I am slightly embarrassed to say none of my kids know how to ride a bike. Roman is now 8 and still using training wheels. Problem is we haven't lived in a place they could learn to ride bikes since we left Florida... Roman was 2, Hopey just 9 months at that time. Our current neighborhood has great streets for bike riding. So, with gas prices so high this summer, we decided do something different and "go green" and take a little of our tax returns and invest in a great family activity... bike riding! Yup, even James and I got knew bikes, which neither of us have owned since we were kids. Boy did we forget how fun it can be! Bethany is a hellion on wheels. No big shock there, right! Hopey is slow and lazy and doesn't want to peddle for long. She fell once and tried to give up for good. Yup, no big shock there either. But Roman. That boy won't even try! He's demanding we put training wheels on his new bike before he'll get on it. He's EIGHT! It just kills me and James. He'd rather ride his scooter or even rollerblade than bike ride. Still he got a new one and we're forcing the issue. This summer we will be spending a lot of time close to home from the looks of it. Instead of wasting the gas to drive 3 blocks to the pool, they WILL be riding their bikes back and forth. Wish us luck as we get their little chunky butts in shape and teach them this great childhood pastime. Surprisingly, a lot of their friends don't know how to ride bikes either. What is happening to this generation!??!
On a side note.... OUCH!!!! My butt still hurts from those few hours of riding on Saturday!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Cold Packs
The Dobie, has recently been renamed to Dr. Hope. See, Hope is the only one in the house that ever seems to know exactly where the bandaids are. Secretly I think she's been hiding and hording them, but haven't been able to prove this theory as I still have no idea where she keeps getting them from. With spring in the air and baseball season in full swing, it was time to restock the first aid kits, something we do every spring. Since Hope was doing such a great job patching boo-boos and reminding everyone to wash their hands and whatnot we decided she could be Dr. Hope and bought her her very own first aid kit, a Medibag. The idea was for her to keep it under the sink in the kids' bathroom and note that it was the only one the kids could get into without help or at least asking, and maybe the ones in the other bathrooms would miraculously be there when we need them! Hope agreed to these terms and was given the responsibility of her new Medibag.
Of course this means the B-monster got into it! I came home late last week to find the contents scattered throughout MY bedroom. I called Hope in to address it, pick up the mess and put it away where it belongs. Aside from confirming it was Bethany's doing she did so with little complaint and in doing so discovered the cold pack. "Mom, what's this?" "That's a cold pack, be careful with it, cause if you crack it it won't work when you need it and it's a one time use thing. Use it, then throw it away." "Ohhhhhhh, okay, the next time someone gets a cold I'll crack it and toss it! Will that make them better faster??"
Of course this means the B-monster got into it! I came home late last week to find the contents scattered throughout MY bedroom. I called Hope in to address it, pick up the mess and put it away where it belongs. Aside from confirming it was Bethany's doing she did so with little complaint and in doing so discovered the cold pack. "Mom, what's this?" "That's a cold pack, be careful with it, cause if you crack it it won't work when you need it and it's a one time use thing. Use it, then throw it away." "Ohhhhhhh, okay, the next time someone gets a cold I'll crack it and toss it! Will that make them better faster??"
Wacky Wednesday
Wacky Wednesday just may be Hope's most all time favorite school day!! She came home the day before and it was all she could talk about. She must have matched 20 different outfits to come up with the PERFECT one for Wacky Wednesday (yes, she really did wear this to school, and out to dinner, and to Roman's baseball practice!)
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Report Cards
I'm not sure I've ever bragged on my kids schooling in the past, and certainly not in awhile at least. So here goes. Roman and Hope are both amazing!!! Both were blessed (and seemingly B too) with natural intelligence. Or rather, they easily just get it! Schooling has always come easily for them. Both could have (and most certainly Bethany, though it ain't gonna happen) started Kindergarten a year ahead of schedule and I have no doubts in my mind that they would have excelled and done just fine. We don't have to work extremely hard on their academic lives and for that I am soooooooooooo thankful. I am truly blessed in this department!
Their latest report cards.... drum roll please...... Hope Elizabeth got ALL E's!!!!!!!!!!! That would be the equivalent of straight A's. Roman dropped off a little this time around. He came home with 5 S's and 4 E's. Most kids would kill for a report card that great and it would be the equivalent of A/B honor roll. But Roman, he was pretty devastated. He's known he's been "off" lately. We've discussed it, his teacher has apparently discussed it with him recently, and according to him he's been having a lot of issues with his friends at school on top of the added pressure of helping out more at home these last few months while James has been laid up. He's just going through a rough spell, but that's another post for another day.
Last night was baseball practice, so of course all the mom's are asking the kids how they did. One of the mom's asks Hope.... "How did you do on your report?" Hope, "I got 5 S's and all the rest E's. I did grrrrrrrreat!" ummm, Hope honey, that was ROMAN's report card you were looking at not yours! So when I told her she got all E's, she just shrugs and says, "Well, that's good too." and walks off. LOL Roman on the otherhand was even more devastated to hear that Hopey pulled all E's, something, thanks to his chicken scratch handwriting, he's yet to pull off himself. All the same, we were thrilled with them both and stopped by the store on the way home from practice to pick up "Alvin and the Chipmunks", a much wanted and well earned DVD.
I know Roman is a bit upset over it, but I'm so proud of them both!!!
Their latest report cards.... drum roll please...... Hope Elizabeth got ALL E's!!!!!!!!!!! That would be the equivalent of straight A's. Roman dropped off a little this time around. He came home with 5 S's and 4 E's. Most kids would kill for a report card that great and it would be the equivalent of A/B honor roll. But Roman, he was pretty devastated. He's known he's been "off" lately. We've discussed it, his teacher has apparently discussed it with him recently, and according to him he's been having a lot of issues with his friends at school on top of the added pressure of helping out more at home these last few months while James has been laid up. He's just going through a rough spell, but that's another post for another day.
Last night was baseball practice, so of course all the mom's are asking the kids how they did. One of the mom's asks Hope.... "How did you do on your report?" Hope, "I got 5 S's and all the rest E's. I did grrrrrrrreat!" ummm, Hope honey, that was ROMAN's report card you were looking at not yours! So when I told her she got all E's, she just shrugs and says, "Well, that's good too." and walks off. LOL Roman on the otherhand was even more devastated to hear that Hopey pulled all E's, something, thanks to his chicken scratch handwriting, he's yet to pull off himself. All the same, we were thrilled with them both and stopped by the store on the way home from practice to pick up "Alvin and the Chipmunks", a much wanted and well earned DVD.
I know Roman is a bit upset over it, but I'm so proud of them both!!!
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Sarah for Brevard Idol
My niece, Sarah, is in a local singing competition in her hometown, similar to American Idol. You can go online to view her performance and vote. Voting ends today, but we've spent hours this week logging votes for Sarah and it shows as Bethany can not stop singing the "Sarah Song". In an attempt to capture the moment for Sarah, I got this video. In it you will see her frustrated in the beginning where she proceeds to hit Roman for singing with her. Later on Roman's game controller sitting on the table begins to vibrate and sounds like someone farting. B can't help but jerk her head to look. Then in the end she is upset over her substandard performance... which was captured half a dozen more times, but this one was just too funny not to share!
Good luck Sarah!!!! We love you!!!!!
Good luck Sarah!!!! We love you!!!!!
Army Time
While spring cleaning this weekend Roman found his watch. It's a camouflage band with a compass and other military type things on it. So, after lunch the boy comes in, looks at his watch and says, "Dad, it's 12:04." All proud of himself he walks into the den and sees that the clock on the Verizon box says 12:02. He comes back into the foyer where James and I are talking and says, "Well, it's really 12:02, but it's 12:04 Army time. That's just cause there's 100 minutes in an hour on Army time!"
Let's go to Canada... where the camels are!
So, we're driving to Jeni's yesterday taking the "scenic" route and of course it's the long way around and the kids were cranky and tired and hungry and the "are we there yet?"'s started about as fast as we got out of the neighborhood. Finally Hope makes a comment, "We have to be getting close to Baltimore already we've been driving so long!" NOTE - it's been about 15 minutes in the car! I look at our direction and make comment, "Well, in this direction we'll end up in Canada before we get to Baltimore." And Hope says, "REALLY?!?! Canada!! I can't wait to see all the camels!"
Under further investigation we discovered that the further north you go the warmer it gets because camels live in the desert. At one point she makes a comment, "You know Canada... where the camels are!" in this slightly airheaded voice and Roman hits his head with his hand in a 'd'oh fashion' and says, "HOPE, it's not the camels, it's the moose! Lily says, 'I'm from Canada, you know, where the mooses are' not camels!" Hope's response, "Oh yeah, the moose!"... those of you not up on Hannah Montana this comes from an episode where Miley's friend Lily is in disguise as 'Lola' her assistant so no one will put Lily and Miley together to let out Miley's secret of being Hannah Montana. When someone asks who she is she says, "I'm Lola.... from Canada.... (with hands up in antler fashion) where the mooses are!" Hope was clearly confused, but at least she knew enough to know camels live in the desert!
Under further investigation we discovered that the further north you go the warmer it gets because camels live in the desert. At one point she makes a comment, "You know Canada... where the camels are!" in this slightly airheaded voice and Roman hits his head with his hand in a 'd'oh fashion' and says, "HOPE, it's not the camels, it's the moose! Lily says, 'I'm from Canada, you know, where the mooses are' not camels!" Hope's response, "Oh yeah, the moose!"... those of you not up on Hannah Montana this comes from an episode where Miley's friend Lily is in disguise as 'Lola' her assistant so no one will put Lily and Miley together to let out Miley's secret of being Hannah Montana. When someone asks who she is she says, "I'm Lola.... from Canada.... (with hands up in antler fashion) where the mooses are!" Hope was clearly confused, but at least she knew enough to know camels live in the desert!
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
April Fools!!!
Yeah, I know it was yesterday. It's been awhile since I actively participated in this evil day or fun and I had forgotten just how much fun it can be. And so it started off as normal as any other day. At work James called me... we need to prank the kids, what can we do?? After tossing around this and that we decided he would yell at them when they got home from school and ground them. Here's the tales told by the kids....
HOPE - Well, dad said, "Hope, why did you get a bad report from music class today?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Hope, what did you do that was so bad in music that the teacher had to send a note home?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Do I need to ground you for a week?" and I said, "I don't know what you're talking about." and he said, "April Fool's!" and I said, "Oooooooooh, I get it now. (hehe) He's funny!" And then at school I said to Cassie, "Cassie, there's a dolphin behind you" and she turned around and I said, "April Fool's!" and then she says, "no there's really a dolphin behind YOU" and so I turned around and she said, "April Fool's!" and then.....
ROMAN - Dad got me goooood! I was really freakin' out!!!
Yup, that was all I got out of Roman, so had to turn to James for the run down of how this one played out. And apparently when Roman got in James met him and immediately began laying into him. "What happened in the lunchroom today??" "Nothing" "Who were you trying to pick a fight with today in the lunchroom?" "No one, I swear!" "Why did Mrs. Dunn have to call me then?" "I didn't do anything, I swear! I sat with my boys today, but we didn't cause any trouble, I swear it!" "And I guess you're gonna tell me that you didn't get moved to the silent table either! I think I'm gonna have to take away Xbox for 2 weeks since you won't fess up to it. I've already spoken to Mrs Dunn, she told me everything." At which point Roman was completely freaking out and on the verge of tears and James couldn't keep it up.... "April Fool's!!!!" He didn't find it as funny as Hope did!
By the time I got home I was greeted at the door and informed I had poisonous spiders on my head, a bear behind me and a goat in the kitchen! All I have to say is those kids better beware of April 1, 2009, cause it's on now!!! To add to the fun of the evening I did fix an April Fool's dinner for them that I think they all loved. When called in for dinner they were greeted with mini cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas as well as a big birthday cake for Trooper.... yup, our boy turned 1 yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Trooper!!!.... anyway, as Roman griped about the size of the meal, which was small, he soon came to realize it wasn't all it looked to be. The mini hamburgers were made of cookies and starburst, the mashed potatoes and gravy that they all came in griping about having to eat was really vanilla ice cream and caramel, and much to their shocking surprise, the peas were, well, peas! LOL I told them it was a small dinner cause we had a big cake to eat. Roman (thank you grandaddy!!!) did his well known "Oops" swipe on the icing of the cake and I just wish I had the camera at the ready to capture his face when he realized it wasn't icing, but the real mashed potatoes! hahahaha I had made up a meatloaf over the weekend and baked it in two round cake pans, stacked and iced with mashed potatoes, then decorated with grape tomatoes and topped with a Scooby Doo candle in honor of Trooper's birthday. I even left a jar of cherries on the counter to throw them off, and they had NO IDEA! It was priceless! Of course that was the real dinner, and yes, instead of saving the leftovers, Trooper got to eat the remainder of his "Cake". He was in heaven!!!
I'm loving the kids being old enough to appreciate such things!!! The ideas for next year just keep flowing.....
HOPE - Well, dad said, "Hope, why did you get a bad report from music class today?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Hope, what did you do that was so bad in music that the teacher had to send a note home?" and I said, "I dunno" and he said, "Do I need to ground you for a week?" and I said, "I don't know what you're talking about." and he said, "April Fool's!" and I said, "Oooooooooh, I get it now. (hehe) He's funny!" And then at school I said to Cassie, "Cassie, there's a dolphin behind you" and she turned around and I said, "April Fool's!" and then she says, "no there's really a dolphin behind YOU" and so I turned around and she said, "April Fool's!" and then.....
ROMAN - Dad got me goooood! I was really freakin' out!!!
Yup, that was all I got out of Roman, so had to turn to James for the run down of how this one played out. And apparently when Roman got in James met him and immediately began laying into him. "What happened in the lunchroom today??" "Nothing" "Who were you trying to pick a fight with today in the lunchroom?" "No one, I swear!" "Why did Mrs. Dunn have to call me then?" "I didn't do anything, I swear! I sat with my boys today, but we didn't cause any trouble, I swear it!" "And I guess you're gonna tell me that you didn't get moved to the silent table either! I think I'm gonna have to take away Xbox for 2 weeks since you won't fess up to it. I've already spoken to Mrs Dunn, she told me everything." At which point Roman was completely freaking out and on the verge of tears and James couldn't keep it up.... "April Fool's!!!!" He didn't find it as funny as Hope did!
By the time I got home I was greeted at the door and informed I had poisonous spiders on my head, a bear behind me and a goat in the kitchen! All I have to say is those kids better beware of April 1, 2009, cause it's on now!!! To add to the fun of the evening I did fix an April Fool's dinner for them that I think they all loved. When called in for dinner they were greeted with mini cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, and peas as well as a big birthday cake for Trooper.... yup, our boy turned 1 yesterday!!! Happy Birthday Trooper!!!.... anyway, as Roman griped about the size of the meal, which was small, he soon came to realize it wasn't all it looked to be. The mini hamburgers were made of cookies and starburst, the mashed potatoes and gravy that they all came in griping about having to eat was really vanilla ice cream and caramel, and much to their shocking surprise, the peas were, well, peas! LOL I told them it was a small dinner cause we had a big cake to eat. Roman (thank you grandaddy!!!) did his well known "Oops" swipe on the icing of the cake and I just wish I had the camera at the ready to capture his face when he realized it wasn't icing, but the real mashed potatoes! hahahaha I had made up a meatloaf over the weekend and baked it in two round cake pans, stacked and iced with mashed potatoes, then decorated with grape tomatoes and topped with a Scooby Doo candle in honor of Trooper's birthday. I even left a jar of cherries on the counter to throw them off, and they had NO IDEA! It was priceless! Of course that was the real dinner, and yes, instead of saving the leftovers, Trooper got to eat the remainder of his "Cake". He was in heaven!!!
I'm loving the kids being old enough to appreciate such things!!! The ideas for next year just keep flowing.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
