Patriotic Pride

Second grade was my favorite grade as a child. I had a wonderful teacher and that year has always held a special place in my heart.

So far, it's my favorite year for Kyle, too. While it's not hard to beat our crummy 1st grade year, this year has been a joy. Mrs. Grubb is a dream teacher, and with her zest for all things science, Kyle has been one happy guy. There are many things I could definitely gush about.

But here are my two or three all-time favorites:

1. Birthday advice: They celebrate birthdays once a month, and each birthday kid gets to give the class some "advice." Kyle's advice?

"Being a big brother can be hard. Just keep trying."

It was on the board for a month and I laughed everytime I saw it.

2. Patriotic Pride: Everyday after the pledge, the entire class stayed standing and sang two patriotic songs. Some were funky, some serious, and some just fun. But I will tell you that I

never once made it through "I'm Proud to Be An American" without tears welling up, or the Air Force fight song without a proud lump in my throat. Pretty awesome.

3. This super awesome Christmas program: I wish I could post the video, but this low-quality picture will have to do. Mrs. Grubb is a bird fanatic. Fanatic in the best possible way, of course! So these kids recognize and know about all kinds of birds. They've taken several fieldtrips out to Paiute Pond, a little wetland in the middle of our desert, where they scope and observe birds for hours. Thus, for Christmas they sang, "The 12 Days of Christmas at Paiute" and dressed up in these awesome, hilarious bird headpieces. It was a crack-up and totally adorable.

Is it any wonder that we've LOVED 2nd grade?

"Tangled" Emotions

We threw away the binkies tonight. We've been talking about it for months. Maybe years. While Kevin was in Afghanistan, our conversations would go something like this:

Kevin: "Is Marie potty-trained yet?"
Me: "Nope. We're waiting for you to get home."

(Next day)

Kevin: "Have we gotten rid of the binkies yet?"
Me: "Nope. We're waiting for you to get home."

(Next day)

Kevin: "Have you gotten rid of the binkies yet? Maybe decided to potty train?"
Me: "Nope. I'm saving it for you when you get home."

Really, there's been talk of this dreaded day for months and months. After all, Marie's almost three. We've limited it to only bedtime, but once in awhile, she'd happen upon the contraband (binky) and I'd find her holed up in a closet, or behind a chair, furiously sucking and hoping that mom wouldn't catch her. It was an addiction. She would spy that little green binky and visibly start shaking in excitement.

And let's not talk about the giant gap between her two front teeth, caused by the little green monster. It's so big that she continually walks around, proudly showing off her "lost tooth." Yes, the gap is big enough to fit an extra tooth in there.

What this all boils down to, is that there were many reasons to get rid of the binky. But there was one giant reason to keep it, to ignore all of those other reasons. She's such a good sleeper/napper! The minute we took away Kyle's binky, the naps stopped.

But even knowing our fate, we decided to forge ahead. Marie was won over by a Repunzel dress-up dress. And with visions of that, she bravely threw her binkies in the garbage (in a clean garbage bag so they wouldn't get "disgusting").

And last night I held her before bed, singing and rocking her, as she sniffled and learned to go to sleep without her favorite accessory. And as she sucked on her lip, my heart broke just a little bit. Three years of binky bliss, and we just ripped it away. Poor thing. And my heart broke just a little bit for myself. That binky was the last thing that made her my baby. Now, I just have a potty-trained, self-sufficient, adult-speaking, sassy little girl who's getting way too big, way too fast.

But I know the battle's not over yet. I may have almost given in as she begged me, sobbing, to "take the 'Punzle dress back to the store" and give her the binky. And remember the fear of no naps? Oh yes. Three days of no binky, and three days of no nap. If that's not enough to make someone reconsider, I don't know what is.

August 16, 2010

For the first time ever, Kyle cared what he wore on the first day of school. In fact, he may have even tried this exact outfit on last night, in front of the mirror, to make sure it looked just right. As Kevin said, "I don't think I cared about what I looked like until after 6th grade. He's way ahead of me, which is good. Because when I look back at pictures, it's just embarrassing."

Well, his hard work paid off because this picture melts my heart. Have you ever seen two cuter kids? If you know Marie, you know she was right there in the action with her "pack-pack," all ready for school. She packed only the most important items: a Capri Sun, a pencil, and a Littlest Pet Shop.

Our first morning consisted of awaking WAY too early, a request of orange rolls for breakfast, a special phone call from Dad, a before-school dance party in the kitchen, and pictures. Then we were off to school to reunite with long-lost (not really) friends!

I followed him to his class with all of his supplies and he settled right in, with a slightly nervous smile. And I said a silent prayer in my heart that his first day would go well. We both deserve it, after the year we had last year. But it's going to be a good year, I can feel it in my bones. We have a great teacher, a fresh start, and a positive attitude.

So here's to 2nd GRADE!

All American

Love this. The National Anthem plays everyday at 1630, and whether we're playing in the driveway or swimming at the pool, we stop and put our hands over our hearts. On this particular day, the kids were all playing inside, but raced outside so they could pay proper respect.

I love that my kids get this experience, it certainly doesn't happen everywhere.

P.S.

We're baaack! It's back to real life, after being gone all summer long. That means I'll be doing a lot of catching up. Consider yourself warned.

Beautiful Eden

Our Turner family vacation / reunion was in Eden, Utah this year, and it was awesome. It's always just relaxing and beautiful, wherever we go. My favorite part every year is watching my kids run around for days with their 14 favorite people (cousins), utterly content and having the time of their lives. There's nothing better than family, especially when you not only love them, but truly LIKE being around them. We're so lucky.

Some of our favorite moments this year were: soccer, tennis matches, the park, catching bugs, watching our "pet" mouse, WATER BALLOONS, bubbles, family movie night, our hike to a beautiful lake (even though Marie made me carry her the entire time), painting shoes, crafts, the bowling pin game, SWIMMING (always!), piling on Rob & Sherstine's bed to watch TV, touring David O. McKay's home (thanks again, Marie!) late nights, good food, and definitely good company.

We loved it! Thanks guys! Can't wait for next year!

Thpeech Thewapy

My son has a phony lisp. And it's never been diagnosed or treated because it didn't exist until this week.

For years, he's spoken (I mean, thpoken) perfect English, and now all I'm hearing is this:

"Marie, do you want to go thwing on the thwing thet"
Translation: "Marie, do you want to go swing on the swing set?"

"Mom, I need to thow you thomething."
Translation: "Mom, I need to show you something."

One of his little buddies has an actual lisp. Another has an issue with his "R's". Apparently, Kyle was feeling less than cool because of his lack of speech issues, so he decided to manufacture his own.

We all faked poor eyesight in the name of cool glasses. And I remember creating a "retainer" out of a paper clip. And don't try to tell me you weren't green with envy when your best friend broke her leg and got to walk around with awesome crutches. If there was a way to fake a broken leg, we all would've done it.

But speech impediments?

Theriouthly???

I've tried telling him that his friends don't do it on purpose. I've tried correcting him everytime he says something incorrectly. Finally, I told him that if he continues , it will become a permanent problem, and he'll have to go to special classes to help him.

I hope he didn't think "special" was a good thing.

But for now, we wait. And hope it's a QUICKLY passing phase.

Thilly boy.

Just a little splash of color...

Look closely at this picture. What do you see (besides my cluttery bathroom)?

Enlarge the picture, if you must. Anything now?

Hot pink nail polish, perhaps? All over my daughter's feet? And shorts?

What isn't pictured here is the fact that I walked in from the front yard to see her sitting on my couch, looking all pink and pretty. I think I had a heart attack. I may, or may not, have screamed.

Also not pictured is the hot pink nail polish all over the tile floor, the CARPET, her legs, arms, and a tiny dot on my leather chair.

Not the proudest moment of my mothering career.
Marie -1
Mom - 0

I couldn't even get mad at her. After all, it was my own fault. Who paints their daughter's toes, leaves the nail polish within reach, and walks out to the front yard to visit with a neighbor? She'd have to be an idiot not to take advantage of that opportunity!

The verdict: The couch was safe (she must have dried off first!), and the carpet came clean! The shorts are in the garbage. The tile floor is still a work in progress. And I'm pretending the little drop on the chair doesn't exist.

Oh, and all nail polish, paint, markers, and scissors are being kept in a safe until she's 18.

Earth Day 2010

Every year, the base holds an Earth Day Fair. And every year, the students at Kyle's elementary school get to take a "walking field trip" over to the fair. This year, I was lucky enough to attend as a parent chaperone, and Marie got to tag along in the stroller. And boy, oh boy, was she the center of attention. The kids could've cared less about the fair, all they cared about was making that cute little girl in the stroller laugh. And that doesn't take much.

They go to a lot of work to make the fair really fun and interesting. But the funny thing is, it's SO CROWDED and CRAZY and CHAOTIC that the kids learn absolutely nothing. They're simply herded from booth to booth, with the adults trying not to lose any kids (or their sanity!) along the way. I think this particular booth was supposed to be teaching them about the PH balance in different liquids, but they didn't know that, and couldn't hear the person explaining it. All they cared about was the fact that they got to wear goggles and gloves, and "make science experiments."

The other highlight is collecting all of the free stuff at each booth. Who doesn't love free stuff?! Even if it is just stickers and pencils and pictures of desert flowers. These pinwheels were one of the highlights, along with free ice cream and balloons.

I wish I could say we learned something about our beautiful earth, how it works, or how to protect it. Sadly, we didn't. But we sure had a lot of fun!