The Ancient Egyptian Men in My Life.

I have discovered that the men in my family have skills...specifically, some very excellent ancient pharaoh skills. Who knew they secretly harbored such Egyptian talent?

I wasn't really sure what to expect when Karl and Jamie headed into the basement last week to build a sarcophagus for a school project. And this morning, this shiny golden creation emerged from the basement a needed a ride to school.

(funeral tombs are not welcomed on the school bus, no matter how royal the Egyptian status)

Jamie was very pleased and proud of his project which makes me think that I had better find a place in the house to store and protect his homemade sarcophagus for a very long time.

It also makes me think that I am a very fortunate to be married to a fellow who understands when a project is of great importance to a certain 5th grader, and then take the time and energy to help create something really beautiful.

ps. Did you know that the plural form of sarcophagus is sarcophagi? I did not.

 

Friday Breakfasts. Gratitiude.

I am always grateful on Friday mornings.

First, for making it through the week and secondly, because of breakfast.

On Friday mornings I take a kid to breakfast and love it. 

It works out for both of us... I get to spend a little bit of one on one time and the kid in rotation is happy because there are chocolate chip pancakes involved.

Happy Friday to you.

Tadpole People.

I love that people from all over the word really do appear to be the exact same person

from the eyes of their preschooler.
From what I understand, if you give a pencil to a little kid  and ask them to draw a person, they will universally draw the same image. 

So it brings me happiness to know that no matter what corner of the planet you happen to live in, someday your child will draw you as a tadpole...a face with a few arms and legs.

I'm not sure when Rosie made the switch from tadpoles to bodies but it must have been within the past few months. 

 This is the card that she made for  me in the beginning of September.
Please note my cute but pointy teeth and birthday worried eyes.

And this is her most recent drawing....a note of apology to Henry.

In it, herself and Henry are holding hands and both smiling widely with happiness.
In this alternative reality, the curly haired sister made a better choice and did not drink Henry's very own chocolate milk, and Henry is delighted at having a nice sister who respects his snacks and is not a "chocolate milk robber"

US Citizenship. Gratitude.

 Earlier in the school year, my kid's school hosted a Naturalization Oath of Allegiance ceremony. 

The entire student body and staff attended along with the families of our nation's newest citizens.

It was a very moving ceremony and I wasn't the only one who got misty eyed over the experience. In fact, I came close to a big ugly cry at the moment when the judge finished giving the oath and announced...

"You are all now U. S. citizens. Welcome and congratulations."

And with that, the band struck up a patriotic medley...gulp.

Afterwards (as I was trying to compose myself) Jamie found a gentleman in the crowd who like him, was born in Guatemala and was now a very new, very proud American. Some of the students made cards to give to the new citizens and Jamie was very excited to give his to this particular fellow.

And so this naturalization oath reminded me of how grateful I am to be a citizen in a nation that is based on a set of founding ideals that include equality and opportunity. 

Jamie at school.. ready to welcome United States newest citizens.

Gratitude. Fast Feet and Good Aim.

One of my sons...I am not saying exactly which one to protect the sort of innocent, threw up his breakfast yesterday.
He wasn't ill in the least... only extremely grossed out by his very own shoes.

He intentionally smelled the soles of his own shoes and was then so overwhelmed by the stench that he ran to the toilet and heaved.
It happened at about 7:45...at the very craziest point of our morning minutes before the bus arrives.
When I went upstairs to see why my son, who was 100% fine moments ago was now violently sick... he shared that the bottoms of his shoes smelled so bad it made him barf.
He said... "I actually smelled the bottoms of them...it was really bad mom, really bad."
While I can't imagine why my son would ever do anything as dangerous as deliberately smell the soles of his shoes, I am very grateful that he had the foot speed and timing to make it to the toilet before he lost his breakfast.

Gratitude...boys with fast feet and good aim.    

Gratitude.

I have noticed that a lot of people out there in the blogosphere are using the month of November to express their gratitude. 

I think this is a terrific idea and I have so much to be grateful for so I will be using this month to totally copy off of that idea.

My fist post of gratitude is that I am lucky enough to have spent the weekend with my two dear friends from way back Erika and Terry.
Erika and I have been pals since we were both 7 and I thought her name was America.  We both had the extreme good fortune to meet Terry during our 2nd year as Buckeyes at Ohio State.

 While Erika still lives close by, Terry lives way far away, and we don't get to see each other nearly enough...which is very sad.

And so it was great to get together for a football weekend when Terry, her husband Frank and their cute son Frankie, drove many hours from Philadelphia to watch the Buckeyes play (and beat) Penn State on Saturday night and then the Bengals play (and beat) the Jets on Sunday. 

The games were great, but the best part was just hanging out, engaging in some delightfully immature conversation and very much laughing our middle aged tushies off for about 48 hours straight. 

As an example...one of our weekend highlights happened when Erika and I were asked by a small gathering of older boys, if they could "rub our nuts." 

While it's not nearly as scandalous as it sounds...we were in the Buckeyes stadium during a game and were also wearing our very fashionable string of buckeye necklaces which are traditionally rubbed for luck, but still we were both embarrassed and so we quickly ran to tell Terry all about it. It was no surprise that she knew just what to say and suggested that we go tell those "boys" (who were even deeper into middle age than we are) to "go rub their own nuts." We both agreed that was the absolute perfect comeback and only wished that Terry had been there at the time to offer such a fantastic reply.

So yeah, it was that kind of weekend.

And I am so incredibly grateful for friends like these two and every minute we get to spend together.

The kind and tolerant husbands (and son, Frankie) who behaved like gentlemen all weekend and did not make any lewd comments at the Buckeye game..bless them each.

Our adorables making pre-game scary faces.

Trick or Treat Excitement and Tooth Loss...Halloween 2013

Our little Beyonce had an fabulous night trick or treating in spite of gale force wind and rain. This is how she looked prior to her big night...very excited about her new look and the promise of lots of candy. Her look went down hill from here as I'm sure you can imagine... lets just say that caramel streaked highlight wigs aren't so practical in a rainstorm and I sent a lot of time chasing her wig down. It wasn't too long before I had to confiscate her gross wig after it ended up in the gutter...I  refused to let her put it back on due to absolute nastiness.

I'll bet Jay-Z sets the same sort of hair limits on his Beyonce.   

Jamie dressed as Ace Ventura, Pet Detective...none of his buddies knew who he was because his favorite film was made about 8 years before Jamie and his pals were born. He discovered Ace through his love and admiration for Jim Carrey who he considers a comic genius. 

Jamie's friend Auggie is in the middle of this photo, dressed as a green Slimer monster. It seems likely that the kid in the middle would be Henry, but Henry was too excited about the free candy to be gained from trick or treating and took off before I could photo document him. 

Anyway... Beyonce was absolutly fine with Auggie standing in as Henry. In fact she could not even begin to contain her delight when Auggie/Slimer put his arm around her shoulders for this photo opp...Beyonce was truly smitten.

Lily created a very feathery bird of paradise costume which also did not fare well in the rain. 

She and her pal, dressed as a mad scientist, went trick or treating in a up in a neighboring subdivision and had a great but soggy night. When the rain got to be too much for her feathers, she called and asked to be picked up on "Rookwood Doctor." Which confused the heck out of me, but Karl was able to quickly translate Lily's "Rookwood Doctor" into Rookwood Drive... the abbreviation for "Dr." that made more sense given the context.

Halloween 2013 ended with a most disgusting act of candy overload when Ace Ventura's tooth was pulled out by a huge wad of orange Laffy Taffy. 

It was a baby tooth and he was destined to come out sooner or later, but the candy sped up the tooth losing process by a few months...Jamie excitedly pointed out that it wasn't even a little bit wiggly when it came out.

So now, this family has learned to respect the power of Laffy Taffy...when taffy meets tooth, the taffy will win.

Hope your Halloween had all of the same trick or treaty fun and none of the revolting and a bit painful tooth loss.

Enjoy your candy with caution, friends!