Pepsi Cola

I got a Flip camcorder recently and I LOVE it! It's totally user-friendly and it's the size of my phone. Here's a clip of the girls doing a little dance that Sarah learned at school.

Pepsi Cola Dance @ Yahoo! Video

Politics in Elementary School

Today the girls got off the bus with "I Voted" stickers. Every student at their school got to vote today. We really haven't discussed the election with them; we are learning about Presidents and we've talked about the two candidates, but we haven't told them who we're voting for or why. So I was very curious to find out who they voted for. Abby told me that she voted for McCain. When I asked why, she said that "M" was closer to "A" for Abby. Sarah said she voted for McCain because she saw his picture and he looked like a nice man. I think those are both very good reasons for kindergartners. I just don't think they're ready for grown-up discussions about politics, and I get very disturbed by the kids their age who are spouting their parents' propaganda. There's one child in Sarah's class who had this conversation with me last week:
kid: "Mrs. Turner, did you know that there are Democrats in this world? They're bad people, and they're in this world."
me: "Yes, there are Democrats in this world, but they're not bad people. They believe different things than what your parents believe, but that doesn't mean they're bad people."
kid: "You're kidding me, I know you are. Because they are bad people. They want Obama to be President, and he's a very bad guy."
me: "Obama is not a bad guy, and I'm not kidding you. There are two very good men who love our country very much, and they both want to be President. Some people like Obama and want him to be President, while other people like McCain."
kid: "I know you're kidding me."
me: "Whatever."

Another kid told Abby that McCain kills animals. Huh?

Personally, I'll just be glad when it's over.

Moss Rock Festival

Yesterday was spectacular. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we decided that we needed to do something outside. Unfortunately I had a migraine, but I managed to shake it after a nap, and we headed off in the Jeep to the Moss Rock Festival, "Celebrating Nature, Open Spaces & Eco-Ideas through ART & DESIGN." Sounded interesting, and it was!
We checked out all the booths with cool artwork, crafts, and eco-ideas, and even thought about buying a couple of things. We're still looking for artwork to hang over our sofa, but Perry and I are having a hard time agreeing on the right piece (or pieces). I think we'll just know it when we see it. The girls enjoyed seeing the recycled art creations done by local schools, we got to pet lots of cute little doggies (Abby's favorite thing at any festival), and we had a snack on the lawn while we listened to a live band. The girls practiced their gymnastics across the lawn, chased each other, and had a blast.
The Jeep ride home was a little cool, but we all enjoyed it. What a perfect afternoon!

Halloween and Friday Flashback

We had a great night last night. We went trick-or-treating early with the "street kids" and then came home and sat on the front porch to hand out candy. We saw so many friends and cute costumes and really had an awesome time. I think the girls liked handing out the candy more than collecting it. We had some small boxes of raisins leftover from a cooking project, and the girls don't like raisins, so I put them in the candy bowl. Whenever a big kid came up without a costume, Abby would give them raisins. It was really funny. What wasn't funny was Perry asking me to get him another beer (his 2nd), and Sarah getting upset because beer is alcohol and alcohol is a drug. Perry was not amused.

As a final Halloween flashback, here's a pic of the "street kids" last year, and a scary pic of our scary, molded jack-o-lantern last year. We didn't even carve any this year. Oh well, there just wasn't time.

80s Day

Today was 80s day (part of Red Ribbon/Drug Awareness week, of course). I found these dresses at WalMart and thought they were great - a bit psychedelic for the 80s, perhaps, but fun and really cute with leg warmers! During PE the kindergartners danced to Ghostbusters - very cute. S&A were super-excited about the day.

I also went on a fieldtrip to Aldridge Gardens today with Sarah. By now I could give the tour! The kids were wild - it was chilly so they were revved up, plus they were already excited about the 80s dance. Still, we had fun and it was a beautiful day. Oh - and Mrs. Keeney's scarecrow won "cutest scarecrow," so she gets $100 for her classroom!

Pick Your Battles with School, Too

Sometimes I wish I felt called to homeschool the girls. After just two months of public schools, I already have two big gripes with things they're being exposed to, and I know it's only going to get worse. But I'm not a homeschooler. I would hate it. They would hate it. It wouldn't be fun for any of us. So then I think about private school, and I like that idea, but hate the cost, especially since I think our city has such an excellent school system. My gripes have nothing to do with the curriculum, and certainly nothing to do with the teachers. In fact I'm thrilled with what they're learning in class, and I trust their teachers completely. No, my concerns are from some of the "extras".
First...A couple of weeks ago I became frustrated and disappointed about the number of videos they watch at school. For weeks, they only thing they did at the library was watch Franklin or Arthur. What a ridiculous waste of time! The real kicker was the week that Abby watched 3 movies and Sarah watched 4 - including 1 in music and 1 in PE! PE - of all places!! I tried to address it with the administration but really didn't get anywhere, and I finally decided that I had to let it go or risk getting labeled a "difficult parent" very early in our 6-year elementary school stint.
Now...as I mentioned yesterday, it's drug awareness week. I think 5-year-olds are too young to be taught about drugs. Why in the world do they need to know about this now? But, I don't really have a problem with the school guidance counselor talking about drugs in an age-appropriate manner. I think our guidance counselor is great, and I trust her to keep the content appropriate for their maturity level. Just today, Sarah went to guidance and learned "Don't eat drugs." She told me that medicines are drugs and you should only take medicine if a doctor, nurse, or your mom or dad gives it to you. Never take it from a friend or stranger. Great, I have no problem with that. But she also went to an assembly today. I happened to be up there helping Abby's teacher, so I sat in the back and watched. It was a performance by a group of teenagers from the high school. They introduced themselves and said why they were drug, alcohol and tobacco- freee, and then they did a little skit. In the skit, they held up signs, but since most kindergartners can't read, that wasn't very helpful for them! After the skit, they talked about each sign, but I think most kids only heard the "no no no" part. Then they performed a rap song. This is when I started squirming. One boy talked about LSD and said you could die. This is definitely not age-appropriate material, and I found myself glad I had kindergartners who probably didn't understand any of it, rather than 2nd or 3rd graders who might get just enough to worry me. And it turns out that Abby heard more than I thought; in the bathtub Sarah was singing the little "ditty" they learned ("we are x school, and we are proud, to be drug-free in the community"), and Abby said "yeah, if we do drugs we'll die." I really didn't like that, since Sarah thinks that candy is a drug!!
So here I am once again. Faced with a real conflict between wanting to protect my children and not wanting to be a difficult parent. I know have to pick my battles, I just wish I didn't keep getting thrown new ones so frequently! If any of you more experienced parents have any words of wisdom, I'd love to hear them!

Dog Heaven / Drug Awareness

Abby checked out "Dog Heaven" by Cynthia Rylant at the library this week. Tonight we sat down to read it, and she got such a big case of the giggles. "This is so confusing!" she kept saying, and I had to agree. In dog heaven, the doggies were running around in fields, playing with children, and being watched and loved by angels and God. Her questions were, "If they're dead, how are they running?" "If the children aren't angels, why are they in heaven?" "Is that little boy God?" "Why is God wearing a hat?" It really was a strange book. I suppose it was written for kids whose dogs died, to help them deal with it, but I found it to be really odd.

This is Drug Awareness week at school. I just don't understand why they feel the need to teach kindergartners "Don't Do Drugs." I can't even explain what drugs are to my kids - it's totally out of their world right now (thank goodness). Sarah came home with a Drug Awareness bracelet, and then asked me what drugs are. I tried to explain that drugs are things that are really bad for your body, but I went around and around in circles, and finally had to let it drop. Later Sarah asked if she could have a piece of candy, and I said she could have just one, and then she said, "Oh no, I forgot I have to say no to drugs." I said "Sarah, candy isn't a drug," and she said "but it's bad for you, and I thought drugs were things that were bad for your body."


And finally, a picture taken at dinner time. Fairy Abby was checking out the cookies. She keeps the magic alive around here...

Sick AGAIN!!!

Abby has pinkeye. I picked the girls up at the bus stop to take them to dance, and I didn't notice anything wrong with her, but in the car Sarah said Abby had something yellow on her face near her eye, and then Abby was almost asleep by the time we got to dance class so I knew she didn't feel good. Sure enough her eye was all goopy (is that a word?), and one of the mommies at dance is a nurse so she confirmed my suspicions. She'll have to miss school tomorrow. I just hope Sarah doesn't get it too! I don't understand why they're getting so sick - until this year they had rarely missed a day of school, but now it seems like they're getting all kinds of sicknesses and missing lots of school. I've already decided that they need the flu shot (or flu mist, probably), even though they haven't had one since they were infants. I just don't want to take that chance this year.

Great Neighbors

Today was our neighborhood's Halloween party. The girls didn't want to wear their costumes again, so we dug through the dress-up closet. Abby went as a cheerleader (last year's costume) and Sarah created a flower costume. Actually, Abby wanted to be an Alabama cheerleader, and I lied to her convinced her that USA stood for Alabama. Luckily no one said otherwise at the party! We had a great time and the girls got a ton of candy from Trunk or Treat.

Old Friends, Renewed Spirits

Tonight we had Chinese take-out for dinner. My fortune cookie said "You will have a surprise visit from an old friend." Well, as a matter of fact I did! On Thursday, my friend Susan came to visit me (and brought her adorable dog Lucy). She lives in NYC, but she'd been in Michigan for a couple of weeks, and then had gone down to Florida, and decided to drive through Birmingham before heading home. I haven't seen her in almost 5 years, and I hadn't really talked to her all that much in the past few years, but it felt like we were still in Hermosa Beach, just hanging out. I didn't get to spend much time with her Thursday because we had Open House at the girls' school (big fun), but Friday we had a blast. First I took her to a chicken farm to return the chicks from Sarah's class - boy do I know how to show a city girl a good time! We had a leisurely lunch at CPK and then went shopping. I hate to shop - I won't buy anthing unless it's on sale, and I hate to try things on, and it just feels like a chore to me. But we really had fun, shopping without an agenda and just catching up. That afternoon her friend Fred flew in, and I hadn't seen him in probably 10 years (other than a few hours at my wedding!!). I love him and was so thrilled that he felt comfortable enough to come stay with us. Friday night was awesome, because the girls had "Fall Ball" at school at 5:30 (dressed in their Halloween costumes - a unicorn pegasus and a cheetah), so we dropped them off and went out to eat. A two hour meal, a bottle of wine, great company and fascinating stories from two very well-traveled friends, and I felt renewed. And to top off a perfect evening, we played a few rounds of Speed Scrabble. Now how can you beat that?

Today, we girls took the dogs to a little art show and then to a great train park in the woods, while the boys played golf. When S&F (&L) left this afternoon, I was very sad to see them go, but happy that I'd emerged from my funk. The girls really enjoyed having them visit, and we've all made tentative plans for a trip to NYC next June.