Sad Pocket

Do you have a sad pocket? 

Emory does and he says it houses things that are broken because "they need a place to live too". 

Inside the pocket I found Snoopy's missing ear (see backpack), a beheaded Snoopy eraser and a couple of shells. 

A sad pocket; do you have one? I don't either but I'm happy Emory has found the perfect house to keep it all. :) 

Spring T-Ball

We signed Emory up for spring t-ball. He tells us this is what he really wants to play so maybe he will enjoy it. Season starts early March.

When we signed up today we were given 60 boxes of World's Finest chocolates to sell. What the... ??? So....I guess we will be selling candy to help support the League. Let us know how many you'd like to purchase. :)  $2 each.

New Semester, New School

Today was the first day of the Spring semester and the boys are at a new school.  

We sit and wait to get escorted to our new classrooms. 

Everett walks with the school principal while Emory hurries ahead to see where his classroom will be.

 I've heard many people say great things about the principal at Oppe. We only met Ms. Accoin yesterday and I already have a long list why I think she's awesome.  I not only appreciate her taking the time to meet with us on a school holiday but very much appreciate how welcome she made our family feel. We are so excited to be a part of the Oppe family.

Despite the butterflies in his tummy, Emory was soooo excited to meet his new teacher and friends

 

Everett has two teachers.  

Ms. F (right) is his math, science and homeroom teacher.

Ms. M teaches English and reading.

  A great first day at Oppe and their teachers tell us they did great!

Home and still smiling.

A little nap before dinner = a great day. :)

Finding the Positive

With a New Year comes resolutions. I'm not one for resolutions but this year I decided to incorporate "Finding the Positive" & beauty in all situations, even if a situation makes me want to punch someone in the throat.  This one is tough for me, but a good one to incorporate in my day to day and also to be an example for my boys. 

We love going to the beach. Going to the beach means sitting in a chair, looking out to the ocean and taking in the salty air UNLESS it's winter, in which case you don't sit, it's too cold. Even so, we just trade out our swimming suits for coats and take a hike on the seashore.

But then, there's litter; I despise litter. On our hike I find myself scanning the sand.  I search not only for trash but for broken glass.  I am consumed with thoughts of children running and playing barefoot on these beaches, including Everett and Emory. I am bothered there is visible and hidden glass in the sand and little feet will need stitches and tetanus shots, if it is not collected. So i scan and look for glass. On our hikes we usually find 15-30 shards of glass and with each rising tide more becomes exposed, enough to keep me busy on our next hike.

Today on our hike we found approximately 20 pieces of glass and 1 treasure. I found sea glass! I wonder how long this piece of glass has been tumbling by the ocean's tidal movements and waves? According to Wikipedia sea glass usually takes 20-30 years to form. I've seen sea glass before, but never have I found any myself.  The glass' edge is smooth and the surface is a frosted. I just might  turn this in to a beautiful piece of jewelry.  

About sea glass: Sea glass begins as normal shards of broken glass that are then persistently tumbled and ground until the sharp edges are smoothed and rounded. In this process, the glass loses its slick surface but gains a frosted appearance over many years.

Naturally produced sea glass ("genuine sea glass") originates as pieces of glass from broken bottles, broken tableware, or even shipwrecks, which are rolled and tumbled in the ocean for years until all of their edges are rounded off, and the slickness of the glass has been worn to a frosted appearance.glass tumbled and carried by the ocean's tidal movements, waves and wind is sculpted smooth and beautiful.

Having to pick up broken glass makes me sad because it means someone was irresponsible and lazy about picking up after themselves (and yes it makes me want to punch them in the throat) but finding the positive means looking beyond all the broken glass and seeing the beauty like the sea glass and more importantly that Everett and Emory are learning the importance of taking care and respecting our beaches because all that we do has an impact on our ecosystem. Today I found beauty and I'm positive about that. 

Adios Parker Pelicans

 Today was the last day of the Fall semester
 and Everett and Emory's last day at Parker Elementary.
  

We think Parker is a great school but realized way back in September it was not a good fit for our family.
We decided to stick it out and give the school (practices, procedures and PTO) a fair chance, at least until the end of the semester.

We will miss the boys' teachers very much.

   Everett will miss his best friends; we hope they will join us at the park or some place fun, soon.  

Changes can be difficult but I am feeling this one needed to happen.

Adios Parker, you have some wonderful teachers and an adorable mascot.

On the mend.

Yes, I realize the first year in school is rough for kids, but seriously.   According to Texas state law, students may not be absent more than 9 days a semester, but what if the environment in which they learn is making them sick?  It is my opinion hand sanitizers are not as effective as soap and water and sharing class  supplies (crayons, scissors, keyboards, etc) is cause for all types of bacterial infections. Last week Emory came home with a head full of lice; I am convinced stacking coats on a table may not be considered good practice for healthy students.  And while I'm on my soap box I personally feel each student should have their own locker for their personal belongings while they are at school.  I prefer lice and bed bugs stay put  and not find their way home on Ev and Em's coats and/or backpacks. 
Poor Emory has been a trooper through it all. A couple of months ago he had scarlett fever and recently diagnosed with CDiff.  Today is the first day (in 6 weeks) he hasn't complained about stomach cramps or have diarrhea. YEA!! Em is on the mend.

Tomorrow is Saturday...WOOHOO....and we get to have follow-up lice treatments. 

How much fun do YOU get to have this weekend?

p.s. Emory had 10 absenses this semester. 

If You Give A Boy A Book

If you give a boy a book, he's going to read it.  When he reads it, he'll want to read it again...and again.  When he reads it again and again, it will fill his brain with ideas.  When his brain is full of ideas, he will create his own stories.  When he creates his own stories, he'll want to recite them to you.  When he recites them to you, it will make him think about reading, and he will ask you for another book.

New Year with Our People

Our people came to visit.  They spent a week with us; we had great plans to be outside and GO TO THE BEACH!!  Yeah, right.  We didn't plan for 35-40 degree weather when we moved to Galveston.  Needless to say our plans of basking in the sun with a cool beverage in hand was too much for Mother Nature.  We  decided to brave a walk (some of us barefoot) on the beach despite 18-22mph winds. Do we look cold? The russian lady in the back says "DA!"

So what's a group of 8 to do when the weather isn't cooperating?  We adults were ready to play cards but the kids were bored and fidgety.  It was especially difficult since we live on the 2nd floor. We constantly had to remind all four kids to "shuffle, shuffle, shuffle" their feet so we wouldn't get a noise complaint from the downstairs neighbor.  We made them find something to do, that didn't involve running around; they  decided to play "Doodie Head".  

I had never seen the game before, but it's pure genius and hysterical. Throw the doodies on to your opponent's head to score points. HA!  Deona thought it might be fun to have a family competition.  It seemed only fair we draw names; each kid would pick an adult.   This is how our 1st annual "Camp Marvel" came to be (i just picked the name because I couldn't think of anything else).  Our teams were formed : Monica & Everett, Dani (Ori) & Zoe, Deona & Ava, and Dina & Emory. We came up with a couple of competitions for each day.  The kiddos were SOOOOO excited and looked forward to  competing.   So much fun! 

 

 So sad we didn't get photos of all the activities.  Ping Pong and Target Shootout were played in the fitness center and luckily we had the place all to ourselves.  The kids played Wahoo while we adults played Hand & Foot.  ParachuteTarget was a game where each team took a turn throwing a toy solder (with parachute) off the second floor balcony on to a target (2 beach towels) on the bottom floor. The kids LOVED it and it gave them an opportunity to run up and down stairs.

Corn Hole  is a game on property so it was convenient and another exciting activity. I gotta say Cornhole is NOT my forte.

Other things we did, besides competing, was visit Moody Garden's. 

This time of year is especially beautiful. We walked through the Festival of Lights....

then the kids went ice skating.   

This was the first time iceskating for Everett & Emory.

The kids skated until their feet were tired and bums were sore.  They all did great!  Afterwards we headed home for cups of hot cocoa.  

Mario Kart 8. on the wiiu, was another fun activity for the kids. I'm so glad we purchased it for Christmas. 

Ori and I had a great time putting this puzzle together. 

To celebrate and bring in the New Year we added a "Polar Bear Plunge".

Who's CRAZY idea was that?!!!! *whistling* :)

I WISH we had planned to set up the camera/video for this stunt.  The water was ICE cold and I knew if I we were going to do this we couldn't think about it too much. There was no adjusting and no walking in for me; I had to jump in or it was a "no go". Just to note, NO ONE was forced to do this.  This was at your own will.  Well....except for Ava.... she tiptoed in and tiptoed out.  Silly Ava. Ori noticed she wasn't completely wet so Ori threw her in.    Everett squealed and shrieked, loud enough to draw neighbors to their balconies. I'm sure some thought we were abusing our children; how dare we make these poor children go swimming. HA!   I've never felt water that cold before. I remember thinking, "I need to get myself to the side".  After I pulled myself out, I stood frozen waiting to make sure everyone found their way out of the pool.  There was so much chaos; our movements were choppy and disorganized; very similar to chickens with their heads cut off. DAMN, IT WAS SOOO COLD, but WOW what a fun and crazy experience for us all. 

I'm not sure I would have even attempted this crazy stunt had there not been a hot tub in sight. 

102* water never felt so good. AHHHHHHHHHHHH..........................

*hi-five* to Ori,  she and I were the only 2 (dummies) who "jumped" in. 

Later that evening we finished off the competition with PieFace!

Dina is the luckiest human being in the whole wide world.  Never Pied. NOT ONCE!

 

 

 I, on the other hand, got pied, EVERY SINGLE TIME!

I am so glad the kids were bored because it forced us to improvise and come up with a plan which ended up being an absolutely fabulous week for us all. 

 The weekend was silly.  All of it.  And I loved it, ALL OF IT; especially with these 7 cuh-razy and spontaneous people. These are my kind of people. 

Our people. ❤️

 p.s. My team didn't win. :(