Zone Defense Mom

Cookies from the President

2010-12-02T15:27:00.002-05:00

Know how you can tell just from looking at your child that something isn't right? Such was the case when I swung by the lunchroom today after my morning PTO duties. I actually had an ulterior motive. I wanted to see the smiling faces of some happy 2nd graders. Let's rewind...

Somehow, Dash, has been "elected"...maybe appointed is a better word...President. President of what? I have no clue. I just know that he came home one day and told me he was the president. I asked how he knew this and he said the guys in his class told him. Apparently being named president comes with line-cutting privileges and other such cool perks. When I have stopped by the cafeteria before, the guys at his table have announced that Dash is president. I asked them who decided this. They all chimed in, "we did." ...wonder what the President's mother gets out of this deal...hmmmm...

So this morning, as I packed lunch for the president, I included a note with some cookies. "Mr. President, I packed some extra cookies. Please share them with your buddies at lunch. Love, Mom" I knew he would enjoy the surprise, and I knew he would like being able to share some cookies.

Instead of being greeted with smiles as I entered the cafeteria, I met a downcast Dash and a group of boys yelling "he got in trouble." Apparently, there is no sharing of food in our cafeteria. None, zip, zero! And evidently, you aren't informed of this policy in a kind and loving way. Seriously people??? They were cute little Christmas cookies!!! My kids are at school 7 hours out of the day, more than that if you count the time spent on the bus. You get them most of their awake hours. If I can't teach them about kindness and sharing in a small way like cookies while they are there, exactly when do I get to do this??? And if they do break a rule, isn't there a way to inform them with grace and love, rather than breaking their heart???

Now my dilemna is...do I teach him not to share treats, or do I teach him to just be more sneaky about it?

Stinkerbell videos for grandparents

2010-03-24T22:09:00.005-04:00

Here are the videos from Mother's Tea today at preschool. Notice that our little Princess is very concerned about her hair during certain parts of the "performance." A girl's gotta look good you know!

Stinkerbell turns 5!

2010-02-17T14:47:00.002-05:00

I can't believe she is 5 already!!! She has seemed so grown up over the last few weeks.

Pulitzer Prize nominee

2010-01-27T07:52:00.003-05:00

While we were reading the "Read with Dick and Jane" books for the 1000th time, Stinkerbell stops mid page and says...

"Mom, whoever wrote these books is goooood."

The view from our front door

2010-01-07T11:34:00.002-05:00

Christmas

2010-01-03T20:37:00.003-05:00

Raking

2009-11-24T14:05:00.003-05:00

Stinkerbell has been wanting to rake leaves for awhile now. I have no idea why, except that she seems to remember playing in the leaves with her brother 2 years ago.

Kids fall pics

2009-11-01T20:18:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

Tiny Bears Cheer and Halloween

2009-10-31T17:12:00.004-04:00

Firehouse field trip

2009-10-09T13:58:00.002-04:00

Cheerleading

2009-10-05T15:56:00.003-04:00

Stinkerbell got her cheer uniform today.

Pre K field trip

2009-09-25T14:58:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox photobook

2009-09-24T12:02:00.002-04:00

Someone decided to try to write in cursive.

How bad will the teenage years be?

2009-09-21T19:11:00.002-04:00

I'm really pondering how the teenage years with Stinkerbell are going to be. In the last 12 hours, she has decided that she doesn't like the way the number 5 is made (and that it should really be made a different way) and that she will not be playing outside in the snow this winter. The number 5 revelation was made complete with 20 minutes of hysterical crying and plenty of drama. The snow comment came out of the blue and was stated very matter of factly. And all of this is without the teenage hormones flowing throughout her body...ohhh I think puberty is going to usher in a very interesting time at my house.

On a totally cute side note, she was looking at a paper last night that asked her "favorite Bible verse." I said, "Do you have a favorite verse?" And she thought for a minute and said, "Yes, is there one about Jesus?"

Storm clouds

2009-08-19T20:33:00.003-04:00

This is the storm front moving in this evening, complete with tornado warnings...and no rain so far.

Kings Island slideshow

2009-07-27T11:05:00.001-04:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Baseball slideshow

2009-07-26T21:13:00.002-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

4H projects

2009-07-08T14:30:00.002-04:00

Here are the boys with their baskets for 4H this year. It's Dash's first basket ever, and it's the Firstborn's...well I don't know 6th or so basket.

My Pitcher

2009-06-26T13:48:00.002-04:00

The Firstborn pitching at his last City Tourney game

Getting dressed

2009-06-24T10:21:00.002-04:00

Stinkerbell just told me she wanted to wear some capri suns today. I love that girl!

More baseball!

2009-06-19T20:21:00.003-04:00

We had closing ceremonies tonight. The firstborn got his trophies for winning league and tourney. Plus he got his 12 year old medal. (sniff, sniff...his last year in little league). Plus he and Dash were both chosen for all star teams. So I guess we'll have a few more weeks of baseball.

Baseball, baseball, baseball

2009-06-16T19:56:00.004-04:00

Dash's little rookie league team ended their season last night. This was the first year in rookie league (pitching machine) for all of them, and they improved so much during the year.

The firstborn's team got first place in the league standings and also won the league tourney tonight.

Here's Anthony's latest addition

2009-06-06T20:37:00.000-04:00

Don't even ask!!!!

Off to junior high

2009-05-27T09:42:00.003-04:00

Last night was the 6th grade recognition ceremony. How can he possibly be that old already???

It was a really nice program with a slideshow of the different activities this class has done this year. The firstborn earned several awards, including the science fair trophy in the picture. Now just 3 more days and he's a 7th grader...off to a new building, new teachers, new challenges.

Birds, birds, birds

2009-05-20T11:26:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of one of the six nests we have around our yard. These robins just hatched a couple days ago. We have several other robin's nest and at least one sparrow (maybe, I think).

2009-05-19T13:13:00.001-04:00

It's spring!!!!

Opening Day

2009-05-07T22:05:00.003-04:00

Saturday was opening day for our baseball league! Here are the boys all ready for their first games. For the record, the Firstborn's team won and Dash's team...well, let's just say they didn't win.

Birthday 5 of 5

2009-04-18T11:26:00.002-04:00

The firstborn turned 12 yesterday.
He celebrated by going to school, then to track practice, and then to baseball practice. We finally got to see him around 7:00 last night. We spent the evening outside around the firepit eating ice cream cake.

I can't believe he's this old already...I mean I remember being 12...it couldn't have been that long ago...could it???

A week in South Carolina

2009-04-11T22:35:00.005-04:00

Pictures from the last week....

Holding a starfish...we also saw dolphins, a jellyfish and sand dollars.

Relaxing after a long day at the beach.

The firstborn playing photographer.

Enjoying the (freezing, cold, icy, frigid) ocean.

Is Mom done taking pictures yet?????

New claim to fame

2009-04-11T22:22:00.005-04:00

Yes, my family is now part of the world renowned (ok, well at least well known on our little section of the beach) sand artists on Hilton Head Island.

This is sculpture #1 - the pyramid.

This is #2 - the Sphinx. While the husband and the firstborn, along with our friends, were creating this, we met some people who had traveled to Egypt. They brought their camera down later so the kids could see actual pictures of the pyramids and Sphinx in Egypt.

These are sculptures #3 & #4, the Roman Coliseum and the Eiffel Tower.

Pretty K

2009-03-26T20:01:00.003-04:00

For those of you without princesses, it's called preschool or Pre-K. :-)

Etiquette 102

2009-03-23T20:15:00.002-04:00

I guess it's time for another etiquette lesson. Stinkerbell was talking to a "friend" after gymnastics. She hugged her and then turned around and said, "Her cartwheels stink!" Of course I quietly explained to her why that was inappropriate and how it could hurt someone's feelings. I said, "How would you feel if she told you your pushups stink?" She thought about it and said, "Well, they don't."

And I know that this is a payback for all the times I heard someone else's child say something rude and thought to myself...geesh, don't those people teach their kids any manners?

Birthday 3 of 5

2009-03-23T20:08:00.002-04:00

Well my 30th birthday present turns 7 today. (I brought him home from the hospital on my 30th birthday.) I can't believe he's 7 already. This morning we gave him a Didj and has been attached to it all day. Grandma and Grandpa Treeboy came over from Ohio and spent time with him before and after school today. We had a party yesterday and he's having some boys over on Friday night for his "friend party." I guess we could call it a whole week of celebration for Dash!

My kindergarten son is getting hit on...kinda...or maybe not.

2009-03-19T16:35:00.002-04:00

Dash: "Some girl gave me her phone number today."
Me: "She did? Who was it?"
Dash: " I don't remember her name."
Me: "Is she in her class?"
Dash: "Ya, but I don't remember who it was. And I don't know why she would give me her phone number."
Me: "Hmmmm"
Dash: (pulling the paper out of his bag) "It's a really weird number."

The paper says 1010101233.

So I'm not sure if he's getting hit on or if she just passed him a fake number. :-)

Lysol bomb

2009-03-13T10:21:00.002-04:00

So, let's recap the last week. Last Saturday was our school's carnival. I was one of three co-chairs, so it was a hectic week.

Thursday, I noticed that Dash was getting a cold. On Friday, as we were preparing for the carnival after school, Dash came down to meet me. He looked horrible. He said his head hurt and he felt warm. Once we got home, I checked his temperature. It only said 99, and he's a warm-blooded kid; so he was probably fine.

We went to the carnival on Saturday; he and Stinkerbell ran around and had a great time. I sent them home with Dad while I stayed and cleaned up. When I finally got home, I went in to kiss a sleeping Dash good night. He was burning up...temperature check...102.2. Not good!

Sunday came and the temperature stayed. The hacking cough continued. I am wondering how many kids I exposed to whatever tropical disease my son has. About halfway through the night Sunday (or Monday morning, whatever you prefer), I was still awake because of the hacking noise coming from his room. It was then that I noticed my throat felt vaguely as if someone was stabbing me with sharp shards of glass each time I swallowed. By Monday morning, I noticed that either I had some type of infection or a small alien was inhabiting my throat. (For the record, physicians don't find much humor in that type of comment.) Oh ya and Dash is puking now. When we went to fill my prescription, the pharmacy told me it would be 25 minutes. I explained that Dash had puked earlier and if she could move us up in line that would be great. Apparently, she didn't want him puking in her store anymore that I did; the prescription was filled quickly.

I took Dash to the doctor on Wednesday as his cough was not getting any better. I get the usual, it's a virus, give him an antihistamine to dry him up, etc. I mention that I have strep throat, and she thinks we should check Dash, even though his throat looks fine, just to be sure. She asks if Stinkerbell has complained. After I finish laughing, I realize she means complained about not feeling well, not just complaining in general. I explain that she has mentioned her head and throat hurting, but that she tends to be a little dramatic and we just didn't think too much about it.

We left the office with two antibiotic prescriptions for two kids with strep throat.

Stinkerbell looks progressively worse and worse while we are waiting for the prescriptions to be filled. Her temperature was over 100 by the time we got home. I give everyone their antibiotics and we all lay down to watch a mind-numbing Disney show. Stinkerbell mentions she sees bumps on her arms. I respond with, yes dear we all have tiny bumps. So, yes basically I ignore her. When I finally go in to check on her, she has her pants pulled up above her knee and I see huge welts, hives, something. I say, "What is on your knee?" She says, "The bumps I told you that were on my arm." I pull up her sleeve and find her arm nearly covered. After a phone call to the doctor, we figure out that she is allergic to penicillin apparently.

So, I'd really like to get my hands on a Lysol bomb of some type to set off in my house. Anyone know where I can get one?

Etiquette 101

2009-02-27T09:37:00.002-05:00

In preparation for all of the birthday festivities, I was working with Stinkerbell on what we say when we open gifts. I was explaining that we always say thank you, even if it's something we didn't want or don't like. So I gave her some examples, like if you got a big ugly rock, you still need to say thank you. Then I thought I'd give her a chance to practice.

Me: "What do you say if you get a doll?"
Her: "Thank you"
Me: "What do you say if you get a toy you already have?"
Her: "I already have one of those."
{Yes, I realize that at this point I should have seen that she wasn't "getting it" at all.}
Me: "What do you say if someone gets you a Spiderman toy that looks like it's for a boy?"
Her: "No, thank you."

So our first etiquette lesson was not successful!

Distraught Diva Alert

2009-02-19T22:50:00.003-05:00

In the van, on the way to the wrestling meet, Stinkerbell was talking to Dash about when "we build our house" and "it will have 10 rooms" and Dash informed her that she couldn't marry him. Well, apparently, this was news to her and she tried to argue with him. Then, they called "the Dad card"..."Dad, Dash says I can't marry him."

Dad says, "That's right; you can't marry your brother."

Stinkerbell says, ....nothing as she dissolves into tears, real upset tears, asking who will she marry now. She doesn't know anyone else to marry. Poor thing, we wiped her tears up and explained that Mommy and Daddy didn't know each other when we were 4. That seemed to help a little, but I think she's still a little distraught by the whole idea.

So I guess she'd be a candidate for Bachelorette the preschool edition, or maybe Match.com has a preschool connection area. Wonder if Bert & Ernie run any type of dating service? Any diva advice greatly appreciated.

Birthday 2 of 5

2009-02-17T20:51:00.003-05:00

Stinkerbell's birthday is today. We celebrated by eating at a Mexican restaurant for lunch...she got chicken fingers...not sure why she picked the Mexican restaurant. We also had cake and ice cream with Nana & Papaw Treeboy. I can't believe my baby is 4 years old!

Why did I even ask???

2009-02-11T10:25:00.002-05:00

So I have no clue what to get Stinkerbell for her birthday. I decided to ask her what she would like, knowing that there was about a 50/50 chance that I would be sorry I asked.

She wants a black marker with a princess on it. She has some princess-themed markers and apparently the set didn't come with a black one. Ya, no problem I'll run right out and get that.

Well, no need to be concerned, she also gave me a second choice if I can't find the marker...an American Girl doll.

...so I still have no clue what to get Stinkerbell for her birthday.

Let the throwing of the chairs commence....

2009-02-05T19:56:00.003-05:00

After months of practice, the Firstborn finally had his first junior high wrestling meet. I'm not sure when we start the face painting, chair throwing and jumping off the ropes. Maybe that's for the advanced wrestlers.

For the record, he did win by a pin.

Science fair project

2009-01-24T12:58:00.002-05:00

This is the subject of the Firstborn's science fair project this year.

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/hearing_test/

If you'd like to participate, please post your age, gender, and the highest khz. number that you can hear. If you have children that would like to participate, that would be great. Post results on this blog, not on the website page.

Thanks,
the Firstborn

Stinkerbell's haircut

2009-01-20T14:23:00.003-05:00

Stinkerbell wanted a haircut and here are the before and after pictures.

The story...
First, a little background...Stinkerbell has gone with me to get my hair cut for almost 4 years now. She has had one haircut; she got about an inch cut off. We go to the same place everytime, and she never speaks. She stands or sits quietly by the chair (or in a stroller originally) and smiles at everyone. They come over and tell her how adorable she is and what a good girl she is (while I invite them to come by the house sometime to see the real "her"), and she just smiles. The only time she has spoken in there is to say, "thanks" when someone gives her a sucker after my hair cut.

Fast forward to haircut day...She is so excited; she keeps telling me she wants her hair cut. Whenever someone asks her about how she wants it cut, she just looks at me, as if to say, "you'll have to tell her how to cut it, Mom." Once she's in the chair, Lori asks her how she wants it cut, and she smiles and points to me. Of course, because she doesn't talk in here. Lori and I decide on a length, slightly below the shoulders, and the cutting begins. When she was finished, we asked Stinkerbell if she liked it, and she just looked at us. So Lori asked her again, and low and behold, Stinkerbell looks up and says, "I want it shorter." After we recovered from the shock of her actually speaking, Lori finished cutting. The grin on Stinkerbell's face just kept getting bigger and bigger; she was so happy with the final product. On the way home, she said, "I'm just so proud of myself."

Apparently, this hair cut was a bigger deal than any of us knew.

Our version of the X-games

2009-01-14T19:04:00.003-05:00

Think there's any chance of them adding Slide Snowboarding to the X-Games?

We finally have snow!!!!

2009-01-14T11:39:00.003-05:00

Birthday 1 of 5

2009-01-11T21:46:00.004-05:00

Well it's time for the birthday stretch in our house...all of us were born in the first four months of the year. So we will have a lot of cake over the next few months. Birthday #1 was today.

All of the grandparents came for lunch and cake and ice cream. Grandpa Treeboy wore his Indiana Jones hat so he and Dash could match.

And one last picture before the Treeboys leave to go home.

I said, "Smile"

2009-01-09T22:07:00.003-05:00

We had some friends over on New Year's Eve. We were greatly outnumbered...5 adults to 11 kids by the end of the evening. (Note to self: find new friends with only one child.) We had a great time, and never heard any bit of bickering from the kids. Now that could have something to do with the Benadryl and the large roll of duct tape....but I digress.

Here is Stinkerbell and her boyfriend, and yes, this is what she calls him.

I think she might have some control issues.

The family band

2009-01-09T20:02:00.005-05:00

Since Rock Band 2 arrived at our house, we see a lot of this. Notice the "groupie" in the back dancing around.

Now we'll never be able to accuse Dash of not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time...or should I say play guitar and chew gum at the same time?

The dinosaur

2008-12-24T19:42:00.003-05:00

The nephew got a dinosaur...walks, talks and farts. What more could you ask for?

Here's Dash, the Nephew and Stinkerbell playing with it.

Emergency????

2008-12-23T10:17:00.002-05:00

So, I'm in Kohl's and there are all of the gift ideas in the aisle. You know...the travel mug, the digital weather station, the emergency flashlight, the emergency cell phone charger...and the emergency ipod charger.

When, exactly, is charging your ipod going to be an emergency????

Bambi

2008-11-23T19:36:00.005-05:00

The firstborn took a Hunter's Education Course at school this year. That's great and all, except...we don't hunt. Fortunately, our cousin is an avid hunter AND apparently has a lot of patience, because he offered to take the firstborn hunting. Here are the results...

They are calling the Firstborn a "good luck charm" now. He is hoping to get to actually shoot one himself the next time, instead of just "assisting." I see more hunting in our future.

Wedding pictures

2008-11-10T20:50:00.004-05:00

Stinkerbell and Dash were in a wedding this weekend.

Aren't they cute???? :-)

2008-11-04T17:28:00.001-05:00

Today, I heard the words every parent dreads...

"The kid who sits next to me puked today at school."

Hmmmm, how long til I'm cleaning up vomit????

Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T15:13:00.003-04:00

Mr. Fett (I keep forgetting whether he's Jango or Boba), a baseball player who wants candy and Stinkerbell as herself.

When asked who she was, she said, "Stinkerbell", not Tinkerbell. It was fun to listen to her tell people who she was.

Farming

2008-10-19T20:27:00.013-04:00

Our nephew (who I need to come up with a nickname for) came over last week to farm with us for the afternoon. He loved everything about it and didn't want to stay out of a combine or semi or tractor for very long.

Ashley Tisdale

2008-10-19T20:09:00.002-04:00

Stinkerbell just came into the room and said, "Excuse me, I'm bringing Ashley Tisdale in to play."

Hmmm, perhaps a few too many rounds of High School Musical???

2008-10-13T20:22:00.002-04:00

I've found many things in my washing machine...kleenex, money, notes, even corn and soybeans. But today's find takes the cake...cards...playing cards...a whole deck of playing cards.

I vaguely remember seeing the firstborn take a deck of cards somewhere at sometime. Unfortunately, this thought didn't occur to me BEFORE doing the laundry.

Towels vs. Underwear

2008-10-12T18:55:00.002-04:00

I just found myself saying the following to Stinkerbell...

"Don't dry your mouth off using your underwear."

And yes, she was wearing the pair she was trying to use.

My son, the traffic cone

2008-10-08T16:37:00.002-04:00

Today was orange day at school...enough said!

Fancy restaurant

2008-10-07T10:44:00.003-04:00

Dash and Stinkerbell are in a wedding next month.

Stinkerbell: I am so 'cited for the wedding. Can we go get ice cream after the wedding?

Me: Well, no, but there will be a party after the wedding. After weddings, there is usually a party.

Stinkerbell: There is?

Me: Yep, and we'll have to go to a party the night before too. We'll have practice and then we'll go out to eat at a restaurant after that.

Stinkerbell: At McDonalds?

Me: No not at McDonalds. It will be a nice restaurant.

Stinkerbell: Like Wendy's?

Me: No it will be fancy.

Stinkerbell: (excitement mounting) Ohhhh, you mean like McAllisters?

At least she'll be easy to impress on a date someday.

Staci's surprise party

2008-10-07T10:20:00.003-04:00

Stinkerbell and Dash just invited me to Staci's surprise party, held in Stinkerbell's bedroom. They decorated a cake for her, and then suddenly she was at the door and we had to hide. Stinkerbell ran around and found someplace for the cake to cool, while Dash was manning the door to let Staci in. Stinkerbell and I hid...then Dash decided to climb under a blanket. I then pointed out that someone needed to let Staci in. So Dash went to the door and let her in. We all yelled, "surprise", including Staci's friends who were hiding with us.

Dash hopped up on Stinkerbell's bed and said, "Staci's friends love me. Get back, girls, get back."

So right now, I'm not sure if I'm more disturbed that we had a surprise party for an imaginary boxer...or that my 6 year old thinks he's a chick magnet.

"The Reason I'm not in choir is..."

2008-10-03T18:39:00.002-04:00

Dash has been in preschool choir at our church for the last 2 years. He really seemed to like it and tried hard to follow along with and learn all the motions. He had lots of friends from preschool and church at practice and he enjoyed that part too. He talked about being excited to graduate from preschool choir to school aged choir this year. So, naturally when sign up time came, I promptly went to the sign up table and snagged a registration sheet. I was NOT going to be bad mom and totally forget to sign him up or anything like that. No, sirree, I had my boy signed up that first Sunday.

On the way home from church that Sunday, I told him that I had signed him up for choir. And he promptly told me that he didn't want to be in choir. After the shock wore off, I asked him why. I never really got an answer about why, just that he didn't want to. I waited a week or so and talked to him again...still not interested. So, with my head hung low, I went to the registration table and "unregistered" my child. Of course, I had to answer the questions: "Why isn't he interested? He seemed to have so much fun last year." And of course, my answer was, "I don't know."

Well, fast forward to tonight, about 5 weeks later. Stinkerbell is in drama mode because she doesn't understand why his choir had sign up already. Why hasn't her choir started? And why can't Dash go with her this year? But whyyyyyy? During tonight's whining session, er, I mean discussion, Dash informed her why he was not in choir.

"The reason why I am not in choir is because I didn't want to have to go to the bathroom in the middle of a song."

I did follow up to find out if this had been a problem last year. He told me it had been but just during a practice. Apparently, that one instance left quite an impression on him...and has ended all chances of an American Idol appearance in the future.

Rac-racoon

2008-09-30T19:29:00.003-04:00

Dash found a fuzzy brown caterpillar. I decided to play the role of "good mom", and told him we could keep it in a jar. Sure enough, the little guy spun a cocoon. So now we check on it daily...rather hourly sometimes. He probably has some type of Shaken Caterpillar Syndrome from all of the jar shaking that occurs. But I digress...Stinkerbell was checking on it the other day.

Me: What are you doing?

Stinkerbell: I'm looking at the rac-racoon.

Me: You mean the cocoon?

Stinkerbell: (With a look of 'duh' on her face) No, I mean the rac-racoon.

Imagine her confusion when we read a book about a racoon at the library story time.

Right wing

2008-09-27T16:23:00.003-04:00

The firstborn watched the presidential debate last night. A few minutes in, he questioned why McCain was on the left side of the screen. Since Republicans are called right wing, shouldn't he be on the right side?

Shoes

2008-09-27T16:12:00.003-04:00

So it's an unusually beautiful day and I persuade Dash that riding his bike would be a good idea. We go outside. Stinkerbell decides she wants to come too. Dash gets his helmet on, tries to run over a grasshopper and takes off.

Stinkerbell comes out holding a pair of shoes, realizes she doesn't have her shorts on and heads back inside to get them.

Dash rides some more, wrecks once, gets back on.

Stinkerbell comes out, shorts in hand, and needs help putting them on. (still no shoes on) We put her shorts on...Dash is still riding...she goes out to the sidewalk and says she needs help with the shoes. We put the shoes on. They are pink summer sandals with velcro straps. We put them on; she tells me they don't feel right. (Dash is still riding his bike.) Of course they don't feel right, because I put them on the CORRECT feet. She messes with the straps a bit and then decides they might be ok.

Dash finishes riding his bike and comes up to the sidewalk to play hopscotch. While, Stinkerbell is telling me I drew the hopscotch wrong, Dash is picking a rock. Stinkerbell then decides the shoes don't feel right afterall; so she heads back inside to get another pair.

We've been outside for 15 minutes now and Stinkerbell still hasn't played or done anything other than debate the merit of her shoes. She comes back out with another pair and puts them on. She gets up to walk and then announces that she needs socks on with them. So she goes back inside. I suggest that she wear her Crocs, which she informs me hurt her feet. She goes inside and gets them anyway. She comes back out with them, tries them on and decides they don't hurt her feet anymore. She's finally ready to play.

They head to hopscotch and discover a bee...which is their cue to run inside yelling about the bee. Stinkerbell takes her shoes back off and finds a doll to play with inside.

Stacy...or is it Staci???

2008-09-19T13:01:00.000-04:00

So, Stacy has come to live at our house. I'm not quite sure if she spells her name with a "y" or an "i"...or perhaps even an "ie." I haven't ever actually talked to her, but she moved in without my knowledge apparently. She is Stinkerbell's imaginary friend.

We don't have any close friends named Stacy, so I'm still not sure how she came up with that name. Although I find the fact that Stacy is always busy with her boxing lessons to be a little bit more perplexing. But she must be well-rounded because Stinkerbell just came out and told me that she and Stacy were going to the PTO meeting.

2008-09-11T15:38:00.000-04:00

So "Dash" comes home from school and tells us he got in trouble for talking.

"What were you supposed to be doing?"

"Taking a test."

"Well you can't talk during a test. You might be cheating."

"Well we would NEVER do something like that!" (with a look that tells me he's amazed I would even think such a thing)

"You can't talk during a test."

"Well, she never told us that. But I've learned my lesson!"

OK, I'm sure his teacher probably never specifically said "don't talk during tests". I'm sure she thought the "no talking when you aren't supposed to be" rule would fit all situations. Besides, who has ever heard of taking a test the in kindergarten...in the first couple weeks nonetheless.

Wow, kindergarten is going to be very interesting!!!