Geography, Kindergarten Style

Last week, I had the privilege of working in Jonah's kindergarten class for the day.  He was very excited about this.  So, was I, if truth be told.  It was nice to be involved in that part of his life.

He tried to be with me as much as he could, which was sweet.  But, at recess, he abandoned me for his first love, running around.  I spent recess talking to a very nice young lady named Emma.  She had sandy blond hair, hazel eyes, and affected an under bite when thinking.  She reminded me very much of our Cate.  And that is how I saw her.  Cate in four years.

"My Nana is coming to visit today," she said.  "My Nana lives far away, where there are a lot of cornfields.  Do you know that place?"

"Iowa?" I asked.  Corn as high as an elephants eye.  That's Iowa right?  Or is it Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain?

"No.  That's not it," Emma said.

"Kansas?" I tried again.  Was Kansas a better guess than Oklahoma?  It would help if my knowledge of the plains states extended beyond Rodger and Hammerstein musicals, and John Wayne movies.

"No," she said, and then offered another hint.  "Do you know that place where Disney World is?"

"Florida?"

"Yes," she said excitedly.

"Your Nana lives in Florida?"

"No," she said.  "In a straight line from there.  What is the state next door?"

"Alabama?"  I knew it was Alabama or Mississippi.  I totally guessed.

"No.  The next one?"

Was this some kind of test?

"Mississippi?" 

"Keep going."

"Louisiana?"  This one I knew.

"No, no.  Keep going straight across."

The kid was killing me!  But we were getting closer to home.  I was pretty sure I knew these.

"Texas, New Mexico, Arizona."

"Yeah," she said, with a very mature sigh.  "I have no idea where she lives." 

Then she ran off to play.

It was definitely a test.

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The View From My Kitchen Sink

If I stand on my tip toes, and lean over the edge of the counter, with my camera held over my head, I can see this...

Jonah reading Cate a story, Sunday morning before church.

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The Week in Kids

This week...

We went to the pumpkin patch.

  

Another candy apple.  Of course.

"Look, Ma.  I'm just hanging here.  But it's okay, 'cuz Daddy catches me every time."

A hay-bouncer.

Our boys were king of the hay mountain.  I wish I had taken the picture from farther away so that you could see how high it is.

I was amused by this sign in the parking lot.

Also this week... 

Catie was helpful...

...with the laundry, even if she wouldn't take the snack out of her mouth to do it.

...with Elmo, getting him buckled into his car seat.

I love the look on Elmo's face in this one.  "Elmo does not know if Elmo likes what Catie is doing."

...with building the train track, because Nana really needed the help.

 

In exchange, Nana got the hair out of Cate's eyes for her.

Then taught her how to do a fist bump.

Thanks, Nana.

Also this week...

Jonah learned to fly (for 1.7685 seconds).

Cate learned to swing (with a dirty face).

And, Samuel learned the art of defensive sliding.  (Or would this be offensive?  It is hard to know around here.)

See you next week!!!!

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Breakfast Interuptus

Audrey Hepburn having breakfast at Tiffany's.  Things are a little less glamorous around here.

We make a point of sitting down to dinner as a family.  Breakfast is a different matter.  Hubband doesn't usually eat breakfast on weekdays, and by the time I get the chance to sit down with the children, they are already done and on to the next thing.

So it happened, that the other morning, I sat down at the table to eat my breakfast, with only Catherine still there.  As soon as I took my first bite, she reached at me with one grubby little hand and said, "naaaa," with an inflection that I know means, "napkin."  What a tidy girl.  I got up, and got her a napkin, and watched as she wiped her hands and face.

As soon as I took my second bite, Cate pushed her plate over to me and said, "More, please."  What a polite girl.  I got up and got her more.

A few bites later, I was summoned to mediate a disagreement of some sort, by a bellowed call of, "Mom, make him stop.  He's trying to stick his toes up my butt!"  Neither tidy or polite.  I got up and separated them.  The children.  The toes and butt had worked themselves out before I got there. 

A few bites later, I was again summoned, this time by loud shrieks of pain.  I was informed that an injury had been suffered and death was imminent.  A little anti-bacterial ointment and one Buzz Lightyear band-aid later, my patient was as good as new.

But, breakfast was over.  It was time to get everyone out the door for the morning school run.  All I wanted was to eat one lousy bowl of cold cereal.  Is that so much to ask?

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I'm Reading Labels Again

I bought this picture frame on clearance at Khol's.  It cost me $4.25, down from the original $24.99.  Yeah me!

I liked it, not just because it was cheap, but because it had this pretty detail carved into the wood

I did not buy it because it was "made with renewable resources."

In fact, I didn't even notice this bit of marketing until I got home.  But when I did, it got me thinking, "What renewable resources?  Wood?"

Why as a matter of fact, yes!

Uh, I think all wood is technically renewable.  I mean, doesn't the stuff practically grow on trees?

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The View From My Kitchen Sink

We rearranged the furniture a few weeks ago, to open up the room for a family dinner.  We liked it so much, we kept it that way (with a few tweaks for daily living).  Now, I can see everything from my kitchen sink.

Jonah and Cate, sharing a bowl of grapes on the living room floor.  Look at those striped Elmo socks fly.

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The Week in Kids (that is really just one day)

This week...

We went to Apple Hill, a co-op of apple growers, wineries, and one brewery, in and around Camino, California.

I went almost every year as a kid, and we have kept up the tradition.

There was a hay maze.

Turns out, hay and eczema don't really mix.

There were pumpkins.

"Okay, boys.  We can do this easy, or we can do this hard, but one of you is coming home with me."

 

There were caramel apples.

There were apple donuts, though Grandpa thought they were his secret.

"Look! A plain white bag full of apple donuts.  Hand 'em over old man."

There were things to climb on.

And wide open spaces in which to run.

And, if that weren't enough, after our Apple Hill adventure,we went to Nana's house.

Where Jonah played bear-slayer.

Samuel played trains.

And, Catherine played with a ball peen hammer.

You think that would be enough to exhaust any three children, but Samuel, as he was being tucked into bed, still had enough energy to bellow at his Daddy, "Good night, Poopy Butt!"

It was a good day.

Also this week...

Well, there really wasn't much else of note.  Sorry.  I'll try harder next week.  Speaking of...

Next week...

Our schedules are changing.  I usually write when Jonah and Sam are at school and Cate is napping (like now, if you can call that thumping sound, which I recognize as a little girl bouncing in her crib, "napping").  Next week, Sam will be home before Cate's nap, and there goes anything I had resembling mommy-time.  I don't know what this means for my goal of 200 posts before my anniversary on October 26, or the quality of those posts if I actually reach my goal.  I guess what I am saying is, Read at Your Own Risk.

See you next week!!!

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