My Backyardigans

Toby and Norah have fun in the back yard -- I can watch them play while I do work in the study or even if I'm upstairs at the kitchen sink.
The other day they were playing nicely so I grabbed the camera to take a couple of candids. Those didn't turn out so well, but when I got them to sit still for a minute I captured them being so...sibling-ish that I had to post them here. (It was Toby's idea to link arms with Norah, and I think you can figure out what he was trying to do based on his facial expressions.)

My surprise weekend

BJ and I flew to Colorado two weeks ago to surprise my Mom for her 60th birthday.
(This is the best picture I could get because she wouldn't stop hugging us!)
I am so thankful we were able to pull off the surprise, and that Oma and Opa were game for watching Toby and Norah for 4 long days!
Being in Colorado was really good and gave us the opportunity to spend quality time as an extended family--for the first time since my Dad's funeral. The next time we'll all be together will be at Christmas time.

My Sliders

We had a blast at the Air Force--Navy football game earlier this month.
The kids liked the pre-game entertainment. Well, Toby loved it (there was a moon bounce and this slide), but Norah wasn't so sure. BJ tried his best to teach the kids about the game. They were more interested in eating as much cotton candy as we would allow. I left with the kids at the third quarter and Norah fell solidly asleep in the car. She dozed on the living room chair for a while after we got home.  :o)

My First Grade Homework

Have I told you how much homework Toby has to do each night?
Well, it's a lot.
And every Thursday his teachers send home the seat work he's done for the week. This is interesting on some level, but on another level it looks like Toby just does worksheets all day (which may or may not be true--I haven't had a chance to go visit his classroom like I did when he was in kindergarten).
This evening I went through his weekly stack of seat work and found a page about "Football in the Fall" that I thought I'd share with you.
It's a worksheet about complete sentences. The little worksheet has a cute picture of a squirrel kicking a football. There are a mix of 14 phrases and sentences on the page and Toby has to underline each complete sentence and then rewrite each incomplete sentence to make it a complete sentence.
For example, #6 says "The grass." (It's not a complete sentence, so Toby had to rewrite it to make it one.)
Toby then wrote at the bottom of the page "the grass wavs wan it is a winde day."
That makes sense, right?
:o)
Here's the part that made me laugh out loud.
At the bottom of the sheet is a little box that says:
"Bonus: Write three complete sentences about squirrels."

Three complete sentences about squirrels?? Really?

My Convenience Fee

I paid a ticket online today and the site made note of "a $2.75 convenience fee" that was added to the cost of the ticket, presumably for the convenience of paying it online.

My first thought was that I'd like to charge 3% each time I do something that makes my kids' lives more convenient. (Or even the person who shall remain nameless whose ticket I "conveniently" paid online.)

You want me to put your homework back in your bag? Sure thing. That'll be 3% off your allowance.
Should I set out your backpack and shoes by the door in the morning? No problem! Another 3% for me!

I think I've finally found a way to earn an income for my services as a full time mom.

Then again, I work for smiles and hugs too. Wouldn't you?