Summertime Soccer

She's quietly taking in directions!

Knock out!

Goofy blew grass on himself!

Soccer star in the making!

Until he's had too much! Lol!  He makes me laugh ;)

Daddy's shades

They make such a captive audience!

French Class

The kids love learning about other languages, since they watch television shows with other languages incorporated.  Dora the explorer obviously teaches Spanish, as well as Diego.  Franny's Feet has several languages, including French, etc.  There are many languages touched upon when it comes to tv these days.  My kids love it and pick up on it like crazy.  I took 4 years of Spanish, and I tested out of 6 semesters worth of Spanish in college, but I cannot speak a lick of it!!!

Today, when we were outside, Mischief says she can blow "Z" bubbles!  Then, she politely explains to me that "Z" is how you say "the" in French!  Ha!  Maybe I should get her some real language lessons!

4-H symbol

I have been active in 4-H for my entire life, since cloverbud 4-H!  I have been a leader for the llama 4-H club for almost 10 years, etc.  Basically, long story short, one of my llamas has a four leaf clover on her back!  She is an appaloosa whose spots make a clover, which I think is totally cool!

This is Maddie's mid-section, showing her four leaf clover!

Safety Village

One of the field trips the kindergarten class takes is to Safety Village which is a small, child sized village made to teach children safety practices and run by the fire department and police department.  In the older classes, the kids learn how to escape a house filled with smoke in the case of a fire.  Kindergarten is taught how to be responsible pedestrians and what it is to be a pedestrian.  The officer in charge has been doing this for 28 years and the kids sure seem to get along well with her.

After the kids learned the responsibilities of being a pedestrian and how to be safe, they got to practice it with imaginary cars.  Then, the kids got to drive peg perego cars and 4-wheelers around the village.  Mischief realized she is NOT a fan of motorized bikes!!!  She was very concerned, kept getting hit by the kid behind her, bumped into the kid in front of her and got yelled at by the little brat, and burst into tears!  Poor thing didn't have any fun driving, but she was super cute doing it.

"Just in Case You Ever Wonder"

You all know we read a LOT of books.  And, by a lot, I mean, a lot of books!  We have a double book case full of books just for the kids.  The number of books we have is a little absurd.  It is especially absurd, because the kids know the story line of almost every book on the shelf, except for the new ones they just got for their birthdays!

Anyway, the kids brought me a book tonight called Just in Case You Ever Wonder by Max Lucado.  Max Lucado books are all Christian fiction books.  They are very heavy Christian based story books.  This one is a nice board book, which is very sentimental about no matter what, parents will always love their children, just in case the children ever wonder.

One quote in the book says, "If your grades are bad and your teacher is mad, come to me.... 'cause I love you.  And I always will, just in case you ever wonder."  Most children would get a nice warm feeling about the love of a parent, but Mischief is not most children.  She promptly got all huffy with me and says, "My grades aren't bad, and they won't be.  So, we don't even have to worry about that!"

Guess she's never really wondered...

Rooster Wrangler

Today, Mischief's 4-H club took the llamas and the rooster to the park for the kids' day at the park and to a nursing home.  We have been going to this same nursing home for roughly 15 years, so it's important to keep up with tradition.  Now, Mischief is too young to handle a llama in public or without help, so the mini 4-H'ers do not get to take the llamas anywhere except for their little show in July.  Therefore, we take the resident rooster, Elvis.  Elvis is the holding chicken, and Mischief loves to be his rooster wrangler.  She likes to hold him, carry him around, and ask people if they want to pet her rooster.  She is so stinking cute.  Pretty much the cutest rooster wrangler I've EVER seen.  I'm not sure who the residents like more - Elvis or his wrangler!

Simply a perfect couple!

Even when she set him down because her arms were going to fall off, she had to stay right next to him the whole day!

Farm Field Trip

Today was Mischief's field trip to the farm.  There was mass chaos while the FFA students from some area high schools put on a farm visitation for hundreds of elementary students yesterday and today.  They tried to have it down to a science, but they managed to take too long and not all the kids got to do all the stations.  But, the kids had fun anyway.  They got to milk the fake cow, pet animals, learn about candling eggs, etc.  The class took a group picture, and one of the kids in my group had his hands down his pants "scratching his leg."  Then we had a girl who saw the other kids sleeping on the bus and thought it was cool, so she pretended to sleep and not wake up!  It's always interesting what you're going to get into when you attempt to do anything with kids...

Wheat penny  hunt

Ponytail

The past few months, I have been working a number of jobs.  My mother and husband have been helping with the kids while I keep up with all the schedules, etc.  The other day, I was did not have to work, so I was putting Mischief's hair up in her ponytail.  She says to me, "I miss your ponytails!"  Poor thing.  She really knows how to pull at my heart strings. 

UPDATE:  Mayhem had another swim class today.  I have been working twice a week with him outside of class, and today went a lot better.  We still have a long way to go, but at least we didn't have any tears today!

Happy Birthday Mischief!

Yesterday, my little girl turned 6!  She was so cute and so excited it was her birthday, but she woke up and said, "I haven't grown at all.  Two days ago, when I measured myself, I was almost as tall as a six year old!" 

I subbed at her school yesterday, since she thought it was really cool that I was in her school on her birthday.  Also, I was in the same hall as her, as I was teaching a kindergarten class.  To add to my "why I could never be a teacher list," the teacher I was subbing for, definitely has a puke bucket!  If the kid doesn't feel well, they are to carry around a puke bucket until they feel better or puke!  I had kids begging for the puke bucket!  Gross!

Swim Class Drop-out

Today was Mayhem's first day of swimming lessons.  His sister has been taking swimming lessons for over a year, and she truly loves and enjoys them.  In fact, we use them as a reward for her good behavior at home and school.  Mayhem decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to take swimming lessons. 

Mayhem has been telling me all week how brave he is going to be, jump off the wall, go under water, etc.  Today, he got in the water, his feet didn't touch, and he FREAKED out!!!  Hysterical screaming and crying for a half hour! He announced to everybody that he was scared he was going to sink :(  Poor kiddo.  Now, I must spend hours in the pool breaking him of this...  before he becomes the next swim school drop-out!

Weather report

And, spring break is over.  Boo.  I enjoy actually being able to spend time with the kids.  It's no fun having the five year old at school all day long!  We are definitely looking to summer around here! 

Along with spring and summer, thunderstorm season approaches, too!  So far, we have made it through March with nothing more than a big snow storm, so now we are in desperate need of rain. There is supposed to be spring mud, and we have spring cracked ground.  There are thunderstorms predicted for this week, and the kids discussed it at school.

Mischief came home from school all excited that there was going to be a big, giant rain storm.  And, in this rain storm, there is going to be big, giant lightning and flashes of light, and really, really loud thunder.  Most importantly, she is predicting rain storms because she wants the lights to go out, so she gets to have a candle in her room when she goes to sleep.  When I told her it might not rain until after she went to sleep, she almost cried, and then, she argued with me because, "My teacher said!" 

So, now we have to turn off all the lights and read our Magic Tree House book by candlelight!

Happy Easter!

I hope everybody has had a Happy Easter!  We did around here.  The kids had an Easter egg hunt and got some candy, with lots of other things, like stampers, mini balls, etc.  We, obviously, like our candy around here, but I like the kids to enjoy getting other things, like books, as well.  The kids went to church this morning, and there were eggs all over the yard when they got home.

The highlight of the day was when Mischief got really excited when she saw the eggs in the yard.  She ran inside, told me the Easter Bunny had been there.  I said, "The Easter Bunny, huh?"  Mischief replies, "No, really, it's some guy in a giant bunny suit.  He just comes here with a giant basket of eggs, and hides them for us.  The Easter Bunny is just pretend, but Santa Clause, the tooth fairy, and leprechauns.... They're real!"

This pretty girl is the only one who would hold still long enough for me to take pictures!!!

I'm High!

You all know I am very, very sick of having sick kids, and I am so tired of being sick myself!  However, we just go with the flow, and do what we have to do.  Anyway, Mischief is sick again.  Her brother has had it for weeks, with ear infections, a sinus infection, and fluid on his lungs.  He has been treated with antibiotics that don't seem to be working.  So, we went back to the doctor, and have him on additional medications.  So, Mischief has been fighting off his evil germs for weeks.

Today, the nastiness of Mayhem has caught up with Mischief.  She is complaining of her ears hurting, but wouldn't admit it to me.  She said her ears did not hurt, but she wanted to know what happened to her brother at the doctor when he went in for an ear infection.  Mainly, she wanted to know if he had to have tests (of the blood test variety).  When I told her the doctor just looked in her brother's ears, then she admitted her ears hurt.  Silly girl!  It's amazing how they didn't hurt when she thought she had to have tests!  Then, we took her temperature.  It was a minor temp early this evening, and she had to tell everybody about it.  Then, later, after supper that she wouldn't eat, she felt warmer, so I took her temp again.  This time it was higher than before.

With her new high fever, Mischief walked around and informed Mayhem that she was high.  "Well, certainly higher than I was before!"  Then, she told her dad she was "even higher."  Frankly, it cracked me up (as she is red in the face with droopy eyes) telling everybody that she was just "higher."  "I'm so high!"

Vera Bradley Outlet Sale

A few years back, a friend of mine got me going to the Vera Bradley Outlet sale in Fort Wayne.  It was extremely overwhelming that year, but they have gotten better at crowd control.  Anyway, I thought it was good to support a local business.  Then, I somebody else pointed out to me that the bags are not actually made in the United States!  Apparently, a couple of things are still made here, but all of the bags I have ever bought, in addition to most of their other bags, are, in fact, made in China.  The economy has gotten to everybody, and it is cheaper out outsource a brand that is supposed to be an icon brand in the U.S.

Don't get me wrong, I'll still go to the sale because everybody likes a good deal!

Bam! I got him!

In kindergarten, the kids are working on writing stories and forming thoughts of more than one sentence at a time.  In Mischief's writing, I can tell she has been watching too much Phineas and Ferb.  They had to draw a picture of how they were going to catch a leprechaun and write the story.  Mischief draws a cute little picture and writes:

"The gold in the trap utracks the lepercon, and bam!  I got him."

I thought this was extremely cute and one that will be kept for her book!

Now, I leave you with a link to her model for her stories.  For those of you who don't know, usually the evil villain, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, always traps his nemesis, Perry the Platypus, somehow.

I Could Never Be A Teacher!

I have said before, and I will say now, I could not EVER be a teacher!  There are many reasons, and I truly admire the great teachers that we have.  However, I will never be one of them!  For crying out loud, I can barely make it as a sub.  Two things came up today with my kids that make me solidify my feelings on the subject.

First, Mayhem was all types of sullen this morning when we were talking about him going to school.  Normally, he is extremely excited, but today was different.  Today, he said he couldn't go to school.  When I asked why, he pointed to the blue marker on his hand from the day before, and said he couldn't go to school with blue on his hand, and his friends would make fun of him.  I am so glad to hear there is bullying in preschool.  Then, he tells me that he knows there is time-out in the office of the school.  I asked him how he knew that, and he said his friend had to go to the office for time-out for hitting him.  I didn't even know about the incident, and it had to be bad enough for Mayhem to say something, because he usually says "Nothing" when I ask him about school.

Secondly (and most disgustingly, so do not read on if you have a weak stomach), Mischief comes home from school, and she heads into the bathroom, as she was getting ready for her swimming lessons.  She called me into the bathroom, and says, "Diarrhea."  I told her she didn't have diarrhea.  She says, "I know.  But my teacher needs to see it if we do at school, so she knows if we are really sick or not."  Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but I am totally disturbed that there is even enough of a conversation about diarrhea at school to make Mischief think her teacher needs to see it!!!!  Gross!!!  Now, her teacher is a mother of a second grader, so I kinda get it, but I would never, ever, ever check another kids diarrhea.  If this is a requirement of a teacher, gross!  If not, thank goodness!  Hopefully, Mischief is confused ;)

Valentines Day

I ran out of time last night, so I am going to tell you about two lovely days wrapped together in one post!

First of all, yesterday was my birthday, and the kids were sooo excited!  Really, any celebration is more for them than me anyway, but who's paying attention?  Last year, I had to make my own cake because the kids wanted birthday cake, and who else was going to make it?  This year, a friend gave me a giant birthday cookie, so at least I didn't have to bake a cake.  The cookie was so good and covered in blue icing that Mayhem actually had God bless the birthday cookies before he blessed the birthday girl during prayers last night.  Mischief just tells everybody that I'm old and asks me, "Since you're old now, do you forget stuff?  Do you need to go to the doctor?  How long before you die?"  Happy Birthday to me.

I spent most of my birthday making dairy and nut free cookies for the Valentine's day parties at the schools.  This wouldn't have been a chore, except it was my birthday (and I am now old), and I, evidently, do not have a decent recipe for dairy free cookies.  Basically, I fed the kids in both classes playdoh patties.  But, my icing was good (as my icing is always good), and that really makes the cookie anyway, right?

At these parties, there is always fun stuff going on.  For instance, at the 3 year old preschool party, two of the kids do not speak English.  That's always fun.  They simply get frustrated and start yelling.  I do not know how Mayhem's teacher does it.  She is a saint.  Really, all teachers are saints.  But, Mayhem is one of the calmer kids in class!  In fact, on kid keeps lifting her shirt, or pulling it down, since there is a new baby at home.

Mischief's kindergarten teacher is also a saint.  And, no, she did not pay me to say that!  She puts up with a lot, as all teachers do, and Mischief genuinely loves her teacher.  More importantly than her teacher, however, is her teacher's son.  He goes to the same school, and is in second grade.  Mischief has come to know him and dearly loves him, too!  She refused to leave her party today, until we stayed after school so Porter could make a Valentine's day cookie with her.  She knows he likes to decorate cookies, so she is always very concerned that he gets his cookie!

Kids are so stinking cute at this age!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Really?

We all know that today's educational system is not what it used to be.  Kindergarten is like first and second grade used to be, etc, etc.  Also, the generation of kids who are graduating these days have had access to technology that we never did, etc.  I am not telling you anything new, or anything you didn't already know.

However, yesterday, I was subbing at a local high school.  One of the teachers I was working with handed me the school newspaper.  I thought this was unusual because, "Why do I care about the school newspaper?" since I only sub a couple days a week, so I'm only there a few times a month.  Anyway, so I read the first article of the paper, and was astounded.  I could not believe what I was reading.  I mean, I knew the "no child left behind" theory was letting people pass when, let's face it, they don't really deserve to pass and/or graduate. 

As I was reading the article, I could not believe what I was reading.  At this school (soon to be more schools district and/or state wide), there are no more zeros given for homework.  Yes, you read that right.  No more zeros for missing homework.  If a student doesn't turn in his or her homework, the lowest he can get is a 50%!!!!!  If they turn it in, even though every answer is wrong, the lowest they get is a 60%.  The theory behind it is, there are so many kids failing, and they get discouraged when they have a zero for homework, because it takes so much work and effort to bring up the zero, that most of the kids don't try.  With this system, the kids (theoretically) will be more motivated to keep trying and bring up their failing grades. 

Personally, this is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of!  I knew kids when I was in school, who never turned in homework and still aced the tests.  There would be a lot more than that, if they knew they still got a 50-60% on homework for not turning it in!  The kids will learn nothing!  And by nothing, I mean they will learn less than nothing because they are being rewarded for doing nothing.

These kids are the ones who (in the next 1-4 years) will be out in the workforce.  Educated people have problems getting jobs now, but all the jobs will soon be taken over by kids who are graduated and cannot spell "tiniest" correctly.  Yes, one of the programs we were working with yesterday was teaching seniors how to spell "tiniest," "windiest," etc.  There is something wrong that these kids cannot spell and will be graduating!  But, they will be ok, since they are now getting credit for doing NO WORK!!!

The Boxcar Children

The kids and I read a lot of books together.  You know, the classics.  Amelia Bedelia, Curious George, Clifford, and any of the "I Can Read Books."  For Christmas, Mischief was given the first of the Boxcar Children.  Now, need I remind you, Mischief is only five years old, and she is in kindergarten, but she has a love for books.

I always loved the Boxcar Children, when I was a kid.  I am pretty sure I read all 100+ books in the series.  So, now, we have read our first Boxcar Children book, and Mischief loved it!  I am so excited.  I read a page, and she reads a sentence or two, and we read the entire book this way.  She did so well with it, too, as far as comprehending the story, reading the words, and answering questions about the story.  I

I am SOOO very excited about the fact that she likes all the same books I did when I was little.  And, to top off my night, Mischief composed a song to sing to me at bedtime.  She titled it "Mommy is the best and she loves me."  Sometimes, there are perks to this never ending job!

Quote of the Day

Mischief's brilliant quote of the day:

said about her brother, "Oh man!!!  You stink so bad, you need to change your feet!  You're such a boy!"

Enough said.  She's got it right.

Still Sick!

I am sooo tired of this gross, snotty sickness!  Basically, I am feeling better, and Nathan is feeling better, but everybody else is sick!  Gross!  That's all I have to say on that, so I will leave you with a video of a song that has been stuck in my head for weeks!

Who doesn't need to sing this song daily when serving supper to a couple of kids who don't want to eat!

Devotion

The plague has been at our house for almost two months now!  I am soo tired of being sick, as I am sure half the country is by now.  We have all been sick, including Daddy who refuses to admit he is sick!  We have all had fevers of 103-105+.  Poor Mayhem is all types of cute and clingy (not less destructive) when he has a nasty fever.  He told the doctor that his ears were sick.  He's so stinking cute!

Poor Mischief.  She has come down with the illness again.  She came home from school, fell asleep, and woke up with a temp of 104.4.  Yeah, if we do it, we do it well.  Anyway, she is sleeping on the couch, rather than eating, going potty, or doing anything else.  I woke her up to tell her to go to bed, and she says, "I can't go to bed!  No bed!  I need to do my homework!"  Now, that's devotion!

I hope you all are staying well!