Uncle Jor Jor Visits

We made signs for Jor Jor's return from Japan.

When's Jor Jor gonna get here?

Plane has landed...waiting (kinda) patiently.

It was so nice to have Jor Jor visit for about two weeks! Thanks for visiting!

Conversations Between Superheroes

#1 Discussing the complexities of the inner character of a superhero

Spiderman: Hulk Smash! Hulk Smash! (as he is        
                   smashing toys together)

The Flash: Hulk is a bad guy.

Spiderman: No, he's a good guy.

The Flash: Well, sometimes he's bad.

Spiderman: Yeah, but he's good too. Hulk Smash!
                    Hulk Smash!


#2 Discussing superhero attire

The Flash: Hmm...what superheroes wear belts?
                  The Flash and Batman do.

Spiderman: Superman does, too.

The Flash: Oh yeah, you're right.



#3 Discussing superpowers

The Flash: I'm so fast.

Spiderman: Yeah, but you can't fly.

The Flash: YOU don't fly!

Spiderman: I know. I shoot webs.

(then both proceed to make swishing noises pointing their fingers to shoot webs)


When I overhear these conversations, I'm reminded what Seinfeld said. Something like, "Superman, Batman, these weren't fantasies when you're a little boy. These are career options."

When You're a Kid...

You only take the time to stand still for important things. Like maybe the chance that the horse will come over and let you pet him.

You feel big when you reach the age where you appreciate a s'more.

When you're a kid, it doesn't matter if you have chocolate all over your mouth. You're full of treats and warm sitting on Mama's lap by the fire.

What I Miss About Grad School

I miss being able to wear jeans/sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a ball cap every day.
Where if I wore jeans and a nice shirt, someone asked why I was dressed up.
Oh, those were the days.

Okay, maybe the only good thing about grad school is the relaxed dress code.

So my lab got canceled tomorrow (I only have office hours) and I was thinking...jeans and t-shirt? I do that sometimes.
And dare I even dream? A ball cap?

Sigh. Probably not. I have chapel and with my luck, some board member or administrator will sit by me and ask me why I'm sitting in the faculty/staff section.

Maybe when I'm tenured, I'll wear a ball cap on a school day.

Mom Fail

It's that time of the semester when things get very busy.  The signs? Deadlines are here. Everyone on campus is coughing, sneezing, and running a fever. Students are looking a bit more stressed and frantic. Professors have trouble working because after reading ten research papers, brains are fried.

So I've been in the midst of the busyness. And it showed yesterday.

Friday mornings are hard enough. The usual Dad-has-the-kids-in-the-mornings doesn't occur on Fridays. Fridays mean that Mom has to wake the kids up and take them to whoever is watching them that morning - usually my parents. You wouldn't think that getting myself ready and putting kids in the car wouldn't be that hard. But I guess because I only do it once a week, my timing is usually off. To throw us off even more, I went to boot camp extra early which meant even more scrambling around to get ready for work.

I had done the usual get-stuff-together-for-the-morning the night before. I had Casen's back pack ready by the door. I even had packed myself a lunch. But pretty much everything else I forgot.

As I was telling the boys bye at Mom and Dad's, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to stick Casen's book in his backpack. He has a weekly book he borrows from his teacher and reads at home with us; it's due back every Friday. Mom said, "Don't worry, we'll pick it up before school."

About an hour later, Dad called me, "Um, where are the boys' shoes?"
I had completely forgotten to send their shoes with them that day (I had brought clothes for them on Wednesday so at least they had something to wear other than pajamas!).  By some miracle, I knew where their shoes were - in their closet for once.

Then when I got home, I'm wrestling with Casen and asking him about his day at school. I suddenly remembered: Show-N-Tell!!!! I HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT SHOW-N-TELL! It's like the best time of a kid's school experience, right? I felt awful. And I know, I know, that kids need to learn responsibility about remembering their own stuff, but C is four. And it was Halloween week. That four-year-old only had two things on his mind all week: a costume and candy. Anyway, I talked to him about it, and he said it was okay that he didn't bring anything this week. I felt a little better when he acted like it was really fine. I felt okay when Dad told me he was fine when they were at school, and he didn't have anything.
Then I remembered I forgot to stick a dollar in his backpack for popcorn and a pickle. It's a weekly fundraiser the PTA does, and C likes to share his food with us when he gets home (I think he thinks he's big stuff buying us treats). My parents had remembered and gave him a dollar.

After all the things I forgot that day, I'm just thankful I have such great parents that help out so much! Otherwise, my kid would be going to school without shoes.

So my big goal for this next week?
Grade a bazillion research papers? Probably not.
Remember shoes and Show-N-Tell? YES!

Happy Halloween

What I'm Thankful For...

Hearing these little boys whoop with happiness when we pulled into the bowling alley parking lot.

Listening how it is from this boy. (This is a common stance from Mr. Big School Boy.)

I'm thankful for college students who...

listen to a play-by-play of angry birds intently....

...who willingly hold Liam's lunch meat until he's ready to eat it....

....and carve some great pumpkins!

I'm thankful for these little scientists.

I'm thankful for this superhero. He can be there in a flash.

He hangs out with one of my faves: Spiderman.

Planning their next plan of attack....

...well at least until Flash wears himself out.

But don't worry. Both superheroes rallied themselves off the cafeteria floor for the search of candy.

Thankful for Bunny and Immie making the trek through the dorms with us.

I'm thankful for these three guys!

The Last Couple of Months in Pictures

Case got Student of the Month (pictured with his Start Student cup).

We went to Octoberfest with the Everharts. The kids took turns pushing each other in the stroller. We enjoyed good food and visiting. There was folk music and dancing, too.

Heidi was entertaining. As always.

We got to hold Baby Corbin.

I made this yummy dish courtesy of a Clean Eating recipe. You bake butternut squash, golden potatoes, and pineapple tossed with olive oil and basil. It called for turnips, but I wasn't that adventurous to try those. Yummy, yummy!

I had a conference one weekend, and Josh went to the OSU game. Sheri and Jack came up and watched the boys. They brought Graeson with them, too. The boys had fun together. When I got home, they were playing baseball together. So cute.

A boy and his dog.  

(Casen requested a photo shoot with the dogs. Padme didn't cooperate, but Newman gladly obliged.)

Pajama Day! (Best picture we got of the boys with the camera.)

Got to go to David's surprise birthday party. He was a sport about all the gag gifts - modeling his old man gifts. I wish I had gotten a picture of the girls' shirts. Pam's said something like "My man is 40." Tulle and Talla's shirts read "My dad is 40." A great play off of Gundy's catch phrase (for the catch phrase, go to 2:20).

Park fun. I'm pretty sure Liam is happiest when he is swinging.

Josh has made some good progress on our "summer project." The boys even helped with some hammering.

 I'm thankful for the college students in our lives. After dinner one night, the girls gladly played Play-Dough with the boys. It's so nice for the boys to be around these young adults.

There was a family reunion locally so Mamaw, Aunt Sissie, Uncle Bob, Annie, Jared, and Lilly came down for a visit. Can you tell these ladies are related?

The kids had fun playing with their third-fourth-removed-cousins-by-marriage.

The weather has been awesome. Mostly. This day was especially nice. I took the boys for a bike ride.

Oh, the life of a little brother. Always calling out, "Wait for me!"

 Lastly, we had a fall carnival a couple of nights ago. Mom and Dad got to go with us. Funtimes.

Liam bypassed the lame inflatables for a good old-fashioned playground.

Case didn't think the inflatable were lame. He went through the obstacle course over and over. I realized he's getting older while I watched him. A year ago Case would have not been brave enough to try the obstacle course. He's gaining confidence and getting stronger physically to climb walls and ladders. I think I had just as much fun watching him as he did conquering the course.

So instead of several blog posts with twenty photos each, here's the catch-up with twenty photos. 

His Heart

As the boys are getting older, I'm figuring out more what Jesus meant when He said we need to be like children. Tonight Casen prayed, "Dear God, thank you for the rain today; please send more...(then he named everything he could think of that can grow from the rain)...help me sleep well tonight. Help me to listen and obey and make good decisions. Amen."

I silently prayed, "Me too, God, me too."

Two Reasons Why I Haven't Been Blogging Much

These two are keeping me busy. And it's been a fun busy. Homework nights turn into art time for both of them. Tonight we got to go to Casen's school's fall carnival. After ingesting the equivalent of a bucket of sugar, I got the little hooligans down for the night.

I'm on Fall Break so maybe I'll get some more blogging done. Or maybe I'll grade. 

Okay, let's be honest. I'll nap and play.

Happy Fall!

Casen Wrote Me a Song...

...it went something like this:

(to experience the full affect, sing the following lyrics to any tune)

Dinosaurs use to live a long, long time ago. 
They are dead now. 
No more are alive.

There are no giants anymore.
A long, long time ago there was.
Not now.

Dinosaurs had babies. 
They were still big.
There aren't any left now.

Some dinosaurs had spikes.
They were really big.
Some ate other dinosaurs.

Nothing like getting serenaded in the car by the original artist.