^ Naissa and Leah ^
^ Naissa and Kaylin ^Tuesday night was Alta's Band Concert and Awards Ceremony. It had already been a long day and so I packed a bag with things for Naissa and Isaac to do quietly. The stickerbook, however cool, needed directions. A RED blob mixed with a BLUE blob equals what color blob? They would then find the correct color blob and stick it on there. I spent too much time whispering that I missed everything that was being said on stage. Coloring didn't work either because they kept fighting over the colors. Their chairs kept getting pushed forward and backwards, probably because they weren't sitting in them. Finally after much exhaustion...(probably most of their behavior was only noticed by me and Jim) I took them outside. Zack followed. They ran around and played hide-n-seek, though there weren't many places to hide and they kept hiding in the same spot as the last person. While they were playing Red Light Green Light I slipped back in the cafeteria to see where they were on the program. When I turned back around I saw that the sprinklers on opposite sides of the amphitheater had come on and Isaac was right in the middle...dancing!! He had his arms up in the air and he was hopping from one foot to the other. I'd of gotten a picture if I hadn't been so caught of guard!
We managed to get back inside just before the percussion instructor began talking. He surprised all of us by giving Jade the Most Improved Percussionist Award. We had no idea. We were very proud. She has worked hard. This was her first year in band, whereas the majority of her peers have been playing since 5th grade. She joined the after school percussion ensemble where I think there were two beginning band members, counting her. Again....not ready with the camera!
Naissa and Isaac and I hung out in the back so as not to disturb anyone but to still be able to hear the band play!
Jade's name was spelled wrong on her medallion. Luper. Funny her percussion instructor, who knows her name, even said it wrong when he announced it!
Side note: her yearbook picture says, Looper. Yet in the back it claims that Loper was not pictured. lol!! I wonder who has the "difficult" job of copying the names from the card to the computer. 
Jim giving pointers on how to turn around. I think that was one of the funnest parts for Zack. He's light enough to where he has to lean his whole body onto the handle to get the front of the mower to lift. :)
Isaac, dressed to mow, did his part too! (Thanks again Jen for the sweater vests! He has worn them out!)
"I'm using the mower"
"Isaac won't let me have a turn!"
Just 20 minutes earlier Isaac had said he needed to go to the bathroom. I took him to use the library bathroom. We picked up his brother and went to wait until Kindergarten got out. I sat and talked with a friend while Zack and a friend made paper airplanes. I heard Zack say something to Isaac. You can imagine my surprise when I turned around and I saw Isaac standing there with his pants down and he was pulling up his underwear. I nearly jumped out of my seat to get to him. I asked him “Did you pee on the tree?” and he said “No’. I asked him several times, all in different ways. His answer was consistently, “No, I didn’t pee” I still wasn’t sure if I believed him or not but I wasn’t about to go over and feel or smell the tree or the grass around it!
At this point Isaac became a kid that I’ve not seen before. He started grabbing Zack’s paper airplanes and throwing them. He may still be 3 years old but he doesn’t throw like one! It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if he was just throwing them on the grass where they were sitting but no, Isaac had to throw them over the fence into No Man’s Land. (a dead space between the Kindergarten playground and the office) Thankfully Zack’s name wasn’t on any of the papers! What made this an even bigger deal was that I had told Isaac not to do it. Then I told him to STOP. Then I said it louder as I walked quickly towards him….as he kept throwing them over the fence. (let me add that he was laughing while all this was happening) (I was not) As I got within arms length of him and was about to grab him…..he was gone! Running! Running and laughing! I was not. I chose to wait. Wait and watch….as I slowly got into position….and he took the bait and ran closer and I surprised him by sprinting 15 feet and snatching him up before he could figure out what was going on! I carried him like a football, under my arm, bouncing him like a pom pom and he just laughed. I did not. I put him in the wagon and told him to sit there until we got home. I’m sure I don’t have to tell ya that he immediately started to climb out. I put my hand on his shoulder and held him. He started climbing out again. I put my hand on his shoulder and held him…He got out…He ran…Zack chased him…Zack caught him…Back in the wagon…Climbed out again…Zack grabbed him…Back in the wagon…I’m ready to tie him in at this point but I don’t have anything to use…not even shoestrings! We did this over and over until he finally just sat. I sighed a tired sigh. He threw a water bottle half way across the playground. (I’m not exaggerating) Then Zack’s snack bar trash hit the ground. Naissa’s class let out and she came over carrying a bear that she had made. She placed it in the front of the wagon and turned to talk with her friend Kaylin. Isaac started to get up and I firmly reminded him to SIT! He did, and as he did he reached forward and crunched up Naissa’s bear! He sat most of the way home with a pout on his face and his arms crossing his chest.
When we got home he got to spend some time on the “thinking spot”. (which is like the naughty spot but you are ‘spose to “think” about where you're sitting and what you did or said to get you there) When he was released from the “thinking spot” I asked him why his pants were down at school if he wasn’t peeing on anything. He replied, “I had to go poop”. OMG!!! So he had been telling the truth the whole time! He didn’t pee on the tree! He pooped next to the tree!! I thought I would have a heart attack right then and there! OMG!!! I of course called Jim right away because I knew he wouldn’t want to be left out the loop. As I’m telling him about the poop, Isaac proudly blurts out “I WENT BIG POOP”! OMG!!! I told Jim he was gonna have to sneak into the school yard at night and pick up the poop because there are 6 preschool and Kindergarten classes that will be playing out there tomorrow and I don’t want some little girl who’s wearing her brand new Summer dress and sandals to get poop on them!! OMG!!! Can you imagine?!
Another victim of the "Can't Have Anything Nice" Syndrome. Now, Spiderman is not my kind of superhero, I'm not even sure if he falls in that category but because I don't know what else to call him he shall be called a superhero for the purpose of this blog. Spiderman was supposed to add a nice touch to the boy's room. They have Spiderman sheets and they had a Spiderman lamp up until 2 weeks ago when Spiderman's face was torn in half, hence destroying the lamp. I'm not quite sure what the story is on the Spiderman water globe other than Zack did it. So not only can I not have anything nice, the kids can't either.
You might be a Redneck if.... 
Leesha and Janine have been friends since 2nd grade. 
I tried to get a picture of Mr. Kuyper, the percussion instructor, but my camera focused in on the flowers instead!
I'm sorry to say I don't have a picture for the story I am about to share. You see last Sunday Jim went to Winco and LOCKED HIS KEYS IN THE CAR. He didn't call me because he didn't tell me he took my car and I was getting in the shower when he left. He instead called our friend Eddie, who didn't answer his phone. So he called Gary, who was at church and didn't answer it the first time. But when Jim called him a second time he thought something must be up so he answered it and God bless him, he told Jim he'd be right over. Gary picked Jim up and brought him home to get the other key to my car and then drove him back to get my car.
Friday night I get a call from Jim, who had gone up to Winco, telling me that Eddie will be coming by to pick up the other key because he has LOCKED HIS KEYS IN HIS TRUCK. I had him call Eddie back to tell him that I would take Jim the key. Thankfully Jade was home and kept an eye on her sibs so I didn't have to load everybody up.
So today I get a call....YES!! Jim has LOCKED HIS KEYS IN HIS TRUCK again, this time at Pep Boys. So once again I took Jim the other key and rescued his butt so he wouldn't have to call AAA and use up all our free "helps" in one week!!
Funny thing is, Jim has more than one hide-a-key....he just can't find them! So today before leaving Pep Boys, he had a couple more keys made! (lol!)
My very first zucchini grown in my own backyard! Funny, that right after I took this picture one of them went missing! I'm wondering if its fate was something like that of our eggs...which ended up cracked on our backyard fence and on the "grass".....hmmm.....?!?!
Zack had already left for school when I took this picture or his toes would've been in it too. This is an example of what happens when mom is gone. I didn't even know we had PURPLE nail polish. I KNOW we don't have polish REMOVER! I guess the kids will be wearing socks with their sandals until this wears off! LOL!!!
The next day we were visited by the biggest moth like critter I've seen. I've seen huge dragonflies and butterflies but not one of these. It was at least 3 inches across just sitting there. It too was encouraged to flitter about our house by our wonderful feline friends. Our cats must really love us, they are constantly showering us with gifts!
Zack and Mark
Bird Attack up on the looking deck....dropping bird bombs as we all ran away!
Overall it was a good trip. Zack sat with me on the way home and we both got in a good snooze. Unfortunately there were many Hermit Crab casualties, as several kids tried to sneak them onto the bus tied in bags of water.....no air! When it finally clicked that the crabs needed air, the kids put their heads together and decided to stuff the poor crabs into water bottles....filled with bottled water....and still no way for the crabs to get air because they were stuck floating in the non salt water! Some crabs were thrown back towards the water....from some 20+ feet up! Most of the other parents and even teachers just shrugged it off as no big deal! How sad! It was good to get home!
