Just doing my job

Last week my boys' teachers sent home notes requesting volunteer parents to come in and read Dr. Seuss books to the classes in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday tomorrow. I knew I couldn't make it to all of the classes so I opted to choose Sheriff's class as they are often low on volunteers and this is his last year in elementary school. I will have plenty of opportunities to still volunteer in the other boys' classes in the years to come.

The thought did cross my mind that it was a little odd to have a reading of Dr. Seuss books to 6th graders but it was a fleeting thought.

I should have thought harder.

When I told Sheriff last night that I would be coming to his class to read to them he almost died on the spot after saying, "that is sooooo embarrassing!"

What?

Of course it is!

Why didn't I think of that?

I told him that if he gets beat up after school for this it will motivate him to lift weights so that his rippling muscles will scare off any would-be bullies.

Don't worry Sheriff... we have a whole weight-training system at home. Barring that, maybe we'll head over to the store tonight and buy you some new running shoes so you can outrun the bullies.

I admit I made a mistake.

But I'm not the only one who sets themselves up. Wannabe came home today from school with this...

Really?

Best Boots Ever

As a follow up to my post on Best Halloween Costume Ever, I thought I would share with you my moment yesterday I had on purchasing the best boots ever for my 11-year-old son. I am quite sure it is a moment he will never forget. I'm sure I won't. Well actually I'm sure he won't forget it but with the way my brain has been working lately I might forget it by 2:30 this afternoon which is why I am blogging it now.

I had already purchased Sheriff a pair of boots a couple of weeks ago but hadn't had him try them on until of course it rained yesterday, when of course we discovered that the boots were 1 size too large. He was upset that he couldn't wear them to school but I insisted on taking the boots back. I did NOT want to hear for the rest of the season how his feet hurt and how many blisters he had from wearing oversize boots. Go figure.

I returned to the store and discovered that the didn't have those boots in his size. I searched the shelves for boots in his size and found these...

A great looking pair of boots, I thought. I bought them and brought them home. While Sheriff was busy doing his math homework I plunked the boots down on the table next to him and said, "hey I found you some new boots. What do you think?" He looked at the boots, looked at the label and without a word passed them over to me.

With a look that said "Really?"

I said, "What?" not understanding what could possibly be wrong with the awesome boots I had found.

He tilted the label towards me...

I'm heading back to the store now for attempt number three. Wish me luck.

Sheriff turns 11!

I can't believe Sheriff is finally 11! I say finally because it seems like it has taken forever to get to this point. At the same time however I look at him and miss the days when he was a little boy giving "big hugs" to his cousin and accidentally spilling eggs on the floor while Brett and I slept in bed. -sigh- Those were the days.

Soon enough his voice will start cracking and the zits will start popping (eww!!). He'll want to borrow the car all the time along with a few dollars here and there. Of course the answer will be "no". To both. hahaha!!!

But for now I guess I had better enjoy the fact that I can still get a few precious hugs out of my 11-year-old and a smile or two when I do or say something mildly amusing. In a few months I'm sure he will be too "old" for that.

Stop Interrupting Me

I'm currently taking a six week photography class at one of our local universities on using natural light. It is great and I'm sure I'll forget everything I'm learning in no time flat as I retain very little these days what with turning 40 soon. Get out the walker people!!!

Sheriff was working on his spelling at the table and I brought out my camera to use the light coming in from the window and this is the look I got from him...


He did eventually cooperate though...


I can now sympathize with my father when he went to the CNE all those years ago and was approached by an encyclopedia salesman. "Can I interest you in a set of encyclopedias?" the salesman asked my father.

"I don't need a set of encyclopedias," my father replied, "I have a teenager who knows it all." (he wasn't referring to me)

I have a ten-year-old who already knows it all. I don't even finish my sentence and he is saying to me "I KNOW!!!"

Injury Math

What do you get when you take two cute boys shooting fake guns (using their hands)


plus a great big jump .... (to get away from the fake gun fire of course)

plus hard tile



EQUALS =

1 splint on Sheriff's foot for the fracture below the third metatarsal



1 boot on Sheriff's foot which replaced the splint the following week



1 pair of crutches



2 $30.00 co-pays (more bills to follow I'm sure)

and

3 trips to After hours instacare (one for the initial Sunday visit and two so far for follow-up visits)

That doesn't stop him from having fun though...

Easter Fun

How many Easter Hunts can one family squeeze in in a day??? Our family managed 8.

The Easter Bunny visited our home while we slept and left some fun things for the boys.


Then we drove over to Grandma C's. Hunt #2 was for Smiley's age group. He did fairly well with mom dragging him along (his legs are little so he needed some assistance to go faster) Hey!!! the point is to win right???


Hunt #3 was for Giggles and Wannabe's age group. Giggles is really fast and faster still when it comes to egg hunts. He needs NO HELP from mom.




Hunt #4 was for Sheriff's age group and by this time mom was really getting competitive and was pointing out to Sheriff where the eggs were. Poor kid was getting turned around as he would go for one egg and I would shout to him to go somewhere else. Settle down mom!!!


Hunt #5 was for everyone... adults included. My total egg count for this hunt... one. Yep! One. I'm not the only disappointed soul however....




Hunt #6 was actually a treasure hunt with clues devised by my in-laws that had us running all over the place. Lots of fun and one of the clues even made fun of Brett backing into the basketball pole at his grandma's which had everyone laughing... except Brett of course.

Hunt #7 was at Grandma G's and was for all the kids.


Hunt #8 was also at Grandma G's and was for everyone. This is the hunt where everyone hopes to find lots of GOLDEN EGGS because they have lots of cash in them. I made up for my pathetic showing in Hunt #5 and came away with 4 golden eggs. Yeah mom!!!

Of course the best part is not the candy, the money, or the loads of chocolate.... the best part is spending time with family.




We are also grateful that Giggles is still alive after his attempt to make everyone laugh by putting his leg over the balcony at Grandma C's. No one found it funny as it would have resulted in a long fall to the concrete below. Giggles was not giggling when he got in trouble from his dad. (thankfully I was getting food plates ready for kids... I think I would have died of a heart attack if I had witnessed it).


At lunch today I put green marshmallow Peeps on the boys plates as a treat and told them that they had to "eat their Peeps last". I got a few snickers out of that comment and Smiley said "we pee on the toilet". Every time one of the boys talked about the Peeps on their plate Smiley would snap his head around to me wondering why no one was getting in trouble for saying "peeps" and he would say "no!!! we pee on the toilet".

Later today we watched The Lamb of God video with the boys and talked about Jesus. The boys were riveted to the video and I think watching it helped them to understand a little more what the Savior did for us and that he lives again.

It has been a wonderful weekend. Hope you had a great one too!

For Love of the Game

Today's edition of Carin's love challenge is dedicated to Sheriff and his love of basketball.  He is currently playing with some friends on a local team and having lots of fun playing games on Saturdays. 

Sheriff is not a typical basketball player... I say not typical because he has some unusual moves.  He sometimes twirls, sometimes does a homerun slide down the court (I wish I had a shot of that one) and his hands are always busy doing all kinds of unusual moves.  You really have to see it to believe it.  Pictures just don't do it justice and he moves so fast they end up blurry.  Or is it that I'm laughing too hard that my camera is shaking???  You decide.

He moves to the beat of his own drummer.  I think he definitely is a combination of my husband and myself - a basketball loving dancer. poor kid!!! hahahaha!!!  just kidding!!!  

He is one awesome kid and I love going to his games.  I'm sad it is only once a year and for just 8 games.  But he loves it so much he takes every opportunity to use the court in the backyard to practice his "skills" in the nice weather.  

Well... my love of chips is calling to me so I must end this post and heed their siren call.  hahaha!!!