Prince Charming

Last night I smirked through the entire kindergarten play. They did a fractured version of Goldlilocks and the Three Bears that had, embedded, Little Red Riding Hood, and several other fairy tales including - Cinderella.

My handsome young man was Prince Charming.

I was sent out (last week, late, ill-planned, and frazzled) one evening to pick-up panic in Target about what might make him look like a Prince.

I bought him black dress pants, a long white t-shirt (tunic?), and a purple scarf to tie his tunic with. His teacher added her fifth grader's dress jacket to the costume. He had made a crown for himself.

He was handsome and charming.

Hilariously, however, throughout the entire play he channeled a disaffected teenager. While he sat, he sat with legs splayed and looked bored. While everyone stood, sang, and did the cute, coordinated hand movements (made grand smiley gestures with hands whilst singing about smiles) - he stood on one foot, arms crossed, and mouthed the words.

He was engaged and charming while slipping the slipper onto Cinderella's foot - then, swaggered back to his place on the riser.

A few times, I caught his eye, then I could make him break into a giant grin. Other than that, my boy was just too cool for all of it.

Too funny!

Tick City

We went for a hike yesterday to get some exercise. We had a lovely excursion. However, it amounted to precious little exercise (duh, four-year-olds don't really "hike").

J got some exercise trucking along with the big boys. I gave them some insect vials and the camelpack backpack loaded with snacks. They had a grand time.

T and I muddled along, hopping, jumping, skipping, sitting, whining, and watching bugs. We moved at a painfully slow snail pace. Honestly, I felt like a somnambulist about half-way through.

But, on the plus side, we say a garter snake (T got to pet it as it zipped away), a black racer, a black rat snake, a mama duck with babies, turtles, bees, ants (which T stomped on), spiders (we played with some), crickets, and a variety of other stuff.

I successfully kept T from playing with poison ivy, but was able to let him smell sassafras and black birch.

Then, when we got home, the great tick-finding extravaganza began and didn't finish for the rest of the night. I took about four of them off of us on the trail. I pulled one out of my hair and one from my hip right when I got home. Then changed all of my clothes and brushed through my hair. Z looked himself over when he got home as did J and B.

By dinner time, we had re-examined ourselves and all found more of them. So, in B's words - we became "naked family". Everyone but me was stripped to the skin in the kitchen... we pulled two more ticks from Z, three from B and (I think) EIGHT from little T. J went back through my hair and I looked myself over again in the bathroom.

Then - while watching late-night tv last night, I pulled another one off of my stomach that was just walking around.

Wow, early tick season here.

Happy Mother's Day

J and the boys surprised me early for Mother's Day.

When I got home from work on Saturday, the house was clean, the laundry and dishes done, and two things knocked off of the "honeydo" list.

My family is awesome!

Kids say the darndest things.

The kids were examining a magazine in the back of the car and found a vehicle that converts from car to plane.

Z is outraged.

"I can't believe that they invented that... I wanted to do that. I wanted to invent that, and they got to do it first. They get to spend all of their time inventing, and all I get to do is... grow."


Too funny.

Staring at the summer.

From this side, the summer always looks like a vast empty space of idyllic hot days and room for loads of productivity. But, I know better.

I see lots of opportunities for sloth, lots of thunderstorms, and then it's gone in a flash (of lightning).

This summer, I have to find a way to make the most of the short time I have. And, I mean that both in terms of having fun with my still-young boys and kicking some work ass (and having some quiet time).

This really means putting my plan into action. No, not the evil, cackling plan. Just the one that has me spend less time staring off into space and more time accomplishing both fun and work.

It's time to change, folks.

Still lacking focus.

I have a million things to do and not enough time to do them.

That's why I've updated my blog and added more.

And I complain about my kid not doing his spelling homework, yeeesh.

Buckle down...

I have, on my desk in front of me, three sets of tests (one from each course I am currently teaching), four sets of quizzes, and four sets of papers.

Can you tell that I hate grading papers?

This explains my pathetic absence for - oh, about the last 15 weeks.

I haven't taught two new courses since my first year teaching.

But, since then... we have changed a few things:

• I am program chair
• I am on four campus committees
• I've had three children (that like to eat every day, and they even like to wear clean socks)
• we've bought a house (that sometimes needs maintenance)
• I've added about ten years to my age (necessitating reading glasses and regular exercise for proper functioning)

Done whining thanks, more later.