Happy Core Fictional Character Day!

Whatever happened to regular holidays? No Halloween at school--no, they had to make it "educational." Pbbbtttt. Josh had to dress up as a character from a book in the school's curriculum and tell the story to parents and other visitors. He chose Puss 'n Boots. At least it was a do-able costume (unlike Jim Henson from last year--I'm waaay too embarrassed to post those pictures). THANKS to Mom for speed shipping the cat accessories. And thanks to Carol Lee and Kathy for being in the dance festival twenty years ago. And thanks again to Mom for saving them for twenty years. And thanks to Ashley for sewing the boots. (Did I actually do anything to create this for my child besides ask everyone for favors?!) He looked awesome and had a fun day. Jake was a frog for his preschool Core Fictional Character Day (if they're going to make it educational, can't they at least come up with a better name for it?). We had many, many "discussions" about why he had to be a frog instead of Batman. When it came down to it, he played nice though. I have good kids.

Photo Ops

I tried to take a few pictures of the boys for this year's Christmas card (Photoworks was having a sale) and these are some of the best outtakes. Jake was adamant about wearing two different shoes, one on the wrong foot, and his winter gloves. Josh carried his toy rifle with him and was quite upset when I didn't want it in every picture. Despite all that, the final result was passable. Too bad you have to wait until December to see it!

Bikes

When I was trying to take pictures of the first day of school, the boys wouldn't stop riding their bikes. But they're just such fun boys I couldn't resist posting pictures of their never ending energy.

First Day of School

Well the first day of school was over a month ago, but since school starting means works starts again for me, I've been a little slow in updating. Jake started preschool at the same school Josh and I are at this year. It's a lot of fun to have the boys together and see how proud they are of each other. Jake loves to go to Josh's classroom to say hi, and Josh loves to wave to Jake as he walks through the halls. They also have found the joy in jumping from table to table in the science room. It gives everyone a heart attack, but they love it.

Teacher of the Year

Yep, I'm the winner. Today while teaching sixth grade music, I was trying to discuss accidentals--sharps, flat, and naturals. During my classes last week, I had no problem explaining that a sharp raises the note--like when you sit on a tack, you go up. Sharp tack makes you go up. (And a flat tire makes you go down, but that's neither here nor there.) Must've been this terrible cold, but today I had a little trouble enunciating. Instead of saying, "when you sit on a tack" I said "when you sh** on a sharp tack." Nice. At least my observation by the principal isn't until next week.

Splish

On our last day in Arizona, my parents took us to the Chandler water tower. Just a small area next to the historic water tower with fountains in the ground that the boys could run through. They LOVED it! We only had a few minutes there, so I'm sure Josh will put this on his list of "must-do's" when we go back.

Train Park

After the yard work was done, Mom and Dad wanted to take the boys to a really cool train park in Scottsdale. The boys had a fantastic time. There was a great playground, a train and carousel to ride, and a miniature Old West town where Josh could climb on the roof and "be Germans." Clearly, there were some older boys playing there that he was influenced by as Josh knows nothing of Germans or any reason to be or not be German. It was a warm day but not as bad as Arizona can be--although you can't tell that by the boys' faces. They are definitely not used to the heat.