But so what...

...I'm still a rockstar!


This morning Reid asked me if he could have rockstar hair. I said of course, then asked him what rockstar hair looked like. He said, "like yours."

Now THAT'S why I had kids. And I didn't even think I was having a good hair day.

Teaser...

...there'll be plenty more where that came from.

...and the livin' is easy...

Summer used to be my favorite season. What happened? With the high next week predicted to top out around 70, fall is quickly approaching and I'm giddy as a school girl. Oh man, I can't wait for fall. Nothing beats autumn in Ohio.

As much as I don't care for summertime out here, Ohio summers have one great thing going for them...FIREFLIES. I had never seen one 'til I moved here. Spencer and I had only been here a couple weeks (about 6 years ago). We had left the back patio door open to get some fresh air flowing through our one bedroom apartment. And in flew a single firefly. Spence and I FREAKED. We shut the door to keep the little guy trapped in and we ran around turning off every light in our apartment. We sat in the living room watching this most amazing bug put on his own little light show.

Little did we know they'd show up everywhere for the rest of the summer. I loved taking evening jogs with a friend and they'd line the wooded path. If bugs can be beautiful, these are.

It was fun to be back in Ohio this year just in time for lightening bug season. I'm not actually sure if my crazies had ever seen one before this year...considering they don't come out until after their bedtime. We caught one while we were waiting for the fireworks to start on the forth of July. The kiddos were amazed.

As the cooler weather rolls in, firefly season is coming to an end along with all things summer.

Is any one else already planning Halloween costumes?

Makin' Whoopee!

...Whoopee Cushion that is.


My crazies have found a new love in whoopee cushions. Gray is especially attached to his. It makes him laugh and yell 'ewww' every time. He figured out how to blow it up himself. Reid can't even do that.

A pictorial how-to on whoopee cushions from Grady:

Parker is old enough to use his to play tricks on people and it's hysterical. "Dad...sit down right here. I know it looks kind of lumpy but that's ok. Whatever you do, don't toot." Boys are funny.

For anyone wanting to jump on the whoopee cushion bandwagon... they're in the toy section at Walmart for $1.

Yellow M&M's Make Me Laugh

With Parker starting kindergarten this week, it's had me thinking about my own kindergarten experience.

• I don't remember the first day, but know I wore blue cool-otts with little anchors all over them and a white t-shirt with a square collar in the same blue fabric with a little red bow in the front...sailor style. And of course white salt water sandals.

• Surprisingly, I remember kindergarten orientation better than my first day. I talked my mom into wearing matching striped jumpsuits. What a good woman my mom is.

• I met Genny at kindergarten orientation.
  

• One day Genny came home with me after school and we were very giggly...as five year old girls tend to be. My mom told us it must be something we ate. So we racked our brains to figure out what food we both had that day and concluded it was yellow M&M's that made us laugh. We believed that for quite some time.
  

• Mrs. Starbuck was my teacher and she had letter people hanging above the chalkboard to help us learn the alphabet.

Me and Devin

• Devin Henry was my very best friend. When her mom curled her hair she used rag curlers and they were the most beautiful blond curls I had ever seen.

• Joe Paino and Tim Hellerud were in my class and I'm pretty sure Joe and Devin liked each other.

Our picture was in the paper when an author came to visit.

• Rachel McBride (a local children's author and member of my ward) came to read us her book...For Sale: One Sister-CHEAP! That became my favorite book after that.
  

• I loved pedaling tricycles on a little road around the playground.

• I lost my first tooth while swinging during recess and the class sang me a song about loosing teeth.

• I can still picture the layout of the class room...the cubbies, the play kitchen, the art area, the bathroom, everything. It seemed so big to me, and now kindergarten rooms seem so small. I'm sure mine was no exception.
  

• I remember reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and how proud I was that I already knew it.

• Mrs. Starbuck did something fun for every holiday...we made pilgrim and Indian clothes for Thanksgiving and pinatas for Cinco de Mayo.
  

• I remember reading Dick and Jane books in little groups and replicating them on our own papers.

• The smell of finger paint...and the smocks and easels used when painting.
  

• And when we had important information to bring home to our parents, we got papers pinned to the back of our shirts.

I think I better stop. The more I try to recall, the more I remember. This list could get seriously long. I have a surprisingly good memory despite having three kids. I can remember the words to songs Mrs. Starbuck taught us and conversations I had with friends and outfits that were worn by everyone.

I had a superb kindergarten experience. It set me off on the right foot to really love and thrive in school. I wish the same for Parker.

If It Ain't Broke...

We leave the house around 7:30 every morning to get Parker to school on time. It has really put as thorn in my workout regimen. I don't like to workout after I'm showered and ready for the day, but I don't like to take Parker to school un-showered.

But after three days of not exercising, I decided I really can't continue on like this just for vanity sake. (Though, let's face it...I work out for vanity's sake. It's as much bigger motivator than good health.) I've already made first impressions and I am now going to be that mom that drops her kids off un-showered in work-out clothes.

SO not the point of my post.

I sported a baseball cap this morning. Anyone who has experienced my morning hair can appreciate why. As I was exercising, I started thinking about that cap. I've had it AT LEAST fifteen years. AT LEAST! It's a Mossimo hat from around junior high age...back when Mossimo was a hot brand found at PacSun rather than Target. I inherited it from one of my brothers who had it a year or two before that but never wore it. The truth is, I don't wear it all that often. I wear hats so rarely it seems silly to buy a new one. But I haven't got rid of it for occasions such as today that it became a necessity. It may be about time to invest in a new hat. I intend to continue shielding innocent bystanders from witnessing my bed-head.

This is the hat in question...worn camping last May.

I'm not exactly a minimalist, but I do go through my closet two, three, four times a year to get rid of clothes. I don't like too much stuff...nor do I have the space for it. But I have a handful of things I never part with. Such as this hat. Or ratty old t-shirts that have worn so perfectly thin they are exactly what I want to sleep in on a muggy summer night. Many such shirts display reminders of football games or girls camp (yeah...I still have my nasty blue--but super comfy--girls camp sweatshirt) or favorite bands or working as an EFY Counselor. I'm not really sure that it's the memory that keeps them from a garbage bin grave. It's probably my frugality. Why buy a new shirt to sleep in when this one is worn in and perfectly comfortable?

I also have a white half-slip that I've had probably since I was old enough to start wearing slips. It's just kind of grown with me. I think slips are magic like that.

...and now that this confession has become a little embarrassing, what article of clothing have you been hanging onto for ten-plus years? I can't be the only one.

Everything I need to know...

...I learned in kindergarten.

Actually, I don't believe that. Regardless, Park started kindergarten today.

We made the decision to send him to a charter school. Our house is pretty much in the worst school district in all of Ohio. Not to mention, we're still in our apartment in a different school district. Public school would mean transferring schools in the middle of the year...I don't anticipate that going over well with my kindergartner.

So after much research and many, many prayers, we decided NOT to go with our first choice of charter schools...which was like 40 minutes away, but to go with one that is nearby. Spencer and I reached this decision last weekend, went into the school to register him on Monday, and Parker started today. This school has a longer school year than most...it's part of the curriculum. So we had a pretty crazy weekend getting Park all ready for school.

His teacher, Mr. Caudill, seems great. You don't often find a man teaching kindergarten, but I think he'll be a perfect match for Parker's high level of energy.

The major down-side? It's a uniform school. I wanted to cry all through the school clothes shopping experience. Dress shoes? With pants it's tolerable, but with shorts? Holy mother of preppy!!! Yikes. I was hoping to find some out-of-control awesome dress shoes, but we had very limited time to shop. We bought the best we could find. Do they even make cool dress shoes for kids? I mean...Park has some great church shoes...but they're too nice and too dressy for school. If anyone knows...don't keep it a secret. I'm sure these will need to be replaced before the year is out. He insisted on wearing his loafers with no socks...old man style.

Just because these pictures hurt my pride just a little (despite the fact that he's cute no matter what)...here are some recent pictures of Parker in everyday clothes:

When Parker went in for the pre-kindergarten assessment, they told us he's reading at a first grade level. I knew he was bright, but I'm afraid that sometimes I over-estimate his ability as a proud mom. It was nice to have that confirmed.

And as if I haven't written enough already...

I think I'm really going to like this all-day kindergarten thing. I (along with my other two crazies) dropped Parker off this morning (without as hitch...no tears or clinging...it was all excitement) and was on my way to the store by 8:15am. Nice huh?

Already today, I've:

• grocery shopped (with only two kids in tow)
• put together puzzles
• played a rousing game of Candy Land
• made lunch
  
• read stories
• took a silly quiz online (see previous post)
• chatted with a friend on the phone
  
• doddled on my favorite home decor websites
• browsed Craigslist
• and now I'm blogging while the rest of my household sleeps in silence.
• AND I still have two more hours.
  

Seriously...can it get much better? I think I'll be enjoying much more Katie time in the months to come. I forget what that is like. Oh man...I can't wait 'til all my crazies are in school. One down...two to go.

I'm anxiously awaiting pick-up time to hear all about Parker's first day.

fun

I took this little quiz today. Apparently my decorating style is Bohemian Classsic. I concur. Now if only I had the furniture to match.

HomeGoods StyleScope - I'm a Bohemian Classic

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Aggies all the way!

My mom mentioned the other day how my recent flashback's have all revolved around high school and how I write about it as though it was my favorite time if life. I did LOVE high school, but I have NEVER had more fun than I did in college. Honestly. I look back on my college years with great nostalgia. It's so sad to me that life will never be like that again. So fun and care-free. When I think about my college years, it puts me in a bit of a funk. I miss it. I miss the learning. And I miss those friends. A LOT. I actually hate to think about it too much. I certainly don't regret moving on, but those years were far too short.

I really enjoyed all four years for different reasons. But sophomore year in Crestview Apartments may beat out the other years if only by a hair. I went through life at that time thinking we were it. I was certain we were cooler and had more fun than anyone else on campus. Though the later probably was true, I look back at pictures surprised to realize how NOT COOL we actually were. It was nine years ago and we were in Utah and a lot of these kids were from Preston, Idaho (think Napoleon Dynamite)...excuses, excuses, excuses. No matter. I fit right in.

And I have pictures to prove it...

These are from an impromptu dance party right around the end of fall semester when we were all heading home for a few weeks. The pictures are proof of our dorky-ness. Despite that, this goes down in history as one of my favorite nights of all time.


For the few of you Crestview kids that read this...Miss you guys!

Primary Update

So I taught Sharing Time for my first time ever yesterday. Sharing time is when all the kids at church come together for a lesson before splitting up into classes with their age groups.

To be honest, I was freaking out. I love to teach. But teaching on kids terms is really different and much scarier for me. I am more comfortable in a room full of adults than a room full of kids. I know kids are really forgiving and if my lesson bombs, they totally forget moments later or don't even notice at all. But there are other grown ups in the room which makes me even more nervous to be out of my comfort zone. I was happy with the teaching rotation that allowed me to put off teaching Sharing Time for a few weeks.

I couldn't put it off any longer. All during sacrament meeting I sat there with a horrible pit in my stomach thinking about what was coming up. Oddly enough, when I stood up to teach, my fears left me. I loved it. Not that it was without flaws...I have plenty of room for improvement. But I found that I enjoyed teaching kids almost as much as I love teaching older people.

Plus, there is the added bonus of funny comments by kids. This is by FAR my favorite thing about primary. Kids blurt out the most entertaining things. And answers to questions are sometimes so off course. Oh man...I love it. (It's not nearly as cute when adults give answers that are way off course.)

I've been stressing about Sharing Time for weeks all for nothing. In fact, yesterday was the first time I found any amount of joy in this calling. For the first time I felt more controlled and less chaotic, even though I still have A LOT to learn. (Thank goodness for great teachers and a fantastic presidency...they're the ones running primary these days and I think they know it.)

Maybe my Sharing Time fears have been a big roadblock. In past callings, I've been blessed with an immediate love for those I'm serving. I have been really struggling with that this time around. But yesterday, as I was listening to the primary children sing, I was overwhelmed with love for each child. I'm so grateful to finally feel that. I was worried it wasn't going to happen.

I finally feel like I may be able to enjoy serving in primary and what I thought would be my least favorite responsibility, turned out to be the best part. I'm looking forward to my next turn to teach already...it beats hall duty for sure.

Now if I could just understand what in the world Cub Scouts is all about...