Ketchup Explosion & Holiday Pictures

Big E is 5 1/2 years old and is in Kindergarten with other 5 and 6 year olds. What do we know about 5-6 year olds??? Hmmm let's think about it.



1) like to test limits

2) love to learn about things and their properties (explorers)

3) think the littlest thing is hilarious and will continue to do it until someone else stops them

4) last but not least, will do all these things to a greater degree the less supervision there is.



These are just some of the many things we know about little boys. "we" meaning other moms of boys and anyone else out there with the least experience with boys. That is why I would think that those with degrees in education would understand this . . . not at Big E's school apparently.



While standing outside "the best school" in the county, I was speaking with Big E's best friend's mom, who had been contacted at home b/c her son was squirting ketchup at lunch. When Big E walks out from school (4 hours AFTER lunch) he has ketchup on his face and shirt. When asked why, he tells me that best friend #1 did it.



As an aside . . . We hop in the car and I hear someone yelling Big E's name. It's his teacher calling out b/c my darling son left his coat (in 38 degree weather) inside. It wasn't his coat, but he DID forget it and we are going to COLORADO for the week. Not a place to not have a coat. We were able to get the coat, with an unhappy and hurried mom who needs to p/u Special K in 20 minutes. P/U time is a artfully crafted hour so I can p/u both boys, who are 20 min apart in 1/2 hour.



I digress . . . back to exploding ketchup . . . So best friend #1 squirts Big E with ketchup all over his face and light blue standard school attire shirt. "But, he wasn't trying to squirt me or anyone" Big E says. "it just went out the wrong end." Hmm this is starting to get interesting. I say nothing. "When you twist the baggies of ketchup, they explode" Big E says with enthusiasm and a great sense of knowledge. "They explode?" I ask. "Yeah, so we explode them into our mouth [best friend #1] just missed 'cause it went out the wrong end." he continues. I am actually trying not to laugh at this situation as I listen to the story and get a mental image of 4-5 5 year old boys twisting ketchup packets until they explode and catching the explosion in their mouth (by the way apparently the packs are NOT touching their mouths during these explosions, the contents are just supposed to land there.) Now, unfortunately best friend #1's explosion did not end up in his mouth but over my Big E. Also unfortunate . . . best friend's mom got called at home and he will have to eat in the office for 1 week.



Is this situation not the epitome of young boy exploration. This is experimentation of what happens to something under pressure. What a cool thing to learn. The environment is rich with opportunities for exploration and science. These same boys have tested what happens to all of their food trash when they put it into baggies and start swinging it around or stomp on it. How about when you mix a whole bunch of different types of food and drink and slosh it all together. Hmmmm a lovely mixture that little boys will find delightful and full of laughs. This is physics and chemistry . So where is the psychology of the whole thing? Not with the ONLY 2 teachers who are in charge of a whole room full of 7 classes of Kindergartners. Remember "what we know about 5-6 year old boys" #4? because we are also dealing with math . . . inverse relationship of supervision to this exploration behavior)



I have to say, I am not even angry. In fact, I think it's quite funny. It helps that Big E didn't get in trouble, but I have called best friend #1's mom to tell her the whole story so she can advocate for her son that he was NOT the only one participating, poor guy just got a bad ketchup baggie. Now that being said, we did have a talk this afternoon about "would you do this at home?" "would you have done this in Miss. M's class"(from last year). His answer is no. A small teaching moment.



My question is WHY would you leave only 2 teachers and the hope of parent volunteers to be in charge of at least 100 to 150 kindergartners and 1st graders. THIS is what 5 & 6 year olds DO. Why is it expected that these children are supposed to go from complete supervision, to the lack thereof overnight, and actually behave. ESPECIALLY when they learn that ketchup packets explode when you twist them. No one ever told them NOT to do that before.



So . . . as we drive to pick up Special K, Big E says . . . "so that is why my face looks like it was in a food fight for my picture today." Yes, it was a picture day and NO ONE thought to help my son wipe his face off BEFORE the picture or even before the end of the day. Merry Cheers of a festive background, with my handsome son (who just had his hair cut yesterday) in his light blue standard school attire shirt with KETCHUP all over his face and shirt. I can't WAIT to get this one.



I'll add pictures when they come in . . .

Trick-or-Treating Etiquette

Trick-R-Treating Etiquette . . .

1) ring door 1x

2) do not bang on door until someone comes

3) stay outside the person's house

4) do not be choosy about the treat you receive

5) do not look in windows

6) say thank you

Mad Monk's parents were in town for Halloween this year. We had a blast with all the traditional activities, including a few more . . . read down for the need for the the Etiquette portion.

First there was pumpkin carving. Big E thinks pumpkins stink so wouldn't touch the gooey stuff inside. It was to gross apparently. Special K, on the other hand dug right in . . . with a spoon. If Big E won't touch it, neither will he, but it isn't going to stop him from doing it :) When we pushed the issue, he pointed out that Mad Monk was also using a spoon. Touche.

Big E was very interested in designing his pumpkin though. Notice the "hook" on the side . . .

Then there was dinner. Since we enjoy making things festive around here, dinner was no different. We had Mummy Dogs, Witch's Fingernails, Bat Wings with Sauce and Witch's Brew. We had monster toes for dessert.

Now it's time to trick-or-treat. Big E is Captain Rex, from Star Wars. No one really knows who he is unless they suffered through the new animated Star Wars movie for their children. This causes a lot of explaining by a 5 year old when he is asked if he is everything BUT Captain Rex. Special K is "Darth Vaaaaaador" Now you have to say it in just that way and by lowering your voice when you say "Vaaaador" as low as it can go and say it very slowly. Most knew who he was.

Now both Big E AND Special K have trick-or-treated before. We've gone over the routine, they know the drill . . . or at least we THOUGHT they did until the first house, when they rang the doorbell 5 times and then started banging on the door. Mad Monk and Darling B look at each other and mention that we might need to refresh on our T-R-T skills.

At the second house, we hoped they'd use the few new skills we taught them in between house one and house two like ringing the door 1x, no banging on the door, saying trick-or-treat and thank you. They again rang the doorbell a couple of times b/c they were fighting over who got to ring it then immediately said trick-r-treat before anyone opens the door. When the nice woman opened the door then stepped back in to get the treats, my lovely Darth Vaaaaaador and Captain Rex walk right into her house then proceed to tell her what they like and what they don't in terms of the treats she was offering. Okay . . . now we need to talk about etiquette.

It got much better from there after a few houses of yelling trick-r-treat immediately following ringing the bell and looking in the windows so they can yell back -- some one's coming.

Grandma and Pap Pap stayed back at the house and Grandma put on her witch costume. We decided to stop by and trick-r-treat at our house when we passed by to the other part of the community. Special K didn't know who Grandma was and Grandma (the witch) kept saying in a Witchy voice, "don't you want to come in to my house?" Special K, very politely said no the first time. The second time, he said no a little louder. The third time he yelled NO! We thought he just didn't want to go in. Well, no that wasn't the case. He didn't know who the witch was and when she tried the 4th time he started crying. We realized then that we never have to worry about Special K going with anyone he doesn't know, he'll be very clear that he DOES NOT want to go. See we knew this "specialness" would be useful!

All in all we had a great night. So happy Halloween . . . and please use good trick-r-treating etiquette!

Response to TMA comment on In a Galaxy . . .

In her comment to In A Galaxy Far Far Away,

TMA mentioned the "brick" wall in Special K's bedroom. I thought I'd add a pic . . .

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

After MUCH debate and already buying the materials AND paint to make Big E's room into a Pirate Ship, he decided to change his mind and make it into a Space themed room instead.

This took much creativity on MadMonk's and Darling B's part! We thought of buying a big mural and pasting it on the wall . . . too expensive. We talked about painting the whole room black with stars all around . . . hmmm cool, but a black room? FINALLY Darling B saw a picture of a mural that was a port hole window into space. THAT'S COOL.

So do you remember the weekend (and blog about it) a few weeks ago about the too much planned and all turned into a disaster and Darling B thought it would be a good idea to start this space room too? Well, she didn't start it that weekend, but a few days later. Hmmm I wonder where Special K gets that stubborn, determined streak from????

So here are the pictures of Big E's Space ship room . . . First the before pictures . . .

By the way, I don't remember EXACTLY why I took these pictures in the first place, maybe it was to prove a point about how Big E needs to clean up his room. Notice the bottom drawer being open . . .

Now for the Space Ship Room . . .

The main cockpit. The moon in the middle was a birthday present this past year. The buttons are made with jewels that kind of sparkle light on and off like it might on a control panel. Cool effect! The window here is not quite done, as Big E wants planets, meteors and other cool space stuff. It was very important to MadMonk that DarlingB design the cockpit to look similar to that on the Millenum Falcon from Star Wars. The port hole here is finished with the star map for Nashville in November (MadMonk and DarlingB's birthday month) The fan has dark blue blades with a rocket on each. The light bowl looks like the earth. He picked it out months ago at the beginning of summer when we were picking out a fan for Special K's room b/c of the heat!

This is the port hole Big E can see directly from his bed. It has the star map for Nashville in February (Big E's birthday month).

3rd port hole has star map for Nashville in August (Special K's birthday month). Notice that there is STILL a drawer open (different drawer, but still)

This is a close-up of the February star map. You can just see the shiny stars that were painted on in glow paint. As for now, you really can't see anything during the day. Big E wants to keep it that way b/c technically you can't see stars during the day.

The effect is pretty cool in the dark, but would be better with a black light, which we are considering.

Food FIGHT!

Ahh . . . Learning! We are so excited for all the things that Big E is learning in Kindergarten. His reading has improved greatly and he tries to read everything in sight! He's learned to tie his shoes, tuck in his shirt and put on a belt. He's learned some new songs, new things in art and new ways to move his body. He is sorting, recognizing patterns, recognizing new sounds and just improving in all the areas he already knew.



And then there is the social learning that is taking place. Oh, that is my favorite part. Remember the "do you want a piece of me" incident in week 2. Well, we've topped that one now . . . with a Food Fight! Even his teacher is surprised b/c this is not something that Big E would do. Big E's involvement was spitting his milk through his straw at people. I'm SOOOO proud! Needless to say, Big E was quite disapointed with the consequences of his actions.



I love the learning of Kindergarten!

I'm getting the hang of this . . .

Okay. I have been in the dark ages apparently when it comes to the world of blogging.

Friends are posting comments . . . how do I know when they do that?
. . . and how do they know I posted something anyway?
. . . and how do I know when they post something?

I'm sure there is a lot more to learn, but I think I have the basics now CHECK, CHECK and CHECK.

I now will receive an e-mail to let me know I have a comment.
I now know how friends know when I post AND I receive "feeds" when they post.

WOW! I feel so enlightened.

Special K's Off to School

Well, Special K's school is back in session. He is thrilled to say he is in the Yellow Room! He was so happy to go back! Mommy was happy too. . . for Special K. She felt a twinge of sadness as she walked around the mall soliciting for the Silent Auction and seeing all the mommies with their kids (just a twinge). Special K has been ready since Big E's second week of Kindergarten.

Home Improvement Weekend -- Tim Allen Style

Where to start . . .

We normally do not get a full weekend to be at home all together. To get 3 days is a miracle! We were not supposed to be in town this weekend but cancelled our plans just to have a weekend at home. Since we have 3 whole days, why don't we make it a home improvement weekend.

First the list (and not necessarily in this order):

• Fix kitchen light that sizzles and flickers when turned on.
• re-grout shower tiles -- is that mold or mildew growing UNDER them?
• clean large picture window over foyer (2 stories high)
• change out flood lights around house (some 1 story high, some 2 stories and some 3 stories)
• trim holly tree (2 stories high)
• fix and re-design air conditioning drainage system (current design broken and obviously designed by an idiot who has more time on his hands than we do)
• And general weekend stuff (wash cars, laundry, groceries, etc.)
• Oh, and keep kids entertained while doing it all.

DAY 1:

So first we worked on the kitchen light. Actually this went rather well. Believe it or not, we had a switch to change out the dimmer switch. So within 20 min . . . FIXED . . . cost $0

Now to the shower. Hmmm. There is a lot more to be re-grouted than we thought. Oh, the prior owners spray painted over all the tiles so when we re-grout it will all chip off making the tiles look even worse. Our friend with experience in this area says . . . That's Not Good! GREAT. Okay, no biggie we'll figure this out, but not today.

Now to the drainage system . . . Darling B figures out a re-design of the system. Mad Monk doesn't understand Darling B's design. Mad Monk draws out exactly the same re-design as Darling B, but doesn't think so. Darling B and Mad Monk get into an argument over the SAME design. Typical when re-designing anything around here. Finally get on the same page. More stuff to buy . . .

Darling B now climbs up our 24 Foot latter to clean windows. Actually gets them done with a lot of courage. Of course Mad Monk tells Darling B on the AM of Day 2 not to look at them b/c she won't be happy.

Mad Monk climbs up 24 Foot latter to trim holly tree. Latter teeters and totters as he balances the hedge trimmer . . . lops off the top, can't reach the other side and only half down the side he's on b/c the latter is half IN the tree. Darling B keeps saying it just isn't right. Mad Monk says she'll have to live with it. Darling B says FINE she'll hire someone. Mad Monk says go for it!

END of DAY 1. Time to go OUT to eat b/c we didn't get to the grocery and to Home Depot to get stuff for changing out lights and new design for drainage system.

DAY 2

Darling B wakes up with SO much energy and a feeling of accomplishment (from what I'm not sure) that she suggests that it's time to paint Big E's room . . . space ship theme.

Mad Monk agrees but suggests that maybe we should skip church to get this done. NO, Darling B wants to go to Church too!

Darling B DOES NOT look at picture window

Go to church . . .

Return. Mad Monk heads out to change lights with light changer extension pole. 1 story light bulb changed no problem. 2nd story light . . . when screwing OUT the bulb, he screws out the entire fixture causing it to dangle by its wires. Now what? Light changer extension pole doesn't work to screw BACK IN the whole fixture.

Darling B suggests that he reach it from 2nd story bedroom window. Great idea . . . Mad Monk removes screen from window and hangs out as far as he can (where is a camera when you need one) except Mad Monk's reach is 1 ft. too short.

How about reaching it from the attic? Mad Monk heads up to attic to check it out. Darling B meanwhile researches space themed rooms on the internet. Next thing she hears . . . CRASH . . . BOOM . . . @#$@%&^. Darling B runs upstairs to find a hole in the ceiling and dry wall and insulation all over the floor. Mad Monk put his foot through the ceiling and fell through up to his thigh!

GREAT! ANOTHER PROJECT!

Well, ceiling is taped up. We're working on how we're going to fix that one. Lights are still not changed out and are still dangling by their wires. Holly Tree still lopsided. Picture window worse than it was before. Drainage system still not fixed. Tiles same as before. Big E's room has space portals and a cockpit drawn onto wall . . . Big E sleeping in spare room. Laundry still not done, haven't gone to grocery store, cars still dirty and WE are having guests tomorrow to celebrate LABOR day. Hmmm.

Maybe we should just stick to laundry, cleaning cars, groceries and enjoying a weekend off.

Southern Boys

"That, it! We're Moving!" That's what Steve said when we heard IT this morning.

In response to the question, "Are you getting your shoes on, Evan?" The response was, "I'm FIXIN' to." "You're what?" "I'm FIXIN' to." "I'm sorry, you're what?" "Uh, uh, getting ready to put it on."

AND Kyle . . . He says "ya-ah"

What's happening? It doesn't seem to matter what their Yankee parents do, these boys are turning "Suthurn."

The Special-ness of Special K

Some don't believe me when I tell of Special K's determined personality. "He's so laid back." "I've never seen him even fuss a little."

Well, my experience yesterday truly sums up Special K's determined ways. After church we went to lunch with a friend. When I parked, I accidentally hit the concrete slab that the light post was in. No biggie, I just backed up -- just enough so I wasn't hitting the slab anymore. So imagine about a 3" - 4" distance between the slab and the van's bumper. We had lunch and were leaving. The kids were acting silly and Special K was on the other side of the van. I asked him to come over -- around the slab. No, he had to go between the slab and the van. Now, he barely could get his hip in between the two, but by golly he was going to do it anyway. So he started screaming. I tried to help by getting him to go out the other way. "No" he was going to do it his way come hell or high water. So he wedged himself in even further. Now he is stuck right in the middle, was crying and screaming because he was stuck. I was starting to get concerned about exactly how I was going to get him out. Why should I worry though, he didn't want my help! I knew I couldn't back the van out further because when I turned it on and put it into reverse it might lurch forward just enough to truly hurt the kid. He kept screaming and yelling and crying. I couldn't move him forward or backward -- he was stuck. But he kept trying, and crying, and yelling and screaming. Well, as things usually go for Special K, he finally squeezed through, with little injury.

And so, this sums up the personality of Special K. This determined spirit is bound to get him somewhere in life because he won't quit until it does. Hopefully it doesn't kill mommy in the process!

Positives of having a dog

1st Positive: Now we have a walking partner!

Today I took Lucas and the boys to Edwin Warner Park for a "little" walk/hike. WELL, I didn't prepare and went on a trail that was new to me. I THOUGHT it would end up on the main paved trail. WRONG! It was a 2 1/2 mile loop trail (the longest in the park!)up and down the hills in the park! Those poor boys. They did so great. Big E hung in there the entire time. Special K's little feet wouldn't go much further. I held him on my shoulders for a small portion. By the end, he could barely walk. Evan Lucas seemed like he didn't want to go any further by the end.

We did it though. The boys were super ROCK STARS! Now they are napping. Big E even requested one!

2nd Positive: the Boys actually clean up now!

It's amazing what happens when you have a new dog that will EAT your things if you leave them out! We've been having a particularly difficult time with clean up of toys around the monastery. We instituted a "library" policy 3 weeks ago, thanks to a friends advice. That has been helping b/c the kids can only have 2 toy bins out at a time and then must put one back to get another. Pretty simple. But the Dog clean up method works immediately! No, "I don't want to do it now." or "He got it out" or "it's just too much"

All it takes is, "Boys, I've told you that Lucas might eat your toys if you leave them out. Lucas is currently eating one of the cards to your favorite game." I tell you what, those boys have never cleaned up so fast." It's truly a miracle. I think I'm going to like having a dog!

Now I must go and deal with a possible dog ownership negative. Zoe is testing her fate and is downstairs checking out Lucas . . . pray for me!

We figured it out!

Well, we've been trying to figure out what Lucas is mixed with and finally figured it out. The receptionist at the Vet thought maybe a pointer or hound. We looked up pointer/lab mix and the pictures that came up were Lucas. It explains some of the things I've noticed like his front leg lifting up and his whole body "pointing" when he is checking something out in the yard. It's still a guess, but we think it's pretty close.

A new friend for our family

Truly confirming that I am a glutton for punishment, we adopted a dog, Lucas on Saturday, August 16, 2008. He is about 3 years old, so we are just making that day his birthday (1 week after Special K's birthday).

He is a very good dog and I don't think we could have chosen better dog for our family. You may remember that Big E was afraid of dogs. Regardless, we still are having to work out those special behaviors that come with getting a new dog. I think we're going to be very happy with Lucas.

Kindergarten is Here

Well, 9 days in and we're all still surviving. I'm constantly amazed at the things Big E will bring home now that he's meeting so many kids. On Friday, he was talking about some kid saying he was going to punch Big E in the stomach. Big E said it wasn't in a mean way. Mom is not sure how that wasn't mean, but oh well. Then on Monday (day 6) he didn't get an "excellent" b/c he was fighting with a kid -- not sure, but may be the same one. Apparently Big E said to the kid, "Do you want a piece of me?" Well, I was taken back when I heard that. We had a big discussion about what that meant and also about the fact that he is going to learn a lot of new things and he might want to check some of those things out because they won't always be good.

I was told that he was going to bring new things home and that I'd be surprised. Well, I don't think I expected it on DAY 5 & 6, that's for sure!

Here we are.

I have a friend who started blogging to keep in touch. So I thought I'd follow her example as if there is anything that exciting happening in our family. So stay in touch and see what's happening her at the McElroys.