Every year, I pose these same questions to the boy on the first day of school. I have done this every year since kindergarten began. The answers are funny in themselves, but even funnier as you look back at previous years and see how his answers change or stay the same from year to year. =D
1. What are you good at doing? I’m good at catching my kitten.
2. If you had ten dollars, how would you spend it? I’d buy a million Legos!!!
3. What are you afraid of? Bugs and heights.
4. Who is the best person to talk to when you’re upset? Grammy, Paw-paw, you (Mommy), but not Daddy because he farts up my head.
5. What is your favorite movie? Transformers and Spaceballs.
6. What is your favorite joke? A Dead Baby Joke! Why did the dead baby cross the road? I don’t know. Because it was stapled to a chicken and rocket!
7. Who would be a good president? Why? Me, because I would do anything I want. I would rule the whole world and destroy all the planets in the solar system.
8. How do you show your family you love them? Hugging. That’s all.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A pirate/chef/president.
10. What's your favorite book? The Scooby Doo books.
11. How do you remember important things? My noggin – it means my brain. It’s like a machine with wallpaper that has a picture of stuff that I renember.
12. Who is your best friend? My best friend is Grammy and Paw-paw and Trent.
13. What is your favorite toy? My Legos because I like them.
14. What is your favorite kind of car? The ones that I have made of Legos.
15. Which is your favorite shirt? My Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars t-shirts.
16. Where is your favorite place to go on vacation? Knoebels and Wildwood.
17. What is your favorite color? Red!
18. Who is your favorite Disney character? I like Lilo and Stitch.
19. What is your favorite pet’s name? Lola and Phoenix.
20. Who is your hero? Me with lasers and tornados and rockets, too. Super powers. Even follow rockets, too, for intruders.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Working Backwards Works for Us! and Sept 11th Documentaries: A Teaching Opportunity
If our day had gone any smoother today, I'd have thought we were another family. ;)
We did everything in reverse order today. I knew Spawn was dreading the writing assignment as writing is something he struggles with, so I opted to work backwards through our usual schedule and do that lesson last or next to last.
We began with Social Studies and a lesson about the difference between what information you can get from a globe vs. a city/street map. It was short refresher lesson of things we covered last year in much more detail, but ended with a visit to one of the boy's favorite games on one of his favorite websites, Franny's Feet: Grandpa's Globe on PBS.org.
We had no Science due today, so we moved on to Math. The only assignment due in Math was a Math Inventory on eHarcourt.com , so we buzzed through the review of 24 questions (which the boy aced!) and he was like, "Is that it?" Yup! No more Math today! Woo!
Last, and most dreaded, Language Arts mocked us with its three whole assignments due today. Yikes! So we tackled them from most favorite to least favorite, knowing saving the worst til last would save me and the boy a lot of frustration and aggravation and would get us at least through the other assignments easily in the mean time. So we tackled a literature study first using a website the school provides for every student, TumbleBooks.com
The boy LOVED this book! Then he completed a t-chart assignment: comparing two characters from the story - a nice, easy, warm-up to the writing exercise that we had to do next.
The boy's teacher has asked that each student keep a journal throughout the year where they can write whatever they want and only occasionally show their teacher their work. Today's assignment seemed a bit ambiguous. "Write a description of a good friend." It was supposed to say "Write a description of what a good friend is or how you can be a good friend." The boy wrote about his best friend instead. ;) He wrote a few sentences and no one was in tears at that point, so I was happy. =D
We found out yesterday that, based on the writing assessment at the end of last school year (that the boy handed in basically blank due to his frustration with writing), he was recommended for and enrolled in a Title 1 Reading program. Now he reads like a champ, but I'm told he'll get the extra writing support he needs in the program, so I'm not complaining - yet. ;) I also spoke with his former resource teacher (he was enrolled in spec. ed. last year due to his need for speech therapy) today and she recommended I get in touch with her supervisor to have the boy evaluated for a possible learning disability. I'm all over that like white on rice. Any assistance I can get in helping him overcome this writing obstacle, I'm all for it!
Last, Mrs. R asked students to login to Imagination Station and spend 10 - 20 minutes playing games and reading more books. Spawn hated this last year, so I bribed him. He could earn credit for free computer time for every ten minutes extra that he spent playing. The little bugger played on iStation for an hour and 15 minutes! :o Just rub my nose in it why don't you? ;)
Lessons complete, I flipped through the educational tv stations to find something to watch since it's a yucky rainy day going on out there today. (We even had to turn the heat on today! :o) I discovered several back-to-back documentaries about the Sept. 11th attacks and settled in to watch some with the boy. He had a lot of tough questions for me to answer that brought back some dark memories of that day - of watching the second plane hit the south tower on the news live with Walt while we were getting ready to go to work, of hearing about the attack on the Pentagon on the radio on my way to work, of being unable to reach my best friend on her cell phone in Manhattan and then, when I did reach her, of her terror from being unable to reach her husband who had meetings down near the World Trade Center that day. I still can't think of those frantic phone calls without breaking down in tears. :(
I got more than I bargained for when I decided to tune in to The History Channel today, but I'm glad I did. It gave me an opportunity to talk to the boy about the events of that day and him an opportunity to ask all the things it brought to mind. "If something happens to you and Daddy and you die, what happens to me and the kitties and Lola?" "If a plane hits your house, do you die? Or do you try to run to the door or the window?" "Why did those big buildings fall?" "Were there people in there?" "Why didn't they leave?!"
I can only imagine what it must be like for the families of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day - to have to answer those questions of their own children, to be reminded of that dark day in American history every Sept. 11th or every time they see a photo or personal item that belonged to their loved one. Our prayers are with them today and every day.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
We did everything in reverse order today. I knew Spawn was dreading the writing assignment as writing is something he struggles with, so I opted to work backwards through our usual schedule and do that lesson last or next to last.
We began with Social Studies and a lesson about the difference between what information you can get from a globe vs. a city/street map. It was short refresher lesson of things we covered last year in much more detail, but ended with a visit to one of the boy's favorite games on one of his favorite websites, Franny's Feet: Grandpa's Globe on PBS.org.
We had no Science due today, so we moved on to Math. The only assignment due in Math was a Math Inventory on eHarcourt.com , so we buzzed through the review of 24 questions (which the boy aced!) and he was like, "Is that it?" Yup! No more Math today! Woo!
Last, and most dreaded, Language Arts mocked us with its three whole assignments due today. Yikes! So we tackled them from most favorite to least favorite, knowing saving the worst til last would save me and the boy a lot of frustration and aggravation and would get us at least through the other assignments easily in the mean time. So we tackled a literature study first using a website the school provides for every student, TumbleBooks.com
The boy LOVED this book! Then he completed a t-chart assignment: comparing two characters from the story - a nice, easy, warm-up to the writing exercise that we had to do next.
The boy's teacher has asked that each student keep a journal throughout the year where they can write whatever they want and only occasionally show their teacher their work. Today's assignment seemed a bit ambiguous. "Write a description of a good friend." It was supposed to say "Write a description of what a good friend is or how you can be a good friend." The boy wrote about his best friend instead. ;) He wrote a few sentences and no one was in tears at that point, so I was happy. =D
We found out yesterday that, based on the writing assessment at the end of last school year (that the boy handed in basically blank due to his frustration with writing), he was recommended for and enrolled in a Title 1 Reading program. Now he reads like a champ, but I'm told he'll get the extra writing support he needs in the program, so I'm not complaining - yet. ;) I also spoke with his former resource teacher (he was enrolled in spec. ed. last year due to his need for speech therapy) today and she recommended I get in touch with her supervisor to have the boy evaluated for a possible learning disability. I'm all over that like white on rice. Any assistance I can get in helping him overcome this writing obstacle, I'm all for it!
Last, Mrs. R asked students to login to Imagination Station and spend 10 - 20 minutes playing games and reading more books. Spawn hated this last year, so I bribed him. He could earn credit for free computer time for every ten minutes extra that he spent playing. The little bugger played on iStation for an hour and 15 minutes! :o Just rub my nose in it why don't you? ;)
Lessons complete, I flipped through the educational tv stations to find something to watch since it's a yucky rainy day going on out there today. (We even had to turn the heat on today! :o) I discovered several back-to-back documentaries about the Sept. 11th attacks and settled in to watch some with the boy. He had a lot of tough questions for me to answer that brought back some dark memories of that day - of watching the second plane hit the south tower on the news live with Walt while we were getting ready to go to work, of hearing about the attack on the Pentagon on the radio on my way to work, of being unable to reach my best friend on her cell phone in Manhattan and then, when I did reach her, of her terror from being unable to reach her husband who had meetings down near the World Trade Center that day. I still can't think of those frantic phone calls without breaking down in tears. :(
I got more than I bargained for when I decided to tune in to The History Channel today, but I'm glad I did. It gave me an opportunity to talk to the boy about the events of that day and him an opportunity to ask all the things it brought to mind. "If something happens to you and Daddy and you die, what happens to me and the kitties and Lola?" "If a plane hits your house, do you die? Or do you try to run to the door or the window?" "Why did those big buildings fall?" "Were there people in there?" "Why didn't they leave?!"
I can only imagine what it must be like for the families of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day - to have to answer those questions of their own children, to be reminded of that dark day in American history every Sept. 11th or every time they see a photo or personal item that belonged to their loved one. Our prayers are with them today and every day.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Thursday, September 10, 2009
First Day of School - 2nd Grade
The first day of school got off to an early start. As usual, Spawn's cyberschool had a 12:01 'party' - when the classes are finally released and posted and students can get a peek at one minute after midnight the night before the first day of school to see what their next 9 months will look like. Spawn was completely gobsmacked-surprised when I'd sent him off to bed that night and sprung the news on him that that day (Monday) had been the last day of summer vacation and school started back up in the morning. I avoided the last week of summer mope-fest and got the added bonus of the look on his face when I told him. It's a sneaky mama I am. ;)
We got a later start than I'd hoped for - 10:30 am, but logging in early on the first day of school is usually a PITA anyway, so I wasn't feeling the crunch. The back to school launch usually ends up with the school's website either crashing or half of the features not working with everyone trying to log in at 8 am, so I had some tea, kicked back, and waited while Spawn polished off his breakfast - cheesey scrambled eggs he'd cracked, scrambled, and fluffed himself with some stove assistance from Daddy that morning.
Anyway, at 10:30 I logged in - thinking it would be yet another slow start this school year with nothing for returning students to do but wait while the newbies caght up on all the tutorials. Not so! The IT Dept. really had its act together this year and there were fewer problems overall AND all new students had the option of attending some kind of tutorial/orientation locally over the summer to avoid the three week void at the start of the year for returning students! WOOHOO!!! We actually had work to do! Language Arts and Math both had assignments posted for students to complete some beginning-of-year assessments. Long assessments, but we knocked those out in the first hour and a half and Spawn got his first break - recess with Daddy to go out in the yard and take some first day of school photos.
Doesn't he look thrilled to be taking first day of school pix? ;)
Yes, his mama still dresses him. ;) BUT - he does cooperate with my choices. =) CS Dad says I'm the only mother on earth who would pair those plaid pants with that Hawaiian shirt. I beg to differ. You should see some of the bat-poo crazy stuff my mother dressed me in back in the late 70's and early 80's. :o White poncho, neon pink, white, yellow, and aqua-striped boho tank, miniature floral-print bellbottoms (not neon), and black and white saddle shoes with a Little Dutch Boy haircut...that's all I'm sayin'. ;) I appear quite sane by comparison.
Bogarting both Daddy's chair AND coffee...
And a little something for Grammy who, if she's reading this, is crossing herself, rubbing her lucky rabbit's foot, spinning three times and spitting and cursing so his face doesn't stay that way. ;)
After his early break, we got right back to work because Spawn swore up and down that he wasn't the least bit hungry for lunch. (I should have known this would come back to haunt me later...) We started with Science and an exploration of the scientific method. We dissolved sugar in both warm and cold water and discovered that sugar dissolves faster and more completely in warm water. (Spawn guessed cold water before we started, so I got to choose where we went out for dinner. ;))
After our petite Science assignment, we polished off a short lesson about map-reading for Social Studies and it was time for a field trip as both the Phys Ed and Art & Music courses were having technical difficulties. Alas, the camera battery died and had to be left at home on the charger, so no photos of our field trip to Barnes & Noble. Spawn wanted to play with the Thomas train table set in the kiddie section and I wanted him to pick out a journal for Language Arts that he would get excited about writing in every day. So I bribed him. ;) If he chose a fun, exciting journal that he would write in every day, Daddy and I would trade off turns in the kiddie section so he could play with the trains for an hour. =)
By the one hour mark, Spawn had found a card & dice game called "Potions" that got his knickers in a twist and I'd found a book on knot-tying for his Cub Scout den (I'm their Den Leader) and had found a comfy spot to page through it in the kiddie area and still keep an eye on my trouble-inclined spawn. ;) Spawn had had enough at about 15 minutes past his hour and started in griping about how he hadn't had his chocolate milk and soft pretzel and he was starving for his snack. Which no one had promised him and he hadn't even bothered to ask for AND he knew we were going out for dinner... >:( Why was one reward for good behavior and cooperation on the first day of school not enough? I don't know, but Spawn quickly discovered where the end of my patience lay that afternoon. He kvetched about the soft pretzel all through check-out and all the way out to the car. I nearly buckled and threw in the towel, but decided at the last second that I wasn't going to deny myself a margarita just because Spawn had turned bratty, so off to Red Robin we went for some dinner for all of us and booze for Mama. ;)
Spawn had a corn dog, fries, and a chocolate milk (anything to keep those pounds on in our never-ending struggle for 1 lb. weight gain). CS Dad had some kind of pot roast burger with horseradish mayo, fries, and a Cherry Coke. That mayo was awesome on my fries and crunchy, fried shrimp! My dish came with coleslaw, but I barely touched it and I never did get around to ordering myself that strong drink. Oh, well, nothing wrong with a cheap bill and no bar tab. ;) I ended up ordering just a pomegranate iced tea to go with my dinner. Next time it'll be iced tea with a shot of pomegranate liqueur in it. ;) Our server was a new guy who was just trying to get through his day, but he did a great job, so if you're ever at the Easton Red Robin, ask for George H. Hard worker, great server!
Tuesday nights at Red Robin are Kids Nights - hallelujah! Their mascot, Red, was wandering the restaurant - delighting countless, laughing, clapping toddlers and scaring the short hairs off unsuspecting parents that he'd snuck up on - myself included. :o Red's multiple visits to our table were nearly the highlight of Spawn's whole day - until Mr. Clancy the Clown showed up. Mr. Clancy will make anything you ask for (G-rated ;)) as a balloon animal. Spawn wanted a rhino. Really. And Mr. Clancy provided...a rhino!!!
Spawn hates flash photography, but it was late when we got home and our living room is a cave, so he sucked it up to be able to show off his rhino on our blog. ;) Behind and above Spawn on the wall is an ancient whiteboard with a new version of the "you're not bored, you're just short" list that used to hang on the side of his study carrel. Using the whiteboard was an idea I thieved from my friend Eileen, but I was surprised to discover how many of the same suggestions Eileen and I had on our 'you're not bored, you're just short" lists. GMTA. ;)
Those last three flash-borked sentences say, "Act out your favorite movie. Retell your favorite story through interpretive dance. Hug Mommy." Spawn took one of the suggestions from the "you're not bored, you're just short" list to heart on that first day of school. He took some photos of his daddy when they were playing outside...
Moving on, today (Wednesday) Spawn had his first class chat. Thanks to some brilliant new hires on the helpdesk, we got our webcam up and working for the first time in three years! We were actually able to attend (albeit a bit late) the class's first webcam chat. The following pic is of Spawn chatting with his new teacher via webcam for the very first time. She asked him what his favorite toy was and he replied without a second's hesitation, "Well, I love my Legos the most because the fun never runs out." I can't tell you how glad I was to hear him say anything but his video games or bedroom tv were his favorite. Anything to shame me - that boy does it. :p
Later in the day, we got our printer problem fixed, so we could finally use our printer to complete the summer reading project. Only problem was...Spawn didn't remember the book anymore, so he had to reread it first - in his second favorite reading spot, in his favorite t-shirt and just out of frame is his kitten, Phoenix, trying to distract him with her cuteness, begging for bellyrubs. Honestly, it's a wonder we get anything done some days. ;)
This first day of school blog just wouldn't be complete without summer's last hurrah. So here they are, the last few photos of each of us taken before the end of summer break:
Me, rocking the mint sprig in my hair to keep the skeeters at bay at my MIL's house two weekends ago.
CS Dad, cuddling our massive 70 lb. bulldog, Lady Lola Pettibone (or Nugga, as we more frequently call her - short for "Nugget" and "Puppernugget") last weekend while Cosmos (CS Dad's cat) horns in on what's left of his cuddle-able lap space. Lola was most unhappy with sharing Daddy. ;)
Spawn and Nugga taking a break after playing hard in the yard chasing tennis balls one afternoon last week.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
We got a later start than I'd hoped for - 10:30 am, but logging in early on the first day of school is usually a PITA anyway, so I wasn't feeling the crunch. The back to school launch usually ends up with the school's website either crashing or half of the features not working with everyone trying to log in at 8 am, so I had some tea, kicked back, and waited while Spawn polished off his breakfast - cheesey scrambled eggs he'd cracked, scrambled, and fluffed himself with some stove assistance from Daddy that morning.
Anyway, at 10:30 I logged in - thinking it would be yet another slow start this school year with nothing for returning students to do but wait while the newbies caght up on all the tutorials. Not so! The IT Dept. really had its act together this year and there were fewer problems overall AND all new students had the option of attending some kind of tutorial/orientation locally over the summer to avoid the three week void at the start of the year for returning students! WOOHOO!!! We actually had work to do! Language Arts and Math both had assignments posted for students to complete some beginning-of-year assessments. Long assessments, but we knocked those out in the first hour and a half and Spawn got his first break - recess with Daddy to go out in the yard and take some first day of school photos.
Doesn't he look thrilled to be taking first day of school pix? ;)
Yes, his mama still dresses him. ;) BUT - he does cooperate with my choices. =) CS Dad says I'm the only mother on earth who would pair those plaid pants with that Hawaiian shirt. I beg to differ. You should see some of the bat-poo crazy stuff my mother dressed me in back in the late 70's and early 80's. :o White poncho, neon pink, white, yellow, and aqua-striped boho tank, miniature floral-print bellbottoms (not neon), and black and white saddle shoes with a Little Dutch Boy haircut...that's all I'm sayin'. ;) I appear quite sane by comparison.
Bogarting both Daddy's chair AND coffee...
And a little something for Grammy who, if she's reading this, is crossing herself, rubbing her lucky rabbit's foot, spinning three times and spitting and cursing so his face doesn't stay that way. ;)
After his early break, we got right back to work because Spawn swore up and down that he wasn't the least bit hungry for lunch. (I should have known this would come back to haunt me later...) We started with Science and an exploration of the scientific method. We dissolved sugar in both warm and cold water and discovered that sugar dissolves faster and more completely in warm water. (Spawn guessed cold water before we started, so I got to choose where we went out for dinner. ;))
After our petite Science assignment, we polished off a short lesson about map-reading for Social Studies and it was time for a field trip as both the Phys Ed and Art & Music courses were having technical difficulties. Alas, the camera battery died and had to be left at home on the charger, so no photos of our field trip to Barnes & Noble. Spawn wanted to play with the Thomas train table set in the kiddie section and I wanted him to pick out a journal for Language Arts that he would get excited about writing in every day. So I bribed him. ;) If he chose a fun, exciting journal that he would write in every day, Daddy and I would trade off turns in the kiddie section so he could play with the trains for an hour. =)
By the one hour mark, Spawn had found a card & dice game called "Potions" that got his knickers in a twist and I'd found a book on knot-tying for his Cub Scout den (I'm their Den Leader) and had found a comfy spot to page through it in the kiddie area and still keep an eye on my trouble-inclined spawn. ;) Spawn had had enough at about 15 minutes past his hour and started in griping about how he hadn't had his chocolate milk and soft pretzel and he was starving for his snack. Which no one had promised him and he hadn't even bothered to ask for AND he knew we were going out for dinner... >:( Why was one reward for good behavior and cooperation on the first day of school not enough? I don't know, but Spawn quickly discovered where the end of my patience lay that afternoon. He kvetched about the soft pretzel all through check-out and all the way out to the car. I nearly buckled and threw in the towel, but decided at the last second that I wasn't going to deny myself a margarita just because Spawn had turned bratty, so off to Red Robin we went for some dinner for all of us and booze for Mama. ;)
Spawn had a corn dog, fries, and a chocolate milk (anything to keep those pounds on in our never-ending struggle for 1 lb. weight gain). CS Dad had some kind of pot roast burger with horseradish mayo, fries, and a Cherry Coke. That mayo was awesome on my fries and crunchy, fried shrimp! My dish came with coleslaw, but I barely touched it and I never did get around to ordering myself that strong drink. Oh, well, nothing wrong with a cheap bill and no bar tab. ;) I ended up ordering just a pomegranate iced tea to go with my dinner. Next time it'll be iced tea with a shot of pomegranate liqueur in it. ;) Our server was a new guy who was just trying to get through his day, but he did a great job, so if you're ever at the Easton Red Robin, ask for George H. Hard worker, great server!
Tuesday nights at Red Robin are Kids Nights - hallelujah! Their mascot, Red, was wandering the restaurant - delighting countless, laughing, clapping toddlers and scaring the short hairs off unsuspecting parents that he'd snuck up on - myself included. :o Red's multiple visits to our table were nearly the highlight of Spawn's whole day - until Mr. Clancy the Clown showed up. Mr. Clancy will make anything you ask for (G-rated ;)) as a balloon animal. Spawn wanted a rhino. Really. And Mr. Clancy provided...a rhino!!!
Spawn hates flash photography, but it was late when we got home and our living room is a cave, so he sucked it up to be able to show off his rhino on our blog. ;) Behind and above Spawn on the wall is an ancient whiteboard with a new version of the "you're not bored, you're just short" list that used to hang on the side of his study carrel. Using the whiteboard was an idea I thieved from my friend Eileen, but I was surprised to discover how many of the same suggestions Eileen and I had on our 'you're not bored, you're just short" lists. GMTA. ;)
Those last three flash-borked sentences say, "Act out your favorite movie. Retell your favorite story through interpretive dance. Hug Mommy." Spawn took one of the suggestions from the "you're not bored, you're just short" list to heart on that first day of school. He took some photos of his daddy when they were playing outside...
Moving on, today (Wednesday) Spawn had his first class chat. Thanks to some brilliant new hires on the helpdesk, we got our webcam up and working for the first time in three years! We were actually able to attend (albeit a bit late) the class's first webcam chat. The following pic is of Spawn chatting with his new teacher via webcam for the very first time. She asked him what his favorite toy was and he replied without a second's hesitation, "Well, I love my Legos the most because the fun never runs out." I can't tell you how glad I was to hear him say anything but his video games or bedroom tv were his favorite. Anything to shame me - that boy does it. :p
Later in the day, we got our printer problem fixed, so we could finally use our printer to complete the summer reading project. Only problem was...Spawn didn't remember the book anymore, so he had to reread it first - in his second favorite reading spot, in his favorite t-shirt and just out of frame is his kitten, Phoenix, trying to distract him with her cuteness, begging for bellyrubs. Honestly, it's a wonder we get anything done some days. ;)
This first day of school blog just wouldn't be complete without summer's last hurrah. So here they are, the last few photos of each of us taken before the end of summer break:
Me, rocking the mint sprig in my hair to keep the skeeters at bay at my MIL's house two weekends ago.
CS Dad, cuddling our massive 70 lb. bulldog, Lady Lola Pettibone (or Nugga, as we more frequently call her - short for "Nugget" and "Puppernugget") last weekend while Cosmos (CS Dad's cat) horns in on what's left of his cuddle-able lap space. Lola was most unhappy with sharing Daddy. ;)
Spawn and Nugga taking a break after playing hard in the yard chasing tennis balls one afternoon last week.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Stuff I'm Digging Right Now
Left to Right, Top to Bottom:
1. Cucumber, Tomato, & Feta Cheese Salad made with cukes and maters straight from my mama's own garden. Yum!
2. Scrap paper-covered natural pencils. Pretty, practical, and so easy to make and personalize!
3. Graffitti the World by Rehab. Spawn and I listen to this in the car at top volume with the windows down and ROCK OUT to Bump.=D
4. Old drawer fronts used as coat racks. We have a severe disorganization/storage problem in our back hallway - compounded by Spawn's inability to reach the one and only coat rack I've hung. (I bought a second to hang at his height, but never got around to hanging it. :( )
5. Four leaf clovers - CS Dad and Spawn keep finding them in our yard and bringing them inside. I've dried and saved as many as I can, but where can I put them to keep the good luck?!
6. A flower press - I've asked my husband to make me one for my birthday so I can properly blot and store all my four leaf clovers. We'll see how that goes. ;)
7. Under the Tuscan Sun - best chick flick ever! If you just went through an awful break-up, you have the winter blues, or just need a little inspiration to get back on-track, this movie is the cure for what ails ya!
8. Cordina's Royal Family by Nora Roberts - must have been written in the 70's or 80's at least. Never have so many people smoked in hospitals in any other book I've read, but it's a great collection of stories about love and intrigue in fictional French principality, Cordina.
9. Avocados - with all these amazing cukes and maters just turning up on my kitchen table, I've been making a lot of wraps and salads and nothing makes a better spread or ingredient than avocados with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. I could eat the fresh avocados we've been buying lately like they were apples! So good!
10. Repurposing glass bottles and jars wherever possible to ease our dependence on plastic - these are bottles containing things like dish soap, mouthwash, and handsoap - all wine bottles repurposed by installing bottle pourers on top. The same thing bars use to help them pour just the right amount of wine or booze. Yeah, those. =)
11. Maragaritas. Honestly, anyone who knows me, knows it's not a lazy summer day without one. ;) I'll be making the changeover to apple-flavored and pomegrante-infused drinks in the next few weeks, but for now - it's all about the lime and the tequila, baby. ;)
12. Using glass Coke bottles as vases for all the flowers Spawn picks for me from our yard. Our friends Dani and Haden have an old Coke machine in their garage that takes glass bottles that they get at a bodega down the street from their house. The Coke in these bottles is made in Mexico with REAL SUGAR. :o So yummy! We recently discovered our local Wegman's carries these same Coke bottles - not cheap, but a nice novelty treat on a hot day. I hate to just recycle them when I could be using them in other repurposable ways, so I opted to save a few to use when CS Dad starts bringing home sunflowers for me this month because he knows they're my favorite.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Saturday, September 5, 2009
My Top Ten Favorite Toys of All Time (as a former kid ;)):
10. Lincoln Logs at Mimi & Popop Ninno’s house. I loved how the closet they were stored in under the basement stairs smelled like the Lincoln Logs (or did the Lincoln Logs smell like the closet?).
9. Stuffies: My Dumbo stuffie and Doughnut the Blue Bunny. Dumbo was a plain old souvenir stuffie my mom and I brought back from Gram Noble’s house when we went out to visit her in San Diego when I was 4 and she took us to Disneyland for mom’s birthday. I brought Dumbo back when we came home and took him to Mimi & Popops’ house to show him off and his bow came untied. I remember sitting in Popop’s chair and retying the blue bow – the first time I ever tied a bow! (Thanks Uncle Mark.) Doughnut was a blue bunny my parents bought for me when I was 6 weeks old – filled with plastic beans and definitely not childproof – would you believe I not only survived that dastardly childhood choking hazard, but Spawn did, too? He’s still a fixture in our house to this day. =D My dad tells me that after his and my mom’s divorce, he often took me out to breakfast on Saturday mornings when I was 4. We were leaving the diner one Saturday post-divorce and I was lugging Doughnut along with me, when Dad asked what my bunny’s name was. And I answered, “Doughnut.” No explanation, nothing. My dad said he was so surprised to discover Doughnut had a name after 4 years of love and abuse, it didn’t occur to him at the time to ask why I’d named him that. Some mysteries are better off left to the universe. ;)
8. My dad’s creeper – the thing with wheels that you lay on to skooch under a car to work on it? Yeah, my dad got one for Christmas when I was 2 years old and I used it to creep under the Christmas tree to look up at the lights through the branches. (My earliest childhood memory is of skooching on the creeper under the tree and laying down with my dad to look up at the lights.) I still lay on the floor under the tree to look up at the lights with DJ to this day. Walt and I even had a Christmas picnic in the living room once with wine – the works – when we first got married and I showed him the joy of skooching under the tree to look up at the lights. =D
7. The ancient old maple tree behind my Rutt grandparents’ house with the massive swinging branch and that held the old grill from an ancient barbecue grill that someone had wired to the tree and the tree had grown around. The first tree I ever climbed and the one I miss the most – though the lilac bush behind Gram Rutt’s house was every bit as much fun to play in. It made a great girly tree fort for me and the many cousins.
6. My Pappy Rutt’s garden. He even let me plant my own patch, choose what I wanted to plant, water (and over-water) my plants, pick my own berries and veggies, and even let me raid his cherry tomato and strawberry plants for snacks while we spent an afternoon in the garden pulling weeds and spreading compost so my cherry tomatoes and strawberries had more time to ripen before I ate them while they were still green. =D
5. My Gram Rutt’s silk scarves – scrounged from trunks in her attic by my cousins and I when we were bored on a rainy, spring day in the mid-80’s.
4. My mom’s dress slips, 70’s Little House sundresses, and high-heeled cork sandals.
3. The swings at the old Portland School playground across the street from my second childhood house. Even as teenagers in the middle of small town nowhere, the swings were something to do.
2. Big Wheels: What would all of us George Street kids have done without our Big Wheels (and Danny Lichten’s Mean Green Machine)? The sound of Big Wheels on new sidewalks is a sound that your memory never loses or forgets. I can close my eyes and think about Big Wheels and the sound of them on new sidewalks is the first thing that comes back to me.
1. The Cardboard Box: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-11-12-cardboard-box_x.htm Countless hours were spent luring my little brother into cardboard boxes only to shut the flaps on him and roll the box through the house with my neighbors Alan and Patrick. Payback - for when the little brat pantsed me in the kitchen in front of every other kid in our neighborhood that summer. ;)
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
9. Stuffies: My Dumbo stuffie and Doughnut the Blue Bunny. Dumbo was a plain old souvenir stuffie my mom and I brought back from Gram Noble’s house when we went out to visit her in San Diego when I was 4 and she took us to Disneyland for mom’s birthday. I brought Dumbo back when we came home and took him to Mimi & Popops’ house to show him off and his bow came untied. I remember sitting in Popop’s chair and retying the blue bow – the first time I ever tied a bow! (Thanks Uncle Mark.) Doughnut was a blue bunny my parents bought for me when I was 6 weeks old – filled with plastic beans and definitely not childproof – would you believe I not only survived that dastardly childhood choking hazard, but Spawn did, too? He’s still a fixture in our house to this day. =D My dad tells me that after his and my mom’s divorce, he often took me out to breakfast on Saturday mornings when I was 4. We were leaving the diner one Saturday post-divorce and I was lugging Doughnut along with me, when Dad asked what my bunny’s name was. And I answered, “Doughnut.” No explanation, nothing. My dad said he was so surprised to discover Doughnut had a name after 4 years of love and abuse, it didn’t occur to him at the time to ask why I’d named him that. Some mysteries are better off left to the universe. ;)
8. My dad’s creeper – the thing with wheels that you lay on to skooch under a car to work on it? Yeah, my dad got one for Christmas when I was 2 years old and I used it to creep under the Christmas tree to look up at the lights through the branches. (My earliest childhood memory is of skooching on the creeper under the tree and laying down with my dad to look up at the lights.) I still lay on the floor under the tree to look up at the lights with DJ to this day. Walt and I even had a Christmas picnic in the living room once with wine – the works – when we first got married and I showed him the joy of skooching under the tree to look up at the lights. =D
7. The ancient old maple tree behind my Rutt grandparents’ house with the massive swinging branch and that held the old grill from an ancient barbecue grill that someone had wired to the tree and the tree had grown around. The first tree I ever climbed and the one I miss the most – though the lilac bush behind Gram Rutt’s house was every bit as much fun to play in. It made a great girly tree fort for me and the many cousins.
6. My Pappy Rutt’s garden. He even let me plant my own patch, choose what I wanted to plant, water (and over-water) my plants, pick my own berries and veggies, and even let me raid his cherry tomato and strawberry plants for snacks while we spent an afternoon in the garden pulling weeds and spreading compost so my cherry tomatoes and strawberries had more time to ripen before I ate them while they were still green. =D
5. My Gram Rutt’s silk scarves – scrounged from trunks in her attic by my cousins and I when we were bored on a rainy, spring day in the mid-80’s.
4. My mom’s dress slips, 70’s Little House sundresses, and high-heeled cork sandals.
3. The swings at the old Portland School playground across the street from my second childhood house. Even as teenagers in the middle of small town nowhere, the swings were something to do.
2. Big Wheels: What would all of us George Street kids have done without our Big Wheels (and Danny Lichten’s Mean Green Machine)? The sound of Big Wheels on new sidewalks is a sound that your memory never loses or forgets. I can close my eyes and think about Big Wheels and the sound of them on new sidewalks is the first thing that comes back to me.
1. The Cardboard Box: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-11-12-cardboard-box_x.htm Countless hours were spent luring my little brother into cardboard boxes only to shut the flaps on him and roll the box through the house with my neighbors Alan and Patrick. Payback - for when the little brat pantsed me in the kitchen in front of every other kid in our neighborhood that summer. ;)
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
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