National Poetry Month

I just did a post over on Kidculture.net about National Poetry Month.  Here's the link.

Parenting Boys

One of my kids has been giving me a hard time in school this year, I won't name names in order to protect his/her identity, but I will tell you this; it's not Avery.  It's nothing serious, just the growing pains of learning to work with the system.  Anyway, I started looking for some good parenting books in regards to school and boys.  It seems that school is just more set up for girls to succeed.  Girls like to sit, write, they have better fine motor skills, greater attention spans and want to please the teacher.  So already it seems like boys are fighting their DNA from the first day of school.  Here's what I've found:

A detailed look with statistics and charts regarding at how boys vs. girls perform in school.  K-12 it seems like girls are always one step ahead.  Why is that?  Do boys ever "catch up"?

A disappointment, not really worth your time.  I liked the title but was not inspired with the "motivation" part.

Loved this one, although it is geared more for junior high/high school boys.  But I could already see some of my boys weak areas in it and we made some positive changes after I read it.

Honestly, this was probably the best book I read.  It's a children's picture book, but it sort of summed up boys behavior (and our reaction to it) perfectly.  At first, everything Edwardo does is "horrible", like when he pours water on the dog and makes him muddy.  But then when he is seen from a different perspective (thanks for helping wash the dog!) he shines.

Daddy Long Legs

I just read the cutest book, Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster.  It is a quick read and I found the main character, Judy, so endearing.  The day I finished reading it I walked around all day with thoughts of Judy and wished there was a sequel!

(I did a longer post about it on kidculture if you're interested).

Legoland

I took Blake, Colin and our neighbor Emma to Legoland as one last Hurrah before we go back to school this week.  Of course I didn't take any pictures (because of the aforementioned crime incident), but I love the Miniland displays!  So magical, detailed, fantasy-like.  And let's be honest, even if I had my camera, my pictures wouldn't do them justice.

Unorganized Crime

I have been a victim of crime.  My cell phone and camera were stolen right from my purse in front of the A.K. Smiley Library.  Yes it's true.  It's also true that I left my purse on the sidewalk and drove away.  Oh and did I mention it was right in front of this bench where homeless people hang out? (If you're famaliar with Redlands you know what I'm talking about). 

But sometimes there are blessings hidden in our trials...like the fact that Verizon is due to announce this week that they're getting the iphone finally?  And the fact that my phone is due for a renewal next month?  So I'm not even dwelling on Yolanda who took my phone and wanted $150 to get it back.  I'm just dwelling on this...

Oh and maybe this for my birthday...

Christmas 2010

Christmas Day was finally here!  The kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement.  I have to admit, I wasn't into the holidays this year as I would've liked.  But I figured that I just didn't plan far enough in advance.  So next year will be better- I'm sure of it!  Here are some pics from Christmas morning:

Avery having a moment of silence with all her favorite things (puppy, elmo, video, book...).

All his dreams came true!  When Blake asked him "How did you get a chocolate fountain?", he said "I wished for it".

6:30 am ... Blake (our early riser) is the only one really up and ready.

I tried so hard to get one good pic of the kids in front of the tree.

Chad reading a Christmas bedtime story.

Flocked!

On December 24th we found this on our door along with a flock of flamingos. 

These birds have been going around the ward for a few weeks.  There hadn't been any recent attacks so I sort of forgot about them.  But when we drove up that night...there they were!

According to the "flocking rules" we had get rid of them by Dec. 25th or we would have to store them for a year.  We found the perfect neighbor and made a late night drive by.  Bye bye birdies!

Notice how the flockers were too nervous to get close to our house/window.  We weren't even home so it wouldn't have mattered.