Over Booking

I am getting in trouble for double and triple booking the children. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. I have slightly double booked Eli on purpose - one day he has dance that ends at 6:15 and soccer that goes from 6-7 pm. Other than that I haven't double booked them. It is the extra activities that go with the ones they are signed up for. This week is bad. Eli and Em have to miss soccer today because the piano teacher scheduled a recital and dinner - not my fault, in fact, I just found out the exact date and time last week. Also, there is a dance recital and dress rehearsal which has been on the calendar for at least six months (probably nine), and then we signed Eli up for Tae Kwan Do right before the dress rehearsal. Again, this week I found out that there is a baseball clinic on Saturday (NOT MY FAULT). So, the boys will miss most of the clinic, Eli will miss Tae Kwan Do because of the clinic.

I did double book Caleb on Wednesday nights, but it wasn't on purpose...I signed him up for baseball this summer, and he has scouts on Wednesday nights. In my defense, I didn't know his baseball would be on Wednesdays, and when I signed him up, he wasn't in scouts (KIND OF MY FAULT).

OOPS!

I Looked Out the Window, and What Did I See?

This is the tree in front of my house. It is a crabapple tree, so we have crabapples falling off during the early spring, then we have "POPCORN" for a couple of days, and right now all of the flowers are blowing off. It is a very beautiful tree, and it adds color during the cold, Minnesota winters. The berries are a beautiful red, and when the frost is on them, it is spectacular.

Also, in the spring, there are birds in the tree. I even got a picture of a baby robin. The baby can barely fly, and the mother bird is still taking care of it and feeding it. The joys of spring - which happens to be my favorite season.

Finding Frogs

We are finally getting around to turning the soil in our garden plot so that we can plant. Brett had the shovel, and he was turning the soil. We were finding a lot of worms. He would hold out the shovel and the girls would pull the worms off (he commented how it was cool to see his girls playing with worms). Emily was looking in the turned soil for worms and she found a worm going crazy. She she discovered that it was a frog. Brett and I investigated, and indeed it was. Brett pulled it out with the shovel and we discovered that it was injured. After the investigation, we decided to put the frog to rest. The girls were thoroughly impressed.

Super Sniffer

Caleb was checking out his birthday presents - he really wanted a fish tank, and none of them were big enough to be a fish tank (that's because the fish tank was hiding in my bedroom). We had him convinced that we would give him some money to put towards a tank, but he would have to make up the difference, and he accepted that.

He started lifting them up and shaking them. A couple of them sounded like Lego's. He got to one, and it didn't make any noise when he shook it - so he put it to his nose and sniffed it. He looked at me and said, "It's a Dance, Dance Revolution Mat." I told him he was crazy and asked where he got that idea from. He had me smell it and told me is smelled just like the mat we have downstairs. He was correct. It did have a pretty powerful smell, but I still told him he was crazy.

Now, about the fish tank... One of the problems with getting a fish tank was the logistics of it (where to put it, what size to get, the upkeep, etc.), with the biggest problem being where to put it so that it didn't just sit in a cold basement in the back corner of a bedroom. When I went shopping, I found a stand, so the stand was wrapped up to give to him. Claire kept telling Caleb that we got him a fish tank, and I kept saying that it was only a stand and Caleb had to buy his own tank. Caleb thought Claire was confused.

Needless to say... CALEB WAS SHOCKED that we got pulled out the tank. (It is now in our kitchen, on the stand, in the corner, by our table - so that the sound of the water and the swimming fish can be enjoyed by all.)

Oh, it was a DDR mat, it wasn't Lego's but add-ons to the game Battleground: Crossbows & Catapults, and he did get a fish tank and stand. He claims it was the best birthday ever. Yay! for us.

Helmets & Acid

What do these two have in common?

In Emily's world they have swear words in them. The boys were talking about acid rain one night, and Emily went crazy. She kept telling them so stop swearing. Of course, the boys couldn't let this one pass (oops, there is another swear word), so they started chanting, "Acid, Acid, Acid. Emily was whining and telling them to stop. They continued to talk about wearing a helmet when they rode their bike, etc. This got Emily fired up, too. So then they broke out talking about dams and how they hold water back. Brett and I told of our trip to the dam on jet skis. They told Emily there was an animal called a jackass. Well the whole time, Emily was frantic with the boys swearing. They went back to talking about acid, and we knew it had gone to far when Claire blurts out, "asses." So, we stopped.

It could be a lot of fun trying to see how many words there are that contain "swear words."

The Beginning of Camping

This is Caleb's first camp out as a Boy Scout. He and Brett went to the district Spring Camporee. We didn't decide that they would actually be going until Thursday morning, and they were leaving Friday evening (nothing like waiting until the last minute). I got to help gather things for the camp out (clothes, utensils, and snack foods). Brett came home early, o.k. not too early but it was well before 7:30 p.m. to pack his backpack and Caleb's backpack. I don't know much about packing for a camp out, so I just had Caleb lay his clothes on my bed. I laid out some things for Brett, and he took care of all of the packing. He then came to the photography studio and waited for the call from the scout master to leave. The timing was perfect. As Caleb was finishing his last picture...the call came.

The children had pictures for their dance recital yesterday, so we were at the photography studio from 4:00 - 7:00 ish. That is what happens when there are 4 children in five different groups. We have level 1, 2, &4. Then we have a competition group and a duet. The children are incredibly patient waiting for their turn. It does work out well that they know a lot of the other dancers there and they are able to play with them.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

Well, Caleb has had three dance competitions in the last five weeks. We had a competition every other week end. He is doing a ballet duet and a group performance. He and his duet partner got a high gold at their first competition; then at the second competition they got a gold, with a first place in their category, and a fourth place with all of the duet/trios in their age group; and at the third competition they got a high gold, the director's choice award (Cathy Roe sponsored the competition, and she gave them the medal for her favorite dance), and they got first place in their age group for duets/trios. It was great fun to watch.

In his group dance they got a gold at the first competition along with a costume award and a too cute award, they got a gold at the second competition, and they got a high gold at their third competion along with a first place in their category and the age appropriate award.

It's Raining, It's Sleeting, now it is SNOWING!

We were just about free and clear of all of the snow in our yard. Spring has sprung (or at least started to). We woke up one morning last week with a dusting of snow on the ground, and Eli wasn't too excited about it. He complained that it wasn't very funny to have most of the snow gone and then wake up and have snow on the ground. I told him that mother nature has a sense of humor, and that she thinks it is funny.

Today, however, I was sitting on the floor drying Claire's hair. The telephone rang. I answered it. My friend asked what time kindergarten was letting out. I said, "What?" She repeated her question. I asked, "Am I missing something?" She told me that she was at her elementary school and they were dismissing early. I told her that I hadn't been paying attention to the news, and was unaware. I went into the kitchen and turned on the radio. The announcer said that the school was letting out at 11:00, and it was currently 10:47, that was only 13 minutes away. I called my friend back and told her.

So, after having family here for a week + and then having to substitute the next day, teach the next two, do youth activities on Saturday, and leave for meetings at 10 a.m. on Sunday not to return until 6:30 p.m., I was looking forward to having this Monday to myself (with Claire here with me of course). I guess I have a work force now. Emily is home and the boys will be home soon.

Yes, it is snowing. There is a lot of ice on the road because of the rain that was happening earlier today, the sleet that happened a little while ago, and the snow that is happening now.

It looks like we are inside today!

Fantastic Four

Claire turned four and it has empowered her. We told her that when she was four she would have to wipe her own bum. The first time she really clogged the toilet. I don't think I have wiped her bum since, or unclogged any other toilets.

Also, today we were going to the airport. I asked her if she needed help buckling her seat belt. She told me no and that she was four. She also told me that four-year-olds can buckle their own belts. Then when we stopped, she unbuckled her belt and came up to the front. She said that four-year-olds could unbuckle their belts, too.

One other funny from Claire... We were getting ready to leave the house this morning and she made it to the car before I saw her (we were taking four people to the airport and looking for missing coats, and loading the luggage). When I finally saw her in the car, I noticed that her hair had not been combed - it was a mess - a big rat's nest. I asked her who did her hair, and said, "It definitely wasn't me." Then each of her aunts in turn said, "It wasn't me." Claire piped up and said, "It must have been me then!" We all just chuckled.

Bach Rocks

Caleb was in a play at school. He was the composer Johann S. Bach. He did a really great job. It was a lot of fun to watch. He was very animated and expressive. I got a call from my friend that morning. She had dropped her daughter off at the school, and she heard the girls talking in the hall. She told me that word in the halls at school was that all the girls love Bach - aka Caleb. I don't know why - look at how old he looks.

Oh wait, that was last year when he was Bach, he did the same play las year at the other school he was attending. This one is this year's picture. Very fun.