Molding Young Minds

...that's what I am all about. And a little free labor is good, too. Our boys' usual after-school care doesnt start for another few days so I have had some bonus time with my boys after school. Bonus time that I am *trying* to spend without TV. That's hard to do since the ankle is hurting by the afternoon, so we do have to sit and cuddle with a little afternoon show (or two), but mostly we are keeping busy.

How, you ask?

Well, C does like having the house "nice and clean", he's told me, so I told him that he can assist with that. And then G wanted in on the fun, so this was the scene yesterday.

They loved it, though I should note that towards the end of the cleaning session there was a lot more spraying than there was wiping and we may have had a few Windex rivers running down the wall trim. Today after school we are cleaning the upstairs bathrooms. I am a FUN Momma ;-)

Once the downstairs was "nice and clean" AKA they were bored with that task, we moved on to a little mental labor.

We circled the largest item in each row and colored said item, and we did this with no problem. We completed the whole page, despite protests, and then moved on to doing one page of letters. Now I might be a drill sergeant but I did let them each pick which letter they wanted to do. G picked "D" and C picked "B". I have no idea why those letters. Things were going fairly well until someone got a little sloppy and needed a spot of refocusing. Wait no, I thought he needed refocusing. He disagreed.

I had "hurt his feelings". OH LAWDY. It seems in our efforts to raise emotionally intelligent boys we have created a mini monster. Any constructive criticism now hurts the feelings. And you WILL be told when you do such a thing. So a quick conversation about learning vs. getting upset about everything later, we were back on track.

I should say, G was back on track, someone else was on track the entire time. In the zone!

After our "D" and "B" pages, we were done, I was told, and we "had to take a little rest". Which I was happy about so I could prep dinner.

I prepped dinner AND explred the teacher folders that came home in their backpacks. OOOOOH, I am so excited about these! No really, I am, no sarcasm. I love me some school.



Phew, people.

So we all survived the first day of pre-K. Phew! I looked at the clock all day, and then would check theschedule. Then the clock, then the schedule. And finally it was time to take my place in the "car-riders pick-up line". See how fast I pick up the school lingo? That's right, we all got some smarts.

Here here is where I am when school lets out. In a long line of other parents. 

And since I did not come empty handed I had a good 12 minutes to consider eating one of these as I waited for the line to creep along. I was able to resist and the boys got their first day of school treat, dont you worry.

And the line kept creeping. Faster than expected, really, so I pretended I was in Nascar and turning a sharp corner. Or are all the Nascar corners the same? Here I am, coming on the outside, rounding out around the playground. Or something.

Oh! In the homestretch, here comes Momma, babies! That building there holds the chillen.

And I meant to get a pic of them coming out but I was too excited. They were excited too*

*seemed complete calm, like they do this everyday.

So we got home and I asked if we could redo the morning picture, given that we were all now happy from our lollipop treats. I was granted my wish.

Apparently I need to work on my communication skills because "repeat the picture" meant to them that I wanted them to 1) clutch a Star Wars lunchbox (told you he loves that thing) and 2) hold the sign that says "pre-K" sideways. Yes, maybe its a bit much to expect him to hold it properly considering he cant read, but come on, work with me here.

In between the pic above and the ones below there are at least a dozen out-take pics. And then finally we warmed up to the camera. That's right boys, give momma some good shots.

Now that's more like it. And I didn't even have to threaten them to get these. Score.

It's Begun

Y'all, its been so long since I've logged into Blogger that I forgot my password. I know, right, I KNOW. But we're aiming to get back to a normal, non-broken-ankle, non-traveling-husband, regular routine. Wish us luck with that. Most significant part of our new routine involves a big boy school. Yikes! That's right, our boys are off to pre-K. And a pre-K that is housed in a real elementary school, no less. They have been so excited about this, but unfortunately the excitement really does not show here. Here we see two tired boys who woke up too early because they are excited and now one of them is cranky.

He perked up after the picture, so don't worry about him being upset about school. I think he was most excited about having his own Star Wars lunchbox --as a sidenote, where did he learn about Star Wars?-- and that the lunchbox was filled with "so many things!".

Another hour and I get to pick them up!

Interview

A quick interview today for you. When the camera turns on the boys get a little silly and their speech sounds more baby-ish, but you'll get the drift.


My voice sounds weird. Let's pretend its the pain meds.

Scenes from being stuck on the couch.

Dear blogland, I must like you a lot if I am sharing these pics with you...

Also, Keith forced me to watch Swamp People. Help me people, help me.