Spectacularly Bad

I've determined that I should NEVER be my own child's teacher. They are never well behaved in a group setting. They've got you in a game of Survivor; outwit, outlast, and outplay. Today was the day that I lost all three.

What should have been a simple hour of Activity Days turned into the "Survive Emma's Antics" hour. There was boredom in the first five minutes, mouthiness the next ten, pouting for five, crying for fifteenish, and sulking for twenty. There may have been a few good minutes mixed in there, but I'm not sure. She was so SPECTACULARLY bad that she's sitting in time out until I'm not frustrated with her. She may be the until she's 18.

Missing Tooth

Emma lost a tooth last month and I totally forgot to share the hilarity that followed. The front tooth was hanging on for it's dear life for over a week. I almost expected it to stay in for a while longer, but Emma was determined to get that sucker out, she needed the money!

So the tooth fell out one night (after the kids were already in bed) and the tooth fairy didn't visit that night. Well how could she find the tooth if it wasn't under the pillow?! So, I told Emma to place the tooth under her pillow and cross her fingers that the Tooth Fairy would come the next night.

Fast forward to the next night. Kids are in bed, I'm exhausted, tooth is forgotten. Emma wakes up in a grouchy mood. I can't quite place where this pent up hostility is coming from. Then about mid day I go and check under her pillow and find a scathing note to the Tooth Fairy. It reads;

Dear tooth fairy
or shood I call you mom
you biter be the tooth fairy.

Well, the Tooth Fairy left a note in response. Written in tiny gold sparkly ink.

Dear Emma,
Sorry I was late last night, I ran out of fairy dust in China. Thanks for the tooth.
-The Tooth Fairy

Belated Birthday

Since Emma's birthday was on a Sunday and I happened to be traveling that day, she had a belated friend birthday party. She choose a pottery painting place and invited a few friends. Because it was a party, they had a large table set up for all of us and we got to choose between a few specific pieces.
The dragon was a big hit, I think 4/5 kids picked that one. Lily went with the fairy box, hopefully it will survive. I picked up the fired pieces today, but I forgot to take a picture. Even though we had four dragons, they all turned out quite unique.

Musical Concert

Emma had her musical concert Tuesday night. The concert started at 7:30 PM, which is about the time that I start to put my kids to bed. We were asked to stay through the second portion of the concert which was the 5th graders program. I will say, they keep the concert on time and ended right at 8:30. Lily didn't quite make it through the entire program, she ended up falling asleep in my friend's lap.

I braved the video camera and took it instead of my camera. Hopefully this will work;

Fall Pictures

I took the kids to a park to see what it was like for pictures. I love taking pictures outside, but the kids love to "explore" more than they like me to take pictures. I can usually bribe them... there may or may not have been a promise of ice cream after.

It's the Best Time of the Year

Look at those bright eager smiles.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Back To School Time

We start school a little earlier this year. August 19th is "D" day in our district. I haven't started school supply shopping yet, but I have managed to find a few pairs of uniform slacks for Jack and Emma. For the most part, I like having the kids wear uniforms. There are no argument about what to wear in the mornings. That being said, it can get a little spendy when you *gasp* have to pay FULL price for a pair of slacks.

Emma will have a new addition to her ensemble this year. The kids are required to wear a belt when they start 2nd grade. I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a "girlish" belt that is not encrusted with sparkles and rhinestones. A plain belt is not an easy thing to find when you're looking.

Happiness is...

Happiness is....getting to go to a "paint your own" pottery place. Emma would have loved to go to the day camp that Jack is attending. I couldn't quite afford to send both, but I conned her into choosing something"special" this week. She chose to paint a princess.
The last time we did this, Emma cried when we picked up the piece after it was fired. She didn't realize what the paint looks like after. I'm crossing my fingers there are no tears this time.
Lily painted a pig. She really wanted to go crazy with the colors, but I managed to keep it to three. She did a great job covering the entire piece all by her self. I'm sure the extra layers of paint will only protect it when it gets knocked around.

Bicycle Ride

After so much rain/cloudy weather we left the house bright and early for a bike ride to the park. I figured that I could wear the kids out with fresh air and sunshine.

We met a friend of Jack's at the park and managed to stay for almost two hours. If that didn't tire them out, surely the mile to and from would do the trick. Emma was in a generous mood and let Jack's friend ride her bike home. I wondered how long it would take before she realized she had to walk all the way home.

I must have been in a crazy place, because I offered to let Emma ride on the bike with me. Mind you, I have Lily sitting in the kid seat behind me. Emma climbed on the bar between the seat and the handlebars. Yup, she didn't last too long sitting on that bar. I told her as I was slowing down that she needed to "hop" off the bike as soon as I stopped. Did that happen?

In a perfect world, she would have gracefully hopped off as I glided to a full and complete stop. Instead, she clung to the bike like a howler monkey which meant that I couldn't reach the ground without tipping the bike sideways. With Lily on the back, the bike gave up the fight as it could no longer defy gravity. We all took a slow motion tumble in the grass.

Not one of my brighter ideas. Emma and Lily didn't sustain any injuries and Emma went on to jog the rest of the way home.

Water

My neighbor got her pool out and I swear that my kids could hear the hose turn on from inside our house. I think that Lily had her suit on before she even asked to go play. What do you think of the kids and their "Charlie's Angels" poses?

Almost Famous

Our school district is having a district wide art show at the mall. Emma was a lucky participant and we went to go see it last night. Emma was pretty pleased that she got to have a piece in the show (it's the self portrait with the blue border), but it's not her favorite piece. Her favorite piece was a painting of a girl with long hair in black and white.

This table was from another school, but it looks like a cute project. They probably appear better en mass, but I wouldn't mind having one to dress up a table.

Spirit Week

The kids have had "spirit week" at school. I'm a little bummed that I didn't take pictures all week.

Monday was pj day, who wouldn't want to go to school in their pjs?! Tuesday was "twin day". Jack's partner chose navy school pants and a red polo. Pretty easy to get right considering it is essentially a school uniform. Emma wore a white t-shirt and jeans. There was some mix up and her twin didn't wear what she wore. It's very dramatic being in first grade.

Wednesday was "Sports day". We don't really follow sports at our house, so the kids don't have team jerseys. I let the kids wear athletic shorts and faux sport shirts from Target. Close enough in my book.

Today is crazy hair and clash day. We've got today nailed.

Tongue n' Cheek

Hey kiddos let's take an Easter picture.

Lily?! What's in your mouth? Of course it Easter candy.

Say Cheese

I had to limit the number of eggs that I wanted to hard boil. If the kids were to choose, they would have dyed a dozen each. I figured that if I let the kids each dye three, that would be a good number.

Surprisingly the kids did not fight over the flimsy plastic egg holder. They each took turns dipping eggs and even helped each other pick "cool" colors. It wasn't until I tried to take their picture that they starting sharing the "love".

Birthday Parties

Lily had her first "drop off" birthday party on Saturday. She was a little hesitant to be left by herself, but like always, she warmed up and jumped right in with the rest of the kids.

If I tried really hard I could dislike the mom, but I really do like her. She is really good at putting things together and even had a theme for the party. The theme of the party was Fishing/Under the Sea. They delivered the invites which were fish shaped cards attached to a stick/fishing pole. For the "treat bags" she put Swedish Fish, goldfish crackers, bubbles, fish tub toy, and a grow your own mermaid all in a fish bowl. Super cute.

Lily and Emma were VERY interested in the mermaid and went right to work trying to make her grow. The mermaid started out about the size of a small Polly Pocket, now she's at least twice that size. It's a little freaky looking at the bowl, but the girls want to see how big she gets.

Shoes

I love shoes. I've been far too practical and haven't bought myself shoes in quite a while. Instead I've succumbed to the call of the shoes by buying shoes for Emma and Lily. I suspect that I may be passing on this love for shoes, is that so wrong?
Emma tends to love her shoes to death. She will wear the "Sunday" shoes to play outside and tragically the shoes are no longer fit to be worn on Sundays. These are her new fancy shoes, she calls them her high heels. Any guesses on how long they will remain shiny?
I suspect that Lily just needs one good pair of shoes and she could live in them. I have bought her several pairs of shoes since Summer, but she hasn't worn them(unless I force her to wear boots in the snow). Once I get them out of the store, they suddenly become the wrong size and hurt her feet. She has been wearing her pink Crocs EVERYWHERE. I draw the line at her wearing them in the snow, and since there hasn't been much snow I've been letting her wear them.
(This was in Central Park last Summer)

Coolness factor

During our dinner conversation, my coolness factor went way up.

Jack and Emma had a singing concert this evening, luckily at the same place and same time. They were bouncing off the walls as soon as we got home from school from the excitement of having an evening activity. Emma ran in the house and found her "fancy" dress for the concert. I did have to remind them that they had several hours before we had to leave, we even had to eat dinner.

As we sit down for dinner, Jack asks me if I was ever in a band. As soon as I said yes, Jack asks; "What did you play and what was the name of your band?" Yup, I just hit "cool" with the kids.

Jack has been playing Rock Band with his friends and I can see in his mind that I must have been in a band like that. I thought that I was going to disappoint when I told him that I played the trumpet and that I was in the school band. Nope, just young enough to be impressed that his Mom played in several bands.

Art Lovers

Last week, Emma and Jack brought home Art projects. I'll let you guess who did which picture.


I'm pretty impressed with both pictures and have one up on my wall right now. Jack wants to hang his picture up in his room, but I need to get a frame for his.

This Old House

Michael had a This Old House marathon Sunday afternoon. The girls were watching right along with him. It's amazing some of the things that you can learn on that show.

Well, one of the segments was on how to fix a leaky toilet. Very useful. I think it was the part where the lid was taken off that was the most interesting part for Emma. Suddenly Emma HAS to go to the bathroom. I hear Michael say; "Emma, DO NOT FIX the toilet!"

I'm in the laundry room and I hear all this taking place, knowing full well what Emma is going to do next. Emma closes the bathroom door and I hear the click clink of the toilet lid being moved.

How can a child "forget" instructions as soon as they walk thru a door?!

This is the same child that wanted to play outside with the strict instructions that she stay in our yard. She planned ahead and brought out drawing that she decided to go door to door and try and sell. She managed to make $.25 before she got busted for leaving out yard.

This will make an interesting biography someday.

First Lost Tooth

As we started to get ready for church, Emma shows me her loose tooth. I appropriately admire it, as she wonders what will happen if she loses it at church. Really loses it, as in, can't find it. I tell her not to worry about it, she probably won't lose it at church.

Fast forward two hours. I'm sitting in the back of Primary and I see Emma turn around with a round eyed toothless gaping mouth. She looks thrilled to have lost her tooth, but she lost her tooth. As in, can't find the missing tooth. How did that happen? It just came out!

The floor in Primary is littered with tiny pieces of chalk which are mistaken for the lost tooth. At one point I think I find the tooth, alas, it turned out to be a popcorn kernel. Emma's getting more and more distraught, so I decided to go to the bathroom and wash her hands, calm her down, and refocus the search efforts.

As soon as we returned to Primary, her teacher looks at Emma's sweater and see the errant tooth hanging by a thread. Baby teeth are much smaller when they fall out of the mouth. I quickly found an empty snack bag in my purse and have Emma secure her treasure before it gets lost again.

Later in the day Emma asked if we could drive to Denver to get a tooth pillow that she wanted to get. No, I didn't drive to Denver to get the tooth pillow. I caved and used my very meager sewing skills to fashion something that resembled a pillow that a tooth might like to sit in.