Weekend re-cap

On Friday, I went over to SnakeMaster’s school and helped the kids create their 5th grade float… well, I helped to tape things down, the kids were the creators using a Candyland theme.  [click on any picture to embiggen]

On Saturday morning, quite a few 5th graders climbed aboard and began eating candy  prepared to ride up the main street (aka, the business route of the highway) of our small town.

It was all very sweet. The weather was warm, but not sticky. Good thing, too, with all those giant “chocolate” kisses!

I even managed to improve darken my farmer’s tan by adding a burn over the previous tan.

Mascot and driver (who wasn't even a classroom dad!) -- Hurrah for community volunteers!

The kids threw candy to spectators regardless of age.

After the parade, the kids all worked together to dismantle their project and families dispersed. I walked with SnakeMaster & one of his friends over to the town park where there were plenty of activities and even some free ice cream

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The grandparents arrived Saturday evening along with MusicMan and his girlfriend, Rapunzel (The Girl With The Magic Hair). It had been a year since we’d seen the grandparents, 5 months since we’d seen MM, and the first time to meet Rapunzel.

I am so relieved to not have the house on show during this time!

Sunday morning, Encyclopedia Blue preached a mini-sermon at the second church service for Graduate Recognition Sunday.  Baccalaureate is next Sunday and the following weekend is graduation.

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There are now 9 of us in the household for the next 2 weeks.  We are completely out of bread and almost out of milk & eggs.  Obviously I will be going grocery shopping this morning! The grandparents will be here for just 2 weeks (they never take me seriously when I invite them to move in!) but Rapunzel is staying with us until the end of July, when she will help us drive back across the country to our new (as yet unchosen and unpurchased) home.

With 9 of us here, and only one computer connected to the internet — and of course GRADUATION and the end of the school year — *and* packing boxes and sneaking a few of them on-board the grandparents’ motorhome — well, with all of the above, I will be lucky to read blogs, let alone write a post!

I’ll be back when I can.  (Tomorrow is a scheduled post, but come by anyway to say hello!)

~KC

Good with Chicks

Thankful Thursday: A different kind of A-to-Z

SnakeMaster presented me with a ribbon-tied scroll on Mother’s Day. I unrolled it and read, to my surprise, a very different kind of A-to-Z list than I posted yesterday. Here is my youngest son’s own A-to-Z:

Adaptable, come camping with me

Bland, don’t expect anything fancy of me

Careful, come rock-climbing with me

Dynamic, come swim with me

Economical, save money with me

Focused, pay attention with me

Generous, give away things with me

Healthy, don’t get sick with me

Inventive, make new things with me

Just, don’t break the law with me

Kind, don’t be mean with me

Loyal, don’t lie with me

Meek, be polite with me

Naturalist, don’t harm nature with me

Optimistic, think happily about the future with me

Peaceful, don’t fight with me

Quiet, don’t yell with me

Resourceful, don’t waste with me

Sensible, don’t go crazy with me

Thorough, don’t miss things with me

Unique, don’t laugh at me

Valuable, don’t harm me

Watchful, be alert with me

Xtra special, respect me

Young, have patience with me

Zest, be enthusiastic with me

Surprise!

It wasn’t that long ago that we were watching this together:

Happy 20th birthday, MusicMan!

I’m proud of you, and I’m glad you are bringing The Girl with the Magic Hair to spend the summer with us.

love,
Mom

Just a dusting

1. EB, my 18yo son, left these footprints on his way to the school bus this morning.
2. Can you tell which one is a shoe print?

3. I have things on my mind that I can’t write about at the moment. This is where a blog fails as an online journal, but it is important to respect others’ rights to privacy.

4. It was wonderful to have all of my boys at home for a few weeks (and SuperDad took some time off from work, too).

[click on pics to embiggen]

5. I’m pretty sure MM was more than ready to go back to college!

New Year’s Eve

After I got home from the bluegrass concert/CD release party, SuperDad heated up a pan of brandy, dropped in some raisins and almonds, and lit it on fire. Voilà!

The name of this victorian-era game is SNAPDRAGON. Technically, one should use raisins for the beginners and currants for a greater challenge.

I think I just blew the “normal family” status.

A Fond Farewell

Christmas break is over for MusicMan — he gets on a plane this afternoon to head back to college. Classes don’t actually start until Monday, but I felt obligated to build in a few extra days of travel time into the schedule “just in case” the weather became a factor in getting him back to school.

Here is our group of musical college students playing “We Three Kings” on handbells. One young woman is in her last year of college, 2 of the other young women are college sophomores, and the remaining 4 ringers  (including MM who forgot to wear white, so he’s the one in blue!) are first-year college students. This group practiced one evening (the Tuesday prior to Christmas) and once again Sunday morning before performing at 11am.  As the director says at the beginning of the video, the music being played was written for 11 ringers but is being played by a choir of seven.

Pretty good, aren’t they?  🙂

And on that note…

We spent Thursday evening watching old Batman movies. Wow, I had a kitschy childhood! I never realized how Crayola-bright Robin’s outfit was, but mostly my boys thought we were nuts for thinking it was such an awesome show way back when. They’re pretty sure 1966 was a really really long time ago.

Here are 5 for your Friday, the last of 2010:

1) Have you seen Melli’s new grandson? He’s absolutely beautiful and wonderfully loved by an incredible extended family. If you need a shot of cute or “awwwww” these pictures will make your day.  (There’s an incredible backstory of God’s Grace, too, but I’m going for “awwwww” today.)

2) Humorous-Juniorous, my 15yo son, has asked me to forward all of the College Board SAT prep questions to him (they’ve been arriving in my e-mail inbox for months). He’s apparently enjoying the chance to answer the daily questions and finding them to be correct. Someone get this kid a scholarship!

3) Speaking of scholars and proud families, MusicMan made the President’s Honor Roll at his college for the first semester (complete with an impressive GPA of 3.86). This isn’t a “mommy blog” but I can’t NOT brag about how proud I am of him!

4) Aside from the overwhelming amount of testosterone running amuck in my house this week, it has been soooo nice to have everyone home and together. I’m trying to savor it, because when MM flies back to school next week, we won’t see him for 4-5 months.

5) For the first part of the sentence on #4, I will be getting a ton of spam… and not the kind you can fry up in a camping fry pan.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Do you have any plans for the evening/weekend? And are your plans as exciting as old Batman movies? 😛

Celebrate!

1. Last Friday night was Humorous-Juniorous’ birthday party. It was the first time we had met most of his friends from school (H-J is a bit of an introvert). It was a successful geekfest. Who else would talk about math and wish for a video game called Orchestra Hero? (Admittedly, that WOULD be very cool!) They partied with DDR, snacks, Mario Kart racing, snacks, stick fighting outside in the dark, S’Mores at the firepit, Monty Python’s Holy Grail, cake and ice cream. And did I mention snacks?
If you needed party ideas for a 15yo boy, you’re welcome! 😉

2. We live between 2 towns; the smaller one has a population of 600, the larger town is ten times that size. The town with the traffic lights (FOUR!) had its annual Christmas parade last Saturday. More photos here and here…

3. SnakeMaster would gladly own a horse.

4. This is what the dining room credenza looked like on Monday. Procrastinator, who??

5. MusicMan, my college son, is flying home today. We haven’t seen him for over 4 months, so I’m sure you will understand if I’m absent much of the next few weeks.

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One of the things particular to Military dependents is an identification card. For a teenager on a military installation, this card is a ticket into the Exchange, the Commissary, and the movie theater (although, for the latter, you do still have to buy an actual ticket).  It’s also required when checking in at the clinic or pharmacy because it is proof that the person qualifies for military benefits.  These cards must be renewed every few years, so we recently took H-J to the nearest Army post to get his new I.D. card. The difference in the photographs was startling to me. Obviously, I’ve been paying attention as he has grown from a little boy into a teenager, but looking at his sweet 10yo face for the last time before turning his old card in brought a flood of memories.

HJ four years ago

He’ll be turning 15 on Sunday. Where did the time go?