every time I see it. Well the "rug" is on CLEARANCE (I know!) right now and the 8x10 is down to $299.00. AH, after just telling me what our tax return will be this year, immediately said, "No!" and that $300 was too much for a rug (AH doesn't get out much unless it is to REI, Craig's list (drooling over motorcycles) or the Dodge parts catalog). MOM I expect you to intervene here and explain to AH that $300 for a wool rug is an excellent price and to snatch it up as quickly as possible!!!! (a phone call would be most effective in this case)

The thing that is perfect about this rug is that it has all my colors in it AND it is dark enough to be placed under my kitchen table w/out showing all the spills that happen when a rug is placed under the kitchen table. I heart this rug! The picture doesn't do it justice - it is so much more vibrant IRL.



What's a girl to do?

The Power of a Nap

Shortly after 12pm today I received a phone call from Mr. B's teacher. Apparently Mr. B fell asleep during story time and nobody had been able to get him awake afterward.

The timing was perfect since Beeb was due at school shortly so I drove her down and we both went to visit the sleeping Mr. B. I found him slumped over his desk and out for the count. Someone had been kind and slipped a square red pillow under his head (little did they know that he drools in his sleep!). It took a few tries and the threat of making him go running with me to bring him back to consciousness but he finally sat up on his own. I got him eating his lunch and he was nearly done when his peers started coming back in from their lunch/recess time.

I left Mr. B, surrounded by his classmates who were in awe of his getting to eat lunch in the classroom as well as his sleeping through lunch and recess. My only regret. . . not having my camera with me to capture him snoozing.

When Mr. B got off the bus this afternoon he told me that, "today was the bestest day." He said he was all rested and ready to play.

My kids, there is never a dull moment.