Some People's Kids...

Maddy sent me this pic a couple days ago.  Apparently she talks about Duke a lot at school and Robb said that she even has a framed pic of him on her classroom desk.  So one of her students and her mom painted Maddy these truly sweet pieces of art!

Leon said that the one on the left is Duke in the Savannah.  But Maddy said that it's Duke walking off into the sunset.  Isn't this the sweetest?

I wonder where she'll hang them.

THEN of course, there's Leon.

This is the Mother's Day picture that he made for his mom. lol!

And THIS is why he sleeps on our bedroom couch every once in a while...

He's had a rough couple weeks at school and Tuesday I had to have a text talk with one of his neighborhood "sometimes" friend's parent about an incident on the bus.  As a girl that Leon has adored all year was getting off the bus, Leon called out after her that he loves her.  The neighbor boy said, "Well, she doesn't love you back!"

and that's when and where things went horribly wrong.

We're working on temper control over here...

Throwing Noodles

Ryan and I went to Leon's Track and Field day yesterday. I got a call from Meri asking if she could come over too and she got permission from the high school to also.  Yay!  So those two are in sweatshirts on an 83 degree day... 

Well, it IS Iowa, so who knows from one minute to the next?...  

Leon was pretty thrilled that we were lined up at the fence to see him.  

First for him was the noodle throw.  Because who in their right mind would give a javelin to a kindergartner?...

I think he won in the kindergarten division!

Then he waited his turn for the long jump.

and waited...

FINALLY!

He wasn't too bad! 

Ryan started getting overheated, but we waited until Leon's 50 meter dash.  He eventually went up to the van and watched from there in the coolness of air conditioning.  About 8 kids at a time ran.  Leon's group started off and  he was in the tail.  He loped and jogged into last place.  I THOUGHT I had a video of it, but can't find it on my camera...  darn!  It was hilarious!

Kind of reminded me of Monty Python skit, but I won't say which one.
"as he loped into last place"...

Afterwards, Leon got to come home with us and he and his daddy had some bonding while I got back to work.

The painting continues.  The fence is a BEAST!  and my hands look like my mom's used to look... 
I always remember her fingernails covered with either paint or wood stain.  Of course, not ALL the time, but when I look at my hands, I think of her. 
Yep - we're related.

Busy like a Worm

We attended Leon's kindergarten program last night. 

We got there a little early to get good seats and his music teacher asked him to try out the microphones for size for them.  He's a star!

They were under STRICT orders by the teachers to NOT wave or yell hello to their parents. 

Maddy waved when she was in kindergarten and then looked like she was about to cry throughout and almost didn't use her clapper instrument like she was supposed to.  She thought she was going to get chewed out!  She didn't.

The program was based on farms and all the kids had to dress the part.  Leon got a new pair of mud boots, because what pig farmer wouldn't have a pair of THOSE?!  And if he isn't a pig farmer, still... you don't want to get mud all over your snazzy cowboy boots!

Some kids parents didn't get the memo.  I almost dressed him in his suit from the wedding until I read the note that came home with him...

I guess he would have worked for a corporate farm.

This was one of Leon's favorite songs.  As you could tell he wasn't just mouthing fake words...

He's the one on the far left, third row up, with the ironed plaid shirt and a green kerchief.

I was too close to get a video of the whole group, but that is a BUNCH of kindergartners!

There is still spike glue in his hair...  It hasn't all washed out yet.  Amazing stuff.

HEY!  Appliance update.  The toilet is fixed now and has the bidet installed FINALLY, but the dish washer has parts on order and I've got another week and a half of washing by hand. shoot.  AND the dryer still isn't fixed.  Not sure how many more parts there even ARE in that thing to switch out, unless there is a bad cable or one of the parts I ordered was damaged.  I guess I'll do some research today.  As it stands, it still takes 4-5 dryer cycles to dry a load of clothes.  Sometimes it feels warm on the clothes and sometimes not.  SOMETHING is not right...

Got a little more raking done yesterday and another load taken out to the yard waste place.  It's too windy today, so I'll spend my lunch hour doing something else.

Maybe paint a ceiling? hmmm....

Hip Hop Woman

Busy morning so far!  I've been on my toes all day.  I had to work from town for a while and why not at my favorite hippy, yuppy coffee place with the fireplace and java choco shakes??!  

I felt young and hip.

On my way home, Ryan called and said that I'd forgotten to put Leon's lunch box in his bookbag.  Whoops.  He can't eat shrimp shapes they're serving today or he'll vomit!  So I dashed home, grabbed it and a salad for my lunch and met up with Leon at the school for a bite.  

I found the kids in his class washing their hands but didn't see him right away.  THEN found him working on school work with tears in his eyes.  He had been dragging his feet today...  sigh.  First grade is going to be even tougher on this kid!

At lunch, I found that Leon is the lunch instigator.  He coordinated all the kids sitting around us to tell spooky stories while eating.  Cats scared people and there was a spooky dog.  Those were the main gists of the stories.  No real meat...  or beginning, ends or even a plot.

But it was my turn and why not tell a successful one like my nephew Thomas did when he was 4 and trying to fit in with all the spooky kid stories around a campfire?  

"There was a a a a man!  And an an then, a tiger jumped out of a tree and ET IM!"

Ver.ba.tim.

I told it to these kids and they ate it up.  I didn't stammer around as much though, so that might have been even more effective.

But whatever... I'm the popular, young, hip grandma that can open your bag of pretzels...

There Will Be Tears

 The first day of Leon's kindergarten year. 

The first day of Meri's Senior year.

I was up at the crack of dawn, sitting for 30 minutes at the wrong venue before I found out the mother's were setting up elsewhere.  So I dashed over there and got assigned drink pouring duty. And apparently the Tigger/Pooh waffle iron was just too cute to use...  I'm batting a zero so far.

BUT I got some good shots of Meri and her friends at the Senior breakfast and got to talk to a few moms that had kids the same ages as mine.

Then all the Seniors gathered outside the high school for the class picture.  I scanned the kid's faces looking for my Meri and didn't see her at all.  So I called her.  

She was inside with some friends taking pictures there...

She and Perla were wearing crowns.  Don't you have all DAY for that??

So with her almost in tears for missing the BIG pic of the year and me for having missed her being in it, I got this one.  

Anyone know how to photo shop them into the big one?  sigh...

Then I hightailed it over to the elementary school, a whole 3 blocks away and got to see Leon sitting with his classmates before they headed back to the kindergarten room.

I'm sitting at my desk now about to melt into tears of all kinds.  It's going to be a rough day.