T-giving Feast of K-gdn

I am exhausted. I spent the day in Ben's kindergarten room helping the kids mix pumpkin mousse, two batches of corn muffins and make butter in preparation for their thanksgiving feast this afternoon. Whew. I may never be gainfully employed again. It's exhausting to be up, dressed and out the door by 7:30 and then be relatively chipper and productive throughout the day. Not sure I ever remember a time when I could do it.

The kids had such fun as the neighboring classroom of Native Americans paraded over to our Pilgrim classroom and placed their food on our "table" (construction paper laid across the room) decorated with gourds. The Native Americans and Pilgrims feasted on turkey (jerky sticks), carrots, celery, apples, popcorn, pumpkin mousse, corn muffins with butter and pumpkin muffins. It was really special to be a part of it.

I am so thankful Ben has such an outstanding teacher this year. She is funny, kind, loving and really enjoys teaching the kids. They sang their hearts out to all the sight word songs. "I can spell and. A-N-D and. And is the word that I write with my hand. A-N-D A-N-D nikki nikki noo. That's what I learned in my school. Mama."

The headache that came on at ten this morning is still hanging on. Barometric pressure headache? Not sure but would be happy to have it go away.

Well Dinosaur Train is over and it is bedtime. Over and Out.

Parental Plummet

Tonight I am praying for transformation
Into the parent I want to be
Someone who always knows the right thing to say
Someone who stays calm in the most hectic of moments
Someone who whispers her displeasure with a quiet voice
As she envelopes her child in warmth and safety.

Does she exist? Not here at the moment.

Raised voices.
Irritation.
Frustration.

I wish to crawl under a parenting rock and stick my parenting head in the sand.

"Sometimes it feels like you don't even like me." he says.
"Sometimes I don't like you. But I can be mad at you and still love you." I reply.

My friend insist this blog thing is therapeutic. Bring it on. Mama needs some therapy. FAST.

Open Letter to the Frozen Food Deliverer

Dear Schwans Man-
There is nothing in your truck that I would need enough to open the door in my pajamas at 9:16 pm on a Wednesday night.

Life is Chock Full of Activities

We spent the last few days jaunting from one activity to the next. First the Veteran's Day Parade with Cub Scouts. Kevin pulled Will and Ben in the wagon, Ethan walked with the pack and I ran along the path and cheered. "Wooo Wooo!!"

One night we ventured to a local church that was having a mini golf fundraiser. Homemade holes can be pretty fun even if they have a religious undertone. One hole had two different paths marked "God's Way" and "Your Way". If you hit your ball your way, it would always loop around and return the tee off point where you had to start again. Finally after a number of tries Ben exclaimed, "Oh I get it. You HAVE to go God's Way." Pretty tricky Church of the Nazarene. Below is a picture of me at the hole that is apparently about a story in the bible where Elisha meets a bear. I don't know this story, but it proved to be a memorable putt putt hole.

Saturday morning we donned our skates for a cub scout skating party. My memories of skating involve large combs in your back pocket with sayings like "Awesome" and "Cool" that the boys would pull out of your pocket and skate away with them. Good times I tell you. We took Will namely because we didn't have any one to watch him. I just figured I would play with him while everyone else skated. It turned out they had skates small enough to fit him and he was a skating fool! Here he is doing the limbo.

Today a friend texted that he was going to fly kites after school and asked us to join them. We replied "Awesome." It was so blustery that all six kids had kites in the air for the longest time. It was so much fun!

What's next? I am sure something exciting will come down the pike.

Part II

Laundry is back....

with a vengeance.

Kickin' Some LB Butt

After nearly a week of numerous and random laundry baskets piled and stacked around the house in various stages....clean and unfolded......folded and sorted.....folded and unsorted.....dirty.....we have a very important announcement to make.

We did not let the baskets get the best of us! We have come and we have conquered! They have been washed, dried, folded, sorted and wait for it- all put away! Take that you!

It's a big day in our house. No one will be dirtying laundry. We may get some looks on the street, but we don't care. It's the principle of the matter. Surely we can have ONE day or at least ONE hour of being ahead of the laundry curve.

Seriously. Is it really too much to ask for??