Out of the Mouths of Babes

While doing homework tonight, C had to draw the four seasons and an activity he likes during each season. Working on summer, I see that he'd drawn himself and friends in water, swimming. What I could not decipher was the black string coming out of each mouth, so I asked C. His exasperated response:

"MOM! That's my snorkel!" (followed by indignant air bagging)

Our Life in Pictures

We've got too much going on here right now, so I'm posting a random update via some of our latest photographs...

It's gone! Terrible face, but C was trying to show that his FIRST tooth fell out sometime in the middle of the night, January 17-18. He's still 4, but I'm reminded that his first baby tooth cut through when he was only 2 months, so while not typical, his progression is normal. You can already see the tip of the new tooth coming in!

C as Star Student at school

It's loose! The day after Christmas C started to freak out that he had a tooth wiggling (scared Mommy too), and here it is in mid-January, hanging by a thread!

Rock Star, kitchen style

The new critter adorning the fruit basket.

Making thumbprint cookies

Chef C

(yes, those are cowboy boots)

Yum! Thumbprint jam cookies

Now we know why the dog is such a spaz- sneaking Starbucks!

Ringing in the New Year

C's ginger bread house from school...it figures the one kid who is not allowed to eat candy has the only house in the classroom that looks like a candy factory exploded!

A house fit for Hansel and Gretyl

Go Out and Do Some GOOD!

Lesson learned- take the picture while it is there to take. We've had utility workers outside the past two days, digging a new gas line, complete with a backhoe parked in the yard. C thought he was in construction heaven! Unfortunately, none of us stopped to get any pics. It's been below freezing here and these guys are on the street by 7:30am and don't leave until after 4pm. Brrrr!

Yesterday I set up a tray in the driveway with a carafe of fresh coffee, with all the accompaniments, and a plate of pannettone. At the end of the day, the bread was gone and there was about 1/4 pot of coffee left. This morning, I was out of coffee, so after taking C to school, I stopped by the local gas station and purchased two 24 oz. coffees, poured those into the carafe and set up the coffee service again this morning. By mid-morning, the carafe was empty, so I refilled it. As I was leaving to volunteer in C's classroom later this morning, one of the workers stopped the backhoe, thanked me for setting up coffee for the crew and said, "Boy, that coffee this morning sure was good. It was REALLY good!" To which I replied, "WaWa!" I guess my own coffee making skills aren't so hot, especially sad since I have a Keurig! How do you screw that up? Anyway...

My point: a simple, simple act, of very little cost, goes a long way. How can you go out and do some GOOD?

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I've been volunteering in C's Kindergarten class this week and heard...

"Hannah Montana is big; she's as tall as corn!"

"I want to marry C- he's going to be my husband some day!"

"Do you like unicorns with rainbows and glitter?"

There were much funnier ones, but my mind's a little slow tonight!

Weight Loss

So, I'm working towards less of me in the new year and I am off to a great start...

1/4-1/11: LOST 8 POUNDS!!!

WOO-HOO! (We won't talk about what I gained over the holidays).

Out of the Mouths of Babes

C started asking about a year ago, "where do babies come from?" and we told him that God sends you one, to your belly. Not the most anatomically accurate answer, but I don't see the need for the sex talk yet, so it's the answer that has been perfectly accepted in our home. Once he had that down, C wanted to know when God was going to send us more babies; C thinks we need 4 more! I explained to C what a little miracle he is and he is more than enough, but if God wants us to have another baby, we just need to see if it is part of His plan. After that, bedtime prayers have consistenly ended like this:

"Amen. And God bless Nonna, Poppy, [a whole litany of others]...and please send me a sister AND a brother. Amen!"

Star Student

I like an approach used in C's Kindergarten class- Star Student. Each student gets one week out of the school year that he/she is the star, and this is C's week. "Excited" is an understatement! The star is the leader for all class activities, can bring show-and-tell every day, can bring family members in for Q&A, brings the "cool" snacks and is class celebrity for the week. What shocked me was the amount of homework that went into this week; a huge poster with all kinds of details and photos, a Star Student workbook with photos, and pages for the class scrapbook. According to M, the week is off to a good start: he read to the class today, took Q&A, and stayed for snack time and C was loving every minute of it. They are so adorable together; photo above is from a recent trip to Myrtle Beach.

I thought you might enjoy some of the responses to the questions C had to answer:

• When I grow up I want to be...Batman



• My favorite food is...hotdogs



• My favorite part of school is...playing



• My favorite color is...red



• My favorite book is...anything with Spiderman in it