Yet Another First In The Life of a Child

Everyone remembers their child's first smile. The first laugh. The first steps. The first tooth. But the first visit to the principal's office? I think there are only a handful of us parents who get to experience that one. I get to...lucky me.

I get a call from the principal at Eli's school yesterday because he was in her office for trying to see if a grape would explode in the student microwave at lunch. (No, Dad, it didn't. They made him stop too early.) While it's kind of funny and makes you just want to shake your head, I think the real reason he was sent to the principal's office is because he told the teacher monitor and the principal that I do it all the time at home and then argued with them when they called him on his lie. And that, dear readers, is a what'll slap that silly smile right off a mama's face.

It's become a regular thing in our house lately, this lying. Mostly trying to get himself out of some kind of trouble or to seem bigger or better than he is, Brad and I often wonder which half of the things he tells us are true and which are not. Along with the lying come its cousins, excuses and justifications, both of which, when exaggerated as Eli tends to do, can explain away all bad choices/behavior on his part...at least in his mind. Quite frankly, it's exhausting. I spent an hour today talking to him about it, both of us becoming so frustrated, and then went outside to cry for an hour. He'd been grounded from a church function, lost his allowance, and grounded from video games this weekend. Did it make a difference? Nope. He still thinks I'm being unfair and unreasonable and he's a martyr here. (I most definitely lost my BEST MOM status.)

I'm not sure why I'm writing all of this exactly. Of course, I want to see the humorous side of it. (Really? A grape in the microwave?) But at the same time, this struggle is a hard one. I found myself asking God exactly why this child was mine. I am obviously un-equipped and have no idea where to turn or what to do. I wish someone could have told me how hard it is to be a mom. That my particular personality wasn't equipped to handle it. Maybe I just need the camaraderie of other parents in the trenches. Whatever the reason, we have to document Eli's first trip to the principal's office. Is it too much to hope that it'll be his last?

And no, I don't plan on letting him finish his experiment at home.

A Trip To The Fair Or The Day Eli Thought I Was The Best Mom Ever

There's kind of a weird thing that happens here in Amarillo at the Tri-State Fair. Admission is free before 1:00pm. You read that right. Free. The rides aren't open, but you can come and enjoy all the exhibits and your weight in fried foods without paying an arm and a leg to just get in. You'll still have to take out a loan to eat lunch, but you have to trade your money for gold tokens so it doesn't seem to hurt quite as bad when you pay 6 tokens for a corn dog.

Brad was out of town all last week and I wasn't brave enough to take both kids to the fair, on my own, at night when it's dark and crowded. It's a little known fact that I don't see well at night and I had visions of some one abducting one or both of my children while I was squinting to find my way through the 3,845 people at the fair on any given night. Eli was pretty bummed about not getting to go to...especially since Phoebe went with her class on Thursday (I'll post about that later). So I had this idea to take Eli out of school early on Friday and take him to the fair. Keeping it all surprise, of course!

He didn't have any idea where we were going!

I wish I'd gotten a photo of the kids in front of the fair, but I forgot. We were too excited to go feed the animals at the petting zoo.

This was Eli's special friend, Mr. Camel.

They bonded. :)

After we washed our hands (twice!), we moved on the Texas tators. What a beautiful sight to behold. Sigh.

Don't forget the giant corndogs!!

We wandered around and looked at the exhibits and watched the "Thank A Farmer" magic show. Despite sounding super hokey, it was a pretty good magic show.

Then we found a tent that boasted playtime with an actual tiger cub. It was a little pricey, but I figured Eli needed a treat after a long week without Dad and he wasn't getting to ride any rides (thus saving me $25 in a wristband) so we decided to go for it. I mean, really, how many times do you get to play with a real tiger?! Phoebe opted not to join us, instead sitting in a chair outside the cage.

After signing 396 release forms and hearing just about that many rules, we were let in the pen. It was awesome. We were in the pen with 9-week-old, Shirley.

So cool.

This was the only tiger Phoebe wanted to have anything to do with.

Throw a bag of cotton candy (which Eli ate entirely by himself!), a trip to Hastings to rent a movie, and a Sonic stop, I was dubbed "The Best Mom Ever". It lasted until Monday morning when I made him go to school. It was fun while it lasted, though.

My Big, Fat Fail

Last week, I was asked to donate a baked good to a bake sale Eli's school was doing for a fundraiser at the Fall Festival. I told them I'd bring a pie and then decided A PIE IN A JAR was a great option for a bake sale.

I whipped up a batch Thursday night (I was supposed to turn them in Friday for the bake sale on Saturday) of cherry pie filling and pie crust and put them all together.

They were a big, fat fail.

Not only did they explode inside my oven making a gigantic mess, they were ugly and un-sellable.

I told the gal in charge of my plight and promised to have another batch ready by Saturday.

I regrouped and decided I had two problems. 1). My jars were shaped incorrectly. I used THESE jars, and while cute, the smaller neck caused a bottle-neck that looked ugly after baked. 2). I made a cherry pie filling, that while super-yummy, expanded too much when baked. Think of a cherry cobbler. The filling bubbles more than that of an apple pie.

I bought new jars and switched to apple pie filling. They turned out quite nicely, if I do say so myself.

I wrapped them up pretty (because a pretty package is sooo important!) and they were ready to go.

I'm happy to report they were all sold! I have no idea who bought them or if they enjoyed them, but at least they were pretty.

Look At What Her Brother Taught Her

Eli spent some time this week building a ramp in the backyard. Not too terribly complicated, but loads of fun. Even Phoebe thought so.

And yes, a poodle skirt does improve your bike riding skills. :)

They've spent many an hour circling the sidewalk in the backyard to gain momentum and zoom over the rickety ramp. There have been a number of scrapes and scratches and we are quickly running out of band-aids.

What I can't figure out is why they both stick out their tongues and close their eyes as they go off the edge. Must be part of some technique. I wouldn't know since I've never ridden a bike off a ramp before.

And I don't intend to start.

The First Day of Fall

Good-bye, long, hot days.

Good-bye, pedicures.

Good-bye, trips to the pool.

Good-bye, playing outside in your pajamas after bathtime.

Good-bye, going to bed when it's still daylight.

Good-bye, summer vacations.

Hello, Fall.

And hello, Caramel Apple Nachos!

You're the very best thing about early Fall.

(I posted the recipe HERE, in case you need to make your own nachos to celebrate the first day of fall.)

Happy Fall, Y'all!

(Oh yeah, I'm cheesy like that.)

This Is One Sassy Housewife Kitty!

Dress up is fun.

Especially with a four-year-old.

And you should know that this is what she wanted to wear to our annual Huddle Game Night at the Taj McCall during Fair Week.

Silly girl.

Show and Tell: The 395 Headbands I Made

When my friend, MARIA, came to visit just before school started, she brought with her some ultra cool headbands she'd bought at a local boutique. They looked super easy to make so we decided to find some fabric and make a few.

And then we got into my fabric stash.

That was a mistake because I have some great fabric that's been used in a project or is just waiting for the right project. We went a little crazy with fabric combinations and I've had umpteen headbands staring at me in craft room just waiting to be finished.

I finally finished them and they can be worn like THIS or under your hair like a traditional headband. I was going to have Phoebe model them, but she was in a mood and didn't want to model the 284 headbands I had made. I just don't know why! :)

Here are the headbands I made for Maria.

And a close-up of the flowers. They're so pretty and have so much texture.

These are my headbands.

My flowers. Lovely.

I've worn mine a few times and I really like them. But mostly I'm just glad they are all finished.

Pretty Pumpkins

After I delivered my PEACOCK PUMPKIN to the cafeteria on Friday, I decided to take photos of the other class pumpkins. I waited till just before pick-up since the pumpkins weren't really due until 3:00pm.

I am here to tell you now that there are some very creative mama's at Bushland and their energies are being wasted on a pumpkin decorating fundraiser.

These pumpkins were amazing. I decided someone, somewhere needed to document these creations so I took my camera with me to school in hopes that I could take some photos to document here on my little ole blog. I'll give you one guess as to who left her memory card in the computer after downloading the peacock pictures earlier in the day. Luckily I had my little, pink backup camera in my purse. Excuse my fuzzy pictures, I'm not so good at the little camera since I don't use it very often. (Instead I choose to lug around my heavy "real" camera, thus making me lust after THIS bag.)

Zebra Pumpkin

Alien Pumpkin

Creepy Crawlie Pumpkin

Monkey Pumpkin

Angry Birds Pumpkin

Fall Foliage Pumpkin

Elephant Pumpkin

Porcupine Pumpkin

Going Bananas Pumpkin

Owl Pumpkin

Haunted House Pumpkin

Giraffe Pumpkin

Cinderella's Carriage Pumpkin

Caramel Apple Pumpkin

Minion Pumpkin

Gorilla Pumpkin

Captain American Pumpkin

Sombrero Pumpkin

Rango Pumpkin

Bushland Fanatic Pumpkin

Zombie Pumpkin

Spider Pumpkin

All the pumpkins lined up in the cafeteria. I just thought it was fun.

Aren't those fun?! It's just amazing how these pumpkins all come together.

Of course you're favorite is the Peacock Pumpkin that I made (wink, wink), but which one do you like second? It'll be a hard decision, I know, but I'm certain you can make it. :)