Makes my heart melt

HT has had a wretched day today. I suppose it must be because I'm the really mean Mom who asked him to clean his room. He bit JR on the neck earlier in the day (apparently I'm raising a vampire) and has thrown more than one all out tantrum. It's a little ridiculous at the age of 7, but he'll have plenty of time to think about that as he will be without TV the rest of the week and without his DS until school starts. Later in the day though, I was in the attic looking for some things, and he came in and asked if I needed help. I said I was about finished, but thanked him for offering and said to him, "You're a good boy." He replied to me, "You're a good mom." Oh, moments like that almost make all the ugly stuff disappear!

My little environmentalists

On Monday while we were running around like crazy people, we stopped to drop a dish off at my grandmother's house. She lives in a beautiful retirement community. She has lived there almost nine years, and I'll forever be thankful that she and Grandpa made the decision to move there when they did...it helped a great deal during Grandpa's final days and continues to be a wonderful source of socialization for Grandma. I also love visiting because it was built in the 1990's, and I knew the family that owned the farm before it became a retirement community. I have wonderful memories of climbing the trees and running through the fields, rolling down the hill out of the barn, and so many other wonderful childhood things. Anyway, Grandma had mentioned before that the tree in her front yard had been removed. Apparently the ash borer has done some damage, and the community is on a mission to stay on top of it. We were able to see them take out another tree, and JC exclaimed, "But they are taking down Mother Nature!" HT chimed in with "They are removing the birds' nesting spots, and owls' nesting spots, and squirrels' climbing spots!" I explained that the trees were sick and in order to save other trees they needed to be taken down. I thought it was so cute and sweet though, how much the kids cared!

Meet the teachers

Last night was Open House for the kids' schools. I remember being a kid and Open House always happened mid to late September, and it was an opportunity for the parents, and any community member, to venture into the schools and see what was being learned. Now though, it's become more of a "meet the teacher" night. JC is especially relieved to have met her teachers, and I think she's going to have a good year. I know that it helps that the teachers know me and I them, and that we can all communicate. HT is so excited about his teacher, but she did tell us last night that her doctors are wanting to induce her Monday so she would miss the first day. She would much prefer to be induced Tuesday night after the first day, but it will all work out...the sub she is going to have is wonderful and she already knows HT as well. JR did a very nice job of introducing himself to his teachers, and of course they all seemed nice. I'm hoping to get an opportunity to chat with them more throughout the year...I strongly believe in communication!

I know several additional people have signed up to be subs this year, but I'm not going to worry about how much I work. I'm hopeful I can work at least as much as last year, but I can't control it so we'll just have to go with the flow. There are plenty of things I can be doing around here if I'm not working! I think we are all really looking forward to the school year!

First football game

Saturday brought us to our first football game for JR. We love the fact that they play at the high school field which is just up the hill behind the schools. It was especially handy because the game started nearly an hour late, but we had friends who were able to text us and keep us posted. I'm VERY grateful we didn't have to spend an extra hour sitting out in the sun! Our team won 32-0, and JR was able to get in on three series in the second half. I thought he did just fine, and most importantly, he had FUN. Not sure how the next seven or so weeks are going to work out, but I'm glad that it's off to a good start and glad that he's finally having fun!

Hurricane Irene

We are all anxiously watching the weather forecast following the path of Hurricane Irene. For one thing, I know people who live in VA Beach, and I've never before really known anyone who was in the path of a hurricane before. And of course it's concerning to see that it's going to go up the east coast and hit the major metropolitan areas of either (or both!) Philadelphia or New York City. My heart is breaking though, as I watch the coverage directly from the Outer Banks of NC. I've seen coverage from Duck, which is our favorite place to stay when we are there. I've just learned they have issued mandatory evacuations for Dare County, and it just makes me sad. It's also a little eerie as I remember six years ago at almost exactly this time when everyone was following the impending arrival of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. I certainly pray that there is no where near the magnitude of destruction and devastation. The kids are also in tune with this particular hurricane since it is hitting our favorite vacation spot, and it's fresh since we were just there two months ago. They also have vivid memories of the remnants of Hurricane Ike that hit us almost three years ago and literally shut down the entire area (including schools!) for days, and in some places for over a week. Sending many prayers for the safety of everyone affected by this latest storm!

Boonshoft Museum

This afternoon I took our kids to the Boonshoft Museum, which is our local children's museum. We've had a membership there for years and it's well worth the money! We had taken JC and HT about a month ago while JR was at scout camp, but it was unbelievably crowded. Many schools have started and I wanted, in particular, to be able to return to Mindbender Mansion, an exhibit on loan from OMSI. This week is the last week it's going to be at Boonshoft. I was pleased that although the museum was somewhat crowded when we got there, it was mostly preschoolers who weren't going to be interested in what we wanted to see. We spent well over an hour trying to solve the puzzles and riddles, and I'm pleased that we actually were able to solve many! We also visited the remodeled zoo that is part of the museum, and the kids got to touch several starfish and other creatures in the tidal pool. The last area we hit was kind of a "play area" where there are slides and climbing nets, but also many other hands on activities that are completely science based. It was interesting to watch JR who had no interest in the slides or "just" playing. He was really enjoying the science experiments and activities that he was able to do. It's partly his age, I know, but it's also very much his personality. He loves science and trying to figure out how and why things do what they do! We could easily have stayed another hour and done some other activities there, but JR needed to get back for football practice. We had a fun afternoon!

Darn it

A few minutes ago, HT walked into the room and in an irritated tone said, "Darn it!" This "expletive" is fairly new for him. I asked him what was wrong and he replied, "one of my Pokemons fainted." This is on his DS game. He seems to be really into it! I was further amused when he announced, "I have a confused Pokemon." When it comes to those things, he has a confused mother as well...I just don't get it!