Balls are big at our house (tee hee).  Kari and Joe are ball addicts.  Steve likes them.  Mindy and I tolerate them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every kid goes through that “I’m doing it myself” stage and each one comes up with their own unique stamp to use to let you know to back off.

 

I have heard from other kids (including Kari):  My felf!  My do it!  My turn!  Me do!  Kari do!

 

What is Mindy’s?  “I want to do it like my own big girl self!”  And she enunciates each word, except “girl” sometimes sounds like “gal”.  But that’s it.  This kid may just pass me up as being the biggest mouth in the world.

 

And where is Joe on the language front?  Well, he really only uses three words without prompting:  ball (an essential in Maleland), mine (an essential in Mindyland), and bye-bye (an essential in Socialskillsland).  And somehow all needs are met.  Who needs all those other 44,997 English words anyway?

 

Apparently, Mindy does.

I haven’t blogged here for so long because

 

a.  it’s too damn slow and I can’t figure out why

b.  it won’t let anyone comment

c.  all of the above.

 

I think I’ll move to typepad or something normal.

 

I’ll let you know.

 

Kids are up from naps.  Must go.  Comment if you can.  Thanks.

Here are some more festive and patriotic pics from our 4th!

Remember to visit Sarah’s blog for a list of nifty fff sites.

P.S. to SARAH:  My mom cried when she read your comment on my FFF Pick One photo post. :)

 

 

I recently had a reunion with my 8th graders from the class of 2004, the high school class of 2008.  We made a time capsule 4 years ago.  Each student got a manila envelope and filled it with mementos from their 8th grade year (letters from friends and family, descriptions of their favorite outfit, the cost of basic items (gasoline was $2.40), decorations from their lockers, assignments, their journals, list of books read that year, etc.).  This was my first ever reunion (shout out to KLJ for the idea), and it was such a blast.  10 of the 18 kids came, and one drove 1 1/2 hours just to attend.  Yeah, Tahreem!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I always have 4 time capsules in my classroom.  I think it helps the kids to know that I really do love them and care about their future.  They know that our school is still their home, and they will be back again in 4 years.  Whenever I bump into one of them about town, they always make sure that we will have our reunion.  It is a tradition that I really love.

 

Thank you to Kristen, Daniel, Stacy, Eva, Mila, Andy, Vince, Alish, Tahreem, Harleen, and Sandeep!

The photo above as well as below were all taken by Kari with our old camera on our visit to see 5 month old Mindy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has looked basically like this since Joe came home, Feb. 13th.  But now, it looks like this!  Finally!  Yay!

Me:  Okay!  After we finish this book it’s time for jammies!

 

Mindy:  (one hand on hip, other hand pointing to my face and shaking, for emphasis)  DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT JAMMIES!