all about perspective

perhaps someone should let ben know
that when working on block letter B's on the driveway -
he should maybe finish the letters that he starts ...

i'm starting to think it won't be long before
the neighbors begin to question what kind of artist we are raising

football wisdom

for his last 2 games drew thought it was very important that he wear strips under his eyes.
i asked him why.

'to look cool' of course.

---------------------------

we were in the car and out of nowhere drew said
'do you know why i like football in the winter?'

'no drew, i have no idea.'

'water vapor.'

'oh ya?'
(knowing full well he was going to explain this deeper whether i asked or not)

'ya. in the summer the heat evaporates all of the water out of the air so i get really thirsty.
but in the winter it isn't warm enough so the water vapor stays in the air and i don't need to drink as much.'

------------------------------------
YEP ...
he is in 3rd grade.
and yes,
he is already smarter than i am.

happy halloween!!

i love having halloween on a weekend.
it means we get to spend all day together.
it means we can make the day more than just rushing out after stacey gets home to trick or treat.

we got ready to head out after lunch
(ben decided VERY last minute he didn't want to be a ninja anymore -
he wanted to be what he was last year.
go figure)



he headed over to a neighborhood halloween party
where we had a lot of fun with most of our neighborhood kids
and froze ;)



it's there that we also realized that our boys and the koste boys unknowingly had gone with the same themes
too funny!

from there we headed out to go trick or treating
and
poor spiderman didn't make it too far

so ... we changed plans slightly and decided to let he and king peter nap in the car for a bit,
while we drove around -
THEN we headed out to collect some goods.

of course we got more than we will ever eat -
but the fun is REALLY in the collecting
right?!

pumpkin carving time

this year we got 3 pumpkins -
and let each of the boys make whatever kind of face they wanted

drew and ben drew theirs on first-
and to make alex's simple we just asked him shapes for each feature.

we helped with the guts and carving -



but the pumpkins themselves are completely the boys creations -

drew's ...



ben's ...

and alex's ...

stacey even took the time to carve their names into the back!

nice job, boys!

definitely a TREAT

today the boys celebrated halloween at school

unfortunately i didn't get to be with drew -
BUT ...
i did get to help quite a bit with the fun (and planning) in ben's classroom



i love when teachers give me room to help them plan the parties ;)
ben's teacher caught on to that -
and it all ended up being a lot of fun!

i ran the craft station -

they made magnetic tongue depressor picture frames and we put pictures of them wearing their costumes inside.
the kids got really excited
(well ... really, what kid doesn't get excited about sticky jewels and sticky foam pieces)

(it would be really embarassing for me to talk about who ben thinks is cute on my blog. BUT ... since italics are just my thoughts and not me really saying it outloud ... meet alison. on ben's right.)

they also played bingo -
(with m&m's)

ate cookies with juice -
and did a bean bag toss.

it's pretty safe to say that we were 'a little' outside of the school district's policy on healthy snacks in the classroom.
BUT ...
at this point ...
you can probably guess that i don't really care what they think.

SO ...
glad you had a fun afternoon, kids.
happy halloween.
just remember the other classroom ate apples this afternoon;)
and come saturday night ... if you should get any extra kit kats ...
you know where to find me ;)

when it sucks being the little guy

our school district is in the middle of some really big changes.

they made the decision to close 6 elementary schools,

and because of that -

kids are getting shifted.

thankfully,

our school wasn't closed.

we are part of a really wide spread growth spot in our area -

and the schools directly around us are actually already very full.

the problem this causes is that they feel that since they are already moving kids around,

now would be a great time to alleviate the pressure that these 'full' schools are feeling.

so, hearings have been going on for the past month or so -

boundary changes are being determined.

and our area has NEVER been brought up.

until now.

apparently they all of the sudden see our neighborhood as a growth threat.

SO ...

the meeting was thursday night -

and we found out late tuesday night that they plan to shift us.

NOT cool.

i can't even begin to express the emotions that been running rampant through my mind.

i am frustrated.

i am SO sad.

i am angry.

i am disappointed.

i am distracted.

i am nervous.

and

i am just flat out PISSED.

(sorry)

our kids JUST switched schools last year.

they are just now getting settled and feeling as if they have a place they can call theirs.

now this.

SO ...

for the past 2 days it has literally consumed me.

3 families from our small neighborhood are in mexico -

and that left just a few of us to come up with a strategy to present to the school board on why we are not 'the right pick'.

last night was the meeting and i can't even say how it went, really.

i felt good about the fact that i got up and read a letter that i spent the past 2 days writing.

everyone seemed to think that they seemed interested in what i had to say -

and they did ask for a copy of it -

so that gives me hope.

BUT ...

that doesn't calm my heart.

bottom line is ...

i don't want my kids to have to switch schools.

i don't want them to have to transition AGAIN.

i don't want them to have to make new friends AGAIN.

i don't want them to be the only kids in our big development that are bussed halfway across the city!

i don't want to be forced to decide what to do if and when this decision becomes final.

do i pull them from the district - just trying to make a point.

do i sit back and say - my kids are resilient they will do JUST fine

(which is the truth ... i just can't accept it. yet.)

do i enroll them into another school in the district that i think is better -

but then be stuck with driving them everyday???

i just don't know.

there are SO many questions i have.

there are so many things i just don't understand.

it's taking EVERYTHING in me to sit back and be the little guy.

to know that really i am not in control.

and i can't be.

it's taking EVERYTHING in me to try to be still and just trust God.

to know that there is a bigger picture somewhere in this.

and that although i don't get it -

i trust in someone who does.

*sigh*

fun all over the place

ok ... catch up time ... again.
our fun all started on friday night.

ben went to a sleepover with 14 boys.

that left the rest of us to have a little fun.
we told drew he could choose anywhere to go -
and then helped convince him that granite city would be an EXCELLENT choice ;)
he and alex LOVED it -



and i found my new favorite drink -
not the beer - ick!
which means stacey and i loved it too ;)

it was a fun night out for us.
it's amazing how dropping from 3 kids to 2 makes SUCH a difference!
and
ben had a TON of fun at the party -

BUT ... on saturday morning, ben woke up not feeling so hot
and THAT began the rest of our fun -
this is how ben spent saturday, sunday, monday, and part of tuesday.



after 3 days at 103 degrees -
and a few other 'fun' symptoms i decided to call in.
the doctor said to bring him in
so we did
he checked him out
AND
ended the appointment by telling us he believed ben had h1n1.
lovely.

thankfully ben is one of the best sick kids ever!
he bounced back really quickly and was actually able to go back to school today.

but now ... we're all holding our breath and wondering if he kept all of the fun to himself.

odds of that?
not countin' on it.

throwing it out the window

today was the big day!

it was ben's field trip to the arboretum
and i got to go along!



it was a BEAUTIFUL place
with SO many fun places to go exploring ...

OUTSIDE exploring that is ;)
AND unfortunately ...
the weather we had today was not ideal.
it was snowing/raining and in the 30's - 40's.
NOT fun weather to be 'just out exploring'.
SO ... we had to modify our plans slightly -
BUT...
thankfully the kids didn't care

we walked through the woods -
learned about leaves turning to soil -
talked about different types of trees -
and about how the use of a tree changes over time -

we EVEN got to dig in a rubbermaid bin for centipedes and roly poly bugs.
are we lucky or what?!
YUCK.



they loved it.

and i love how they are so resiliant.

they don't care if it's cold.
they don't care if it's raining.
they don't even care if they are wet from head to toe.
they STILL just have fun.

i used to be that way.
but find i don't throw myself into situations like that so willingly anymore
so ... thanks for having fun with me today, ben (and the rest of my 1G group)
it was fun to jump into your shoes and throw my complaints out the window.

(well ... almost out the window ...
thank you to those of you who 'listened' to my complaints via text
so that i could keep my conversation with the kids complaint free. ha ha ha)

it was a fun day 1G!
i look forward to another one later this year -
only THIS time ...
let's pray a little harder for sunshine.

ladies and gentlemen ...

so ...
in addition to going to the corn maze on sunday -
we ALSO went to the circus
(i know ... what crazy parent plans that ... zip it)

although it was slightly cheesy -
AND i'm fairly certain that about 1/2 of the ladies wearing the skanky outfits probably shouldn't have been wearing them -
AND that stacey and i spent a lot of time REALLY nervous that someone was going to fall and die ;) -

the kids LOVED it!

AND ...

although i laugh ... i also need to say
it was very impressive.

no one fell.

and anyone that can get an elephant to do this ...

deserves some serious props.

well done, shrine circus.
you amazed my kids for over 2 hours.
and ...
alright, i was amazed too.

if for nothing else -
for the fact that you can charge TWENTY DOLLARS for a single ride around the ring
AND
get people to pay THAT!
(SONYA!!! ... ha ha ha)

thanks for a fun night!

the problem with youtube

it's search feature just isn't set up to meet the needs of a 6 yr old ...