First day of school ~ Interviews

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Interview with Logan ~ First day of Kindergarten

“I HAVE A LOOSE TOOTH!!!!”

Favorites:

Color - Golden

Season - Winter with the snow, but wait!  Halloween!  Those are both my favorites!

Food - Pizza!  Corn chowder and mac & cheese, and tomato soup.

Animal - It’s a River Monster - an Alligator Gar - but I haven’t watched all their seasons yet so I don’t know.  Something could be cooler.

What do you want to learn about this year?

I want to learn two things - piano and ninja moves.  I already know one.  I know how to build stuff pretty well.  I didn’t say I want to learn it…  just that I know how.

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Interview with Cyan ~ First day of 6th Grade

Favorites:

Color - Peach (Like a sunset)

Season - Depends on the sun or snow.  Seriously, it depends on how much sun or snow there is.  Cuz if there’s lots of sun yu can go swimming and if there’s lots of snow you can go snowmobiling and that’s tons of fun!

Food - Potatoes

Animal - Horse

What would you like to learn this year?

More history with my friends.  I think the books “Love that Dog” and “Hate that Cat” were really good so I want to learn more about poetry and stuff like that.  I want to do singing lessons because I want to be a singer and I want to be a babysitter for dogs and children.  Like taking care of dogs.  Kinda want to learn how to make crepes because Alex doesn’t always want to do it… and pancakes!  I want to learn more about how to be in movies.  I think that would be cool. 

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Interview with Alex ~ First day of 10th Grade

Favorites:

Color - Ocean Blue

Season - Spring - I love all the colors.

Animal - felis domesticus - Cat

Food - Sliced apples and pickles

What do you want to learn this year?

I want to learn how to socialize and how to blow things up with chemicals.  I want to learn how to play the piano and how to actually draw stuff.  I want to learn basic gymnastics cuz I feel like I’d be good at it but I’d be terrified to do a flip cuz I feel like I’d break my neck!  I also want to learn to write fancy (calligraphy) and how to sing.  OH!  Walk a tightrope.  And photography.  That’s all.  Oops, I forgot, I want to learn to dance, too.

Let the school year begin!!!

More Facebook Funnies (ie: My daughter, Snow White)

Oct 28th, 2010

I just found cyan in the bathroom with one sock off and one sock on, shining a flashlight and whispering into the drain. "It's ok. You can come out".... Ummmmm... So I ask her what the heck she is doing just as a tiny moth comes flying out of the drain and into her hair.

True story.

After it left her hair it settled on the wall next to the big light. And she said "oh good!" and scuttled off to bed. When I went to tuck her in she said it flew down there when she was brushing her teeth and she didn't want alex to brush his teeth and accidentally kill it. So she shined the light in there to get him to come out.

Nothin' to say to that.

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Nov 12th, 2010

"It would be good if that was a toy... A toy that blows fire!" -Logan

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Nov 20th, 2010

"I've been looking for you!" says my daughter to the spider I asked her to remove from the dining room. lol....

Facebook funnies

School has been boring. Book work, after handwriting lesson, after spelling lesson, and then a bit more book work. Poetry class was AWESOME! But I don't have those pictures downloaded yet (bad me). So instead, I will share with you some of my recent Facebook Funnies, brought to you by my kids:

Logan: "Hey mama... when my little brother comes out of your belly, can I play my gameboy?"

A little bit of teen mama humor: "Teenage attitude adjustment took 64 push ups and 30 sit ups tonight. Equally amazed and totally annoyed."

And Logan again: ‎"Mama, dees muffins taste like... um like.... solid ROCK! ..........Or fish."

The new corn muffin recipe was a go with everyone else. :P

This one stars Logan again: It is a good day when your 3 year old asks: "Mama, I all done with my squash, can I have more of those vegetables?" (meaning roasted root veggies including everything from rutabaga to fingerling potatoes.) It just proves that some of these children actually are mine. :)

Cyan's posts have all been about her recent dental drama that includes an abscess and a root canal. Not much for the funnies. But I did get to update that the tooth next to the root canal is NOT dead and that is wonderful news!

Quotes from Facebook

I have found recently that some of the things I would normally post on here have ended up on Facebook instead. So I decided to move them over. Enjoy the funnies from the past week!

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Husband: Who left the flag up on the mailbox?

3 yr old: I did!

Husband: You can't do that buddy. That means something.

3 yr old: Yeah. It means I can reach it!

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I ask the daughter to bring all of the stuff from around the yard, onto the patio so we can get rid of the garbage and go through the outdoor toys before Winter... what is the first thing she brings? ROCKS. Big fat rocks from all over the yard. When asked what she is doing she says: "But... you said *everything*."

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Dear moonbrained teenage son,

For future reference, axes, hatchets, and hedge trimmers are not lawn ornaments. Weed whackers do not belong on the front porch, and extension cords are not part of our curb appeal. You bike does not get flipped over and left in center the walkway, nor do you get to get angry at your three year old brother for picking up/touching said bike, hatchet, or ax.

Also, wearing socks and flipflops through wet grass is dumb. As is complaining about it afterwards.

Love (your very irritated) Mom (who is now leaving and getting a cup of coffee.)

(God, please help us both live through this year. Amen.)

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Just when you think...

it may not be sinking in...

your daughter names her two new toy horses "Rome" and "Russia" and goes about explaining how strong each place was in history to her little brother in the back of the car.

I love homeschool!

Quotes

Conversations over dinner: Alex - "Mom, what do you think it would be like to be a piece of cheese?"

(Later) Me - "Hey Logan, did you finish your piece of broccoli?" Logan proudly opens his mouth to show me that it is empty, then puts out his fist and says "Oh yeah! Fist bump!" while shaking his little butt and happily 'bumping' my fist with his.

On the way to a friends birthday party we were discussing what we could get our little friend at last notice... I decided money would be best as we didn't have time for much else, and it's always fun to get anyhow. So I get the card, and Cyan says "Mom, can you get her twenty dollars instead of ten?" "I guess I could honey, why?" "Because ours is more than a ten dollar friendship."

Famous homeschooling comments from today

We spent a lot of time in the car today. We got lost... and so we of course, took the moments that we had to 'teach'. Every homeschooler uses these moments right?

"Hey look kids... When Santa isn't at the north pole, he is holding a sign in Graham."

Don says "What has a tongue like this?" Don sticks his tongue out like a snake. And without a hitch, Logan says "A bison!!!"

Thank God for homeschooling. Lol...

More Logan quotes

"Mama, you need go hit Alex."

"What? Why?"

"Because he be rude to me. Alex talk RUDE to ME!"

"Buddy, I don't hit people for being rude."

"Harumph..." as he stomps out with his little hands on his hips.

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"Mama! You need to talk Alex."

"Why, what's up buddy."

"He won't let me see eggs."

"Isn't he cooking your eggs?"

Husband comes in from shower "What's goin' on?"

Logan "Alex won't let me see eggs!" as I say "He's cooking them."

Husband "Why won't he let you see them? Come on... lets go talk with him about it."

Logan follows husband to the kitchen to 'talk' with Alex... all the way with his hands on his hips making little 'harumph' noises... and I sigh. Funny boys.

Apple = Tree

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(BTW, we don't hit. lol... just in case you were wondering about that.)

New Logan quote

"Mama! I no want to say 'please' and I want YOU SAY YES!"

Oh, the third.

My sweet princess

Lately Cyan has really blossomed. She has been drawing with even more depth than normal, using vocabulary that just blows me away, and grasping concepts that are more abstract. She is growing older just as clearly as the boys are... and it is a bit shocking, becuase being in the middle, she isn't into puberty, or a toddler. So her leaps and bounds are not ones you really think of as huge milestones... but they really, really are.

A couple examples. Yesterday we went to a Valentine's Performing Pigs show at our local library. It was super fun to see these pigs doing tricks and listening to the lady talk about how smart pigs are and how we should "Eat Beef". lol! At the end of the show, all the kids were crowding up to see the pigs and pet them, and I stepped back to the back of the room with a friend. I didn't tell the kids, but I thought that was alright because I was between them and the door... and I am 6 ft tall. Hard to miss. Plus, I could see them the whole time. Well, apparently that wasn't enough, because my daughter, upon finding me, said (with parent-like exasperation) "Mom! When you venture off like that, it really startles me!" At first, I was so shocked at her vocabulary that I wasn't sure what to say... then, I calmly said "I'm sorry I startled you. I'm right here honey." and gave her a hug... then she turned into a kid again, and said "Ok, good. Can I go get books with Hannah now?"

Then this morning. She was outside helping Alex clean out my car, and she came in and stood by the door just watching me.

"Are you done helping clean the car honey?"

"No."

"Ok, go to it."

"Mom?"

"Yes, Cyan?"

"Nevermind."

Pause.

"Mom?"

"Yes Cyan?" (bit of a different tone this time)

"I need to talk to you." (Very different tone this time... scared kind of)

"Alright." (Calmer now, like dealing with someone who is bleeding)

(Comes out in a rush.) "Mom, I was riding my scooter next to Dad's car, and my scooter fell and I put three big scratches on dads car and I didn't want to tell you but then I remembered about 'Honesty' and I knew I had to tell you but didn't know how and will you come and look at dad's car (tears now) and tell me if you are going to be mad?"

It turned out that if she hadn't pointed it out, we wouldn't really have noticed at all. There was one that was about the size of a pinkie fingernail on the bumper and then the other two up above it were quite a bit smaller and could have come from anything. It was certain that she hadn't HAD to tell us... and she knew it. And she told us anyway.

I am just really proud to have such a girl.

Alex quote

When faced with the fact that his play for his poetry final may not have all the characters he wants, or that he will not have a real metal sword for his part in said play... my dramatic son responds with;

"Mom! My imagination has. left. me."

I was nice and waited until he stomped out of the room to laugh my head off.

Quote from this week

Alex: "Mom, when you were in school, what were the continents shaped like?"

Me (after a second): "They were all smashed together. It was called Pangaea."

Dh: "We didn't go outside much, because we were afraid of the sun."

Some updates

Alex:
We have taken this last week to truly write a research paper. He chose Alligator Snapping Turtles as his subject. We have gone through the whole process... choosing a topic, research, breaking down your subjects into topics, limited topics, and topic sentences, how to build a research paper, correct grammer, and even a bit on sentence structure. We have not done anything else for a week. But honestly, it has been a great experience. At first it kind of felt like pulling teeth, but now that he is nearly done, he is very proud of his work, and his paper isn't half bad. :) I am pretty darn proud of him about it actually. Alligator Snapping Turtles are interesting critters... look them up. They are super cool.

Cyan:
She started dance last weekend. She is thrilled to be doing dance finally after 8 months of asking me for it. She has been practicing her dance moves for the last two days bouncing around the greatroom with her ballet outfit on. It is adorable and I am so glad to be able to do that with/for her.

She also finished her 20 books this last week. We had been filling out a chart that started back in mid Oct. Every time she read a book (no matter how simple) she would get a sticker on her chart. Well she made it to 20 books and her prize was her very own library card and a banana split. I am oh so proud of her! 20 books since Oct 19th. It was quite the celebration. She was bouncing around the library, making no noise, just positively vibrating with excitement. It was adorable. :)

"Oh honey, your eyes are so pretty" says the librarian as she is filling out paperwork.

"Thank you." says Cyan, "I've had them since I was a baby."

Logan:
He is talking up a storm. People don't believe me now when I say that he is 'almost' two. Cyan's dance teacher talked with him for a few minutes and then asked when he would turn three for the "itty bitty creative movements" class and I said "next Jan 22nd." She laughed. Thought I was joking. lol! He is a big guy. I am guessing he is over 30lbs now and tall as I knew he would be. (I am 6ft... I don't spawn small children. ;) ) His new language is a mix of signs, words, and sound effects.

Logan also has some interesting ideas about the world in his new found language skills. Anything that is his favorite is 'blue'. Not sure where he got that except that his favorite binkies are blue and we have called them 'blue binky' since he started talking. So now everything he loves is 'blue'. If you have three match box airplanes on the counter and try to hand him one, he will say 'No! Da blue one.'... even though they are red, grey, and black. But one of them is the 'blue' one... which is the right one to hand him. lol... It has been interesting... Luckily, he has such good comunication skills that it isn't terribly hard to talk him down if you really don't understand what he is asking. Usually I just pick him up and let him pick the 'blue' ones himself.

Overall:
All the kids are starting to get a bit stir crazy. Me too. The winter is dark and depressing. At least we have some space in this house. That has been great! Honestly... the space in this house is so nice. Cyan can do her dance moves in the greatroom without hurting anything... Alex can have space for his lego creations without Logan getting into them all the time, and there has been no time yet that Logan and I have not been able to find a quiet corner to read his 'blue' books. When I think of how it could have been in the tiny house, I am grateful for this house more than you know.

Alex

Alex is on a new plan. After weeks of some pretty serious issues (all on the normal 'hormonal teen stuff' scale, but effecting our lives), Don and I came up with a point system that seems to be working out well. For each job he does above and beyond his daily chores, Alex earns time for his own pursuits... like Gameboy time, X box time, and or movie time. We have separated each job into categories... small jobs earn 3 points (each point in 5 minutes, so 15 minutes) medium jobs are 30 minutes (6 points) and large jobs are 60 minutes (12 points). For each time he mouths back, or doesn't do what we tell him enough times to annoy, we start counting. 1, 2, 3.... etc... that is how many points he looses off of whatever he has earned (being 5 minutes of his own time each). On school days (we don't play games on school days) he can 'bank' points for the weekend, and on the weekend he can keep his points for playing games with friends or whatever.

Yeah. I set up my sons life like a video game. But let me tell you, it is WORKING. I have never had my patio so clean, or my sidewalk shoveled of snow so fast with such a willing worker. He is even going to iron my table napkins.

This plan also comes with learning the safe and easy way of doing chores however... he did clean the patio of ice and snow yesterday with large buckets of hot water. He would fill the bucket up, and take it outside. I was thinking that he was using it for the tougher spots... nope. That is how he did the entire job. Large buckets of hot water poured all over my cement patio. When I told him that the patio would be an ice rink by 5pm he said "but I used HOT water".

Awww... The joy of 12 year olds.

New quotes

"Alex, I need your phone."

"Why?"

"Because I am taking it for a couple days."

"Why?"

"Because you called me 13 times while I was out."

"Well you didn't answer the first twelve times."

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As we open the box the Christmas gifts come in from the kids grandma in CA Cyan says:

"I bet grandma bought me a pink ballet outfit."

"Honey, I doubt it. We just scaned your list yesterday, I didn't send it to her."

"Oh yes. I bet she did. She loves me... and she can read my mind."

Famous Quote

"Mama, when we move, we have to remember to turn the power off... and take it with us." ~Cyan

Famous Quote

"Um, yeah... When you can't use logic; use volume." ~Alex