3rd grade Art Show

My little Small Fry loves art.  He took an art class after school this year and worked so hard on perfecting his skills.  At the end of the 3rd grade, all the students get to hang their masterpieces along the hallway and display their talent at the end of the year Art Show.  To better give you an idea of life with Small Fry, this is the conversation he and I had at 6:10pm on the day of the Art Show. He is a certified "mess".  And that's another way in the South to say he's a little Toot and I love him for it!  It makes life interesting!

 It had been a crazy day at work, including someone getting laid off and I was beat. 

 I had started cooking dinner when Small Fry sat down at the bar in the kitchen and said,

 "Mom, our Art Show was tonight and it's over at 6:30." 

I looked at him with horror in my eyes and said,

" What???  You are joking aren't you?"

He said, "Nope, and it's almost over."

I about died!  I yelled for Mr. H and Tater Tot while turning off the burner on the stove and running to the bedroom to throw my work clothes back on.  I had already put on shorts and a tank top with my hair in a clip on top of my head.  UGH!  Thank the Lord, I hadn't washed my makeup off yet!

Well, with a little hustle, we made it at 6:20. Thank Gosh we live only 2 or 3 miles from his school. 

Makes you appreciate small towns and the fact that everything is within 5 miles!

Self-portrait

Two more self-portraits....notice the shaggy blonde hair

My 5th grader with his 4th grade teacher, Ms. Hendrix...she's 9 months pregnant and as cute as can be!

Pictures of different climates

20 Year High School Reunion

Why am I dreading my 20 year high school reunion so much? I mean, it's the same people that I see on Facebook all the time.  I think it's because I'm not the perfect size 6 or 7 that I once was.  I actually have the figure of a 38 year old mother.  Wait....I don't want the figure of a 38 year old mom. 

Since December 1, I've gone to a diet doctor that would give me shots of a hormone called HCG twice a week.  It was supposed to make the inches just melt off of my abdomin and hips.  I lost 10 pounds by January 1st but have gained and lost the exact same 4 pounds every week since then.  I started out eating a 1,200 calorie a day diet.  I was going nowhere with the weight loss.  Then I switched to Weight Watchers and have forgotten to log my food into the website for the past 2 weeks.  I've walked on the treadmill and walked around the block.  I've even tried jogging down the nature trail near our house. 

Nothing.

Except a rash on my ring finger making it almost impossible to wear my wedding ring and my face breaking out like crazy from the hormones.  Needless to say, I stopped taking that shot.  It caused much misery.

I think the pressure to look good comes from the fact that I went to a relatively wealthy school district.  I mean, I live in a small town now and the women I graduated with are actually having botox parties.  I'm not sure I even know anyone that lives near me that gets Botox or even cares to get Botox.  A lot of the boys friends have parents that are just glad to have jobs.  One of the girls that will be at the reunion is going to Dallas to get her outfits for the reunion, so that no one will have her same outfits on.  Are you kidding me??? 

I've wasted so much time wondering what to wear, how to do my hair, what would make me look the skinniest, what people will think of me, will they think I'm fat and ugly now?  I know those are really silly things to worry about during the times we are going through in the world, but darnit, those are the thoughts I can't get out of my head.  My high school best friend is a marathon runner who just completed the Boston Marathon and my other high school best friend has 5 kids and just told me that she's gained 20 pounds since high school.  Ummmm.....I would do anything if 20 pounds was all I had to lose.

I guess I'm just going to be thankful that I've got beautiful children and an awesome husband.  I'm going to be proud that I did something against the norm and chose to live in a small town where I feel safe and your neighbors know who you are and who you're related to - good or bad. And...I'm going to enjoy visiting with best friends that I haven't seen in 10 years.  Ten years is too long to go without seeing someone you spent many, many memorable moments with during high school.   Ok-now I'm talking myself into getting excited!

 

Wicked Weather

Yesterday Oklahoma was hit by some of the worst tornadoes we've seen in the past 5 years. We'd been warned all weekend that it would be a bad day for storms but I really didn't think that 5 people would lose their lives. It started suddenly at about 5pm during rush hour in Oklahoma City, then continued going east towards Arkansas.  I feel so sorry for the people that had to endure this tornado because this is the same area that was close to being hit by the Oklahoma City tornado of 1999.  I heard on the news that some of the injured people were saying they couldn't go through this again. So sad.

We didn't get any bad storms over our area. I'm so thankful for that.  I get really nervous about tornados but I also think they are so interesting.  I took Meteorology in college thinking that would be a fun and interesting class.  Ugh-it was so hard.  I think I got by with a high C.  Not my finest moment in college.  
The worst part was that a girl on the bus with the boys told them a tornado was coming so they were freaking out when they got home.  I had to pull up the radar on the computer to show them that we were ok.  Kids think it's so funny to try to scare their friends.

Other random notes about what's going on in our lives:

-This weather is driving the dogs nuts. They have all kinds of nervous energy. 
 wish they would do more of this.

-Soccer has ended for the season.  T-man's team is tied for first place in U12.  I'm so proud of how far they've come this season.  It's so exciting to watch them work together to make goals.  The boys are learning to be aggressive and push back when the other team is applying pressure on them.  I have to admit, the aggressive competitor in me loves that!

 

-On that note, why didn't my parents push me to play more sports in school??? I have such an aggressive little girl in me that would have been super competitive if my stupid shyness hadn't gotten in the way. That is one of the great tragedies of my life.  Shyness destroyed many opportunities for me.  If I had only conquered that early on in life.  I'm super outgoing now but deep down inside, I still suffer greatly from shyness and low self-esteem.

-We're looking at soccer camps for the boys to attend this summer.  The local university has a camp that they can attend in June.  We might go with a friend from town.  Hopefully his Mom and I can coordinate car-pooling, which would make it so much easier.

-H-man got a notice at school that his reading score on his Dibels test was at the level that requires him to attend a summer reading academy. Nooooooooo!!!!!!!!!  I was freaking out about it until I called the principal and he explained that H-man only missed the cut-off by one point. Since his score was so high, we can buy a program at the bookstore to work on at home.  So.....no summer school.  Whew!

-I am so busy at work.  They are starting projects faster than I can get the paperwork done.  But, I've found out something.  I love busy paperwork.  I much prefer being the background person who works on all of the paperwork.  People find that stunning since they think I would be the outgoing person that wants to sell or speak to large groups.  No way!

-I am loving the Real Housewives of New Jersey!!! Teresa is my hero.  I'm buying her new cookbook, Skinny Italian.  Can't wait to try her recipes.

-My Aunt Gail and Uncle Sherrod are coming to Oklahoma City to see the college softball championships in late May.  We're going to go pick them up and hopefully my Mom and her sister can go shopping and have a lot of hanging out time.  That would be so good for my Mom.  I can't wait for the boys to see them, and for them to see how big the boys have gotten.

-The boys and I have been miserable with allergies and sinus junk.  How long can this stuff go on??? I've complained so much on Facebook that one of my high school friends actually emailed me to ask if I was pregnant.  HA! Now that's funny scary!

Monday....Monday

I worked on my menu planning last night after finishing my freezer and pantry inventory for March.  I'm a little late to be working on the lists but it's been a crazy, busy month so far.

Here's our menu for this week (including 3 days of soccer practice until 6:45)

Monday:  Poorman's Dinner - fried potatoes with onions and hotdogs -all cooked together in a pile of        yummy goodness (don't judge, I have a house full of boys)

Tuesday:  Lemon Chicken and Spinach Salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Wednesday:  Pancakes

Thursday:  Crockpot dinner - German turnip delight (turnip, potato, onion and smoked sausage cooked together like a stew)

Friday:  Salmon Patties with hushpuppies and pea salad

Saturday:  Date night with Mr. Hautemama

Sunday:  Pork Roast stuffed with Louisianne peppers and whole garlic cloves, cheesy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli

We'll use the pork roast leftovers for pork carnitas - soooo good!

Speaking of food, I've recently discovered the best low-fat snack evah!  It's Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps, Blackberry Pomegranate flavor.  I tried to find a picture on the internets, but no such luck.  You can eat 13 pieces of these delectable treats for 110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.  That's 2 weight watchers points.  These rice cake crisps are sweet and crunchy without the fake sweetener after-taste that low-fat snacks can sometimes have.  I had to be careful to not eat the entire bag.  They...were....that....goooood!  That's my new go-to snack at night.  I'm a night snacker, I confess.

On to my other favorite subject.......TV!  I'm a total Bravo fanatic!  I've recently been watching Kell on Earth.  She's the lady that runs People's Revolution (the clothing, fashion, pr type company) that acted like a crazy boss on the Hills.  Lauren and Whitney worked for her in LA, then Whitney moved to NYC to work there.  Kelly Catrone is a crazy, confident woman who tells it like it is.....she's blunt and so real.  That's the draw.  I tend to be pretty real, what you see is what you get.  Just not as real as she is in the show.  She borders on brutal.

I can't wait for the Real Housewives of Orange County reunion show.  I'm really not digging Alexis and Jim, the new couple on the show this season.  Jim = slimy, controlling and white trash.  Enough said.  Vicki is a whiner and I don't feel sorry for Tamra. She needs to act more like a Mom and not a party girl.  The reunion should be good!

We have parent-teacher conferences at the boys school tomorrow.  I'm slightly nervous to talk to Small Fry's 3rd grade teacher.  I call her "the Nazi" at home.  My poor child tries so hard to not get a yellow or red card.  Sadly, he gets the ol' warning card at least once a week.  I told Small Fry just to try to cruise through until summer. Next year will be a better year!  Tater Tot went to the middle school to tour his school that he'll be going to next year and his teacher told him he would be in advanced Math next year.  That's a ton of work but I love it for him!  I'm so proud of both of my boys.  They are the best and smartest little guys in the world!

School starts

School started exactly a week ago today. My 3rd grader got the hardest teacher in town apparently. When friends ask who he got this year and I tell them Mrs. M, they all look at me with great sympathy and tell me good luck. That's a scary thing to hear when you have a little boy that can act a little ornery at times. He's charming but can be a little sassy when he wants.

I talked to the principal about this "hard" teacher and he told me to give it three weeks and we'd talk again about maybe moving my little H-man to another class. I was gonna give Mrs. M the benefit of the doubt and let her prove everyone wrong. I have a smart, put together 3rd grader. What could go wrong?

Let's just say in the past week, H-man has brought home 2 warnings and a detention.

Guess Momma was wrong in thinking it would all be ok. That's what I get for wanting to believe that people had her all wrong.

The funnier thing is.....H-man still really likes her. He doesn't care that he's getting in trouble. He's enjoying her class. So now do I move him if they will do it or do I let him stay and hope we don't get expelled next? Decisions, decisions!

T-man is in 5th grade now and has two teachers, Mrs. Wyckoff is his homeroom teacher (Reading, Social Studies and History) and Mrs. Vance is his Math and Science teacher. He seems to really like both of them. T-man was excited because in the 5th grade you get to use a real lock on your locker. We are cooking with fire now, boys and girls!

This year I also finally relented and let the boys ride the school bus. It's a year of firsts for sure. I actually beat them home when they ride the bus. They love getting to walk home from the bus stop with about 15 of our neighborhood kids. I think they think it makes them look important. Well, that and they both got cell phones from their Dad this past weekend so they act like business people in a seminar....always having to look at their cell phones like something really important is being texted to them. When in all honesty, they aren't even sending a text or reading one...it just makes you look important to check your phone on a regular basis.

It's so strange how much easier things are getting for us regarding the boys. They're becoming independent little men and it's exciting to see them grow and change so much. It still remember the little 3 year old that wouldn't go to Mother's Day Out because he wanted his Momma the entire day. He was so attached to me, I could have never thought he would ask to ride the bus and taken the initiative to find out where the bus stop was and what bus he needed to ride. They are both growing up so fast but it's a great feeling to know they are becoming more self-sufficient.