A Simple Equation

1 unlandscaped backyard + 1 incident of accidentally leaving the hose on + 1 curious two-year-old + 1 five-year-old ignoring the "don't go outside" warning = 1 sad, muddy Lexa and 2 messy, muddy shoes

Super Star

We got a note home that Julia was chosen as student of the month in her class for November. Of course, we were pleased as punch and went to the school assembly to cheer her on. Sadly, I forgot to bring the fog horn to blow when her name was called. So, our loud and embarrassing voices had to suffice. (Craig turned a few heads in J's class with his sheer volume/enthusiasm.)

The girls' school holds their assemblies outside in the courtyard. As everyone sat there "freezing" in the chilly 50 degree morning, the Principal made a comment about the "brutal Arizona winters" that we are all subjected to. Amen to that. My long sleeve tee was barely enough to keep me from getting frostbite!

waiting to get started

shivering in her skirt and half-sleeves

J was so cold that her nice teacher offered to give
 up her own jacket. This might have made me feel
like a bad mom, except that I had brought Julia a jacket
which she opted not to wear because she doesn't like it.

moment of glory

cute Savanna sitting with her class

J and her BFF

donuts and milk for the kids and their parents afterwards!

(Forget those chalky sprinkles. It's all about the glazed.)

So proud of our little Bean. Can't wait for her to get some more awards so we can get free donuts again!

We Three Trees

Well, one solid advantage of (still!) having no window coverings in our front room is that our beautiful Christmas tree is multiplied by three. Can't believe Christmas is already around the corner. Especially when we still have highs in the 80s. (Not the decade, mind you...the temperature.) Good thing that isn't keeping me from drinking hot Pero and listening to Christmas music everyday.

Wednesday Wonderings

*Think the real purpose of a smartphone might actually be to make me go crazy. Can't seem to compose a message using swype without having to correct half the words. Magically, infuriatingly, "Work" becomes "quirk," "let" becomes "key," and "talk" becomes "gadfly," along with some other unmentionables that had me laughing so hard right before bed last night that I couldn't fall asleep. And really, folks? Is gadfly even a word?

*Supposed to be reading "Lord Jim" by Conrad this week for my English class. Good thing it's not called "Lord Jim Goes to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" or I might not get through it. (Well, okay, I might not get through it anyway.)

*Exactly what will I complain about when I finish school? I'll have to think of something.

*Christmas shopping is so far from done that it's not even funny

*Seems as though the kids like to complain about dinner even when we're having something they like: "What's wrong with these mashed potatoes? Why are they so watery?"

*Thanksgiving, plus Thanksgivings 2 and 3 (in which many leftovers were consumed) has me done with turkey until next November.

*One day I am going to see about getting a research grant to study the unexplainable magnetic forces with which my children's clothing is drawn to the bathroom floor. I mean, surely there must be a scientific explanation. I'll be sure to publish my findings.

*Started "James and the Giant Peach" with Julia tonight. I sure hope I don't find out halfway through that Roald Dahl was a woman...

*If this is what we call "after school snacks" at our house, I really shouldn't wonder about the kids not eating dinner, should I?

*"Thou shalt not covet" does not apply to a fancy beach cruiser stored in the garage for a neighbor, right??

That's it for now. By the way, gadfly apparently means nuisance, pest, or meddler. Cannot wait to incorporate that one into my vocabulary. Watch for it, folks.

Better Than That Macy's Garbage

The day before Thanksgiving, I wondered aloud to my dear husband why we never watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I remembered enjoying it as a kid and thought maybe the girls would like it. So, yesterday, we tried it out, and I got my answer.

Turns out the reason we never watch it is because it's as Boring as All Get-Out.

Boringer, in fact, than watching grass grow, paint dry, etc., etc. Maybe if it were just cool floats, there would at least be a little bit of a higher level of enjoyment. But alas, the floats all appear to be boring throw-backs from years past, the parade is continually interrupted by strange performances from people I've never heard of, and the whole thing really just feels like one giant commercial for NBC... interrupted, of course, by actual commercials. Perhaps to see it live would be a different experience altogether, but, for my part, I am ready to swear it off for good. Even watching it over the kitchen island whilst I was occupied with 25 other things, I still felt myself becoming bored to tears on many more than one occasion. Call me a grinch, but even I have some standards regarding the way I waste my time in front of the television.

On that note, here are some pictures of the girls on the day of their school's Vocabulary Parade, which conveniently debuted on Halloween. (Way to go, MP Elementary, for being politically correct enough to shun real costumes on Halloween while being cool enough to make up another reason for the kids to dress up.)

The second graders were tasked with creating a t-shirt that illustrated a compound word, while the kindergartners had the more mundane task of decorating a headband illustrating a high use word, like a day of the week or a month of the year. Julia picked "jellybean," (which is fitting given her "Julie-Bean" nickname) and Vanna picked "January." She decorated the crown herself, but she was feeling a little left out in the t-shirt department, so I did a shirt for her to go with her themed headband.

I'm telling you guys, I wish you could have been there, because this parade was waaaay more entertaining than that atrocity we subjected ourselves to yesterday. So, while you turkey continues to digest, I invite you to feast your eyes on stars of the third annual MPE Vocabulary Parade.

showing off her fancy tee

ever made a snowman with a candy corn 

for a nose and nerds for a mouth?

Maybe it's time you tried...

cute shirt for a cute girl

Parade in Progress

stopping for an autograph

the lovely onlookers

Vanna with her class

(at this point, she was holding the bottom

of the shirt up because the cotton balls

had started to fall off. Oops.)

P.S. Hope your Thanksgiving was resplendent with yummy food and lovely company. I know mine was!