Last Preschool Days

I can not tell you how sad it makes me that my days with a preschooler are over.  In fact, today is the last full day of school, after that...  it's over.  I took Clayton for one last hoorah, just the two of us, to the zoo.  It was a beautiful, perfect day!  On the way to the zoo, Clayton says, "I want to see the lions!  The last time we were here, we didn't get to see the REAL lions.  We only got to see the SEA lions.  They don't even have legs!"

There was also one of those moments that sappy people like to point out, and say things like "See the children don't even notice the differences between us all.  Blah, blah blah."  We were walking by a little boy with braces on his legs, sitting in a wheelchair, and Clayton points and says, "Look Mom!"  and I start to cringe, getting ready to feel embarrassed and have to explain to my 4 year old how it's not nice to point, and he continues "That boy has a Superman shirt!  The blue one!"  I smile and feel relief, and yes I am glad that he noticed that the crippled boy likes Superman just like he does.  He didn't even seem to notice his leg braces or his wheel chair.  (Go ahead and barf in your mouth now.  It's okay.)

I love that kid!  Yesterday I left Clayton at my Mom's house while I volunteered at Justice's school's Fun Day.  The fact that my preschool days are nearly over, was on my mind as I was on my way back.  It's a mark of how I was feeling that I decided to pick Clayton up BEFORE I went to run some errands at the store.  I just wanted my little guy to tag along with me some more. 

MAN IS THIS EVER A HORKY POST?!  I'm a sap!

Careless Swisspers

Like a Weed - Four Year Edition

It's been four years since I started taking pictures of the kids with the growth chart.  I may be tooting my own horn, but I'm just so glad I've been doing this!

Major Bedhead warning!  (We take most of our pictures at breakfast.)

Random Bloggable Stuff

 Justice made a Nyan Cat costume for Nemesis.  She didn't appreciate as much as I did.

 

The Antics of Ross and Mark

I apologize to my Facebook friends who already saw this, but Mark's class picture needed to go on the blog.

 Um, Ross in his various get ups?

Clayton's pajamas & Watermelon hat.

 Ben 10 ate all the cookies.

 Lydia and her beautiful friends getting ready for their first formal dance.

Here are Justice's plans for a machine that turns you into a super hero.  

Naked Astrologist

  ~ for my brother, John

(My parody to Paleontologist by They Might Be Giants)

I love lookin' at the moon
and the stars up in the sky
'cause they tell me when to brush my teeth
and how I'm gonna die

But I'm not your normal wacko
pedlin' fortunes of the week
'cause I talk about the future

while I show you my left cheek

But all the folks, just think it's heinous
When I start talkin' about Uranus

I am a naked astrologist
that's who I am, that's who I am
that's who I am
I am a naked astrologist
that's who I am, that's who I am
that's who I am

Could it be a great big fortune
or an accident you'll meet?
Will a tall, dark, handsome stranger
come and sweep you off your feet?

Put my fortunes into cookies;
took them to The China Wok
But when the moon made it's appearance
Chin Lee kicked me off the block

'cause all the folks just think it's heinous
When I start talkin' about Uranus

I am a naked astrologist
That's who I am, that's who I am
That's who I am
I am a naked astrologist
That's who I am, that's who I am
That's who I am

From Hulk to Ninja

So yeah, my 4 year old, Clayton, is almost never "Clayton."  This is one of the fun things about that kid, he is always somebody else, and if I call him "Clayton," he will correct me.  "Mom, I'm Spiderman!"  or "Mom, I'm Indiana Jones!"  or "...Ben 10!" or "...Thor!"  or "Captain America!" or any number of other characters.

Hulk-Spiderman-Indiana Jones-Ben 10-Godzilla goes everywhere with me, and the items that he wears / takes with him just crack me up.  If you are Indiana Jones, for instance, you must have with you at ALL TIMES, a jacket, a hat, a gun, a "gun pocket" (aka a holster on a belt), a whip, and a "purse" (aka a satchel) with a map in it.  These items must be carted all over the grocery store, the park, or where ever you happen to be going.   I don't mind though, because I think it's dang funny and cute.  Old people, where ever we go, LOVE him!  Since he is the youngest of four boys, we have accumulated a LOT of hand-me-down Halloween costumes that fit right into this kid's mania for get ups.  My favorite going-to-the-store memory is when I took Spiderman Magician with me to Aldi.  Just picture the looks we got when he walked into the store, no where near Halloween time, wearing the full Spiderman Halloween costume with the addition of a huge, black, velvet, magician's top hat.  Spiderman in a Top Hat, it was a hoot!

If you've read my last post, you'll know that he has been the Hulk pretty frequently lately.  The problem with the Hulk is that if we ever want to go anywhere, I have to convince him to transform into Bruce Banner first -otherwise he will refuse to put a shirt on.

You can therefore imagine what I must have been thinking when he turned to me yesterday, in the middle of sacrament and whines, "Mom, Ninja Turtles don't wear CLOTHES!"  I about choked!  I was seriously busting up as I told him, "You can NOT go naked in church!"

How Do You Get the Hulk Dressed?

I'd already given in and let my 4 year old "Hulk" wear his purplish blue shorts for the second day in a row. I did insist that at least he put on clean underwear.

   Clayton:  "Does Bruce Banner wear underwear under his purple pants?"

    Me:  "Yes!"

That done, we move on to:

  "Okay, Hulk, put on your shirt."

   "Hulk hates that shirt!  It has a bomination on it!"

   "Okay, how about this shirt"

Hulk proceeds to turn down 4 shirts in a row, throwing them, each in turn, vehemently on the ground. Finally I catch on: Hulk doesn't wear shirts.

    "There are four shirts. Hulk had better pick one and put it on, or Hulk can't go to the park."

    "...and then Hulk gets a headache," as he's holding his head, hunkering down, and pretending to shrink, "and he turns back into Bruce Banner, and puts his shirt on."

Justin is the New Carl Sagan

Since Lydia passionately hates Justin Beiber, and REALLY doesn't like Elvis Presley either, I've been having a lot of fun hiding Justin Beiber / Elvis pictures all over her things.  She has already discovered these, so they are safe to post.  Every time she finds one, she screams and rips it up.  She even screamed in the middle of Sunday School class, and ran to the trash can vigorously shredding the one I left in her scripture case.  Here were some of my hiding places:

Justin inside her bathroom cabinet.

 a morph of Justin and Elvis inside her scriptures.

 Inside her makeup case

 Inside her sketch book

 Inside her yet unused makeup case.

 shuffled inside a deck of her magic cards

 on her school binder

 inside her band music

 in her drawer

 decorating her room in general

 on her pillow

and a message from Justin himself on her facebook page.


P.S.  For anyone wondering about the Carl Sagan reference, here's a link.

My Sister, The Bag Lady

     I am so proud of my sister, the bag lady.  Ashley is 25 years old and handicapped.  I am convinced that you couldn't find a sweeter girl anywhere.  A little over a year ago, someone from our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, got her interested in making satchels, filling them with school supplies, and then donating them to an organization within the church, who in turn distributes them to needy children, world-wide. 

     Last year, around this time, she succeeded in making about 125 bags, and filling them with supplies.  This year's haul was around the same number.  From the smile on her face and the excitement in her voice, as she shows me all of the bags she has painstakingly sewn together, it is clear that she just loves to help.  I am truly in awe of her accomplishments. 

     Ashley took it upon herself to beg for and gratefully accept many yards and yards of fabric and school supplies donated from friends, family, and church members.  What supplies were still needed to fill this massive load of bags, she and her parents paid for out of their own pockets, taking advantage of post back to school sales.  It is fun to see the gleam in her eyes as she describes her bargains.  "Trent and I bought 90 rulers today for just ten cents a piece!"  

     I can't imagine how many hours she has put into carefully cutting out and then sewing together close to two hundred fifty satchels.  "I was a lot faster this year than last year."  she told me.  I just love to picture kids all over the world carrying around the bags that my wonderful sister, Ashley, the bag lady, has lovingly put together, freely giving of her own time and resources.  Love you Kiddo!  You are just awesome!!

Early Morning Seminary is GREAT, Even for Me!

This is going to sound crazy, but after fretting about the impending early morning seminary for the past couple of years, I'm actually REALLY loving this! I made my mind up years ago that my kids would attend early morning seminary (yes here in the mid-west, seminary is at 6:00 a.m., 20 minutes away from my house), no matter the sacrifice. But as long as I can afford the gas (the Lord will provide, somehow right.), I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this. I have been going to the opposite side of the building, and practicing my piano for an hour every morning. 30 minutes of ghastly scales, but I'm DOING it! I'm actually going to miss EMS on my Tuesday / Thursday mornings that I run with my group, and someone else drives. I love music a million times more than even running or biking. It's nuts!