Park time

Ahh, the brother/sister relationship (bottom picture). A. screaming at HZ for a turn. (I have to say it was quite fun. I had a go at it myself.)

Found it!

(.....actually R. did! Thanks, pops.)

Family game night......both kids beat us. HZ is quite good at battleship and A. can rack up Clifford's birthday presents in a hurry.

Still can't find it

......the cord I need to put up pictures. I think this happens once a year. Highly annoying.

Kid stories:

I like hearing about the 'behavior modification' systems that the teachers use to rein in the chaos. HZ's class has the "stick in the can" system. They all have a can with their name on it. When they are bad, they have to grab a Popsicle stick from the teacher's desk and put it in the can. The first two sticks are warnings and the third stick means you get a note home. I eat with the kids every Friday and how many sticks you have in the can is common talk at the 1st grade table.

A. has the 'frog system'. All of the children have a picture of a frog with their name on it. If your frog moves down, then you're in trouble. I frequently hear about which friends have had their 'frog moved'. A, said that she has never ever had her frog moved. (:

Boo hoo

I was going to throw on a couple of pics but I can't find the attachment cord....I think pops has it.
This week has gone by fast! The weather has finally turned beautiful. Nice and cool. There is nothing like that first cold front that sweeps down here after months and months of scorching heat.
Anyway, back to blogging. Just got out of the habit.

Window markers

I picked up some window/mirror markers for the kids and let them have at it after school yesterday. They loved it! A. drew a picture of a beautiful flower and HZ drew a picture of "smelly feet" (a foot with wavy lines rising up).

Happy Autumnal Equinox

The kids were easy to get up this morning.
Today A. is 'snack helper' and HZ's class gets to change the 'weather arrow' from summer to 'fall'.

HZ told me a funny story yesterday. He has been saying "Why, hello beautiful" to the lunch room monitors (who are a couple of paid moms that help out with the lunch process, bathroom privileges, etc. while the teachers take their break). He said they didn't like it so much when he said that. ...Where does he get this stuff?

Hello

This picture was from a few weeks ago. I've been bad about taking pictures lately! I wish I could capture our fun after school activities, but they've been a bit messy and not camera friendly. We've been doing science experiments after school with HZ's new chemistry set and A's book "The Daring book for Girls". Yesterday we made a stink bomb out of Valerian root and vinegar (worked great). Today we smushed up iron-fortified cereal/water and put a magnet to it in order to extract some of the iron. (Yeah, that didn't work out so well.)