Apparently He Does Know Better

For Christmas we got Davis socks and sleepers. Oh, and we got him a cool sponge that has the soap IN IT. We didn't get him any toys and fun stuff because he is only 18 months old and wouldn't really care . . . .

Note for next year, he cares.  

Davis spent Christmas morning stealing the other kid's gifts. 

He successfully acquired a Yo Gabba Gabba hat, a John Deere lunch box, and a granola bar among other things.

His look of rejection will forever haunt me.  Well, at least for a week or two.

Spreading Neighborly Love

Michael took charge of the neighbor gifts this year. He bought a couple of 2x4s and made what the guys at his work call "Ho Blocks." He cut them, the kids helped him paint them, and I got the pleasure of sanding them because the sander is mine and I'm very possessive of it.

Today I made the boy go with me to deliver a set to one of his primary teachers.

Boy: Are we giving Ho Blocks to Sister Ha----?
Me: Yep.
Boy: What about Sister Heid--? Does she get Ho Blocks?
Me: We'll deliever hers tomorrow.
Boy: Okay, I just wanted to make sure she was on the Ho List.

The Beginning of the End

My children will start Christmas break at 12:30 today.  From this point on I will be hiding in my house trying to figure out how to finish the Christmas presents I was supposed to finish weeks ago with out them seeing.  

I will also be writing a list of reasons they still need to go to bed at 8:30 even though they don't have school tomorrow.  "Because I'm out of Dr. Pepper" is at the top of the list.  Every time I buy one the boy says, "Uh Uh Uh Uh Mom!  That's not healthy . . . ."  He's so cute when he's concerned.

I will also be hording the treat plates we receive from the neighbors so I can binge on sugar after the kids go to bed.  If they're going to keep me from having a Dr. Pepper, I should at least get to eat the majority of the candy.

I Don't Know Why I Try

He Can Be Bought

C: Monica? You have a tractor?

M: Yes I do! I have a big tractor.

C: Monica? You adopt me? I be nice!

The Glare

The glare has almost reached perfection.

Perhaps just a touch more dissapointment and frustration.

But he's close.  Very close.

Decorating Help

Wednesday I told my mom I would buy her lunch if she would help me decorate my mantel.  She does a much better job than I do.  I would have taken a picture of my attempts with out her help, but it was too embarrassing, so I'm just going to show you a picture of the final product.

Just try to imagine it with the black bead board up.  We're uh . . . still working on that.

 

After a long hard day of taking decorating advice I left the kids and went out for a night on the town with Michael.  Unfortunately, when we got home something looked a little off.  

I took a closer look.

Maybe  just a little closer . . . 

 

Oh.  Of course!  A  dirty sock.  I was lucky enough to find three of them hidden on my mantel.  Nothing says Christmas like dirty socks.  In fact I think I'm going to use them as the kids stockings this year.  They'll be a lot easier to fill.

For My Friends Who Just Had Babies

It's Official . . .

We have an obsession.

I give you Chase's Christmas list

Pattern for the Ruffled Scarf

I love this scarf and it was really easy to make so I decided to post my pattern. The ruffles in the scarf are made by using the Gathered Stitch found in Interweave Press's book Knit and Purl.

As you see from my list of materials I used Moda Dea Cartwheel yarn. It is a medium weight yarn and 100% wool. Honestly I got a ton of this yarn super cheap. There aren't many projects I would use this yarn for, but oddly enough, it turned out to be a fabulous choice for this scarf.

Also I don't list a guage because its a scarf for heavens sake!

Here is the pattern:

Ruffled Scarf

Materials:

Size 8 needles

4 skeins (aprx. 308 yards) medium weight yarn - I used ModaDea Cartwheel in Misty

Stitch Abbreviations:

kfb: Knit into the front and back

k2tog: Knit 2 together

Pattern:

Cast on 25 stitches

Row 1: Knit

Start Ruffle Pattern (14 rows)

rows 2 to 6: Knit

row 7: kfb of each stitch

row 8, 10, and 12: Purl

row 9 and 11: Knit

row 13: k2tog to end

knit the 13 row ruffle pattern two more times (for a total of three ruffles)

continue in garter stitch (knit right side and wrong side rows) until you reached your desired length

starting on the right side knit rows 7 to 13 of the ruffle pattern

repeat the entire ruffle pattern 2 more times (for a total of three ruffles)

knit 5 more rows

bind off

weave in your ends and enjoy!


To download this pattern as a free PDF click here

Caution at the Crosswalk

If I knit this scarf for the crossing guard at my kid's school do you think he'd wear it?

Better Late Than Never

Five Things For Which I Am Grateful 

Meat

Without which I might have to eat tofu.

4 Inch Platforms

Without which I might never have known my father-in-law had a bald spot.

Knitting

Without which I might never be sane.

Toddlers

Without which I might have to find a dog to dress up like a turkey.

Scissors

Without which I might never have known that under all that hair was a glare to rival that of Grandma Jan's.

That's Not a Knife . . .

Noah:  You should get this knife for your dad.

Kai:  No.  My dad doesn't fight.

Noah:  Not to fight-- you should get it so he can sharpen sticks and make spears.

Kai.  Uh . . . no.  My dad just goes to work and comes home.  He doesn't really make spears.

Flu Tracker

This is the kind of thing that makes google awesome.

http://www.google.org/flutrends/

Unrequited Love

Me:  "Chase, I love you!"

Chase:  "I love cars."

Mr. Happy

This is Chase and his personality right now.

These black and yellow shoes are his favorite. He calls them his "fire fighter boots."

He will only were Levi pants. If any other pair of pants is suggested he will tell me that "they're too big."

When ever he is sad or crying, he will say, "I want be happy." Then he'll take a deep breath and say, "Okay momma, I happy." I don't understand it, but I wish I could bottle it.

Yarn Therapy

I just bought a boat load of wool yarn from Knitpicks.  Yarn makes me happy.  Sometimes I pet my yarn.  It's like petting a cat-- very therapeutic.  

In my opinion wool gets a bad rap.  I think people in the wool industry should start a wool campaign.  

Wool!  Not as scratchy as you might think!

Why not?  Pork went from "pork-- not as good as chicken" to "pork-- the other white meat."  Even high fructose corn syrup is jumping on the campaign band wagon. 

Sorry high fructose corn syrup, I'm not buying it.  There is a reason stores can charge at least twice as much for Mexican Coke and Dublin Dr. Pepper.  Taste alone wins this argument.

Well That's That.

I don't want to talk about it.

That's right I don't want to talk about how I decided to ever so slightly trim the baby's bangs before church.  

Michael doesn't want to talk about all the comments he got when he took the baby and his new bangs to Sunday School.

I don't want to

 talk about the fact that after church I decided to try to fix it, and well . . . I don't want to talk about it.

I don't want to talk about the fact that he looks more like a girl now than he did before.  

But mostly, I don't want to talk about the fact that every time I look at him I cry a little because I miss his curls.

I Think He's On To Me

boy:  Grandma, did you know that my mom was 20 for a long time?

gma:  Really?

boy:  Yep.  She was 20 for a really long time and then she skipped 21, 22, 23, and 24, and just turned 25!

gma:  Wow.  That's weird.

boy:  Yep.  Then she was 25 for a long time but last year she turned 26.  Maybe next year she'll turn 27, or maybe she'll just skip again and turn 28 or 29.

Enough Hair . . . On To Teeth

Yesterday the boy lost his first tooth.  He often talks about his loose teeth that aren't really loose, so I was surprised when I found one hanging by a thread yesterday.  I called Grandpa Jim and told the boy it might be a few minutes but Grandpa was coming.  Kai said that was fine because he "needed to prepare."

Grandpa Jim happened to be the one to pull Madison's first tooth and now the kids are convinced that he is the only one worthy of the job.  Hopefully he will always be in town when there are teeth to be pulled.  I can imagine the kids dying of starvation because they don't dare eat for fear their tooth will fall out before Grandpa comes back from Lebanon.  

After a few minutes I went to check on Kai.  I found him like this

He was on all fours with his mouth hanging open.

Me:  "Hey buddy.  What are you doing?"

Him:  "Waiting for grandpa."

Me:  "Ya.  I get that.  But what are you doing?"

Him:  "I'm on a red blanket in case my tooth falls out.  I'm keeping my mouth open so I won't swallow it and it will just fall on the blanket.  I picked red because it will hide the blood, and the white tooth will show up real easy.  If I'd chosen white, I'd be looking and looking and there would be blood everywhere. I'd probably never find it on a white blanket."

He had also gotten a Ziploc to keep the tooth in and a paper towel to sop up the blood.

It didn't take long for Grandpa Jim to come.  You'll be glad to know that Kai didn't swallow his tooth, and there wasn't blood everywhere.

Last night he wrote this story for his school teacher.  I don't know why some letters are underlined.  I do know that he spelled Mrs as Mrss because he is convinced that Mrs with only one s is pronounced as miss.  I also know that mane = money, store = story, los = lots, hape = happy, hav = have, and well = will.  Oh and anything with an exclamation point is meant to be exclamed with the kind of exhuberance only a six-year-old can produce.

To Mrss Peiotti 

From MacKay

A True Store

My tooth Fellout!

I am very glad That my tooth Fellout.  I hope That I well get los of mane.  I am very hape that my tooth Fellout.  I am very hape That my tooth Fellout and that I well hav los of fun.  I hope that I well be hape.

This is Davis

This is Davis. Sometimes we call him Davey-Baby. More accurately sometimes I call him Davey-Baby.

Little Davis has awesome hair. I love the color and I love the curls in the back. In the past I have waited a long time before cutting my boys hair. I know I've said it before but Kai was able to say, "I am NOT a GIRL!" before I agreed to his first hair cut.

You see little Davis has more hair then Kai had at this age, so I am beginning to wonder if it is time. I'm not fully convinced though so I am going to put up a poll on my side bar.

I am not prepared to agree to the outcome of the poll, I'm just curious. If you really want to sway me one direction or the other, you should leave a persuasive comment on this post.

Oh The Hair!!!

I've never known what to do with Chase's hair.  When it gets long I usually just buzz it in frustration.  I think the last time I buzzed him was a year ago. 

His hair was getting long again.  Way too long.  However, I didn't really feel comfortable shaving him bald right at the start of winter.  I figured I could get him a couple really nice hats but seeing as he is three there would be no guarantee that he would wear them.  

So I did the next best thing-- I sent him to the barber with his dad.  Apparently barbers know what to do with hair.  Who'd of thought . . . .

Yes.  Well.  As I was writing this post Chase decided to put gum in his hair and the gum retrieval operation wasn't exactly a success.  So much for that great hair cut.

Handmade For the Holidays

Every year I try to make my family handmade gifts.  I usually make one or two things, then give up because it's just too frustrating and time consuming.  But I vow that year will be different!! Maybe.  

I just placed an order for a bunch of yarn from Knitpicks.com in hopes of having a lot of time to knit.  But I do have a new addiction.  You see Michael made the mistake of getting me a new book called Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects.  Basically it is full of things to do with felted sweaters.  I love this book.  I have spent a lot of time at my local thrift store buying inexpensive wool sweaters to shrink and cut up because of this book.  

My first felted project was a vest for the boy.  I took a nice sweater, shrunk it, cut it up, sewed it back together in the form of a vest and then added a robot.  If you think that isn't the coolest thing ever-- you're wrong.

This book also has a very fun pattern for adult sized mittens. I decided to modify them to make a pair of mittens for Madison.  This was NOT a good idea.  They were really hard to sew together because they were small.  However, in the end I produced a decent pair of mittens.  

I had to add the dark blue band of felted ribbing to the inside of the gloves because the glove openings were too wide and would have let snow in.  They weren't perfect so I just gave them to her.  I'll have to make her something else for Christmas.  

The Two Little Ones

I didn't get great pictures of halloween this year, but here are pictures of Chase and Davis in costume anyway.  

Chase was lighting McQueen

and Davis was a dog.

Christmas is Coming

I love Halloween, but I'm glad its over.  Now its time to think about Christmas.  

Oh wait, there is that holiday called Thanksgiving that keeps popping up between Halloween and Christmas.  I don't cook though, so besides a few fall decorations, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Thanksgiving. 

Basically, I'll take Christmas  over Thanksgiving any day.  All you get on Thanksgiving is thanks. I prefer presents.  The 5 Love Languages quiz agrees with me.  The Five Love Languages book taught me that I don't have to think of gifts as gifts, I can think of them as an investment in a relationship.  

Thanksgiving does remind me of my favorite Eddie Izzard clip.  However, be careful before playing this clip--  Eddie Izzard may be a fun loving transvestite, but he has been known to say a swear word or two.  

Halloween 2008

Yesterday I took the kids to Michael's office for some pre-Halloween trick-or-treating.  The kids came home with little bags full of chocolate, suckers, and licorice.  Some of them even got cookies.  

Kai however was the only one to come home with a can of soup.  When asked, "do you want candy, or soup?"  He chose soup.

Twilight Trailer Spoof

I love this so so much.

It's funniest if you seen the real trailer, so here is a link to that {link}

Going Domestic

 I thought it would be great to have some dried fruit in our food storage so I borrowed my mom's dehydrator and went  nuts.   I have been drying for two days now and this is my bounty.

Each one of those containers holds a pint and a half.  I dried a pint of apples, and a pint of pears.  I dried half a pint of bananas, and half a pint of strawberries mixed with blueberries.  

So in the event of a disaster the four kids will have one or two great snacks immediately followed by multiple diaper changes and trips to the bathroom. 

I'm so excited about my new found sense of preparedness.  

What Does My Music Say About Me

My taste in music often gets me in trouble.  

In high school I met a boy in computer class who told me his favorite music was that of Janice Kapp Perry.  I laughed at him,  but then felt bad so the next day I brought him a copy of Neil Young's album Harvest Moon.  Later he said that his mom told him I was the devil.  

When Madison was in preschool she took "Its Raining Men" on a CD for show and tell one day.  I'd been listening to it in the car and she thought it was the best song ever.  You have to admit its got a pretty catchy tune-- perfect for driving.  Her teacher never said anything about it, but I suspect she thought I was the devil too.

Lately I've been listening to Mika.  Juvenile?  Perhaps, but fun to listen to while you're driving.  Kai absolutely loves it.  His favorite song is Big Girls.  

I didn't really think it was a problem until I heard him in the yard singing "'cause a whole lot of woman need a whole lot moooooore!"  At the top of his lungs.  

I think I may need to go back to listening to the Flaming Lips.  The boy was quite fond of Yoshimi, and the Jelly song always made him laugh.  Or better yet, maybe I should pull my old Telemann CD out of retirement.  I bet the devil doesn't listen to Telemann.

Westridge: Day Two

This is what they wore on day two . . .

Don't worry, it was crazy hair day.

First Day of School . . . Again

I know you're all dying to know what the girl and boy wore to their first day of public school.  First day outfits can make or break you.  So with out further ado . . .

Kai is sporting a Yoda shirt complete with glow-in-the-dark light saber and camo sleeves.  He chose black pants with cargo pockets and sneakers.  That's right, sneakers.  Oh and don't tell anyone but now that he doesn't have to wear socks that match his pants, he totally isn't.  They aren't black, navy blue, or even white.  They're tan.  Yep, tan socks with black pants.  It's anarchy I tell you--pure anarchy, and the boy's loving every minute of it.

Just as I predicted Madison went all out.  She wore pants under a skirt.  This is something her grandma was reported to the honor code office for in college.  So this ones for you mom.  She is also wearing a light blue polo and a pink vest with green trim.  I know what your thinking khakis . . . a polo . . .  a vest . . . kind of school uniformish.  Perhaps, but what you can't see in the picture is that the logo on the vest is a small green skull and cross bones.   And lets not forget that she's wearing her flowered Doc Martins.  She's gone completely public school and don't try to convince me otherwise.  

Advantages and Disadvantages

Wednesday was the kids last day at Freedom. When I picked the boy up from school he was crying, his teacher was crying, the teacher's aid was crying. I was bombarded by people who were sad we were leaving. It really didn't make for the start of a great afternoon. Thursday and Friday is fall break for both schools so they start the new school on Monday. They've met their teachers and they know where their classrooms are.  It should go off with out a hitch!

That brings me back to fall break. They are home today. They were home yesterday. I don't know if I like fall break just like I don't know if I like summer. I like not having to drive them to school, or worry about getting Chase on the bus. But I also like not having to drag four kids to the store and break up arguments.  

boy:  Maddie won't let me hold pretend school at 9!  **Whaaaaaaaaa**

girl:  Well my pretend club is at 9:30 and I need time to prepare! **glares with hands on hips**

davis:  Hello! **drops Nintendo DS into toilet** 

chase:  The potty a boat! **drops a toy boat into the toilet**

It didn't really all happen at once (an advantage) but it did all happen (a disadvantage).

Halloween Preview

The boy and girl decided to try their costumes on before church today. 

The girl as Dorthy

The boy as a vampire

Fresh Start

I registered the boy and the girl at the public elementary school this afternoon,  and now I'm getting nervous.  I hate having to make big important decisions--especially ones that have an impact on the lives of my children.  

We have been going to Freedom, a charter school, since the girl started kindergarten.  Wasn't she cute?  I loved that jumper.  Wednesday will be their last day of school at Freedom and their first time at public school.  

I went to a small private school for kindergarten and first grade and was moved to a public school in second.  Why?  I don't know--I was 6.  But, maybe it was because we were taken to the front lawn, told to spread out our arms, face the sky and feel the spirit.  Or maybe it was just the black widows in the blocks.  I do remember being thrilled because the public school had a cafeteria.  No more eating home lunches at my desk!  Score!

Madison is excited about the lack of uniform at the new school.  She plans on doing something completely crazy the first day, like wearing pants under a skirt.  That is sooo against the rules at Freedom.

Kai is looking forward to going by his middle name, MacKay (pronounced the Scottish way Ma-Kai) or just Kai for short.    Most of the world (including everyone at Freedom) calls him Brigham or Brig (his first name).  I call him Kai and have for a long time.  But he wants a new name at his new school.  It's his fresh start.  Though I understand, it does make me sad.  I was really the only person who ever called him Kai, so when I hear other people calling him that it seems wrong.  

We have good memories of Freedom, but we know its time to move on even if that means leaving teachers and friends that we love.  

Breaking the Rules

I love decorating for Halloween.  It is the only time of the year when I feel justified in violating the "one skull at a time" rule of fashion.  

This is my mantle this year.   

I got the eyeballs at target last year and glued them into the skull.  I also put some eyeballs in various jars.  The white candles were on clearance at Target and I poured fake blood on them.  We got a bag full of tiny little black spiders from Oriental Trading that I put all over the black netting.  My favorite item is the black bird my mom found and gave me.  In fact he'll stay up through thanksgiving.  I'm still trying to figure out an appropriate way to work him into Christmas.

I found a 2 dollar shelf at the local thrift store and decided to use it for this in the entryway.

 I'm not sure where I got the idea, but I know I saw something like it on the Internet or in a magazine at some point, but I'm too lazy to track it down right now.

Laziness Abounds

I was sick this weekend, and spent most of it in bed.  One of the weekend's highlights was when the boy told me I wouldn't be sick if I hadn't stopped exercising.  He still has a lot to learn before he gets married.

Another highlight came yesterday (not technically on the weekend I know).  I was told to get yet another stool sample from Davis.  This time I was told to get the collection supplies from my favorite Lady with a Russian accent.  It turns out she's from Romania so I'll call her the Romanian Lab Worker from now on.  She asked if the supplies were for me.   I told her they were not, and I'd like to hope that day  never comes.  She handed me supplies and went into great detail about the best way to do everything.  She was very nice.  I was very confused until I realized she was pregnant.  

Back in July she wasn't showing, she must have been in the beginning of her pregnancy.  Imagine having morning sickness and then having to come to work to analyse stool.  No way would I be nice.  Now she is in the middle part of pregnancy-- which is really the best part. By this time the morning sickness is dying down and you look pregnant but not so pregnant that you feel like a beached whale.  I figure I'm in the clear for another month or two before the last part of pregnancy kicks in.  At this point you are in fact a beached whale and you begin to wonder what the hell you were thinking.  

Davis

He's even cute when he displays independence by sitting in the driveway eating cheerios instead of getting in the car.  

Marriage, Missions, and Fairies.

Kai:  I think I'm going to marry Dayna, and if that doesn't work out I'll marry Kaes.

Mike:  I don't think you should worry about who to marry just yet.

Madison:  Ya.  You don't have to think about that until your a teenager.

Mike:  How about you wait until you get back from your mission.

Kai:  I'm not going to go on a mission

Mike:  Why not?

Kai:  I don't want to walk FOR TWO YEARS!

Mike:  I didn't walk the whole time.  Sometimes I took a car . . .  I even road on a ferry!

Kai:  You road on a fairy?

Lingo

If you plan on watching the debate with friends you're going to need this.

You can download your own set of them here at the Bob Staake website.

Sticky Notes

This video makes me happy.

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

Dream Big

Chase goes to a speech therapy preschool that is run by the city.  I love it because they pick him up on the bus.  We're pretty excited about his progress, he did say his first swear word in the van on Tuesday.  

But nothing pleased me more than when he came home with this.

See the bus?  Bus #23?  That's Chase's bus.  See the high school they're going to?  Independence High?   Not just anyone gets to go to Independence High.  I had a friend who got to go to Independence because he hacked into the school's computer and changed all the cheerleader's grades.  It was quite the scandal.  

At first I thought it was odd they had Chase's bus headed for Independence, but then I remembered that he did swear in the van on Tuesday.

Why I Should NOT Have Children

Today Chase . . .

Refused to wear a coat.

Drank three of the chocolate milks that are reserved for sack lunches.

Pulled up my flowers.

Took a single bite out of every one of my truffles.

I put him in time out.  

He apologized.  "Sorry mom." Sniff sniff.  

I told him to stay in time out.  

He was very quiet.  

I forgot about him.

He fell asleep. 

He fell off the kitchen stool . . . flat on his face.

He has a lump on his head and a freshly bitten tongue.  

Poor kid.

Happy Birthday!

This is Michael and today is his birthday.  

You can tell by his outfit that he has a desperate need for attention.  

So, if you see him today you should make a really big deal about his birthday because he LOVES that sort of thing.  

Happy Birthday Michael!

Too Much of a Good Thing

The kid's school uses Saxon Math.  Part of the Saxon method is to teach the kids how to do math quickly and in their head.  For example to add 4 + 9 they teach kids to add 4 + 10 and then subtract 1.  Or if you have 6 + 7, you can add 6 + 6 and then add one.  So far I haven't had to help the boy with is math much.  He just fills out his fact sheets, I check them, and then he turns them in.  But today he came home with his first set of flash cards.

I held up 7 + 9.

"Mom it is easier to add 10 + 7 and then subtract 1.  So the answer is 16."

Perfect!  I held up 8 + 9.  

"Hmm.  I could add 10 + 8 and then subtract 1. . . .  Or I could do 8 + 8 and then add 1 and I could do 9 + 9 and subtract 1.   What if I add 9 + 10 and subtract 2!  Huh, you know I could also just add 7 + 10 and thats all. . . .  I don't know.  I think I'll just have to use my fingers."

Its a Guy Thing

Said by Kai . . . all in one breath.

Mom.  You gotta look at these pictures.  They are so cool.  One is of a spider and the other is pirate.  I don't know why I like cool stuff.  I just do.  It's probably because I'm a boy.  Now, I know there is a hole in the pirate picture, but that because I was using a lot of red.  I wanted the sea to be bloooood.  Hmm.  blood.  That's another boy thing, I think.  So just don't pay any attention to that.  Okay?

Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is . . . 

NG! Who said "I like the apron. . . don't really cook, but I like the apron."

Congrats!  If you do cook in it, you'll have to tell me what you end up making!

It's All Too Much

The other day the boy came home with an alpha pals book.  It had pictures of animals and he was supposed to write other words that started with the same letter as the animals next to the pictures.  He did--though I confess I had to help him come up with at least 80% of the words.  He is easily distracted when we are doing something he's not really interested in.  

He turned it in the next morning only to have it sent home again because he didn't color the pictures.  I gave him some crayons and told him to have at it.  He did and I admit his coloring was less than ideal.  

He turned it in again.  It was sent home again.  Apparently he needed to color it better.   I gave him some crayon and told him to try harder.  Now keep in mind this was the day Optimus Prime destroyed Madison's homework, so I was busy making Salt Dough and trying to find paints.  In otherwords, I was NOT supervising the boys coloring.   

In the midst of all this he shows me his alpha pals book.  He has taken a ball point pen and covered every inch of it in blue scribbles.  When I suggested it wasn't so great he started to cry.  He was very proud of his work.  I told him it was fine and shot off and email to the teacher basically saying please please don't send this damn thing back.  He'd worked hard on it, and yes it looked awful but apparently that was the look he was going for.  It didn't come back.

I thought it was pretty much over until yesterday when he pulled out a different paper that had, "This is NOT coloring" written across it.  He read it and started cry.  Uggg.  

Keep in mind I do love his teacher-- she's great!  She's not trying to be mean.  She just wants him to do well.  If you ask him to color a monster or a rocket ship he'll take his time and do an awesome job.  He's just not that into coloring Bradley the Brave Bear.  Can you blame him?

I just wonder when coloring became so important.  Isn't it enough that he has a math worksheet, 20 minutes of reading, and unfinished class work to do everyday?  Is it really that important that he color well?

Check it Out

Hello all!  Check out my other giveaway at the Hip Homemaker. 

I know, I'm going giveaway crazy!

It's My Blogiversary!

Saturday was my official blogiversary.  I have now been blogging for a year.  Are you so excited?  I am.   I was busy camping with Madison on my blogiversary so I am celebrating today. 

In celebration I'm going to be doing a giveaway!  Because I love cooking so much I'm going to be giving away this apron.  

So if you want to enter you have to leave a comment in this post.  You have until Wednesday at midnight.  I'll randomly pick a winner Thursday morning.  

Good luck and Happy Cooking!