Happy Birthday Dear Sammy!

Look at this seven year old.
Be still my heart...my really old heart.
Aren't the mothers of seven year olds supposed to be old and crusty?
Don't answer that.

A little bit o' this and a little bit o' that.

PinkieDaddy is finishing up a family photo shoot (yes, at 9AM...eek!), and then we're off to run some errands. The Red Monster's bday party is this evening, so I have to make a paper goods, balloon, goodie bags run. I also want to run by a few places and pick up some new pottery/plates/glasses for the kitchen. That's my splurge, well...one of them, for our move. Did I ever let you know it was official? All of the inspections, appraisals, etc. have been finished, we're just waiting for our closing date....oh, and the packing. Yeah, we need to pack. ARGGHH! I saw a sign for "professional junk movers" last night. I have to be honest, I did stop and consider it. How great would it be to make a pile of junk for someone to just....haul away!
I'll have some pics to post of Sam's party tomorrow. We're having a hayride, apple-bobbing, costume wearing, weini roasting, s'more making party. Basically, we've lost our minds! Hehe.

Other news

While I have a minute, I'll update:
We're wrapping up soccer. I think we have 3 games left in the season. Jack has enjoyed this season so much. His game has greatly improved, and now we're just looking forward to swim team. DaddyPinkie and Jack go swim at the health center 2 mornings a week and on Saturday afternoon. School is going great, but for some weird reason, Jack is doing really good in Math this year...and his Reading grade, which has always been really high, has dropped a bit. I'm not too worried yet, but it is strange. His Reading teacher says his biggest problem is that he reads while she is teaching, so when it is time to work, he has missed all of the instruction. He's a chip off of the old block...he even reads by flashlight like I used to do. He'll read anything he can get his hands on, and I hope he never loses his love for reading. We just need to work on his timing!

Sam is happy in first grade. He is doing really, really well in Reading....which is surprising. He has never really been interested or excited about books or words. His handwriting, well, that is another story. Ouch. Even though it has improved tremendously since the beginning of school, he seems to need more work....to me. His teacher says it is ok and that he is doing great. He'll be starting speed addition tests soon...arrgghh! He's more of a math thinker, so hopefully it won't be too painful. The boys are both in a gym class once a week, and they love it. They do warmup, stretches and strength exercises for 15 minutes. After that they do 15 minutes of trampoline exercises, 15 minutes of cardio, balance, and strength workouts, and 15 minutes of free play on the rock climbing wall. It's something they look forward to every week, and we've seen such an improvement in both of them....but especially in Sam's gross and fine motor skills. He also runs SOOO much faster than before. In the beginning he could barely make it through the end of the trampoline exercises. Now, he makes it through with energy to spare! Maybe too much energy! I can't forget to mention that The Red Monster will be 7 on Sunday. EEK! We're having cupcakes at school tomorrow, and a hayride birthday party on Saturday evening. He is so excited. I bought him a shirt and tie for his birthday...it's what he asked for. How crazy is that? He also wanted "man pajamas" and a "coffee mug like a man uses." He is a TRIP!

Kindergarten....whoa. Sophy really likes school, and she loves her teacher so much. We were really worried that Sophy would take kindergarten by storm....i.e. be in trouble from the first bell to the last. For whatever reason, she has only had one minor discipline issue. YAY! She has meshed with a gaggle of little girls that are, it seems, as dramatic and girlie as she is. It's scary. Gymnastics is going extremely well. She was moved from the pre-k group to the 8 year old group last month. She is, by far, the youngest in her class, but she is on track ability-wise with the others. I love to watch her at practice. She is so focused during class on mastering what her coach is teaching her. She's amazing. Last month, her coach started working with her on backhandsprings and front/back walkovers. We'll see how long it takes her to do them independently. We're also in tap/ballet/dance class one night a week, and it's going great too. It's weird that my most agile/athletic child is the youngest....and a girl....but it seems to be the case. Her dance class is getting ready for their part in the big Christmas parade on the square and also for their huge spring recital. I'm helping with her class party on Friday, and her dance class is having a Fall showcase/H'ween party next week that I volunteered to help with. I don't mind, but sometimes I ask myself...WHY???? Arrgghh! Oh well, they're only young once!

Well, it's late. I'm sure this was a boring bit of news, but such is life. Speaking of life, I really need to start printing out this year's blog entries. I keep them in a notebook, and I don't think I've started on this year's entries!! YIKES.

No time to talk....

Things are ablur (should that be one word or two?) in the Pinkie house. OOYYY!! We are knee deep in SELLING OUR HOUSE! The day it went on the market (no sign in the yard, mind you) it sold for our asking price with no contingencies. Let me just add that we were being very OPTIMISTIC with our asking price. We were ecstatic, to say the very least, that it happened so easily. Our offer on the house we looked at (in our neighborhood...hehe) was accepted, and let me just say how ECSTATIC we are about that because it wasn't anywhere near what the folks were asking. It has all workd out beautifully, fingers crossed, to this point. We're just going one step at a time and leaving it all in God's hands. As of now, we have a closing date (for this house and our new one) on November 15th. ARRGGHHHH! We're past the inspections and appraisals on both properties, the financial paperwork is (we hope) complete, and we're just haggling over minor repairs and punch lists with our buyers and the sellers of the house we are hoping to buy. I guess we should be packing by now, but we're just sort of in denial, I think. Once a closing date has been set, I'd say you pretty much need to get busy....but we're just in awe of how quickly and easily this has all happened. The good news is (besides the fact that our potential new home has a PPOOOOLL) that we're just moving to the back of the subdivision. Ha! We'll be doing more "shuttling" than actual "moving."
I'll try to post more later. I'm just so in awe, afraid things could go wrong, and IMMENSELY excited all at the same time. ((I'm happy to report that DaddyPinkie will have a kicking home office for his business/clients/etc....and I'll have a guest room for family/friends!!! I'm soooo beyond excited! Oh, and there are two attics!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT???!!!))
Ok. I'll update more later. I promised Jack pizza tonight, and we still have to get the boys to their gym class....and I have a hankering for a fire in the fireplace!!
Later~

Oh yeah. About the vaseline and wrench...

My previous title was supposed to inspire wonder and curiousity....and then I forgot to tell you about the incident that involved the vaseline and monkey wrench.
SO! Last night....at the meal where we were eating lots of REAL food, the cousins were all outside riding bicycles, when my youngest niece got her foot caught behind the pedal of her pink, princess bicycle. At first, all of the adults were fairly certain that we could just unwedge her foot. She is a little nub of a kid, even by kid standards, and we figured the hysterics were due to her DRAMATIC nature....and not so much because her foot was about to be snapped off at the ankle. Turns out that her foot was, indeed, about to be snapped off at the ankle (I only mildly exaggerate.) We greased her foot, ankle, calf with vaseline and tried to slip her limb out of the pedal. No deal. Not happening. Uhm. No.
SO! PinkiePop (my dad) rounds up a set of tools, the cousins are in varying stages of concern, tears, hysterics, and uncaring. Sister to the vaseline'd child was weeping and saying, "I'm gonna miss her when she's gone..." Jack was bringing glasses of water to the vaseline'd child and comforting her while she cried and blew snot bubbles. Sam taunted her and said, "I bet that REALLLLY hurts." Sophy, who loves her little vaseline cousin more than words can say, held her hand and told her not to worry. Mind you, this little lubricating incident lasted for about 25 minutes. That is how long it took to free her foot from behind the pedal. Is that insane? Today she has bruises on her ankle and shin, and her leg is a little tender. I think she is very fortunate that she didn't break her leg, to tell ya the truth. It was crazy!!
There. You can consider yourself informed, lubricated and liberated.

Please pass the vaseline and the wrench.....

My mom asked us over for dinner this evening, and since we only vaguely remember what home cooked food is, we were very happy to accept. Oh, it was nice.....pot roast, real mashed potatoes, old lady green beans (the kind with bacon, potatoes, and hair on them), skillet corn, rolls (real rolls), and blackberry cobbler made with berries that Sophy and I picked in the backyard. It was nice to eat food. Real food.
We're still checking out the potential house that I mentioned earlier. It's all so crazy right now, so I'm just going to not mention it again until I know something definite. It's just crazy and bizarre and may never come to pass. Then again, stranger things have happened. For us, they happen more frequently than not. I just can't let myself think of it right now. Ug.
It would be really nice if I could sleep in tomorrow, but I have an eye appointment at the butt-crack of dawn. So, there'll be no sleeping in for me; however, there just might be a sausage biscusit from McD's. A real sausage biscuit. Or rather, a pseudo-real sausage biscuit. Ha.

It's a spooky ghost...

No wait....it's me. How creepy is this picture? Don't answer that! Yes, I have poltergeist eyes. In other news, we're going to look at a house tomorrow in our neighborhood that is for sale. EEK! I'll keep ya posted.

Alfalfa, Spanky, and Darla

Even more mundane and way less necessary

We're home from dinner and the bookstore (and the sports store and Gap.) We've ridden our bikes, mapped out the new garden (in the dark, I might add), bathed the kiddos, laid out soccer clothes, and bid them all a "go to sleep as fast as you can." It was a nice evening in town, but it feels good to sit down and relax for a bit....sans children. I've wanted to update about so many topics lately, but I can never think of them when I'm here. Let's see if I can manage to strike a few off of the list:

6th GRADE:

I wish I could tell you that my sixth graders are, each and every one, the joys of my meager existence. However, my mama did her best to teach me not to lie......What I mean to say is....well, they are a motley crew interesting group of young minds. Suffice it to say, we're learning all about each other, and they're growing on me. I have always viewed my time with my students as a way to reach out and get my hands on a life that I might can change the course of--cheezy--but very realistic. That being the case, I have TONS of opportunities with this group. Maybe too many opportunities. Luckily, I have been given the chance to teach the 7th grade group (my 6th graders from last year), and I am so happy to be with them another year. They are an amazing group of firecrackers, delinquents, whiners, overachievers, princesses, and jocks. I just love them to smithereens. My 6th graders just wrapped up a unit on Helen Keller, and it was so much fun to see their minds wrap around something new and to hear my old group rehash what they learned/remembered from their encounter with Helen Keller last year. It made me proud that they had remembered so much of what we learned about her and to hear how much they enjoyed it. Several of them told me that it had been their favorite book. That's not something you hear from many middle school aged kids. If you want a good read, try The Story of My Life, by Helen Keller. You won't regret it.

GARDEN

We recently took out the back side of the garden that was a grapevine wall. It was very much an ordeal that GardenDaddy had no desire to participate in, but I managed to con him into it anyway. So, that took several days of clearing, chopping, burning, etc. We added the rest of the fencing to enclose the enlarged area where the grapevine had been. Now, the plan is to level the inside of the garden--which involves me with a tiller....YEEHAW, add a plank swing and a ginormous fountain in the center (which we have purchased and waiting), lay a flagstone path, move all of the large pieces (crepe myrtles, etc.) to new locations in the garden and start over with some new permanent plantings. Got that? To make a long story short, I have a lot of work to do. I'm happy to report that a garden (and some irrigation pipes) are being installed by a landscaper on the other side of the yard. A girl has got to know her limitations (regrets to Dirty Harry.)

HOUSE

I'm dreaming of a new kitchen and keeping my fingers crossed. We're still at a deadlock over adding on versus building a new house. Either way, the work we have planned will go on, but we have to come to some agreement soon. DaddyPinkie's business is eating our house.

TRIPS

We're planning on going to Biltmore during Spring Break. Can I tell you how excited about this trip I am? I have dreamed of going to Biltmore for years. And years. And yes, years. Speaking of dreaming for years, if GardenDaddy can not accompany me to England this summer, there is a very real possibility that I'm going to see Ang alone. (Whether she likes it or not! HAHAHAA!) What is standing in my way, you ask? Flying over the ocean. I'm phobic. It's no secret. When I say phobic, I mean, Dr. Phil time people. Ang assures me that I can do it. She who flies across oceans for the heck of it. And enjoys it. Sigh. Still, I think of all the places I HAVE to see. I can't NOT go. Right?

Of course, Jack is planning a trip to Lima, Ohio to ride some train. I'm not thinking so.

TV

Survivor is back. Why did they have to vote of Chicken? What the heck? He was pure comedy. The Gravedigger. Gee. Nice underwear. I'm almost sad they voted off the wrestler with the boobs. She really liked stirring stuff up. Bear Grylles. Have you heard? If not, I'll not go into it. He broke my heart. You can Google and read all about it. Beware. It ain't pretty. Now then....Dirty Jobs. If they would ever produce a new episode, I might have something interesting to tell you about and poetry to dedicate to Mike Rowe. Since they seem opposed to doing a new episode, I'll just have to be happy with the re-runs.

Well, I suppose I'm fresh out of topics. PinkieDaddy is waiting for me to watch a movie with him anway, so I guess I better shut this off. Happy weekend!

The mundane and the necessary

It's after 9 o'clock, and the kids are finally settled into bed. Jack had soccer practice tonight, and Sam & Sophy ran around on the emtpy practice fields like an entire tribe of wild indians. All 3 of the kids had homework tonight, so you can imagine the get-home-from-work-cook-supper-do-homework-get-dressed-for-soccer-fiasco that ensued and the following come-home-take-3-baths-get-into-pj's-review-photosynthesis-and-#5 multiplication facts-fiasco. DaddyPinkie has been MIA this week, so it seems like decades since we've seen him. Jack is usually the first to show signs of Daddy withdrawal, and today I saw the beginning stages of a good case working up. We've literally seen him for about 20 solid minutes this week. We plan on taking the kids to dinner tomorrow night and to the bookstore to lay around, drink hot chocolate and read books. Jack has 5 tests tomorrow, so I think the kid is past due for a some R&R. Speaking of R&R....NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY. Muchas Gracias, Christopher Columbus.
Weekend plans? Hhhhm. Well, I have to be certain that I remember to purchase a $178 money order to prevent a warrant for my arrest being issued in the backwoods fine state of Mississippi, if it hasn't already. Long story, but it involves a state trooper and someone who very much resembles, ahem...myself flying down the interstate in Mississippi on her way to Florida with her family in the car this past July. So, yeah. That's one thing I have to do. I'd say it's sort of up there on the priority list.
Anything else? Let's see....a soccer game on Saturday morning, a birthday party on Sunday......maybe there are other things. My frain is bried, and I can't remember it all. Oh, an optometrist appointment. Can't forget that. I'd love to be able to work in my garden, which reminds me, I seriously need to post some pics of the newly gutted garden. You would faint if you could see it. It's being majorly overhauled.
So, dear readers (all 2 of you), I bid you farewell.
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Sort of.