May 28, 2010 | Motherhood
I’m joining in on a new linky-thing called “Kids Make the Darndest Things” over at Jen’s. Sounded fun because my kids are ALWAYS making things. I have 3 kids, so storing/keeping all these masterpieces is a challenge. I have gotten better and do actually throw some of the minor works away. Then I have 3 professional portfolios I bought at an art store that are about 3’x 4′ that I wrote their names on and put the better works in.
Some new works:
Close up of his “death penguin”
OK, this needs an explanation… Max has sensory issues and the school allows him to doodle during lessons. I went in one day and the ENTIRE closet door was covered with his doodles. This was what was left when he brought it home. The middle says “Max Rules” and the rest is a hodge-podge of creativity. He was really excited because he designed their class surfboard for field day and the design won for the entire elementary school!
Their board is the one on the right with the kids
Emily won a contest at school too. She designed the new middle school t-shirt! She is a fantastic artist and I imagine that will be her career path (if not science.)
My little dude is big on making “mad scientist stuff.” I find potions and experiments all around. My freezer is teeming with frozen mixtures of “I don’t want to knows.” Recently he took a test tube and filled it with “flour, and a bunch of stuff” he says. I don’t think it’s flour, but it made a tornado in a tube which is actually really cool.
What creative, crazy things are your kids making? Come join up and tell us!
May 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
Language is a funny thing…
I grew up being the translator for my family. Mom could understand some Spanish, but didn’t speak it at all, and my brother was much younger than me. I was fluent at 7 or so, so I did a lot of strange things like negotiate salaries for babysitters, get car tags, translate from the phone company for my mom. I loved it honestly, that peek into the grown-up world.
I can remember going to Mexico City when I was about 12 for vacation. Mom had this cool idea whenever we traveled to get a cabbie to take us around for an entire day. She’d have them take us to places that they would go on a day off and we always saw the coolest things. (Example: in Costa Rica the cab driver took us to his mom’s house for popsicles, a shoe store where they made the shoes to your feet, a drive by view of a mafioso’s house in town…)
Well, the cab driver in Mexico started talking and I went “huh?” I had never talked to anyone from Mexico and didn’t realize they don’t really speak Spanish. I didn’t know that different Spanish-speaking countries had such different vocabularies and accents. I managed to muddle through to get the point across to him somehow, but when mom looked at me like “What is going on?” I told her “Mom, sorry I don’t speak Mexican.” (A couple of years in the restaurant biz in the U.S. and I quickly learned Mexican by the way!)
After most of my college I moved back to Panama to finish my senior year there. My degree was in Spanish and most of my profs had studied in Spain. I guess I’d been paying attention because people at home would give me looks. “Are you from Spain?” They’d ask.
My biggest challenge was moving to Arkansas. I was in a co-ed dorm (NEVER put your kids in co-ed dorms by the way) and had some kids come up to me the first week of school.
Them: “We fixin ta go up ta tha sto, you want we should carry you?”
Me: “Huh?”
Them: (louder now) “We’re fixin’ ta go up to Walmart, want us to carry you there?”
Me: (Thinking, I know how to walk, why would anyone offer to carry me somewhere? What are they fixing?)
Now my roommate jumps in.
“Michelle, they are going to Walmart. Would you like them to give you a ride there?”
Oh.
That’s my attempt at writing this week. Forgive me, I’ve been sick so my brain is still mushy.
Come join up on Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop!
The prompts:
1.) Describe a time when you had difficulty communicating with someone who speaks a different language than you.
2.) If you could do your wedding over, how would you do it?
3.) Who are you giving a timeout to?
4.) What do you dream about? Explain a dream you’ve had recently without using the words ‘I’ or ‘me’ or ‘drunk as all get up”.
5.) What’s so good about it? Write an interesting poem or piece of writing where the last two words of the writing are ‘good-bye’
May 26, 2010 | Motherhood
Yesterday Jac had to take his kindergarten “entrance exams.” (Yeah, I know.) He is REALLY not wanting to go to school, which starts in July by the way. Being the youngest of three, he knows most of the kids & teachers at school already. First he wouldn’t get out of the car. He was not a happy camper and then refused to go into the room to take the test.
We tried:
- Bribery with lunch with mommy & Max
- Told him he could feed the snake in the science room
- Told him he could see the chinchilla in said science room
- They told him they would make a volcano with him
- Bribery with candy
You know what worked? (Hint- None of the above!)
I had to go get Max from his classroom to go with him to take the tests. They did make a volcano and I think they both ended up having fun. (Thank you for sweet, patient teachers!)
I took the boys to lunch at Your Mama’s, a busy “blue-plate” diner nearby.
Can you tell we don’t eat beef at home?
“Mom, these are the best rolls EVER!”
Later I asked little man if he was excited now about being at school with his brother and sister- his response was…
“NO WAY! I’M NEVER GOING TO THAT SCHOOL!”
My thinking is that they don’t have the playground installed/purchased yet. I mean, I don’t want to even go to a school with no playground. All I can really remember about kindergarten was baking, playing dress-up, getting in trouble at naptime, and playing on the playground (chasing boys.) I think it’s a sad state of affairs when No Child Left Behind has taken away all but the playground part, and most of that. Being a parent of a now 8th grader who started kindergarten when this wonderful education plan started I can’t tell that it’s improved anything.
May 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
Scott is the pancake king. He always puts me to shame when he makes the kids pancakes on Sunday mornings. For example:
A Griffin!
Eating a Griffin
Monster Face
Eating (and making) a Monster Face
Flowers
Chew-Chew Train
Hydrant For the Pup
For Me!
My little happy face pancakes never stand a chance against these, don’t ya think?
Big girl & I made her some new sleepy pants yesterday. We are still working on the top so will post when we get that done. Here is the finished result! (I think they came out pretty cute considering I haven’t sewn any clothing in awhile.)
May 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
We have been sick for the past week. Strep throat again. Fun stuff. On top of that Emily and I developed bronchitis and sinus infections so we are just now up and around. (Thank God for antibiotics.) Being sick has made us all a bit stir-crazy.
I decided to get out and see what has become of my yard today, and cut some of my pretty hydrangeas. The blue ones are probably original to the house, at least 50+ yrs old maybe? The white ones are a heritage variety I got at a garden show- you can’t see it very well in the picture but they are white with tiny blue buds that are under the white petals. I also have a laceleaf but it’s not that pretty yet. I’ll post pics when they bloom.
Arranging these made me think…
Hydrangeas are a lot like kids. They are really hard to get to do what you want, and somehow even if they don’t do everything you expect they are awfully fun anyway.
