Fantastic Number 9

"Nine nine nine
Fantastic number nine
It’s perfectly consistent
It works out every time
Nine nine nine
That crazy number nine
Times any number you can find
It all comes back to nine." --Square One Television  (And yes this math trick works, I use it all the time in long division.  Thank you Public Television.)

My boy is nine! Nine!  Every time I say it, I start singing the above song.  Today was Linus' chillest birthday ever.  He didn't have a lot of requests.  In fact, even just a week before he didn't really know what he wanted other than breakfast in bed, Kraft mac n cheese for dinner, and dirt for dessert.

Despite his lack of enthusiasm, Linus woke up in the best of moods.  He had a great day at school.   Back home there was free screen time.  Free screen time? Best.Day.Ever.  

While waiting for the noodles to cook we opened presents.  Linus was shocked/elated that I picked out the just right deck builder set for Magic the Gathering.  Somehow Robin went shopping by himself and bought Linus a LEGO set...  My favorite gift I got him was a Feisty Pet.  The moment I knew these I existed, I felt Linus needed one.  I'm happy to say he feels the same way.  Do you see the pure joy?

We ate Kraft mac cheese, I graded some papers, Eileen did her homework.  My mom came over and brought Linus a card and gift--a gift card for books for his Kindle.  We dined on Linus' favorite seasonal treat--dirt.  Linus did the "RIP" on the gravestones himself.  I'm pleased to announce that vanilla almond milk is a pretty good substitute for regular milk in pudding.

We finished the night ordered books on Amazon.  There was the perfect amount to buy all 3 Dogman books as well as pre-order the newest Dogman book and Diary of a Wimpy Kid book.  Linus rushed off to bed to read.

At nine years old, Linus is full of drive, feelings, and stubbornness.  He loves school, except when he hates it.  He loves his family, except when he hates it.  He loves pretty much any activity, except when he hates it.  

No matter what Linus loves babies and small children (he is so good with them), drawing, swimming (but not so much swim team), boy scouts, Magic the Gathering, and soccer.  He has a good crew of friends.  He likes being able to just hang out, relax, and get cozy.  Linus understands why blustery, rainy days are awesome and is a great partner for movie watching.   He has an incredible sense of adventure.

Linus is star student this week.  One of the days is read a letter from your parents about why you are a star.  Normally, I'm the one who gets to do this sort of thing, but I decided it was finally Dave's turn.   He whined at first, but then wrote the best Star Student letter in the history of 3rd Grade.  

Happy Birthday to our sometimes smelly Star.

From the Mouths of Babes in October (and a few pics)

Eileen is at the table.  She realizes she forgot something she needs.  Eileen gets up, goes, and gets it herself.
Eileen:  Look! I'm being my own problem solver!

Robin: (whispers) I'm going to tell you something.
Me:  Okay. What?
Robin:  I'm going to poop.

Robin: How we gonna do this?  (getting out of the car and it's pelting rain)

Eileen:  Everyone knows vampires grow fangs when they're five.

Eileen:  I love you Mama.  I encourage you to give me hugs and kisses.  (a constant phrase said by me is "Don't encourage him!)

The Official School Pics 2017-2018

Pre-3

1st grade

3rd Grade

6th Grade

Other Random October Pics

Robin learned to play board games.  He destroyed them in Monopoly.

3rd grade soccer

New couch snuggles

30-older

It's my birthday today.  I always feel kind of weird announcing it.  I mean, all I did was get born.  And it seems a little immature to expect special treatment because of it.  That said,  it's still nice to be acknowledged.  I also have 3 kids and with the advent of Facebook, secrets are not easily kept. 

This morning my principal visited my classroom in the morning to greet the kids (as he often does) and Eileen informed him that it was my birthday. He asked what the kids gave me and I responded, "They got dressed."  When you're a parent things like not dragging three kids out of bed and out the door are precious gifts.

Eileen's birthday revelation seemed to set off a cascading effect.  I went about my morning teaching like normal and then took my students down for lunch.  I had lunch duty.  I didn't beg off because it was my birthday.  As I watched the clock slowly creep towards lunch clean up, the principal appeared downstairs.  I noticed him chatting with a few different kids, but assumed it was just student council.  Next thing I know my principal is leading the entire middle school in a round of "Happy Birthday."  Normally, I loathe being sung to, but I made an except today.  My principal offered to finished my lunch duty (right before the worst part).  I gladly accepted and ran away.  Thanks Rick!

Later in the afternoon as I was working away during recess my partner teacher asked if I needed anything.  I said I'd love coffee.  Not only did he bring me back a latte, but some Milk Duds as well.  This guy gets me.

Soccer practice was cancelled so I only had to get the kids to swim lessons.  I came home and found a present from my parents (a wine sectional grocery tote, stocked with wine) along with a very pretty vase that had belonged to my grandmother filled with flowers.  Good job parents.

I came home from swim lessons to find Dave making dinner (it wasn't quite what I had in mind, but still delicious), a gorgeous bouquet, and milk chocolate toffee candies.  Dave handled the bulk of child rearing for the evening while I withdrew to my mom cave, aka my bedroom.  I watched shows on Hulu with the fireplace on and my favorite candle burning.

I came down for dessert (warm brownies and vanilla ice cream).  I admit that after the kids went to bed I had a second bowl.  I am weak.

I suppose my present this year is a brand new couch that arrived the day before yesterday.  We've been down a couch since Robin used the old one as a potty training receptacle.  I also bought plane tickets so that Eileen and I can visit friends in Nebraska next month.

A student asked me how old I was.  I told her, "30-older."  I'm no longer early thirties or mid-thirties.  So 30-older it is.

30-older.  You can't tell but I'm rocking a nice messy bun. My friend, Kate, showed me the trick last week of how to do it.  I'm surprisingly okay with my aging.  After attempting to let myself age gracefully, I dyed my hair upon Eileen's request.  I'm so glad I did.  I didn't expect it to make me feel more vibrant but it did!

Eileen was full of so much love and hugs today.  While I was taking her brother to preschool, Eileen made me a heart that said happy b-day and signed it from her and her brothers.  Eileen got to go to the pumpkin patch today.  She was so excited. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I think it set the stage for a good day.  It wasn't fancy, but it might have been one of my best birthdays in a while.

Nunsense

Our house has many great costumes that we have accumulated over the years.  The key is to choose costumes that are unique and yet timeless, and most especially well crafted.  I have found Ebay to be an excellent resource.  It's also helpful to have friends who gift you their stash of costumes when they pack up and move across the country (thanks Heather!).  And sometimes the opportunity presents itself to add to your costume collection and you just have to seize it.

Every year the school staff offers a large themed party as an auction item.  This year the theme was a sock hop.  I regret giving away my poodle skirt from middle school, but I didn't really feel like getting a new one.  Multiple staff members got Pink Ladies jackets off of Amazon (and looked awesome).  I opted to not do my best Fonzi despite having a switch blade comb.  I thought to myself: Catholic school, school cafeteria, dance.  It was a no brainer.  I needed a nun costume.  I figure if I'm going to be in the Catholic school system for a while, I will get some serious mileage out of a nun costume.

I think I can safely say that Sister Perpetua Agony was a big hit.  As a math teacher, I had easy access to a wooden ruler.

I enjoyed myself.  Thanks to my own experience if Catholic school dances and weddings, I was able to provide instruction on how to dance "The Stroll."

I almost didn't make it to the dance.  After being in Teacher In-service all day, Dave called to tell me Robin was sick with an ear infection.  Robin had not slept the night before (and neither had we) due to his ears.  I came home to find Robin's left ear (the one with an unusually small canal) leaking copious amounts of yuckiness and his jammies strewn with nastiness from his ear.  With my nun costume in the car, I took Robin to the Urgent Care.  While there were hardly any people there, it was a loooooooooooong wait.  

Robin was such a good sport despite there being no books to read and my phone having next to no charge.  He charmed the pants off everyone there.

3 hours later we had the official diagnosis of an ear infection and a prescription for antibiotics.  Dave and the big kids met me in the Walgreens parking lot to swap cars and pass off a child.

I love his little squinty smile.

I made it back to school and to the sock hop.  Being late allowed me to have slight grand entrance.

A good time was had by all.  Robin slept last night and is on his way to recovery.

There is a middle school dance next week.  Sister Perpetua Agony may have to make an appearance.

This Boy is 4

My baby turned 4 today!  At four you are no longer a toddler.  I am no longer the mom of a toddler.  I am not usually a sentimental person, but I am having ALL the feels right now.  This goofy kid came into the world bringing so much joy to our family.

Excuse the painful, hard toothy smile.

Robin has been waiting to be four for months.  He was getting impatient.  Robin would tell anybody who asked (or didn't) that he was going to be four on his birthday.   After so much build up to the big day, it started out a little rocky.

Robin crawled into our bed before 6 am as he tends to do.  We said happy birthday to him.  Robin kindly informed us that he wasn't four yet.  He wouldn't be four until he had had cake with a candle and presents.  I guess all the pressure got to him.

Today was pretty much like any other day.  We all headed out the door, me screaming we needed to leave 5 minutes ago.  Linus baked him muffins the night before.  He had a great day at school and was very excited to work on coloring his bat when we got home.

Dinner was simple, spaghetti and meatballs.  Robin loves meatballs with marinara.  We let him open his presents after dinner so he would have a chance to play with them before bed.  Robin got a city road map rug with cars,  some more small Pokemon action figures, another Pokeball, some Pokemon cards, and a Pikachu lunchbox (complete with floppy ears and a shoulder strap) to carry around all his Pokemon toys.  He was so excited for everything.

Robin likes cake, but what he really likes is vanilla (ba-nilla) ice cream.  Instead of cake, we had ice cream sundaes with gummi bears, mini M & Ms, whipped cream, strawberry sauce, and chocolate sauce.  My parents joined us for dessert.

I love this little boy so much.  I love his little golden curls, the way he squeaks when he says, "Mm hmm."  I love how he has so many snuggles to share, and the way he still grabs my face between both his hands to talk to me or nuzzle my nose.  I love his sense of humor and marvel at the way he processes the world.

The first years of his life were marked by illness and the unknown.  Would he walk?  How significant was the damage to his brain?  These days Robin doesn't walk he runs (and then falls over).  But he always gets right back up.  He loves books and thanks to an app on the Ipad, can read fairly well.  He loves numbers and doing math.  We had to do a lot more direct instruction when it came to pretend play, but now he dresses in costume and lives in the land of make believe with the best of them.  Caspar Babypants is still his favorite musical artist.

I am trying to savor every moment, especially the times where he pretends to be a baby bird hatching or very quietly and sweetly says he's a baby Kindle puggle (he means Echidna puggle) and burrows into us.

I miss my baby Robin bird, but I wouldn't trade this one for anything.
Happy Birthday Robin Hoodie.  May age 4 be as wonderful as you imagined.

Robin and I at the Seattle Children's Theater production of "Go Dog Go" this weekend.