"I Like Mrs. Kane"

Please ignore the grubby face of my dear daughter, who must always be in the picture, and instead note the sentiment of Jamie's t'shirt.

He had an out of uniform day in school. When he came down for breakfast he had written "I like Mrs. Kane" in Sharpie marker on his t shirt. Mrs. Kane teaches Jamie's 2nd grade class and is a GREAT teacher. I know she is GREAT because when I asked Jamie why he wrote "I like Mrs. Kane" on his shirt, he told me "because she is a great teacher and I like her." 

"What makes her a great teacher?" I asked 

Jamie thought for a few seconds and this was his answer...

"Because when she works with me my brain gets smarter and she gives me compliments all of the time."

Thank you Mrs. Kane.

I asked him what all of the other kids thought of his t shirt, and he said that they thought he was funny for writing it on his shirt. I asked what Mrs. Kane thought and Jamie said that she thought he was very cool and very funny.  

I love that Mrs Kane motivates Jamie to work had and grow his brain and in return Jamie is proud and happy to declare his fondness for his favorite teacher.

A Decade of Lily

 

 Lillian June 

January 25, 2001

5:30 pm

 

Lillian June

January 25, 2011

4:30 pm

Happy Birthday to our dear Lily who turned ten today.

Birthday gift wishes include:

"books and bird toys...like something interesting and fun for Harry, and also chocolate, for me"

Her favorite dinner request, Chinese take out and chocolate cake.

Lily+books+birds+chocolate=HAPPINESS!

Shot My Kids Ruined

 

 My bro and sis in law gave this book to Karl for his birthday... something about it must have made them think of our home and that we would be able to relate to it's message. They were absolutely right. 

It's called Sh*t My Kids Ruined and it is mostly a photo essay of valuable and important household items that children have ruined. Lily has read it cover to cover and my other adorables have skimmed it, probably for inspiration. Unsure how to read the asterisk in the title, Lily believes the key word in the title to be "Shot," which is works just fine.

The book shows off household messes of all sorts... some more troubling then others. Sometimes it's the kids themselves who are disgusting and covered in nastiness, sometimes the kids are unscathed and the house is in ruins. Often times pets are involved too.  Occasionally it's all three... kids, pets and property...those are really the best. 

Watching Lily read and enjoy this book so much prompted me to look through some old photos of historic messes in our home. I confess that although these pics are startling ... at the time I thought of them as "cute" enough to be photographed and thus memorialized. Like all moms, I also have a few colossal messes seared into my brain that I will never forget even though I was way too steamed to photograph them at the time.

 Please enjoy.

 

Lily, Turkey and a bag of powdered sugar. I wonder at what point she went for the broom to tidy up.

 

Jamie Vs. Yogurt.

 Lily +  Jamie + dog food bowls... I appreciate their outfits... argyle socks for Lil and the famous diaper and rain boots for Jamie. Two different boots as a fashion bonus. 

 The dynamic duo and a whole lot of baby powder.

I love Jamie's look combined look of innocence and attitude... "yeah, so what?"

There is additional part of the book dedicated to kids swearing through the medium of refrigerator magnets.

I found this bit of poetry in bathtub letters... I was actually pretty impressed that my darlings knew how to spell "chickenbutt."
 

Happy Birthday Dear Karl

Happy Birthday to my dear husband.
Here he is singing, after the rain, with his tiniest girl and her groovy pink ukulele.

My final Christmas Post...I promise.

Henry was completely and absolutely cute as Joseph in the school Christmas pageant. He took his role very seriously and afterward I heard him discussing his part with big sis Mary, our other resident actor. He said that he liked being Joseph so much that he actually felt like he ACTUALLY TURNED INTO Joseph for a little while when he was on stage in his costume. 

Mary told him that this was called method acting and warned him of the possible downside of believing that you are earthly father of Jesus.

Henry said "oh, ok."

In this version of the Nativity, Joseph recites a poem Why the Bells of Christmas Ring, by Eugene Fields.

Here is Henry's delivery... he was able to remember every line.

 

Is January 2nd really too late to send a Christmas greeting?

   Hope you all had a wonderful holiday full of only good things... AND  wishing you only the brightest and best in the year 2011.