Incognito

Eliza Claire: Mama, with my sunglasses on they won't recognize me.

Me: Who won't recognize you?

Eliza Claire: The mosquitos!




Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Preschool Graduation for the LAST Time!

It's official!  I only have big kids.  No more little kids in the Mayhem Mania.  And, no more paying preschool tuition!

The girls did a great job at their graduation.  The program was cute.  They marched in.

They did the pledge of allegiance.  We saw a slide show of the kids from throughout the year.  The kids performed 4 or 5 songs, including Deep in the Heart of Texas and a cute poem Kindergarten Here We Come.  They looked like they were having a really good time.  The ceremony concluded with the passing out of "diplomas."

I had to laugh, Eliza Claire was having a horrible time with her mortar board.  It kept sliding back and when she would pull it forward it would make her hair get in her eyes.  It was a never ending cycle.  She was getting very frustrated but luckily managed to make it through the program with out ripping it off or bursting into tears.  It reminded me of Charlotte's graduation where her mortar board fell into the choir loft during the program.

It was a great end to an amazing school year.

Note the shoes

I can't believe I have two Kindergarteners!  How did that happen?
Jenn

Tea Party Fun

This past weekend we were invited to a three generation tea.  It was so much fun.  The night before I decided after spending the whole day at the ballpark that I needed a little crafting therapy and bought supplies to make me and my girls hats for the occasion.  I got to the craft store about a half an hour before closing so I had to be quick.  Having just seen the royal wedding our hats ended up a bit more ostentatious than they might otherwise have been.  I had so much fun making the hats.  And luckily, all the girls loved them.

When buying hat supplies the first thing I spotted were birds.  I bought one for each girl in their favorite color and then picked one for me as well.  Then I looked for affordable flowers in coordinating colors for everyone.  Last I bought a single spool of ribbon that would work with all the hats.  One hot glue gun, an hour of time and lots of eye-rolling from Michael and I had four hats perfect for a tea party.

The girls were each thrilled with their hats.  I got lucky in that they all agreed to wear the dresses I suggested that I knew would look great with their hats.  Then we went to my closet to find jewelry and accessories.  Overall, I think it all came together nicely.

One side story about my hat.  When I was picking my flowers I spotted artificial money plant.  It immediately took me back to my childhood as my grandmother grew it in her garden.  She would let the seed stalks dry, cut them and then peel the outer layers of the seed pod off to reveal the silvery round pieces.  She would then use the stalks in flower arrangements.  I loved getting to help with the money plant and always thought it was so pretty.  So upon spotting it in the craft store I knew I had to have it for my hat.

The tea was such a lovely event.  There were 14 of us in all.  The tables were beautifully set in the garden.  The refreshments were divine and everyone had a wonderful, relaxing time.  The really neat thing is all three families have know each other for 35+ years.

The tea even included a fashion show of the seven girls in attendance.  They did a great job of showing off their fancy attire.

We had so much fun.  It was the great end to a crazy weekend.  And it was something I hope my girls remember for a long time.

Jenn

Grumpy Snakes Running Club

I call it a running club, but I use the terms running and club loosely.  About two months ago I decided to start the Couch to 5K program.  It is a nine week program that takes you from not running to being able to complete a 5k.  The program uses walking and running intervals to get you accustomed to running.  You start out alternating between running 60 seconds and walking 90 seconds.  Every week your increase the amount of time you spend running.  I had a couple of different Facebook friends who started this program before I did.  They kept posting their work outs and I decided I should give it a try.  If it were not for Facebook I would have never tried of doing this.

I downloaded an app for my iPhone (C25K).  I love it because it tells me when to run and walk - I don't have to keep up with anything and it allows me to make notes on each days exercise so I can see my progress.  I will say that I had been working out regularly for 6 or so months prior to starting the program and the first week I thought I would die!  OK, and the second week, too! So I don't truly believe you could go from being a complete couch potato to doing this program, maybe I'm wrong but I'm just giving you my experience.

I am currently stuck on week 4.  Actually I alternate between week 2 and week 4.  And honestly I still can't complete week 4 as it is laid out.  It has two different five minute running intervals and two that are three minutes.  I can't do the five minute ones so I cut them down to 3 or 4 minutes each.  I am making progress and I will complete week 4 this month!  But, I've decided that this is more a process than a goal. I do not see it as failure that I'm stuck.  I see it as success that I haven't given up.  Will I eventually finish the program? You bet!  Will I finish it in 9 weeks? Definitely not!  Am I enjoying the challenge and process? Wholeheartedly!  Will I eventually run a real 5K? I don't know.

I do my running outside on a wonderful local trail.  One of the things I love so much about the trail is all of the nature I see.  Wildflowers, Squirrels, scorpions, fish, cardinals, water birds, turtles and snakes seem to be the most common.  The snakes have one spot that they always hang out.  At least 75% of the time I can find at least one, sometimes several.  I hate snakes!  They give me the heebeejeebees.  But I love looking for them on my runs.  Luckily they are water snakes and are a good 20 feet or so away when I see them. 

Since my kids refer to my working out as "Mommy getting her grumpies out," and I always look for the snakes on my jaunts down the trail the name Grumpy Snakes Running Club seemed appropriate.  And you all know, I have to name everything.  Now I just need the t-shirt...

This series of pictures is of one of the skinnier species of snakes I see.  I happened to catch this one on the move.  

If anyone knows what kind of snakes these are please let me know.  I have no idea but am curious.

Jenn

PS.  These pictures did not come from a Grumpy Snakes outing.  One morning while doing Grumpy Snakes, I saw a big snake covered in moss or other green stuff.  I was so annoyed that I couldn't get a good picture of it with my phone, that when I got finished running, I came home and got my good camera with the good super zoom lens.  By the time I got back, the moss covered snake was gone or had washed off the moss and these two snakes were in its place.  In the course of taking these pictures my camera "broke," the manual focus/auto focus button literal came off my lens.  The pictures are not as good as I wanted them to be but the best I could do given the circumstances.  I wish my good camera wasn't so heavy so I could run with it every day and capture all the fun things I see.  I have taken my lens to be repaired and am anxiously awaiting its return.

Crazy but Useful Tip

A friend mentioned to me that she had read this tip and I filed it away for future use. I've tested it twice and it really does work. What is it? You can use hand sanitizer for deodorant.

I was skeptical but hurried thru a shower the other day and inadvertently left the house without deodorant I happened to visit a public restroom that had hand sanitizer and decided to give it a try. It totally worked. Hand sanitizer is definitely easier to locate in a pinch than the real stuff. Now if you ever end up in this predicament you'll know the quick fix.

Yeah, I know this is a random somewhat weird post but I'm all for sharing my secrets.

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Seriously?

This afternoon I took a nap. You notice I didn't say I enjoyed a nap or that the nap was a treat. It wasn't! First the lawnmower and weed eater were too loud. Then the kids kept coming in to ask me questions instead of asking their dad. But the icing on the cake: Rehm came in when his grandparents called. They wanted to know if we needed anything from the store for the dinner Michael was preparing. "Well son, that's a question for your Dad, ask him," I responded.

Rehm: He's not here.

Me: Where is he?

Rehm: At the store.

Me: So do you think he needs Grandma and Grandpa to get anything from the store?

Rehm: Oh, yeah, probably not.

Seriously, he had to wake me up for that one?!

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Another One

Charlotte lost another tooth tonight right after going to bed. She has two more that are loose. I hope the Tooth Fairy is more timely this time. She just showed up this morning, sometime after Charlotte got up, to leave her money for the tooth she lost Friday.

At bed time I thanked Charlotte for making me feel special on Mother's Day. She responded, "Mommy, thank you for making me feel like a special Charlottie every day of the year!" Can I just say, that was the best Mother's Day present EVER!


Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

The Tooth Fairy Is Too Busy

Charlotte lost her third tooth yesterday at school. He top two teeth are loose and so is another on the bottom. I'm afraid they are all going to fall out at once and Charlotte is going to be on a soft food diet.

Charlotte dutifully put her tooth under her pillow last night but the silly ol' tooth fairy didn't come! I told Charlotte a lot of kids must have lost teeth yesterday and she was running behind. Charlotte is not very happy with the tooth fairy today. She better show up tonight.
Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Fun in First Grade

Charlotte's class has been busy hatching chickens this week. They have one more that will hatch today.

These hatched overnight



These were still wet and drying in the incubator before moving on with their older siblings above.



Charlotte was so excited to get to school this morning to se her baby chicks.

In a week or two they will all be going to live on a farm.

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Before and After

Rehm was long overdue for a hair cut. He couldn't decide what he wanted so we kept putting it off. After 24 hours camping in 90+ degree temps he was finally ready for a cut.

Before:


After:


I kind of liked the shaggy look though it did need some shaping. His dad is thrilled with the new shorter traditional look. Rehm? He seems pretty indifferent. Doesn't seem to like or dislike it, even though it is what he asked for. I guess hair just isn't important to him.

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone