Entry for October 31, 2006
We had fun. It's late and I'm tired, but here are the kids in their costumes.
Print This Post
Entry for October 30, 2006
Today was the fall party for Jonas' preschool. He was suppose to dress as a community helper. We all know that we need heros in our community, so he was Super Jonas. None of the other parents "got" his costume. Oh well.
Tomorrow is Alex and Caleb's party. Alex gets to dress up, but Caleb does not. I guess fourth grade is when you're too mature to do that. Caleb informed me last Thursday that he volunteered me to make cookies for his party. He requested the big poofy kind, that only take about 4 hours to make. You have to refrigerate the dough for 2 hours, then, they are so big, I can only cook 4 per pan (I have 2 pans), they have to be rotated every 5 minutes, cooking for a total of 15 minutes. So, in order to make enough for the entire class, I'll be hopping up and down every 5 minutes, for awhile. I did tell Alex to ask his teacher if she wants cookies too. So, I may have to make a second batch after they get home from school today. I currently have them chilling in the fridge. I did tell him that it was fine though, I may give him a hard time for volunteering me to make cookies on short notice, but, I'm happy to do it any time.
Print This Post
Entry for October 29, 2006
Tonight was pumpkin carving night. I still don't trust any of the boys with knives, so they have to gut their pumpkin, draw the face, and I cut. It is a lot of work for me, I look forward to when I trust them with the knives. Jonas refused to touch the guts. We ran out of time for roasting seeds, we'll do that tomorrow.
Jonas had two pumpkins, one from his field trip to the pumpkin patch, and one from the family trip to walmart (very high in tradition, this family).
Print This Post
Entry for October 29, 2006
What a lovely weekend we had. The McNeel and May kids play very nice together. My kids got to play with guns, which is just not available at our crazy house. I wish I would of gotten a photo of Caleb, a gun in each hand, chasing down everything in sight (or imagination).
Once we arrived at my parents house, the kids got to watch wrestling, another taboo in our house. What an educational weekend these kids had.
We had a lovely time visiting with everyone this weekend. The kids are having a bit of a melt down, from the excitement of the two previous days.
We made it home safely, even though I took the wrong 435 exit, and then ended up in a traffic jam on I-70. When we were almost home the road that goes to our house was closed, and I was redirected into a small residential area in Manhattan trying to get turned back around to find a new route home. Thank goodness I'm back in Riley traffic, where there is no traffic, and I can drive on the wrong side of the road, if I truely desire (In fact, I saw a student driver doing just that!).
Print This Post
Entry for October 26, 2006
The kids and I are leaving tomorrow morning, for a nice trip to Missouri. My mom says when I phrase it that way, she feels so far away from us. Jared is staying home. I made a nice list of things for him to do. I printed it off for him, but I'll post it here, just to make sure he doesn't lose it (or if he does, he can reference this one, online).
I was told to prioritize, and put them in the order I want them done, and I was told to make sure that I put down feeding the pets and letting out the dogs, if that was important to me. It was also requested that I put watching football on the list. I don't think he will have much time for football.
Jared's To-Do list for October 27-28
Feed dogs, cats, and fish every day
Let dogs outside to poop and pee several times a day
Scrub the fronts of kitchen cabinets
Decutter and clean the laundry room
Paint the front of the house
Clean ceiling fans
Finish tiling the family bathroom
Switch the ceiling fan in the kids’ bedroom with the ceiling light in the game room
Trim all perennials to about 4” in height and weed flower beds.
Clean the fish aquarium
Scrub the dining room and kitchen floors on hands and knees to get sparkling clean
Clean out the refrigerator and freezer
Scrub both bathtubs
Wash all windows
Clean microwave, inside and outside
Wash all bedding, flip all mattresses
Scrub bath toys
Fix closet door in bedroom (this does not mean take off the door)
Sort through movies and cds and claim the ones you want to keep (in bedroom)
Dust
Move living room furniture, and vacuum under and behind the furniture
Shampoo the carpet
Polish all wooden furniture
Feed yourself
Pick up all sticks in the yard and pile neatly
Clean and organize the shed
Take apart the trampoline and store in the shed or basement
Have soda waiting for Heather, Alexander, Caleb, and Jonas
Drive your car into Manhattan on Friday to make sure it doesn’t die. (Don’t forget soda)
Scoop poop in the backyard
Clean all of the pets’ food dishes
Trim dead tree branches off of all of our trees
Print This Post
Entry for October 25, 2006
Today Jonas' class went to Derby Dining Center on the K-State campus to learn what kind of community helpers work in a dinning hall. It really brought back memories. Jared and I met living in the dorms. We ate at the other dining hall, but it is all pretty much the same. While I was there, they were mixing up cheesy mashed potatoes, which were my all time favorite. They were never on the menu. They were always served the day after they had mashed potatoes. I did live in a dorm for one summer that ate at Derby. Oh the memories.
We got to see how they make all of their foods. The special huge pots they cook soup in, the machine they make cookies with, the room they cut vegetables in, and much much more!
They even had an entire room devoted to hold cereal. Jonas is looking forward to telling his dad about that. Jonas decided that our game room should become our new cereal room, just for his dad.
The K-State football team eats at Derby. We got to see their special area, and sit in their special chairs. They get bigger glasses and plates than "normal" students. Here's Jonas with his milk and cookie (Sitting in one of the special football player chairs!).
Print This Post
Entry for October 24, 2006
Tonight we went to Caleb's parent teacher conference, and it went very nice. She recognizes that Caleb is a cool kid, and that's what we like the teachers to understand. Her only complaint is his desk and work area look like they were hit by a tornado. I've seen his room, and emptied out his backpack, so I'm not shocked.
Caleb got money for A's on his report cards. I always wanted money for my A's when I was a kid, and I was told I should earn A's for the joy of having A's. Jared got paid for his A's. So, now Caleb gets paid for A's. Fifty cents per A, with a one dollar bonus for all A's. We were going to do one dollar per A, but he has eleven subjects. He was thrilled. Grades start at this school in third grade, so Alex will start next year.
Caleb took some of his money, and rode his bike to Flynn's Sundrys to get everyone in the family a soda. (That's an old store that went out of buisness, but there are two soda machines in front of the store that still work great, and are the cheapest in town). Well, he was gone for awhile, so Jared walked to go see what was up. It turned out, that Caleb's pants got caught in his bike chain, and he couldn't get them out, so he was basically dragging his bike behind him, since he couldn't break loose. Perhaps I need to find a new chain guard for his bike (the original one broke off).
Print This Post
Entry for October 24, 2006
My cleaning is slipping behind. I joined the group flylady.. she tells me what to clean every day. If I follow her program, I will end up with a clean house. How novel. Execpt I was getting way too many emails, too much to do. And I refused to print out a "control journal" that I write in, and keep track of cleaning. Really.. that's a lot of things to do.
So, I'm in the middle of a knitting project, which I'm really enjoying, it's a new challenge. I'm going to make myself clean for awhile before working on knitting. Perhaps I'll even print out the stinkin' control journal.
A new game was recommended to me. LCR dice game. It looks fun. I'm passing on the suggestion. I just have to find one around Manhattan for a fun night of dice games in the May household.
Print This Post
Entry for October 19, 2006
A comparison.. through the years.
Each boys' second year of preschool, their trip to the pumpkin patch.
Print This Post