Thursday, April 30, 2015

Leftovers

My leftover pictures for April fall squarely in 3 categories:
 
Kyle on his field trip, JR with dogs that don't belong to us, and Reed eating.
 
 
 Zoo Field Trip
 
riding the Hermann Park train


petting a snake
 
 
friends hanging out with new "friends"


Dogs that don't Belong to Us

JR with Abby before she had her summer haircut. 
 
 
JR with Abby after her summer hair cut.
 
 
JR with Amos
 
 
 
 Eating
 
Not bothering to cut it in to pieces...just enjoying a loaf of bread.
(BTW, I would quite enjoy a loaf of bread.)
 
 
Enjoying a sundae at Easter brunch

 
And enjoying Benihana'

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Big Plans

The first grade has been studying jobs, so Kyle and Reed had a job project.
 
Reed had a few jobs lined up (none of which would be considered high-powered career paths) but decided to do his project on being a radio DJ.  He wants to be a DJ so "everybody can hear him talk on the radio and he can pick the songs."
 
 
He wanted to make a board "like JR's science fair project", but unlike JR's science fair project I didn't even touch Reed's board.  He only needed me to help spell (and figure out how to make headphones and a microphone).
 
 
 
I'm pretty sure Kyle will have no trouble living up to his career aspirations.
It was a toss up if he wanted to drive the snow cat or work the ski lifts at Telluride.
 
He decided he'd rather work the ski lifts, and we made a power point that includes a video of him skiing.
 
He says he wants to be a ski lift operator "so he can get a free ski pass and get a discount on food and drinks on the mountain."
 
Kyle also noted in his presentation that he's excited to learn to use the lift's big red on and off button...and that he'll need to get a shovel to keep the snow from piling up around the lift.
 
Big dreams this one has. Big dreams.
 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

What Else Goes On

As I talked about in my last post, we've been having lots of baseball games lately.
And it seems we've fallen into a pattern.
 
 
Granny Sherry (and her dog, Daisy,) and I sit in the stands and scream, cheer, and talk about how nervous we are (even when they're winning by quite a bit).
 
 
Jason paces back and forth along the dugout and next to the field.
(Though the name on the back says differently, that's actually Kyle before he went out to hit.)
 
 
Besides being their biggest cheerleader, JR has taken over the scoreboard. Sherry and I love this because JR is seriously the best scorekeeper ever.  He has all the balls, strikes, and outs on the board as soon as they happen. We never have to worry if the scoreboard is right.

 
I also get a big kick out of Reed's team referring to JR as "JR Ingersoll" like his first name and last name are one.  They even call him that if they're talking to him.  I think it's from them hearing him say "this is JR Ingersoll" on the announcements everyday.
 
 
I don't see much of Kyle at the games.  He always finds friends to play with, and definitely keeps the concession stand in business.
 
 
But he's always sweet to share...he'll happily buy you a hotdog.
And here he is feeding Reed a snowcone through the dugout fence.  Reed's hidden behind the pile of equipment, but you can see the spoon in Kyle's hand.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Pretty Much the Best Game Ever

We've had tons of rain here since March.
Which means we've had tons of games cancelled (both soccer and baseball), and we've been trying to make them up.

 
And wouldn't you know it, it was storming yesterday morning during baseball time.

 
They were able to move the game to 1:00, but that took 2 kids out because they had things that really couldn't be missed.  I got a panicky phone call from Jason, and next thing Kyle and I knew, he was playing baseball...and I was running home to get him some shoes.

 
He wound up playing catcher (and doing a really good job) for the 1st inning in flip flops!
Just look at his feet.
 
 
Kyle did a great job, and he even scored a run.
Here he is on 1st base (with some real shoes).

 
Reed, on the other hand, was having a terrible game.
He struck out twice, then got out on 2nd base.
 
 
We were winning, and the other team was up to bat.  If we could keep them from scoring, the game would be over...no more innings. Done. And we would win.
 
They had 2 outs, and a kid on second.
 
The boy batting had 2 strikes, but then he hit a pop fly out to right field.
 
Right field...where Reed was playing.
 
Reed caught it.
 
His whole team ran straight for him and dog piled him.
And yes, I was screaming at the top of my lungs "That's MY baby! That's MY baby!"
(I have no pictures because I was too busy screaming and accepting my own congratulations from the other moms.)
 
Of course, they gave him the game ball (the kids all signed it) and I'm not sure he's ever been more proud of anything.
 
Everyone in the stands kept saying, "Those 5 stitches were worth it! Those 5 stitches were worth it!"
 
 
We were so proud of the two of them we even went to Benihana's to celebrate. 
(Yes, I guess we're those parents.)
 
 
And BTW, Reed still won't let go of the ball.
This was him falling asleep while watching TV yesterday evening. 

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Jump Around

I'm starting to think circus performer might really be the best career path for these two.
They've been bugging me for about a week to get them some jump ropes because "they are awesome at it" (they've been doing it in PE).
 
 
And though they won't be winning any double dutch contests anytime soon, they're way better than I thought they'd be.
 
 
Here's about what I expected.
 
 
 
But then they actually do have some tricks:
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, April 20, 2015

Morning Anchor

JR's school has their announcements over the TV.
(The kids did this when I taught in Katy, and I always thought it was great.) 
5th graders take turns every 3 weeks taking on different jobs: director, camera operator, controlling the "teleprompter", and of course, on-air talent.
 
 
JR did his 3 weeks around Thanksgiving. And because he was good and everyone enjoyed him, after his 3 weeks were up he started filling in when kids were absent, or whenever he could.  He's now weaseled his way into doing the announcements for the rest of the year. 
 
 
I had a little bit of JR as the morning anchor on April Fools to show you, but I finally got more for you to hear.
 
 
I would never be allowed (by JR) to stand in his "broadcast studio" and record him, and I feel bad (and silly) asking Kyle and Reed's teachers if I could come in their room to record him.  But the other morning I was volunteering in the library and snuck in without him seeing me.  That's why there's really nothing to see...because I was essentially hiding.
 
 
You will see another mom with her camera out, but her child (that did a special announcement) is obviously okay with people knowing her mother exists.
 
 
Here he is starting off the announcements. 
(You will hear him pause, and the teacher in charged stopped him to tell him something, I'm not sure what that was about. )
 
 
 
 
At the end of the announcements they do the riddle of the day.  That's when I cut back in again, and you can hear the tail end of him saying "It's time for...the riddle of the day." 
 Then you get to hear him sign off.  "This is JR Ingersoll..."

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Boys Night Take 2

So last night Kyle got to have his boys night.
(You'll remember Reed took 2 friends to the Astros game for his.)
 
Kyle wanted to go out to eat

 
 
and to Sky High (the trampoline place)


and then they went for ice cream.
 
 
 
Reed and I went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.
 
Not on purpose, but just how things work out,  I spend less one-on-one time with Reed than the other two.  So it was fun to hang out with him. 
 
 
But more than anything, this one text between Jason and me tells the story of how different our nights were.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Fashion Fabulous Friday

 
Since yesterday was a bit of a blood and guts post, I thought I'd to the exact opposite today. 
And what's the exact opposite of boys getting stitches? 
I'm gonna go with...boys wearing kitten shirts.
 
 
Kyle loves cats.  He's always asking me to buy/make him a cat costume or buy him a cat shirt. 
Which if you've ever been to the boys' department, doesn't really exist. 
 
Until now.
 
  I found this shirt at Target and snatched it off the rack as quick as I could.
I'm sure kittens inside tacos in outer space are some kind of hipster/ironicy thing, but Kyle could care less...he's just happy to have a cat shirt.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Our First Set of These For the Family


Jason and Reed went outside to play/practice baseball yesterday evening.
They'd been out there for awhile when I heard the back door open and Jason say "We're going to the hospital!"
 
 
I figured Reed had broken his hand or fingers (Kyle's got a little boy in his class with broken fingers from baseball), but when I ran into the kitchen and saw Reed with blood all over his face I knew it wasn't a broken hand.
 
 
My question of "Did you hit him in the face with a baseball?!" probably wasn't the nicest way to ask what happened. What did happen was Reed caught a pop fly with his eyebrow instead of his mitt.
 
 
Here's the picture Jason sent me from the emergency room.
This one is bad, so if you get squemish, scroll down to the next one cause it's not bad.


Jason said he did so good at the ER. He took him to an orthopetic ER where they specialize in sports injuries, so while they do suchers, they didn't have the straight jacket to strap him down where he wouldn't move.
 
Reed said he could be still, so he squeezed Jason's hand while they gave him the shots to numb his face.
 
He got 5 stiches.
(This picture is ok to look at.)



I was worried he would hurt last night and wake up with a swollen, black eye.  But he slept fine, and looks really good!
 He went to school, and the doctor said he could play in his baseball game tonight if he wants to.
(He wants to.)


The stiches come out on Monday.  At which point I'll become the Vitamin E Nazi.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

So That's What They Do

No wonder the boys are so tight lipped when it comes to hunting.
Here I was thinking it was all about "roughing it" and "getting back to nature".
 
 
Cassidy opened my eyes to what really goes on on the deer lease when she texted me this picture yesterday.


This clears up a lot.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Wild Turkey

So The Music Man, along with his dad and Brad and Koen went hunting this weekend at Brad and Cassidy's deer lease.
 
 
I'm not sure what all happens on hunting trips because I never get many details.
I can't tell if there's a lot of sitting around doing nothing, or some kind of guy code where they don't talk about what they do there.
 
 
Either way, the only information I have to report is that JR, Jason, and Brad all got turkeys.
(Yes, the meat is in my fridge, so I guess we're eating turkey sometime this week).
 
 
I took these pictures off Jason's phone to prove they were there.
They're pretty self explanatory.
 

 
 


And some cute (oops, I mean "manly") group shots.
 
Jason and JR

Jason and Brad

JR and Koen
 
Thank you to Brad and Koen for showing them such a good time. They might not give me many details, but they both told me how much fun they had.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Perfect Plans

Now don't be feeling sorry for JR and Kyle that they didn't go to the Astros game the other night.
 
They got their own special trips, and even though they did 2/3 of the exact same things, they didn't have to see each other for one second.
 
They both wanted to see Home, but they didn't want to see it together.  So Granny Sherry took JR, then I had to pick a different theater to go to with Kyle. 
 
(JR should have picked my theater since girls he knows were flagging me down to say "hi...which of course really means they were looking for JR. I'm cool, but I know I'm not that cool.)
 
Theater selfie by Kyle.


 
JR picked Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, Kyle picked the Chinese food buffet.


Then they both went to the same Baskin Robbins for icecream, but we got there about 10 minutes after JR and Granny left. 
 
All around perfect planning on their parts.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Boys Night

Well just look at us doing a great job with this whole parenting thing.
 
Not only did we let Kyle and Reed pick their own sports this spring, but Jason took Reed and two of his friends to an Astros game...without Kyle. (Kyle will pick something to do with his friends later.)
 
I know. We're amazing.


Jason reported that they were all very excited. And between the 3 boys ate 5 hotdogs, a bag of popcorn, a bag of peanuts, 3 Mr. Pibbs, and 3 cotton candies.



Yes, I believe that would be a good night for any 1st grade boy.