Book Review: Stella Brings the Family

What a conundrum little Stella faces when her class is having a Mother's Day celebration and she doesn't have a mother. Stella has two wonderful parents who tuck her in every night, pack her school lunch and bring her kisses when she hurts herself. When trying to figure out this dilemma, her friend tells her a simple answer, bring them both! Stella decides this is a wonderful idea. She will bring both her Papa and her Daddy to the Mother's Day celebration!

In our evolving societal roles for children, Schiffer allows for her reader to see the dilemma children face with upcoming holidays which are gender specific. Little Stella doesn't have to chose; she gets to bring the whole family. The illustrations by Holly Clifton-Brown enhance the story as well by depicting different ethnicity, genders and settings in Stella's life.  

You can find the complete review at Books & What Not. 

Book Review: Pool by JiHyeon Lee

 Words are not needed in this beautifully illustrated children's book, Pool by JiHyeon Lee. As we approach summer time this books is an emphatic tale of a shy child who meets another shy child at an overcrowded pool. The images express scenes we have all encountered when visiting a public pool--too many people of all sizes and shapes. Our young protagonist is overwhelmed by this scene as shown in the crafted details of his face. Even at a crowded pool, friendships can be found and a summer of dreams becomes reality. The simple pool becomes an ocean full of exotic fish which he shares with his new friend....

The whole review can be found at: Books & What Not

Field Day Fun

Tug of War

End of the school year means: FIELD DAY!

Woot! The Knob school does it differently than Kansas. Instead of getting a partner and walking around the track and having freedom, the entire class stays together for the day. I signed up to be the class chaperon, so I got to hang with the entire class! The 3/4 grade was in the morning and the K-2 was in the afternoon. An all day affair!

Sack Races

Toilet Bowl Races

There were 13 activities/stations for the older group and they had water activities. The little kids only had 9 activities, but longer at each station.

I had spent the last two weeks helping the gym teacher with various activities. The first time up at the school with her was timing kids for fitness activities. This was through a grant with the YMCA.

The next week I helped her sort and deliver Jump Rope for Heart prizes to the school. The raised over $16,000. They do it during their P.E. time and it is a no-thrills affair. VERY different than RH, KS. It was an all-day affair with a D.J. and a fun-filled day of jumping and dancing. This was an activity I looked forward to every year, so, although I am totally in love with their school, I find the P.E. department a bit lacking. No fault of the para.....wait, did I just say PARA? Yep, Yep, I did. In the state of Indiana they do not have certified music, art, computer or P.E. teachers. They have paraprofessionals in these spots. They have a 'Curriculum Development' Certified Teacher over all paras in their certified area of expertise. Zach, who apparently doesn't have a last name, is the P.E.
teacher for our district. He emails out lesson plans for the week on Sunday evening. The P.E. teachers have to do his lesson plans. I was aghast. WOW. I couldn't imagine this. It is like you are a sub for the entire year. You have to know the kids names, do the activities, give grades and all for the pay of a paraprofessional. Interesting.....

I totally digress...so, by getting to know Mrs. P.E. she let me by in charge of timing the stations. I got to blow a siren every time it was time to switch stations. This was P-O-W-E-R baby!

I had a great time walking around blowing this loud obnoxious thing. There were a few kids in Obe Wan's class that about got it right next to the ear drums!

One of the bulleys, Obe Wan's BF, & Obe Wan
Field Day 2015 -- 3rd Grade

J-Birds favorite activity was the arm pit water squeeze! He made sure to get the balls sopping wet and then squeeze them once they were firmly in place underneath his armpits and between his knees. Then he came up to me and told me to smell his pits. He needed some De-O. (I guess this is what they call deodorant....)


Pop, Myra and Prince Charming all came up to the school in the morning. It was odd to see Kansas people on our playground. They wanted to be grandparents that came to the school. This was the first time in 3 years the Christmas Tree Farmers missed out. It was kinda odd. They have always come over for field day.

I realized I had forgot to bring my lunch, so Prince Charming ran and got us Subway. It was nice to have him in town for a few days and I know the Jedi Knights loved having him at their school.

The right mix of overcounter drugs to clear up Poison Oak/Ivy

Isn't that an awful picture? I have gained seven pounds due to steroids. Portland Sister says it is ALL muscle cause I'm on the 'juice.' If only. I have had two rounds of steroids at this point. I am not taking a morning Claritin, a nightly Zyrtec and I'm taking a daily pill for the staph infection that is wrecking havoc on my body. I finally went to my Doctor and stopped messing around with Urgent Care. I had been twice and I wasn't feeling ANY better.

So, long story short: Poison Ivy/Oak is an allergic reaction. You need to immediately start an allergy medicine. Benadryl is short lived and will only take care of it for 4-6 hours and you can only take so many in a day. It is best to take a 24 hour pill. Claritin is a non-drowsy med; whereas Zyrtec is a put-you-to-sleep and stop itching med. It has worked wonders!

My Doc says the amount of poison I have in my body is causing my T-Cells to be low and my immune system is compromised. Really? I can't stop itching the stuff. I did discover I was giving it to myself over and over again and this is why I couldn't get rid of it. I reassured her I had read EVERYTHING on Poison OAK/IVY on Pinterest and I had washed my dog, washed my clothes, have been washing my bedding every other day (which has been a nightmare!) and have played by the rules. She just kept patiently nodding her head at me. When I stopped talking she says--calmly and patiently---what about your shoes?

 Um, yeah. DUH. I hadn't even thought about my shoes. I felt like a DUH and a AH-HA moment all occurred within 10 seconds. After I washed every pair of shoes I thought I may have worn since the outbreak I seem to be getting better. WOW. $100 later.....and I'm scarred for life around my ankle, but hey! I'm getting better.

WHEN YOU GET POISON IVY/OAK WASH EVERYTHING. I have learned Poison Ivy/Oak is a perennial and will forever come back unless you dig out the roots. I have bought some Round up and I have sprayed every third day for the last week. It is dying out and wilting. I keep yelling DIE YA BASTARD at it. I'm not sure if it is helping, but it sure does make me feel better.

Obe Wan's sport may be bowling.

Obe Wan was invited to a bowling birthday party last weekend. The kid killed it. I stayed--over protective, over bearing mother that I am! I took J-Bird and Z2 and we bowled across the way. I knew Obe Wan would be more comfortable knowing I was on the premise.

It must be my Mommy-sense, but I glanced over at Obe Wan's game to see he was kicking butt. The screen was flashing STRIKE. WHAT? No way. Obe Wan's turn and it is showing a strike? Holy cow. So at around the 5th frame the score looked like this:

WOW! I was amazed. Obe Wan was kicking some serious bowling booty! The cool part was the three kids he considered the largest bullys in the world were at this party! So in your face meanies!

My little boy may need to learn some humility, but in the mixed company, I let him be as cocky as he wanted.

My two boys and I took a break after the first game to enjoy some nasty bowling alley cuisine. Don't get me wrong. It was wonderful, but not so much for the waistline! HA! J-Bird kept rolling his ball Granny style as the balls were just too heavy for my light weight. I do find it funny how he stands at the line and bounces, leans, moves his hands, to get the ball to move. AND the funny part, the ball usually rolls the way he is wanting it to.

Obe Wan's best friend was at the party, so after D showed up, he didn't really care if his mom was there until he needed money for the arcade! HA!

The end score was brilliant. I let Obe Wan puff up his chest and walk around like a King for about 15 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore and we left. It was a great day for him and he had bragging rights the next day at school. Some times a person needs an ego boost, and he got his at the bowling alley!

FINAL SCORE: 144

Boom Baby! Summer's Here

WOO-weeeee....it is summer baby! We went to our favorite pizza arcade place---Chuck E. Cheese. I told my WichitaBF if only the place had a beer it wouldn't be so bad. Famous last words...

So great to know the rodent serves a nice tall Miller Lite. You can only have one per visit. Oh Darn! I was fine sitting in the booth reading my latest book to review and sipping on my beer. Am I white trash or what? I figured the boys couldn't leave without my hand stamp, so we were safe. We brought along our neighbor, Zsquared. You can see Obe Wan getting ready to slap his ticket on the table with J-Bird and Z2 in the back ground playing a shoot-em-up game.

The boys each had a 33 tokens. Between the large pizza, sodas and tickets, we were there 1.5 hours. We went out for ice cream afterwards. I was glad I had taken a 2 mile walk earlier in the day. The steroids are not helping the weight gain, but neither is a beer! (Thank goodness they limit you....)

Selfie by 8 year old

This is what happens when your eight year old decides his Dad needs to see what he did for Crazy Hair Day. We are on the home stretch for summer and we are WIRED. Thanks to the school they aren't really helping matters. We have had Hat day and Wild Hair Day this past week. They bring in a dollar to go to a cause and they get to participate in the theme. Obe Wan has brought his dollar to help the cause but he does not want to do such things. He has been super mad about the kids who did participate and DIDN'T bring money. Such the rule follower and kind hearted young lad. Seems like a contradiction in terms. 

This is the face a mother loves when she says, "Smile." Really? Could he not just pose normal? I guess this shows how many teeth he has had pulled and is a perfect picture for the money I will eventually be spending on braces. They say babies are expensive. They obviously haven't raised teenagers. Braces, Uniforms, Team fees, Lessons, name brand clothing, cars, insurance, need I say more????