When I was cleaning out my closet this week I found this sweater… The last time I wore it was my first Raleigh New Year’s Eve.
Year: 2015
Anyone else hate doing art projects with their kids?
Owen’s pieces usually start out decent enough but then he keeps adding stuff and adding stuff and adding stuff and soon it’s unrecognizable. I realize a first grade project isn’t a big deal but my OCD can’t handle it.
This is disguising Tom Turkey so the farmer can’t find him for Thanksgiving dinner.
- There was one zig-zag string of lights and it was perfect…and then he just off and scribbles on another zig-zag strand on the side.
- I thought the yellow star on top was good…then he decided to color it green.
Maybe I need to start drinking wine again…
I love finding treasures like this in coat pockets.
Veteran’s Day Part 2
The school posted a slew of pictures on Facebook from the assembly today and I snagged these:
I knew from some of the faces it was Owen’s class but it took me a minute to find…his head. 🙂
Two of the three marines in the audience (they played each branches song while the appropriate members stood up).
And lookie here. 🙂
Flu shots for three!
We finally made it in for flu shots at the hospital this morning! I figured what better morning than the morning when we were all already up and showered by 7:15. :/
Owen was adamant about not wanting the shot so got the mist. Katie probably could have gotten the mist but one of the rules is you had to keep your hands completely out of your face all day and we weren’t sure she could do that…so she got the shot. She squawked for the 1.3 seconds it took and then she was fine. Owen made more of a stink about the mist than Katie did about her shot! He knew it wasn’t a shot but he just gets himself so worked up over nothing it’s silly. And then when it’s over and it was no big deal, he acts like he knew it was no big deal the whole time. Kids.
Katie showing Owen her band-aid. (As she repeated many times: “Mama and me got band-aids because we got shots. Owen got drops.”)
Enjoying her stickers:
I’m a monster, I know.
I wanted to throttle both kids by 6:45am.
Owen went downstairs to play on the iPad—which he knows he’s not supposed to do. And then got mad at me when he got in trouble for it. (I’m a monster, I know.)
Katie had wandered around this morning and gone downstairs to find Owen and consequently couldn’t make it to the potty in time (when it was actually time) so peed all over the stool and the rug and her PJs…and screamed when I took her PJs off because she still wanted to wear them. (I’m a monster, I know.)
Owen had tried to clean up the pee—with toilet paper, so it was a sopping mess (but at least he tried!)—but after I dumped the TP I tried to clean the stool off in the tub but Owen had left the shower knob on so I got a head and shoulders full of water instead (which normally wouldn’t have been too awful but my hair is currently straightened so that messes that up).
Needless to say I lost my shit just a little bit. Dealing with that crap is never fun, but even less so before 7am.
Walking and watching
Katie loves to bounce in the bounce house…except she wants you to watch her. 🙂 So whenever I walk on the treadmill, she bounces. She’s actually a riot to watch—with jumps and kicks and tossing big soft things around. Tonight she had to run and get her bear so they could jump together.
Afterward, heading upstairs:
Me: Katie, you did awesome in there!
Katie: I know, I had awesome kicks!
My little puzzle girl
We were at the library and I was looking for books for Owen while Katie was looking at toddler books. I came back a few minutes later to this:
She had found the puzzles and decided to do it right there! 🙂
Gym Birthday Party
Of course we were there early, so we waited in the car for a few minutes.
They got to start playing before anyone else got there:
And then it got a little chaotic with 20 kids…but we got to stay out of the crazy and visit with the other parents (and I really hit it off with another mom—which was a bonus!). The end of the party had everyone zip lining which they all loved!
Sunday Swim
The kids’ lessons are progressing nicely…but today we just get a video of Katie going down the slide during play time. It’s funny—last week was the first week she was even somewhat interested, and one of the instructors made sure to help her climb up and wanted to wait for her at the bottom of the slide. I had to tell them she’s an old hat at big slides and they didn’t need to worry! She showed them today!
Owen helping her up the first time:
Naturally Slim Update
As you know, I’ve had a few off weeks (no loss or slight gain) but I’m still thrilled beyond belief. I should still hopefully reach my goal of 100# by Christmas.
2015 USMC Birthday Ball
The evening didn’t start off on the right foot—Tom had requested a King room and we didn’t get it, even though we reserved the room way back in June. And no one along the way let us know, either, so it was QUITE the shock walking into a room with two Queen beds. ESPECIALLY at the price we were paying…
We had been planning on going out with friends for a quick bite at a nearby restaurant before the ball since we knew dinner wasn’t going to be until probably 8 or 8:30 (it comes at the end of the program)…but that got nixed when A) both guys realized they forgot their cover (which meant they couldn’t walk outside in their uniform) and B) the other couple was stuck in traffic (it only took us 25 minutes to get there because it was earlier in the day). So…Tom and I just hung out, stewed a bit about the room, and then we started getting ready.
We clean up well!
Going back to watching football. 🙂
Wearing Marsha’s jewelry!
And then our friends arrived! As I said on Facebook: Fourteen years in the Corps, best friends with these guys for 12…FINALLY getting to attend a ball together! Priceless!
The list of events:
The walkway in:
As luck (?) would have it, the National Harbor Tree Lighting ceremony was the same evening right down the street (with many events, booths, live music, movie screenings, etc., on the waterfront). It was bad for us because it created the traffic jam…but we got to watch the fireworks during happy hour! Happy Jenny!
We typically get photos done beforehand (when my makeup is still fresh!) but by the time we made it down to happy hour, the line was CRAZY long. So we were just wandering around, and stopped to take a picture with two of the “olden day” marines.
The event was supposed to officially start at 7:30, but as people were starting to file in to take their seats, they announced that there would be a 45-minute delay. We didn’t get a reason, but we were all pretty sure one of the guests of honor was late due to traffic. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but that also meant dinner was pushed back another 45 minutes. Egads. Remember how we were going to eat but didn’t? Yeah. BUT! Since everyone had started walking in to the ballroom, the photo line was almost empty so we made a beeline! WOOHOO!
Since we don’t really ever display our ball photos (where we’d want just US in the picture) we decided we wanted to take them with our good friends! They thought it was a great idea, too! The bonus is that technology has advanced a lot since our first ball…and we got to pick the two best pictures and then the digital files were emailed and in my inbox before bed! LOVE IT!
So we were discussing how huge the ball was and how we couldn’t believe that we hadn’t seen anyone we knew…and that it was way too crowded for us (we’re guessing about 3000 people—the highest table number I saw was 268 and there were 10 people to a table) but it was the Commandant’s Ball and you never know who you’re going to run into…so while James L. Jones, Jr. (former Commandant of the USMC and United States National Security Advisor) was speaking, he introduced a marine congressman—the Honorable Seth Moulton. WAIT. WHAT?! Tom and I looked at each other. WE KNOW HIM! Tom went to TBS with him! We knew he had become a congressman, but of course we had no idea he was going to be here! And then yep, there he was, right next to the speaker! We knew that as soon as we had the chance, we’d beeline over there to see him!
Later during his speech, he mentioned Kyle Carpenter and I was like HEY! I KNOW THAT NAME, TOO! (He is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient.) I saw him as we were approaching the congressman, so I surreptitiously snapped a photo.
And Seth (the congressman) and Tom…
And then I had to do this when we got home—if only we had them standing on opposite sides! Then (2002) and now:
And then as we were walking back to our table, I got a text from a neighbor, Christi, saying “I just saw you and Tom walk by! I didn’t know you were going to be here!” So we went back during dinner and chatted for a few minutes!
We finally got to eat dinner around 9:30 (!) so by the time all the courses were done, it was after 10:30! I had wanted to at least dance to one slow song, but there were SO many people and the dance floor was SO small we couldn’t even make it there (people were even dancing between the tables!). 🙁 We had thought we’d have a night of dancing and partying with our friends, but since we were at two different tables half a room apart, we didn’t get to do any of that. At least we got to hang out beforehand and got our pictures taken together!
So overall, while this ball was nice, we agreed that it was NOT worth the cost ($200 room, $200 tickets, $150 sitter, $200 dress/our alterations/hair, and $50 for four stupid drinks)—and while a nice gesture, the token gift we received was not our favorite—a paperweight that didn’t even look like 240 (Owen even looked at it and asked why it said “210”):
We’re currently unsure what we’ll do next year.
Today’s new dress
Today’s “new” dress (hand-me-down from Lisa Len-Beson). She loves it, of course! (And this is typically what her hair looks like on a daily basis.)
Katie & Cayenne
Kitchen helper
I was making Tom two different kinds of rice pudding and Katie wanted to help. She tired of actually helping stir after about six seconds, so she did her own cooking instead.
Throwback Thursday—I’ll never forget this.
Do you know what it is?
It’s from my grandparent’s screen door in Bay City.
I remember when we were cleaning out the house after my grandpa died I mentioned something to someone about keeping the door or at least the L…but I could only stay for a day or so before I had to head back home to North Carolina so I never knew (or asked) what happened to it.
Until today, when I posted it on Facebook. My mom said that the people who bought the house back then only recently replaced it…so someone in our family could have gotten it. Dang.
Snuggles with daddy
Ha! Just kidding! I’m not sleeping!
One thing led to another…
I didn’t plan on making a double batch of spaghetti sauce today, but I had onions that needed to be cooked and, well, one thing led to another.
Frozen Painting
They had paint kits at the dollar store so Katie picked Frozen (and we got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Owen).
After she finished the two designs in the kit, she did her own free form piece (which I like the best). 🙂
Veteran’s Day
We all went to the Veteran’s Day Assembly at Owen’s school. It was very nice, and each of the grades performed either a song or poem. During one of the songs, every child who had a military family member stood up and waved a sign that said “Thank you, Service Members!” (This is a photo from a random person on Facebook.)
We were a bit too far back to see well, so it wasn’t until afterwards we learned that Owen didn’t stand up…because he was shy. Poor kid. It wasn’t like he was the only one, either—there were probably (conservatively) 50 other kids standing up, too.
This was what he brought home from school:
Perfect playground attire, right?
I made her change out of her dress and tights, but she still had to wear a tutu. We could only find those two Crocs. And she had to take her purse. I love it!
Dancing after lunch
We went to Outback for lunch since daddy was home and we were out running errands. We were waiting outside since it was taking forever for the check and Katie was restless.
Katie’s new hair!
And cropped to better see the hair:
And then, of course, crazy faces. 🙂
Katie is 3 years 4 months today!
(And still not a good hair picture since we didn’t wash it this morning.)
1st Grade Veteran’s Day Assembly project
Owen’s teacher emailed me last night to see if I could help with a class project today for the Veteran’s Day assembly on Wednesday. It was last minute but she thought maybe I could do it since I was already going to be in the classroom (for a makeup P/T conference). I quickly agreed because I like helping out—and I could bring Katie. 🙂 She said she’d let me know what the project was when I got there.
Hoo boy, LOL.
It wasn’t just a CLASS project, but a GRADE project. An ART project. Where I had to paint everyone’s hands to make the stripes on a flag. And stick their name stickers on as well. So, around 100 kids 2-10 at a time in a hallway…ON MY KNEES the whole time.
I gave up control of hand placement on about the fourth red hand, LOL.
I had on the wrong clothes—a tank with a swingy top which kept flapping about getting close to the paint (washable, of course, but still…I’d have worn something different if I knew I’d be painting).
I had the wrong hair—I wore it down, but with all the moving around and kids and close quarters and paint…I would have worn it up.
And my knees. My poor, old, broken knees. I can barely deal with kneeling for five minutes, let alone an hour. I wouldn’t have said no even if I knew, so it doesn’t really matter…I’m just lamenting my old knees and how I took some strong drugs and am currently writing this entry sitting with my feet up because it hurts to walk. 🙂
It was fun overall (though a bit messy and chaotic), some kids recognized me as Owen’s mom, the teachers really appreciated me being there, it turned out cute, and I was too busy to worry about Katie but Mrs. Talley said she was just fine…and I walked in after to see Katie just sitting with the kids (not even with Owee!) watching the math lesson. 🙂
First 1st grade P/T conference
On the way in, we stopped to see Owen’s Hero submission for Veteran’s Day in the main hallway:
Overall, Owen is doing great!
He’s ahead in reading—she said she’s had to keep moving him up levels! He’s currently on Level 8 (levels are much different than back in our day) and needs to be at Level 16 by the end of the year…which his teacher said she wasn’t worried about at all.
He’s doing well in math—he got 13/14 on a recent makeup test from the week he missed (but she didn’t give him any instruction like the rest of the class had). And the question he got wrong he just didn’t pay close attention to the instructions because he was likely going too fast (it was 4 + 2 = ___ + 3 and he wrote 6).
He’s also doing well in social studies, science, and writing—and I got to quickly look at his journals.
He uses his time well (an improvement from kindergarten) and behaves in class.
His teacher said he had no major areas that needed improvement (yay!)—just basic (expected) things like using upper/lower case consistently and correctly, spacing between words when writing, etc…all stuff we know and are working on.
And we got a list of questions we need to ask when he does his daily reading to help prepare him for the state testing at the end of the year (like Who was the main character? What happened first?) as well as more critical thinking like this:
Katie’s first haircut!
Though I’d recently been thinking about getting Katie’s hair trimmed, I hadn’t yet gone through with it. But, when we ended up across the way from a kids’ cut place (Cartoon Cuts) at the mall, we asked if she wanted to get her hair cut and she said yes!
And she did amazing! It helped, I’m sure, that she got to watch cartoons the whole time! 🙂
He blow-dried it which made it look completely unlike her normal self, and of course, we couldn’t get her to pose for a decent pic.
The neat thing about an actual kids’ place? I got this automatically. 🙂
Then it was off to the bouncy place—her treat for being a good girl during the haircut.
This was the photo attempt at home:
So I’ll have to get a better one tomorrow. 🙂
Dear strong-willed child…
I know she’d be thrilled.
So, while we were cleaning out Marsha’s apartment, I found two $50 QVC e-gift cards (from us and Tom’s brother, from maybe 2012 or so)—I took them with me to check if they’d been used. They hadn’t. So I had a $100 credit. The next day, I found a manila folder with three more QVC gift cards…dating back to—ARE YOU READY?!—2008!! I was sure they’d had to have been used because she LOVED the silver jewelry from QVC and had a lot of it…but grabbed them anyway just in case.
So fast forward to last night when I was putting away all the jewelry pieces of hers that I had chosen (for me and Katie) and I realized that my jewelry box just wasn’t big enough—I just didn’t have the space for mine plus hers (she had A LOT of jewelry and I had picked quite a bit, though it was still a fraction of what she actually had). I then realized that I have jewelry in a box, in a hanging case, in a drawer, and in random spots around the bedroom…and that that’s kinda silly and I’d actually get good use out of a standing armoire.
I ended up at QVC because I vaguely remembered wanting one from there years ago…and they had EXACTLY what I wanted…on clearance…with free shipping! It was more than I’d wanted to pay, but not bad considering what other ones cost and that it would last me the rest of my life. Tom agreed I could get it so I dug out the folder of QVC gift cards to check their balance. And none of the three had been used. NONE! So I had another $95 credit! So after almost $200 credit, I owed about $65.
So…Marsha unknowingly bought me the perfect Christmas gift—something I loved, wanted, and needed—that could house all the great jewelry I got from her…and I know she’d be thrilled.
Owen is leading us into war.
With a ruler for a sword, of course, because that’s what he picked to bring today. 🙂
And a shot of his new haircut, courtesy of daddy this afternoon.
