Valentine's Day 2017

Every year the Kindergarten holds its Fairy Tale Ball on Valentine's Day. The kids dress up like their favorite fairy tale character and they have a Valentine's/Fairy Tale party and parade around the school. (No, literally. There's a parade.) Tess was super excited for this.

After much deliberation we decided she could be the princess from the Frog Prince fairy tale. She has sparklier, more princessy dresses, but this is the one she wanted to wear. The little jacket channels the current Queen Elizabeth, but the skirt says "I'm still a kindergarten girl who likes to twirl".

I made pipe cleaner crowns for her and the little frog, Blinker, whom I've had since my college days. He was the perfect accessory to the outfit. She also made her own princess necklace out of some beads I got for $1 at WalMart. Because princesses must know how to accessorize. (It was all I could do not to tell her which beads to string and when. They're a hot mess of big and little beads with no sense of order and it killed me, but I've learned a thing or two in my mothering career and one of the biggest is to just let things like that go.) Phew.

Isn't she darling? Very, very princessy.

I originally tried to get her to dress up as the pea from The Princess and the Pea, but it was a no go. (Ha.)

One of Tess's friends from church (Madi MacArthur) heart attacked Tess's door. Tess loved it. (I suspect the hearts will stay up for quite a while.)

On Valentine's Day, Lance and I had a romantic lunch date at Penn Station. Mainly because I had a really good coupon. Plus, they have malt vinegar to go on their fries, and I love that. Fries + vinegar + hot subs = totally Valentine's Day.

I made red velvet brownies with cream cheese frosting for dessert. I loved how red the batter was while mixing them.

Making the brownies turned out to be a mistake for two reasons: 1) They just weren't that good. But I should've known this because any brownie recipe that only calls for 4 ounces of chocolate is just not going to be that great. I mean, they're edible, but they're not something I'm going to make again. 2) The kids came home with so much candy that having a dessert was kind of redundant.

Okay, and I also gave them candy. I usually give them those little $1 boxes of gross chocolate that you get at WalMart, because they love the dorky sayings on them. "Funky Monkey" was the most coveted. But this year there was a nary a Funky Monkey to be had. So I got some little tin mailboxes from the Dollar Spot at Target, put their names on them (thank you, Cricut), put some candy and a Valentine from me in them and called it good. Tess was pleased, although the boys were all a little sad at the change in tradition. But c'mon, the candy I put in there was waaay better than that cheapo stuff.

Everybody got new books, too.

In case you can't see it, that's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. He just started the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so it might be a while before he reads this!

Tess got several Mercy Watson books. I love Mercy Watson - she's so cute! And Tess is getting proficient enough at reading that she could probably read them to herself now.

Josh got the first two Series of Unfortunate Events books. I knew this is the look he'd give, even though he totally said YES when I asked him if he would like to read these books. He claims no memory of this conversation. This happens every year and is a tradition I'd rather forgo. Alas, it seems to be here to stay. (I've caught him reading the first one. I also knew this would happen, which makes being patient with his orneriness a little easier.)

I never got a picture of my Valentine, or the perfume and chocolates he gave me. After we agreed no gifts. Drat. But that's okay, because I bought him a very romantic voltmeter. (Very handy, very practical, not something you ever think of until you actually need it. And we have recently needed one.) He also got a shirt that I ordered before Christmas that finally arrived just a couple of days ago. I had completely forgotten about it, and so had Lance. After 16+ years of marriage we can still surprise each other, if only because our memories are shot. :)

Oh, and Dad and Susie sent their annual singing card. There was much anticipation as I opened the envelope and pressed the button for the first time. How obnoxious would it be? Enough to bug siblings for the next 2 weeks? Noisy enough to scare people awake? It did not disappoint.

Cole's First Grade Animal Project

We survived another 1st grade animal project.

Cole chose to study polar bears, which I thought was cute because his nickname is Coler Bear. (From when he used to be so blond. But now his hair is turning dark, much to both our disappointment!)

The written part was rough. I had to bribe him with Smarties - one for each word written nicely. That boy HATES writing. It was no fun for anyone.

The visual project was a little more fun, but only just.

I knew there was no way he'd want to do a diorama or dress up or anything like that. The more scientific the better. A Venn Diagram seemed like the perfect solution. I drew the circles and glued the pictures and title; Cole did the rest (typing, cutting, gluing, glittering), much to his dismay. He couldn't believe he had to do it ALL. I'm such a mean mom.

The project was delivered to school yesterday. He was really quite pleased with himself, which is good. Let's hope projects over the next few years get a bit easier with this child. (I'm not holding my breath.)

Three 1st grade projects down, one to go. I can do this.

(For reference, here's Spencer's and Josh's projects.)

Fancy Nancy Book Parade

Yesterday was the school book parade. I had never been to one before because none of my boys have ever been the slightest bit interested in participating. But Tess, oh boy was she interested! And since this year they allowed students to just dress up as a book character I encouraged the idea. (In year's past you could only participate if you made a "float" with a wagon or something. No thanks.)

Tess decided she wanted to be Fancy Nancy, which was fine with me because it only required going around the house and finding the frilly, shiny stuff for her to wear!

I went to the school early to help Tess get dressed. (I didn't want her teacher to bare the burden of having to help her!) It was a good thing, because lots of those kindergartners needed help!

The parade was noisy and chaotic - about what you would expect. It was also pretty cute. Here's Tess and her friend Charlotte - who was also Fancy Nancy - at the end of the parade.

Tess liked her outfit, but declared she didn't really look like Fancy Nancy because she didn't have red curly hair. I tried to explain that because she's my daughter and probably carries my hair genes, her hair probably won't hold a curl until she has a few kids. And she won't have red hair until she can afford a good stylist. This did not make her feel better. So I also told her that she was extra cute and the best looking Fancy Nancy in the parade. And that it didn't matter what she ever looked like, she should just rock her look.

And so she did.

Tires

Cole's been something of a pill lately. And by pill I mean something of a jerk. And by lately I mean pretty much full time.

But every once in a blue moon a little bit of sweetness shines through his growly exterior.

He was on the floor sorting laundry and watching the tv in the kitchen. An ad for tires from WalMart came on.

Cole: Only $54 for a tire! I could buy you a tire.

Me: You'd buy me a tire? That's very nice.

Cole: Yeah. They're only $54 and I have that much allowance.

Me: Yep. But what would I do with one tire? There are 4 tires on the van.

Cole (thinking for a second): The other kids could buy you a tire, too. Because there's 4 kids. But maybe not Tess because I don't think she has that much money. Too bad. But I could buy you a tire.

A tire from Colie would be a fantastic Valentine!

Tessisms as of Late

Me: You are quite the snarky little lady today, Tess.
Tess: I'm not snarky! AND I'M NOT A LADY! I'm a sister.

Tess: What's "issues" mean?
Me: Um, usually issues are like problems.
Tess: Well, I've been having some real issues lately.

Me: Tess, calm down! What's the problem?
Tess: I just can't handle Cole anymore! He is too much for me.

(While watching a cheesy puppy documentary on Netflix.)
Tess: I wish I was one of those.
Me: What, a dog?
Tess (dreamily): Yeah...
Lance: What kind of dog would you be?
Tess: A fast one.

Tess (quite alarmed): I'm losing my noise!
Me: You're what now?
Tess (in a raspy voice): I'm losing my noise! My noise! My sound is gone!
Me: Oh, your voice. You're losing your voice?
Tess: Yeah, my noise is gone.

100th Day

Yesterday was the 100th day of school for this school year. Tess's class had all sorts of activities, including making this book. I thought her answers (and pictures) were very telling of her personality right now.

"I would eat 100 pizzas."

"I would not eat 100 pastas." (Notice mom's mean frown.)

"I wish I had 100 new toys."

"I do not want 100 old toys."

"If I had $100, I would buy toys." (Clearly, this girl likes her toys.)

"In 100 seconds I can hop 104 times, count to 108, write my name 16 times, blink 105 times."

Kindergarten is cute.

Purdue Jazz Festival

Today I chaperoned some of the Jazz Band kids at the Purdue Jazz Band festival. It was interesting! I still feel like a total band N00B, so all things band are still a bit of a mystery to me.

They started out by playing 3 of their songs for some judges. Only, they weren't judging - there were no prizes to be one. I don't know the word for these guys. They're REALLY into jazz and took lots of notes on each performance, and then gave the band a review on what they did well and what they could improve upon. (I must be tired. I cannot for the life of me think of their title. Oh well. You get what I mean, right?)

Spencer played piano for the first piece. He's getting so big!

Those are the reviewers in front of me. They'd talk into their little voice recorders and swing and bop to the music. They were REALLY into it. I mean, REALLY. For a middle school band. Those men were dedicated! (That's what you'd want, though, right?)

Here they are getting a little instruction. It was actually really interesting and made me realize how untrained my ear really is, at least as far as the intricacies of jazz music goes.

Spencer even got some one-on-one instruction! He's really learned a lot about music this year.

Afterwards, the kids all attended a session to learn more about jazz, so I wandered the Student Union, which is a pretty cool, if poorly designed, building. Its layout is just so weird! It was fun to see all the middle and high schoolers wandering around, so excited to be there.

We had a quick lunch in the Union basement and then went to the Purdue Jazz Band concert. It was pretty awesome. Okay, I'll admit I might have dozed off for a bit in the middle. But it was so warm in that concert hall, and the songs in the middle were so mellow and soothing. But I was totally awake for the more upbeat tunes!

It was fun to be with Spencer and watch him interact with his friends. These are all good kids. (Troublemakers aren't likely to put in the time and effort to be in Jazz Band, right?) I'm so glad Spencer gets to have experiences like this, and that I get to join him for some of them!