Friday, February 27, 2015

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 
We're starting the best time of the year here in Houston.
 
Rodeo!
 
Today is Go Texan Day, when everybody in Houston dresses in their best western wear.
 
Here's what mine consider to be Go Texan attire.

What you can't see is that JR is wearing shorts and his President George H.W. Bush socks. (Yes, he has a sock line).
 
Kyle asked me "Do I really look like Davy Crockett?" when he put on his coon-skinned cap. 
I'd say a coon-skinned cap couldn't be more appropriate since Davy Crockett is one of the most famous Texans there is. 
(He's right up there with Sam Houston and Matthew McConaughey).
 
And Reed is dressed in standard cowboy attire, because that's the "rules" of Go Texan Day, and how could he ever break the rules like his brothers...who are clearly doing it wrong.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

End of the Month

Here we are at the end of February. 
I'm not sure where the month went, but here are the pictures that didn't make the original cut.


Reed at Sky High



Kyle playing with a friend
 
 
 
JR eating Chinese food
 
 
JR's fortune that day
 
 
 
Reed with his 11 lollipop grams (you read that right, eleven). 
No one ever sent me a lollipop, a flower, or anything the school was selling...this child gets 11.
 
 
 
I'm not sure why every child but Kyle looks miserable at their Valentine's party.
(Probably cause they know how inferior their boxes are to his.)
 
 
 
Thank goodness these two like each other...95% of the time.
 


Monday, February 23, 2015

Eyes and Ears are Not the Same Thing

If you use any kind of prescriptions, you have to read what happened to us today:
 
 
On Wednesday Reed and I wound up in the Ready Clinic with him crying hysterically about how bad his ears hurt.  Then Thursday I picked him up from school early crying about his ears again.
Friday, Reed went to school dizzy, and Kyle came home by 9:00 because they thought he had pink eye.
 
I got them both into the doctor Friday afternoon and they both have/had the adenovirus (which I'm convinced Jason brought home from his fabulous vacay in Telluride because he came home with a "cold"). Reed's allergies got the best of him on top of the virus, which is why his ears were so backed up. 
 
They put Reed on antibiotics plus antibiotic ear drops, and Kyle got eye drops...or so I thought.
 
 
This morning I got a call that oops, the pharmacy, which was WALGREENS, had given us eardrops instead of eyedrops for Kyle.
That's right, for the past 4 days we've been putting EARDROPS in Kyle's EYES 3 times a day!
 
 
Now, we all know I was raised by a German Jew Presbyterian, but she also happens to be about 95% Christian Scientist when it comes to medicine. 
(On the other hand, I refer to my dad's medicine stash as "the drug buffet". )
 I rest squarely on my mom's side when it comes to medicine.  I don't take it often, and I don't give my kids much. My kids also rarely tell me they don't feel good because they're met with "oh, you'll be okay" as an answer.
 
So yeah, being that I'm already not a fan of medicine, and then finding out I've been putting eardrops in my kid's eyes, pretty much makes me sick.
 
While we were waiting for the doctor to call us back, Jason researched it on the Internet to find out it didn't affect hamsters' eyes.  Well, that's great, but my 7 year old son isn't a hamster!
 
The doctor called back to say he should be okay, but if his eyes start hurting to bring him back in.
To say Jason and I were upset with Walgreens is a bit of an understatement.
 
I actually blame myself since I should know better than to let them handle my prescriptions. The last time I went there I was trying to get kidney stone medicine for Jason who was at home and practically dying. That trip to Walgreens ended with "damn Obamacare" being screamed from my mouth throughout the store.
 
So I have a really great track record with them.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Fashion Fabulous Friday

Here's a fashion warning for all those 11 year old boys with the same size foot as their mom:
 
If you see your mom headed to pay for 2 pairs of the exact same shoe, she isn't buying you an extra.


Thursday, February 19, 2015

Happy New Year to Ewe!

 
 
Happy Chinese New Year!
This is the year of the sheep, which just happens to be JR's year.
 
The year of the sheep isn't considered a good year to be.  When people would tell me that I'd just say, "It's okay. Since JR isn't really Chinese it doesn't apply to him."
 
Sheep are considered to be calm and gentle.
Two adjectives I have never used to describe JR at any time in his entire life. 
 
But as it turns out, there are a few pretty impressive actors who also happen to be sheep: Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, and one of JR's favorites, Will Ferrell.
 
新年快乐-Xin Nian Kuai Le!
 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Presidents' Day

I hope President Reagan was a fan of Chinese food, cause that's what Paw-Paw and JR ate to celebrate him today.
 

 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

If You're a Boy It Was All Kinds of Fun

As you can see by their faces, these two enjoyed their Valentines parties very much.

 
And don't cry for JR Argentina. 
Just because I'm not allowed near him at school to take pictures, doesn't mean he didn't have fun. 
The snowcone truck came to school for the 5th graders, so yeah, he was doing just fine.
 
 
 Then they all had Valentine's Day breakfast with Grandpa Gary and Granny Buffie and dinner with Granny Sherry. In between their celebratory breakfast and dinner I took them to the Sponge Bob movie.
 
I think they liked that too.
(No, Reed hasn't lost all his top teeth.)
 
Jason also had a very nice Valentine's Day.
He's on a "boy's trip" and they went skiing, had a massage, and a fancy dinner.
 
Did I already point out my day was spent with Sponge Bob?  Oh yes, I think I did.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Fashion Fabulous Friday


Kyle's class was rewarded with pajama day for good cafeteria behavior.
Reed's wasn't.
 
And though Kyle really just wore pajama bottoms, it still caused this much simultaneous happiness and angst.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Here's What They're Giving

I just got back from volunteering at the kids' school and Kyle's class was so excited about Valentine's Day they could hardly function. 
His teacher even started having them go ahead and pass them out so maybe they could calm down and learn something.
Bless her heart, she's got a long 2 days.
 
 
So here's my disclaimer: I am not giving out candy this year. 
We're just giving out one thing and done.
 
 
These are Kyle's valentines.  I made them for him (from a kit), and he loves them. 
Cause that's the deal Kyle and I have nonverbally agreed on...I do the work, and he acts like it's the best thing ever.
 One of the cute little girls in Kyle's class I was working with saw him putting her valentine in her box and said, "Yessss, I got a pink owl!"
 
 
 
Reed has been slaving over his valentines. He is obsessed with looming these days, so he made everybody in his class a bracelet.  You should see the bracelets the girls he likes are getting!
 
Reed and I sat together and he picked out each bracelet and who it was for and then we made the name tag.  In my head I was thinking, "this is so much fun, the other two would never enjoy doing this."  I guess Reed was thinking the same thing since as soon as we were finished he said, "Well, that was fun."
 
Reed's are entirely homemade since we also made the paper chains as "cards".
This was his idea to write instead of "From". 


As for the child who could care less about Valentines (though he expects presents to be given to him),  best I can tell, he isn't even writing who the cards are to.
He's just going to throw one in each box. 
As much thought as Reed put into his, is how little JR did.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

I Win

 When it comes to making Valentine's boxes, I totally win.
 
The kids had to take theirs to school yesterday, and Reed is claiming somebody's pirate ship box is better than his, but I find that hard to believe.

Because, come on, these boxes are awesome.

Reed helped me make his (of course he did) but the other two just ordered up what they wanted and walked away.

Reed and I made the alligator for him, JR wanted the Captain America, and Kyle wanted a cat. 
 
We've also got all the Valentines already addressed, so bring it, Valentine's Day!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

5 Shows. 2 Weeks.

I'm about to say something I never thought I'd say:
I think I've had my fill of jazz hands for awhile.
 
 
Now, before you think I've become a different person overnight, let me explain.
JR and I have seen 5 musicals in the last 2 weeks.  That's right 5.
 
 
This is the time of year all the high schools are doing their shows, and JR and I may have gone a little overboard trying to see so many.
And though JR and I saw the most, Granny Sherry saw 4, and Kyle and Reed saw 2. 
(Not surprisingly, Jason's number stands at 0.)
 
Here's what we saw:
 
Show #1: Memorial High School: Drowsy Chaperone
 
This is JR eating in the VIP room.  It sounds fancy until I tell you it only cost 5 bucks to be a VIP. 

JR says this was the show (meaning the actual script) that he liked the most...as in, he wants to be in Drowsy Chaperone.
 
 
 
Show #2: Stratford High School: Bye, Bye Birdie.
 
If you aren't familiar with this one it's basically like Elvis (Conrad Birdie) is being sent off to the army.  This was Granny Sherry's favorite.
 
 
Show #3: Spring Woods High School: The Addams Family
 
My kids had no idea who the Addams Family were, and they're kind of hard to explain.  I finally said, "They're like a goth family."  The boy who played Gomez was excellent, and oh to be 17 again and have the body to wear Morticia's slinky dress!
 
 
Spring Woods is where Jason went to high school, so we sent him this picture and asked if it looked familiar.
 
 
 
Show #4: Houston Christian High School: Pippin.
 
This one was fantastic.  JR and I both loved every second. I almost cried it was so good...and I don't even know any of the kids!
 
 
Show #5: Seven Lakes High School: The Music Man.
 
This one was out by where we lived when JR was born in Katy.  We wouldn't have driven out there, but since JR is doing The Music Man in May, we wanted to see it. 
I didn't get tickets early enough, so we couldn't sit together.  Kyle sat with Granny Sherry and she said she was worried he was going to sing all the songs during the show since before it started Kyle was singing with the orchestra's instrumental versions!
 
 
JR and I are planning to see Cinderella and A Chorus Line later in the month. But I definitely need a weekend off.

Friday, February 6, 2015

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 
 
You can always count on the 100th day of school for some handcrafted headware.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

More Actors Than We Can Shake a Stick At

Look at these faces and tell me these two aren't proud to be following in their big brother's footsteps.
 
 
The 1st grade is having a Texas play at school, and Kyle and Reed are beside themselves that they got speaking parts.
 
"Mom! Not everybody got a speaking part!"
Here they are proudly holding their 2 line scripts.
 
Reed is playing the part of Ice Cream.


And Kyle is Cowboy #7.

And yes, of course, we already have their costumes picked out from the prop closet.



Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Seven Kids for a Seventh Party

Jason actually heard on the radio that most people with kids who have a late December/early January birthday wait until the end of January to have their birthday party.
 
 
Which is what we did. I scheduled it for January 31st.
 
 
That same radio station also had moms calling in to complain that nobody was coming to their parties because apparently everybody goes out of town for the Superbowl.
 
 
This was the first year we've even been invited to somebody's house to watch the game, much less go out of town.
Where are people going?
Unless you're going to the Superbowl (which I know nobody that was there) why would you leave town?
 
 
But I guess that's a "thing" because of the 25 kids Kyle and Reed invited to their party, they had 7 friends come.
 
 
Luckily, they could have cared less that they had a low turn-out, they loved their party.
(It was at Mad Science; they do a 45 minute fun science show.)
 


 Their party guests (plus JR brought a friend).



Making slime to take home.


 
I finally figured out how to do their birthday cake.
I ordered one cake, and didn't give them a choice of what it was.
(They would have argued just to argue.)
 
I showed up with their cake, and said "Come look at your birthday cake!"
I got a "Thank you, Mommy, I love it" from both of them.  No complaints, no fighting.


 
So I guess that's another mom lesson learned.
No birthday parties over Superbowl weekend.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Super Bummed

JR is very bitter today.
He's still mad at the Seahawks for beating the Broncos last Super Bowl.
I think I've told you he refers to the Seahawks as "the team who must not be named".
 
He's also not a big Patriots fan. 
He's taken "deflate gate" very personally.
 
He said if he had to rank his favorite teams the Patriots are #31 and The Team Who Must not be Named comes in at  #32.
 
He wore this to church this morning in protest.


I emailed him this the other day. 
Grumpy Cat speaks JR's truth.