School Days - Jack's first day 2010

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As excited as Jack was about going to school - he was less than excited about waking up. I had talked to him about the morning routine and what was expected of him - get up, put on your uniform, sox and shoes, get your back pack, water bottle and lunch box. It all went very well except Wyatt was having a fit about everything. He was uncooperative and immobile. I could not figure out what was going on with him until Mom whispered "It's his first day without Jack." Wow! I felt like an idiot. I promised him that the two of us would do something special as soon as we dropped off the kids at school. He wanted to know what we were going to do. I wasn't about to tell him because I knew he would immediately go tell the other kids. Well, he went and told the other kids "Mommy and I are going to do thomething thpethial." I'm glad I didn't tell him I was going to get him a donut - the other kids would have had a meltdown!

We managed to get out of the house and to school without any further trauma AND we were on time! As promised, I took Wy to Dunkin Donuts. He asked for a donut with blue and green sprinkles. They only had donuts with multicolored sprinkles. I gave him his donut with an explanation about the sprinkles and you would have thought Thomas the Tank Engine had simply vanished from the face of the Earth. Wy finally agreed to eat his "ugly" donut but he only ate the top half, you know, the part with the icing and sprinkles. He gave the bottom part back to me, you know, the part with no icing which looked like a rat had been gnawing on it...

The kids only had a half day so Wy and I picked them up at lunchtime. Everyone had a great day. Jack said his favorite thing was getting to play Spiderman at the park. I can only assume he meant the playground during recess. Well, the whole first week went very well. I don't know about the girls, but Jack is looking forward to next week. He woke up this morning and diligently got himself dressed for the day. He came downstairs wearing his uniform and ready for breakfast. We told him he doesn't have school on Saturday he said "That's just silly."

Forgiveness

Forgive yourself: for what you regret doing and for what you wish you had done, for not being fully yourself and for being only yourself.

Forgiveness Therapy
David W. Schell

Wy the Builder!

Wy the Builder!
Can he build it?
Wy the Builder!
Yes he can!



Wy runs around wearing his tool belt and hat telling me "Fank you for my new outfit, Mommy!"

Sugar Mama's

Nothin' says "My mama loves me!" like Strawberry Shortcake Mini Cupcakes on a beautiful summer day. (Don't you love the icing mustache?)



Check out Sugar Mama's in downtown Overland Park.

Super bowling

The boys loved their bowling shoes. They were totally offended and did not understand why we had to give the shoes back when we were done.


Jack loved bowling. A couple of times he walked up to the lane, set the ball down and kicked it like a soccer ball. Each time I'm calling out "No, Jack, don't..." but it was too late.


Each time Wy let ball roll down the lane, he would stand there with in his super hero pose SUPER BOWLER as if he could guide the ball to the pins. Once the automatic arm dropped down to 'sweep' the lane, Wy would jump up and down hollering "I'm a WINNER!" whether he hit any pins or not.


And here we have the bowling scores. Don't read too much into the fact that Wy beat Jack. I was helping. And what does that say about MY bowling skills? It says my Daddy would hang his head in shame at my lack of bowling skills. (He carried at 205 average when he was in the leagues.)

Lunch with Daddy can be rather interesting...

Luke, I am your father."

"By the power of Grayskull!"

It's bad when the men folk would rather watch a guy in saggy pants fumble around with wires in the ceiling than listen to my brilliant plans for a fun filled day of adventure. I should have said "PIZZA!" that would have gotten their attention. Oh well, live and learn.

Feeding a village

Here at Owenland Park we serve up between 21 and 33 meals PER DAY depending on who is here. (Doesn't that qualify as feeding a small African village?) This meal count does not include afternoon or bedtime snacks for the youngsters.

Shortly after the girls joined our ranks last January we realized we needed a toaster. Actually, we realized we needed a double toaster. Mom picked up an inexpensive toaster that proved to be the bane of our morning existence. All 4 slots would work on the first go around. After that the slots on the left side would work IF and I repeat IF you could get the damned handle to stick in the "Please toast my frozen waffle" position. Often it would taunt you. You would THINK you had the handle engaged. You would step away from the toaster and POP - your still frozen waffles would pop up as if they had been toasted. You would then have to duke it out with this Toaster from Satan. You would push the handle down. It would pop up. Down, up, down, up, curse, shake, down, up, curse some more. I finally had enough. After multiple discussions about how much we HATED the Toaster from Hell, Mom picked up a Black and Decker SUV of a toaster from the Target. This thing has 8 different levels of toasting options, frozen and reheat options, a retractable cord and it even has removable crumb trays! Believe it or not, John just found a 5 CD changer on the backside! I'm going to look around for a pair of ear buds that I can plug into it so I can take it out when I jog. Don't be surprised if next August you receive an invitation to our Black and Decker's first birthday party. We love you Black and Decker toaster!!!


Love,
from Owenland Park

KidsPlace 2010

John and I took the boys to KidsPlace this weekend. (Check out the link to Shutterfly below - you want the KidsPlace 2010 album.) It is a little museum at 63rd & Lackman. The museum part bored the kids to tears, but the play place at the end was well worth it. As you can see, they constructed a little city of sorts. In addition to what you see here, there is a boutique and a hospital - the boys weren't interested in playing in either of those locations. The did though spend a long time in the theatre, which John and I thought was too funny. You can see from the pictures that the theatre has a backstage - complete with props and costumes to use and wear for the production you present. There is a proper stage manager's station in the stage right wing complete with switches that actually control lights on stage. John and I were laughing so hard that one of the actors on stage had to step into the wing and whisper rather loudly to us "Um, you have to be -quiet- there is a perFORmance going on." This is when I lost it. I had to leave the theatre.

After the theatre was City Hall (Wyatt made some repairs to City Hall with a conveniently found hammer) and the Parks & Rec department complete with a fishing hole, golf course and wii. That's right - no park is now complete without a wii. Jack and I bowled on the wii before we (ha!) scooted on out as there were other kids waiting for the wii.

OK - that's it. Love and blessings and more soon.
me!

http://owenlandparkproductions.shutterfly.com/

Who needs a body mic

A few weeks ago John brought home 2 two foot lengths of heavy cardboard tubing. The boys went wild over the tubes and immediately put them to use as tunnels for Thomas and his friends. For a day or so the trains were treated to picturesque travels through tunnels in the countryside. Then their travels became more exciting as the inclines became steeper and steeper until the trains simply FLEW down through the tunnel, out the other end and shot across the room while the boys laughed themselves silly.

The tubes are also used (as you can see here) as telescopes, megaphones, tubas, big fat drum sticks, splints for 'broken' arms or legs and a plethora of other clever items. Wy insists on taking his tube everywhere for use as a microphone. We were at the grocery store yesterday and Wy entertained himself the whole time by singing all sorts of silly made up songs into his microphone.

I have to go now. The boys are arguing over who gets which chocolate chip pancake. Who cares that they are all the same.

Go Get 'em Tiger!

Lowe's Home Improvement has a program called Build and Grow. On select Saturday mornings parents can take their kids to a Lowe's location where the children can build the project selected for that session. And believe it or not, the project is free. Lowe's supplies all the precut pieces and tools for the kids to assemble their project.

Yesterday's project was a Lad Bug bug box. John says the place was a zoo when he and Jack arrived. Children and parents were CRAMMED around one 4x8 table (a piece of plywood atop 6 large barrels). The table was piled with project pieces and 8 oz hammers. Children were whacking away at nails while parents were trying to help and not get hit.

John was quite relieved that the store had just set up a second table. He says he and Jack were able to quietly enjoy building their box all by themselves without scrabbling for missing pieces on the overcrowded first table.


(Jack is wearing a Tiger visor. You can't see it in the picture, but he is also wearing a clip on Tiger tail. Go get 'em Tiger!)

Character

Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
James A. Michener

Front Yard Friends

A coupla rocks,
A little glue,
stick on some googely
Eyes for you
Another season
Another reason
for making silly stuff with your kids.

(I know, I know, but you have to admit they are cute.

And the boys and I had a lotta fun making these guys.)

Hey Tiger!

You can't beat hats and tails on clearance at Michael's - especially when they provide HOURS of entertainment. Jack has been delighted all day long.

Peanut butter, rasion and sprinkle sandwiches. Oh my!

.

OK. Paw-gize

Jessica discovered Devlyn and Wyatt playing with the landline phone downstairs. When they saw Jessica, they immediately tried to hide what they were doing. Jess took the phone from them and hit the redial button. It turns out Devlyn and Wyatt had dialled 911 and hung up. Then Jess called right back and was bumbling something about her cousins playing with the phone - the whole thing took her by surprise and she wasn't sure what to say. She gave the phone to her mother who tried to explain a situation she knew nothing about. She got it all straightened out.

Twenty minutes later she and Jess were loading the car for a family weekend trip to Alabama when someone tapped Jess on the shoulder. She turned around and came eye to eye with a police officer and freaked out. I'm sure it didn't look great that the police department had 2 phone calls from our location, and a flimsy excuse for the phone calls and when they come check up on us, we are loading the car full of bags...

Anyway - it is standard procedure to send 2 officers to the location when they recieve a 911 call. After talking with Devon and Jess for a few minutes, one of the officers left. The other officer sat in his car just a titch down the street from us. I have no idea if he was keeping an eye on us, if he was doing paperwork or if he was just waiting for his next call. Since he was sitting there for so long, I gathered up Wy and Devlyn. Devon and I hauled them across the street to apologize to the officer. (Here we are talking to the officer in his car. I'm sure he thought Jess was a nut job standing there and taking pictures and giggling like a teenager...) He talked to the kids about not calling the police unless you need them. I'm not sure if Wy 'got it' or not, he just kept saying "OK, paw-gize."

Fashion Forward

This fall's hottest look for fashion forward men of any age.

My own little Nutbrown Hare

Little Nutbrown Hare loves Big Nutbrown Hare and very much wants to impress his older friend. They compete over who loves the other one more. At the end of the book Big Nutbrown Hare settles Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves, kisses him goodnight and says "I love you all the way to the moon and back."

We have read this book enough that when I say to the boys "I love you all the way..." they will end the sentence "to the moon and back!" I looked at Wyatt the other night and said "Wy, I love you all the way..." He looked at me. His eyes got really big. He gasped and smiled and whispered "to the Island of Sodor?! Oh fank you, Mommy! Fank you!!!"

Spiderman

Have I told you my nephew Noah is a spiderman nut? When he gets into trouble with his mommy and she scolds him, he will turn on her and shoot webs at her - just like Toby Maquire. This makes me giggle.

The Secret of the Sandal and the Sneaker

Jack registered for Kindergarten on Sunday. Having never been though this process as a parent, I thought it was going to be more involved. As it was, we just walked around the cafeteria from table to table and either picked up a paper or dropped one off. Then I paid his registration fee and we were done. It wasn't nearly as involved as I thought it was going to be.

Jack's kindergarten teacher is offering a 'jumpstart' class where the kids meet for an hour each evening one week. Jack has been very excited about starting Kindergarten but on Monday (his first day of Jumpstart) he turned very somber. I asked him if he felt OK. He didn't say anything. I asked him if he was sick. He didn't say anything. I asked him if he was nervous about jumpstart class and he looked away from me. Then he took a shaky breath and said "I'm just sad cuz I don't want to leave home." It was so hard not to laugh. He said it as if he were heading off for boot camp or college. I told him it was OK to be nervous but he gets to come home EVERY day. Then of course he had a great day at class that night.

Jack decided it was silly shoe day yesterday and wore a sneaker and a sandal all day. He wanted to wear them to school that way. Since he thought it was so funny, I let him do it. I tried to wear 2 different shoes. I couldn't do it. It felt too weird.

I was watching that!

I managed to convince John to sit with all 6 of the kids at the Friday night show of Lucky Duck. Just before I sent the group into the house I was trying to explain the RULES to the kids when John noticed Wy was missing. After a few frantic moments, one of us looked inside the theatre to find that he had just let himself in, walked all the way around the stage and took a seat in the front row. I think he and Jack sort of feel like this place is home. Anyway, Wy had a great time and watched most of the show but he just couldn't be still - he spent a good portion of the show standing behind John either standing on one of John's hands or unknowingly putting John in a headlock.

The boys and Jess rode home with John after the show. John decided to treat them all to a little french fry treat from the McDonalds. At some point John realized that Wy was asleep for a good while. He reached over and took a french fry from Wy's little sack of fries at which point Wy became hysterical yelling and crying "Daddy! You stole my friench fries!" This reminds me of when I was growing up and Dad would be asleep on the couch "watching" something like M*A*S*H. One of us girls would change the channel and Dad would pop up with "I was watching that!"

Mel sent me a shot of Noah asleep in the car.

Jess stuck her tongue to the shelf in the freezer just to see what would happen. No one accused her of being very bright when this situation was discussed at the dinner table.

John and I came home from running errands. Wy was right there at the door to greet us with "Happy Birfday, Mommy! Happy Birfday, Daddy!" and a plate of cookies he had made with Jack and Gammy while we were out.

John and I had gone out to pick up pull ups. (I know, we were supposed to be in big boy pants but this is an area that Wy isn't letting me be the boss of.) Anyway, the K-mart was out of Wy's standard Dragon Tale pull ups so I grabbed a box of Diego pull ups. I thought for sure Wy would like them. Oh, silly mommy. Gammy was helping Wy get dressed this morning and he blatantly refused to wear the Diego pants. Every time she told him we didn't have any other pants he pathetically cried "Gammy, you are teasing meeeee!"

John and I had also picked up some inexpensive Thomas shirt/pants combos for the boys. They were THRILLED. Wy kept yelling "Mommy! Daddy! Fank you for borrowing vese cwose for me!" He couldn't quite understand that we bought the clothes. Both Jack and Wy insisted on keeping the oversized tags that we pulled off the outfits. The boys insist the tags are Thomas Tickets - like we are going to go somewhere, present the ticket and get something. Jack slept with his Thomas Ticket last night. Who sleeps with the tags they pull off their clothes? MY CHILDREN - that's who.

Leo Marks

Yeah, yeah - I know I'm just one more person to talk about this poem after Chelsea and Mark brought it out into the light again, but it truly is beautiful.

The Life That I Have by Leo Marks
The life that I have is all that I have
And the life that I have is yours
The love that I have of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have, a rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause
For the peace of my years in the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.


If you would like to learn more about Leo Marks (a really interesting fella) you will have to cut and paste this link as I have tried and tried and can't get the link to post...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Marks

I'm gonna get you!

I was getting dressed this morning when Wy came in and asked if he could sleep with me. I told him I was getting dressed but he could lay down in my bed. He said "Oh." and his little head dropped. He looked so sad that I scooped him up and said we could spend a few minutes cuddling. He gave me such a ferocious little hug - wow, it really made my day. We laid down and pulled up the covers, then John laid down to give us a hug, then Jack came in and asked if he could lay down with us too. So there we were having a big family cuddle when Jack kneeled up, said "Wyatt, I'm gonna get you." He leaned over and gave Wy a big long lick across the face. I'm telling you, it was like throwing the gauntlet. Wy was desperate to get Jack. Jack wanted to get me. Wy wanted to get John. The boys were calling "I'm gonna get you!" "I gotted you!" "No! Don't get me!" "Jack gotted me!!!"

I must admit I am the one who started the whole licking thing. I sometimes randomly lean in for a kiss and give a lick upside the head. It has become, I think, one of our family 'things'.

When I was a kid - I don't even remember how it started - we (Mom, Dad, my sisters)would hold hands and give 3 squeezes. The squeezes mean "I love you." We would do this in church or just whenever we wanted to send a silent message. I have passed this on to my menfolk but for our family it has grown to be 3 of anything means I love you; wink three times, blink three times, tap three times, the options are endless. It always makes me quietly happy when John or my sisters or my folks give my hand those three little squeezes, but when the boys do it, it really sends me over the edge of the happy hill.

K - done being mushy.
Love and blessigns!

Random stuff

I asked Connie and Devlyn to set the table last night and within 30 seconds they were fighting like cats. I made them stand facing each other and hold hands. Then I had them say to each other "Thank you for letting me help you. And thank you for helping me." Then I asked them to finish setting the table. Before I made it into the kitchen they were at it again. Instead of sending them to seperate corners, I made them sit down together with their arms around each other and holding hands. Connie did not like this option at all. Wow she looked like a p.o.'ed teenager. After a few minutes they were at it again and Connie was tattling that Devlyn wouldn't hold her hand. At first I told them they could have another minute added on to their time. Then I had them do 2 person volcanoes (Connie's right hand met Devlyn's left hand - they would raise their hands together and then 'explode' back down to hands together.) Then I told them that a hug is supposed to make you happy not mad. I also let them know that they could sit together hugging each other until they could feel love for each other. I looked in on them a minute later and sure enough they were having their own quiet lovey hug fest. Yay everyone!!!

John brought home a few cardboard tubes that are the delight of the children. The boys use them as tunnels for the trains. All the kids want to wear the tubes on their arms and pretend to be robots. Wy is the only one who can fit his legs into the tubes. I can't believe he actually put the tubes on long enough for me to get a picture of my little Wy-bot.

OK - I know this is a small picture - it was taken with my phone. Anyway, I took Wy to the theatre with me last Friday. He was a great help; he helped me check lights, sound, props, tell the actors what time it was...He even helped the drummer check his drums! He asked Wy if he wanted to drum. Wy didn't quite understand what to do until he was given a little demo. It took him a minute to warm up to the drums. At first I thought he didn't like the drums, but he loved them! He was simply taking his time checking out what sound each one made. He had a great time!

The boys and I stopped by the bank at the grocery store last week and they have this little pony - can you belive this ride is free? All the other little ponies, cars etc. want your money. This one just has a little button the kids can push and get a free ride!

Jack thought it was hysterical to keep pushing the button while Wy was on his ride. Of course Wy didn't want to get off until his ride was over - and thanks to Jack it started to seem like the ride that would never end...It just went on and on my friends. I finally had to put Jack in a bear hug to keep his hands off the button...

Peasant, do not bother me.

This is another one of those Rhinestone Cowgirl hats from our Lucky Duck gala a few weeks ago. I had a serious case of "spring fever need my day off in a real bad way" on Sunday. The only thing that eased the itch so to speak was to traipse around the theatre in this flambouyant hat. I have decided to keep it at my desk for those days when I need a little pick me up/tide me over - whatever. I think when I am wearing that hat and someone brings me a problem I will simply say "Peasant, do not bother me. I am busy with tea and crumpets."

This is John's Uncle Caleb. For the longest time I truly thought John's family just had some random bust and they had dubbed him Uncle Caleb. He is in all reality one of John's ancestors. Why is one of John's ancestors resting on a piece of tin foil on my kitchen counter when he usually resides on an end table in my living room? WELL - what had happened was... Seriously, the kids were playing downstairs and Connie decided to hide behind Uncle Caleb and his end table thus knocking him over. She somehow managed to catch him around the neck and save his upper portions but the base was broken into a bunch of pieces. John being the Master of All Things Needing Repair has pieced Uncle Caleb back together. We think Uncle Caleb will be relegated to a new location until the living room is a safe place to rest...

Sue & Steve sent this shell to Wy for his birthday. I honestly can't remember what it is called but it is a Sweedish toy I believe. You can nestle inside it and pretend to be a turtle - Wy's favorite method of playing with this thing. Or you can turn it over and sit inside it and rock or spin around. This option is of course everyone else's favorite method of play as it wreaks havoc on anyone within the reach of the players' legs (the kids will sit and spin, kicking anyone in their path...)

Jack is fond of playing baseball. He likes to toss or drop the ball and see 1. can he actually hit the ball and 2. how hard he can hit it if he can manage to make contact. I have had a few balls WHIZ past the side of my head which causes Jack no end of amusement. I on the other hand and nearly too terrified to step foot in the back yard.

OK - look how big and strong little Wy is getting. At first I started to freak out and tell him to sit down, but he was very much in control of the swing and himself and kids are kids afterall.