Thinking Snow Thoughts in April

Spring school vacation week is typically suppose to be warm or at least warmer than this...

No, those are not diamonds, but hail. Ick, that definitely does not scream sunbathing in the backyard to me. 

What I have really been wanting to write about every time I drive by them are these "things" hanging from the utility lines in one part of town.

I truly do not know what they are for, but they look like chairlifts for squirrels. Bobby and I almost had one of his sons convinced that that was exactly what they were. 

Boy: "Why are you taking pictures of the sky?"

Me: "I am not. I am taking pictures of the chairlifts."

Boy: "What? Those are chairlifts?"

Bobby: "Yes, for the squirrels to get back and forth."

Boy: "You mean the chairs actually move?"

We couldn't go any farther than that. We were laughing too hard. Got to love gullible kids :)

Kids: You've Got To Love Them

Remember that show: Kids Say The Funniest Things? Well, as a teacher in the lower grades, I hear A LOT of stuff. Seriously, when I taught Kindergarten years ago, one kid told me that he and his parents had to leave dinner early to pick up a friend of his dad's in jail. I later found out that the dad was a lawyer, but the kid's story telling needed some work.

Today, a child told me that his Grandpa always asks him if he is a "smart fellah or a fart smellah". So after I laughed (um, hysterically), I had to tell him that fart was not a good word to say at school.

One child had to do a particular test where analogies were asked.
Can is to aluminum as glass is to ___________.
She answered, "man". The test giver gave her a look like "what?" And she went on to explain that daddy's drink beer in glass bottles. Ugh, why do 5 year olds have to know this already.

My niece, R, is a hot ticket. She has me laughing (and her mom pulling her hair out) constantly. It's fun being the aunt and it's even more fun living across the street from them. For instance tonight, I went over for a quick visit. R was making a mess, I mean she had a whole story going on on the kitchen floor and she kept bringing in new items to add. This is how I found her...

It's not good enough to kneel at the side of the box, it's much better to dive in head first.

At least I get to laugh every day. I hope I never lose the fact that little kids are amusing. They definitely keep me young (ish).

Sing Me a Song

My sister and brother in law bought the girls a Memorex Sing Stand Home Karaoke System for Christmas. This one gift has provided us with hours of amusement. You can actually plug your ipod into the microphone stand and sing with all the songs. You don't see the words like real Karaoke, but you sing along with the artist.

Or you use it to call your kids to dinner when they are upstairs playing.

When you invite some friends for dinner and provide accessories, adult beverages for the adults, fake champagne for the kids and said Karaoke system. You get a bunch of belly laughing. I am not allowed to put on the video (kids said so), but they didn't say anything about pictures. The girls LOVE dressing up their cousin (and truly, I don't think he minds too much).

Then if you give the "I'm too cool for this singing nonsense" cousin your camera, things can get a little out of hand!

This is his dad putting a sparkly silver belt on his head.

1/2 a pic of B singing away.

A blurry pic of K...

I think he was channeling Austin Powers when he told K to give him her best tiger impression. "You're a tiger. Think like a tiger. Give me a grrrr".

All in all, if you are looking to spice up your January, I highly recommend this mic stand. (And some wine and a camera.)

Good Deed

So, I wanted to teach the girls a lesson today in being thoughtful... compassionate..... nice.... pick the word....

As K was going to sleep I said, "I did something nice today".

She said, "Oh, I did something nice today. too. You know how I pick and eat my finger nails? Well today, I bit them and instead of putting them on the floor, I put them in the trash."

"Well, ok, you win."

"What was your good deed, Mommy?"

"Never mind."

Notable Quoteable

Phew, I am back from the woods of Maine where there was no internet service. It was painful to not have internet. I don't even have it on my phone. You are feeling my pain, right? Anyway, I have lots to tell and pictures to share, but I need to 'tame the beast' first. The beast would be the mess of my house and the laundry that has finally arrived via Pony Express from Blogher. I did want to leave you with the best quote that a friend of mine's 4 year old conjured up while we were in Maine.

"Mommy, who created people? God or Barack Obama?"