Happy Birthday, Jack!

The holiday season is jam packed with fun (and wrapping paper) at our house.  First we have Grammie's birthday and then Christmas.  Right after that Jack's birthday arrives, and then mine brings up the rear.  You get a lotta bang for your holiday buck at our house this time of year. Whew!  We are partied out.

Jack  is now TEN.  Ten years old.  Double digits, folks.  He's starting to make that familiar shift that kids make in their fourth grade year.  Little kid silliness still exists (a lot) but here and there, Jim and I question ... "Whoa.... who's this mature person living in our house?!"  Quick wit and easy sarcasm pop out at the most unexpected times.  It's a weird sensation to be the parent, in this case, instead of just the teacher observing the 9 to 10 year old transition in a classroom.  You'd think I would have been better prepared.

But no.  I just marvel.  When Jim needs help with the Christmas lights, Jack is right there, up in the attic, on the roof, HELPING.  Not just being in the way.  When Jim has to think about how to best get the new Christmas up into the attic, Jack has ideas.  And real solutions.  And Jim takes his advice.

When dinner needs cooking, Jack is willing and able to help.  And remembers how to cook it himself the next time.

 Jack, master of mac and cheese. 

And when Jack argues with his mom and dad, suddenly he has a logical argument that he's much less afraid to deliver right back to you.  When you're caught unaware, his viewpoint.... it's suddenly much more thought out and valid. 

This is a weird concept.  Alien Jack.  Alien and cool Jack.

Here's Jack's birthday interview:

1.   Favorite song:  Sleigh Ride

2.  Favorite cereal:  Lucky Charms

3.  Favorite color:  Blue

4.  Favorite outfit:  Short sleeve shirt, shorts, bicycle gloves, and fluffy slippers  (??? )

I've never seen him wear the outfit mentioned above... but this one is equally flashy.

5.  Favorite holiday:  Christmas (because my birthday is close)

6.  Favorite friend:  Kyle

7.  Favorite snack:  Snow ice cream  (this answer really confused me because... we've... um... never made snow ice cream.)

8.  Favorite thing to have for dinner:  Mac and cheese

9.  Favorite movie:  The Polar Express

10.  Favorite game:  Playing with the parachute in P.E.  (oooh... that's a good one, Jack.)

11.  Favorite toy:  Woody  (remember this?)

12.  Favorite fruit:  Strawberries

13.  Favorite animal:  Mouse  (Mouse?  Mouse?  I'm pretty sure he's just making stuff up now...)



Happy Birthday, Jack!  And thanks for the sweet birthday wishes right back at me.  You make me smile, kid.

Blog Therapy

Whoa.  It's been so long since I've blogged that I'm all discombobulated.  I just tried logging into the blogger website... and I actually had to THINK for a minute about what my user name and password was. 

As you can tell, I remembered.  But just LOOK at this place.  The format for entering a post is all different.  I don't even recognize the screen.  Shaking my head.  Things have gotten all modern-y and stuff while I've been gone.  It's not like it was  (back in April--- date of last post) when I used to walk 10 miles to school barefoot in the snow. 

Geez.

At least there's still a bright orange, hard to miss PUBLISH button.  I think I can still remember how to do this.

I miss this place, different as it may look now.  I remember when I felt clever and funny, and this was the place to be me.  I could make myself laugh and laugh and laugh with posts about nothing and everything. 

I've been REALLY REALLY grumpy lately.  It occurred to me that I haven't had a "just me"day in quite awhile.  Maybe this is part of the problem.  I'm sort of that person who needs to just walk around the mall by myself and not talk to anyone for an hour in order to feel recharged.  That has not happened.  I'm trying to devote a few minutes of just sitting here, in this spot, writing.  I don't have much to say, but maaaaaybe my mood will improve if I just force myself to ramble.  I want to be fun to be around again.

School has started again.  Duh.  It's October.  I have a great class, and while we have our fun, I sure wish I could have as much fun as Emma when she goes to school. 

Or at least as much fun as that kid rolling around on the ground behind her.

Jack is loving school - but what else is new? His teacher is my best pal and twin from whom I was separated at birth (of course overlooking that fact that we look not much alike at all and... um... that we were born in different years.)  But anyway, we think it's funny that Jack is in her class.  I get to hear Jack stories from a whole new perspective.  And sometimes I get to hear that he's not at all what I imagined as a student...  and I mean that in a good way.  Well.. crap... how can I mean that in a good way when it sounds like I'm saying that I previously imagined him in not a good way? That's not what I mean to say... having.trouble.describing. 

I guess I just imagined Jack a little daydreamy and shy.  Danavee reports that he is well-liked, pretty darn with-it, and can even be a bit of a ham.  Weird.  I like hearing Jack stories though.  It's fun as the Momma across the hall.


In other Jack news, he thinks he can whistle now. 

Not quite, buddy.  But... almost.  Maybe.

In Emma news, she's learning to read some very early beginner books.  That's so fun.

 

In cat news, Cookie was locked in this closet for the entire day today.  Her meows even sounded hoarse from what I imagine was her calling out "I'm in here and shouldn't be!"  to an empty, empty house for 10 hours straight. 

Cookie had an awful day.

In fish news, Blue is feeling blue.  He lays on the rocks at the bottom of his tank most days,  refusing most food and interaction.  I can't quite figure out what's wrong with him.  The Internet says he may have something call fin rot.  (The medicine I administered did nothing to perk him up, unfortunately.)  So I consulted the Internet again, and another suggestion says that maybe he just needs a fish lady friend. 

Come on, Blue.  This house can't take a fish death.  Not allowed, young man.

While our pets have seen better days, Emma's Bill Cosby impression has never been better.



No.  Emma is not imitating Bill Cosby.  But I'm onto something, right?  Right?!

Jack.  Holding a 2012-13 school picture of Jack.  This kid's cute.

I'll wrap up now.  Maybe I'll just tell Blue that he needs to take up blogging.  It makes ya feel better, I'm tellin' ya.

Valentine's Day 2012

Jim and I turned to each other somewhere in the days before the big V-day this year and said, "Have we been married long enough now that we can... not.... do Valentine's day?"  This cracked me up.  I love it. 

Other things I'm loving right now:

www.pinterest.com and the super cute (and easy) valentine box idea it provided for Jack.

This little thing

Bird tracks in the driveway snow

Stumbling upon weird and sort of nerdy photo ops at the local theater. And then internally chuckling at the way the ewok guy is constantly mothering over the soldier guy at left during picture taking. "Your chestplate isn't straight, honey."

The pretty ingenious compromise I witnessed when two siblings can't agree on whose turn it is to slide. 

And random showcasings of baseball enthusiasm.  Learned at school.  During the off season.

I hope you had a terrific Valentine's Day!



The Musicals

Emma was recently in the church nativity play.  She was the donkey.  You should know that she was not donkey-like at all.  I've never seen a donkey steal baby Jesus's thunder.  The pictures below show it well... getting right up in front of the microphone, making googly eyes at Mom and Dad the entire time.  A wave or three thousand.  It was cute. 

She looks like a gangsta donkey.  I'm just saying...

Anyway, it's because of the donkey performance that I feel compelled to post the next - a preschool performance the next night. It's slightly better in the way of "singing" and "saying lines" and "acting like you have some sort of assigned part in a show."  And it's less, "I'll be here all night. Tip your waiter." 

Jack also had a musical moment about a week back.  It was less public but oh-so-equally wonderful for his mother. 

It was the "first day of Christmas" for additional 51 seconds after that, but I did some editing... 

Merry Christmas!

TMI with Jack

Jack was going to the bathroom with the door wide open while I curled my hair this morning.  He stood there talking over his shoulder.  Cookie pitter pattered in behind him only to jam her head into his calf.  It was the first time I'd seen her all morning, a testament to the fact that she loves Jack more than she'll ever consider tolerating me.  Maybe it's because Jack pets her and stuff.  Anyway Cookie's arrival spurred the Too-Much-Information-think-aloud that followed.

"Hey, Mom.  Cookie doesn't mind the smell of my pee.   

~~~

She doesn't even care about the smell when I poop.  She stays with me.  She doesn't even growl! 

~~~

Wow, Mom.  I really just peed a LOT."

I think it's sort of possible that I didn't need to share this.  TMI with Jack Whitney.

A Reenactment

Jack, Emma, and I were sitting at Subway yesterday enjoying our ham sandwiches.  We had just come from the fabulous IPA educational store.  Now normally, I would ban this store during the thick of summer because, as Jack pointed out, the place even "SMELLS like a classroom."  But see... Jack had saved some of his money and was dying to spend it on a certain police officer puppet that he had seen when we went there in May.  (No, I'm not sure what was so special about the police officer puppet either.)  And so, I held my nose, and we went.

Jack shopped and ended up not liking the puppet he had been fantasizing about all summer after all.  Something about its eyes not being even.  (He is his father's son.)  But he did continue to shop, and after much deliberation, he decided he was ready to buy some small plastic replicas of skeletons that one can put together.  Okay, go for it, Jack.

He couldn't wait until home though.  He had to put his little plastic skeleton together while eating at Subway.  And this brings me to where I started.

So, with a mouthful of ham sandwich, Jack asks, "Mom, is this right?"  And he holds up his skeleton, boasting that he didn't even have to read the directions.  We've reenacted it for you below:

And in seeing that it looked right, I nodded that I thought so.  Next came this.  And this is why the reenactment was very necessary:

"Well, HIGH FIVE then!" 

And that's where I lost it.



Amazing Lemonade

"Amazing" lemonade from an amazing kid.

They Both... Well... Um....?

Jim and I were laughing just the other day as we sat at the table and challenged ourselves to think of any... I mean ANY... similarity between our two kids.  And here's what we came up with:

"They both like the queso and chips from Chili's." 

Yes.  That's it.  (And that was hard to think of, by the way.)

 Just look at them.

Subtle Jack

"Mom, go look at my drawing."

Bette Davis Eyes

So, yesterday we were listening to the 80's station while driving in the car, running errands.  Kim Carnes comes on singing her  Bette Davis Eyes. 

Jack listened for a bit and finally let out a huge sigh of disgust, asking...
"MOM, WHY WOULD ANYONE SING A SONG WITH NOT SUCH A GOOD VOICE?"

That was the best part of my Tuesday, people.

Summer Fun Has Just Begun!

Summer is in full swing!  And we've been gettin' our fun on.  I love summer.  Being an elementary teacher sure has its perks... and summer, you are the biggest one of all.  Here's what we've been up to lately.

1.  Last year, my big projects were Jack and Emma's bedrooms.  This year, it's all about me, folks.  I want a beautiful bedroom too.  Be gone, ugly tattered bedspreads.  Be gone, laundry piles in the bedroom floor.  Be gone, permanent ironing board set up that I never put away.  Be gone, ugly, ugly place.  Hello, dreaminess.  To start with, I dabbled in the art of antique shopping with my ultimate antique expert of a gal pal, Danavee. 
We found some great things...

 A beautiful trunk for the foot of the bed.  Check out the inside color!  I love.

 A hodge podge of mirrors/ and an old shabby window for over my dresser.  See that black mirror?  Spray paint is a girl's best friend, it turns out.  Just wait and see...  Thanks for the expertise, Schlager!

TURQUOISE!  Yes.  Yes.  And yes!

                         A new duvet cover.  I love the colors.

                                       A collection of my favorite photos.

See that rose?  That's the first flower I ever received from a boy.  A sixteen year old boy... named Jim.  Pretty special.  My bedroom is officially BEAUTIFUL.

2.  Playing outside has been fun, particularly if a water balloon fight is involved...

                                       Ammunition?  Check.

Competitive stance? Check, sort of.  Emma looks a little unprepared.

Action?  CHECK!

3.  Beautifying the rest of the house in preparation to host a fun and festive bachelorette party/personal shower for a Mrs. Ashley soon-to-be-Boschen! 

 New front porch plants!

 Incidentally, Jack grew this one from seeds.  He knows something I don't.  Hmphf.

 New rug for beneath the office chairs!

And another great antiquing find with Danavee!  A pair of shabby farmhouse-y windows for over the kitchen mantel.  I love them.  So much. 

4.  Other great things not pictured because, like an idiot, I didn't bring out my camera for them: 

Backyard pooltime at great-grandma and pa's  and a quick visit to see mom down in Arkansas. 

I love me some summer!  Yahoo!!!!

These Faces

"What are these faces about?" I hear you asking.

Yes, well.  There IS a story here.  One face is freshly tear-splotchy, glum, laced with disgust, forlorn, and pitiful.  The other?  Smug.  Oh yeah.  Reeeeal smug.

But before I get to that story, I can hear my mother over all of your voices.  Yes, Momma.  Jack's lips are blue, but it's only because he's just had a bluer than blue lollipop (given to him by Grandpa before dinner... sigh) and NOT because he has a disease or is low on oxygen, needing to be examined by the nearest hospital.  (Jack always seemed a fragile and especially vulnerable infant, and so my mom worries still.)

So.  The faces.  Notice that Emma is wearing a batting helmet and holding a badminton racquet?  Yeah, well, there's just been a major argument.  See, Jack wore this helmet and held the racquet on the way to school while riding in the car this morning.  (No, I don't know why, but that's unrelated to the story.)  Unfortunately for Jack, Emma got into the car this afternoon FIRST, immediately seizing both items and declaring that it was HER TURN for possession of both.  Jack was HIGHLY irritated that things went down like this.  So.  A brute wrestling match ensued over the said items.  Yank.  Pull.  Yank.  Scream.  Pull harder. 

Eventually, as is almost always the case with any tug-of-war episode, someone let go.  It was Emma.  The racquet then came hurtling at Jack's eyeball, smacking him right in the face. 

Then crying and blaming happened.  Lots and lots of both. 

Aaaaaand... hence, the faces.

Jack's New Pet

Well, we've done cat number 1, and cat number 2.  We've also done pet ants .  Gosh, we've even inherited some tadpoles and killed plants a'plenty at the Hoodenpyle house.  Remember?  So now, we had quite a decision to make when it came to Jack's newest idea:  getting a new pet.

We decided on a fish.  (a.k.a.  something super easy for mom...)

Jack, Emma, and I all piled into the car today to go and do the pet purchasing. Jack nervously chattered from the backseat, "Mom, I'm starting to get nervous about this.  Will Cookie eat my fish?  Does Cookie ever go into my room?  Should I shut my door whenever I leave for school?" 

Emma, of course, piped in too.  "I want a fish too.  I want a fish too.  I want a fish tooooooooo.  Mom?  Can I have a fish?  I want a fish."

This continued on until we reached the pet store where I was quite overwhelmed by all the fish choices and fishy paraphenalia.  I don't know a thing about fish and certainly don't know what to get and what not to get.  So, we looked around for awhile.

Mom, can we keep the fish in my room?

Mom, can we get this one?  He's colorful.

His name will be "Blue."  Mom, I named him that because he's blue.

Alright, Jack.  You already look smitten.  Get your money out that you've saved up.  Let's go pay for him, and take him home.

Drive as slowly as you can, Mom.  And don't hit any bumps.

Welcome home, Blue. 

Braids



 Emma's new favorite hairstyle is the braid.  These braids are definitely cute, but they take no less than 20 minutes due to the fact that she's three and prefers wiggling over sitting still.  But she looks so dang cute... so I braid away.

Jack was lingering around in the bathroom during one braiding session recently.  He watched and was clearly curious. 

Jack:  "HOW are you even doing that, Mom?!"

Me:  "This is braiding.  I learned to do it when I was little."

Jack:  "Do all girls know how to do that or something?"

Me:  "No, I don't think so.  It takes lots and lots of practice.  Do you know how to do it?"

Jack:  "Uhhh, Mom?  That seems like kind of a girl thing to know.  I don't think I have to worry about that."

Me:  "Yeah, you're probably right.  It is kind of a girl thing."

(Jack starts to walk out of the room.)

Me:  "Jack, what if you grow up and get married and have a little girl one day?  What if she asks you to put some braids in her hair?"

Jack:  (shaking his head and sighing over his shoulder)  "I'll just tell her to go ask her mother."



Wii Bowl

It's another snowday off of school! At least a foot of snow is keeping us all indoors today, and so we decided to have a Hoodenpyle Family bowling tournament. I was bent on winning, but quickly fell behind when I got distracted with moviemaking. These were worth the sacrifice, in my opinion.

Sweet, funny, and proud bowling.

Aaaand the more obnoxious approach. (Yeah, you only thought you knew Jack.)

Mr. January!

As promised, here is a scan of Jack's winning safety calendar contest entry. Congrats, Mr. January! I've never met safer potatoes than these.

Christmas 2010

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We sure did!

Christmas time makes for interesting conversations at our house. Here are a few excerpts:

Jack: HO! HO! HO! I'm Santa Claus!
Emma: HO! HO! HO! Jack, I'm Mrs. Claus!
Jack: Umm, no, Emma. You can't be Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus is gentle.

___

Emma: (milling through the pantry) Mom! I'm hungry. Can I have candy?
Mom: No, Emma. Pick out a different snack.
Jack: (whispering) Whatever you do, Mom, don't say the F word.
Mom: What?! Jack?!
Jack: (leaning in to my ear) You know. Fruit snacks.

___

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Jack Wins!!!

Recently Jack entered a calendar illustration contest through Jim's workplace, Frito-Lay. Each year children of employees of the company are invited to create a safety themed illustration and enter their drawing in a contest. 13 illustrations get chosen to be published on the poster. (12 months + cover)

Well, folks. Let me introduce you to Jack B. Hoodenpyle.... Mr. January!!!

His drawing has been selected for publishing, and as soon as it does get published, you'd better believe that I'll be scanning in a copy for your viewing pleasure. In the meantime, let me tell you the ADDITIONAL good news!!!

As a contest participant, Jack's name was thrown into a hat for the winning of an iPod nano.

Mr. January ANDDDDD nano winner?! Holy Moly!

He is super excited, and has already loaded five songs. You're curious about his songlist, aren't you? Jack's top five:

1. In My Arms (Plumb)

2. Free Like a Bird (Caspar Babypants)

3. You've Got a Friend in Me (Gypsy Kings, Spanish version from Toy Story 3 Soundtrack)

4. Fireflies (Owl City)

5. Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Somewhere my friend, Danavee, has a smug look on her face about that number five.

Congratulations, Jack! I can't wait to show everyone your safety poster! Great job!

Jack, According to Gingerbread Men

Which part of the gingerbread man do you eat first? The latest Dunkin' Donuts research survey says that your answer reveals much about you! Who knew?!

Which part does Jack eat first? The legs. He is not among the majority. (64 percent of cookie-eaters eat the head first.) According to the survey, that first leggy bite indicates that Jack tends to be more "sensitive, reveling in the company of others." Yep, that's my kid.

Gingerbread men = solid research

Feelin' Musical

Jack is learning to read music at school. Yesterday, I caught him using the iPad to draw sheet music just as his teacher had shown him. Check out the time signature, quarter rests, and even a repeat sign. (Sure, one measure has five beats, but hey.) He'll "sing" the rhythm to you, correctly, if you ask. Geez.

Not to be outdone, Emma immediately wanted to demonstrate her musical ability too.

Have you any "woof?" Yeah, me neither.