"Green Monkey" (a very original name, I know!) is one of Tyler's favorite stuffed animals (he was a present from Grammy & Grandan the day Ty was born) ... but he's hanging out on top of the refrigerator for the next day or so.
A cruel punishment for a pretty minor "crime" (which I'll explain), but I think this is a lesson Tyler will remember. Abby has had several books put up on top of the refrigerator (when she needs a behavior wakeup call!), and if the kids are fighting over something ... it goes up there too (out of sight, out of mind!) But, Green Monkey got his sentence yesterday after Tyler sabotaged our morning at Sunday School. Most parental decisions don't give me guilt, but this one is. Especially because Tyler asked this morning if Green Monkey could come down. Then, he told Abby, "Mommy says I
still can't have Green Monkey back!" Oy! Read on, then vote for what YOU think I should have done/and should do now on our blog homepage. Hey ... they say raising a child takes a village, right!?
The story: Dennis stayed home to complete a LONG morning of yard work, so I took both children to church. Abby actually
goes to church, but Tyler visits the "nursery," where he can play and just be his loud, wiggly three-year old self! Then after church, we pick him up and escort both of them to their Sunday School classrooms upstairs. I realize Tyler probably thought he "did his time" yesterday morning, and didn't want me to be dropping him off again, but we discussed the plan in the car and I reminded him that we didn't need tears this morning (he has resisted - a.k.a. thrown a huge fit - Sunday School a couple times previously) because Mommy was "flying solo!" Also, I was teaching a
Baptism lesson, to 3rd graders this week, in a Sunday School class on the other side of the building. But, he threw a fit alright, and I ended up having to take a moody three-year old to the class I was teaching. Not only that, he kept interrupting the lesson, almost fell out of his chair (three times!), and I had to help him complete the experiment we were doing (a messy one at that) while teaching the kids. And, did I mention I lost my voice and have a cold!? Then, I had to cart Tyler with me back and forth to the bathroom down the hall as I cleaned up my mess, straightened the room, etc. in an effort to get BACK across the building to get Abby by the time her class was done. So, I thought a punishment was in order ... mainly because he broke his word to me ... and generally drove me crazy (not a long trip!) Did I overreact? Would you have given Green Monkey a timeout? Talk amongst yourselves. Well, actually - please share your thoughts by taking my poll (see the right hand side of this blog)!
What's Dennis doing eating his Salisbury Steak with a ladle? Well, that's what Abby put at his spot when she set the table last night! The fork you see there had just been brought over, but when Dennis sat down to dinner he had a knife and a ladle. Guess I should have said all three utensils were needed, and I should have specified a teaspoon, as I got a serving spoon with a knife at my spot. To be funny (and so as not to bruise our sensitive gal's ego), Dennis actually tried eating with the ladle, but it just wasn't working... 
Funniest part of the story: after I went and grabbed the camera and dinner returned to normal, Abby said, "you know I was just joking!" What a stinker! But wait until she sees what I'm going to serve with one of her meals this weekend. Two can play at this game. Stay tuned!
The "1" on the far left is a piece of Strawberry Banana Bread, which the kids and I made the other day. And I did put some cream cheese on the "0s" - a mini cinnamon raisin bagel. In school, Mrs. Shaw had the kids use the counting skills (counting to 100 by 5s and 10s) they've been developing by stringing 100 Froot Loops onto yarn to make necklaces ... 
... and they shared their collections of 100 items brought in from home. Abby had NO problem at all collecting 100 acorns in our backyard (the ones that weren't confiscated by our pesky backyard squirrels!) We also had to help Abby with an interview, featuring questions like, "I could balance 100 _____." (Abby said "napkins") And, in 100 years I hope to ______________." (Abby said "go into space") But our favorite was, "It would be too much work if I had 100 __________________. (Abby answered "brothers or sisters") Uh ... no kidding! At times I think TWO is too much!
Wow! I had no idea we had so many dog books (with Clifford books alone, we could have filled the basket) ... and again it's a nice mix of levels. 
I think we'll continue this for a couple reasons: 1.) it allows us to unearth some of the books the kids have forgotten in their bookshelves and 2.) when they help choose the titles, it keeps them interested in the selection of books out in the living room.
Prepare a baking dish of water, then apply a bit of dishwashing liquid to the inner "v" of the fish's tail. 
This works because (and I'm taking this directly from the book), "the skin on the surface of the water is held together by a force called surface tension." When the soap on the fish's tail touches the water, it forms a soapy film behind the fish that pushes the skin on the water away" ... propelling it forward in the water. More experiments to come, I'm SURE! We were informed that even kindergartners are encouraged to participate in the Roberts Elementary Science Fair (coming up this spring). So, we might need to do a lot of experimenting to find the perfect project. You blog readers can be our guinea pigs! 
Here, she's second from the right. 
Here's the group on the magic carpet ride...
And, I think one of Abby's favorite parts of the program: the curtain call and bow!
We surprised her with flowers ... 
And Tyler had to check out her bejeweled crown.
Then it was time for pictures with her best buddies, Alex (pictured here with a teacher, Miss Courtney) ... 
And Anabelle. We all can't wait for the spring show in May!
What a difference from the GRAND event that we witnessed yesterday. While I think it would have been a great thing to see in person, I was quite happy watching from the comfort of our living room, with my two sick guys (who are feeling MUCH better I might add. Tyler is still home recuperating, but Dennis is back at work!)
This photo was taken last night, but it could just have easily have been this morning ... as they are still in that same spot in the bed. Sorry to those of you I didn't call back this weekend, or those of you I was supposed to call re: playdates, etc. I think we're starting to get back on track now!
Abby and her friend, Finn, were the flag holders (see how they dressed in red, white and blue!). At risk of distracting them, I took these shots in Abby's classroom. At first it looks like Abby is trying to grab the flag from Finn... 
But really they are just trying to get it in place. Unfortunately it ended up covering Abby's face for the first part of the Pledge. But, eventually they figured it out. 
I ran down and took a shot of them in the "WRES studio" afterwards anyway. This time, we removed Abby's jacket (!) and positioned the flag so you could see both of their smiling faces! 
Food for the luncheon was a baked potato bar (Did you know it takes about an hour for potatoes to cook in the oven? I didn't ... but now I do!), a couple varieties of chili, salads, and some vegetable "cupcakes" I tried for the first time. 
They were actually VERY good. But Dennis almost had me convinced I shouldn't take them to the luncheon. Guess you don't ask someone, who isn't a veggie fan, what they think of a recipe containing about every kind of vegetable imaginable! Anyway, they were a hit ... so here's the recipe. Make sure to use your food processor ... lots of chopping! And I made a double recipe IN cupcake papers ... filling them pretty full. I think I ended up with about 30 total.