1st week of school

Payton

Savannah

1st week of school is over (yay!) and it went pretty well I think.

We gave up in the middle of 2nd and 4th grade. We had an uphill battle, but were assisted by FABULOUS teachers in 3rd and 5th grade. And now in 4th and 6th, it seems we're finally back on track.

1st day of school: Savannah says her teacher lets them listen to "rock" music. Payton says his teacher told them she was "perfect".

2nd day of school: Back to school night! Tyson had Scouts, but Savannah offered to stay home and babysit (which she has refused to do lately)...so yay! The "short" PTA meeting took over half an hour. And after an hour and a half, I finally escaped and went to help my friends who were preparing to take their product to a convention this weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I stayed as long as I could to help.

http://essenceoftwilight.com/

3rd day of school: Due to a late night, I went back to sleep after dropping the kids off and slept til 2 pm. Payton came home talking of Bakugon, so I told him I would figure out a way for him to make the money for one. He ended up scrubbing the kitchen trashcan, cleaning all three toilets, taking out all the bathroom trash, and washing all the bathroom mirrors. So off we went to purchase a Bakugon.

This is a good thing for 3 reasons:

1. It's almost Payton's birthday, and I needed an alternative to the DS that he wanted but did not quite earn. I worried that Payton would lose it when he heard the final decision, but when I explained that he could still work on getting the DS for Christmas and that I would buy him a package of Bakugon for his birthday, he accepted it. (PROGRESS!!)

2. Payton has never liked the things the other boys his age liked, so I was very supportive of his getting something that would give him a reason to socialize during recess.

3. Payton has never been so good at just doing what he's told. He'll stretch cleaning out his room for 6 hours, and still not get it done. Even with incentives (like aforementioned DS), he doesn't ever seem to be motivated to do anything that wasn't originally his idea. So the fact that he let me designate chores, and did them happily and promptly with no whining when I added more to his list is....exceptional, remarkable, MIRACULOUS!!!

4th day of school: was Libby's Kindergarten assessment. She liked getting a treat from her teacher and took a (much needed) really long nap. I got some quilting done on Payton's quilt.

5th day of school: Today the kids got in the car smiling.

Savannah had plans to go to a baby shower (her activity day leader's grandson) on her bike with a neighborhood friend, and had made up a funny skit with her friends at recess.

Payton told me he's getting "more popular" and that he's actually playing with other kids at recess.

Libby only has one more day (Monday) with Mom before KINDERGARTEN!!

Metal stamping is soooo fun!

I've been wanting to learn how to stamp on metal, but really hadn't pursued it.

Spurred on by the successful "how to make a bow" internet search, and bored because Tyson was gonna be gone for four days with the Scouts; I decided to google "How to stamp on metal".

And (as with most things) all it requires is the right tools & a little practice. Well, I ordered (& just received) the tools, and now I'm practicing. Nothing better for the nerves than hammering an impression into metal. Now, that's what I call fun!!

Not as young as we used to be

Tyson had a ton of fun at Scout Camp: canoeing, river rafting, zip lining.

But look at the state they sent him back in. Sheez!

BowCD (like OCD only with ribbons)

I don't know why I try new hobbies/crafts. I always think, "Well I'll just make this one, and then I will know how to if I ever want to. Then that will be the end of that, because I have too many hobbies already."

And who do I think I'm kidding?

With my OCD, my tendency is to not give up on something until I have mastered it.

I have a few friends who make very, very cute bows. I have purchased several bows from several sources for 11 years now. (ever since my first girl came out with a full head of hair) So, I don't really need to make my own bows, and it doesn't really save me any money to do so....

But a cousin threw a "bow-making party" on Thursday so that she could share her newfound skill with us, and the thought was that we would all trade ribbons and techniques. She showed us the youtube video that she learned with and then helped us out with our own. It took me about 3 hours (this is not an exaggeration) to make one bow:

Yesterday, I spent some time trying to come up with a less difficult way of making bows. I had tied a million ribbons, and know how to make a single bow, but the double bow/stacking kind was not bending to my will. (I even had somebody dent my van and pull away last night in the WalMart parking lot where I had to go to see if I could score some alligator clips).

Then today, I decided to look up "how to make bows" and found a wonderful site:

http://www.girlythingsbows.com/

They list (for free) how to make all kinds of bows. So I finally found one that I liked, and that seems easier to me, and made another one (this one would be about my 8th attempt at bows). Success!! (at least to my liking).

No worries, I will not abandon my bow-making friends. I will still continue to buy just as many bows. And I don't intend to sell them, I don't have enough time or money for that. I just need to make about 5 or so more.....sets.

To Payton:

Payton,

You know I love you buddy....but must you leave red modeling clay in your pockets to turn our white dishtowels (and Daddy's socks) PINK?!?

Semantics

I just called Savannah a "big fat liar" (very mature of me I know)

Then I had to pause and amend my statement. Because the fact is that she is a short, skinny liar.