Chubby Cubby and his Five Feisty Friends

Tonight at Awana Cubbies, we had five children in our class. As is the case every week this year, we only had one girl. We have one boy who is often very feisty and one girl who is often very loud. Anyway, it's a good group of kids.

Tonight for snack, we had apples and cereal. A bit of an odd combination, but I digress ...

Somehow, I was in charge of cutting up the apples. All of our kids wanted the peeling off the apples .. of course. So I was going to be fancy and cut the apples through the middle to make a star shape on the inside. And in perfect Jennifer style, I cut my finger with the knife on the very first slice.

And the moral of this story is: Do not give a Cubbies teacher a sharp knife. Ever never never!

Read more »

What's for lunch?

For the last few weeks, Mike has been packing Emily's lunch for school each morning. He usually fixes her a sandwich with some string cheese and fruit or maybe carrots or something. Sometimes she eats (or throws away?) most of it. Sometimes she does not.

Yesterday, she came home with about 75% of her sandwich, all of her cheese, and all of her fruit still in her lunch box. Mike asked her about this and she said that she did not want Daddy fixing her lunch any more. She said that she wanted to eat in the cafeteria.

So this morning we sent Emily to school with lunch money instead of a lunch box.

This afternoon, she came home and said that she ate a hot dog and coleslaw for lunch. She said her teacher said "Oh Emily, you ate all your lunch!" I don't know if I believe that part, but I guess we'll go with this new lunch plan for now.

Read more »

Oh Those Rainy Days

Yesterday was one of those rainy and cool days. After church, we went to lunch at Ted's. Emily wanted to go there so that we could get a gift card for her teacher for her birthday. I really thought Emily would choose to get a gift card from Sonic, but she surprised me and said Ted's. She said her teacher really likes Ted's. All throughout lunch, Emily was whispering in my ear about her teacher. I was not sure if she thought she saw her teacher there or she was just excited to be getting her a gift. After about the 150th time, I finally decided that she was probably just excited.

After lunch, we had to go to the store and run some errands in town then we headed home for a nap.

And after nap, it was time for one of our favorite rainy day activities - baking cookies. I don't know if you would call it a tradition, but I have many fond memories of baking cookies on rainy days.

And Emily wanted to help with everything ...

Unwrapping the butter

Cracking the eggs (apologies to whomever gets the cookies with the shells in it)

And, of course, licking the beaters (notice her methodical licking style)



It's GOOD stuff!

Emily told me to stop taking her picture while she was eating. She was busy! (Ha!)

Those cookies were mighty fine. We put chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and pecans in them.

And did you notice my new Mickey Mouse measuring cups??? My mother-in-law brought these home for me from Disney World. They are SO cute.

We love rainy days.

Read more »

Shelfishly

This weekend, Mike helped me put up some shelves that I bought a couple weeks ago. (Hobby Lobby, 50% off - Score!) I wanted something to go over the TV since we are not ready to purchase an entertainment center for our new TV yet. We were able to get one side of each shelf into a stud in the wall. The other side was hung using a wall anchor.




We also hung a small shelf by the clock. I want to put some pictures and maybe some greenery on the shelves, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

I will admit that this was a multi-day project for us. Each shelf came with a pattern that I cut out and taped onto the wall to try different positions for the shelves. After I moved them all around several times, I finally decided on a basic configuration. Then I had to identify the studs. I knew I wanted at least one end in the studs for stability so I had to change my configuration based on where the studs were located.

After I located the studs, I had to level the shelves. During this process, one of the paper patterns ripped and so I had to "make do" and still try to get the thing level. After I did all this, I asked Mike to check (and adjust) the level.

I followed the mantra "Level twice, screw once." Even with this, one of the shelves ended up un-level when it was installed on the wall. Argh! We finally got that one worked out. I would say it was smooth sailing, but really it was not.'

But ... all's well that ends well.

So what do you think? I think it will look a lot better when I get something on the shelves.

Read more »

Our First Fundraiser

A couple weeks ago, we participated in our first fundraiser at Emily's school. We sold Blue & Gold Sausage, but only to ourselves. With everything else going on, I just didn't feel like we could do more than that right now.

Our Blue & Gold was delivered to the school today. Mike's mom and dad were nice enough to pick up our order. Mike stopped by the store and picked up a few other items that we needed and we cooked breakfast for supper.

We had biscuits with sausage gravy, fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage patties and thick cut bacon (also a Blue & Gold item). I didn't care much for the gravy, but Mike said it had a good flavor. I also overcooked the bacon a bit, but it was still pretty good.


Home Room Mother

This week, we also got an email from Emily's teacher thanking someone else for "agreeing" to be the home room mother. I will admit that I was a little disappointed since I expressed interest in doing that on Meet the Teacher Night back in August and nothing had been said about it since then. Oh well, I will still be there and I will still help. I think it's just a rookie parenting expectation that turn out the way I had hoped.


More Firsts

It looks like October is shaping up to be a busy month for us. We have a preschool Sunday School carnival at church. Then we have fall break then our first field trip at school followed by our first parent/teacher conference. We also have our first school party of the year and a fall carnival at the school AND a fall carnival at church.


Last, but Not Least ...

And last, but very importantly, Emily and I will be going to visit my sister one weekend in October. It's our annual Girls Weekend and shopping trip. Emily and I are very excited to be going to spend some time with my sister and brother-in-law and my mom.


October has not even started and I'm already exhausted! Ha!

Read more »

Tick Tock Clock

This afternoon, we got Emily settled for her nap and laid down for a bit ourselves. We have a monitor in our bedroom so we listened to her playing and talking and singing for a long while. Eventually, she started calling "Daaaaaddy ... Daaaaady ... Daddy .. Daddy .. Daddy ...".

Mike went into her room and told her to lay down. She didn't lay down, but started (fake) crying and fussing instead. He left her room and she started crying "I want my Mama ... I want Mama ...". I went in there to "finish the job" and get her to go to sleep. She said she didn't want to go to sleep and refused to lay down. I punished her and she finally decided to lay down.

As I turned to leave, I noticed her digital alarm clock on her dresser. It said 2:18. I told Emily that she couldn't call for me again until the first number on the clock said 3. She said she understood and I went back to my bed to begin my siesta.

I hear this strange clicking noise on the monitor and I ask Mike what he thinks that noise might be. He said "I think she's messing with her alarm clock." When he said that, I realized it did sound like she was pressing buttons on her clock.

And then she started talking ... "Say 3 ... Say 3 ... Saaay 3!" "H - o - u - r". *click click click* "M - i - n - u - t - e". *click click* Ahh! She's pushing buttons and trying to make the clock say 3!

She worked on that clock for a long time. Luckily (for her), she never got it to say 3 before it actually was 3.

Read more »

Oh What a Difference a Year Makes

Last year at this time, we went to the State Fair.

We ate some of the same food.

We played some of the same games.

But oh what a difference a year makes.

Now we're bigger.

And stronger.

And fully able to catch lots of fishies with ease.

Oh what a difference a year makes.

Read more »

The Great State Fair of Oklahoma 2009

This morning after Sunday School, we went out to the State Fair. We found something (Okay, things) for lunch, played some games, then went to see the afternoon performance of Disney on Ice.

After the show, we found us a(nother) snack and then Emily rode the Carousel with Sarah. The poppas got to ride too. Guess it's just not cool to ride rides at the fair with your mom or dad.

That was about all the fun we could handle for one day. We headed out to find the car and home we went.

I tried to nap, but Emily wanted to color. I guess you know who won.

It was a busy and fun day. We got too much sun and ate too much food, but didn't have too much fun. Fortunately, the state fair only comes to town once a year.

Until next year ... enjoy a few pictures from our fun day.

Read more »

Emily's Artwork

Emily has been doing a lot of art at school and at church.


Earlier this week, she came home and said that she had a picture that she wanted me to put on my blog. Except .. that she couldn't find it. It took her three days, but she finally found it in her dad's car tonight. And look at her beautiful Humpty Dumpty! (And you might not be able to see it, but check out her cutting skillz on Humpty.)

Then at Cubbies this week, Emily got an Adam & Eve picture, but she didn't have time to finish it that night. She's been working on it every night this week and I think it turned out really nice. I think she's coloring great for a four-year-old.

And now lets move on to the more serious art. The next item for your viewing pleasure would be "Green Eggs and Ham" ya know, Sam I Am. She said it was made with glue. It didn't look like it to me, but what do I know?

Emily has also been learning a lot of songs that go along with her lessons about colors, shapes, and letters.

I'm as round as I can be .. I can be ... I can be ...
I'm as round as I can be .. I'm a circle.

B-L-U-E spells blue,

B-L-U-E spells blue,

Hi-Ho Did you know

B-L-U-E spells blue.

The big sky's blue

The ocean is too

Hi-Ho Did you know

B-L-U-E spells blue.

Read more »

Kevin's Birthday Dinner

Tonight, we went out to dinner at Alfredo's with the fam for Kevin's birthday. Kim and Brynlee came down from Tulsa and I got to hold baby Brynlee for a few minutes. Emily was so excited and was a little fascinated with Brynlee's tiny toes.

We all had some good Mexican food and Aunt Charlene made a yummy cake.

I would be posting pictures except that I forgot to take my camera with me. The camera battery is charging in anticipation of our trip to the Oklahoma State Fair this weekend. We're going to see Disney on Ice and then maybe get some cotton candy (pink, of course).

Happy Birthday, Kevin!!! (No, he doesn't read my blog.)

Read more »

Funny Feet Day

The other week, Emily has Funny Feet Day at school in honor of Mr. F and his funny feet.


Emily was going to wear her sequined princess shoes, but they were too small. She ended up wearing her bright pink quilted shoes and her pink lacy turtle socks.

I'd say those are pretty funny feet!

Read more »

Grandparents Day

Top (l to r): Grandmother, Nanny, Aunt Pat
Bottom (l to r): Pops, Emily, and Mason

Last Friday was "Grandparents Day" at Emily's school. Emily had a lot of visitors who came to see her at school.

The school served cinnamon rolls and coffee.

Then Emily took Grandmother to her classroom to show off her desk and everything they have been working on.

Read more »

Three Colors

Pink

Purple

Pink with white edge

Brown

I mowed this darn thing down on Sunday afternoon. Then on Monday night, I looked out the kitchen window and what did I see? It's baaaack! And it's bigger than it was before. Not just bigger, but about twice as big!

I guess he told me, right?

Read more »

By The Numbers

1 - Fruit for Emily's Friendship Fruit Salad on Friday. She picked strawberries.

2 - Silly Shoes in honor of "Mr. F" and his funny feet. Friday.

*******************

3 - Three-year-olds in Sunday School. Three teachers.

4 - Fabulous placemats complete with last supper picture, memory verse "Jesus said 'Remember me'", and lots and lots of food pictures and stickers.

1 - Loaf of bread.

3 - Little cups of water.

1 - Important Bible Lesson (Remember Jesus by loving others.)

*********************

3 - Early-morning visitors in our backyard.

2 - Babies.

1 - Mama.



3 - Crape Myrtles.

3 - Colors.

3 - Sizes.



1 - Nice surprise. Mostly for mom. (Details coming soon.)

*********************

3 - Days until ...

5 - Family members

1 - Airplane ride (or maybe two)

7 - Days in Florida

1 - Mouse, big ears, big smile

**********************

3 - Days until Cubbies starts

5 - Work days until the weekend

1 - Tired girl, headed to bed.

Read more »

High Fashion

Read more »

Sunday School Bulletin Boards

Last Saturday, Cherry and I met at the church to decorate our new Sunday School room. We had two bulletin boards to decorate and the "late Sunday School" teacher had the other bulletin board.

We wanted to make sure our room looked like a Sunday School room and not a daycare room.

Our first bulletin board was so big that we split it into two sections.

The left side - We Love to Learn About God

The right side - Noah's Ark - The Animals Came Two By Two

The "fun board" - Giddy Up to Sunday School

The other end of the Cowboy Board - I'm pretty proud of our old oak tree. We're going to change it with the seasons.

I think our room turned out really cute. We are going to have a great year!!!

Read more »

Lots of Little Bits

Sorry about the lack of blog updates, we have been really busy this week.

Emily's first week of school went very well. They have been working on cutting with scissors and tracing lines. I guess that's to help get the kids ready for writing letters. And really, it's a smart idea if you ask me.

On Monday, Emily got to bring snacks for the whole class. They have a rotating snack schedule. We can bring anything we'd like as long as it's a healthy snack. Some of her examples were fruit, crackers, and gummy fruit snacks. We chose some Rice Krispie treats. Not sure if that's exactly a "healthy snack", but it's got to be at least as good as fruit snacks. Wouldn't you agree?

Despite the good first week, we've hit a few tiny bumps in the road. One day, she forgot to give her lunch money to her teacher. Another day, she forgot to bring her lunch box home from school. Today, she came home and said that the teacher knocked her down on the playground. She's fine and she said it was an accident. She didn't even tell me about it until I asked her why she had dirt all over her arms this evening.

One afternoon the school called me to ask what school district we live in. (We had requested a transfer to this school last spring.) The lady said that when we registered Emily for school, they had not submitted the transfer paperwork to the other school. It was fine and it will not prevent Emily from going to school there, but they were going to have to submit the paperwork for the transfer. Everything turned out okay, but it's never fun getting a phone call from the school!

I find that it takes a lot of time and energy to be organized for school. I am always a little worried that I am going to forget something or that something is not going to go as planned. I think most of that is just being a first-time school parent. With time, these things should get easier. At least I hope so.

We are also gearing up to begin a new year of Sunday School. I think I've mentioned before that Gary and Cherry and I are going to be teaching the three-year-old class during the early hour of Sunday School. It was really time for a change in that class and we are excited about all the things we are going to do this year.

Mike and Emily and I went to Mardel's last weekend to look around and see if they had any supplies that I needed/wanted for Sunday School. I was looking for a Bible story book that had cute pictures to go along with the stories. I found one that would work perfectly and it also had two CD's with songs that related to each of the stories. Mike also found some felt Bible story pieces that I could use to tell the story. They were sooo cute, but I thought they were too expensive.

We have already started rearranging and redecorating the classroom and we'll go up to the church early in the morning to finish up. This Sunday will be our first week with our new boys and girls. Right now, we only have four or five children in our class, but we hope to have more very soon. Emily will be moving up to Aunt Charlene and Nanny's class. I know she will enjoy this very much.

I have some new pictures to share, but that will have to be another night. For now, I'm headed to bed.

Read more »

First Day of School

It's official - my little girl is now a preschooler.

This morning, Emily woke up ready and excited about the first day of school. She ate Capt'n Crunch for breakfast and then she watched me make her turkey sandwich. She requested a heart-shaped sandwich, which I happily made.

After breakfast and lunch-making, she got dressed. In case you were wondering, she picked her own outfit last night. It's a size 5 so it was a little too big. The pants were a little bit too long. She also wanted to wear some bright pink shoes, but they got vetoed once I realized how bright pink and plastic they looked on her little feet.

Really, she had been wanting to wear this outfit on the first day of school since I bought it over a month ago. It's sorta a soft slinky fabric and I think she likes that.

We looked through her backpack one more time to make sure she had everything she would need for the first day. Her Nanny got her name embroidered on her bag last week and it turned out SO cute.

As we were getting everything gathered up, Emily said "Lets go!" That's when I knew she would be just fine at school! So we got all her supplies and her backpack and her lunchbox and we drove to school. Well, Mike drove ... he went with us.

We went into her classroom and she sat at her desk and started playing blocks with the other children. I signed up to bring snacks next Monday. Mrs. Standley took her nap mat and her supplies and put them away for us. Then I asked Emily if she was ready for us to go and she said yes. So we kissed her bye and off we went.

Mike and I both headed off to work. I left work in time to go pick up Emily at about 2:45 pm. She can be picked up as late as 2:55 pm, but they like for the little kids to get out of there before the bigger kids are let out at 3:15.

When we were leaving the school, Emily told her teacher that she would come back tomorrow. Ha! Overall, I think it was a successful day of school.

And we'll do it all again tomorrow.

I think Emily is really going to love school!

Read more »

My Preschooler

Last night, we went to the Open House at Emily's school and met her preschool teacher, Mrs. Standley. The teacher seemed really nice and had a cute room. Emily got to see her desk and she got a few goodies from the teacher and the PTA.

Speaking of the PTA, I am now a card-carrying member. I am not entirely sure what purpose this serves, but hopefully I will get some more information soon. We also bought the school t-shirt that the PTA was selling as a fundraiser. The teacher said that they usually try to wear the school shirts on Fridays and when they go on field trips.

When we got home, Emily had to try on her new shirt. I wanted to get a picture, but she was more interested in dancing around and playing.




This morning after breakfast, Emily practiced using her new school scissors while I put her name on all her school supplies. I also sharpened all her pencils. Is that a little overboard?

After that, we made some pink lemonade that's going to go in Emily's thermos tomorrow morning. She has requested a turkey sandwich cut into shapes, string cheese, fruit snacks, and pink lemonade. I think I can handle all that.

Please pray for us in the morning. I think Emily will be fine. I think I am the one that everyone is worried about. I will be fine! "This too shall pass." It's the first day of the rest of our lives!

Read more »