Category Archives: Uncategorized

RIP Sweet Kitty

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We lost our sweet Daisy tonight.  I found her on the side of the road when I was out with Arlo for his final walk of the night.  She had been hit by a car.  I stood in the street, in the dark, and cried and cried.  I called Alan who came with the car and took her to the emergency vet.  They confirmed (it was obvious) and packaged her up and sent her home with Alan for us to bury.  I didn’t think we were allowed to bury things in our little yard!  Apparently that is a-ok.  Not sure where we are going to do that, but we will deal with that tomorrow.  While he was at the vet, I was home telling the kids.  Eve was already in bed and Lex was waiting for me to get back.  They took the news pretty hard.  It is 11pm now and they are both still awake.  We already miss her dearly.

Unity Day at the Middle School

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October is Bullying Awareness month and today the middle school is celebrating Unity Day (bullying awareness).  We celebrate it every year at DBS by wearing orange and having a special group walk to school and a special assembly.  Apparently they do similar things in the middle school, just a day earlier.  

The point of my post is that today Lex is wearing an orange shirt like everyone else (joining in!), he is wearing MY orange shirt because he doesn’t have his own (bending his own rules!), and he is ok that its new and too big!   He is seriously growing up!  

We had a meeting yesterday with his teachers and they had nothing but good things to say.  He is adjusting well, doing well in classes, and liked by others.  

I’m so proud of him and how far he has come. ?

The Not-So-Halloween

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Turns out Halloween is just a short few weeks away.  Who knew?!  In my house it has been a total non-event.  Both kids say they want to dress up and go trick-or-treating, but neither can decide what to be.  We haven’t done any decorating and no one seems to care.  Eve told me last week that her friend has amazing Halloween decorations, but she didn’t make any effort to get ours out.  I’m feeling claustrophobic in our cluttered house and can’t stand the thought of adding more to it.  Maybe we’ll just let this one pass us by… or make a mad scramble the day before!  :-)

Color-A-Thon

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I joined the PTO this year and found they were mid-way through planning a Color-A-Thon fundraiser.  It seemed like a very weird event, but everyone swears they are fun.  The idea of running and having people throw colored powered in your face was a tough sell for this family.  I couldn’t talk either kid into coming, though truthfully I didn’t try overly hard because I didn’t really want to go either!  But, I’m on the PTO and we needed more volunteers, so off I went this morning in the cold and in the drizzle.  There was plenty to do and the time flew by!  During the run I ended up working a color station and throwing pink powder at everyone as they went by. I thought that would be a good choice, considering my current breathing situation, but it turns out I probably inhaled more powder than I would have if I were running!  Oh well!  I worked with a fun lady (another PTO person) and the morning flew by quickly.  The drizzle stopped just as the run began and everyone had a great time!  Lots of kids were there and many asked if we could do it again next year.  We’ll see.  :)

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Pretty in pink!

Then I got home, took a quick shower, started to eat lunch only to be interrupted by a traumatized Eve who just discovered an American Doll massacre in her room, thanks to a bored Arlo.  It took her awhile to recover.  The dolls will be headed to the hospital tomorrow morning.  Then off to the grocery store, home to drop off groceries, then off again for First Lego League.  FLL is a challenging group of newbies this year.  Needless to say, I am enjoying my well earned glass of wine tonight!  :)

Tomorrow is a no-school day, except now I’m a teacher and have to go to school! Bummer!!  And double bummer for my kids, they have to go too!  Haha.

This was the weekend that wasn’t.  Maybe next weekend I’ll make it all the way through the Sunday paper.  Good thing I don’t attempt the New York Times!

Fireworks

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Watching the fireworks through the door.

We had an exciting evening.  I put Eve in bed then headed out with Arlo for his evening walk.  At the end of the street we heard a huge boom!  It was a little disconcerting, but before too long there were many more books and I remembers that it is Homecoming weekend and the football game was just ending.  Fireworks started appearing through the trees.  I wanted a better view, but Arlo wanted to be HOME!  He practically dragged me all the way back to the house, sprinting across the lawn and up the front steps.  I get inside to come Eve standing in the kitchen with her blanket, stuffies, and tears rolling down her face.  I guess it’s a good thing Arlo dragged me home so fast!  He rushed upstairs and she fell into my arms.  I managed to get everyone calmed down and we enjoyed the rest of the show through the front door.  Needless to say it was a late bedtime for everyone.  TGIF!!  

A sad wedding story

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Eve told me a sad story tonight.  It started with, “When will I get to be in a wedding?”  To which, of course, I had to say, “I don’t know.”  She told me that last year in school they had to write what they know about weddings and she didn’t know anything!  She said, “I’ve never seen a wedding. I’ve never been to a wedding. I’ve never seen a movie of a wedding. I’ve never seen pictures of a wedding. I don’t know anything about weddings!”  How’s that for a random bedtime conversation?!  And yes, she has seen pictures of weddings! You may be wondering, as I was, why a 3rd grader needed to write about weddings, but apparently they were learning about China and they talked about Chinese weddings compared to weddings here in the U.S.  You may also be wondering, as I was, why this thought came to her mind a year later, as I was, but then I remembered that her best friend’s dad just got married and her friend was the flower girl, so I’m guessing that was on Eve’s mind.  We had a nice chat about weddings and all two of the weddings I’ve been to since she’s been alive, and the two I regretfully missed!  She asked again when she could be in a wedding.  I told her to start talking to the aunts and uncles!!  (sorry sibs!)

Saturday

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After being the big man on campus yesterday, Lex went right back to being my little boy this morning when he kicked and cried his way through the flu shot clinic. We eventually managed to get it done, but he sure didn’t make it easy. Eve put up a fuss for awhile, but when Lex kicked it into high gear she pulled herself together. I really appreciate how they take turns with the tantrums! He was so worked up that he had to sit down on the bench in the lobby on the way out and get himself back together. He was hyperventilating and was worried he’d throw up. Good times.

Then we came home, cleaned up the basement (sort of), and recruited some neighborly muscle to help us move our new (super old!) piano! We picked it up earlier this week from a lady who was giving it away. It’s an “organo” which means organ and piano in one. Who knew that was a thing?!

Thank goodness for strong men!

It needs a little tuning, a lot of cleaning, and some leg repair – but I love it anyway!

Lex spent a fair amount of time down in the basement playing Frere Jacques by ear on an untuned piano. He’ll have to reteach himself after we get it tuned next week! :)

We decided to end the day with make-your-own pizzas and a movie. Yummy!

Yes, I ate the whole thing! Yum and ugh!

Oh, I also made two loaves of banana bread. The house smells great!

This picture is from last night, but a cute way to end the post. Eve was exhausted from her Friday so she took a book and snuggled in my bed with Arlo. I make the bed every morning and by evening it usually has a little Arlo nest dug in it. He likes to snuggle right in and put his head on my pillow! No wonder I need allergy meds!

Sweetness

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Middle School Dance

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Last week I texted a friend of mine who is the mom of Lex’s friend and I asked her if her son wanted to go to the Middle School Fun Night at the aquatic center. I saw an ad in the paper. She wrote back and said Jacob wanted to go the Middle School dance and did Lex want to do that. Dance?? What dance?

I went back through the middle school newsletters and sure enough, there was a dancing coming up! My subconscious mind must have skipped right over that (because I didn’t think Lex would go or I wasn’t ready for him to go??) and I skipped right over it. So I ask, “Lex, did you know there is a dance on Friday?” Yep. “Lex, do you want to go” Maybe. What?! I told Lex that Jacob was going and his dad offered to drive them both. He loved the idea! All week I kept asking if he was still thinking about the dance, and as the week went on it went from “maybe,” to “I’m thinking about it,” to “yes, I’m going!” And he did!

Despite the messy clothes and chapped face, Lex went to the dance and had… fun!

Jacob’s dad drove them there and I picked them up. I felt a little selfish, but I was excited to get the first impressions afterwards! The dance was from 7pm-9pm. I heard (from Facebook) that drop-off was a little chaotic, so I decided to get there a few minutes early (ok, 20 minutes!) so I had time to figure things out. When I pulled up in front of the school there were a few parents there, a few kids milling about, and Lex and Jacob standing by the door. I called and they ran over to the car. They told me they had been waiting “FOR HOURS!” (said Jacob). Lex quickly said it was only about half an hour. I thought, “oh no! did I mess up the pick up time?!?” Turns out I did not. Lex said, “I can’t believe people are still dancing!!”

I loved the five minute drive home and hearing them talking about things. They both agreed that it was too long, too loud, kind of fun, and totally exhausting! Lex said he danced, then bought a cupcake, ate half of it and felt sick, danced some more, laid down on the bench for awhile, danced some more, then decided to go wait outside. Sounds like Jacob stuck with him for the whole time too. Jacob said Lex has some great “break dancing moves!” Hahaha. I asked if they wanted to go to the next one and they both said maybe, but only if they could be picked up early. I said maybe just an hour, and Jacob said, “NO, only half hour!” I love it!

Lex kept talking about how tired he was. I think he must have danced hard!

I believe each team at the middle school takes a turn “hosting” the dance. They plan, organize, and run the dance. I’m curious if Lex will want to go when it’s his team’s turn.

He is surprising me at every turn. I can’t even put into words how happy my heart is right now.

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Bake for Good

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King Arthur Flour came to school this week and did a bread baking demonstration for the 4th and 5th graders. The presenter was outstanding and had their attention the entire time. She had two student helpers and a camera pointing at her table so everyone in the audience had a good view of the action! She showed them how to make bread, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, pretzels, and pizza crust – all using the same dough!

The bleacher, not in the picture, are full of eager to learn 4th and 5th graders! I had no class at the time so I came to the demo too. :)

After the demonstration, King Arthur Flour sent every kid (and I think the 4/5 teachers) home with a bag of supplies to bake their own bread! The canvas bag had two types of flour, yeast, a dough scraper, a great recipe booklet, and a plastic bag to bring back one loaf of bread. Kids were instructed to bake two loaves this weekend and bring one in on Monday to donate. All of loaves brought in will be donated to a local food pantry.

Eve has made bread with me plenty of times, but this is the first time we did it all by hand! No bread machines involved.

The recipe said to kneed the bread for five minutes and she made it the entire time! Chatting all the while. :)

This braid took a few tries, but turned out pretty great in the end.

I hope some lucky family enjoys this beautiful loaf of bread! We had fun making it.

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She wasn’t thrilled with the way the other loaf turned out, so she didn’t let me take a picture of it. We had some for dinner though and it is delicious!

It was fun to see so many of her friends and teachers posting pictures of their baking and beautiful bread on Facebook this weekend. I feel so truly lucky to be part of such a wonderful school community!