Fun Photo

Our friends Don and Kae also have a Giant Schnauzer (their dog Hannah is Cody's older sister and is where I learned what a cool breed they are). She got the picture I sent to the breeder of Ethan and Cody and doctored it up a bit. It gave me such a chuckle I had to post it. Enjoy!

I've Been Bumped

Well, we all love Cody, our new dog. He is huge and loveable and sweet-tempered and utterly devoted to Ethan, who almost always has his arm around him or sits idly playing with Cody's fur. He is very calm in the house but turns into a giant puppy when Bill or Ethan take him to play in the snow.

I did have a twang of self-pity yesterday, though, when Ethan said to me in the most diplomatic way: "Mom, you're still one of my best friends, but Cody's my very best friend."

May I Have A 'K' Please?

I thought this was funny:

In front of the preschool at Midway: NOW ENROLLING
FIRST WEE FREE

The Bright Side

Last night I grew reflective as Alaina worked her way through a stomach virus; gee, I have a great excuse not to be up there cleaning up the bed, walls, clothes and child. Perhaps there is a tiny bright side to having a bum leg.

It Can't Be!

Ethan and I were snuggling last night when he told me he doesn't believe quite all the stuff about Santa. He said "I still believe in Santa, but some of that stuff I don't believe anymore". Like what? Well, the flying reindeer can't be true. What about magic? Magic isn't real either. Oh, No!!! I guess this comes of school with older kids. I wanted to cry a bit. At least he still believes in a nice dude in a red suit who walks around hearing kids' wish lists, I guess.

Christmas Angels

Saturday afternoon a group of our closest friends descended on our home to decorate for Christmas. Lisa, Alice, Tina, and Jill are part of the accounting crew that I worked with at Shelter. We took a girls' weekend to St Pete Beach when Lisa turned 40 and nowadays have monthly lunch gab-fests. Tina and I with our spouses traveled Europe in 2000, skiied, and have tailgated for years. We have the unique tie that we all slept together in a tiny sleeper compartment on a night train to Prague and were shaken up in the night by a visit from German border patrol with their AK47's and German Shepards.
Carrie is my dear wonderful friend from Investments. We had our children together (much to the consternation of the three guys that made the rest of the department), and can talk forever on any topic.
Susan and Kathy, more close friends from accounting days and lunch group, Susan's husband Bruce who is an incredibly handy guy, Jill's husband Brian, also a Shelter friend, Tina's husband Mark, also part of the Europe memories, and Don & Kae Duello. They own the property I wrote about Oct 29 or so where Bree and I had our last all-out, wind in our face gallop for a while. They are Shelter friends (Don ran Investments, then the company, and now is Chairman), as well as horse friends, and as nice of people as you will meet.
Anyway, here they came with ladders, cookies, popcorn covered in white chocolate (yum), and beverages, and transformed our house.
Friday after my therapy Bill and I got a new fake tree. I really wanted a nice one with lights attached, that goes up in sections and looks really full and pretty if we were going to do fake trees. Last year we did a real one, which began with Bill and Andy covered in scratches and ended in my carpet full of pine needles and with a water stain. Oh, and Bill and Andy with more scratches!
The girls whipped out that tree and helped the kids put on ornaments, hang stockings, you name it. They made up wreaths for the door and around the house, and Kae hung wreaths on the entry to our driveway and greenery on the mailbox.
The guys helped Bill hang lights on the house, which takes a bit but is so beautiful. Afterward we all had snacks and caught up. It was a wonderful afternoon and the Christmas Spirit is all around. I finally have Christmas carols in my head!

Some Great Things About Being Home

1) Reading and coloring with Ethan after school every day. Current library book: Indiana Jones presents The Incas.
2) Alaina randomly running up, saying "My Mommy", and laying her cheek on my leg.
3) Bill is here when I go to sleep and when I wake up.
4) Long chats with Jordan about her friends, school, etc.
5) My computer!!
6) Sasha snuggles
7) Andrew brews good coffee and brings me a cup after school. Hospital watered-down Sanka just didn't do it for me.
8) Mom playing games with the kids. They're gonna be formidable gamesters!
9) Alaina's spontaneous song and dance routines.
10) Big talks with Ethan about school, science, my leg, whatever is brewing in that big noggin.

Thanks Giving

Thank you. Never before have I felt such an overwhelming tide of thanksgiving, and here we are at the day set aside for such things. Thank you to God for allowing me a chance to live and raise my children, and for delivering the girls nearly unharmed, thank you to volunteer fire departments and EMT's, wonderful caring veterinarians, neighbors and friends, thank you for the incredible, talented surgeons who have pinned me back together in such a way that I can already use crutches, the therapists and nurses who helped me and showed me how to help myself again. Coming from bedpans and traction to crutches and sitting in a blessed warm shower in 4 weeks is a miracle in itself. Thank you to unknown engineers at Ford who constructed a truck that could take a veritable steel and concrete missle head-on and still the engine didn't crush the three souls in the front seat, and somehow the missle was deflected out so that it ripped out the driver's side rather than the whole cab.
Thank you to the phenomenal masses of friends from horse riding, church, Shelter Insurance, Nebraska, Kilgore's, kids' schools, everywhere I could imagine, pouring forth with wishes, help, prayers and support for my family and myself. Friends who took over the care of Bree, my sweet horse who survived the crash. Thank you to my mother and Bill's, sisters and brother, who dropped everything and rushed to our side, Mom leaving her life in Nebraska in a blink to stay with us as long as we need, making sure the kids and house are functioning smoothly, that my babies are getting the maternal love they need.
Thank you to my dear sweet Billy, who has been steadfast by my side throughout this, and taken on many extra roles in his steady, dependable way. I can't imagine going through something like this without his love and help. I don't think there is a better human being in the world.
Thank you for more days, more snuggles and hugs, more smiles and songs, more adventures, the opportunity to be here, to hopefully affect lives for the better and leave a mark worth seeing.
Amen

And Then...

In case anyone is wondering about the axe-murderer looking photo of Bree on the slideshow...she somehow gashed her head in the trailer on the way home. It is a short straight ride but has several large hills, so I can only think she slid forward and hit her head then. Being a head wound, it bled like crazy, especially when the vet stitched it up and every touch sent more blood oozing down her face.
It cleaned up nicely and the actual wound is maybe 4 by 1 inches, but I had to take a photo first of her, messy and heavily sedated, looking like a Halloween prop.

What a Ride!

Yesterday morning I went to trail ride at a neighbor's house as I have a number of Wednesdays lately. After our usual 1 1/2 hours or so of walking all around this beautiful property, the day had turned absolutely perfect. I couldn't stand the idea of quitting the ride, so I set out to trot the perimeter on my own before going home. Bree was in the mood also, and soon broke into a nice gallop.
We galloped along the trail at the edge of a huge grassy meadow alongside trees decked out in lovely fall colors, over rises and around bends. Balancing in the stirrups, I could follow her rhythm and feel the strength and warmth of her muscles. The only sounds were Bree's hoofbeats and the occasional squeak of leather, and birds singing in the trees. A red-tail hawk circled overhead and the smell of warm, drying leaves hung in the air. Bree and I were both reveling in the freedom we felt on this, the kind of ride one rarely gets to experience. I was so lucky growing up to have the space and opportunity to gallop, free and wild, across our farm, and this ride took me back many years.

'Possum!

Last night Sasha started going crazy at the door. Often when this happens at night she ends up chasing a raccoon away from our bird feeders on the porch. I peeked out the window and instead of the usual raccoon face, saw a rather large opossum on one side of the porch rail while Sasha ambled up to say hello. I tapped at the window but she ignored me and I cringed, waiting for her to get a chomp on the face.

The critter just froze, played 'possum I guess, for a while, then when Sasha got too close he could stand it no longer and bared some nasty sharp pointy teeth. I dashed to the door and got Sasha in then waited for it to leave. Took some photos, up close, turned off the porch light, he still stayed. Bill came home nearly an hour later and he was still there. More photos and gawking, then turned off the light. Another half hour later Andy came up and sure enough there he was. I guess he's gone now.

The best news out of this? A week ago we were outside and saw a headless body with a rat tail. I assumed it was a very healthy and fluffy rat and had since been rather grossed out with the idea of rats near our house. Now I'm pretty sure it was a young 'possum and am actually a bit relieved by that.

Fun Visit

Our friends the Riders, who moved to Hays, KS three long years ago, came to visit us this weekend. Well, they came also for the MU Homecoming game and a medical conference, but we monopolized them as much as possible. We invited friends over Friday night to catch up, and otherwise relaxed and let the kids play.

Ethan and their oldest, Sam, have always been great buddies and had tons of fun. Their exploits as Indiana Jones and his sidekick, as well as various super heroes, were great. Sunday after church I followed them along our wooded path and took some fun pictures. They each had a big walking stick and started brewing a "potion" in the stream. Then Ethan broke into a song called Punkin' Stew that they are singing at school. A video clip is on the Flickr site.

Lainey and their youngest, Shane, played also. They did a pretty good job of keeping up with the big guys, and also had their own playacting to do, often featuring Lainey as the Mom.

Kurt got to visit some old colleagues at the medical school, and eat Indian food which is apparently scarce in Hays. He, Bill and Andrew tailgated and went to the game, then afterwards went to play pool at a new place downtown.

Julie and I got to catch up with each other, which is so great since we always have so much to talk about. When they moved back to Hays, which is their hometown, we talked a lot about the battle between moving home to where family is and having some distance and creating your own life in another place. We all four had battled this decision over the years. It was interesting to hear what her experience has been, and a bit of a relief (selfishly speaking) to hear her echo many of my fears about moving back. One item was that a sister who she had been incredibly close with now hasn't spoken to her in 1 1/2 years. Until recently when she got her to talk and a 6 hour conversation ensued about what things one had, whose kids got more attention from other family members, who was a better christian, who was the favorite among shared friends, etc.

Some things are just less hurtful when cushioned by distance. And when guilt or spite rear their ugly heads, distance will create itself in any case. I know some friends who see family who live across town less often than we see family in Nebraska. Apparently it just isn't as simple as all that, like most things. My very wise and wonderful sister-in-law Renda once asked me when I was obsessing about the impossibility of pleasing everyone, "who is most important in your life?" My husband and kids. "OK, so focus on that relationship and your life with them and if that's going well, you don't need to worry."

A Rant Ensues

Rant, rave, snarl, ethnocentric, hiss, spit, rose-colored glasses, rave, growl, reverse elitism, hiss, ##!?!#, hypocritical...
Wow, that felt good.

Jr High Party

Friday night was the first All-School party of the year at Jordan's school. I volunteered so got to be in several areas throughout the night. There are a bunch of things like cake walk, raffle, flowers for sale, card room etc. besides the dance.
Toward the end of the evening Jordan brought her sweetie Nick to meet me. He was very cute and nice and had bought Jordan three carnations and won her Little Debbie snack cakes on the cake walk. Everyone razz her at will ;-)

Tech Nerd In Training?

We recently introduced a new effort/reward system to the kids. Some call it allowance, Dave Ramsey calls it a commission system, whatever. The big kids got their presentation Sunday afternoon and I think are very pleased with the idea. It will give them a little more money on hand to budget, along with responsibility to pay for more of their discretionary items from that money, hopefully creating a real sense of managing money and making careful purchases that will help them in the future. Andrew already has a personal account for this, and Jordan and I will open hers today, none too soon as she generally has a pile of babysitting/dogsitting cash lying about also.
Anyway, last night I called Ethan and Alaina to the table to present their responsibilities and rewards. I said something like "Come over here, I have a new system to present to you." At the exact second it came out I thought, "now that sounds nerdy", just as Ethan bolted up from his toys and hurried over saying "New system? Mom I love it when you say things like new system. That gets me all excited." Oh, my!

Love Those Kolaches!

Today I am picking my way gingerly about the house, stopping now and then to stretch my lower back, and praying quite earnestly that one of those drop-you-to-the-ground white hot lightning bolts of pain doesn't shoot from my SI joint. This after being so thrilled with physical therapy and following that up with weekly pilates with my friend/physical therapist Kim who incidentally is a rocking fun horse woman as well.
So where do kolaches fit in this story? Well, I was thinking about pilates and it reminded me of a story I never put on here....At the beginning of the school year Jordan and I went to a night at her school where kids walk parents through their class schedule, and teachers give a brief talk about their respective classes. The last class was P.E. While waiting for the teacher to begin, Jordan told me some things they had been doing in class. On a few rainy days, she said they had fun doing this kolaches stuff. Kolaches? I asked. "Describe that to me". "You know, where you get on the floor and do stretches and things". "Do you mean pilates?". "Yeah, that's it! So what is kolaches?". "Those little rolls Grandma Husa makes with fruit in them." "Oh, Yeah!".
Leave it to the Czech girl to have kolaches on her mind.

And Don't Forget It!

Alaina is a rather confident and outgoing little gal in general. Between being the youngest, mimicking Jordan and her big girl friends, and a predisposition to being social, she holds her own in about any situation. She also gets frustrated when the rest of us don't seem to realize just how big and capable she is.
Lately, she cracks us up when, anytime she meets opposition, she walks up and says "you know I'm three years old, right?", or "I'm three years old, OK?". This is generally accompanied by one hand on a hip, tilted head and a facial expression that suggests she is trying to be patient as she points out this obvious fact that should clear up any misunderstanding we might have about her abilities. Three years old is apparently a magic threshold, the key to big girl world. Usually when she introduces herself nowadays she says "I'm Lainey Kathryn Morrissey and I'm three years old", holding up three fingers with a little smug smile and fluttering eyelids.
It really is the cutest thing, and while I'm sure my hard-headed little girl and my hard-headed self will have our arguments over the years, I love to watch her confident personality unfold. Now does it convince me that she should get to skip her nap or jump on the couch after all? Try again, sister! Cuz' I'm thirty-six years old and I said so, OK?

You Put It Where?

Ethan was searching for three small toys that are part of his Indiana Jones Lego set. I asked him where he last saw them. He said "When I went to bed last night I put them in the pocket of my underwear." I said "You mean your pajama pocket?". "No, Mom, that little pocket that's in my underwear", as he proceeds to show me by dropping trou.
Needless to say, the toys had wiggled their way out in the night and were found among the bedsheets. Also needless to say, I got a good giggle.

A Horsey Weekend

This was my kind of weekend. Not often anymore do I get to spend more than the briefest amount of time around horses, and as many of you know there were many years when my time was split mainly between horses and reading about horses.
Friday I was able to go on a trail ride with a neighbor and fellow ex-Shelter person. The day was gorgeous and we ambled all over while discussing horses, family and where the stock market might bottom out.
Friday evening Jordan took a quick ride on Payton then we bathed him and cleaned her tack to prepare for her show Saturday morning. Next morning we loaded up and drove to my friend Rosy's farm where she puts on several fun, low-key shows a year. Jordan's friend Alexis was able to show as well, and they had fun being there together. Alexis rode Daisy, the school horse Jordan had in the last show, and Jordan had our Payton. The girls did great and brought home an array of ribbons as you will see on our slideshow. The weather continued to be about as perfect as anything I can imagine. I joked with a few friends about the transition from rider to "horse show mom" while toting mane combs, safety pins and brushes in my pockets, but I'll get my chance to show again before long, and it is such a joy just to see all the kids learning the sport and to watch the joy and confidence young girls get from horses.
Then Sunday afternoon the girls got to take part in a vaulting clinic at the barn where they ride. A friend of their instructor teaches vaulting and competed in that sport at William Woods University in Fulton where there is a nice equestrian program. She brought two of her vaulting horses, both draft crosses with big broad backs and steady temperments, and the kids got to learn how to boost each other up while the horse walked in his circle, sit front and backwards, and do moves like tall kneel, windmill, flag, stand, and dismount while he moved. It was very cool and a unique experience. She shared a great website, http://www.americanvaulting.org/ that has a great photo section if you are curious just what vaulting is. Basically gymnastics and riding together, like you may have seen in circuses.

Rain, Snails and other Random Items

Today was Lainey's class field trip to the Peachtree Farms Pumpkin Patch. This has become an annual tradition for the kids' with their preschool classes and sometimes just as a family. We met the class at the farm and began with the hayrack ride. The day was cloudy and gray but not raining at the moment. The kids got out at a pumpkin patch to choose their own pumpkins, and about then a steady drizzle started. It quickly soaked everyone and showed no signs of relenting, so soon the class headed home. Lainey and I grabbed an umbrella and snuck a quick peak at some of the animals scattered throughout the property, then beat a retreat ourselves. Happily it is a home day for us so we got to go home, change to cozy sweats and have our picnic lunch in the play room while reading books and listening to the rain on the roof.
Ethan was thrilled last weekend to receive five big land snails Aunt Cindy found while out for a run. He has been searching for some ever since he read a library book about snails and slugs that featured these cool big snails like you see all over Europe. They are fun to watch, very active and have really long antenna with eyes at the end. They also leave slime trails worthy of Ghostbusters. We set free the two tiny frogs in the terrarium (it was high time they hopped off to hibernate anyway) and set up a snail habitat. Ethan's room is becoming a biology lab, with fish, hermit crabs, guinea pig and now snails.
Many of you will know that Andrew found the wrong way to stop a four wheeler this weekend in Nebraska. This led to a flying lesson, and a good thump on the ground that knocked the wind out of him while bruising any number of tender spots, head to tail. He was pretty stiff still the past few days, but says he can do P.E. again tomorrow which has to be a good sign. An outing for wings at Truman's tomorrow night will take his mind off those last few aches and pains.
Jordan rode Payton at lessons Monday night, and while nervous after falling off last week, she did absolutely great and did not get to taste the sand of the arena. She has a show Saturday morning. Tomorrow she is invited to the mall with her friend Kahlea after school. I predict her birthday money will find a new home by evening :-)

And a Good Time Was Had by All

Jordan's first horse show experience was very good. It was a small local show where we knew the majority of the people. The Midway Expo Center is a big, nice indoor show area so it is exciting to ride there, but the small crowd and friendly faces made it lots of fun.
Jordan was nervous going into her classes, but did very well. She rode Daisy, a school horse from Kris' barn. They were a good pair. Jordan tried to complain about things she didn't do perfectly, but I said she didn't fall off or forget her patterns and she's excited to come back, and those are the main goals of a first show. Good heavens, the girl first sat an english saddle in June! Another fun aspect of these shows is watching the dogs that come. From a dauschund that my friend Betsy had to a friend Sara's Great Dane (I really should have taken a photo when they were sniffing each other) and everything in between, dogs are a big part of horse show life.

To top it off, Jordan looks really natural on a horse, and Daisy is a good girl, so they ended up getting three second place ribbons and two fourths. We did tease her that the Nebraska girl had to get all red and white ribbons :-) She actually had her eye on the pink and green ones until I told her they were fifth and sixth place but I could trade them in for her if she wanted. Later we learned that she earned reserve high point for her division, which gains her another bigger ribbon. October 11th is another fun show just a few miles the other way from our house we should be able to make. She will try Payton at that one, and judging from their rides together I'd say she will do very well on him. She was all smiles and ready to ride again.

Saturday night was the Fall Festival at Midway School. To give an idea, they generally pre-sell around 10,000 tickets for the raffle. Add to that the chili supper, pizza sales, silent auction, games, music, hayrack rides, bake sale, face painting and kids running and playing all over the playground, and you can imagine the big fun event this is, as well as a phenomenal fund-raiser. Bill, Jordan & I each had volunteer stations at times, but plenty of time to hang out also. Ethan was so excited to show us his school and see all his friends, you could tell he felt ten feet tall.

Sunday Jordan, Kahlea and Makayla were part of a big bus of youth group kids that went to Shryock's corn maze. Afterward was a bonfire with hot dogs and marshmallows, and a fun time was had by all.

Ready, Get Set, Weekend!!

Another crazy fall weekend is launched. The kids are out of school today for a Teacher Workday. Andrew, Bill and Ethan ran errands and are now in Jeff City doing some guy stuff. Alaina is at preschool because Jordan and I have been running around getting ready for her first horse show tomorrow! Everyone wish her luck as she negotiates the groundpole division at Midway Expo Center at 8AM. The 8AM part may be the hardest!
So today she gets a last practice ride and we bathe her horse. Tonight Bill and Andrew will be at the Providence Bowl, which is the annual matchup between Hickman and Rockbridge, the two high schools in town. It is played at MU for added drama. Go Hickman!!!
After the horse show tomorrow we will get ready for the Fall Festival at Ethan's school. This includes making sheet cakes, setting up for a game in Ethan's classroom, and working various shifts running the game, serving pizza, giving out numbers at the silent auction etc. It is a big, fun night with lots of people.
Sunday I get to teach sunday school for the first time. I need to brush up on my parables before then. I have Ethan's class first and don't want to get shown up by a bunch of Kindergartners! It's a fun classroom though where we use multimedia to teach. I get to have the kids dress up and act out the stories on video tape, then we get to watch them. A new age group comes through each week as they rotate around different classrooms like cooking, cinema, art and science.
Sunday afternoon Jordan goes to the big corn maze with her youth group.
Guess that's it. Next weekend we will be in Nebraska for the NU vs. MU game. They guys finally found tickets and are excited to go. It will be Andy and Bill's 6th or 7th year in a row I think going to that match-up together.

Autumn in Missouri

This is my favorite time of year, although it is hectic. Festivals are nearly every weekend, often several, making it hard to choose; Pumpkin or Craft festivals, Twilight Festival, Roots n' Blues, Columbia Art Fest, Heritage Fest, Taste of Rocheport, the list goes on. Football games, the smell of drying leaves, s'mores over the fire on perfect fall evenings, walks on the trail, and if we're lucky fall color and some visitors to share it all with.
This weekend was no exception, and although in print it looks like we ran ragged, it was spread out among us and enjoyable enough not to notice anything but the fun of it all.
Friday night, I enjoyed a quiet evening in with Ethan and Alaina. Bill and Andrew went to the Hickman homecoming game and Jordan stayed the night with her friend Alexis.
Saturday we had a lazy morning, then Bill and Andy were off to the MU game and I had some choices to make. One friend was going to the corn maze (big corn maze) east of town, but the Heritage Festival was on and my friend Julie who just moved here was game to go with her two girls. We chose the festival, and it was very cool. It's just on the edge of town where the Historical Museum is (Chuck and Judy went to the museum with us once). There were dozens of crafts people and reenactors, wagon rides and petting zoo, three music venues, food, tours of the historical Lenoir home and lots of interactive booths for the kids. They got to try out games that kids played in 1800, pound wheels onto wooden cars they could keep, milk pretend cows, try on old time hats and accessories, dip candles, do sand art, and more. Ethan was disappointed we were not there at the right time to see the Indian dancers but all four kids danced to music and had a great time.
After that, Julie and I were still wanting to hang out and let the kids play. Then I remembered that Rocheport was having a festival as well. It was getting toward evening, so the main activity was the wine stroll where you buy a wine glass at one of the B&B's and follow a map to 15 or so stops at various antique stores, cafe's, B&B's and other businesses in that pretty little town. Julie hadn't been there at all so we sweet talked Bill to referee while the kids played at our house and drove in to see the town, sample foods and wines, and hear a bit of music on Main Street.
Jordan went to the MU game also and stayed Saturday night with her friend Kahlea and met us at church Sunday morning. We spent a lazy afternoon, highlighted by Ethan and Alaina hunting for snails and frogs in the yard and the guniea pig enjoying some sun and fresh grass on the lawn. Then Jordan, Ethan and I went back in for a Family Fun Night that her youth group was putting on. Now back to Monday, and looking forward to more beautiful fall days!

Persuasion

This weekend Ethan decided he wanted to spend the money in his wallet on an Indiana Jones figure.

We stalled for a while, pointing out to him the virtues of saving and that his wallet would be empty if he bought the toy. He pointed out that this toy was the purpose of his saving.

We tried to pose it as a "very expensive" item that perhaps his funds would not cover. He got online and found the toy on the Indiana Jones website so we could verify the price.

We suggested that he could get by with his existing toys. He assured us that since he is Indiana Jones, it is important that he have this particular toy with a golden skull and a booby trap with large spikes so he could really act out his movies for us.

After a bit, Ethan came to me and said "Mom, do you think that maybe you and me and my money and your money could go to Toys R Us?" I said "My money's not going to Toys R Us."

We counted out his money, and sure enough with the $3 gift card that Toys R Us sends at birthday time, he had enough, and he got a great math and money counting workout in the process.

Eventually, I needed to go to Hy-Vee and told him if he was very good during that and we got him a haircut, we would then go get the toy. Ethan said "Mom, I'm gonna be so good you won't even believe it." "Great", I said. A pause, then "Well, I'll probably just be like normal, regular good kid good, will that be all right?".

So off we went to Hy-Vee, where Ethan was very good and undemanding, but kept saying "Oh, I like those but I'm not gonna ask for them", "See, Mom, aren't I being good?", "Mom, do you think I'm gonna earn that toy?", "Mom, I'm seeing all these things I like to eat but I'm not asking for them because I want to earn that toy", you get the idea.

Next to the hair cutters, where a guy we hadn't had before took Ethan's cranium in one hand while clipper cutting the entire thing with the other. Yikes! At least he used a slightly longer guard on the top. Hoping it grows out a bit before picture day.

Finally, we stopped at Toys R Us, which was thankfully not busy. We approached the checkout and Ethan dumped out his one dollar bill and heap of coins and proceeded to count out the whole bit. I think he had 17 cents left, but the Indiana Jones reenactments have been spectacular!

Weekend

We had a great visit this weekend with Fred, Anna and Elliot. Bill, Fred and Andrew went to the MU football game Saturday then turned to the television for more football action. Meanwhile, Anna, Jordan and I went to town for some quality mall time followed by a wonderful meal at Addison's, a downtown restaurant that has great food and a lively atmosphere. Anna and I will be dreaming of that chocolate nearly-flourless brownie wrapped in phyllo, drizzled in chocolate and caramel and served warm with vanilla bean ice cream until our next visit.
Elliot is getting so big and really had fun playing with his big cousins, as they had fun playing with him. He is quite the kisser and even Sasha got some lovin'. He spent quite a bit of time wearing Ethan's old Tigger outfit, which looked so cute on him, especially when he and Lainey started bouncing up and down and dancing. It might even be on the Halloween short list. Another highlight for him was riding the big mower with Uncle Bill. He was VERY interested in steering it around.
Sunday we actually got to go out in the back yard and up to pet the horses. Saturday was a five inch rain day, so it was great to be out. Also, Jordan had a haircut Saturday from my salon gal rather than Cost Cutters. Wow! You can definitely tell when someone has a really good cut. She seems quite thrilled with the new look. Fun weekend!!

Social Networking Acceptance Speech

OK, I'm ready to admit I like Facebook. At first I only knew two people or so and it all seemed a bit silly. But as I found more and more ways to express my interests and personality and discovered more people who had also joined Facebook it got really fun. Apparently there is a subliminal message sweeping the thirty-something crowd because two of my neighbors, two book club members and a few other friends have all joined within the past month or so. After viewing their profile pages I feel like I know so much more about each of them and we have so much to talk about. Not only do you see photos, where they came from and where they've been but what shows they like, books they read, you name it.
Then, my biggest find. I started typing in names of exchange students our family hosted over the years. I found two and one, Regina Steimel, none of us had heard from in years. When she responded and I got to see photos of her life and hear her updated life story, it was the best. Add a few high school buddies, a few family members and I have a great bunch of Facebook friends I am more up to date with than ever before.
Darn it Anna, why didn't you warn me Facebook is addictive?!? :-)

Little Couch of Horrors

I'm gonna tell on myself and my not so thorough housekeeping, but this made me laugh. Alaina lost a barette in the couch cushions so asked me to remove them so she could find it. It wasn't immediately easy to see so she started digging in a crevasse at the back. It was like a comedy skit or Mary Poppin's valise. Out came several barettes, trading cards, playmobil guys, crayons, you name it. She thought she'd struck treasure!

Weiner Horse

OK, this may be hard to describe but it was really funny to see. I was driving home and glanced at an old tile silo on a farm near our house. Behind it, a brown horse was standing with only his rear end showing on the left of the silo. On the right, another brown horse was standing with only his front showing. Looked so much like one VERY long horse. I wish I'd had my camera!

I'd Write It In Purple...

Ethan was telling me about various of his classmates in an effort to stall bedtime last night. Most were run of the mill comments like "he likes dinosaurs", "he's kind of a bully", "she wants to play with the computer every day". But his comment about Julisa tickled me. Her name is like starting to say Julie then switching to Lisa, which is pretty much what my family has done all my life. He said "if I wrote her name I would write it in purple". I asked why and he said "I don't know, it's just a good color for her". All right, Cassanova.
This weekend Jordan has a friend over named Haley. She lives just a few miles away but hadn't been over yet. Later Bill and Andrew will go to the Mizzou game. Missouri has made parking for tailgates nearly impossible this year, so not sure where they'll end up. Tomorrow evening we're having a few friends over to cook out. It has been a gorgeous weekend, sunny but mild, a great follow-up to 3 1/2 inches of rain between Tuesday and Thursday.
Monday Andrew has his first meeting of Academy of Rock. Hoping he'll enjoy it. He has started looking for a part-time job for fun money. Thursday he texted me for some information. His next message was: this applying for jobs stuff is hard. He was just filling out an app online at the time :-)
Thursday night I took Jordan to Ragtag cinemacafe for the first time. It's this offbeat theatre that has two screens (until a year ago it was one screen in a tiny storefront), a bakery and cafe. It shows independent films, documentaries, foreign films, stuff that is great but doesn't make the big theatre houses. You sit in a smallish theatre in comfy couches, old armchairs etc. There's a thriller coming up called Transsiberian with Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley that I want to take both Andrew and Jordan to.
Also Monday Jordan starts taking her riding lessons then instead of Wednesdays. Partially since I start teaching the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University course at church on Wednesday. And next weekend Fred and Anna are visiting!!! Can't wait.
In other news, guinea pig is great. She will sit on Ethan's carpet quietly while they pet and feed her, sit in laps, whatever. She's very sweet. My book club started back up Friday and after the group threw out dozens of titles, we picked two; The Whistling Season which is Columbia's One Read selection for this year (last year was Water for Elephants). The other pick was Anna Karenina. This is a long, long, Tolstoy book but a great story. I read it as a sophomore or so in high school and am excited to re-read it. Bill and his partners think they may have the narc nabber figured out. Now they just have to prove it. Meanwhile a new and improved security setup is in place. Yeah!!!!

And More

Bill's excitement yesterday was learning the south store was robbed Monday night sometime. So on top of the busiest day of the year for Kilgore's he was shopping for a better security system and trying to help narrow down suspects.
Yeah, can't really think of anything else that exciting...

Ethan's Six!!

Today is Ethan's sixth birthday. He lobbied for a home day so he could play, but we were mean and said no. He didn't mind too much though. Last night my Mom and Harlan were here for a quick stop on their way to my aunt's house in Tennessee, so we went ahead and had a birthday meal and gave him his main present from us. That worked out well anyway since the present was a guinea pig that I had picked up that afternoon. It was a little scared at first but Ethan got to hold her for a bit, brushed her and fed her carrots and hay from his hand. Of all the pets I've had, I've never had what I would term a rodent, but she's even growing on me.
We're having a cake tonight and treats at school tommorrow since his teacher is gone today. Then this weekend we're hoping to have a few friends over for a cookout (barring continued Gustav rain). Added to last weekend's cake and presents in Nebraska, Ethan's having quite an extended celebration. All I want to know is; where did six years go?

House of Feline Sorrows

I've been delaying this one, but in case anyone wonders about the status of our cats...little orange guy aka August Rush aka Auggie, aka Max passed to the hereafter after a valiant effort by Andrew and me to nurse him through. Momma cat never got her milk and that's generally an end to itself where kittens are concerned.
SO, by Monday we were still putting off the kitten interment in our pet cemetary. Yeah, I know, you only want to delay such things a certain length of time. Jordan rode with me to get Ethan from school and to town. We backed out of the garage and closed the door which had been up that afternoon. Where am I going with this? Well, we returned and I pressed the door opener. Andrew was shooting hoops in front. Suddenly I saw a strange sight; something kinda big and white fell from the gap between garage door and garage on to the cement. I stopped the van as Jordan and I realized with shock and confusion that it was Pengin, a cat they brought from Nebraska. Apparently she was laying on top of the garage door and was compacted when we left for town.
That evening we all trooped to the woods where our fallen felines are resting, hopefully for the last time in a long time. Given the loss of the kittens and then Pengin, perhaps it isn't a shock but a little sad that Ethan's comment when we got back to the house was "Look Mom, Boo-Boo cat is still alive!"

Kindle Me Pink

Technology is a fearsome and wonderful thing. I find I alternate between hating the chains it places on us and drinking it in with big gulps. I guess right now I'm gulping. This blog, of course, has become my fun online journal. After a lengthy and inexplicable hiatus I also signed up for billpay at our bank because as fun as handwriting checks is, managing half a dozen accounts the old-fashioned way is getting, well, old. Of course there is my phone, which functions as a camera, camcorder, GPS, mp3 player, photo album, web browser, along with phone and text messages, all in a sporty red package.
Meanwhile, I had been obsessing for some time over a new product at Amazon called the Kindle. Literally within hours of scoffing at the idea of e-books (true bibliophiles require the aesthetic pleasure of paper and page-turning, dog-eared pages and notes in margins, plus who wants to spend more time staring at a glaring screen?) I found this thing. Intending to read up on it in order to boost my ammunition for cynicism, I soon found it has an amazing list of features that caused me to drool in anticipation of owning one.
Now this may seem like a swell idea to put on one's Christmas list, but after several weeks of obsessing I came to the conclusion that Bill would never purchase this item for me since it is not something he would see the beauty of, plus my book group is starting back up. Like showing up at the first day of school with the best Trapper Keeper, I anticipated sitting with the group, saying with each suggested title, "Oh, I can have a free preview chapter in 15 seconds, let's look shall we?", or "I can find the author of that one/browse the bestseller list/read reviews or discover what other books people who bought that book chose". So yesterday when I rushed home to snatch the lovely Amazon box off the porch I trampled firmly on feelings of indulgence and guilt and began to Kindle.
On top of all that, what started as Bill and I browsing MySpace and Facebook to see how risky those sites seemed for our teens and how secure their pages were, we were sucked in by curiosity "I wonder if anyone we know is out here. Here's a handy Search for your Friends feature." Turns out there are old married folks like us out there :-) Now somewhere along the way I will find more ways for technology to add efficiency to our lives, but for now I'm kinda having fun.

Get on the Bus, Gus

Oh my goodness, it all happened so fast...yesterday morning I saw the bus Ethan would ride pulling into the school as I left and thought, it looks half-empty, orderly and is driven by a nice-looking older guy, but isn't it nice I can drop Ethan off?
Last night when I picked Ethan up, he said "I want to ride the bus sometimes". I said he would have to choose every morning or none, not every once in a while. He said he would think about that. This morning he announced he would ride the bus each morning. I said not today since we hadn't given the driver warning to stop at our house. Then as we pulled out the driveway, here came the bus. I said Ethan, that's your bus. Do you want to try riding? He said yes and jumped out of his seat.
Dale, the nice driver, was very reassuring. Ethan is the last pickup which means a whopping five minute ride to school. I have witnessed the orderly manner in which the kids unload twenty feet from the school door and a teacher shuttles them straight in where two other teachers stand along the hall to be sure the kids get straight to where their classmates wait in the gym for the bell.
Ethan plopped into a seat two rows back, looked around with big eyes clutching his backpack to his chest, then looked out the window ready for the adventure of riding the big yellow bus to school.
Breathe, Lisa, Breathe.

Contest Over!

Mr James Seckman is the official winner of one genuine, nerve-zinging, square on high five from yours truly. He correctly identified the cool compound word type surname as Sellhorn. Congrats, dude!

Monday Update

This weekend we went to cookouts Friday and Sunday, and Saturday saw the animated Star Wars movie and a small hot air balloon invitational here in town. Also on Sunday I helped hold previews for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class at our church. Several of us are going to facilitate the 13 week course this fall. I'm excited to do it and would like to offer the teen version in the spring.
The balloons are always fun. This time there was a huge Pepsi can balloon that was out of service so the owners blew it up with a fan and it lay on its side so people could go inside it. The mass ascension was cancelled partway in due to some weather blowing in, but soon it was dark enough for the illumination. It's cool to see all the colorful balloons glowing. There were a few other things for the little kids including a pony ride hosted by the people who sold us Spirit.


Oh, here's a puzzler for the Tecumseh crowd; a few weekends ago there was a Back to School Bash at the church. I helped with food and a lady there and I got to talking. Turns out she graduated from Tecumseh in 1975, her name is Mary and maiden name escapes me although I was sure I wouldn't forget such a cool last name. It was like two words together and maybe starts with 'S'?? She knew Jim and his family, actually grew up across the street from the Seckman house. She also lifeguarded at the pool when Betty managed it. Anyway, her family has since moved away and she hasn't been back for some time but she was tickled to talk about her old home town. First person with the full name gets a high five when I'm back next :-)

This morning I dropped Ethan off at the curb outside school instead of walking him up. He was all cool about it until he got out and I shut the van door. He spun around and gave me a look through the glass like he just figured out he was on his own. I gave him my bravest grin and said have a great day, and he marched in. Most of his commentary on school so far regards lunch, snack, recess and his friends Jordan and Rush. Today is P.E. for the first time so maybe that will rate a remark. Oh, and Friday Ethan got his first fund-raiser packet already. It's a nice product, but every school in town sells them, including Jordans, and the coupons are limited to the Columbia area. I can say I'm not big on selling stuff.
Alaina had her move-up at preschool today. She is now in the Knights and Maidens room (each class has a medeival type name to go with the castle theme. Last year she was a Squire and Ethan a Sentry). A number of her best buddies moved up also. She was excited to check out the new digs.

Big Kids' School

Andrew's day went fairly well. He got the schedule he wanted. Physics and Algebra II have him a bit worried, English he's good at but it's not his favorite. However, German II, Honors American History and Men's Team Sports should suit him very well. The sports class is an every day P.E. class that is very popular with the guys. It's right in between physics and algebra so should provide some fun and stress relief. Then he ends the day with study hall which he wanted so he could get a lot of his homework done before coming home. He has one teacher from last year and said he saw quite a few kids he knew.
Jordan did great. Her school has all the kids walk this big square hallway until the morning bell rings. It's called the West Walk and Jordan said it was fun. It gets the kids moving and they can chat while they walk. She has at least one friend in each class and lots of kids she knows from Smithton. She has the regular english, math, American history, P.E. and science, plus german and art. The art looks really cool; pottery, papermaking, beadwork on a loom, cartooning, drawing, architecture, I can't even remember all the stuff. She said lunchtime was a little crazy and crowded but otherwise seemed very pleased with the day. Oh, and a blessing for a teenage girl; PE is last period so if they get sweaty they at least get to go home right after :-)

Ethan's First Day

This morning was the first day of school here at Columbia Public. We woke up to rain that had fallen steadily most of the night. Andy's school starts earliest, plus he had some schedule issues to straighten out, so he was out the door by 7:05. Jordan rode in with Bill at 7:30, since her bus would come at 6:19 and we just won't do that to her!
Then Bill brought Ethan's favorite cinnamon rolls home and we ate before driving to his school. Besides the rain, which made first-day photos a little hard to get, drop-off was great. Ethan found his spot and settled right in to color. Bill and I's hovering was clearly for our own benefit. The rest of the day I fidgeted and cleaned. Lainey and I read books, fed horses, and played. Finally it was time to pick up.
Here are some quotes from Ethan:
"I have some bullies in my class here too, so I had to deal with them"
"I didn't have to wrestle them or anything though"
"I made friends with a boy named Jordan and some other boy. They're skinny like me"
"I have the coolest school in the world!"

In the interest of fairness, here are a few recent quotes from Alaina:
When walking to the horse barn "Mommy, my boots are tired"
When digging through her brother's things in celebration of his absence "I'm not Alaina, I'm a scientist and a pet shop guy" (the I'm not Alaina cop-out is coming up a lot lately)
When riding home from Jordan's riding lesson after a long day "Jordan, look at my face, do I look happy or do I look mad?" "I'm werry, werry angee"
After reading Five Little Monkeys "Those monkeys made a sad choice"

Kitten Sadness

Our tiny kitten tale is shrinking by the day. Turns out the kittens were nursing but Momma wasn't producing anything. Now I am bottle feeding our last little orange tabby just in case he can make it. Andy has helped out with a couple feedings also. It's hard to even approach the "every two hours" feeding schedule. At least we know we tried.

Living On A Prayer

1. Well, you know how cats just have kittens in all kinds of crazy places and poor circumstances yet they mostly seem to have no problems? When Juno appeared with junk in her trunk yesterday morning, she had jumped down from a shelf about as high as I am tall to come see us. That water broke and yet nothing happened the rest of yesterday.
   This morning she was clearly trying to labor but five hours later nothing. We were getting worried so called our neighbor/vet and asked his advice and did some research online. About that time baby number one was born, very small and not alive. We're pretty sure that was the one whose sac broke yesterday and that Juno went into premature labor when she made that jump. Number two, little black and white, arrived and I broke the sac and put it by momma as she seemed a little confused still. It is so tiny and got so cold. Ethan ran to his room and brought his I Want To Be A Vet book and informed me we could take care of it. Another call to David the vet and while he says preemies are hard to save he gave us some tips and we decided to do our best.
   We have a heat lamp from Ethan's triop (sea monkey) experiment so rigged that up and dabbed a bit of pancake syrup on his tongue for quick energy. Then I explained to Ethan and Alaina that this baby may or may not live and fielded the barrage of questions they had. Soon two gray tabbies arrived. I had to break their sacs also and cut the cord for one, but once I placed them by her, momma did great. Then a lull while we gave them sugar boosts, changed their bedding and got each one to nurse. Half an hour later, orange tabby appeared, the biggest of the tinies.
   Wish us luck and that momma is finished. Bill's research says the more hair the better (they have all but on their ears and lower legs), less wrinkled skin/more filled out is better (they look like shar-pei's), and that if they will nurse their overall maturity is hopeful (all are nursing!!!). Will keep you posted.

Here's a Science Lesson For Ya

This morning as Jordan and I headed out to ride horses, Juno, the expectant cat from the woods, ran in looking like delivery is imminent. We made a box, spread out cloths, and gathered around to stare at her as she ate a giant meal, broke her waters, stared at her belly, and lay on the carpet just by the cloths we had provided.
Ethan is fascinated, Lainey is indignant that the momma won't let her babies come out and play with her, Jordan is cracking jokes at Bill, who is surprisingly squeamish about the whole thing. Having seen and heard all manner of human wounds and conditions, he squirms as though bugs are crawling on him each time Juno does anything of interest.
Happily, we ate with friends last night who say they have been meaning to get two kittens for their very nice garage/shed, promise to spay/neuter them etc. Of course Ethan whispered in my ear this morning, "Mom, we're gonna keep her". Wait until he sees the kittens!
At this moment Juno is resting comfortably, storing up energy for what really has to happen pretty soon. Any bets on the size of the brood?

Lainey's New-World Dictionary

Alaina can hold her own in conversation with older kids, but still has some of those cute manners of using language that I want to remember. Grammatically, for example, us and our haven't clicked, so she will say "that's we house", or "we're going to we're house".
There are also several words that she uses in unique ways. Somehow the meaning of the words got a little mangled along the way, so when she throws them into sentences the effect is quite humorous. One is "spicy". I think she uses it like fun or exciting. For example, "I like that kitty, she's cute and spicy". Another is jealous. It seems to mean cool or I guess phat. For example, "Ethan's new shoes are jealous".
The final and perhaps more ironic one is that somehow store became interchangeable with pharmacy. So, Ethan's shoes were from the shoe pharmacy, toys from the toy pharmacy, and last night she wanted to eat at the food pharmacy. Jordan and I like to giggle at these and use them ourselves sometimes. I told Jordan she could use jealous at school and make it the new in word at Jr. High.

Jr. High Dreaming

Today was Jordan's schedule pick-up day. She will go to a new school building this year, West Jr. Her friend Kahlea stayed the night and this morning they helped each other beautify. On arrival, we learned she got the schedule she wanted, got Kahlea as her locker partner, saw several friends she hadn't seen over the summer, had a good school photo (we got a preview on her activity card), and toured the halls to find where all her classes are.
Afterward several of the girls met at the mall to hang out and look for back-to-school clothes. Tonight she's staying at Kahlea's, then tomorrow she has her riding lesson with Alexis, who also stayed with us last weekend.
Jr. High looks so fun; I wanna be in Jr. High!

Animal Explosion, or 'Mamma Mia!'

As I alluded to earlier, we took Lainey to choose a hermit crab of her own. The little guy, named Kiko, seems very pleased with his new habitat. His shell is painted in bright colors and in tiny letters it says Colombia. Note the south american spelling. Not sure what that's about, but the kids are operating on the premise it refers to our hometown and not the source of the artist's inspiration.
That evening as I sat on the deck I heard a cat wailing in the woods. It sounded like Holli, Jordan's kitten, who panics if not near people for a while, so I called to it. Then it bounded out onto the lawn and looked calico, so I thought it was Boo-Boo so still called to it. Soon I learned it is the friendliest, half starved little cat with hanging belly that can only mean kittens are on the way. I called Jordan to show it to her and meanwhile Lainey escorted it up to the sunroom and hovered over it chasing the other pets away while it devoured half the catfood. We set her out but she managed to slip into the garage and go unnoticed overnight. This morning we set her out and when I arrived home this evening there she was huddled in the rain by the garage door. So who's up for a kitten :-)

In the Name of Science

Ethan is our junior scientist and lately has been most fascinated with biology, mainly insects, reptiles, and things he can put under his microscope. We have a ten gallon aquarium that has been home to tadpoles, snakes, frogs, worms, various insects etc. This week it got a workout. Ethan got a book about snails and slugs on his last trip to the library. It includes great instructions on the care and habitat of the things. Unfortunately, our area is not the greatest to easily find nice big snails or slugs either. We did find a few though and in they went on top of rocks, soil, leaf matter, etc. When you're a 5 year old scientist though it is hard not to handle your critters and the slug soon didn't look so hot.
Friday night while my brother Larry, sister-in-law Deb and nephews Trevor and Ryan were visiting, two largish toads happened across the patio. Ethan scooped them up and they became the next cool pets in the tank. One is and American Toad and the other we haven't identified yet. We spent a couple of days digging up worms and catching crickets and grasshoppers and watching the toads gobble them up whole. It was a fun experiment but I soon wondered how long we would be able to find food for the little eating machines. So, when Ethan asked again about seeing if the pet store had the large land snails his book told about, I said we should set the toads free and go check. Ethan decided a farewell party that included a last meal of captive crickets plus one last turn holding each toad would be a good send-off.
When we reached the pet store we discovered they don't carry the snails but had little hermit crabs. They are only $5 and many have cute painted shells (do they hold the little guys up while painting these or do they paint shells and wait for a crab to adopt it?). What we didn't realize until our child was dancing excitedly around waiting for his crab was that the $5 crab needs two water dishes (very shallow) and salt water conditioner, special soil (ground up coconut shells) to keep his home soft and humid, hermit crab food, cuttle bone, extra shells in case they want to relocate, you get the idea. Also when reading the care sheet at home we learned that they prefer company, 3 or more the recommended number. Well, once you've invested in the habitat what's the big deal right? So today the Morrissey's will be back at PetCo where Lainey will choose a crab whose artwork fits her style and the two can climb around and bathe in their tiny saltwater pool together.

Day at the Zoo

Yesterday I went with Ethan's pre-K class to the St Louis Zoo for a field trip. My friend Tracie has a son in Alaina's class as well as a daughter in Ethan's class so we took the two little ones along and rode together. That made the whole thing so much more fun as we gabbed the entire ride and the kids entertained each other a bit.
The zoo was busy and we had 15 kids so thankfully there were several teachers plus 6-8 parents. With frequent stops to count heads and matching t-shirts, we managed to not lose anyone. We were sooo hot until a well-timed visit to the penguin house which may have been the kids' all around favorite thing because the penguins and puffins are just so fun to watch. After that we were headed to the River's Edge where elephants, hippo's etc. are. Alaina and her friend Mason were riding in the zoo stroller discussing things when the following snippet was heard "Alaina, we're gonna see elephants next". "Yeah, elephants got big ears like my Daddy". Too funny
One thing that stood out about this trip to the zoo was that there happened to be loads of babies right now and all the animals were out and even interacting. The baby boom included five tiger cubs who were frolicking like crazy, a baby giraffe, baby elephant and three Mongolian Wild A__ babies. One mother answered the "what's that animal called" question with "let's read the sign, it says Mongolian Wild Aaaaa____donkey. Because let's face it, the pre-K crowd finds enough excuses to use those hilarious potty words.
Another thing was one giraffe that hung out right by all the kids and took leaves and grass from their hands. Also, there were a number of zookeepers posted by the exhibits to talk to the kids about the various animals. Of course, Ethan loved the snake house and insectarium with its variety of tarantula's and other creepy crawlies.

Getting Ready

Today I took Ethan and Alaina to get haircuts so they will be "broken in" by the first day of school. Alaina sits still as a statue for her haircuts but with the most serious almost scowl on her face. She gets very excited about them so I don't think she dislikes the experience, more that this is to her a true "big girl" thing and she wants to look big in the process.
Then we went to buy Ethan's Kindergarten supplies as per Midway School. The supplies are supposed to be plain and will go into a community chest to be replenished by willing parents throughout the year, so the highlight was the backpack. Ethan looked over several character options including a Star Wars Clone Wars one that I was sure would take the prize. In the end though, he latched onto a real hiker/explorer looking one in forest green with just a small tarantula on it. I was secretly tickled but made sure to point out that many of the kids at school will have the character ones and asked if that would make him regret his decision. He slipped his skinny arms in the straps and marched off after the rest of his supplies, wearing it until the checkout. Case closed!
Next Tuesday is Ethan's testing to determine the classroom breakdown, then Thursday we have an Open House where we will learn which of the two classes he is in, meet teachers, tour classroom, etc. We have heard both teachers are excellent so have no preference, but hope to meet some other kids in his room and clear up some of the nerves of going to a new school, room etc. We also get to turn in the supplies, thankfully since with the modern addition of wet wipes, Clorox wipes, paper towels, ziplocs, and kleenex to the old standby's it would be quite a load for the little tykes to haul in opening day.
I asked Ethan how he was feeling about Kindergarten. He said excited but also a little scared. I asked what about and his main concern at that moment was that this school would be doing far too much art for his taste. Why? Because of the worrisome proportion of crayons, markers, glue etc. on the supply list.

Why Can't I...

Get organized, get organized, GET ORGANIZED!!!! A goal of mine today is to identify some key things I can do to clear some time-wasting crap from my life. Now I freely admit this goal has haunted me numerous times over the years, but right now I feel just about aggravated enough by the self-imposed chaos of my life that I'm gonna get it right. Blogging may not seem like the best way to jump-start this project, but I am a person who gains motivation from having written something down or heaven forbid, telling it to someone. This post could accomplish both if I get the guts to tell anyone I know that I have a blog. Yeah, have to procrastinate on that one until just the right moment...

Here I am on the verge of blogging. I'm not entirely sure why I'm doing this, having resisted the medium for so long. Perhaps because I so want to have a journal but never want to sit and write it out. Perhaps because I will only write down fun and memorable things here and then I will have a great source to go back and remember and focus on the best moments. All the cute things the kids say and do I say I will write down and never do. Voila! I can type them instead. Plus, this can be dressed up and integrated and isn't that fun. Or maybe, just maybe, as Bill is saying over my shoulder, I have blog envy. OK, moving on...
Yesterday Ethan said from the back of the van "Mom, isn't that cool, Lainey has a song about her". I was perplexed until I focused on the radio and Ethan singing along to Aerosmith "Dude looks like A Lainey". This can be recorded for posterity along with Ethan's excited singing along to Funkytown "Taco Butt, Taco Butt, Taco Butt, Ooohh, Yeah" with his little hiney shaking to the beat.