Summer Fun!

This was my smile for the day--enjoy!

Glad I finally figured out how to get the whole YouTube screen to show on my blog!  It used to be so easy but, with a little thought, I conquered the new template at last.  Now I've gotta change my header...

It's always something!

Simple Tip Number 3

I love my boys. No, actually I adore my boys. I've doted on them since the moment of their births. First smiles, first steps, first words, first ride on a two-wheeler...they are all engraved lovingly in my memory.

Then they began school. School began sending home drawings and papers and homework. And more paintings and more homework. And more and more. Do you think I could throw any of that away?

Surprise! I actually did throw quite a lot away. Mostly homework, naturally.

I couldn't bring myself to throw away those wonderful, sweet, innocent, lovely kindergarten drawings though. As a result, I stored a map tube on a closet shelf, a tube filled with paintings rendered on yucky, faded, big construction paper.

Then my sweetie needed a home office so I emptied a guest room for him. Recently, son #2 needed a place to stay when he and his puppy lost their lease, so I grabbed my boxes and bins and successfully emptied my craft room/guest room for his use. The tube of children's drawing surfaced but this time I didn't have any good place to store it.

What to do. What to do. Then inspiration struck.

My trusty digital camera and I took a walk down memory lane. I now have photos of each drawing.

I possess photos of the captions dictated by some much-younger kidlets.

I snapped close-ups of some darling little details.

And then I filed the originals in that wonderfully useful circular file. No, really, I did.

(Okay, maybe I cut my favorite into one a twelve-by-twelve piece for scrapbooking. But I'm no longer storing kids' paintings anywhere but my hard drive, backed up by my Costco photo account and a CD.)

And I plan to scrap the best of the photos into scrapbook pages later this summer. I love it when I can have my cake and eat it too.

Nine and a Half

Hours till the end of the school year.

Want to ask me how many minutes that is? I could tell you!

Kids and Campaigns

Overheard in Kindergarten yesterday...

The New Banana kids were all sitting at the tables working at sorting pictures into the Starts With G column or the Starts with P column.



Miss Alex (casually, as she cuts out the drawing of a gate): My mommy isn't married.



Me: (thinking to myself as I picture Alex's mom and dad, sister and little brother) That's interesting.



Cut to Miss Alex's mom (coincidentally our Mommy Helper for the day) whose mouth is hanging open as she sputters wordlessly.



Miss Alex's mom: I'm not married?!? Whoa! (Long pause) Hmmmm.



I have the feeling that Miss Alex's mom realized there may be a few benefits to being unmarried, and I can hardly wait to find out what Miss Alex's dad thought about the whole conversation.



p.s. The pumpkin bread that Miss Alex's mom brought for a teacher snack was yummy beyond belief and I'm grateful that she brought us small portions. She is a wonderful baker and Miss Alex's Dad, who apparently helped polish off the chocolate chip loaf before it could get to school and into my hot little mitts, is not dumb enough to pass on marrying a fabulous cook who also possesses an twinkling sense of fun!

* * *

Dear Hillary, John and Barak--

I'm enjoying our nightly calls. I know you'd like to be my Best Bud and I'm sincerely sorry that the fact that I have a job prevents me having lunch with you and chatting about concerns I have for the future of our country. I've gotta confess that if we did do lunch you'd probably hear about puppies and cute kindergartners and the weather and puppies and how many goldfinches crowded in for lunch at the feeder today and especially about Kharma's latest trick. I'm shallow that way.

Anyway, thanks for learning how to pronounce Nevada correctly although I'm sure Your People probably told you that pronouncing it incorrectly would automatically lose you the vote of any Nevadan who heard it. We Nevadans are picky that way. I'm beginning to think that you all may be the start of a new and inspiring day. That someday I will be able to watch a television show and not have to yell "Nev-a-da, not Nev-ah-da" when someone mentions my state. I sometimes wonder how Harry reacts when a fellow senator mispronounces it. By the way, Harry is a good dude and thanks for appreciating him in the Senate. I've never understood his low approval ratings when he's one of the few politicians I've ever seen come to a soccer game.

So, Hill, Eddie and Bar, hope to see you around after this Saturday morning. Good luck to all of you. Sorry, I won't tell you who I'm leaning towards in advance. I know you've done a lot to get the endorsements of various entities, but I'm gonna make up my own mind. Congratulations on achieving the impossible and running a positive campaign. I'd much rather know what you stand for than what you think the other candidate has done wrong. In kindergarten we are all friends and use kind words. Drop by any time you need a break from campaigning. There's nothing better than kindergarten to make a day sing.

Sincerely,

pogonip