Eve: “What does mom mean?”
Me, after some thoughtful hesitation: “Most Outstanding Mother.”
Eve: “Noo… Most OUTRAGEOUS Mother!!”
It cracked me up how quickly her reply was. I had to think for a good “o” word and she was right there with outrageous. Funny girl! :)
A little boy ran up to Lex this morning calling, “Wait Lex! I have something for you.” He dug around in his backpack and pulled out an old Magic Tree House book. He proceeded to tell Lex that he doesn’t like them and his little brother and sister can’t read and his mom doesn’t like to read and he knows that Lex likes that series a lot so maybe Lex would like to have the book. Isn’t that sweet? Lex had a huge grin and after thanking his friend he turned to me and relayed the story (my kids like to do that), adding a comment that the book was a bit ripped. It was a soft-covered book and the cover was coming off. I told him we can easily fix it with tape.
Fast forward a few minutes and we are standing in Eve’s classroom. I’m helping her get ready and Lex is telling her teacher about his new book. He finished with his comment about the rip and how mom says we can fix it with tape. Her teacher says, “I have some tape right here,” and proceeds to fix the book for him! He went to class that morning with a “new” book all ready to read.
Kindness all around. Happy boy. School is good.
We also passed the school councelor on the way in when the boys were talking about the book. I made a point to tell her, within everyone’s hearing, how sweet the little boy was to think of Lex. She agreed and commented to him about his kindness. I think it’s good to publicly recognize kind deeds.
We had a busy weekend. Saturday started with a trip to the flu shot clinic. Lex was, once again, traumatized. He spent part of the time under the doctor’s desk with his legs wrapped in a death grip around the chair. We managed to get him calmed down enough to get the shot, though he was not happy about it. Then, funny boy, he decided it wasn’t actually so bad after all. He insists his past flu shots have hurt for two days, but this time it only hurt for 15 minutes. He likes to be precise. :)
[ no pictures of this fun event ]
After that we drove over to Woodstock for some banking issues. At the bank the kids got Halloween candy (after the lollipops from the doctor’s office) and freebies. A calculator, a football, and a basketball. All bank branded, of course. They were THRILLED. Then we stopped at Quechee Gorge on the way home. We hiked down and marveled at the water levels. I don’t think the kids have ever seen the rocks completely covered! Then we went out to lunch. Home for some chiling out, family games, Eve and Alan went for a run, etc. Overall a fantastic day!
It was a beautiful day!
Happy kids – properly protected from the flu! :)
The river was flowing fast!
Where are the rocks?!
The boys
The girls
Eve just discovered that the log moves!
Sunday was another active day, the CHaD HERO Half Marathon & Ripcord 5K. Alan ran the half marathon (13.1 miles!!) and the kids and I walked the 5K (3.1 miles). This is the first year they have offered a 5K so we were excited to participate. In the past they had the half marathon, a relay option, and the one mile fun-run called “Cam’s Course.” Lex was pretty interested in that and said next year he might like to do that. We’ll see.
We participated with a team of friends and friends of friends in memory of a little guy who died this spring of an aggressive brain tumor. He spent a lot of time at the Children’s Hospital in his final days and it was exciting to be able to participate with the group.
We went looking for costumes the night before and came up a bit short. Eve was excited to find a Spiderman costume and insisted she was comfortable in it, despite the fact that it’s a 4T. She didn’t last long before asking to take it off. :)
More heros!
Do you see the start line? Waaaay up there under the white banner. This year they did a 5K and allowed walkers, which helped swell the participation numbers. There were over 2800 people signed up, plus all the families, volunteers, vendors, etc. It was crowded!
Waiting for daddy to cross the finish line.
There he is! Our hero!
There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do there. A bouncy house, climbing wall, a side walk chalk tent, hula hoops, etc. Lots to keep them busy.
This was Lex’s favorite area.
After Alan was done and got some free food we headed home for a shower and to repack for the next event – a party at the team leader’s house! I think Eve was feeling bad at this point. She was really tired by the end of the 5K and spent the rest of the time there feeling tired and asking if she could have quiet time. On the way home she said she was going to take a nap as soon as we got home. Guess what? She did! Alan headed for the shower and Eve headed for bed. She slept for almost an hour before I woke her up to go partying. Fortunately she rallied and we all had a great time. We got to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and had a really nice night. Right when I was about to round everyone up to head home, a woman pulled out face paints and Eve was asking for a butterfly. So we stayed for awhile longer.
A beautiful butterfly after a very long weekend.
Then she and I cuddled in a chair while she ate a cookie and told me how much she wished she was home in bed. :) I wisked her away and put her to bed. Unfortunately the beautiful butterfly lasted only about an hour. Fortunately she woke up this morning feeling much better!
Lifetouch, the school picture company, is getting all high-tech these days and this year we were given the option to get a free low-res digital copy of their school photos. Hi-res, of course, costs $$. :) I got the email today saying they were available for download. I hope that means we’ll get the actual pictures next week!
We won’t be walking on the rocks today!
Lex’s photo shoot for a book he’s writing. These kids never cease to amaze and amuse me!
That futon delivery came just in time!
The beginnings of Lex’s costume. Can you guess?
Halloween constume construction began today. Can you guess what Eve is going to be? :)
Eve made herself dinner tonight. A cheese quesidilla. All her own idea. Two wraps, ketchup, and sliced cheddar cheese. I helped with the cooking part. It was actually yummy, in a ketchup on school mac & cheese sort of way. She didn’t eat much of it (she doesn’t eat much these days in general) but we all shared bites of it.