How 'Bout Dem Tigers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009 College World Series National Champs

Job Security

Everyone's worried about their job in these tough economic times and I'm no different. Can't tell you how many times a day I worry, What if they don't like the meal I cooked? or What if the laundry's not up to spec? Will they fire me? Cut my pay?
Well, yesterday the top brass let me know I was doing a fair job and needn't worry. Spice brought me this note while I was getting ready to face the day:



For those of you whose job description does not involve reading 4-year-old, here's a translation:

mom i no You LOVE mE

Ahhh, job security!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else has not been doing this week.

Ever have one of those days where you constantly make decisions then ask yourself, "What was I thinking?" Well, I've had a whole week of those days. Here's a few of the hi-lites:

To start with, hoodlums did NOT break into my craft room in the middle of the night and spray graffiti everywhere, even though that's what it may look like in this picture.



I've got so many rooms in this house to paint that I've declared this the Summer Of Painting! I did not think it would be fun to let Sport and Spice scribble on my craft room walls with paint before I went over it all later with a roller. When I came up with this idea I definitely did not have images of the Brady Bunch episode where Carol and Mike first hooked up and the boys had to give up one of their rooms in order to make room for the girls running through my mind. You know the one where Bobby and Cindy - or was it Jan and Peter - bonded by painting tic-tac-toe boards on the wall and a grand time was had by all? I did lay down some ground rules first, but I did NOT think it was necessary to say things like, "Do not paint the baseboards on purpose." and "Do not fill your brush with so much paint giant gobs of it are oozing down the walls." I did not cut this activity short, very short, when things quickly started going down hill. A grand time was had by Sport and Spice, but NOT Groovie Mom.

I did not volunteer to help out at this week's Cub Scout camp so Sport, Spice, and I could all attend. When one of the directors called and asked me to be a den leader in charge of a group of 10-year-old boys, I was not so gullible that I actually believed him when he said ALL I would have to do is lead the boys around from one activity to another. Therefore, I was not at all slightly dazed and confused when I received my instructions for the week and they said things like:

"Create a den flag by lashing two sticks together..."

and

"bring a work bucket to store your pocket knife, duct tape, hammer, and other tools..." Now if I could just figure out which one of my pocket knives to bring.

And when I Googled "lashing sticks together" I did not find approximately 41,637 hits that involved eyelashes sticking together after putting on too much mascara and only one paltry You Tube video about actually lashing sticks together. I did not start to watch said video only to give up 2 minutes into it after realizing it was a two parter, each about 8 minutes long and the first set of instructions involved carving an X in the end of one stick and gathering nylon parachute rope.

Incidentally, I did not just spell Googled G-o-g-g-l-e-d in my last entry the first time I tried to type the word.

And finally, I did not sign up for a Zumba class coming to our church and then regret it after watching Zumba videos on You Tube and remembering just how uncoordinated I am. As a rule, I don't exercise in public. Heck, who am I kidding, I don't exercise period. Well, I've already staked out my position when the class begins. I'll be in the Front Row! NOT!

Did I Mention We Like To Read?

Overheard

A conversation that just took place between Sport and Spice. Sport put something on his head pretending it was a hat.

Spice: You look like somebody from the Civil War.

Sport: How do you know about the Civil War?

Spice: Uhhh...wasn't Dad in it or something?

Sport (laughing): The Civil War was like a hundred years ago!

Spice: Oh, must've been PaPa then.

Summer Reading

We love to read! Now that 180 days of homeschool are officially behind us, we plan on spending a good chunk of our lazy days of summer reading and taking part in a couple of summer reading programs. As part of The Old Schoolhouse magazine's Summer Reading Splash, here's a look at some of the books we hope to get our hands on:

Sport, age 8, reader extraordinaire:
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Ramona the Pest and other Beverly Cleary books
Boxcar Children books by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Great Inventions: Computers by Brian Williams
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Secrets, Lies, Gizmos, and Spies by Janet Coleman and other spy books
Books about cars

Spice, age 4, learning to read & lovin' it:
My Pal Al by Marcia Leonard
I Do Not Want To by Kathy Schulz
Frontline Phonics books
A Beka beginner phonics readers
Clifford phonics readers

GroovieMom, head of family reading:
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (family read-aloud)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave - been working on this one for awhile, just need to finish it
100 Top Picks For Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy
Realityland: True-Life Adventures at Walt Disney World by David Koenig
Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert
Sue Patrick's Workbox System
You Being Beautiful by Dr. Oz - Don't know if I'll make it through all of this one. It gets pretty scientific...much more than I need to know.

If your kids plan on doing some summer reading, head on over to the Barnes and Noble website. If they read 8 books, they can earn a free one. We love books - especially when they're free!