Say cheese!

Here's the Thanksgiving crew! We were so fortunate to have Nana and Boppa, Tim and Mindy and the new cousins, and one of our international sons join us for dinner and the ensuing food coma.The excitement proved to be too much for M4 on more than one occasion: Games were played... (I fell off the chair right after snapping this pic): The weekend ended with quite a bit of snow; fortunately, that hasn't prevented anyone from getting home safely so far:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish I could post photos more quickly and easily...I would post some pics of the crew gathered at our house for this great holiday. But I can't take the time, and I just want to say Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for all of you out there! I am grateful every day that my family's situation is stable, healthy, secure and, really, majorly luxurious compared to many people on this earth. Much love to all of you...

M4

It may seem like I'm neglecting our younger child with all this talk about M3 and her swimming, but I'm not. Life is just so much simpler with him right now. Give him a few Playmobile knights and he can play for hours making up complicated adventures. (Usually involving someone getting their head ripped off, but anyhoo...) He was thrilled about making his first snowball of the year last Saturday. He loves loves loves games right now...particularly Rush Hour (thanks PPSN!!):

Every day he asks if he has school tomorrow. It's not that he doesn't enjoy school, because he does! But he likes being home to play better...can't say I blame him!

P.S. Nana and Boppa arrived safely yesterday for Thanksgiving! Yay!

Bring Your Earplugs...

Well, the meet was very fun, and M3 did very well. She came in first in her heat in the freestyle and second in the backstroke. I was totally surprised! She beat her friends who have been swimming "competitively" much longer. So the competitive streak in me yells, "Woohoo!! Way to kick their butts!!" And the rest of me is just glad she had a blast, despite the fact that we were there for a total of SIX hours!! Not counting the two hours it took to drive there and back...ugh. And she had a fever over 102 on Saturday, so I thought we wouldn't end up going at all.

Unfortunately, she was disqualified in her freestyle because she touched the floor when she tried to flip turn, but she really didn't seem to care which is good. The relays went well, too, and it's just so fun to see them out there splatting into the water one after the other. Here's one of the main parts of the fun for her:

P.S. I need some major yoga after sitting on those bleachers for the better part of six hours!! Ow.

First Swim Meet

M3 is participating in her first swim meet ever this Sunday!! She's in four events: 50m free style, 50m backstroke, 100m free relay, and 100m medley relay. She's pretty excited, so I hope she has a good experience. I'm sure she will; she gets to hang out with her friends for four hours straight or something like that (and I think they kinda give ribbons for everything). I get to sit in a pool room with its outstanding acoustics! (I'll bring the earplugs...and my book.)

This was her idea, by the way. We weren't as excited about the huge time commitment for an 8-year old, but she is really having fun. So as long as it stays that way I guess we'll stick with it!

Uh oh...

I think I need reading glasses.

I shoulda known

Since I am apparently one of the only people in the world who liked Michelle Obama's dress, how funny that the woman who made it is actually from around here!

Alien beings have invaded our house!

Conference Update

So, a quick update on school conferences:

I wasn't too worried about M4's conference. I mean, c'mon, it's Kindergarten!! I've been more worried about his socialization, since he is cautious and reserved. But his conference was glowing. He is such a good kid at school; something I've witnessed firsthand because I'm volunteering in his room (after a lengthy wait for my background check to clear!!). And he is definitely coming out of his shell as far as socialization; he may not be the most fearless kid in unfamiliar situations or with unfamiliar people, but he's definitely getting better.

M3's conference was fine, too. My concern with her is math. She started disliking it in 1st grade with the onset of "time tests." In time tests, you have to complete a certain number of problems in a certain time (e.g. 100 problems in 5 minutes). Well, turns out she's not fast at math. So she lost her confidence and in the last few years has tended to say things like, "I'm not good at math," and "Math is my worst subject," etc. Testing at school shows she's well above average when it comes to math ability. I think she just needs to get her confidence back and have some success. So I talked to her teacher about it, because I'm really worried she'll internalize that "girls can't do math" thing. Fortunately, Mr. C. doesn't emphasize time testing. I think showing her the graph of where she charted on math testing compared to other kids gave her a boost, too. The other day she came home and said, "I think I like math now." Let's hope it sticks!

Wheeeeeeee!

I parked the car in the garage last night!! Because there was a wintry mix forecast for overnight, I shoved the bikes, etc. aside. And lo and behold, this morning at 5:30am when I left to teach yoga, there was no frozen stuff on my windshield, no fogged up windows! Oh it was lovely...

Candy Rant

Not to be confused with Candy Gram. But anyhoo, what is up with candy at school? I'm not talking candy once in a while for a school party or something. I'm talking candy. every. single. day. Hello childhood obesity! How about diabetes? (And that is on top of the lunch menu, which includes about as many different versions of FRIED as you can imagine.)

In our K-2 school, this doesn't seem to happen. But M3 has hit third grade and moved to a new school, where it seems candy is constantly used as a reward. She came home upset one day, because the student who finishes his/her work first every day gets a piece of candy (and that is usually not M3). She was sad, because more often she gets candy only when the whole class gets candy. In fact, her teacher has a popular reputation because he gives candy. When M3 was chosen to help clean the tables after lunch, she got candy as a reward. So excuse my language, but WTF?

It's not like I deny my kids candy! They get plenty! Y'know why? Because they are given candy when we got to the post office, the grocery store, the bank, not to mention the 4th of July parade and the Homecoming parade! In fact, those last two events provide them with enough candy to make it through the low-candy season (high-candy season runs from Halloween to Easter).

So I am proud to say, I prepared for the conference. I actually planned how I would register my complaint in a non-confrontational way. I didn't want to put M3's teacher on the defensive, because I know he's not the only one. And I did it!! (He only got slightly defensive.) But aside from mentioning obesity and diabetes, I wanted him to get that the kids need to be rewarded by accomplishing the WORK ITSELF. You worked hard and finished your math...yay for you!! You should be proud! Cuz when you get bigger, ain't no one goin' to be handing you candy...or bonuses...or compliments...or appreciation. (Well, maybe once in a while but c'mon people, let's be honest...not much!!) You have to feel good about a JOB WELL DONE!

Honestly, I could go on and on but long blog posts are boring, and this one is long enough!! More on the parts of the conferences where I actually discussed my children later. (Could I be going overboard with the italics?)

Today in Iowa

Yup, it's the white stuff...the first snow of the year is always exciting. Better get the garage cleaned out!

And on a completely vapid note...

...I liked the dress!

Yes, we can!!

OK, I know it's cheesy...I can't help it! I may be idealistic, but I feel like it's a new day for our country. Maybe we'll be able to hold our head higher in this crazy world. Maybe we'll actually be able to come together to get problems solved (although when I heard a blurb from Rush Limbaugh today, I heard exactly the kind of idiotic and immature assholery that prevents that from happening. I feel sorry for his unhappy self. Rush, put your country above your ego and your ratings, OK?)

Here are some lovely pics of election day in Miami that my cousin Stephanie took. Bonus pic of one extra special little voter at the end:

Today's the Day!

Take your coffee and your book and go get in line! Really, I can't remember being as excited about any election as I am about this one! Not even 20 years ago when I voted in my first presidential election!

BTW, our friend Astrid will comment for MSNBC! Little blurb here.

Happy Halloween!

Here are our little historical characters. And a big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa who helped with costume issues, the small Halloween lunch/party the kids had (I don't think I'll do that again! I'm just not one of those moms who can whip up a kiddie party like a batch of cupcakes...I was frakkin' wiped out even with my parents' help!), and trick-or-treating escort. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day for Halloween!