We have taught all of our 6  about stranger danger.  With April, Jake and Sam we have added the teaching tool of the Safe Side, which includes a dvd and CD.  The CD  has such hits as: Superhero, Don’t Know, Don’t Talk and Safe Side Close and many days I hear the music wafting up from the basement.  Being such a fabulous mother I have given my kids the proper training in stranger danger…or so I thought!

Yesterday Sam burst through the door and said, “I called 911!”, with a look of terror on his face.  “You did what!”, I replied with a look of disbelief on my face.  “I called 911 because a stranger called me on the phone”, Sam said.  I was dumbfounded and had to think for a minute as I looked out the door to see if a police car would be pulling up to my door after they followed the GPS in Sam’s phone to our house.  He continued, “A stranger called me on the phone and I didn’t know him so I called 911.”  “That’s called a wrong number Sam.  The man made a mistake when he dialed and called your phone.  We do NOT call 911 for a wrong number.”   After a ten minute explanation he got it, I think.  In his defense he has only had his phone for a month and I didn’t teach him about those pesky wrong numbers.Later that night we went to dance class.  Sam had totally forgotten about the stranger that called him.  He was more interested in dancing with his friend Bren.  Me, I am still recovering from the 911 call.  I am going to hide that CD………………….

On Sunday Jacob showed me an outfit he was going to wear to church, to the art museum, no, to play his Just Dance Wii game.  He wanted to look like the person dancing to his favorite song.

What is not to love about a man that makes you laugh and Jacob makes me laugh.  He has an infectious giggle.  Just hearing this makes me laugh.  But Jake has so much more going on than a great giggle.  The other day he and April were talking and laughing together and I overheard Jake say, “I like to laugh…..(pause)…everyday.”  Let’s all remember that nugget of truth.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”  quote by, Oscar Wilde

Mother’s Day started with the Hunk bringing me coffee in bed.  We had 20 uninterrupted minutes of talking and reading the paper before I had to go downstairs to prepare for the day.When I walked downstairs and saw that even the dog had remembered this special day I knew that it was going to be a great day!  The thing I love about Mother’s Day is that the Hunk agrees to go places with me that would not normally be his first choice.  I wanted to go to the art museum so after lunch the 5 of us headed down to Cincinnati.And since it’s Mother’s Day does it really matter if 2 out of the 4 of us are not looking at the camera as long as I am? Sam is fascinated with all things having to do with mummies.  He was convinced that the mummy of King Tut was at the Cincinnati Art Museum but the Hunk convinced him that he wasn’t.  Somewhere between looking for mummies and looking for painting of families we got separated from the Hunk and Sam.As we wandered around looking at art and looking for Jim and Sam we came across this fabulous statue of Eve before she had to wear clothes.  Jake and April love anything biblical.  We had a lively discussion about sin and then continued looking for the missing two.

These are a few of their favorite things…………….and then we hit pay dirt, an entire room and alcove of biblical art.  They were in heaven(pun intended). We finally did track down Jim and Sam back by the gift shop.  A quick look into the Asian room and we were out of there.

But of course now Sam insisted on one more picture before we left the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Later that night I called downstairs in my sweetest voice with a request.  Surely I could stretch Mother’s Day just a little longer.  A few minutes later my darling husband brought me a cup of tea.  It started with a cup of coffee and ended with a cup of tea.  Ahhhh, Mother’s Day.

Thank you my beautiful April for making my day.

Is it just me or does anyone else out there get excited when they see they have a new message on their phone?  It’s sort of like going to the mailbox and seeing an envelope with your name handwritten on it.  This morning when I came downstairs I found this in my message center.

 

I wanted to say happy

mothers day to my

wonderful mother i gave

my honor when she gave

birth to me in the hosptal

April had sent it to me last night at 9:47pm.  She was getting ready for bed and thought of me and took the time to write and send that message.  I got the message at 5:51am this morning when I came downstairs to start my day.  The grammar is not perfect and there is one misspelled word but the thought is so heartfelt.  All I can say is WOW.

At a recent Special Olympics fund-raiser April and Jake had the ‘moves like Jagger’.  The pictures say it all.

They dance just like their father!

It’s all right letting yourself go, as long as you can get yourself back.
Mick Jagger

Picture Saturday morning, my one day to sleep late, and I am having breakfast at 7:15am with Jake and Sam.  “Why are they up so early?” I think to myself.  The caffeine has not kicked in from my coffee and I am trying to hold a conversation with Sam.

Sam:  Mom, The Phantom of the Opera is half monster/half human.

Me:  No Sam, he is all man with a mask over half his face.

Sam:  No Mom, he is half monster/half human.  I saw hair growing out of one side of his head.

Me:  Sam the reason he wears a mask on only half of his face is because he was burned in a fire but he is all human.

Sam:  No Mom, he is half monster/ half…….

Jake:  HALF NOTHING, EAT YOUR BREAKFAST SAM!

Thank you Jake for settling that pressing question and letting me get back to my coffee. For you faithful readers wondering how Sam did on his Science test….he got 100%/A+.  Way to go Phantom.

Then:  Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are,

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Now:  Twinkle , twinkle little star……………Does that mean it is a white dwarf star?

How I wonder what you are…………..Neutron, red giant or super red giant star

Up above the world so high…………..Thank goodness for the Hubble telescope

Like a diamond in the sky……………..On the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram I wonder if you are a hot/bright star or cool/bright star

Yep, Sam has been studying for his science test all week.  He is included in a regular science class and has to learn a lot of new information even though the amount to learn is modified.  For instance, put these in order on the H-R diagram: main sequence, white dwarf, super red giant and red giant(they are not in order now).  Using temperature and luminosity where would this star be on the H-R diagram?  Where would this star go in the life cycle of a star?  Be able to define sun spots, photosphere, Big Bang Theory and Milky Way.And for those of you who are wondering where our sun is on the H-R diagram I will no longer keep you in the dark.  The sun is in the main sequence of course.  Doesn’t everyone know that?

I can’t remember learning any of this in school.  And now the answer to the age-old question, “When am I going to ever use this in life?”  On Saturday Sam looked up at me and said, “Katy Perry sings about stars in her song ET.” “Yes, those science facts are sticking in his brain and being used in real life situations,” I thought.  Sam and I are learning many things this school year.  It is making us both use our brains to learn and  store new information.

Twinkle, twinkle little star….now I know what you are!

May Day Bouquets and an “Adventure” from May 2012

Happy May Day!  Here in Cincinnati we are having perfect Spring weather at last.  Sam is headed to an all day canoeing trip with his Outdoor Recreation class.  I was hoping that we could again give gifts of our lilies of the valley flowers to our neighbors just like we did last year.  The tradition comes from France and I love it.  Alas, the flowers aren’t blooming yet.  Here is what we did last year.

 

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Yesterday I wrote about the lovely custom of delivering flowers to neighbors and friends on May 1st.  It was a little more involved than skipping out to cut the flowers and delivering via Jake and Sam.  I cut and wrapped the bouquets with a rubber band instead of twine or ribbon.  I then made paper cones out of beautiful scrap booking paper with gorgeous designs I save for such occasions paper bags from Trader Joe’s.  While this was going on I was roasting a pork tenderloin for a picnic dinner I was making for date night with the Hunk.  Cut paper, make cones, wrap flowers in plastic with water, take out roast to cool, stuff flowers in cones, make salad for picnic, get things ready for kids dinner and then breathe.  I was stuffing the last cone when the bus arrived carrying one very wound up Sam and my ever calm Jacob.  No time for a clever gift tag or note.This picture looks awkward.  Jake didn’t want to be in the same picture with his brother.  Notice my beautifully constructed cones with door hangers.

No, I didn’t go with Jake and Sam to deliver the flowers but sent our fabulous helper Drew instead.  I went inside to put the finishing touches on the picnic.

The Hunk was late arriving home from work but I figured the “adventure” would still work.  I was taking him to the Cincinnati Art Museum to see the Monet exhibit before it leaves in 2 weeks.  I drove since I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.  By now it’s 4p.m. but no worries because it is only 20 minutes to the museum if there is no traffic.  We were inside by 4:30 and had an entire 30 minutes to view the Monet paintings and the new exhibit, Impressions of Venice.  The museum wasn’t crowded at all 30 minutes before closing except for cleaning carts and guards reminding us that it would be closing soon.

This guy with a long nose, the one on the left, is now part of the permanent collection.  I can’t wait to take the kids to show them P…………(sorry I don’t know how to spell his name and again I am trying to get out of here).

At last we can relax and have our picnic in this beautiful spot.  But wait, is that thunder that I hear and very large storm clouds rolling in?  We quickly gathered up our dinner and finished it in the car.  Our trip to walk around Mt. Adams will have to wait for another day.  I started driving home on surface streets because it is now rush hour.  The rain started, we had flash floods, and was coming down so hard that I couldn’t see.  I pulled into a parking lot and suggested that the Hunk and I switch places since he sees much better driving in a blinding rain storm than I do.  We could not get out of the car because of the deluge so I came up with the wonderful plan of putting down the seat back, crawling into the back seat while my 6’3” husband climbed over the console and I contorted my body into a pretzel to get back into the passenger seat.  Jim pulled a muscle.  You had to be there.  It seemed like the rain was letting up so we continued onward only to be met with an impassable flooded street.  We found an alternate route, dumb luck, and finally made it home after driving for an hour!

I am laughing over the memories from last year over changing seats in the pouring rain.  No rain in the forecast today just a beautiful May Day.  And as a side note, the neighbors still talk about the cone of flowers hung anonymously on their door.

Yesterday Sam and April had to write thank you cards for the many birthday gifts they had received from their friends.  My plan was to have April write the cards and then have both sign them.  They had received the gifts at a joint birthday party and I figured I could send one card to each attendee with 2 signatures.  I suggested what April should write and she rejected the suggestion.  Her thoughts were much better. Who wouldn’t love this thank you note?  One person expresses how much they care for you and the other encourages you to live life to the fullest.

So taking a cue from my kids:  Have a great day my dear faithful readers and remember to Rock On!

 

 

April has been looking for a job with the help of a job specialist for about a month.  She starts at Mio’s Neighborhood Pizzeria in Blue Ash today!  We first ate at the recently opened Mio’s on St. Patrick’s Day.  We loved the family run business and the fact that we can order gluten-free food for Jake and Sam.We were hooked on the service, food and location.  About a week ago while asking about one of Jake’s friends that worked there we found out that he had quit the night before.  I immediately asked about his job and April volunteered that she needed a job and the owner told her to apply.  The next day the job specialist took her there to fill out the application and last week we found out that she got the job!  Happy dance……This is not what she will be wearing to work.  I just liked the picture.  Her uniform is jeans and a Mio’s t-shirt like the one on the server below.This job has it all.  We know the owners and she can walk to work.  She will work 2 lunch shifts from 11-2 and then add hours as her schedule and their needs permit.

For those of you who live in the Cincinnati area be sure to go to Mio’s in Blue Ash and tell them you are there because of the great food and April!  She will be there on Monday and Saturday working away.