Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Roller skating...

Does this really even need blogging. Most of you know the coordination of our family. You know this didn't go well.

Just kidding, they did have fun. The kids both received skates for their birthdays but I was making sure we had full health insurance coverage before we tried them out. You think I am kidding. Well the cards came in the mail a couple of weeks ago so we finally got brave enough to break in the skates. Here are a couple of pictures:

Steady, Meg, Steady


"This is easy when you hold my hand"

"See what happens when you let go!!"


I got it!

This looks like a good idea.


Maybe not...

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

The discipline chart in Meg's classroom is a pretty little apple tree with each child's name on a pretty little red apple. If you are caught misbehaving your apple falls from the tree and hangs mysteriously in the air. If you get caught again, your pretty little apple falls on the ground and "rots and gets mushy and yucky" (an actual quote from her teacher). Now I have never been told what the consequences are for a floating or rotten apple, and to tell you the truth I don't think the teachers really have any. I think it is just a little mind game. But in order to play along, I always ask Meg about her apple at the end of the day. Here is what she told me today. Remember her teacher is Ms. Meg (so you are not confused).

Mommy: Were you a good girl today?

Meg: "Wellllll"

Mommy: "Well what, Meg"(my eyes rolling and head shaking)

Meg: "My apple fell off the tree"

Mommy: "Why was that?"

Meg: "Cause Ms. Meg said that if she saw my eyes roll one more time....(interrupted by appropriate respect lecture with absolutely no guilt)


The death of me I tell ya, the death of me......

Monday, September 22, 2008

Avoid the hood at all cost...



Saturday night Bobby and Tootsie's husband, Ben, were driving home from the Tiger game. Ben suggested a shortcut down Tillman to get over to Sam Cooper.

Point to Remember: Never take Ben's shortcuts

Just after Bobby crossed a set of railroad tracks, a car going the other direction tried to turn left quickly ahead of him. Bobby couldn't get on the brakes fast enough and the man turned right into him. The guys escaped with only minor injuries. Bobby has a bruised knee and his arm looks pretty nasty from the airbag burn and Ben hurt his shoulder. The other driver was knocked unconscious and taken away by ambulance. He did wake up at the scene and was able to sign the ticket he received before he was taken to the hospital.

This is about when I showed up. Daddy took me to the scene of the accident while Mom and Tootsie watched the kids. If you have never taken a stroll down Tillman Avenue at midnight let me be the first to tell you...don't. There were mentally unstable homeless individuals (aka crazy bums) wandering aimlessly, 13 irate relatives of the unconscious driver ready to maim my husband, and a 4 year old child locked in a car on the side of the road for two hours who was never checked on who seemed unphased to be awake at midnight.

And if the evening wasn't crazy enough.... The wife (or Baby Mama) of the other driver backed into Dad's car (actually Mom's new car) when she was trying to leave the scene and she got a ticket too.

Bobby is fine but the car is totaled. The other guy got the ticket. Bobby will be picking up his rental car in the morning. Most likely he will be driving a Geo Metro or similar vehicle. Hey.... he should get good gas milage!

ETA: Bobby is now pimpin' in his Ford Focus

Monday, September 8, 2008

Meg's First Day



Today was Meg's first day of "Jumpstart". It is a 3 day-a-week program to get her ready for Kindergarten next year. I got her dressed this morning, in the outfit that I picked out weeks ago, and she was less than thrilled. At first she refused to wear it (imagine that) but we struck a deal. If she wore the outfit today she could wear whatever she wants tomorrow. There is no telling what she will pick. I will probably have to post a picture tomorrow. She had a good first day. Her teachers told me that if she would just keep her bottom in her seat and stop talking all the time, she would be a perfect angel:)


Please remember to say an extra prayer for Ms. Meg (yes that is her teacher's name) and Ms. Christy tonight.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

RYAN ROCKS!!!

Now Ryan may not be the most coordinated kid on the block, (see post below) but he sure is one smart cookie!! Last Friday was the first Test Day for the First Grade. He has never taken a test that was actually graded. All of the kids, including Ryan, were a little anxious.

It is very difficult to prepare a child for their first test. You want to make sure they understand that tests are important and they have to try their best. On the other hand you don't want them to be devastated if they don't do great. When he came home with the spelling list on Monday, Ryan was convinced he was going to fail (even though he could already spell 10 out of the 12 words). We studied a little each night and we were pretty confident that he would do great.

Well, I was up at school Friday making copies for his teacher and found out that he not only had the spelling test that we had prepared for, but 4 TESTS!! I started getting butterflies in my tummy, but I was sure Mrs. D had all the kiddos prepared. Ryan came home Friday and told me that he thought he did pretty good....

And he was right! We got his scores today and Ryan got a 100 on all 4 of his tests which included 2 spelling tests, a reading test and a math test. Now the math test was pretty easy, but the other 3 were pretty challenging. Mrs. D said she was very proud of his score on the reading test. Being a poor speller myself, I was quite proud of his 2 spelling tests. One was a traditional spelling test and one had the words spelled 4 different ways and you had to pick the correct spelling. I'm not sure I would have gotten a 100 on that one:)

We explained to Ryan that he might not always get 100s but as long as he tries his best we will always be proud of him. But I must say I am one proud Mommy today!!!

Monday, September 1, 2008

One exciting Thursday evening...

Last Thursday night Meg and I, along with my good friend Erin and her son James, went to see Sesame Street Live. The tickets came from Bobby's very sweet cousin who works at WKNO. We have gone as a family in years past, but this year Ryan made the declaration that he is too old for Sesame Street and that "Baby" James would enjoy the show much more than he would. So we applauded his generosity and passed the tickets along.


Well when the big night arrived we realized that Bobby would not be home in time for Meg and I to leave and make it to Erin's in time, so we dropped Ryan off at Maw Maw and Paw's house for about 15 minutes until Bobby could pick him up. At about 6:30 I called to give Bobby some bedtime medicine instructions for Ryan. This is when we got the interesting news:


RYAN FELL INTO THE POND


Now this isn't a huge pond but it isn't a puddle either. Apparently Ryan was balancing on the rocky edge and lost his balance. While sitting in the pond the water was about up to his shoulders. Not to worry there were 4 adults "watching" Ryan and they helped him out. Thankfully Uncle Joey was there and took care of my only request....dry him off...no.... make sure he didn't swallow any fish (especially Ryan's fish "Ol Slappy)...no.... My main concern was that someone got a picture. Thank goodness for camera phones!!!






Sesame Street Live may not have been as exciting as a trip to Maw Maw's that night but we all had a blast. Meg really got a kick out of it and was clapping, dancing and singing the whole night. James is a HUGE Elmo fan and he had a great time too. Of course we don't know if he was more excited to see his idol Elmo or ride in the back seat with his big friend Meg.