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!