oops

Yeah, that was 49 in a 35 right there. They have a new speed trap on my main drag…and it’s a total drag. Dude had the nerve to pull me over on my way to yoga, and he took his sweet time about it too. I mean, come ON. “Ma’am, did you know your were speeding?” Um, YEAH. I was speeding because I’m in a hurry so could you light a fire under it already.

He just killed my “ohm” and my Karma and my feng shui and kung fu and all that stuff. It’s so pointless to have to rush to get to yoga. And it’s even more fun when you have a 3 year old in the back seat telling you you’re going too fast all the rest of the way there.

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

I create fun and colorful flashcards for children. When you do that long enough, you begin to see the world as a series of flashcards. Sometimes they are funny. Sometimes they are warm and fuzzy. Sometimes they are mildly innappropriate. Come see the snark at The Flashcard Zoo Blog.

I Just Lied to My Kid’s Teacher

Straight up flat out lied like a bandit.

Really, I totally lied to her. I walked in late with my daughter to preschool and the teacher says to me–Is the Discovery bag (Show and Tell bag with snacks) out in your car?

*Panic Face*

Dammit.

I forgot. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes with a really cool toy my daughter loves and some fruit snacks.

That’s what I should have said. Instead I said this:

“Oh, yeah–let me just run out there and get it.”

What? Seriously? Let me just run out and get it? What did I think? I had a secret stash of kid appropriate tasty treats and an educational toy that doesn’t make me look like the worst mom ever just sitting in the backseat of the Jeep…

So, here I am in my big pile of lies. I actually step outside, walk to my car, pretend to look around (the teacher’s in the classroom, mind you–she has no idea I’m pretending to look around in my car, but still I do it anyway) and then go back in the room and

Tell the Truth Lie Some More.

“I totally forgot it at home. Do I have time to run and get it?”

“Sure, snack’s at 10:30″

So I make a mad dash to my car, frantically call my husband and have him meet me at the curb with instructions to ‘find anything made by LeapFrog and make sure the batteries work.’ I haul ass to the grocery store, buy like four things of fruit snacks, (why four I have no idea–apparently I thought the act of giving an inappropriately large amount of fruit snacks to the teacher would help atone for my sin) and sneak to the back to shove the bag in my daughter’s cubby when she’s not looking.

On my way out the door the teacher mentions to my daughter that she can’t wait to see what brought in the Discovery Bag.

My daughter’s response?

“Me too, it was sitting next to me empty this morning on my way here.”

Well played teacher, well played.

Jamie Harrington is an aspiring author that spends her days frantically writing about super heroes and band geeks. She’s married to a pretty cool guy, and has a beautiful three year old daughter that’s the topic of most of her blog posts at Totally the Bomb.com. You can also find her mindlessly chatting away all day on twitter.

Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve – Southlake

We spent the morning at the Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve in Southlake. I just learned about this place last night at a Parks Board meeting I was attending and obviously I couldn’t wait to check it out!

Kindergarten Debacle

All of the end of the year activities are in play.  Today, we are going to Chase’s Kindergarten awards program & picnic!  It is very exciting.  Not as exciting as next year’s Kindergarten awards program & picnic will be when we are actually celebrating his conclusion of Kindergarten.

Oh the joys of repeating Kindergarten.

Have I mentioned that I am not thrilled fully convinced that this is best for my boy?  I don’t think I have.  I have mentioned it to some of my loved-ones but not to you, some of my dearest imaginary , invisible, Internet friends in the world!  I am sure many of you will have a contrary opinion to mine but I am going to go ahead and put mine out there…because, well, its my blog.

Chase is very young.  His birthday is July 24.  He has struggled a bit through Kindergarten.  BUT.  He is a very sharp kid who has achieved a “Satisfactory” rating on his report card in almost every subject throughout the majority of the year. Over the past few months, he has blossomed in maturity & retention of reading/writing concepts in leaps and bounds.

NOTE: Shauna has no problem holding kids back a year for growth.  Shauna does not necessarily believe that Kindergarten is the most beneficial year for that to be done for Chase.

I think that the basic concepts covered in Kindergarten are going to be quite boring for my boy next year.  I am afraid that my obedient, well behaved child might fill his boredom with silliness & acting out.  He may not, but time will only tell.    The teachers & staff are recommending another year for Chase because they feel like he “just isn’t ready” for First Grade. Our school has an amazing reading recovery program for first graders (that Mackenzie participated in this year) – I know that if he moves on to 1st grade, he is likely to be involved in that program and it did wonders for Mackenzie!  I feel a little irresponsible wanting my child in that program but I can see Chase quickly getting right where he needs to be.

When I signed the letter that was written up for me requesting for Chase to re-do Kindergarten, I asked if I could re-evaluate the situation at the end of the summer. I don’t think it is fair to measure his maturity 5 months before it is even time to start 1st grade. I do have that option so we will just see where he is in a few months.

I honestly feel like I am up against an educational regime on this though. I feel like if I decide to put him in 1st grade – I have this huge group of people looking down on my parenting skills.  Which isn’t really fair.  I want to do what’s best for my boy & I just have this gut feeling that this is not it. (NOTE: I absolutely adore Chase’s teachers/administrators and know that they are trying to do what they think is best for him as well, we just differ in opinion.)

OK – well thanks for listening to my rant.  Again, I am sure there are some adverse opinions on this.  Feel free to put it out there but be nice.

Shauna rambles and rants over at Blah Blah Blog when she isn’t keeping your favorite website up and running!

Sounds of Lewisville Summer Concert Series

Main Street Days – Grapevine

A week ago we went to the Main Street Days festival in Grapevine. It is a typical street festival full of arts and craft vendors, food, and carnival rides. I haven’t done a festival like this alone with both kids but figured it couldn’t be too hard to manage. Wrong! Our usual parking lot near the entrance was full so I had to park far away at the Convention Center. I wasn’t excited about walking with Nicholas and the stroller to the festival considering the extra traffic that was all around us so I got in line for the shuttle bus to take us there.

Ugh! That wasn’t fun. It had taken me about 10 minutes to get the stroller set up, strap Rachel in, fill the storage under the stroller with water and supplies, attach the diaper bag to the stroller just so, etc. Now in order to get on the shuttle, I had to take all of the stuff off of the stroller, take Rachel out, and while holding Rachel with one arm, use my other free hand to collapse the stroller and get it on the shuttle bus while also keeping close tabs on Nicholas.

Not fun!

Eventually the driver saw me struggling and came to help!

Thank goodness! We might still be there struggling with that thing if he hadn’t. Of course, repeat all of this fun three more times as we exit the shuttle at the festival and then the whole shabang again on the way home.

After all the work it took to just get into the festival, we were all hot and tired as soon as we got there. Nicholas found a great sno-cone place to cool off. He got a giant sno-cone and got to add his own syrup to it.

What fun! There were about 8 flavors to choose from which of course meant that all 8 flavors had to go into his one sno-cone. It was very colorful and super sweet – just the way he likes it!

We ran into some friends while we were walking around. Here is Nicholas and his friend as they were discussing whether either of them was tall enough to ride the Starship ride. Unfortunately they were both just a couple of inches too short.

I’m so grateful to my friend who watched Rachel in the stroller for me while I took a special ride on the ferris wheel with just my little guy! We had fun looking over the whole festival from way up high.

Next Nicholas wanted to check out the petting zoo…at least he thought he wanted to. As soon as he went in, he got scared of the goats and grabbed his friend’s shirt and hid behind him. I don’t know where this silly fear came from. He used to love petting zoos but recently seems much more afraid of animals, even dogs!

As we were walking around with our friends, Nicholas and his buddy started playing around and giving each other “Indiana Burns”! So cute!

Miniature golf was a lot of fun. Nicholas really liked this hole where he had to hit the ball into the house and it came rolling out the other side. Here he is helping to coax it into the hole.

Nicholas saw the kayak tank and got all excited. “Mommy, I HAVE to ride in a boat!” He ran up and got in line and never looked back at me. He had such confidence and I don’t really know why. He’s never been in any kind of small boat like this before and here he was doing it all by himself with no instruction. I don’t think he’s ever even seen anyone in a kayak or canoe – except maybe on a Go! Diego! Go! cartoon. For whatever reason he found this passion, I was beaming with pride for my little guy. (I was also a bit jealous because I wanted to get in one too but SOMEBODY had to stay on land with Rachel!)

It was a fun day. Both kiddos made it home safely and unscathed – even sunburn free. But Mommy did not do so well herself. I was dehydrated, sunburned, and exhausted by the time we finally left. We got home and cooled off only to turn around and head out to soccer practice a short time later. I love the fun but busy days.

When Kim isn’t exploring the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with her two kids she is resting at home and writing Savor the Days.

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There’s Always A Story…

I love this picture because it shows a few things Reese loves.

For a while, he was obsessed with sports jerseys. He would change through ten in a day…

He’d run back to his dresser & pull out a new one all the time.

It was fun to find second hand jerseys that didn’t cost much &

bring them home to see his face light up at another choice!

Then one day, it just stopped. It’s sad…I don’t remember the last time he asked for a jersey…

Of course, his paci…his Love from day one on Earth!

Mommy was ready to rip it away at such a young age…

“He’s too old for a paci“

Daddy, with his great wisdom, argued a better point.

“What is it hurting? He speaks fine, his teeth are fine. He’ll get rid of it when he’s ready”

I talked to the pediatrician. I talked to the dentist.

I wanted them to support my side so I could go home & tell Hubby

“See! We must take them away!”

But, no.

The doctors & dentist all said it was OK. That perhaps he *was* too old…

but the pacis weren’t hurting anything.

So there we had it.

I gave up the paci argument.

And sure enough, Reese decided that one day he was too old for a paci

and that the Babies needed his pacis.

So we rounded them all up,

he put them in a box

and kissed them away.

He went back for one last goodbye kiss…

opened the box lid & pulled out one last paci…

brought it to his lips, whispered “goodbye”,

gave it a smooch

and put it in the box forever.

The Paci Fairy came and brought something exciting & new,

but that box of pacis still sits on the top shelf in the laundry room.

Will I keep them until he’s grown?

How can I possibly throw out something that offered such comfort & was so important?

Reese never had a blankie, dolly, lovie..

The pacis were his Lovie.

Vintage baby blankets & worn teddy bears are cute.

Old pacis…not so much.

I look at the box every now & then…but I can’t bear to do anything with it.

Heather does her best not to make too many sappy blog posts over at Reese’s View Of The World…

Adventures at the Dallas Zoo

Parking: $5.00

Entrance fees: $11.00

Lunch for one adult and one child: $16.00

Welcoming summer with some splashing fun at the zoo: Priceless!

We had a fun day at the Dallas Zoo today with our friends. Between the Dallas, Fort Worth, and Gainesville zoos, we go to a zoo quite often. But it never fails that we learn something new and discover new animals each time. And it’s such a simple way to have fun while you learn! Nicholas’ favorite part of this trip was the meandering river in the children’s zoo where kids are welcome to splash around and get wet which of course Nicholas had to do!

Nicholas also enjoyed the pony rides. He likes to pretend to ride an imaginary horse around the house so it was fun getting to ride a real pony again. I think this was just his second time on a pony.

In the children’s zoo there was a neat climbing structure made out of rope to look like a spider web. Nicholas and another little boy had lots of fun playing here. Nicholas is pretending to be a bug caught in the web and the other boy is the spider coming over to grab a little snack.

We saw lots of the regular animals like giraffes, elephants, tigers, monkeys, etc.

But we also a new creature. There were three albino crocodiles! Two babies and a one adult. (Why did Blogger rotate my picture for me? It’s not supposed to be vertical!)

Our absolute favorite part of the Dallas Zoo is their Nature Exchange. It’s is just so cool! Nicholas can bring in anything from his collection of nature “finds” such as seed pods, rocks, shells, dried leaves, etc. He can get points for the items he brings in and he gets more points for being able to tell the Nature Exchange workers all about the items he brought. He also gets points for the quality of the items, the effort taken in collecting or preserving the items, and for keeping a nature journal. He can then use those points to trade in his items for other items in the Exchange. And let me tell you, they have some cool stuff in the Exchange!

Just to throw in a little bit more education into our trip, I asked Nicholas to read the signs so we would know where to find certain animals we were looking for. He is doing really great with his phonics work but he also used some common sense in reading the words. He would read the first part of the word and then just guess at the rest of it but it was successful enough for him to find the animals he wanted to see.

Rachel sits up well enough now that she can sit in the stroller without being in her infant carrier which means that she can face forward and see all of the action. It certainly makes it more fun for her but it also means that she doesn’t get bored as easily and is less likely to want to be picked up and held during an excursion. Hooray! It’s not fun to have to hold baby, push an empty stroller, and keep up with the 5 year old.

Kim is a Flower Mound mom who can be found juggling life and savoring motherhood at Savor the Days.

Decorating: What Floats Your Boat?

During the summer months, my family likes to go out on the lake in our boat. My husband grew up boating and water skiing. I, on the other hand, did not. It is a lot of work to go out. There is a lot of preparation. I can’t hook up the trailer. I can’t back the trailer. Although, I did provide some entertainment for the men at the boat ramp while attempting to back the trailer into the water. They found it quite amusing. The job that fell to me that I could manage was making sure the plug was in the boat, so we wouldn’t take on water. Well….you can guess what happened. I forgot the plug, and we began to sink. You might ask, “What does this have to do with decorating?!”

Is your space more of a challenge than you had anticipated? Did it just not turn out like you had planned? Is your room sinking?

Recently, an associate of mine, Beth Batke with Finishing Touches Redesign, wrote an article after she had seen an episode of the Rachel Ray show. On the show, a fashion stylist took 3 different women in black dresses and gave them 3 different looks. Hmmm….Beth suggested this is what Interior Redesigners do as well!

I decided I would go by Second Home Furniture, a local furniture consignment shop in Lewisville, to play. With their permission, I used one sofa and gave it three different looks. Everything used was from the store! Here are three ideas to get you afloat.

Option 1: For the Texan in us all!

Option 2: Traditional in Style and Complimentary in Color!

Option 3: Funky and Fun!

If you like what you see, go by the store and tell Stacy and Barbara I said, “Hi!”
Second Home Furniture
1288 W. Main Street #132
Lewisville, TX 75067

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