comedic timing

Josie has made it her mission as of late to learn how to tell a joke.  She practices non-stop, most of the time with very poor results.  She came home from school today excited to announce that one of the dads from her class spent some time helping with her quest.

Here are some classics:

J: Why did nine eat ten?
Me: Uh.... I don't know.  Why?
J: Because nine at eleven too.
(She was pleased as punch when I reminded her that it's supposed to start out "why was six afraid of seven?" although she clearly doesn't get the concept of the double meaning of "eight/ate")

J: Knock, knock.
Me: Who's there?
J: Why did the chicken cross the road?

Avery helped her fine-tune one joke so she finally has a good stand-by if anyone puts her on the spot:

J: Knock, knock.
A: Who's there?
J: Nobody.
A: Nobody who?
J: ......

does anyone else hate the new blogger?

Maybe it's just me, but I am really not loving the new Blogger layout.  I find it very difficult to format the posts the way I want them and adding photos is nothing short of infuriating. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to blame it for my chronic falling behind in posting.  Grr.

father daughter dance

I had the distinct pleasure of taking photos of guests at last night's Father Daughter Dance (an auction buy-in event for the kids' grade school).  This was the seventh year of the event, the fourth year--I think--that I've taken photos... and sadly, the first year that Avery was not in attendance.  I think she thought the event would fade into oblivion once she and her peers moved onto middle school but, alas, that was not to be.  [Truth be told, I felt more comfortable being there without Avery--I always felt like I was intruding upon her special night when I was there before.]

Here are some of my favorite pics:

{best friends}

{love the hats}

{all business}

{daddy's not-so-little girl}

{cute!}

{no doubt they're related}

dessert of the month número dos

 

 Our second dessert of the month from Christie arrived on the doorstep last night (night before last? no, last night, I think).  It's tiramisu, in case you're 10 or almost 12 and couldn't tell that it's not chocolate cake.

 

 In all fairness, the 10 and almost 12-year-old were told to expect chocolate cake, so when they helped themselves to the tiramisu, it's easy to see how they might get confused.  What's not so easy to see is how they could eat the whole thing and still be under the impression that it's chocolate cake.  Seriously, those were big pieces.  And it tastes nothing like chocolate cake.  But anyway...

 I used my relatively new "Foodie Pak" in Hipstamatic to take the pics and although I don't like the way they show up on the computer as well, I'm loving the way they look on the phone.  Vibrant colors and soft edges. 

  

Yum!  Thanks, Christie!  You're the best dessert-maker I know.

yet another difference between my boy and girl

When Avery was in 4th grade she made a homestead diorama at the end of the Oregon Trail unit for school. She wanted to display the project in her room for about the next year and she still has it.

Cayden turned in his diorama today and as soon as we got out of the car from school he asked if he could smash it, and now it looks like this:

priorities

The school district recently announced their annual round of proposed cuts, and this year's have really gotten people riled up.  At Cayden's school, the principal needs to cut the equivalent of 2.5 full-time teachers and at Avery's school the situation is just mildly better (only 2.1 teachers!). Considering that cuts have been made almost every year since we've been in "the system" (7 years), there's not a lot left to be cut.  Cayden will be in a class of 33 next year and will miss out on the weekly music instruction he was lucky enough to have this year, and Avery will lose one of her dance teachers and most likely her Core teacher, whom she currently has for 3 periods a day and was supposed to have for all 3 years of middle school.

Last night I found myself in the parking lot of the school at 6:30 to pick Avery up from an after-school dance rehearsal.  I was surprised to see one of her other teachers leaving for the day, almost 4 hours after the school day had ended.  As she got into her car that (I kid you not) had mold growing on the outside of the trunk, I noticed a booster seat in the back.  The car didn't start for the first 2 tries, and barely sputtered once it did.  All of this hit me like a ton of bricks.

It's the understatement of the year to say that I don't understand the priorities that have gotten us into this situation.  We entrust this select group of individuals to lead and teach the future of the whole country and in return we show them our appreciation by paying them a meager wage and making their job harder, more time intensive, every single year.

Despite all of this, there is still no shortage of people who want to be teachers.  There are currently at least 3 student teachers at Cayden's school... folks who won't be able to get a job in this district once they're ready to have their own classroom.  We should all be thankful (and astounded, frankly) for the fact that there are still people out there who aren't motivated, or dissuaded, by the paycheck that comes along with being a teacher.  People who instead value the challenge and reward of being such a huge influence to so many.

* * * * *

I started this yesterday and have no idea where it's going... nowhere, apparently.  There just aren't words, I guess.  We're going to participate in a community march next week with the hopes that someone will listen if enough people speak up.  Something's gotta give here.



Not all the school news of the past month has been so dismal.  The timing of the budget cuts couldn't have been better for Avery's school auction, which was last Friday.  The vibe in the room was not depressed or hopeless but empowered and determined.  When it came time for the paddle raise (donating money just for the sake of donating money), 100% of the guests participated. And they all seemed happy to do so, happy to be a part of this plan to keep the school intact.  It's a remarkable feat to see 200 people in a room who all care so much about one school and one group of teachers.

just a flower

school uniform

For the past seven months, for the entirety of the fourth grade thus far, in the rain, occasionally in the snow, no matter if it was 20 degrees or 45 degrees, Cayden has worn the same thing to school.  Every single day.  Even if he was planning to walk home with friends (in the rain, occasionally in the snow...), he's worn a pair of cotton sports pants, a short-sleeved t-shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, socks and tennis shoes.  I asked him several times to wear a real coat or at least a long-sleeved shirt under the hoodie, but he refused.  Apparently he gets too hot wearing all of that, especially when he plays basketball or football at recess.

Today we're expecting it to reach 80 glorious degrees.  Yesterday hit 82, so it's not as if today's forecasted high is unlikely.  I'll give you one guess what Cayden walked out the door wearing this morning.

Yep, a pair of cotton sports pants, a short-sleeved t-shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, socks and tennis shoes.

weekending

The most sunshine we've had in 7 months, some rare one-on-one time with the niece, a succesful birthday party and sleepover (they actually slept!), some fun in the sprinkler and the first BBQ of the year,,, add it all up and you've got yourself a pretty awesome weekend.  I think it hit 80 today and we were outside pretty much the whole day.  We even managed to weed most of the backyard and help the big kids complete three projects for school.  Phew!

If only we could get another day or two to recover from the busy-ness of the weekend.

easiest birthday party ever

We hosted Cayden's birthday party this afternoon at the same community center where Josie's party was held two years ago (thankfully I know how to use my camera a little better this go around so I was able to work with that godawful lighting).  All he wanted was to invite his basketball buddies for an afternoon of scrimmaging.  I didn't find that terribly interesting to photograph, but I did have fun watching the guys on the trampoline.

 

bring it, weekend

new room

Well, it's not exactly spacious, but Cayden's room is done and he is loving it.

ten

Cayden has reached double digits, the big 1-0, a full decade of life. We spent a great day celebrating him. Breakfast out, favorite dinner at home, donuts, Blazer game... what more could a boy want?

And the best news of all... his room was done just in the nick of time! It will take a day or two to get everything in place, but I'll be sure to post photos soon. It turned out even better than I expected.

I was thrilled when Cayden noted that his favorite gift of the day was the picture that I had framed for him. He took the photo with his iPod Touch, precariously setting it down under his basketball hoop, setting the timer, and taking a shot. It's a fabulous photo, although I would never recommend his methods to anyone.

Happy Birthday Cayden, my most favorite dude.

in preparation for tomorrow...

My most favoritest video of all time:

Followed up by my new favoritest video of all time:

penalty kick

Cayden was goalkeeping for his team this afternoon when someone from the other team was allowed to take a penalty kick. Something happened originally (I don't understand about half the rules of the game) to allow one player to kick the ball from about 15 feet while our boys made a wall in front of the goal. When the ball was kicked one of our players instinctively used his arm to shield the ball. Sensible idea, but also against the rules. That handball resulted in the same player being allowed to take another free kick, this time from about 10 feet in front of the goal with no "wall" of players. Just him kicking a ball directly at the goalie... Cayden.

When I realized what was happening, I had to turn away. The thought of some kid kicking a ball at my son made me cringe a bit. But then I heard some chuckling and realized that Cayden and the opposing player were staring each other down, both cracking up. I wish I'd had the forethought to video tape the whole thing because it was quite comical. Before long, all the players and spectators were laughing in anticipation.

In the end, the kid kicked the ball and Cayden was able to swat it down, then pounce on it, and his team won about 6-0.

I asked Cayden after the game why he started laughing before the kick, and he said the kid looked right at him, grinned, and said "this is gonna be fun."

a night at the ballet, take two

a night at the ballet

Tonight was Avery's first of six big performances in the next few weeks--two this weekend with her ballet studio and then four with her school. It definitely makes for a long weekend, but she loves it so much, and it's so fun to watch her finally perform after months of rehearsal.

half/full

I found out today that there will be no "stand alone" half-day kindergarten at Josie's school next year. Portland Public Schools currently offers fee-for-service full-day kindergarten where parents pay for the second half of the school day (about $350/month). The school that Josie will attend was the very last school in the district to offer a class that was strictly half-day; at every other school, the kids who want half-day are in a full-day class and get taken home before lunch. Because that's all that any school had to offer, very few kids in the district are going half-day anymore (somewhere around 50 in the whole city).

Half-day was definitely my first choice. Avery & Cayden both went to half-day K and we were very happy with it. Yes, it's a ridiculously short amount of time. But at the age of five, it's not my opinion that (my) kids need to be going to school for six hours a day. I think half-day is the perfect introduction to five-day-a-week schooling, something they'll have 13+ years to contend with.

There is no part of me that thinks that Josie isn't ready for full-day school. The last thing she would probably want to do is leave half-way through the day when all the other kids are staying put. That being said, I am still debating if that's what I will try (I can move her to full-day at any point in the year). For a parent who made the decision to stay home, it feels strange to be forced to pay $350 a month to send my child to school for an extra three hours per day when I'm perfectly happy to use that time and money to offer an assortment of other activities--swimming, dance gymnastics, etc. All the things that I bet she'll be too tired to do if she's in school all day.

I'm so torn. When we had meetings earlier in the school year about the possible demise of stand alone half-day, several parents were so passionate about not being ready to be apart from their babies for so long. Other parents were convinced their kids were too young or too immature, etc. None of those are concerns that I share. And the money isn't the issue either. The principle of paying (again) for public school is definitely part of my "issue" with the situation... especially when full-day kindergarten will be free for everyone in the state of Oregon in 2 years.

Quite frankly, I also think J will be bored in K, certainly in the first few months. I kid you not, Avery & Cayden's first "homework" in kindergarten was identifying colors. Oy vey. Granted, they moved on quickly from there, but it understandably took the teacher a while to see where each kid was at.

I thought putting this all into writing might help me sort this out and make a decision. But no such luck there. I guess I should figure out how soon I need to decide, eh?

picture day

At least I remembered this time around.

caine's arcade

Many of you have already seen this, but I just can't stop thinking about Caine. My wish for my own kids is that they find something... anything... in their lives that brings them this much joy and that they are equally passionate about. Video is 10 minutes but settle in, it's worth it!

someone got rich today (and it wasn't me)

Facebook bought Instagram (my new favorite techy hobby) today for a billion--b as in boy--dollars. I couldn't care any less about this until I started reading some of the comments that people were making about the deal. The absolute best was reading comment streams on Facebook about how Facebook bought Instagram, thus continuing their quest to destroy the universe. Oddly, no one that I follow on Instagram seemed too upset by the whole thing.

My very favorite comment came from Chelsea, at the end of an article that listed out several people's complaints about the purchase: "WHY CAN'T YOU PEOPLE BE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT **** THAT MATTERS."

Amen, sister.

some good old-fashioned easter gun play

On this gloriously sunny (warmest day of the year) Easter Sunday, we found ourselves at Bridgeport Village for lunch, then at the outdoor play area to soak up some rays and let the kids burn off some steam. When we used to have two kids under five, it seemed like we lived at places like this... at the mall, at the park, at a self-contained indoor play areas, etc. We were always annoyed by the huge lanky kids that were way too old to be in there, but would still be let loose to terrorize the younger kids (often, with no parent in sight).

But what we saw today just didn't compare with the tame kiddos of yester-year. There was a boy who was about 10-12 chasing a group of younger kids, his 8-10 year old sister included, pretending to shoot them. He would duck down behind a piece of equipment to scare the other kid as they ran by, yelling that he'd shot them in the heart and that they were dead now. He was racing around the structure, almost knocking little kids off, and jumping off without looking to see who was below. He stepped on Josie's fingers as she was preparing to go down the slide and that's when I wanted to go all "mama bear" on him, but I contained myself.

When he had a little guy pinned down at some point so he could "shoot" him up close, I was sure someone would finally tell him to knock it off. But no... no one told him to stop or even to be careful. His parents were nowhere to be found and the parents of the other kids were all smiling and having a great time. It was so strange.

Perhaps suburban parents are a bit more lenient than us city folk. Or maybe I'm just getting old and set in my ways.

Either way, I'm grateful my kids aren't pretending to murder their playmates at the park. That's one thing I know for sure. Sheesh.

sprrrring has sprung!

Kicking off a fabulous weekend of weather, Cayden's soccer team had their first game of the spring season this afternoon. There was a playground right next to the field so Josie was occupied and the team won! Did I mention the sun was shning? Perfect afternoon at the park.

easter 2012

Easter's one of those holidays that I just don't get. Since we don't appreciate the religious significance behind it, it has always felt kind of strange to make a big deal about it. We sometimes get the kids little baskets with some trinkets & candy, and other times not... and we never dye eggs because that's just crazy talk. But apparently if we're in the mall with Josie and the Easter bunny is there, it's bordering upon child abuse if we don't let her get her photo taken with him (/her/it). She couldn't believe that I would even suggest that perhaps she could sit on his lap and not get the photo. So, $17 later:

Happy Easter! At the very least, I hope it's a good excuse to have a relaxing day spent with family and lots of good food.

sun!

We haven't seen much sun in these parts lately. March was the wettest on record, and that's saying a lot for Portland. Every third or fourth day we seem to be getting a glimmer of hope as the sun will emerge from the clouds for an hour here and there... and occasionally even longer. When I looked at the forecast five days ago Monday's high was supposed to be 72, but now I see that it's supposed to be 59 and showery.

Two steps forward, one step back.

long day with my cute little friend

It started at 2 in the morning when Josie came upstairs to let me know her bed was wet (apologies in advance to teenager Josie for airing all her dirty laundry, no pun intended). I knew it was going to be a long day.

We spent the morning together at the preschool field trip to see Busytown, a super cute 90-minute play that would've been twice as good if it'd been 60. Sorry, just sayin'.

Then I somehow found myself agreeing to drive four kids back to preschool for dance class... and wound up being the parent-helper for the class*, since no other parent was there (no huge surprise since I delivered more than half the class).

I tried to shake Josie for an hour during an after-school meeting at Cayden's school but she opted to read books right next to me (seriously, she was practically in my lap).

I got her fed and into bed just as Andrew was getting home late from work, for a total of 13 hours of 1:1 time. I really don't think we were separated for a single minute. I mean, I love the girl and all but come on already...



*On any normal day, "helping" in that class is one of my favorite things to do... but it wasn't part of my master plan for the day. I'm just grumpy, that's all.

josie and grace ar frends

**Title created and typed by Josie**

(when she made a mistake, she asked where the "not that letter button" was)

Josie and Grace (pictured above) have become inseparable as of late. They're in the same class and latched onto each other almost immediately at school last year but this year their friendship has really blossomed. G is the oldest of three, which could not be any more opposite of Josie's family situation. They each fill a need for each other (G needs a "big sister" figure to look up to, and Josie desperately needs someone who looks up to her for once). I would say their relationship is about 70% positive and 30% dysfunctional, but it works for now... if I do my best to keep Josie from bossing G around too much.

Today I broke the news to Josie that G will not be going to the same elementary school as her. She cried. Crocodile tears and everything. It broke my heart. She apparently thought that everyone from her preschool would be going to the same school next year (and forever after that, I can only assume) but it was G that she was most upset about.

"But I love her. And I want to see her every day."

Some separation will probably definitely do them both some good, but I need to make a real effort (not a fake effort like I've "made" so many times before) to get the two of them together on a regular basis.

it's official: women are smart

welcome april!

Adios to you, March. Not sad to see you (and all your rain) go.