Sunday, November 22, 2009

Friday, November 20, 2009

Continent house


B has been studying the continents at school and has decorated our house with his school work.  "At least it's better than incontinent house," the UPS guy told me the other day.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

So I married a comedian

I was telling M a few nights ago that I sometimes don't like to brush my teeth before I go to bed.  If I've already gotten all sleepy, the extreme minty-ness of my toothpaste is a stimulant of sorts.  I don't WANT to wake up when I'm all snuggled in my bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head.  My solution to this problem is simple:  brush my teeth earlier in the evening, before I get all sleepy.  M had another thought though:  I should try a new flavor of toothpaste, something less invigorating.  I asked "like what?" and he said, "Well, it would probably have to be pinot grigio."

Monday, November 16, 2009

So proud of my B!

B was selected by his teacher to be a student ambassador. Two kids are picked from each class (the other ambassador from B's class is one of his two best friends, Joel). According to the permission slip I just signed, B will "develop leadership skills through representing the school at two evening events in the next two months, serving as an interview candidate for articles and photos submitted to local publications, and serving as a host and tour guide during new student visits in the spring."

This Wednesday, he and Joel have decided to wear ties when they lead parents on tours of the school before the school's "Share the Vision" night. We're going necktie shopping after school tonight!

I shouldn't really be surprised that he was selected, given how our first parent-teacher conference went last month. His teacher told me that he is far ahead of all the other students in the class in math, and she believes he is gifted in both math and language. I'm so glad we chose this school for him! I think the attitude of the school and the Montessori approach will really help him both do well in and enjoy school.

So please pardon my boasting, but I am just so proud of that kid that I could explode!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Next F00d Network star?


Guess who made dinner last Tuesday?  I'll give you a hint:  it wasn't me.  We switched our schedules around a few weeks ago b/c B didn't like before-care, and now I don't get home until 6 or 6:30.  But it wasn't M either.  It was B!  He asked if he could make dinner, and ended up making a plate full of sandwiches.  Some were PB&J, some were PB&H (honey), and some were PB&J&H.  M helped him cut them up, and he served them family-style.  He kept putting pieces on my plate, saying "You HAVE to try this one.  It's delicious!"  He was so proud.  And they were delicious!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween

What a sugarfest!  We've had to peel the kids off the ceiling and tie them down to their beds to get them off their sugar highs these past two days.  Just kidding.  Kind of.

It's been party-city around here.  Z's preschool is too PC to observe ANY holidays (sad), but B's school had a costume parade on Friday.  We went from there to another costume parade at M's work, and from there to a family bowling night sponsored by B's school, where there was yet another costume parade.

On the big day itself, we went to a Halloween party at a neighbor's house, then I took the kids trick-or-treating while M rushed home to hand out candy to all three kids that rang our doorbell.  It was a beautiful night -- the best trick-or-treating weather I can remember since B was born.  There was a nearly-full moon, and the temperature was in the 50s.  Most neighbors even shoveled all that snow off their sidewalks for the kids!


B went as Luke Skywalker (of course), and Z was a chicken, thanks to Lisa, whose Emme wore this adorable chicken costume last year.  A friend of M's suggested he should've gone as Colonel Sanders.  He hangs out with some sickos.

In the past, we used to hold onto B's candy & dole it out 2-3 pieces a night, after a good dinner had been eaten.  Last year we decided to put him in charge, with a few ground rules like no candy before breakfast.  It was gone in about a week.  We decided to go with that again.  Think about it -- even if some of the candy mysteriously disappears overnight (which we couldn't pull over on B anymore -- he knows there are exactly 78 pieces of candy in that pumpkin), if you dole it out 2-3 pieces a night, you have Halloween candy in the house until Christmas, when new candy enters.  You dole that out, and next thing you know, it's Valentine's Day.  Then there's Easter (which everybody knows offers THE BEST CANDY OF THE YEAR!!!).  You end up with candy every night for six months.  That's a habit folks! 

So we laid out the four following ground rules.  Inside of these, the monkeys can consume as much candy as they want to, whenever (although the volume in Z's pumpkin is going to be mysteriously cut in half overnight tonight -- I'll be eating candy at work all week).  The rules are:

1. No candy between waking up & eating breakfast.
2. No candy during the hour before dinner.
3. No candy wrappers anywhere but the trash can.
4. Candy must be kept on a shelf inside the closet, with the door shut, when not being actively consumed (think of the damage Kenai could do with a 78 pieces of candy)