Ordinary Extraordinary

I have not been posting much on this board lately, but I'm not sure anyone has noticed, as we have all been very busy. Anyway, mostly because I didn't think the very ordinary routine things we do all day that keep us busy would be of interest to anyone else. It was pointed out to me however, that maybe what is very ordinary or boring or frustratingly routine to me might be very entertaining to those outside of the situation. With that in mind, here is what we have been up to this week. Ordinary or Extraordinary? You be the judge:

Lenna asked me to teach her how to play "rock paper scissors" yesterday. I wasn't sure why or where she had ever heard of it, but apparently it is just one of those things that every elementary school child needs to learn to be functional on the playground. So we practiced for a while and now she is very efficient. She even taught Andrew to play- although she cheats because he only ever does scissors. Today she came home and told me about her day and mentioned that she and John had played rock paper scissors to see who got the first turn in PE. So she is putting her new skills to use already.

Speaking of John, he is her new friend-who-is-a-boy boy friend. He actually lives not too far from us and we pass his house every day on the way to school. Lenna has been eying his trampoline for quite some time. Monday she asked if she could go to his house, and he was there trying to convince his ride home that she was coming along. I introduced myself to his grandfather and traded numbers but haven't called yet. Here is the thing, it is just this boy and his grandpa and his teen-aged uncle living there. It makes me nervous to send Lenna over but I don't think I could just hang around the whole play date and get away with it like I could in the preschool days. SO I decided that I would just invite the boy over here or meet at a park, but it has been freezing cold and raining all week. I figured I had to have an outside activity available to them because I am not sure how long he would be interested in Lenna's Barbies and dress up clothes. Hopefully not at all. So we will see how that plays out. She has never played with a boy before and I am having trouble adjusting. He (john) is the tall skinny kid standing next to Lenna at the school concert in the pictures. He also the one she tried to kiss the first week.....

Andrew has turned into a race car over night. He got a Lightening McQueen car from the movie Cars for Christmas and he loves it- he carries it around everywhere. Not so bad except it is constantly making noise. Anyway he has watched the movie a thousand times this month and plays it all the time. It is his new obsessive phase. I suppose in the true spirit of the south, I should introduce him to NASCAR races or something.

He is having trouble at school recently. He hates coloring, in any form. They gave him homework- 9 pages to color, one # on each page, to laminate and bind into a counting book. I cant get him to sit and do it. He just flies the marker around like a jet plane making rrr-ing sounds. He won't color at school either- all his friends bring home masterpieces in crayon. He brings home a crumpled paper with a few stray lines on it and says "I don't like to color!" He will finger paint for a while and likes to squeeze glue, but refuses to hold pencil, crayon or brush. Yesterday he came to me after school and declared emphatically that he was never, ever going back there and that he would be 4 and come to my class instead. Why the change of heart? Apparently, they made him color the "O" orange, and glue on the circle candies instead of eat them. he changed his mind today when he saw there was not a car mat, block table, or snack time in my class. I lost the popular vote to raisins and hot wheels- how sad for me!

Andy is adjusting OK to his new primary class. He will go to the classroom part and do the lesson and likes to sing. Until he sees me at the back of the room- then he turns into a little magnet child and won't let go of my dress. I am going to tell them they have to release me for the mental health of my child and his developing independence.

Hmmmm any other random stuff.. We were driving in the car and Lenna was looking at all the for sale signs. She is still disappointed in this house- it doesn't have an upstairs or a fireplace. So she checks out every house with a sign in the yard and asks if we can trade up. Anyway, she was admiring one with a nice porch and a swing set and of course a second story when Andy noticed the fence and said "I like that one, I bet it comes with a doggy! We should move there" Apparently that is his new life long wish- a dog. And when Mike tells him not until we get a house with a fenced yard, he takes him seriously. So now I guess for the next house, we need a two-story with a fenced back yard, fireplace, playground, flowerbed, sandbox, and enough rooms that no one has to share. Just so you can all help us look next year!

On Friday Lenna had a friend over for the evening. They came home and played then made pizza and I took them to the library for free movie night. They were showing Surf's Up. It was awful! We ended up walking out- I don't think I have ever actually walked out of a show before. Anyway, Andy was bored to mischief (instead of bored to tears, he didn't cry just started getting into things) and the girls were not impressed. When the hippie doctor penguin decided to heal the sick surfer penguin by peeing on him, and the rat guy started making comments about the girl penguins bikini tops, I decided we had had enough and left. I can't believe how low animation has gotten. I had to take the girl home early with an apology for exposing her to such low entertainment and hope that she will be entrusted unto me again in the future to make up for it. *sigh* Play date drama!

I have caught a cold from one of my tiny friends at school. Runny nose, sore throat, etc. Ironically, today was the day we had scheduled to learn about germs and hand washing as part of our health unit. Apparently, a few days too late! I had only 6 of my 10 regulars, so there must be something going around. I "sneezed" purple finger paint on my hands then showed how germs spread by shaking hands and giving high-5's and passing markers to everyone and then opening the doors and closets before I washed my hands. Then we all learned to wash our hands all over by trying to get rid of the purple paint and I gave them all a Lysol wipe to try and clean everything I touched purple. I think it was a pretty good lesson that stuck, because I have never seen the hand sanitizer bottle so busy.

So that is a week in the Cross household. Full of mini-adventures and such. Happy reading!

getting dressed

This morning Andrew dressed himself. Normally, he dawdles around until it is time to go and I just pull things on him at the last minute. This morning he awoke a little early and asked if he could play. I explained that if he ate his breakfast and put on his clothes quickly, he could play until it was time to leave and I wouldn't interrupt him at all, but only if he was dressed and fed. I laid out his clothes on the bed- right side out, in order of placement, buttons ready and told him to to eat, then go to his room and get dressed. I assumed that this would be enough but I guess I left out an important step- take off the clothes you are wearing!

I came out of the bedroom to find him happily playing cars, completely dressed to the shoes. Hooray! But under his jeans and t-shirt were poking out his thermal PJ's. He put on everything I laid out for him, right on top of everything he was already wearing.

He refused to change, and since I promised not to bother him until it was time to go, I had to leave him that way. I sent a very warm little boy off to preschool that morning. I warned his teachers he had on an extra layer, inside out socks, and no coat- so if he was sweating or flushed that maybe they would want to help him remove a layer but he finished the day just fine. He thought it was hilarious that at the end of the day when I told him to put on his PJ's, all he had to do was take off his clothes and he was ready.

At least he was cooperating, even if it was on his own terms! I will take whatever I can get.

Just Dessert

I have never, ever claimed to be a good cook. Not on a talent survey or enrichment questionnaire or anything. My family isn't starving, but they will never go to a restaurant and say, "This isn't as good as mom makes!" I have accepted this fact and moved on, so it really doesn't bother me when kids are less than complimentary at the table as long as they at least try a few bites.

Wednesday I was feeling adventurous and decided to try a new recipe for "Tomato and basil rigatoni." Seemed harmless enough and it came from the Kraft magazine so it was made for people like me who like an ingredient list to be shorter than their hand and full of short cuts. Even Lenna thought the picture looked good, so we tried it out. Lets just say- yuck was the adjective used around the table. Lenna was a good sport, and forced down two or three bites with out too much complaint. Andy wouldn't touch the stuff. Even I wasn't impressed. If it was the last thing in the house, we could have ate it and not starved, but we are lucky and have a very nice storage of cold cereal and macaroni and cheese. I am not too proud to admit failure so I just asked "it's kind of yucky, huh?" and they both enthusiastically agreed. So we scrapped the whole mess and had Cheerios with bananas for dinner. I was trying to decide if this moved put me higher or lower on the mom-rating scale when Lenna asked "We still get dessert, right? Because if even you think it was yucky, it really was so it wasn't our fault we couldn't finish it!" I really couldn't argue with that, so we finished off the meal with ice cream sandwiches.

Now to redeem myself- I can't cook, but I can bake. Probably because I am much more interested in chocolate chips than spices. I can think of five desserts right now that I have ingredients for in the cabinet, but have no idea what to make for dinner.

Anyway, Sunday is our "breakfast for dinner" night. I know, all of you out there who are from the roast and potatoes Sunday dinner crowd are flinching. But the way I look at it, Sunday is a day of rest, even for mom. I am not going to be the woman who rushes home early from meetings to put the meat in or who spends the afternoon scrubbing pots while the rest of the family naps or reads or plays games. It just doesn't seem right!

So for Sunday dinner we usually alternate between pancakes and waffles. Last week Lenna was sick so we stayed home and had "table church" instead. No, we are not straying, we just read stories from the Friend magazine and did the little crafts and sang primary songs at the table. This made it possible to start dinner before they were starving so I could make something that took more then 15 minutes prep. I found a recipe for a really good coffee cake- I mean breakfast cake. You see, I told Lenna we were making coffee cake and she said "No Mommy! We aren't supposed to have coffee! Don't put coffee in the cake!" so we renamed it breakfast cake. It was a raspberry cream cheese cake. The recipe called for blueberries but all I had in the freezer was raspberries, so we switched. It turned out very well. Even Andrew thought it was good. It was a nice change to hear "Yummy!" and "More please!" around the table. Of course, telling the kids they were having cake for dinner couldn't hurt. Lenna didn't even have to ask for dessert.

Tooth Fairy Tales

The Tooth Fairy has finally made an appearance at our house! Lenna came home from school complaining that er teeth hurt, and sure enough, her little tooth was wiggling away! She has been moving it since Halloween, hoping it would come out but the little thing was taking its time. She has three others in the works. Anyway, as she was brushing her teeth before bed (crying because it hurt) I just reached in and pulled it out. I tried to keep her away from the mirror so she wouldn't see the blood but she insisted. I expected screaming or fainting or some dramatic feminine reaction, but instead got "Cool! Its bleeding! Just like Junie B Jones!" She then stood in front of the mirror for ten minutes admiring the new window in her smile.


I was not expecting her to have it out so soon, so was unprepared. I had to tacky glue her "tooth pillow and pocket" instead of sew it but it seemed to do the trick anyway. I wanted to leave some sort of note from the tooth fairy along with her quarters.

I did a google search for tooth fairy letters, feeling lazy and wanting to just print one, and wow! I have been missing out on a very good business opportunity! People were charging $5-$10 for a letter from the Tooth fairy, Santa, or the Easter bunny, to be mailed to your house or downloaded and printed yourself. $10 for a piece of paper. I have been writing letters from Santa to my kids, their cousins, and my preschool class, for about three years. I think I am going in to business! So anyone reading this: the next tooth that comes out, for $5 I'll send your kid a letter and even throw in the felt tooth pillow!

Lenna awoke 50 cents richer, with a tiny note card from the tooth fairy to show and tell. She is already wiggling the other on the bottom, plus three on top. My little girl is growing up!

Wacky weather

Last week it snowed in Georgia. My first thought was "well, H*** really has frozen over!" But it was a fleeting thought, I don't really think that little of Augusta. It has its good points, especially during the winter months.

Anyway, I of course had to send the kids out to play in it. It was 730 at night, so they had their pjs on but I didn't think a little time out would hurt anything. They ran around on the deck waving their arms and trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. At this point it was really just freezing rain, not sticking or anything but I assumed that it was as good as it would get. They came in from their snowy adventure, changed into dry clothes and were settling in for bed when I looked out and saw real snowflakes falling. Of course, I couldn't let this moment pass either, so I sent them back out into the real snow- still in pjs. Lenna was out there in Mike's old t-shirt, rain boots, and her unzipped jacket. A few minutes later the snow was still falling and sticking enough to make snowballs. I sent them in to put on clothes (I figured that pants would be a good starting point when trying to avoid hypothermia) and mittens.

We played outside for another 40 minutes making tracks in the snow, catching snowflakes on our tongues, and having a snowball fight. I laughed so hard at the look of indignation on Andrew's face when I threw a snowball at him. He was shocked that his mother would do such a thing. But Lenna jumped in and started flinging snow, too. Poor Andrew had no dexterity in his mittened hands, so he followed me around snatching up any snowballs I formed so he could chuck them at his sister. When they started getting good at hitting their targets (eachother) we decided to move on to shooting baskets with them instead. The only one who didn't enjoy the snow was Triscuit, who took up residence onthe sofa as soon the door cracked open. I wished that Mike could have been home for all the excitement- he is always lot of fun at things like that.

Our winter wonderland didn't last, however. The snowflakes soon turned to rain and began to melt away our ammunition. I brought the kids in and went about getting them into bed again (2 hrs late!). The next day everyone looked tired- the kids in the carpool line at Lenna's school and the preschoolers in my class. The every lucky kid in town had stayed up late to see the snow. I guess according to the locals, that it only snows every five or ten years, so it was worth staying up late for.

Maiden Voyage

I have been tossing around the idea of a blog for a quite a while now. I was just never sure I would have enough to post- enough time, enough material, enough motivation, enough technological know-how. But I figured I might as well just give it a try and see what happens.

I am starting with a post about Christmas. We traveled to my parents' house in Susanville, Ca. A tiny town about 8 0miles from anywhere. It was cold! It was also lots of fun. I missed being there and seeing everyone. I am not going to give you a play-by-play, but instead link you to our on-line photos of the 5 days we were there. Hopefully you will enjoy them!



Until next time (which will be ???? We'll see!)

Jannet