kids

Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox

by Lucky Red Hen on November 1, 2008

7YO: Mom, when you was a little girl and you touched the giraffe… did you get green spots or red spots?

Me: Red (and it’s when I was pregnant with her, not so little of a girl, haha)

7YO: Oh, okay. Did they itch or not?

Me: Yes, they itched very much.

(she runs off to her room, pausing at the doorway to turn and tell me something)

7YO: Wait JUST one SECOND (pointing her finger in the air like she just had an idea.)

(she runs further toward her room and paused again, this time out of sight but within ear shot)

7YO: I mean, maybe not one SECOND but maybe ten minutes.

She was back within 10 seconds after finding the book she thought of, Goldie Locks Has Chicken Pox, by Erin Dealey and illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama. Kids have interesting minds.

We will be reading it after lunch :)

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Ebonics

by Lucky Red Hen on October 8, 2008

(psst… thanks BruceBruceBruce for the 24-70… here are my first images from my new/used lens)
This boy of mine cracks me up. All. The. Time. And he wants to crack up his classmates. All. The. Time. Because of the latter, we’ve been getting notes from the teacher on a regular basis. His latest offense is sharpening his pencil… he breaks it so that he’ll have to get up and sharpen it. That’s not the problem (so much), but on his return to his desk, he fake-trips down the aisle. Not once, not twice, but three times in ONE trip, causing disruption of the class with giggles and guffaws. That’s my boy, my funny little boy.
So the teacher gives the kids warnings up on the board. You’d think this was embarrassing, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. [For those who don’t know him, I should explain that he’s a gooood kid, not violent, kind and helpful, talks cleanly and is a favorite among his peers and leaders. He’s a sweet boy who loves to snuggle, draw, create and explore.] At a certain point he’ll have to suffer some minutes from recess to stay in class and be put to work (which he LOVES doing) and writes up his own note about his behavior for us to sign and return.
Today’s read (spelling intact):
I owed recess because
I cept draking my pencil
(his b’s and d’s get mixed up).
I think I can improve by
not having to get this sheet ever agian.
(His previous couple notes home read:
I think I can improve by
not doing it agian.)
We’ve emailed the teacher and I stopped by the school and talked to her AND his last year’s teacher to show that we’re committed to nipping this in the bud and finding a way for him to express his personality without disrupting the class and causing havoc for the teacher.
Another funny about him today was his spelling test practice.
Instead of DIDN’T he spelled
DI N’T and I couldn’t help but
go into Ebonics and say
with some sass,
“Oh NO you DI N’T!”
We laughed and he eventually got the proper spelling down pat :)

And this little girl, she just warms my heart. I’m going to have a handful of somethin’ with her later, but so far she’s happy as a clam at 1/2 day kindergarten. As she gets off the bus at the end of her day, the entire bus of her classmates shout their farewell’s and she pops her hand up in the air in a quick traditional princess wave without looking back :)
THIS little stinker on the other hand… she’s REAL cute, but REALLY noisy when she spies something move outside our windows. She’ll perch herself at the back door and tennis-style watch for runners or dog walkers (the occasional horses too) to pass on the trail that runs behind our house. Her freak out bark pierces our ears instead of her intent of warning the passersby. We try telling her that they can’t hear her, but she just won’t listen :p
We’re decked out for Halloween, far sooner than anyone else we’ve seen in the neighborhood. We [heart] Halloween!
I thought this was a funny image… our German armoire that’s stuffed with craft supplies and the rack next to it that houses the leftovers. So many projects, so little time. When I look at this picture, I can see so many stories in such a small, little space. The two bunnies, apron, watermelon fabric, glass rocks, two packs of twistable crayons (God’s gift to mothers everywhere), ME pin cushion chair, Longaberger sewing basket, the purple cup, the two tiny containers on top of the paper storage and the chunk of fabric on the top shelf. Oh the stories.
Hey, look… proof that I [heart] Target too!

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Christmas Photos

by Lucky Red Hen on April 17, 2008

We’re way past Christmas (has it really been that long?) and I’m trying to organize this house. Seems that the places I thought would work for things aren’t so I’m rearranging. Don’t even get me started on the garage (looking forward to Ben making shelves so we can find stuff). We still haven’t unpacked everything, so I wonder if my attempts to organize will be shot once we open the rest of the boxes.

Anywho… as I’ve been shuffling, I came across my precious Christmas photo cards and pictures that friends and family send every year.
For the record: I LOVE getting photos from friends and family, anytime of year.
But now I wonder what to do with them. They’ll certainly not go in the trash (I don’t throw friends and family in the trash, thank you). I’d rather them not spend the year in a box somewhere. There are too many for frames (although they all DESERVE a coveted spot in a frame, but I don’t have the space to then put those frames). Not being a fan, the traditional peel and stick albums aren’t an option, especially because I’d like to have them alphabetized then add to them each year.
Ooh, that reminds me of something that might work… but I still wanna know if you have ideas.
I diiiiid see a cutecutecute album thingy that a friend at church made for each of her girls. It was a SUUUPER simple idea, although she did WAY more than my short-attention-span could handle (in a scrapbooky sort of way). Right about now would be perfect for a visual aid, but I don’t have one so you’ll have to use your imagination.
It’s an A to Z book. Each letter has it’s own page. Each page has a picture of the subject of honor doing the particular letter, like: asleep for Sleeping, laughing for Joy, looking cute for Cute, holding a ball for Ball. Then each page had simple lettering added such as “S is for sleeping” applied with the S being a die cut. To finish, each page is laminated (thickly), hole-punched and attached using a simple binder ring (kinda like a skinny metal shower curtain ring) with matching ribbons knotted to it. SOOO cute!
Q: So do YOU have any ideas for the Christmas pictures?

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Sell Your Kids

by Lucky Red Hen on April 16, 2008

Didn’t realize this really was an option until Piper mentioned it at bedtime tonight…

Me, way past bedtime having to tend to Piper again: Grrr, why aren’t you guys asleep already?

Piper, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed: We’re just not tired, I guess.

Me, ready for the AI results show: Well, you’re driving me nuts!

Piper, as sweet as an angel: So are you going to take us out and sell us to another family?

Both of us: giggle … giggle

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Yummy Dinner

by Lucky Red Hen on January 26, 2008

Piper often compliments whomever cooked dinner by saying, “Thank you for this yummy dinner.” When cranky, she’ll say, “No thank you for this yucky dinner.” But I think she’s only said that maybe twice.

Tonight, Ben made dinner (spaghetti, broccoli, fresh pineapple and bread).

He asked her, “Piper, is this the yummiest dinner?”

She replied, “Well, the spaghetti is yummy but not everything on the menu tonight.”

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My Twinkie

by Lucky Red Hen on January 12, 2008

Piper: Mom, where are the Twinkies?

Mom: Why are you looking for Twinkies?

Piper: Because I want to EAT one.

Mom: Why do you need to eat one?

Piper: Pssbttt, because it’s Saturday.

Oh. I guess Saturday is a special day, it’s the day we eat a Twinkie.

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Happy Birthday, Ben

by Lucky Red Hen on January 6, 2008

I might not get through this post because my space bar is sticking. Sadly, I cannot blame my beautiful children. No, this time it’s all my fault (I don’t mind the blame, ’tis true).

See, I deemed myself the Hostess today to Ben’s side of the fam + Freddy for dinner after a day of fasting (not for me because I’d fall over with the shakes and not Britanny because she’s less than 5 weeks away of giving birth to no. 2… oh, and not the kids because their bodies are too young). Usually these get togethers mean we all chip in and bring a dish but I’m kinda anti-that (not sure what you’d call it). Some people like the help (my MIL said she does), but for me I’d rather take care of it all myself. Call me crazy (k, I’ll wait for you to say it).

So in the midst of scattering things together for the birthday boys’ dinner, I checked online to see if I could fine the cream cheese measurement for the cheesecake, seeing that that is THE most important part of the dessert. While I was clicking around, I sucked on my Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer (draught style head) and sat it in between my arms RIGHT NEXT TO THE KEYBOARD. Go ahead and say it… “crazy.”

I gasped when it happened, Piper heard and worriedly (made up word) asked what happened!?

I just made a mess.

Uh-oh!

Yeah, don’t tell daddy ;o)

Anyway… dinner. We’re watching America’s Test Kitchen the other day on pork chops then low-fat cheesecake. Really? Is there REALLY such thing as LOW-FAT cheesecake? They took the almost 600 calorie slice down to 300 something but is that REALLY low-FAT?! Anywho, that’s not my point. The point is that Ben asked for those two items as his birthday dinner and by golly I was going to deliver (I guessed on the cream cheese amount – couldn’t find it anywhere for that specific recipe).

I scored the silver skin on 10 fat pork chops, sauteed and sauced them (my MIL particularly liked the sauce, yay!). Baked the fingerlings with some olive oil (forgot the parchment paper this time… never forget the parchment paper) and seasonings, the asparagus (must admit I overcooked them worrying about undercooking those thick suckers), warmed the meatballs and threw together salad.

Had to call around for a bigger Cuisanart because I have one of those silly mini-combo blender ones then realized I can’t find my spring-form pan, dagnabit (used a rectangular one, lame). But, I successfully drained the yogurt overnight to make yogurt cheese for the first time and also the cottage cheese (but that was just 30 minutes). It tasted just fine and I even swirled homemade raspberry puree on the plates and topped the pieces with fresh raspberries ($3.99 at Costco).

Eight adults, three kids and one happy birthday boy!

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Canine Dental Issues

by Lucky Red Hen on January 4, 2008

…and I’m not talking about human bi-cuspids.

Piper has been more concerned about Posie’s teeth lately.

She’s been so worried that she interupted Jack’s Wii playing tonight.

“Jack. Jaaaack. JACK!” she squealed.

“WHAT PiPER?” emphasizing the PER.

“I fink Posie has a woose toof,” she says nicely with raised eyebrows.

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Anger: something we’re working on in this house. We all get frustrated for different, and sometimes valid, reasons. Figuring out how to teach the proper way to deal with those feelings is another thing altogether.

Thank goodness Steve, of Blue’s Clues fame (sorry Joe), had a lesson about that today and they’ve been practicing…

STOP

BREATH (take a deep breath, filling the chest, then exhale slowly)

THINK (pointing to your cranium, which is the preferred term in our house)

So, Piper reiterated this lesson to Jack when the Wii wasn’t reacting properly and he growled. She said, “Stop, brief, fink, JaaaAck!”

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