Life Is Sweet In the Belly of the Beast

Remember when I posted on Facebook about going on a field trip with Zachary?  Oh, you're not my facebook "friend"?  It's probably for the best.  But this is what it said: "What have I done? What have I done? Find a deep cave to hide in! I just signed up to chaperone my fifth grader's field trip!"  Yes, I was referencing a Nightmare Before Christmas song.  Kudos for picking up on that!  It got eleven responses.  No, wait.  Two of those were mine.  One friend said, "Could be worse, it could be to host a party at Chcke E Cheese"  Yeah.  That's just gross.  I've never done that.  Maybe if I had unlimited amounts of cash, I would cave when my child asked for that, but I looked it up.  No way.  My favorite comment was my sister's.  She said, "Oh, stop it.  It will be fun."
I don't volunteer at my children's school.  There.  I said it.  I admitted to the horrible truth.  I know.  I heard that gasp of shock through my computer.  I babysit everyday except Wednesday.  I don't have my own car, and I don't enjoy dealing with other people's children.  I barely survive my own when they come home after school, so on my day off, I really just want to enjoy some peace and quiet.  I've been lucky so far this year, too.  Every time a permission slip has come home asking me to sign the life of my child away to the mercy of the school district's bus drivers, I have had to work the day they were going on the trip.  Zachary would look at me with his beautiful, brown, puppy dog eyes, and ask if I could volunteer to go.  I'd look at the date, and say, "Meh.  I have to work that day.  Sorry."  Even though I wasn't really all that sorry.
This time, though.  I had no excuse (other than the one I usually use:  I don't want to).  It's a good excuse, but this time, he looked at me with his beautiful, brown, puppy dog eyes, and I said, "Are you sure you really want me to come?"  I mean what kid really wants their mom at their school?  "Yes, please, Mom!  Please!"  Wow.  I couldn't say no to that.  I agreed to go, signed the form, checked the "Yes, I can chaperon" box, tore it in half, wrote at the top of the permission slip in big bold letters, "YOU VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS!" (so I wouldn't forget), and stuck it on the refrigerator.  Then, I immediately made the previously mentioned Facebook post.
Yesterday was said field trip.  We went to the symphony and then to the Natural History Museum.  His teacher put me in charge of seven children.  I would have been happier with one.  Maybe two, but I suppose seven is manageable.  To someone who has a higher level of responsibleness about them maybe.  I was terrified the whole time that I was going to loose one of them and I couldn't remember K's name.  I kept wanting to call her Ally.  Which of course, she did not respond to when I called her as she was wandering away from me.  The symphony part was easy.  We pretty much all sat together.  Then came the museum.  One wanted to go here, the other wanted to see that exhibit, and we only had 45 minutes to see it all.  Oh man, it was the best trip ever.  Except my near panic attack every five minutes.  Seriously.  We needed rope or something.
I really did enjoy the symphony, though.  We got to hear Petroushka by Stravinsky.  Every once in awhile, Vladimir Kulenovic (who conducted the orchestra with the grace of a dancer), would turn around, and explain to the children what was going on in the story the music was telling.  In my research for this blog (so that I spelled stuff right), Google is telling me that Petroushka is also a ballet.  That explains why the whole time I wanted to see dancers.  Projected on a big screen behind the orchestra were pictures drawn by other fifth graders also telling the story of Petroushka, the poor little puppet.  Zachary told me he really liked it, too.  But he doesn't want to play an instrument.  Sigh.  I think they played part of the Superman theme at the end, too.  It was lost on the young man sitting next to me.  He cared nothing for the symphony and all the children in my group wished they could have spent more time at the museum than the symphony.  Sigh and a head shake.  Both places were amazing, and both should be appreciated.

 I told him, he didn't have to sit by me on the bus, but he insisted that I sit by him and even gave me the window seat.

 I think he's excited or something.

 Ah.  This music was anything but boring.  It was lively and there was a carnival and even murder!

 Zach's class.  If you look closely, you will notice there is a girl in purple tights.  That may or may not be the girl Zach has a crush on.  I can neither confirm nor deny that this is the case, and I will not tell you that the source of this information may or may not have come from Zachary's progenitor after said progenitor questioned said eldest child.  And I will neither confirm nor deny that I have pulled out my thesaurus for this particular caption.  It shall remain a mystery. ;)

 Why, yes.  Those are butterflies in the wall of the museum.  I know.  It's freaking awesome.

 Apparently, this is my gem.  Here's how I know"

"Spodumene, var. triphane, 'The Melissa,' 1,240 carats", said the plaque on the wall.  I never would have found it if I hadn't volunteered to chaperon this excursion!

 The dinosaurs were really cool.

 And all these skulls.  Wow. :D

 If you go to the top, there is a viewing area where you can look out and see the whole valley.

I think a trip with the whole fam-damn-ily is in order!  I know all their names! :D

It's So Clear Now

Kurtis and I love Valentine's Day.  It's the day we love to tease our children and ask them if they are in love with somebody.  Really, we do that whenever we feel like it, but on Valentine's Day, we make a point to do it.  Only Zach will actually admit that he is enamored by one of the girls in his classroom.  I won't tell you who it is, but he showed us her picture in his yearbook, and she is cute.  I asked if she was nice to everyone, and he said, "Yes."  That's good.  Kaleb admits that he likes someone, but won't tell us who, and starts to cry because he told Riley and Riley told us (ah, so it is still the same girl!), and Riley was supposed to keep it a secret!  Then Riley just flat out denies it, and we can tell he's lying by his blushing.  It's so much fun to torture our kids this way!  Hee hee!
So I made the valentines for my kids classes this year.  I was asking myself at the store if I should just buy them this year, but I didn't know how many I needed, and said to myself, "Eh, I will just make them.  It can't be that many."  Well, Kaleb has 26 kids in his class, Zach has 26 in his as well, and Riley has 28.  Don't worry.  I'm going to do the math for you.  I makes me look more like a martyr.  If you add all those numbers up, they come to 80!  Eighty freaking Valentines!  What the heck was I thinking?
I always do something cute for the people I visit teach, but I only visit two ladies and I get something for my partner.  Three!  Three valentines.  So I made 86 valentines this year (you have to count the kids' teachers)!  I must be crazy.  Literally.  But they did turn out cute.  I'm not going to lie.  In fact, I'm going to pat myself on the back a little.

Aren't these cute?

 Next year, if I say something about making my kids' valentines for school, please remind me how much that is a really bad idea.  I went a little crazy.

These are the Valentines for their teachers and the people I visit teach.  The teachers get better treats because they have to put up with my kids for such a long time all day.  I think they are saints.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!  

I hope today is filled with all kinds of love!

I'll Color On Them All

I want to paint the wall in my front room black, or a dark grey and put light grey swirls all over it.  I think it will look cool and Stampin' Up! has a really awesome stencil that I want to use.  So last night, Kurtis and I were going to get some frozen custard and I told him I wanted to go to the hardware store and look at paint swatches.  He said, "Why do you need to look at paint swatches?  Isn't the paint just going to be...black?"
"Do you know how many shades of black or dark grey there are in the color palate?" 
We never did make it to the hardware store.  It was closed.

Somehow I Still Get the Chills

Yesterday (a lot of my posts are starting with that word lately), I took my baby to the dentist.  He had a cavity filled.  It sucked (for him - I was fine).  He is the first of my children to ever have a cavity.  I think (hopefully) he has learned that taking care of your teeth is important, though.  He really hated it.  He whimpered when they left the numbing cream on his gums too long.  He didn't like the numbing shots.  He pretty much whimpered the entire time they were filling his cavity.  They did their best to work quickly, and were done faster than I thought they would be.  I took a picture.  They hygienist was trying to distract him from his discomfort and had me take it.  He thought he looked funny.  I always wondered what I looked like when I had to have one of those on me.  They aren't very comfortable at all.  Poor kid.  I was texting Kurtis and sent him that picture.  He said, "Whoa, that looks so uncomfortable."  "It is!"  I texted back.  Personal experience.  I'm pretty sure Kurtis has also had this personal experience.  But I forget.  He can open his mouth really wide.

 This isolates the tooth and keeps it dry so they can work on it.

Our dentist noticed his other top tooth was loose, so he pulled it out.  Now my baby is missing his two front teeth!  He was pretty excited about that.  He's getting so big!

When we were all done and getting in the car, he said, "I can still make the "S" sound!"  I think that Christmas song he sang during his program made him think he wouldn't be able to say "Sister Suzie sitting on a thistle".  :D

Kiss the Planet Good-bye

Monday, W had his birthday party with his friends, and I was lucky enough to be there to see it.  My dad is a mechanical engineer.  He designs tools for the space program that is pretty much non-existent here any more.  My sister asked him to help her with W's birthday party.  It had a space theme.  The boys had a lot of fun.  They made rockets and launched them at the planets (after my parents taught the boys about them first).  They strapped balloons to straws and raced them on yarn.  They made pizzas and watched a DVD of a rocket launch while they cooked.  Then they ate their pizzas.  We ran out of time and parents were starting to come pick up their boys, so W quickly opened his presents as they were leaving.  It was really great party.  Emily and I made robot cake pops for his cake treat while the kids were at school.  We decorated 32 of the 88 that we made.  It took us five hours with a half hour break in between while the cake pops.  Michele's daughter has a cake pop maker, but it only makes six at a time.  We had fun, though.  When my niece got home from school, she helped decorate them, too.  It was a fun way to spend the last day of our trip.  Tuesday, we flew home.  I loved flying over the rocky mountains and looking down from the window of the plane.  I really do love flying.  Emily asked me if I thought I could be a Flight Attendant.  I think I would like it, but I'm not sure.  I think flying is fun, but sometimes when it's your job, it sucks the fun out of it.

 The robot cake pops!

 My niece made that angry one.  I love it! :)

 Here is my dad taping the balloons to the straws.

 W.  Blowing up his balloon as big as he can.

 One of W's friends is on the left, and my nephew is on the right.  I think he let go of his balloon too late.

 I didn't take any pictures of the boys throwing their rockets at the planets, but my sister is an artist.  She painted this for the party.  Her house is always stocked with things to paint with and on and all sorts of supplies for creativity.  I wish I had more stuff like that.

This cake pop looked like Saturn! :)  It tasted really yummy, too. ;)