A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

OK, peeps.  It's been WAY too long.  I think with Meghan being gone, and my work load exponentially increased, that I have little energy and even less time to blog.  So I have parked my behind on the couch and vowed to not move until I have published a new post! (I guess it's a good thing I went to the gym earlier, huh?)  

So, for those readers not in the area, we NE Floridians are hosting a honey of a North-Easter right now.  It's not violent, thank goodness, but it is dumping quite a bit of rain on us.  This is great for keeping the temperature down and the grass green, but also great for forcing little peeps to stay inside.  That translates in to hyper, rambunctious, trouble seeking, LOUD munchkins!!!!!  Normally, when were having great Florida weather, everything is OK for the first part of the day.  Everyone is just waking up, so they are still groggy and quiet.  Next there's breakfast to be had, which means their stuffed mouths keep them quiet (with the exception of the occasional crunch, slurp, or belch.  Sorry!  What did you expect with 3 boys at the table? I do at least gripe at them about it! ;)  )   Then we head up to the school room to start the day's lessons.   By now they have had ample time to rise and shine.  The volume buttons are cranked up to MAX, and so are the smart remarks.   By the time snack break rolls around at 10:30 I am SO ready for that 15 minutes to regroup!   It would be at this ordained time that the people of short stature would be shooed outside to burn off some energy.  But can we do that when it's raining buckets outside?  Not if we don't want to be dealing runny noses and sneezing, whiney kids for the next week!  So they stay inside and when they return to the schoolroom it's every man, er- woman, for themselves!!  

My case in point.  Donna, my dream boss (NO she doesn't read my blog, so I am NOT kissing up!  She lives this stuff with me, she doesn't want to do so twice.  Ca you blame her?  :p ) ANYWAY, Donna thought it would be a great time to have the kids learn their States and Capitals.  We began last week.  They learn 5 a day, and I have found the most ANNOYING song, (it's Hip-Hop!) that they listen to it to help learn them.  I'll try to post a video of it.... anyway, we are learning the States and Capitals and using flash cards as well.  Friday I was going over the 25 we knew so far with Brian, and we came to Kentucky.  We have little clues to help us remember some of the States they have difficulty remembering, but we didn't have one for Kentucky.  Eight year old Brian says, "Isn't it Fartford?"  I was, not being prepared for this response, caught COMPLETELY off guard with this one.  When I asked him if he was serious he quite seriously replied, "Come on, Shannon.  The States and Capitals are NOT something you kid around about.  Was I right?"   I matched his sincerity with, "Um, Brian?  It's FRANKfort, not Fartford.  That's just wrong.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in a town named Fartford, can you?"  Well, it was at this time that all three boys erupted into a chorus of rude noises.  At one point, Grant began to mimic the sound not with his mouth, not even with his hands under his armpits, but he threw himself on the floor, rolled over onto his back, cupped his hand behind his knees and started pumping his legs up and down so that they would make "that" noise".  He is the only kid I have ever known that could do this, and while I hate to admit it, it was pretty funny.  Totally inappropriate, but funny!  He looked like a giant roach dying from terrible gas pains!    Here, it's easier just to show you...

It took a while, and me raising my voice more than once, but in the end- no pun intended, they were back to work and learning the States and Capitals once again.

To help cure the cooped up crazies, we went bowling- but I'll save that for another post!

Until next time-

Be Good and God bless!

Pony in a Tree

Today, John Paul decided to "prove" to us that he can sing opera.  I wasn't aware that we were in disbelief, but still, he needed to show us that he could.  WARNING:  This could get ANNOYING!!!

So- without further ado- It is my privilege to present John Paul sining "Pony in a Tree":

I didn't know that this opera existed.  He says it's his own composition, that part is easy to believe.  In case you couldn't figure it out, he's singing the same line over and over, and over, and over again.  That line is, "O little pony, who lives in a tree!"  He says it's because that's what opera singers do.  I was surprised by how well he actually did!  I have to admit that it does begin to sound a little like fingernails being scratched down a chalkboard, but I had to share it with you all.  My favorite part is how committed he is to the bit!  That and his "emotion" and his gestures!  Too funny! He didn't have to be prompted at all, he just stood up and announced that he could sing opera.  

That's all for now.  I believe that I have witnessed what my time in Purgatory will be like.  May God have pity on me!

Be good and God bless!

The Spooky Monster

I was warned.  I should have expected something like this.  But did I heed that warning?  No.  Brian clearly stated that there was a monster in the school room.  Now, in my defense, there has never, not once, been a monster in the school room before, so you can maybe understand my skepticism.  In fact I believe my exact response was, "Uh, huh.  Sure there is.  That room is infested with 'em."  So when I walked in and found this....

I was shocked!!!  I can promise you that this is not a regular fixture in the school room.  We don't just have jack-o-lanterns laying around the room.  I'm not saying it's wrong to have jack-o-lanterns strewn about the floor, I'm no judge.  I'm just saying that we aren't that kind of house!  LOL!  Then to my horror the jack-o-lantern morphed, with arms and legs, and walk out of the room!

This of course was Grant.  He found this costume in the dress up box and thought that it would be a great idea to put it on and sit in the middle of the floor until somebody found him.  I have no idea how long he sat here waiting for someone to come up here.   Yesterday he and Brian put on jeans and flannel shirts, which they proceeded to stuff so it looked like they were the "Buff Brothers".  They did a pretty convincing job!  I'll add the picture as soon as I can.  The were aptly named, I can assure you!  THIS is my LIFE!

God bless and be GOOD!

Celine's 7 Today!!!

Happy Birthday, Celine!  Today is your special day.  It's hard to believe that it was seven years ago that the sweet little bundle of pink that is you arrived and brightened our world!  You make me so happy, and I just wanted to let you know how much you are loved!  Make me a promise that you will never grow up, and you will always remain my precious little princess!  

Here are a few of the pictures from your seventh birthday party!

God bless you, my baby girl!  You're really growing up!

Be good and God bless!