Solids

It was the boy's first time trying rice cereal.........

Things Unsaid

I get irritated by stupid neighbors.

There is this guy who has made multiple comments on how nice it would be if our yard was finished so that his house would stop getting dirty. (apparently our tiny yard's dirt flies up on his great, big house daily... it couldn't be from all the dust storms we have) Dan and I have made our yard proposal, but are waiting to hear from the great and powerful OZ. So today we started harvesting our crop of weeds that we have successfully grown for 18 months. (our little babies have gotten so big!) This neighbor comes home from who-cares-where, and smirks as he asks us if we are starting our yard project. Here are some of the responses I wanted to give:

"We are starting slowly since it is expensive when doing it all from scratch on your own."
(he lives in a green court where his builder did everything... he just paid a little extra fee...tough life)

"Yes, because we can't wait to get a fence up so we don't have to put up with your out-of-control kids." (picture small kids running wild through the chapel, during a mtg., with no supervision; and this always right outside our door)

"Well, we noticed that your house was getting pretty dirty."

*This is not verbal: leave all the weeds and rocks on his porch.

I am too nice.

"MOM, come get me!"

The boy has not been sleeping well lately, and he is usually a good little all-night sleeper. In the past 2 nights I have gotten a total of 7 hours of sleep. (who knows what the average for the past week might be) Some have said he may be teething, others said it might be an ear infection, and then there are those who smile and say "I've been there." That helps.

If only the little man could talk!

We visited the doc, (our least favorite person, but I haven't found a new one yet) and she deemed him totally healthy. After disussing some other things going on at home lately we decided that he has started to realize that he is being left alone in his room. He misses us. You might think that it is sweet and he just loves us so much. That is not what goes through my head at 12:30am, 2:00am, and 4:30am...

Help. I want to remember what it's like to sleep at night.

Chinese TV

If Makayla can show off all her cooking skills...with visuals even... I think I get to share a cooking success. (I am not saying she is a show off...)

First of all, I don't have cable. (Rob, there are still the few of us left. Not you, though.) I have always wondered how people can spend hours watching the Food Network, but on Saturday I had our TV on for background noise and it was turned to PBS. (the only clear station these days) It was cooking shows back-to-back and I got sucked in. I even copied down a few recipes and even tried one last night.

The most "entertaining" was some Chinese equivalent to Rachel Rae. (those with cable know about her) He was making a yummy-looking "beef stir-fry spinach salad." He was using all authentic (of course) ingredients only found at an Asian market, and just kind of dumping stuff together without informing us of amounts. Luckily, I had all the ingredients since Dan and I used to have Asian markets close by before moving to nowhere.

So I pretty much just did what this chef did and pour in whatever stuff he did. Stir-fry is easy, but it was the dressing that I pretty much guessed on. Dang, it was good. Dan was impressed, and since he is the only one of us who has had real Chinese food, I think it was a success. The boy didn't care so much about the food as he did about our cups and chopsticks. He can play with the cups, but I didn't feel much like a visit to the emergency room.

I am not as prepared with pictures of my meal. Maybe next time.

Red Rover, Red Rover

Do you remember this game? It's fun for kids, but as an adult you see the many potential dangers involved...

I have a boy in my class, (we'll call him Brandon) who had me laughing pretty hard during a red rover mishap the other day. He is just a little guy; a whole head shorter than most of my students. Currently his head is buzzed so he looks like a mix between an elf and curious George. He is also missing most of his front teeth. I adore him because of his HUGE personality.

Anyway, my class was playing Red Rover and the opposite team chose "Brandon". Now visualize this. He starts to back up from his line of teammates to get a good start, I guess. But as he is charging the other side, he is doing the Braveheart war yell. He gets to the other side, is completely clotheslined by the 2 kids holding hands, and his feet fly up over his head before he lands on the ground.

I first made sure he was okay, which he was, then laughed for a good 5 minutes. It was one of those moments that if filmed, would be watched over and over again!

Useless Tests

So tomorrow at 6:30 AM, (on a Saturday) I have to travel to my very least favorite place to take a test that I shouldn't have to take. Any guesses on the place... Provo. The BYU campus. Hell.

Because of our __________ (you fill in the blank) US president, all teachers have to prove they are worthy of teaching. Hey, wasn't that what all those tests, projects, and portfolios were for in college? This test would be useful to the government, or whoever wastes their life reading them, if this was a test on teaching practice or philosophy. But no, I have to take a 2-hour multiple choice test on content up to 6th grade. I teach Kindergarten, and won't ever teach past 3rd grade. (because of my degree) Is this fair? The info. on this test is stuff that normal people, even today's students, can just google. Why do I have to go and stress about guessing on most of the questions that I never have to teach? What will these results say about my teaching... ? Absolutely nothing. If I fail what happens? I have no idea. But if this is how the government really wants to evaluate its teachers than maybe I don't want to be involved.

I hope I have a job next year.

Home Run

Tonight Dan had 2 fence-hits and finally a home run during his company softball game. Congrats Babe!!
Our boy was so excited he chewed extra hard on my finger and drooled just a little more.

String Bikini

So our neighborhood has this "cute," LITTLE splash pad designed for 7-yr-olds and younger to go and... splash around. It isn't quite a pool and it isn't quite fountains, but the little ones have fun.
I was driving past it on my way home from work just now and saw the usual moms in tank tops, shorts, and sunglasses watching their youngens. But one mom (?) really stuck out of the group: blonde, big-boobed, wearing a black string bikini. I only make the boob comment because they were practically falling out of the tiny top.
What do ya'll think of this? I love the sun and getting a summer tan. I think wearing sleeveless stuff and shorts would provide this. I also think that when you are around little kids, and remember that most people bend down when talking to little kids, you should not be giving an anatomy lesson.
When I told Dan about "the mom," he changed his work-out plans to jogging past the splash pool. Typical.