Froggy the Frog

After looking at these pictures, I can tell this is one of those situations that was much funnier in person than in photograph, but I will share with you the story anyway.

Once upon a time there was an ugly green frog trapped unmercifully in a window well. He hopped and hopped, and threw his body into the window incessantly, but it was to no avail. The mean people who lived in the house would not come to his rescue.

The next morning beautiful Princess Moves-a-lot arrived at the house of the mean people. She noticed the poor frog in distress and immediately declared, "I will have a heart attack if that frog dies in there!" So the princess' mommy gracefully lowered the princess (armed with yellow rubber gloves) into the window well to rescue the frog. She placed the frog in a bucket and asked Prince Shy-a-lot to put some water in the bucket. The prince turned the faucet on to extreme power, which sent him into fits of "Oh! Oh! I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure what to do!"

As the prince's mommy arrived to solve the water issue, the ugly green frog devised an evil plan to scare the mommy nearly to the point of death. She jumped 10 feet into the air and screamed at the top of her lungs as Froggy (previously named by Princess Moves-a-lot) leaped into the air to attack the innocent mommy.

This attack caused much joy and screaming for Princess Moves-a-lot, Prince Talks-a-lot, Prince Shy-a-lot and Prince Laughs-a-lot. The princess grabbed Froggy, and after nearly squeezing him to death, placed him back in his bucket. Froggy was most determined to be free, so he again jumped out, this time aiming his attack at the other mommy.

More joy and screaming ensued as the four young subjects attempted to make the frog jump across the yard.

Of course, no frog rescue is complete without the complimentary froggy back rub provided by the beautiful princess. And judging by the reactions of this ugly little frog, he was indeed saying to himself, "ooh la la!"

The princess continued with the back-rub for quite some time, giving official flower back-rubbing lessons to Prince Laughs-a-lot.

And just when we thought Froggy may never hop again (most likely due to the extreme relaxation incurred from the backrub), he set off for the house. Thankfully, the princess was there to guide him to a safe place where froggy murder would not take place.

After one more dose of hydration, the princess was convinced that Froggy was safe, and she, in fact, would not have a heart attack.

The End.

In The Know

I've had several people explain to me the background of Hampshire and York, and the reasons of why we now have New Hampshire and New York in the United States. I'm sure I learned that in school at some point, and just didn't catalog it in my brain for recall at the appropriate moment! :)

But just in case you are thinking that I am not educating my children properly in the discipline of history, I'll have you know that when the man pictured above appeared on the TV the other day, my 3 YEAR OLD called out, "Hey look, it's O'ROCK BARAMA!"

Who Woulda Thunk It

My three year old loves dinosaurs. LOVES them. He has little toy dinosaurs, big toy dinosaurs, and every size in between. Ask him who is the king of the dinosaurs, he'll tell you it's a T-Rex. Ask him which one has spikes on his back, he'll tell you a stegosaurus. Ask him his favorite dinosaur, he'll say a Pentaceratops.

But when he started calling himself a Strufiominus, I knew he'd lost his little mind. For weeks I've been telling him there is no such thing as a Strufiominus. He said yes there was, and he could run fast. I've been insisting that no, there wasn't, but he could pretend if he wanted to.

Then yesterday I happened to walk through the room when he was watching the dinosaur video for the 45th time this month. And guess what I heard? Sure enough, they were talking about a dinosaur that ran like an ostrich. And its name? Struthiomimus. My son's pronunciation was not quite accurate, but it was close enough for me to admit defeat. I even googled it. Yep, it's true.

So, to my dear little son, I am sure that I will question you about MANY, MANY things during your lifetime, but never again will I question you about dinosaur facts. If you say it, I'll believe it.

Promise. Because, honestly, I won't know if it's true anyway.

All We Need is a Pocket Protector

It is official. My 6 year old is a nerd.

A few weeks ago my son discovered that there is a quarter for each of the 50 states, which led to the beginning of the quarter collection. Which led to the 'need' for a quarter holder. Which led to him saving up his money so he could buy one. Which led to grandma giving him a nice map quarter holder for Kindergarten graduation. I'm sure the other boys were asking for transformers and guns and cars. He asked for a map to stick quarters in.

The other day he was studying his new map. He was frustrated because he couldn't find a state he was looking for. I asked which one it was. He told me he was looking for Hampshire. "You mean New Hampshire?" I asked. No, he was looking for Hampshire, because if there was a New Hampshire, there had to be plain old Hampshire too. When I asked him why he thought that, he declared it was because there was Mexico and New Mexico, so it only made sense. I'm still not sure he believes me, even though I showed him there is no York, only New York. Moms just don't know anything.

And if studying the United States map isn't enough, he has now decided that his favorite thing to do is play chess. I know nothing about the game, but he must be decent at it, because he has beaten his father at least a couple of times. And his father is the one who taught him how to play.

The other day I walked downstairs to find him watching Cyberchase on TV. Since he likes to play that video game on the computer, I asked him if he thought it was cool to watch a TV show that was one of his favorite games. "Yeah," he said, "but wouldn't it be even cooler to watch a chess game on TV?"

Oh yes. That is my idea of a rip-roaring good time.

Where have I gone so wrong??? Thank goodness he still loves basketball and baseball too. Maybe there is hope.

Maybe.

Kindergarten Graduation

Counting by 5's

Reading a Story

Diploma Time

Graduating!

Last Day of Kindergarten

When I was a kid, I remember feeling like a school year lasted FOREVER. However, if I recall correctly, the summers lasted a long time as well. My friends say it only gets worse the older the kids get, but I cannot believe this school year is already coming to an end. Today was my son's last day of kindergarten, and the graduation ceremony is tonight. Hopefully, he will make it on stage and complete the entire program without tears. For both him and me.

This is a picture of him on the very first day of school in August. See those cute little baby teeth? Oh, how I mourn for those neat, straight, white, small, perfect teeth. Now I just see big ol' dollar signs every time he opens his mouth. I'm thinking the government should create 529 plans for orthodontics. Except right now I would put in $3,000 and only get back $1,800. So much for that plan.

I should have taken a picture of him this morning before school to mark the occasion. I just realized he wore that very same shirt to school today. Only now it is faded and in the much-loathed "almost too small" stage. And those shoes don't fit. And the backpack has holes in it. And, did I mention, those cute little teeth are gone?

So we say good-bye to Kindergarten. Gone are the days of being done at 11:30, of morning snacks, and of ABC verses. I am amazed at the amount of reading, math, phonics, and writing that can be accomplished in 3 short hours a day. I am proud of you, buddy! You did a great job!

Trying Something New

This was our $5.00 garage sale purchase on Saturday. For five bucks, we figured we had nothing to lose. Unless, of course, the beds decide to crash down on top of one another. That could get ugly.


We are still in the honeymoon period of putting the boys together in the same room. So far, so good, but I'm sure there will be a future post (most likely the not-so-distant future) where I will be lamenting the decision of moving them together. Like for example, when they are practically killing each other and I scream, "Go to your room!" so they can spend some time....together.

Is it summer YET?

I decided today I am pretty much done with this cold, rainy weather. I guess we shouldn't expect anything else considering we had many, many 65 degree days this winter. We knew at some point it would get cold. I was just hoping it wouldn't be in May.

I am looking forward to summer for SO many reasons. Here are a few:

*No lesson planning or grading.

*No six a.m. alarm clocks.

*My anniversary.

*Family trip to Branson.

*My dear friend who has put up with me my entire life (who also happens to be my cousin) is coming to spend 7 entire days with me!

*My birthday.

*I have the privilege of working with a very cool little boy who I know will capture my heart even more than he already has.

*Can you say GIRLS WEEKEND?? Four days of kid-free shopping, hanging out, and relaxing!

*This will be the first summer that our fathers are retired instead of working 40+ hours a week. This equals more time with grandpa at the lake and less field work for my husband to do!

*As a result, I will get more time with my husband!

Twenty days and counting...