The Chronicles of School Days, Issue 8

It has been awhile since I have posted any pictures, so here are a few of our last week of school.

Tacey's last day of school! She has completed her first year of preschool! One more year, with an extra day thrown in there. ;)

Taylor had a Kindergarten Celebration and performance. It was so cute!

But he couldn't stand still. It turned out, he was trying to wait patiently because he had to use the restroom!

The Kinder grad and his amazing teacher! She will be seeing a lot of me next year too. I plan to help out in her classroom, considering she will likely have 25 + Kinder kids next year. And the year after, when she has Tacey! We love you!

And his other amazing teacher! I will truly miss her, as she is pregnant with her second child! Congratulations!

They also got to have a Pizza Pool party, the day before the last day of school!

He was cartwheeling into the pools! Those were some good looking cartwheels, he just needs to learn to keep those legs straight!

Taylor's teachers were nice enough to let the little sister attend the pool party! She thought that running from the hose was the best thing ever.

And, here we are, on our way to class, the very last day of Kindergarten!
I forgot to add that I have been a blubbering fool, this entire week! I couldn't even keep my eyes dry as Tacey gave her teachers the gifts that she made for them. And Taylor's celebration? Oh my goodness! I was a mess! I had tears rolling down my face the entire 30 minute performance! But, at least I wasn't the only one. Even his wonderful teacher started to choke up a bit! I even cried as Taylor gave his teachers their gifts. But, never a full bawling, sobbing cry. It was just the tears, buckets full!

Luck, in my family?

Everyday on the way to school, we listen to a morning radio show. This particular show has a trivia question for kids 13 and under. Not one, but BOTH, of my children have answered this question correctly, winning family tickets to the local zoo. Cool huh? What kind of questions did they answer? Disney movie questions. Now really, I am a good mom and closely censor and monitor what my children watch. They haven't won by knowing the answers necessarily, but by being good at deciphering mom's clues.

Taylor won about 2 weeks ago. His question was, "In Disney's Alladdin, what character disguises himself as a flamingo to get the lamp?"

The kids did actually know this answer, but first I had to translate the question into pre-primary school language. I turned it into, "In Alladdin, who pretended to be a flamingo to get the magic lamp?" Well, right away, my bright, can-remember-everything, almost-six-year-old answered, with the correct response. (I'll let you guess the answer. It's no fun if I just give it away.) So we called and actually got through. I was stunned and told the deejay to hold on while I handed to phone to Taylor. Because he has a slight lisp, the deejays had a difficult time understanding his name, but they got a kick out of him telling them that he is five and a half! He answered the question correctly and they asked what radio station made him a winner. He answered with no hesitation!

So, last Wednesday, we are on our way to school and the question came on. It was, "What kind of animal is Figuero in Disney's Pinocchio?"

They didn't know this one. In fact, I'm not even sure if they have seen Disney's Pinocchio. But they had no problem identifying mom's "meow." Taylor asked if we could call again and I thought maybe we should give Tacey a turn. He agreed, while she himmed and hawed about whether or not she wanted a turn. She finally decided that she did. I then proceeded to dial, having absolutely no hope that we would actually get through. This time, however, I was smart and turned on the speakerphone! If you have ever talked to a 3-year-old on a phone, you will understand how difficult it is to understand them on a landline, much less a cell! Not to mention, my daughter's unconventional name. Therefore, it really goes without saying that they got her name wrong. But "Casey" answered the question correctly and won tickets to the zoo. In fact she even answered, "What radio station made you a winner?" with no hesitation!

The point of this story? Twofold: one is to make you smile. And two: whose children are these? I have absolutely no luck and don't think I have EVER won anything on the radio in my entire life. I don't know if these children were switched at birth, but I am charging admission if you would like to rub their heads before you go buy a lottery ticket!

Beating the heat

Those of us on the West Coast saw some record breaking days of heat in mid-June. How does this family beat the heat? In a pool? Well, that would be wonderful, except we don't have even have a kiddie pool, and the community pools are overcrowded on hot days. In a nice air conditioned building? Sometimes, but everyone needs to get out and run out a little energy and get some fresh air. Run through the sprinklers? As fun as that is, it loses its appeal quickly. So, what did we do? See for yourself!









Yes, that's right! Nothing a beats a good, old-fashioned Slip N Slide, to take you back to those heat filled childhood days. Hearing the kids' laughter, playing tag, getting soaked by freezing cold water, and trying not to slide over the end makes you feel somewhat nostalgic for the days of your own youth. Memories flash of those days spent running through sprinklers, the bright yellow of the Slip N Slide, the big, green crocodile at the end of the slide, then the bump into the "lagoon." Where did the time go? All this reminiscing sparked by one little attempt to beat the record-breaking, triple-digit, 110+ degree heat.

"My left ear is my good ear and half of my right."

On my way home from the store today, the kids asked to listen to Rascal Flatts on the iPod. So, I put it on. After about the third song, Taylor says, "Mommy, this sounds like Rascal Flatts."

I said, "You are right, buddy. It is Rascal Flatts."

He said, "Do you know how I knew it was Rascal Flatts?"

I said, "How?"

He said, "All the songs sound like the same singer."

I said, "That's right, they all do. You have a good ear for music."

He replied, "My left ear is my good ear." Pause. "And half of my right."

Well, it was all I could do not to laugh at his completely serious comment. But, how stinkin' cute!

Eating apples

My adorable little 3-year-old daughter just ate an entire apple by herself, without having it cut up or cored. She calls me, "Mommy, can you get the seeds out of my apple? " I explained that you have to turn the apple and eat it on all sides, not just straight through the middle!

A few minutes later, she comes to me and I ask, "Where is your apple?"

In a matter of fact tone, she replies, "In the trash, 'cause I ate pretty well." So, I check for the apple. Sure enough, my already environmentally conscious, three-year-old put her apple core in the recycling can (keep in mind, this is only recycling, not compost too!)!