Do This!

D-D came up to me the other day and said, "Momma..dew dee-yus!!" (interpretation: "do this!")

"Nah-yow, dew dee-yus...":












"And....":












tickle, tickle, tickle

Sharing some chuckles

When it was E's birthday, he had a friend stay the night with him after his party. M-G was very excited for E and just couldn't keep out of the boys' room. At one point, in her happiness for him, she went in his room and joyously exclaimed, "E!!!! You're having a slumber party!!!!" After looking at their faces, she said, "Do you know what SLUMBER means?"

"Yes!" he replied with scorn. "It means GIRL stuff!!!"

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E's little friend (the one who stayed the night) also said a few things that made me chuckle. This friend is really into sharks. He brought a book about sharks (included in the book were a few pictures of people after they were attacked by some sharks---eeewww) and even had shark pj's. The next morning at breakfast, M-G asked him if he would be afraid if a shark attacked him.
"No," said the little guy, "It wouldn't be a big deal. Besides...there are ONLY 50 species of sharks that attack humans!"
* * * *
Even earlier that morning, before breakfast, the kids were outside enjoying the fall-like temperatures. The boys were taking turns on the big swing tied to the pine tree. E's friend later told me that he thought the swing was really great..."It's like surfing!!!" he said, "Except without the water...aaaaannnnnnndddd you don't stand up..."

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This morning I was waving goodbye to the children as they headed off to school. While I was waving, D-D came outside. This is a new development for her---the doorknobs going outside are a bit difficult to turn, so it is a BIG DEAL that she can open them by herself. She had just finished her healthy, well-balanced breakfast of a Cookies and Cream Poptart when she joined me in the vigorous exercise of waving first to M-G and E going to school and then to our other neighbors as they took their kids to school. After the last car pulled away, D-D reached up for me with her little hands. They were covered (as was her face) with chocolate and cream from the poptarts. "You're a mess!!!" I exclaimed, laughing.

D-D looked at her hands and then held them back up to me. "Yeth," she said. "Ah aye-yum. Cay-yun ewe leak eet off pleess?"

!!!! :o)

She did get cleaned, but in the bathroom, under the running water of the sink!

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E now has math homework nearly every night. When MG had this same homework, it took her ten minutes or less. E is so busy trying to be funny and looking around and jumping out of his chair to make faces at me, that it takes 30 minutes or longer to finish. Here is an example of what happened the other day:

E wrote his name at the top of the paper. We read the instructions and then got to the first question. It was something LIKE this:

1. Rico has 12 cookies.
Anna has fewer cookies.
Which number is less than 12?
Circle the answer.
10 12 17

_____ is less than 12.

E and I read the question together. We read the numbers, we looked at the number line. I read the question to him again. He sat there scratching his head and finally circled the number at the beginning of the problem: 1.

After explaining to him that the number he just circled told which problem he was on and was not part of the answer, we refocused on the answers he could choose from. He studied the numbers very carefully and then circled the number 7 in 17! After about 5 to 10 minutes of working and erasing and circling and erasing and re explaining, he FINALLY circled the correct answer.

Now we had 7 more problems to go!

"Choose two numbers from 10 to 20" I read this first part of the problem silently to myself. "I'll break it down for E," I'm thinking...
Choose ONE number from 10 to 20, I tell him.
7!
No, that is too small. It is not from 10 to 20
45!
No, that is higher than 20.
91?
No. Still higher. Look at these numbers...from 10 to 20. Choose one of those.
9!
No! (small growl) (clear my throat) that is too small.
51!
Aack! No!! Too high!!!
137 (giggle, giggle)
mmmmmmmmmmrrrggggg!! E! Is that right?
Giggle giggle...10!
Good (sighing in relief)You've got it!...now...choose another number from 10 to 20.
21?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg!!!!


...and so it continues. Anyone wanna come help?

The big O-N-E

Z turned one year old a few days ago...we had his birthday celebration last night (Friday 15th). He enjoyed it and was such a happy little guy. I think he loved seeing all the kids running around and playing, eying his cake, and listening to us sing Happy Birthday. Though he enjoyed his cake, he was the least messiest eater of all our little ones. Here are some pictures of the cake, him eating it, and his guests...

Turning Six

Well, E has been six for just a few days now and he has had some pretty good fun so far. The first few pictures are of his mini cake on his actual birthday and then some from his party the next evening:

First Day 2008

The kids made it to their first day of school!!! E woke up this morning, ran into the kitchen and hugged me really hard, saying, "I'M SIX NOW!!!! I'm SIX!!!!" Then he was ready to get ready for school. M-G was up before 6:30 and already dressed for school. I believe that they will love school this year. Their teachers seem wonderful already.

Since today is E's birthday, I sent some cookies with him and he gets to hand them out during lunch. We will probably have a party for him this weekend. He thinks that now he is 6 he will not make anymore mistakes. :)

Our drive to school this morning was crazy...Usually it is at most a five minute drive to get to the school building from our house. School traffic, though, was backed up past our neighborhood. It took us just over 20 minutes to get to the building. I am hoping that after these first few days of school, traffic will get better, more kids will be riding their bus and the wait will not be as long. One of the main reasons for the crazy wait was that they opened a new middle school right beside our elementary...and they pretty much share the same entrance to drop kids off.

Here are the kids in their annual first day of school pictures:

By the front door...because this is a prettier door and looks more official...




Out the garage door (the door we mostly use)...in the van...and walking to class.

Meet and Greet

The kids took their school supplies to their classrooms today. They got to meet their teachers and a few of the students, and I got to met some other parents. E wanted to go back to his kindergarten class, but I told him that it was time he moved on...M-G loved seeing some of her friends and her old 1st grade teacher and enjoyed getting her desk ready. She is sitting right beside the dry erase board right now...a plus in my opinion.





E: Unloading his school supply box and taking the extras to their places. A picture with his 1st grade teacher.



M-G unloading her school supplies (E acting goofy behind her), at her cubby, and with her teacher.