Dirt Cups

I took a gazillion photos today.  This is the only one I can share for privacy reasons which our society created.  The kids stirring these bowls of pudding were cuter than cute.  You may even catch a glimpse on the I-35 School District webpage... Just sayin'

My Foods 1 class invited a kindergarten class to our FCS room and taught them to make Halloween Dirt Cups.

My Foods class amazed me.  

Their patience, compassion and excitement of working with 5 year olds was my high today.  

Toto, we're not at East High anymore.

Whose is that?

If you were around 2 years ago when Ross played his first year of flag football, you may recall him wanting to quit.  He didn't quite understand the game, was hesitant to touch the ball, and very self-conscious of making mistakes.  I'll never forget the day we were leaving for his game as he hid in the branches of a tree.  

It was miserable...for all if us.

If you spent any time with Ross in July, you may recall his obsessive worrying and discussion about football tryouts.

Again, it was miserable... for all of us.

Which is why I didn't see this coming.

#5 runs with the ball.

Someone got his toe.

Again, #5 runs with the ball.

And maneuvers around #22

Less than 5 seconds after I snapped the first photo, Ross was down.  And he didn't get right back up.  He lay there... hurt.
All I could say was 'shit'.
In the photo, you can see the kid in red grabbing for the back of Ross' neck.  He ended up grabbing the top of Ross' neck pad and pulling him down, twisting Ross' knee in an awkward position. 
In that moment, I pictured Ross in a cast.  I didn't know where, but I figured something was broken.
Well, thanks to all the calcium in chocolate milk and mac and cheese, my boys bones aren't breaking anytime soon. 
He was back in the game after 5 minutes. 
He rocked it.

Updates

Okay, okay so I didn't include any photos of the tile in the slideshow. 

 

Lesson learned.

 

 

 

  We also have grass.

 

And walnuts.  Grandma Green would be excited.

The Boyds Nest

Home

And just like that... In the last week of September ... 16 months after we broke we ground... The stress... The money... The rain... The insane amount of alcohol consumed... The theft... The career shifts... The decisions... The bats... Completely taking over Denny and Cindys home and lives for the past 2 months...did I mention the stress?

On Thursday, September 24 we were given the green light to move in from both the inspector and the bank.

We're done.

We're home.

Another Win

It's been way too long since my last post, but life happens.  Be ready for a much anticipated post very, very soon!  In the meantime, I've got pictures from the Cowboys last game...

 

Ross in the back with the black arm pads

 

Ross tacked this kid

 

Ross running with the ball

 

And down he goes.

 

Ross tries to pull this kid down.

 

They won.

Audition

I'm beginning to think I've missed Maisies childhood calling for acting.  Had I known from the get-go this girl was gifted with such talent, I'd be a wealthy woman.

 

Her acting debuts usually revolve around food... "I'm huunnngrrry'"... it's becoming ridiculous and I'm growing concerned she may have tape worm.

 

However, Monday afternoon/evening, she threw us for a loop with her performance.  This time it wasn't about what she could eat. 

It was about pulling her tooth out. 

 

I've never been a fan of my kids losing baby teeth.  Not only does is age them once their permanent teeth come in; but it makes them look unfortunately awkward until their face grows into their big-people teeth. 

Oh, second grade.

 

Lets just say the process lasted over 2-1/2 hours.  There were tears, whining and drama to the hilt.

 

We'd all had our fill after hour 2.

 

At wits end, Mike grabbed Maisie by the arms to hold her back.  I yanked the tooth out while she kicked my throat with her free limbs and screamed as though she was being abducted. 

 

Lo and behold, the performance had ended and all was well.  We were left with this...

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I've got to get this girl in theater.

Game of the Weekend

5 years ago I was naming photos on my computer "Ross 5".  Of course he had just turned 5, Molly was still a newborn and Maisie had a hemangioma growing on her nose. 

Those were the days.

 

Today I named a new photo on my computer.  It was "Ross 5" and I couldn't help but reminisce. 

 

However, the '5' was not for his age this time. 

 

 

He's number 5 on the Cowboys Little Husky Football Team.  He's also the cute one in the middle, incase you couldn't tell.

 

He's a running back on offence.  And a linebacker on defense. 

He's also awesome. 

He's the one with the black forearm pads. 

Thank you Papa Boyd.

 

 

Papa Boyd sat through 3 practices a week (since before school started), made sure Ross had water and string cheese on the way to practice and outfitted him with all the gear he needed.  Ross has always been a lucky kid...

 

Below my #5 is down.  But he hasn't dropped the ball!

 

 

Ross is the one in the middle, running with the ball.

 

 

 

 

So close to scoring a touchdown...

 

 

Another fall.

 

Pre half-time score.

 

 

 

Iowa/Iowa State Game... Who cares?  I made it to the game of the weekend.

Exhausted

Is it Friday yet?

Things I'm Loving

Things I'm loving right now...

 

10 year old birthday parties

 

 

 

 

Appliances in

 

This cooktop, vent and pot-filler

 

Running Water

 

Flushing Toilets

 

Feeling blessed beyond measure...

 

Boyd 05

Friday is jeans and team day at I-35.  Luckily for me, I got to sport my first Boyd jersey.

 

 

Glad Ross made the team.

Picture Day, Knives and Hiding

Lifetouch is back in town.  Therefore, I took my annual before school on picture-day pictures.  This year the I had to aim the camera toward the sunrise to capture enough light to get a descent photo.  It's still pretty dark at 6:30!

 

 

 

One of the perks of working at a school without air conditioning is early outs.  Thursday was our first 2-hour early dismissal.  Wish the announcement hadn't been made during our first lab of the semester and the bell hadn't rung 2 minutes later.

 

My Foods 1 and Foods 2 class are learning basic culinary cuts.  Below is the prize-winners finished product.  You probably can't read the plate, but the cuts are julienne, fine mince, batonette and brunoise.  I was impressed!

 

Molly is slowly getting better at preschool drop off time.  She still likes to hide under my desk before class though...

 

 

She still needs to work on eating lunch though.  Below is what her lunchbox looks like afterschool.  Chocolate has been her diet this week at school. 

I'm sure her teachers are thrilled.