Homework

Yep...even Preschool has homework these days. Meg brought the first paper home last week. I must admit, I was a little excited about it. She's excited about learning and I thought it would be fun. Just picture this....I got us all set up at the table so we could focus, she picked a purple crayon, I read the directions carefully and found out I was supposed to read the directions on how to draw the rectangle as she drew it. I instructed her to put her crayon on the arrow. Just as I'm ready to say, "Draw a big line across," she quickly draws this (for lack of better terms) half-assed circle where the rectangle lines are that she's supposed to have traced over. I was shocked! Of course though, since she's a teacher's kid, I just thought she didn't understand.

Sooooo...I explained, again, more slowly in my most patient "teacher voice." This time, she puts her crayon down, looks up at me with a smirk, looks back down at the paper and does it again. Now, I'm even more shocked. Ummmmm...does she not know that my child will NEVER act that like???? I will never have a kid like that. You know apples never fall far. (All those things us teachers blame parents for!) Apparently, she doesn't. She proceeds, even though I calmly tried to read the directions for how to draw each rectangle to draw the rest of them the same way. A bunch of half-hearted purple circles that were supposed to be the most perfect pre-school "wectangles" ever. :( My dreams of the perfect student are ruined! HA!

On to the back side. I change my strategy. I told her I didn't think she did her best on the front. I know she's better at writing than that and that she can draw very good "H's." (the assignment on the back) I went ahead and started making dinner. She worked very hard and did make very good H's and even traced the house neatly. :) Then, she asked for the rest of her crayons so she could color the rest of the house and decorate it. Atta girl! Whew...maybe she was just testing the waters.

Who knew how trying preschool homework would be?!?!?

Exactly what is normal?

When we were camping last weekend I realized last weekend that Meg has adapted to our "normal" life pretty well. This conversation proves it! It took place between her and the other little girl she was playing with while we camped (she was also 4, and lives with her mom and dad, so doesn't quite understand our kind of "normal")

Alexis (pointing to Greg and Cody)- There goes your dadddy.

Meghan (very matter of factly)- That's not my daddy.

A- Really? Where is your daddy?

M- Not here.

A- Where is he?

M- I don't know. Not here.

A- Oh. OK.

Off they go. After a few minutes, they walk up to me, Meg points to me and says, "That's my mommy!"

A (puzzled look on her face. Obviously confused that Greg and I are together, but that he is not Meghan's dad)- Oooohhhh.

Next day....

A- Your brothers scared me this morning!

M (Very matter of factly)- They aren't my brothers.

A- They aren't?????

M- No.

A- They don't live in your house with you?

M- No. They just live in my backyard.

A- (with a VERY puzzled look on her face)- Ooooohhh.

At this point, the other little girl stopped asking questions. I can only imagine what she thinks of our "family!" HA HA HA!

Meghan obviously thinks nothing of having the boys living in her backyard! It's just "normal" to her and she loves it! :)

The Good and the Bad

The Good: Meg loves sign language. It comes from Miss Devon at Pre-school. There is a little girl who is non-verbal. One of the teachers uses signs with her and Meg just thinks it's really cool and has learned several. She told me about some neat videos we could check out at the libray. We checked one out last week and Meg does love them. She learned a whole bunch of Outdoor Themed words and even told me yesterday that she taught this little girl the sign for "play" and the little girl went up to Miss Devon and told her she wanted to "play." How sweet! She now knows signs for deer (of course, it's hunting season!), spider, camping, tent, play, porcupine, bug, backyard, and I"m sure a few others I can't think of! Pretty neat, huh?

The Bad: Another time out at Beth's. :( Yep...this one for pushing. Apparently, the sitter's daughter got in her face and Meg just pushed her away. Temper, temper! They were both in trouble...again. The punishment at home? We were going to go to the library to pick up a new movie to replace the belove Eloise she'd been watching, but instead we just returned it and she'll have to wait untile next week to get a new one. That is, if she can manage without any time outs the rest of this week. Stinker!

Fall Fun!

I love Fall! It's always been my favorite time of year and this weekend's weather was PERFECT! Sunny and warm enough for light sweatshirt in the afternoon, but chilly in the evenings, which is perfect for a big campfire. We had a weekend camping trip planned back to Versailles State Park with some friends and their families, so it was just right. The fall colors were just beginning to pop through too, which made even better.

Greg picked Meg up from Mamaw and Papaw's on Friday in the afternoon, so they were anxiously waiting on me when I got home from school. I rushed out with the students, so we could leave in time to pick up the boys from school when they were dismissed. We stopped for dinner on the way down and arrived at our not-so-level campsite around 6:30. Greg, of course, made it work for us and even convinced the people next to us to trade sites with the Cage's so they could get their RV level. ATTA BOY Greggie!

Saturday morning we all chipped in a fixed a huge breakfast feast (pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, etc...) then headed down to the lake to listen to the bluegrass festival music and let play in the kayak on the water. The kids had a blast (so did the big kids, I love our kayak!) Meg even spent some time in the afternoon practicing riding her bike without training wheels. GO GIRL! The Sutton's joined us a little later in the afternoon and they have a daughter who is just a couple months younger than Meg. They were like two peas in a pod the rest of the weekend, even had matching pj's, which was a huge coincidence. So cute! We spent the rest of the day playing Corn Hole (yes, we did win) and sitting around the fire visiting and chasing kids. We made another feast for dinner (see pic below) then settled down for the evening.

The next morning the Sutton's fixed some delicious sausage gravy over the fire (Can you say YUM!) we also had biscuits, more eggs, and some other yummy breakfast stuff. I think I gained 5 pounds from all the eating we did. All in all it was a great time. The Cage's bring a motorcycle with them (They have extra money for toys, since they don't have kids!) so of course after the boys all had a ride, so did Princess Meg. Her trip was cut quite short by Overprotective Mother Hen Kim, but she still had fun. She's still telling me today that it was one of the best parts of the trip. The other part was the kayaking. The sad thing about coming home was that it's time to winterize the camper. :( Camping season is about over for this year. We'll be itching for next spring before you know it!

My Not-so-Perfect Angel

Well...it happened. I knew it would. Meg had a time out today at Beth's. Unlike many of the parents I've been dealing with, I can admit that she deserved it. I know that she's no angel, but I want to believe (and I'm often told) that she's "so well behaved and so sweeeeeeet" especially so when I'm not around.

She woke up in a mood today. Her mouth was sassy. She was insistent upon wearing a short sleeve shirt (the high was supposed to be in the 50's or 60's today) so I vetoed that one pretty quickly. That really ticked her off and it was just the beginning. I guess it continued from there. The final straw for Beth, the sitter, was when she and another girl were laughing at and making fun of another boy. She ended up in time-out. I asked if she cried and she didn't. I guess she just bowed her head and moped for a bit afterwards, in her true drama queen style.

I made her tell me all about it when we got home. At first, Ms. I-forget-no-little-detail-ever forgot ALL about it, but it quickly came back when I threatened to cancel the camping trip for the weekend unless she remembered. She admitted it and told me she apologized to him. Good enough for me! :)

Field Trip!

Meg had her first field trip for school today! She got to go to the zoo. It was a perfect opportunity for me to take the day off and join her, so that I did. Now that Mamaw is retired, she even joined us. Meg was most excited about getting to ride the school bus though. HA! I got to meet her new BFF Maddy that I always hear about. The teacher even told me how inseparable they are at school. It was so cute to see them walking hand-in-hand everywhere. As soon as we'd walk up to an animal, they turn right back around and say, "What's next?" I guess that's why a couple of hours at the zoo was plenty of time for a preschool class. :) After we left the zoo, they stopped by McDonald's and had lunch. She snarfed her nuggets, apples and drink right up, then we headed home. I was hoping for a nice long nap, but Meg wanted nothing to do with that. She was wound up and couldn't sleep. :( No rest for Mommy today, but that'll make for an early bedtime!

A little of this and a little of that...

Hmmm...seems like there's lots I could share, just not sure where to begin. Maybe a numbered list is the way to go this time.

1. I've been teaching Meg to read. I promise I'm not being that pushy teacher-mom person, it's just that she's interested and eager, so I feel guilty ignoring her urge. We have letters on the fridge and I make consonant-vowel-consonant words for her to sound out. She know most all of the letter sounds pretty well and we keep practicing those tricky vowels. So far words like bat, sat, sit, pig, gum, pin, etc...are a piece of cake. She even recognized a couple of them in a Dora book I read before bed the other night. With the craziness in my own classroom at school this year, it's nice to know I really can teach someone, something important.

2. Right this very second she keeps repeating...."Who farted? Who farted?" She's obsessed with farting right now. **That's even a word she spells on the fridge on her own and sounds out!** Let's keep our fingers crossed she doesn't show that one off in preschool someday. She asked me a little bit ago why her farts smelled bad. I'm ready for this gross phase to pass.

3. The new babysitter is still as amazing as ever. Meg takes a great nap there. She even tells me how comfy Miss Beth's nap bed is for her. They have an awesome play set and they do at least one craft everyday. Most days it's two. And....Meg loves her food. Yesterday she ate 9, yes 9, fish sticks and two bowls of macaroni! OINK OINK!

4. She has figured out how to tilt her head to the side and bat her eyes to try and get what she wants. She even realizes what this is supposed to do for her. She even said the other day, "Mommy! Didn't you seeeeeeeeeeee my eyesssss!!!"

5. Finally...her memory. We were driving by Lilly's the other day and she said to Greg and I, "It's too bad that won't be Lilly's anymore, what's it gonna be?" Neither one of us could figure it out after a few attempts, so she let it go. On the way home when we passed she yelled out, "I remember! Covance!" We both just stared at each other dumbfounded and told her she was right. Amazing.

Circus Fun!

We took our own little monkeys to the circus today. It was a great show, the kids had a blast and so did we! :) We got to go to the Animal Encounter before hand and see the elephants, tigers, horses and even goats, up close. After that we went down to the floor and got to watch some clowns and other acts performing up close. The show lasted a good two hours and for those two hours, the kids were silent and still! AMAZING! When I asked Meg what her favorite part was, she told me all of it, but the one thing she keeps talking about is the dog act. There were several cute little yappy-type dogs that they had dressed up and they did various tricks with. The hat you see Meg wearing below came from a $12 bag of cotton candy. Uh huh! If you take sugar, spin it around, put it in a plastic bag and stick it inside a cheapo hat at a circus, you can charge $12 for it! Talk about sticker shock! HA HA! After we got home, it was time for some jumping on the trampoline and four-wheeler riding time. What a short weekend! Back to the grind tomorrow...

Bunny Tales

Big news on the Bodell/Carter compound......we have bunnies! Yep, that's right, we now have 2 pet bunnies. We've got no idea what kind they are, but one is primarily white (Belle) and the other is black and white (Oreo). They were free (WOHOO!) and came with a huge rabbit hutch w/ bunny bathroom on the side, feeder, a large container of food, waterer, small carrying cage and two leashes. Uh huh....leashes, so we can take them on walks. They are not exactly leash trained, but so far Meg's pulled Belle around a little bit, so I'm sure they'll catch on that they better walk next to the kid pulling them or they're gonna have a sore bunny neck. HA! While they are residing behind the princess playhouse, they are bunnies for all. They did belong to a family who had a 23 year old that didn't give them much attention, so they are glad to have them in a family now where they'll get plenty. Pics as promised....

The first one is of Meg in front of her playhouse. **Yes, it really is that bright purple and pink** Good thing we've got an "in" w/ the neighbor or he might've made us move it!

What princess doesn't love a good wedding?

Meg got to attend a wedding. She was so excited for the big event and had to make sure she had on her "dancing dress." The best part of the whole night for her and the boys was the dancing at the reception and the candy bar that was a kids' paradise. At least they were able to burn off some of that sugar buzz with dancing. :)

Our version of "boxing"

Grammy (Greg's mom) got new cabinets. The kids have hi-jacked the boxes. We spent a great deal of time, and paint too, decorating Meg's. I think it took just as long to wash the paint off of us....but it was tons of fun getting messy!

Sneak Preview

One word....Halloween. It's over two months away, but I had a coupon for free shipping and Meg made the decision for her costume, so I ordered it. She's in heaven and cute as can be. She may drive me nutty before then asking every morning when she wakes up, "Is it Halloween yet?" but I"m sure we'll get lots of good out of it. Here's a sneak peek...just follow the yellow brick road....

I said I would...

Better late than never. I said I'd put some pics of our most recent camping trip to Versailles on here. I'm a few weeks late, but here are a couple. We found a creek bed that was full of rocks that had fossils in them. It was one of the coolest places I've seen camping. :) The kids loved it too and Greg and I had fun pretending like we really knew something about them. Of course, the environmental dude and the science teacher should know something about fossils anyways, shouldn't we?!?! HA! It was a pretty good hike to get there. Meg made it just fine, with the exception of one minor fall at the beginning that resulted in ***hold your breath*** a little scrape and blood. Accck! Thank goodness I stocked the camper up with special medicine and bandaids earlier this summer. I was proud of her for walking the whole time, not whining and not making us carry her.

We spent a good amount of our time at the pool. They had a huge 100 ft. waterslide that Miss Thing **by herself** and the boys went down about 100 times. Greg and I were on it about half that much. It was fun! There was a high dive too. Brave Mommy decided that after Greg went off of it, she could too! Man...that sucker is high! They don't call it a high dive for nothing. I got up there, walked out the end, and turned around and went back down the ladder. Some kid on the ground walked up and said, "Don't worry, there's always next year." I was mortified, so a little while later, I went back up and jumped. The boys made fun of me b/c I held my nose and was flailing my arms, but I DID IT! I must say though that the amount of respect I had for those Olympic high divers is now much greater. :) *Swimming pics are on Greg's camera, and I haven't uploaded them yet*

The rest of our time was spent riding bikes, playing on the playground and relaxing by the fire. One final story...the raccoons there was wicked. They ripped open our Mt. Dew can and drank them all, opened our cooler and drank the kids Caprisuns too. Wow! All in all, it was a very fun trip!

Who's up for a Grocery Donation?

My child is starving! Today, she managed to eat 4 (yes, 4!) bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal and a cup of peaches. Lunch was a half of a huge hamburger, vegetables, cottage cheese and even french fries (which of course are made out of potatoes that she doesn't like) Dinner, which she could hardly wait on without a snack, was an entire cup of Easy Mac, half a grilled cheese, plus another half she stole off of my plate, chips, applesauce and some chocolate ice cream for dessert. Wowzers! How in the world can I afford to feed her and pay for my $200/month increase in health insurance!?!?! HA! Good thing the new sitter is feeding breakfast and lunch. She has no idea what she got herself into. **shhhhhhhh**

This weekend was great. Friday night, I think Greg realized that I was done for the week. School is stressful and tiring, my Master's program is consuming any extra time I have, and all in all I've been exhausted. I got a call after school on Friday and he said the magic words...."I thought I'd take everyone out for dinner tonight." Wooooohooooo! So Mozzi's it was. Kids were happy, Kim was happy, so all was great. Saturday morning, I even received a cup of coffee and a Diet Mt. Dew after waking up. :) We ate doughnuts and headed to Beech Grove for a day of football. Talk about hot! I 'bout melted, but held back my complaints b/c I know in a few weeks we'll be freezing our tushies off and wishing for hot chocolate. After we finally got home, we packed the gang up and headed to Mamaw and Papaw's for a swim. How refreshing! Today entailed work in the morning and then we went back out for a swim. It was a pretty relaxing weekend, but going back to school tomorrow is not really something I want to do. Is it May yet? I need a vacation.....ugh!

One little Meg funny...she was telling me tonight about some show she saw and was quoting something one of the characters had said. When I questioned who it was becuase I had no idea what she was talking about, she said, "You know, the chocolate girl!" I had no idea and asked if it was a show about candy people or something and she gave me a really dumb look and replied, "No mom, you know....like dark people....she's a chocolate girl!" Guess it's obvious there's not much diversity in Greenfield. I decided to save that lesson for another day.

Big Day!

Today was Meg's first day of preschool and her first day at her new sitter's house. She met me at the door with a great big grin and a big loud "Mommy!" when I got there to pick her up after school tonight.

When asked how her day was and if she like preschool, she told me yes and that they got to play outside. Anyplace that lets Meg play outside and swing is tops in her book. She said she was a little shy at first, but then starting talking to her teacher. I BET SHE DID! HA! She also told me that she learned what the little things in the back of your throat is called....a titty. Aaaack! I asked who taught her that and she said one of the little boys at school. Uh oh!

Beth's was fun too. She had a cheese croissant for breakfast which was YUMMY before school. After school they played while Beth made lunch. Meg gobbled up mac 'n cheese, applesauce and her ever-favorite, bread 'n butter. She then took a 2 hour nap, which Beth eventually ended by waking her up. She figured I needed her to go to sleep at some point tonight. :) They then did a craft. She made a lovely visor with feathers all over it. I think Beth's is gonna work out just great!

Meghan Poppins

Queenie was at her best tonight and took advantage of me at CVS. I caved in and bought her a child-sized Princess umbrella. She's in love with it and thinks it's the most amazing thing ever. We went out for a walk and she insisted that she needed it. (It's bright and sunny outside, as the rain that was here this morning and afternoon has obviously moved out of the area) Anyways, we headed off down the street, yes a very busy, main thoroughfare, with her holding her umbrella as proudly as ever. I noticed many passer-by's staring at us. Hope no one writes a Hoot or Holler about us! HA HA!

We'd walked a little ways and she kept flipping around with it and talking about it, and then asking me at least 28 questions about it....all of a sudden "Gracie" tripped and fell down. Scraped her elbow up but fortunately, according to her, the umbrella saved her and we avoided tears. Whew...thank goodness for a magical umbrella. :)

Introduction to Miss Allison

Miss Thing got to meet her preschool teacher last night and see her classroom. I have a feeling she made quite an impression. She told Miss Allison that her Mamaw and Papaw and Grandpa lived on a farm. When Miss Allison asked if there were any animals, here was Meg's response:

"Yep, my grandpa has goats and they smell like pee. The billy goat smells bad because he pees all over himself!"

***covering face from embarrassment** I told her teacher that it was nice to meet her and that Meg has quite an imagination. We then slinked out of the room. What a year this will be! Maybe I don't want her going to Kindergarten in my school next year. HA!

Still planning on posting camping pics soon, so keep checking back, just too busy for now. Now I've gotta get back to writing a paper on reading comprehension. Bah!

Freedom is over for now

Well...tomorrow's the day. The dreaded words back-to-school. I think most teachers hate the phrase more than students although we keep it a secret (until now). Meg doesn't care. She's fortunate enough not to start preschool until next Monday. Lucky duck. Tonight after I put her down to bed I heard her yell out "Cock-a-doodle dooooooo!" about three times. I finally asked what she was doing and she told me she was a rooster and that it was morning time, time to get up! She's anxiously awaiting a day of fun at Mamaw and Papaw's tomorrow, so she could care less that I"m dreading the morning. HA!

We've had a busy weekend camping and state fairing, so I'll be posting pics and stories as soon as I find the time.

??????????????????

What are you doing Mommy?
Why Mommy?
Where are you at Mommy?
Why do they call it a crescent moon?
Why do kids have to sign up for school?
How do you sign up for school?
Why do they call it a trampoline?
How many days until we go camping?
How long does 2 days take?
Will you push me on the swing?
How long does 5 minutes last?
Why are they called earrings?
Why don't you wear them on your fingers?
Why is it called a computer?
What does **any unfamiliar word** mean?
Why do I have to take a nap?
Can I do it myself?
Are you mad Mommy?
Can we please stay five more minutes Mommy?
Why not?


Hmmmmmmm.....just a few of the 3 GAZILLION questions I've answered in the last two days. They are endless. I swear Meghan is the most inquisitive child on the planet. Lots of kids ask questions, I know, but seriously....when I find myself answering questions about why certain objects have certain names, I'm at a loss for an answer. If I do come up with a creative response, it just leads right into another question. It's a vicious, never-ending cycle. Don't get me wrong here....I've truly enjoyed my time off work and all the extra time with Meg. We've had a blast, but my brain is fried from all these questions. The time has come for me to return to the working world (only to answer the many questions of even more children!). Good luck to the new sitter. Maybe I should give her a heads up, but I think I'll just let her fend for herself! :)

Gotta get busy now...I have a paper that has to be posted online before midnight and the clock is ticking. We've got a busy weekend planned of camping and State-Fairing, so I'll be sure to post an update w/ pics on Monday or so.

Fancy Schmancy Nancy

Miss Thing didn't wake up today until 9:42. Yep...that's right....the Ever Early Riser is now sleeping later....just in time for school to start back up. Oh joy! At about 10 AM we received a call that my glasses were ready, so we decided to make that our big outing for the day, since we had little else planned. I hopped in the shower and laid out clothes for Meg to put on in the mean time. Midway through my shower, I hear "Taaaaa Daaaa!" She had gotten dressed, put her new Crocs on, and even snuck into the bathroom quietly to apply about 5 layers of lipstick and lip gloss. What a beauty she is! :) She also informed me that she didn't want a ponytail, but was choosing to wear those "bar-things" in her hair. Barrettes, I guessed, although I was corrected in the way that I said the word. (Of course, she's always got to point out all my flaws!) We finished getting all ready, which also included the ever-popular stick on earrings. I felt like I just had to share pics of my Fancy Schmancy Nancy girl...

***Please make note of her new pink camo Crocs***

These are in honor of Greg. She insisted she get them, but refused to wear them until she got to show him first. We even had to make a phone call as we were leaving the store to tell him that she has camo Crocs now too.

On a quite sad note....only three days of summer vacation left. BOO HOO HOO! Anyone out there feel sorry for me?