pictures and words

We took the kids to see The Lorax a few Saturdays ago. I loved it. Danny was glued to the screen the entire time. I only had to take Cate to the restroom once. It was delightful.



And I am a goober. It's true. Sometimes I can't help myself. It's easier than trying to be dignified and refined.

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Our order of Girl Scout cookies arrived last week. I'll always support the Girl Scouts (since I was one for 10 years and even earned my Gold Award and I brag about it every chance I get because it's the highest award you can earn, kind of like the Eagle for the boys and we all know that's a big deal). I'm not sure how many boxes I'll be buying when the price goes up again. They were $3.50 for a box this year. I remember selling Girl Scout cookies in front of the Kroger grocery store way back in the day. They were $1.50 a box. That was easily 30 years ago so now I feel really old.



I bought Thin Mints (which are not even tempting to me because I don't like mint and chocolate), Thank U Berry Munch (because that's just such a clever name), Samoas (also not tempting to me because I don't enjoy the coconut/caramel combination), Peanut Butter Patties (but I don't remember the name they go by nowadays and Danny and I ate the whole box the first day so I can't check) and Dulce de Leche. My favorites are obviously the peanut butter patties. Coming in second place are the Dulce de Leche. They're yummy and small. Portion control is easier when they're small (if you care about such a thing when you're eating cookies).



Danny took a bite of the Thin Mints and decided he wasn't a fan either. That's what he decided was a "bite." He's a funny kid.

I was standing in line at the grocery store last night and saw a little display selling Girl Scout cookie flavored lip gloss and chap stick. If I had been alone I would've snapped a picture with my phone. Sadly, at almost 10:00 at night there were a few people in front of me and a few behind. Late night shopping for everyone. Would you buy Girl Scout cookie flavored lip gloss? Yuck.

I noticed the lady in the checkout next to me was buying every box of Gogurts in the whole store. It seemed like that at least. And boxes and boxes and boxes of Reese's peanut butter puff cereal and Cap'n Crunch. I'm pretty sure she was one of those crazy coupon ladies but come on. What are you going to do with all that Gogurt? Freeze it I guess. Do you really need it though? I don't understand. I totally understand the Reese's puff cereal though. That's one of my favorites.



Ray Ray put on Cate's pink shoes. Then he pushed her shopping cart around (after he had filled it up with stuff and draped a blanket on top). He got mad at me for taking his picture, kicked the shoes off and went away to pout in private.



When I taught school I ordered some practice books called Drops in the Bucket. I got all the grade levels (since I taught such a variety of ability levels in my class). I found the kindergarten book and have been giving Danny "homework" every once in a while. I don't do it all the time because we all know that worksheets are not the best way to learn. I know. I know. He doesn't know that yet so worksheets it is!

He seems to enjoy them. We're just working on the math ones. I've got the reading ones somewhere out in the garage in all my boxes of school stuff. I don't want to overwhelm the poor kid though. Plus, he seems to really enjoy math right now.

He's become quite mathletic. I'm very proud. We were driving past a gas station the other day. He said, "Mommy, what's 59 plus 9? 69!" I said, "Well..." and he answered back, "No. Wait. 68!" He's a genius.

He wasn't thrilled when I asked if I could take his picture. Notice the mad eyes.



And he still doesn't enjoy writing his name. I did the D and the a. He's going to be so thrilled when he starts school and the teacher makes him actually write every day.



Danny and his adorable future brother-in-law. They're just too cute.



When I registered Danny for kindergarten last month I put him on the waiting list for the morning class. I'm not really sure why I did that. He's not a morning person. He needs a few hours in the morning to get going. He likes to take his time eating breakfast and spend time with his Legos. Get up, get dressed, go go go is not something he's good at.

I was worried about Cate's preschool schedule so I attempted to work around that. Then I got to thinking that Danny's the important one for next year. Kindergarten trumps preschool. I called the school and switched Danny to afternoon. There's no waiting list for afternoon kindergarten. Apparently morning is the popular spot to be. I guess lots of people have early risers. I don't know.

The morning I called the school and switched him to afternoon, he slept until 9:45. Um, yeah. Pretty sure I made the right choice. Then I had to wake him up and rush off to Talking Time. He was not thrilled about that. The kid needs warm up time in the morning. That's what he gets for sleeping until almost 10:00 though.



Speaking of Talking Time, Danny still doesn't want to sing anything. This past week he hummed though. It was funny. He was humming really loudly. The teachers were smiling and praised him when the song was done so I guess that was a good thing. We're making improvement.

He got chosen to lead the goodbye song again a few weeks ago. He chose a stick with a fish on top and then just stood there, looking down at the floor during the entire song. I could see that his face was bright red too. I know how he feels. That kind of stuff kills me too. I wish I could figure out how to make it better for him.

He's making lots of improvement with his words. Last week his homework was a lot of s blends. He used to say chop instead of stop all the time. He'd pretty much substitute ch for the beginnings of lots of words. Now he's got the s (and not a lisp anymore!) and the st too. Woohoo. He's practicing sl words this week and it's not easy for him. He's getting better though. Slug. That's a tough one.



Aunt Nancy came for a visit and Sunday dinner a few weeks ago. We put her right to work playing games and tea parties. That's what happens on Sunday afternoon in a house where nobody naps anymore (well, Dan naps but that's about it.)



Did you know you can recycle your pantyhose? I had no idea.



I thought old pantyhose were supposed to be used for craft projects.

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You know today is Pi day. March 14th. 3.14. Get it? Somebody taught Danny about pi. Or is it Pi? I don't know. He already knows about infinity (and beyond) and negative numbers so pi seems fitting too. I explained to him that pi is 3 and a little bit more. I think it might be time to make a number line on my big empty dining room wall. Maybe use a little more of that chalkboard paint.

Anyway, I was going to make some pie for pi day. So very original. I know. I'm not going to though because that just seems like a lot of trouble. I don't think Danny would understand the calendar connection quite yet. Maybe next year. I was going to make these apple pie foldovers but now I'm not. Too much work. Plus, I'd end up eating too many and that's not good for anyone.

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And last but not least, Danny said to me the other day, "I love nothing more than Hard Puppy and you!"

Proof that I'm not so bad after all.