Crazy Week

 

RETRO DAY! She doesn't look too peace loving - looks like she could take a chunk out of your leg if you let her get too close. 

Well Deserved

You're looking at the student of the month!  This girl was recognized for her outstanding achievements in reading and her rapidly improving math skills!

Notice the new spectacles.  The day after we picked them up from the (overpriced) eye doctor, she was unable to locate them.  They have been missing for weeks, and FINALLY were discovered in a different glasses case packed in a bag.  Cause for celebration! 

Three cheers for Maren!  Whoop Whoop!

FYI - for simple (but way cool) photo editing - check out this site.

Spaghetti and a Hair Cut

27 kids for dinner

And Haircuts

And hair coloring

Before a District swim meet, the tradition is to get creative with clippers or dye or a combination of both. Then before the State swim meet (one week later), shave the head completely to lessen the resistance.

This year's preferred wacky do was the mohawk - featured here on Mr. Victor

As seen here on Jake and Zach.

Now, don't scream . . . but do you recognize the blond? Where is his mother???

My job tonight is to make 7 pairs of swan wings for the senior boys as they finish their high school swimming career with a choreographed "swan dive" tomorrow:)

And the award goes to . . .

Water Polo Awards


Our poor water polo team struggled this year. To "field" a polo team, you need 7 players in the water. We had 8. However, the teams we played had upwards of 18 kids on their teams. Needless to say, we were a little outmatched - only winning 1 game. Sten collected a handful of awards tonight - he was the 2nd leading scorer and was given recognition as one of the best defensive players and the hardest worker on the team. He made the all league honorable mention team and will be madly recruiting players for next year's team. After all, who wouldn't want to swim like a dog, attempting to put the yellow ball in the net while fending off vicious attackers. Oh, I know why - cuz it's so fun to drown the opponents at the other end!

Win Some - Lose Some

Don't let that bigger girl scare you #2!

The girls competed in a soccer tournament this past weekend and they both walked away with 1st place trophies!

Milah's team did not win a single game last year, so they were thrilled, jubilant, and over the moon ecstatic to be victorious.

But, into her life, a little disappointment must fall . . .

Milah was not voted President in the election. Unfortunately, the school is predominately boys (those icky creatures), and the boys voted for the boy candidate.

It is has been a good lesson - she is the type of person that (seemingly easy)excels in everything, and sets high expectations for herself, so it is a dose of reality to be defeated. Someone wins and someone loses - that's life.

You're still a winner in our book Milah Moo! Kiss & Hug, Slap & Squeeze

Vote for the BEST

We have a politician in the making. Milah enjoyed her duties as secretary last year and threw her hat in the ring for President of the Student Council this year. Maren and I are the campaign managers and have been cranking out propoganda on a shoestring budget. As always, campaign contributions will be gladly accepted to support our candidate;)

Spy the Differences

Notice there is no picture of Stennie getting on the bus - that's because he is DRIVING to school. Another difference - Sten did not lay out his clothes the night before, I think he grabbed them off the top of the heap in his room. Sten did not neatly arrange his backpack with all his new school supplies nor invite friends over to check out his cool new pencils. He threw a pen in his pocket, assumed there was still paper in there from last year and was off . . . is it a boy thing, a Sten thing, or is it a general nausea about school?

Back to School '11

Milah was having a "moment" attempting to choose her clothes for the first day of school. After stalling, whining, and several half hearted attempts - Maren marched in her closet declaring that she would find the perfect outfit for her older sis. Within minutes, Milah emerged with a grin wearing Maren's choice. Thanks for your style expertise Mare Mare . . .

Catch a Wave

Check out the surf! No wonder Milah was still feeling "wavy" hours later when she closed her eyes. This was a reward field trip for meeting their reading goals for the year and we were the only school there. Way cool - funzippety

Splish Splash!

Senorita es muy bonita

It's tough to resist a party store. However when a party store is going out of business and everything is 90% off, it is even more difficult. I came out of there with a huge bag of loot for $8 and a few (necessary) items to add to the costume box. This lovely black wig was one of the bargains and Maren decided to wear it to school today - think anyone will notice?

While we slept, the wind was busy rearranging the deck. That table is heavy - I'm surprised we didn't "spring from our beds to see what was the matter"

Holidays at school mean baking sugar cookies and Christmas programs, and that the kids will soon be home for a few weeks (eek!)

Democracy and Dress-up

Since Milah won the initial vote, we had to step up campaign efforts with additional propoganda for the primary election. We've been waiting for the lobbyist money to come our way, but we must be in the wrong party. Nana helped with buttons, and we finished the extra posters together. She has to give another speech tomorrow in front of the entire school (go go Milah), and they will vote on Tuesday.

UPDATE: Milah was the winner for the secretary position (just in case you were hovering around the computer this evening waiting for election results!)

These are called impromtu costumes. The girls dug through the dress-up bin and put these together in 4.3 minutes. Milah is a French chef and Maren is a bride.

Halloween Fun

Milah's class "mummified" a few people. They had a short race and the toilet paper flew everywhere.

In Maren's class, we had a relay - the kids dressed up and then rolled a pumpkin with a broom through a series of cones. We razzed them up, jazzed them up on sugar - and sent them home on the bus. Poor bus drivers.

Community Service

This project began with a phone call from a friend requesting some help with a stage design. The theme was "Down on the Farm" and what better place to start but a barn . . .

John and Scott scratching their heads and wishing I would keep my "bright idea" moments to a little smaller scale. After the frame was fastened together, we then stretched drop cloth over the frame and painted it.

Western Style building


Ain't she adorable?

I grabbed a few farm things that were laying around, "borrowed" the cow for the week from someone's yard (who thought I was crazy), and of course used a few fresh bales of hay (do you think they taste better than the old stuff?) I think it turned out perfect, but I'm not too sure that I'll volunteer for this again. I did not paint the doors or loft on the barn - a girl that is an amazing artist helped me out - I think I'll be calling her again.

Hard at Work

I am not a terribly sentimental mommy about every piece of paper our kids create. Maren caught onto my habit of throwing things away, and she began checking in the recycling for her special artwork. It's not that I don't appreciate their talents, it's just that if we saved every precious project - we would be buried at this point under vast amounts of paper. As is always the case, I am expecting a siege of work to arrive in the last days of school. However, I thought we could digitally save some samples of their work - and I loved this one of Maren's -especially the spelling errors.

Milah's state and capital test - 100%. Hooray Milah!

Sten is enjoying metal shop and these are examples of his awesome mig welding. Apparently the key to welding is consistency and patience -

Shhh, now I will tiptoe to the recycling bin and toss them away . . . bad mommy, bad mommy

Going to Gramma's

Early this morning, we did a kid-switcheroo as all three munchkins went to spend the weekend with grandma/grandpa. I left with tears streaming down my cheeks and their poor little faces were pressed against the windows in angst as Dad rolled out of the parking lot. some facts in this story have been modified to protect the innocent

Scott and I then worked in an ice cream booth at a local fair as a benefit for the girl's school. This particular booth is known for it's enormous portions - a single scoop is about 5 large scoops of creamy deliciousness. There are no unsatisfied customers - everyone leaves with a big grin on their face, and people throughout the fair inquire about the whereabouts of such a generous cone. It is a thrill to give people their money's worth, plus more - they leave giddy and amazed. Next time, I'm going to bring my camera to capture the delight - I think ice cream brings out the kid in all of us.

Rookie Auctioneer

Last night was Scott's big debut as an auctioneer and he did a tremendous job. He had been practicing at home and Maren picked up on the "auction chant" and began doing it at home and then at school. As auction day approached, several teachers asked Maren if she would begin the auction, and although she was a little nervous - she started it off. The turn out wasn't as good as last year, and that made it a bit more difficult for the auctioneer, but in spite of the situation, he did awesome. (Toot Toot! I'm blowing his horn) I will post a video soon.

A few folks, enjoying the show.

A Teensy Eensy Secret

The elementary school that the girls attend has a big fundraiser soon and they are looking for an auctioneer. I am always (well almost always) careful to not "sign" up #1 Huband for things at the PTC without first consulting him, and I was certainly NOT going to sign him up for auctioneer duties. Well, he let it slip that he has recently been practicing to be Mr. Auctioneer while in the car. He tried out his new found talent at home and we were impressed! Give that guy a microphone, a bolo tie, and a cowboy hat - he's going to be selling "icecubes to Eskimos" - I'll try my hand at undercover super secret spy video footage so you can see him in action.

Model Student (for real)

Hooray for Maren! She earned Student of the Month for January. She was just telling me yesterday that she was trying to do a real good job in class because she wanted one of those gold medals. She was quite thrilled with her accomplishment and has already used it as a bargaining chip in her favor. Yes, this is the same girl mentioned below.

The very next day, this model student had a "chat" with the principal regarding some sticks that she ought not to have been throwing over a fence. Then, this week, the librarian called to alert me that the book that Maren had just returned had stickers all over it, and she couldn't remove them. It happened to be an Encyclopedia on Dogs and is the largest book she has checked out all year - a 53$ replacement cost. Hmmm, I wonder if that medal can be revoked?