Making the Most of It

As I was packing the lunches for school, Josiah reminded me to send the cookie cake with him. Cookie cake: less messy, more delicious celebration snack for birthdays at school.

I got the treat down and set it on the counter whilst it was still in the grocery bag.

Josiah asked if I had seen the cake. Not grasping the fullness of his question, I pointed out that the cake was there ready to be taken to school. He clarified. "No, look at it. Daddy bought a GIRL cake! He said that was the only one there."


Behold, the flower cookie cake with PINK. Yes, even though Josiah loves to dig and plant... there was no denying that this was indeed a GIRL cake.

We had a few minutes before the bus would be coming so I told Josiah I would see what I could do. I thought about just removing the flowers completely and covering the entire cookie cake with chocolate icing but didn't think the teacher would appreciate the results of the extra sugar. So I did this:



A little transformation and .... it's an aquarium cake! Happy Birthday, Josiah. Enjoy your formerly GIRL cookie cake.



P.S. I know that there's still some pink around the edges. I did say I only had a few minutes. Sheesh.

The friends who saved the snowman jewel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once a group of friends had a job from the king and it was to protect the snowman jewel. They had to stay up all night and drink coffee to stay up and guard it all night and which they did not like but he payed good every day they got 1,000,000,000,000$$$$$ and that's just one day you know.







Well maybe not. They might as well go to sleep. They just look like they're sleeping and well you might just be right if you look close enough you can see it better.







Now that is what i want to look like when I grow up.






Ah,ah a pirate he's trying to steal the treasure and he was soon caught.







Soon his death came and it went well but not for him though.
And doggy's dream came true to some day blow off some pirate's cap. And doggy for some reason just yelled, "Kiss your butt good by!!!!!!!!!!"




Today's story was courtesy of my 8 year old son, Josiah. He set the scenes, took the pictures, and wrote the accompanying story. (I did a bit of grammar editing to separate some run-on sentences. Next time I'll leave it as is.)

My Thumb is Kind of Dirt Colored Right Now

I can't say I'm good at gardening. Well, I could.... but I'd be lying.

It seems like I should be a natural "green thumb" since I have generations of farmers in my family tree but, obviously, it's a learned skill instead of an inherited one.

Nevertheless each spring I attempt to make a pretty spot in front of my house. If I don't (and I haven't in times past) I look at those "flower beds" in dismay all summer.

Today was that day. The day of gathering the tools. The day of wishing I knew where my garden gloves are hiding. The day of being cheered on by Noah, "Yes! Let's do it! Let's do this!" The day Nathan looked forward to me working in the garden so he could play my new video game. The day of being motivated by Josiah who had already started doing his own unapproved digging. (He had good intentions and he loves dirt.) Today: we tackled the garden.

And you know what? I like the finished product. I may not be able to tell you all the names of the plants in there but I think I could pull off half of them.

This. This is my garden.

Oh, okay. This is OUR garden. Thanks, Gentlemen, for all your help and/or enthusiasm.

Tough Yet Sensitive

Our family went to the park last Saturday evening. The boys played on the playground, ran on the tennis courts, and ventured toward the trees. Then we did it. We walked through the woods to the other side of the park to play on the other playground, the old playground (which is more fun than the new playground).

The path through the woods is wide and well worn as well as full of mosquitoes. Okay. Maybe not full but I was bit twice. Twice in a short little walk. And as we walked I noticed a little bump on Josiah's eyelid. "Josiah, I think a mosquito bit your eyelid! Did you feel that?" No. He was oblivious and even after I pointed it out, he could hardly tell it was there. I was amazed that he didn't feel the bump on his eyelid that looked sort of like a blister but not as transparent. One other thought that occurred to me was that I couldn't see a bite mark in the middle of the bump. Then we were distracted by cool things like lots of playing, walking, and watching a father and son practice batting before going home and getting the boys in bed.

Little did I know that things would be different in the morning....

One glance and "WHOA! Um. Josiah, your eye is swollen." *flashback to the little eyelid bump* When I asked about it, he said it didn't hurt and it itched just a little bit. I gave him some children's allergy medicine hoping that would relieve the swelling. Josiah was embarrassed at the thought of going to church like that and started searching for his pirate eye patch. Soon I noticed scraps of paper laying around. Hm. It wasn't long until I head an outcry from Josiah; Nathan had grabbed and crumpled the eye patch Josiah had been making for himself. It was then that I realized just how self-conscious Josiah was feeling. His self awareness is developing and shutting out the carefree obliviousness.

So he and I started afresh and made an eye patch together. I cut it out and found a strap. He came up with a clever way to attach the strap and decorated the front. Then we attached a cotton ball on the inside for comfort. Perfect.

Only it wasn't over. Josiah's eyelid was still red and swollen and almost swollen shut for awhile. We decided to wait it out and just make sure that whatever it was wasn't spreading. (Why do these things always seem to happen when the doctor's office is closed?) Finally, on Monday we could see improvement but Josiah still cocked his head to the side in order to look at you since his eye wouldn't open all the way.

With his top front tooth missing, a bottom front tooth missing, AND his eye swollen, he looked like he had been in a serious fight. Belinda said that he should have a shirt saying "YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY."

At least with the noticeable improvement, the worrying and wondering came to an end. And eventually the swelling did too.

I'm not sure if we'll get Josiah back into the woods anytime soon...

Illiteracy is No Excuse

Josiah took it upon himself to clean and organize his dresser top two evenings ago. I was thrilled and joyfully noted that all my cleaning and organizing is not going unnoticed and I ignored the thought that it may have been a way to stall bedtime. Cleanliness comes before bedtime!

Not surprisingly, the other two boys raided his newly visible area and ate and/or wasted most of his remaining Easter candy when Josiah was at school the next day.

If there one thing I hate to see wasted, it's chocolate candy!

This morning I noticed a sign posted on Josiah's dresser. It stated:

If you take some thing from my dresser you will haft to pay 10$.

At first I didn't see the "10$" part and I thought "Whoa... that's some threat! This guy is serious about protecting his stuff." Noticing the "10$" on the end makes it less physically threatening and seems quite wise to me. Now I'm thinking of creating a Money for Messes program myself.

Too bad the other boys can't read your sign yet, Josiah.

Just a Thought

Some thoughts just seem more complete on a Post-It.

Encroachment

Josiah, is there not enough space in this house designated for your toys?

Must they take over my counter too?

Perhaps you need some shelves....

It looks like Bike Night around here.

I wonder if that Lego man is just a little bit nervous.

Questionable Phone Manners

We were having a family discussion about April Fools Day. Okay, I was telling my kids about April Fools and I was laughing about one particular joke I and my friends pulled off but when the joke was revealed the jokees didn't think it was funny. In fact, they were downright mad about it. But we still thought it funny and we laughed and laughed. You remember the one, Heidi?

At one point I told Josiah,who didn't even fall for the "your shoelaces are untied" joke (Smart Alec.), that our good friend loves to fool people on every April 1st and will come up with elaborate schemes to pull them off involving multiple people. Then Josiah started asking me all about the schemes and the hows and the whys and the whos and the *sigh*. Let's just say he has a lot of questions. After trying to answer some of the questions, I came up with a brilliant idea.

"Do you want to call Becky and ask her if Randy fooled anyone today?"

Josiah must have thought this is a good idea too because he agreed to it so I dialed my cell phone for him and handed it to him. *whew* Mission accomplished.

His phone conversation goes like this: wawawa (That's Becky. Imagine the Charlie Brown cartoon's adult voices, please.) "Did Randy joke anyone today?" wawawa? "Did Randy joke anybody today?" wawa. wawawawa. Then Josiah pushes END.

I am incredulous. "Did you just hang up on Becky?!" Yes, he did because obviously I have failed at teaching my children phone manners. *hangs head in shame* So I did the only thing I could. I called Becky back and talked to her for a few minutes ... until we drove through a "dead zone" and my phone hung up on her AGAIN.

So I called her again. And this time I said both "Hello" and "Goodbye"!

I'm so sorry for pestering you, Becky. It may happen again.

Speech Meet: The Showdown

Josiah participated in a Speech Meet on Friday. It all started with memorizing a poem and reciting it for his class then he came home excited that he was selected out of his first grade class to advance to the Speech Meet. This meant that he would go to another school and recite his poem there.

I didn't know until last week that it would be an all-day event. When I brought Josiah to the school Friday morning I learned that there were seven other schools involved and over 200 students. The day would be packed with speech, science, math and reasoning.

His group was to recite during the first session and I was able to stay and watch. After finding the correct classroom, there were 24 first through third graders reciting their selection to the other 23 students, three judges, and the parents that were there.

I was nervous for him. He knows that poem extremely well but I wondered if he would recite it clearly and loudly or if he would rush through it. I noticed his face blush when it was his turn... but he did it! He recited the poem clearly and loudly enough. (When I was in school I purposely misspelled a word in our Spelling Bee so that I wouldn't have to advance and do it again in front of a big crowd. I was that shy.)

At the end of the day, John and I were able to come to the award ceremony where he got a ribbon for doing an "excellent" job.

You may notice in this picture how much he loves being in front of a crowd. (Did my sarcasm come through?) How did all the other kids do? Pullease. I'm sure they did fine but I only had eyes for my son. I am so proud of him!

This is the poem which he chose to recite:

Chums
by Arthur Guitterman

He sits and begs, he gives a paw,
He is, as you can see,
The finest dog you ever saw,
And he belongs to me.

He follows everywhere I go
And even when I swim.
I laugh because he thinks, you know,
That I belong to him.

But still no matter what we do
We never have a fuss;
And so I guess it must be true
That we belong to us.

And this is Cairo, Josiah's very own chum. And mine.

Manual Speed Golf

Either Josiah created a new game or.....

There are high levels of cheatin' goin' on!

It Was the Best of Both

We had a taste of Spring yesterday....and it was delicious! Do I dare pack away the winter gear?Spring and Winter Meet

Homecoming AND Homework

I received an email from John while I was gone telling me this:

It is starting to hit Josiah and Nathan that you are not here, Nathan has cried a few times and Josiah has come close but is trying to be the big brother I guess, Noah is still content knowing that you are still irking.

Aw. I didn't want my boys to have a hard time. It surprised me that my energetic, ornery-leaning Nathan was having the worst time of it. I thought my baby, Noah, may have a rough week since he doesn't like to see me leave for even a short trip to the store but his thought that "Mama irk" (interpretation: Mommy is at work.) satisfied him the entire time. Josiah? I wasn't sure how he would handle it but I think he did great.

My journey home began early in the morning, one week ago. Once the trip home was underway, I was looking forward to seeing and hugging all of my gentlemen. We called from Pittsburgh and asked them to meet us at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Upon our arrival, there were squeals and smiles and BIG hugs. Nathan kept telling Grandpa and I, "I am REALLY happy to see you!" Josiah jumped into my arms to hug me. Noah grinned from ear to ear. I couldn't have asked for a better homecoming.

Can you tell that they missed me? Certainly not from this picture.

~PART 2~

John started working the next morning so I quickly had to get back into the swing of things at home. I was told that Josiah had to do a book report for school, his very first book report, and that John saved that for me to do with him. We had three evenings to do it and John and Josiah had already read the book. The first evening, we didn't have the construction paper required but we read the book again. I bought some construction paper and I started helping Josiah follow the instructions the second night. It was not successful but now he knew what he wasn't supposed to do.

It's hard to get Josiah's picture sometimes. I had him show me his dollars that Grandma has given him for Valentine's Day. Sneaky, eh?

I'm not sure that Josiah will ever want to do another book report with me again. His report was to have six pages attached and folded accordion style. I kept pestering him with directions.

Follow the instructions. You have to focus on what you're doing. Use pencil first then go over it with markers. Write neatly. Draw the picture right here. Keep your letters the same size. You better write that word again. What is the setting? Please don't drink over your book report. Do you remember the main characters? What pictures do you want to draw that will tell the story? You don't have to draw the same pictures that are in the book. Be careful with the paper. Don't wrinkle it.

And so on... until is was finished. *whew*

Yes, I do have perfectionist tendencies. "Hi. My name is Sarah and I'm a perfectionist. I have been relaxed about the state of homework for 3 days now. Oh wait. I forgot something. 0 days now."

I think his first-grade book report turned out well. His pictures? They may need some explanation. But I think this format was a great way to get him thinking about the aspects of his book and how to tell about the story.

Side Games

During the big game day yesterday, we had some other games going too. Multi-tasking, you know. We even did a game within a game. Amazing, right?

While we played Apples to Apples, Josiah and I had a little spur of the moment game. First, I put a sour head candy in my mouth. whahaa! Those things are insanely sour! Then it was Josiah's turn.

I will admit that he kept his sour head candy in his mouth longer than I had kept mine.
Josiah-1
Mom-0

I think losing that particular game was worth it. Who came up with that stuff as a candy?! It could be a torture device. And be careful when taking it out! If it touches the end of your tongue where sour is registered..... well, just be aware that you don't want that to happen. *shudder*

Child Rearing Is a Full Time Job

Train up a child in the way he should go.... Some things are very important.

Encourage creativity.

Get permission before touching breakables.

Take care of those smaller than you.

Treasure "old" things.
Some day you may really, really appreciate it.

Keep your face clean.

Try to look at things from another viewpoint.

Stay hydrated.

Never, ever punch your uncle in the you-know-what's.
Nic said that Josiah almost learned his first vulgarity.

(Nobody worry. He recovered. I think.)

Note: They may be shocked initially when you enforce your standards but it's worth it.

I hope.

And the Winner Is.... Mom

I'm sure that EVERYBODY is talking about the Miss America Pageant. Well. Most people... half of everybody? Okay. One out of ten. *ahem* Well, I am.

After not seeing the pageant for years, I said to myself, "Sarah, you're going to have to watch that pageant this year." After finding out what day the pageant aired, I waited until Saturday to do my show prep.

I did a search on the Internet and came to this page which showed me each contestant's picture, name, and state. Of course, I pulled out my index card and listed all the states' two-letter abbreviations and the first name of the contestant. Step 1 complete. Then I pulled up the post office web site and made sure that I wrote down all the abbreviations correctly. YES! I still have it.

Next, I scrolled through each contestant choosing my preliminary favorites based on their photos. I picked 12, then erased one. (Sorry #12.) Seriously, Rhode Island, this is supposed to be a contest to be a public relations person, not some sultry magazine model. Couldn't you find a "girl next door" picture like everyone else?

Then I had John look through everybody and choose his favorites because that's what I do.

He only chose six and five of those were ones I had chosen. His only chance of pulling out a singular win was dependant upon Miss Vermont's success.


As John was giving his quick yes or no, Noah started mimicking him and doing his own, "No, no, no, no, no...." Wow. He's tough.

Then Josiah joined in the scrutiny! His first remark? "Her face is too square." Really? Then, "Round, oval, oval, oval, round..." Then there was much laughter.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?


Since the pageant was on TLC, I went to my parents' house and watched the show with my mom. Yes, I sucked her into it too.

I was pulling for Miss Oregon during the pageant but she was eliminated before I left for work. That's right. I didn't get to see the end because of work.

No worries though.

We recorded it.

And I watched the whole thing again with my sister-in-law, Holly, on Sunday.

We watched the evening gowns (There was one gown I didn't like because it didn't allow for "gliding".) ... the swimsuits (Sorry, DC, but you were thrusting your rib cage out. This is not a show for starving children. Besides that, I haven't seen my ribs for some time.) ... the talents (One sang a Whitney Houston song. Lovely song. Lovely voice, but COME ON! You're putting yourself up against Whitney instead of the other contestants. Most anyone would have a hard time with a sing off against Whitney.) ... and finally, the Questions. (Please, ladies, focus on the actual question asked. You forgot where you started and I'm pretty sure that is why you two finished last.)

The big moment finally arrived!

Miss Virginia is the new Miss America!

I know the suspense was killing you.

"Isn't she lovely...."

Just so you know, she was on MY list (and not John's).

Wait! Wait! The best was yet to come.

On the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house last night, Josiah asked me, "Did you ever win won of those contests, Mom?"

Me: No, I didn't.

Josiah: Why not?

Me: Well, I never entered one of those...

Josiah: You could wear your wedding dress.

Me: I suppose I could...

He thinks I would win! (Josiah, now would be a good time to ask for whatever it is you've been wanting.)

P.S. I was going to name this post "And the Winner is ... ME" but then I thought that you would think,"Is she out of her mind? Miss Maine did NOT win the pageant; she didn't even make the first cut! Obviously this person has no idea what she is writing about." (because I have faith in you to know the 2-letter abreviation for states too and that those abreviations are foremost on your mind at all times) and then you wouldn't read that it was indeed me that won because I picked the winner and John didn't and Josiah (God bless him!) implied that I too could have won.

Stating the Obvious

Weather report: It's been a snowy week. (No! Really!?)

Perfect conditions for "snow swimming"

5-Day Forecast: Snow

Snow


Spitting Snow



Snow

More Snow

Okay. Maybe not THAT much snow.

Thank God for that spitting snow; otherwise our weather would be pretty redundant!

In other news....

Boys LOVE snow. So much so that when little Nathan went inside yesterday complaining of cold hands to his mother, he was not yet ready to give up on the snow play. He simply requested his mother to blow on his fingers for him and fix him up with a fresh pair of warm gloves. It is reported that he then said "Thank you, Mommy, for blowing on my fingers." before returning to the outdoors.

Economic news: Hot chocolate sales are soaring.

Fashion Advice

Josiah was eagerly waiting for me to take him shopping with me. He had $4.37 in a plastic baggy and he knew he could buy FOUR things from the Dollar Tree. (The cashiers really like seeing that bag of coins pulled out. Heh heh heh) I had told him that I would take him to the Dollar Tree since I wanted to go to Kohls on one condition: He couldn't pester me about when we would leave while I was looking around.

We were agreed.

However, there was no stipulation that he couldn't pester me to actually get out the door and into the car and so he kept checking in with me to see when we were leaving.

At last, I said, "Okay. I just need to look in the mirror to see what needs done." "What do you mean?", he asked. "Well, I'll have to comb my hair and stuff.", I informed him. Always the helper, Josiah looks me over and matter-of-factly says, "I think you're going to have to comb your hair, put on some make-up, and... put your contacts in. Oh, and change your clothes because you're still wearing kind of pajamas."

Huh. This from the same boy who frequently forgets to comb his own hair and wears oversized, undersized, ripped, and stained clothes just because he likes them.

Thanks for tips, kid. How would I pull myself together without you?

Boots, Boys, and Boxes

I came home from work this morning to find this:

Of course, my first question is "Nathan, where are your clothes?" and the answer is simply "I don't need them."

While I am focusing on finding clothes which my child actually does need to keep warm around here, the words "trap" and "cat" and then "cat trap" filter through to me. "What are you guys talking about?" Josiah then directs my attention to their newest contraption. "Oh wow... Is the cat IN there? Okay. Let the cat out, please. Thanks."

I'm not sure if they placed the cat inside the trap or lured him in with his food bowl but he was indeed trapped and seemed very accepting of his fate. He emerged slowly when Josiah opened the trap door. Though I don't condone trapping the cat, I admitted to myself that their setup was pretty cool. Maybe they've been watching too much Phineas and Ferb....

Aren't boots and boxes cool? Of course, they would be nothing without the boys!