Wednesday, December 30, 2009

When The Student Becomes The Master

As a parent, your ultimate goal is (or should be) to teach your children and have them excel at whatever it is that you're teaching them. And, of course, eventually beat you at it.

In our family, Ken is, shall I say, a little competitive and isn't going to let the boys win. If they win, they win fair and square.

Good job. Congratulations and all that good stuff. And, of course, I'm coming back for a rematch.

A while back, I blogged about Shane becoming the master and beating Ken in chess. The other day, Ken and I were sitting in the kitchen and Ken starts out a conversation reminding me of that day.

Then he took a big sigh.

And continues to tell me that Owen (our 7 year old) put a beat down on him in Madden 10. Something stupid like 65-0.

Then he continues to complain (yes...it turned to complaining) that Owen took the ball and ran it in for another touchdown on the last play of the game...even though he could have knelt down. He says that Owen was doing spin moves and all kinds of things that Ken had no idea how to do or to stop.

Owen comes walking in and giggled and acknowledged that he did that on purpose and knew he could have knelt down but that's not how he rolls and Ken would just need to bring his A game next time. lol

The student has apparently become the master. That's good stuff. :up:

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.



Ken, Kim, Shane and Owen

Monday, December 21, 2009

What Are They Thinking?

Sometimes it's hard to tell what the kids really think or feel about the world around them. I think that I know but it's always good to get some confirmation about what they like and don't like.

And it's always good to occasionally go into their room and snoop around...err...I mean straighten stuff up. Sometimes I find plates that have petrified stuff on them but sometimes I'll find little gems. Something that really gives me a view into them as the individual person that they are growing up to be.

Shane is a "preteen" as he repeatedly tells me. Particularly when he's moody. Then it becomes "I'm just hormonal mom. I'm a preteen, you know. You wouldn't understand." Seriously. This is not made up. It is a conversation that I've had with him more than once.

It's usually at night when he's in his stall tactic #5 but that's beside the point.

Cleaning up his room the other day, I found this little gem. Apparently, he was in one of his dark and moody periods and decided to write down what he loves and what breaks his heart. At least I think that's what he meant. You decide.



I'm glad that he loves his family and I know that he loves playing cards. I'm also super glad to see that he loves himself. That's awesome that "myself" made the "love" list.

And I get the hates "brockily" (tee-hee on the spelling) but I don't get what unicorns ever did to him. I thought that he liked shcool (tee-hee) so that was a bit surprising.

All in all it's a great list but I wonder if it's done in random or specific order. Either way it shows that he's thinking for himself and he's really learning about the world around him. Aw. He is a preteen.

Sometimes I could do with less of the preteen moods but I'm all warm inside when I see sweet drawings like this. Shane rocks!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

A New Measurement Learned Just Yesterday!

We rarely get snow in Virginia in December. Usually it waits until February when it's really cold to snow. But I guess that the gods (or whomever is mad at me for having plans on Saturday) decided that I needed to stay home and chill.

Whomever is in charge of the weather decided to dump a crap-ton of snow on our area yesterday. Honestly, I didn't know what a crap-ton was exactly until yesterday. So, in case you're a little confused about this little understood measurement, here's some visuals to help you comprehend it.







Shane was the first one out.

Sn*w Angels!



I think that he had a difficult time getting up from the snow.



"There's no place like a warm house. There's no place like a warm house."





Again...a crap-ton of snow. For reference, Shane is about 54 inches tall.



Playing in the snow "seemed" like so much fun. Until he realized how cold it was! Well, duh.





Owen decided that he was ready to venture outside.

Poor thing could barely move in the snow.



I'm surprised that he didn't get lost in it.



Could his hat be any lower? Seriously. lol.



And this is what I get when I ask for a picture. Nice, Owen. Really nice.



Out of about 15 pictures, I finally got a good one of Owen.



While they were playing in the snow, I made cookies.





While I was baking the first batch, Shane came in to warm up. He went upstairs to change. About five minutes later, I look over to the window and see a ruler dangling from a string.



He said that he wanted to measure the depth of the snow. Why he couldn't just carry the ruler outside with him is beyond me. I suppose that this contraption was much cooler and he wouldn't have to carry it around.

But this could mean only one thing...Shane had opened his window and threw something (else) out of it. Never mind that he froze the inside of the house in the process of doing his experiment. :/





All in all, we got about 20-24 inches of snow. Since our paper hasn't been delivered (well...duh), I can't be exactly sure of the totals. Shane measured it around 10 am when he went out and it was about 12 inches as you can see. It snowed hard for the rest of the day and didn't let up until about 7 p.m.

So now (if you live outside the area) you can enjoy the snow from the comfort of your own home and you can just get into your car and drive where ever you want to go without having to dig out first.

This has also been an educational post as you have now learned scientifically what a crap-ton measurement looks like!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Kim...Come On Down!

I've been called to the principal's office.

Well, not really. But I have been called to the teacher's office for a conference. I may as well have been called to the principal's office though. Apparently, Owen is acting in class like he does at home...and that's not really a good thing.

Back in high school, I have distinct memories of seeing my parents coming down the walkway towards Mr. Sams office. And if I didn't see them, I definitely heard about it from others.

So now the shoe is on the other foot. But...the big difference is that my parents got called in high school, not second grade.

Super groan. Oh well. I did tell the teacher that I give good Christmas presents. But I'm wondering if I need to return what I got her and upgrade it. I guess I'll find out later today.

Oh. And for the record, my parents weren't called to the office for me. And I would complain that I'm having to pay retribution for something "she" did but that would be so very wrong.

She just got caught. I didn't. :p

Monday, December 14, 2009

Making A List...and Crossing Things Off

So my friend was freaking out because she was just now getting her Christmas cards out. I giggled to myself because I had just congratulated myself for 1) getting our cards printed by the middle of December; 2) and actually sending out cards this year; 3) getting the tree up before Christmas Eve and having bought AND wrapped most of the presents.

I guess I learned my lesson last year when I waited until Christmas Eve to wrap everything and then I was sick as a dog and couldn't even tell Ken what to do. Ken had to wrap everything, clean up the middle room and set out all of the presents. :) And he did a GREAT job!

As I was proudly telling my mom this morning that I got my cards out this weekend, she asked if I had gotten ALL of them sent. Well. No. I have about 10 or so that I need to get addresses or I wanted to put a note on them. It's like she knows me or something. ;)

So she says that I can't check it off my list because it's not really done. Darn her and her logical reasoning. :/

Way to be a bah-hum-bug and ruin my joyous celebration of actually sending out cards this year. ;)

Monday, December 7, 2009

The One Cent Stamp Costs One Cent...Duh

ME: "How much does a 1 cent stamp cost?"

POSTAL CLERK: (Thinks about it for a second and looks at me like I'm nuts) and says "Um. 1 cent."

ME: (Face red after realizing what I said.) "It's so awesome to share my blonde moments with other people."

After that exchange, I felt the need to justify my blondness and explained that I really needed to know how much a stamp cost now because I have a modge podge of stamps and need to buy one cent stamps so I can use them.

The clerk giggled and said thanks for the laugh because she was probably going to need it today. So glad I could help her out.

And I think that I should rename "blonde moments" with "Kim moments" because that's more appropriate.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Most Boys....

Leave the toilet seat up after they go potty.

But not mine.

Nope. Instead of even putting the lid up, they pee with the toilet seat down. (Not the lid...that would be an even grosser, bigger mess.)

What I can't decide is if they are just being lazy or if I drilled it into their heads too much to put the seat down when they're done.

Either way...I'm not sure which is worse. 1) sitting down to go potty and having a...um...wet seat, or 2) sitting down to go potty and falling into the toilet in the middle of the night when they've forgotten to put the seat down.

Neither option is great.

All I can say is boys. Sheesh.

Happy Friday!