90/365 – Thur. 3/31/11 :: Weed War

Mark normally does almost all the yard work. He’d picked up weed treatments and such a few weeks ago, but the weather hadn’t cooperated (too windy), and then with his back, he hasn’t been able to get out and do any more. This means we now have a yard peppered with two-foot tall thistles, and it’s starting to look like the house is abandoned. So I spent an hour out pulling the biggest weeds this afternoon, with Kaylee as my assistant. We got about 90% of the front yard done, half filling our trash bin. While it’s a big improvement, now that the giant tree-like weeds are gone, the seventy gazillion six-inch weeds remaining are that much more obvious. :b

89/365 – Wed. 3/30/11 :: Mini-Mark

As one of the few spots he can sit comfortably with his back hurting, Mark has spent a lot of time in this chair with the laptop over the last few days. When Matthew needed to use the laptop for his homework, he promptly announced, “Look! I’m Daddy!” :)

88/365 – Tue. 3/29/11 :: Sentry

Random shot of the fire hydrant that stands watch on the corner where I wait for Kaylee’s bus.

87/365 – Mon. 3/28/11 :: Mornings are Rough

Matthew getting out of bed to get ready for school. I love the harsh blurriness of this photo – it matches the way we all feel on these early pre-dawn mornings. ;)

86/365 – Sun. 3/27/11 :: Back Pack

A large cold pack accidentally left behind by our visiting niece last month. Unfortunately it came in handy today; Mark hurt his back yesterday and was much worse this morning. We think it might be a herniated disc again. He had one about five years ago. So not fun. So much pain. Last time he ended up needing spinal cortisone injections. Fingers crossed that it’s not that bad this time.

85/365 – Sat. 3/26/11 :: Duet

Kaylee joined Matthew in his sax practice today, pulling out an old toy plastic sax. Matthew actually did try to teach her about the few different notes that the little toy could actually produce, but she was more interested in just hamming it up and pretending to play along. :)

84/365 – Fri. 3/25/11 :: Design Day

 

Spent the day doing design stuff for the next monthly ScrapDish Bits & Bytes release, turning paper towel tube slices into fun little flowers. Playing with cardboard and Photoshop… one of my favorite combinations. :)

83/365 – Thur. 3/24/11 :: Siblings

There are so many days that Matthew and Kaylee play so very well together. They have fun, are incredibly imaginative, are surprisingly kind to each other and seem to really enjoy being together.

Today was not one of those days. :b

82/365 – Wed. 3/23/11 :: Goal

Kaylee’s current favorite park activity is practicing throwing and punting this Nerf football. When Mark takes her, they play catch, but when I take her, she likes to throw it over the soccer goal. I think she knows she has a better shot of getting me to take her if I get to play with my camera. ;)

This tree is right along the sidewalk we take to get to the playground. I have no idea what kind it is, but right now with all these weird tufts of new growth all over it, it looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. :)

81/365 – Tue. 3/22/11 :: Procrasti-waiting

 

Matthew had a light night of homework and only had his sax practice left to do, but Kaylee was using the little portable timer (Matthew’s has disappeared again) for her reading, so he decided that rather than just going ahead and using the oven timer, he would relax, be silly, and wait for her to finish.

80/365 – Mon. 3/21/11 :: Fly

Love this random wild shot of Kaylee on the swings this afternoon – looks like she’s defying gravity. :)

79/365 – Sun. 3/20/11 :: Co-Authors

The kids often go in streaks of writing stories individually just for fun, typing them up in Word in “cool” (meaning rather large, odd, semi-legible) fonts and then adding in clip art or hand-illustrating the final printouts. There have been several epic tales composed during this Spring Break. After some exasperating bickering the last day or two over “stolen ideas”, the kids finally collaborated – first helping each other with storyline suggestions, and then working on one story together. :)

78/365 – Sat. 3/19/11 :: Dining al Mess-o

 

What to do when it’s getting late, no one’s had supper, and the table is drowning in a sea of paperwork being sorted in an attempt to hunt down stray documents needed for income taxes? Throw some leftover pizza in the speed cooker and set up the card table in the kitchen. Voila! A quick kid dinner with an exciting change of venue! ;)

77/365 – Fri. 3/18/11 :: Honey, I Shrunk the Tanks

Video game time over, Matthew was struggling with boredom and rejecting all suggested activities. Finally, he went and dug out his old military toys. The floor around my desk was covered with tanks and aircraft and one amusingly out-of-scale Ewok. :)

76/365 – Thu. 3/17/11 :: Hammer & Hopper

We had some movie passes to use, so we decided to take in a matinee together… sort of. The kids wanted to see different movies, so Mark and Matthew went to “Rango”, while Kaylee and I saw “Gnomeo & Juliet”. Both got thumbs up all around.

While we were waiting for our shows to start in opposite ends of the theater building, Mark snapped a pic of Matthew with Thor’s giant hammer, and I grabbed one of Kaylee with the “Hop” display. :)

75/365 – Wed. 3/16/11 :: Super Sweet

This is what happens when you let Kaylee go grocery shopping with Mark. Not just donuts, but a star-shaped donut with sprinkles and… gummy bears? Why does this look to me like someone in the  bakery brought their kids to work with them today?  LOL

74/365 – Tue. 3/15/11 :: Please, Mommy, Please?

Quiet evening home. Supper’s done. Chores are done. Mark’s out for magic club for the night. Kids pleading for a bit more video game time before bed. I’m super tired (darn time change messes me up every time).       Ok.    Go play.   :)

73/365 – Mon. 3/14/11 :: Things Are Getting Dicey

Spring Break Day 1. Mark had a job interview in the morning, and then it was a gamey afternoon again. This time the girls played Chutes & Ladders while the boys played Magic The Gathering. The grown-ups won all around. :)

72/365 – Sun. 3/13/11 :: Monopoly Schmonopoly

We played Nintendo Monopoly this afternoon, which is one of those games the kids love that I could do without. Money-related games in general just don’t do it for me, and even the short version of Monopoly seems to drag on forever. Sadly (ha-ha), I was the first to go bankrupt, and the kids kept ending up in jail (hmmmm). For some reason, Kaylee almost always wins, but today it was Mark’s turn to crush everyone big time.

71/365 – Sat. 3/12/11 :: Battle Foes

Somehow building “houses” from cushions and blankets in the family room turned into Kaylee deciding to be a knight defending her castle, which then turned into a campy improv battle film, and then a prequel with the “actors” doing some silly rehearsal. The kids have requested that I not upload the videos (at least right now), so you’ll just have to use your imagination. ;)

70/365 – Fri. 3/11/11 :: Spring Has Sprung

We have these trees sprinkled throughout our neighborhood. I think they are Bradford Pear trees. For a couple of weeks each spring, these white flowers are everywhere. I love it when the leaves have come out, but some of the flowers are still there. The green and white is so pretty. 

This particular tree was at the park. Kaylee had a half day of school (Matthew had a full day), so we dragged her along on our brisk walk around the perimeter on this very gusty day. She would have rather been on the playground, and actually later got in trouble for breaking away from us and running off to the playground on her own without permission. :b

69/365 – Thur. 3/10/11 :: Kaylee’s Open House

 

Tonight was Kaylee’s school’s open house. She’s been talking about it for a week – excited to show us everything, but nervous that she wouldn’t get all her assignments done in time. She brings work home every week, but they always save some of the most creative projects to show off at the open house, so it’s fun to see what she’s come up with. She does such cute illustrations, and her sense of humor really comes through in her writing.  :)

Kaylee’s teacher said Matthew and Kaylee look like twins. I guess I could see that…

When we went to see Kaylee’s math teacher, she also said “Oh, I never put this together,” meaning that the kids were siblings. She hadn’t been there when Matthew was in 3rd grade, but she was an advisor for a program he participated in last year mentoring the younger kids. Fortunately, she only had good things to say about both kids. :)

Since Kaylee’s school papers tend to disappear into a sea in her room, I wanted to feature a few of my favorites from tonight here while I have them. :)

First up is the folder she made to hold her papers for the open house…

I love the way she illustrated Six Flags, and I’m so honored to be admired along with her stuffed animals. LOL  She’s been saying she wants to be a rock star for a few years now, but it cracks me up that she added “rich” to her goal.

For this one, she was assigned to write a story about Chap Stick. So funny!

This next one was for math class. That’s a whole lot of cookies and candy!! :)

And another math one. Ms. George is Kaylee’s home room teacher; she has a different teacher for math. The turkey problem totally cracks me up.

This one was for “IC” (which I think stands for Integrated Curriculum, their mashup of social studies and science).

The story inside reads (her spelling and punctuation)…

My Pioneer Story

Juilet was a brave pioneer who set sail with her best friend, Samantha who was very wise. As they sailed through together they noticed a mighty shark with very sharp teeth. “RUN!” said Juilet. “Don’t just stand there. Dive!” screamed Samantha. Then Juilet ran to the supplies closet and ran back with a bee hive and a smile on her face. “I said dive not hive.” said Samantha as she dived into the shimering ocean. “Oh!” said Juilet. Than she dropped the bee hive and dived into the deep waters. As they escaped the terrifing shark they discovered a new land called Texas. “Who are you?” asked an american. “I’m Juilet, and this is my friend, Samantha.” yelled Juilet. “Why are you yelling?” asked Samantha. “Freeze!” said an american. “Please don’t hurt me.” said Juilet. “Everybody clap your hands.” said the american. That made Juilet and thought of a cool dance that made them famous and go on a dance show called Move it and they discovered new land and lived happily ever after!

THE END! . . . . . Ahhh! Mr. Corn!

And then, finally, a couple of really cool art projects…

This one she said she didn’t get to finish, but I think it looks awesome as is. :)

That’s it! A great snapshot of Kaylee in 3rd Grade. :)

68/365 – Wed. 3/9/11 :: Ritual

Kakuro. Sometimes sudoku or other number puzzles. But  usually only if I’ve run out of kakuro puzzles. In ink. Not that I don’t make mistakes. I just don’t like pencil on the paper they print puzzles on. If I make a mistake, I just write over it darker. Sometimes more than once. This is my bedtime ritual. Every night. Last thing before I go to sleep. Sometimes five minutes, sometimes an hour. Until that switch flips that won’t let me solve any more. Brain off, lights out. Good night.

67/365 – Tue. 3/8/11 :: How to Strike Fear in My Heart

What should have been a quick, simple Windows Update turned into about an hour of the computer unsuccessfully attempting to repair itself so it could start back up, until finally it gave up and shut itself down. The next attempt, while slow, booted with no problem, although I’m finding lots of little odd things… like my blog draft list having gone back in time about 25 posts, and my online backup seeming not to remember what it has already done.  Fun, fun, fun.

66/365 – Mon. 3/7/11 :: Poké-Mail

Matthew spotted a new Pokémon DS game in a TV ad last week, so new it hadn’t even been released yet, and he wanted to order it immediately. Mark found a good deal on Amazon, and Matthew decided to go for it. He was thrilled when it arrived this afternoon, a full week ahead of the earliest estimated delivery date on the order. :)

65/365 – Sun. 3/6/11 :: Look Mom, No Hands!

The kids went to another magic lecture with Mark this afternoon. They came home with these balloons that would somehow magically stick to the bottom of their arms! Amazing!

I think perhaps Kaylee’s hairstyle might give a small hint as to how this trick is done. ;)

64/365 – Sat. 3/5/11 :: Fairy Fashion

When I got up this morning, the recliner was full of these little dolls. Kaylee told me she’d been having them model and pose. Apparently, I’d missed the show; she had already moved on to other activities, abandoning the fairies in the giant chair. The poor things looked rather bored; I found them all just staring at the ceiling. ;)

63/365 – Fri. 3/4/11 :: Plan B

We rarely have fast food these days, and it was not the plan for tonight, but when we went to start tacos, we found that the new package of hamburger had leaked, making a huge mess in the refrigerator.  By the time we got it all cleaned up, it was late and cooking was not seeming like such an appealing option, so it was Mickey D’s to the rescue.  Thanks to a coupon Mark had, the four of us split two McFlurries (one Oreo, one M&M) for dessert. Yum! :)

62/365 – Thur. 3/3/11 :: Picto Plot

The kids retreated to the master bedroom after supper to watch TV and play a bit with their DSi’s. Kaylee was none too happy that I invaded their relaxation time, so she started PictoChatting ornery messages to Matthew, asking him to get rid of me. :b

61/365 – Wed. 3/2/11 :: Playground Paparazzi

I had to go over to Kaylee’s school today during recess to take a few “filler” pictures of her grade for her yearbook. I was totally dreading it, since I wasn’t sure how cooperative they’d be, and I only had a few minutes to get the shots I needed, but it actually turned out to be fun. What a bunch of hams! :)  I’ve never seen so many people begging to have their picture taken. I’d go to take a photo of two or three kids and all of a sudden there would be 20 in the shot. LOL 

Don’t want to cause trouble by posting pics of the kids here without permission, so this is Kaylee and a few of her classmates’ feet! :)

60/365 – Tue. 3/1/11 :: Chasing Butterflies

Nice warm afternoon, so I took Kaylee to the park for a bit after school. She spent most of the time chasing little yellow butterflies around the soccer field.