My favorite quote

"I just wanted to tell you that your kids are the ONLY reason I will have kids when I'm older..."
Helen. 7/24/09

Words to live by

If it is to be, it is up to me.

DJ Jazzy Wy Guy & the Witch Doctor

The following are the musical stylings of Wyatt, which I am treated to on a daily basis

One, two, buckle my shoe.
Three, four, shut the door.
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight
Nine, ten, a big fat FISH! (Hysterical giggling)

Trick or treat!
Smell my feet!
Give me thumb-thing good to eat!
If you don't,
I don't care.
I'll pull down your unnerwear. (Hysterical giggling)

(To the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down)
Salt and pepper, salt and pepper
Salt and pepper
Salt and pepper
Salt and pepper, salt and pepper
SALT AND PEPPER - c'mon, Mommy!
Salt and pepper, salt and pepper
Salt and pepper
Salt and pepper
Salt and pepper, salt and pepper
SALT AND PEPPER

Mom has down loaded a lot of songs as ringtones on her cell phone. One of them is The Witch Doctor. Wyatt is constantly demanding that he get to listen to the "boy who goes to ve doctor." He laughs and laughs when she plays the song and he tries to sing along but the chorus is so fast and tongue-twistery that its like listening to a crazed 3 year old budding rap artist.

Anyone want to be a Room Mother?

I signed up to be Jack's room mother this year. I was reluctant to do this because I was unsure about the amount of time I would need to commit to this but mostly because my schedule changes depending on whether I'm in rehearsal or performances. The lady in charge of room mothers assured me that being the Kinder room mother would be easy and I only had to plan for Valentine's Day and Christmas parties. I agreed to be the point person among the room parents. A few weeks ago I got an e-mail saying our first event was Oct 29 for Halloween and it was not to be a party because we don't want to overshadow that night's Trunk or Treat (all the parents decorate their cars, go to school and the kids can trick or treat from car to car in a safe environment.)

People, organizing this non-party has been ridiculous. As kinder parents, it is our first classroom event and we all want to do something special for the kids. This translates to the non-party becoming a party and that is a no-no. Late in our discussions, one of the parents reminded us that we have been asked to keep this from being a party. She was right. We had gotten a bit too big (not a lot too big, but a titch too big)in our planning but I wanted to pull my hair that this person a. hadn't said a word about anything previously and b. waited so long to say anything at all.

I took a breath and thanked her for reminding us about getting out of hand. After thinking it all over I said that I thought we could keep everything we were planning on as long as we kept scale in mind and made our snack, goody bag and craft simple, simple, simple. It just got more complicated from there. Someone suggested not doing the craft, someone else suggested not doing the goody bag, someone else suggested a different snack that would be less like a teat... Most parents had already purchased items and no one wanted to give up what they were contributing to the non-party. I felt like a failure and I finally had to say that I had no idea what to do because I wanted to include everyone. I wanted to abide by the teacher's wishes and I had invested too much emotional energy in a snack for my 5 year old. AND I had to say without being snotty. What I really wanted to say was "JUST DO IT AND KEEP IT SMALL! If you wanted to be the room mother then you should have signed up!!!"

Soccer is over

Jack's last game was last weekend. He didn't score, but John says he played a good game. He got one of those medals that coaches give out to all the kids, but that didn't matter to Jack - he got a medal and he is VERY proud of it. You can take a look at his last game by visiting our shutterfly account http://owenlandparkproductions.shutterfly.com/. I can only put names to 2 of the faces on his team. Jack tells us that Emmitt and Noah are his friends so I made sure I can point them out.

Boys, it's time to go to the Dentist...

Our life is very crazy with getting everyone where they need to go when they need to be there - especially when we are all going in different directions and considering that Devon needs to be able to pick up kids and she doesn't have a car. This makes for frequent strategic planning to determine how we shift around who drives what car when because only one car is big enough to contain all the kids at once. This was the case recently when the boys had to get to the dentist in the morning. John and I split the kids between us, he took the girls to school then back tracked and took Jack to the dentist. I took Wy with me and we took mom to work then backtracked to meet J & J at the dentist. I actually thought this might be a nice few minutes to actually sit in the same room with my husband. Nay, nay, Renee. Jack was early for his appointment and the 8:00 kid was late. By the time Wy & I arrived, J & J were heading out the door. Boo. Jack was pleased though because he got to pick out 2 prizes after his visit with the dentist and he picked a paper/foam airplane thing. (His appointment went well.) Then it was Wy's turn. I couldn't believe how well he behaved with multiple strangers poking around in his mouth with things that buzzed and whirred - especially considering the 5 year old who was screaming and flailing every time the assistant started to tilt the chair back. Here is Wy brushing the kangaroo's teeth as we waited for the Dentist. (I know, I know - they are pics from my cell phone. I can't make them any larger.)

Jack's first field trip

To the Kansas City Pumpkin Patch! I went along as a driver/helper for the day.

You can check us out at http://owenlandparkproductions.shutterfly.com/. There are 20 kids (7 boys and 13 girls: believe it or not, 3 of the girls are named Olivia) in Jack's class. This was my first opportunity to really meet his classmates. I was in charge of 4 kids but all the kids were everywhere and I was trying to start learning names. I asked one little girl her name and she put a hand on her hip and said to me "Um, you already asked me that." She might as well have said "Well you aren't the brightest bulb in the box." All I can say is she didn't even bother to learn my name and I was chasing down 20 names...Not fair! Not fair!!!

And who knew that 5 year olds are OBSESSED with vampires? I did not know this. The drive to this place was about 35 minutes and the 4 kids in my car talked about vampires non stop. They told vampire stories, they talked with Transylvanian accents, they told us about their vampire dreams. One young man kept telling us about the dream he had about the vampire in his underwear...

Anyway, it was a great day and I have managed to keep a few names (with their proper faces) in my head. And though I don't think any of the kids remembered my name, the remember me and wave and say hi when they see me in the hall way.

Today is black and orange day at school. The kids get to wear jeans if they wear something black or orange. The girls picked do rags and look like preppy thugs. Jack already had an orange shirt and pull over fleece jacket. He didn't want to wear either of them - I assume it is because we didn't run out and buy them band new last night...

Wish us luck, we have our first Parent/Teacher conference next week. I'm already putting too much emotional energy into stressing out for that.

Me and my Wy-Guy


It seems that whenever I ask Wy to smile for the camera, he grimaces like he is in pain...

Happy Birthday, Abby!


Abby's 10th birthday was Sunday. She asked for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Mom made up a delicious batch of meatballs. John made up some super yummy garlic bread and somehow it felt like my birthday. (I didn't have to do anything!)


I have a theory: I think there should be more cake and ice cream in the world. (The girls didn't have much time for grumbling at each other once the cake was on the table.) Now my problem with this theory is that if there WERE more cake in the world then I would be eating it...


Abby scored a purse, press on nails, perfume, glittery jeans and a lovely flowery purple top with sequins. She also scored a mini Simon Says game which I'm sure is going to drive us all INSANE in the next few days with all that beeping and buzzing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABBY!!!!