Happy Birthday Rion

When I asked Rion what he wanted to do for his birthday party he said he wanted a party at home. I asked him a few times to make sure he didn't want it at Snoopers, gymnastics, swimming or some other place the kids are always talking about having a birthday party at. Each time he kept saying he wanted it at home. When I asked him about a theme he decided on a Lego theme. It was so much fun working with a Lego theme. I got so many fun ideas online. For invitations I put together 5 Duplo blocks (I scored a bag full for free at a thrift store!) and attached a large label. Then I wrote the details on the label, used my Xacto knife to cut around the blocks, and disassembled the blocks. Then the kids had to put the blocks together to get the birthday details. The party colors were red, yellow and blue. I love Dollar Tree and most of the supplies came from there. Tablecloths, plates, napkins, forks, etc all in the primary colors, plus some square buckets in the same colors that I filled with Legos for the kids to play with. I found some cool games to play, but the kids spent a lot of time building with Legos so we didn't play any games. Plus some of the kids had three birthday parties to go to that day so sitting around watching some SpongeBob was ok with them too. For treat bags I bought plain red and yellow gift bags from Dollar tree. Then I cut out circles from card stock and glued them on the bags so they looked like a Lego block. Inside the bags were the normal gift bag items, plus a couple of fun things I found on Etsy, Lego soap and Lego crayons. I think the party went well. It was nice not to have to go anywhere. We didn't have to load anything up and we didn't have to worry about having to leave a rented space at a certain time. It was nice hanging out at home. Rion really liked his party so that's the most important thing.

The great debate

Yesterday was Rion's birthday so he pretty much got to choose what we did. He wanted to see Alice in Wonderland so we went to the matinee. I really wanted candy, but I hate buying it at the theatres so we stopped off at Dollar Tree before heading to the movie. Fred told the boys that when we get to the theatre they shouldn't say anything about the candy in mommy's purse. Of course they asked why not and Fred explained that you're not suppose to bring food into the theatres. And what happens if they see you bring it in was the next question. Fred told them they would throw us out. And thus began the big debate about bringing candy into the theatres. Torii who breaks every rule any chance he gets said "bringing candy in the theatres is against the rules" and therefore we shouldn't do it. Among his other concerns: "If they throw us out do they take our candy or do we get to keep it?" and "What if they just throw mommy out?". I kept telling them we wouldn't get thrown out, but how do you justify breaking the rules to your kids? I told them candy was too expensive at the theatres, but they didn't care. "Everybody does it" didn't fly either and I'm sure I will regret that one the next time Torii uses because I know he will. "I do it all the time" didn't sound good either. Torii was incredibly concerned about getting kicked out so we didn't bring the candy in. When we got to our seats the first thing out of Rion's mouth was "where's the candy?" I told them I wasn't buying any candy at the theatres, not that it mattered since I barely brought enough cash along for the tickets, popcorn and pop. I nearly fell over when the ticket person told me the total. $8.50 each for a 3-D matinee! Anyway, the kids liked the movie and enjoyed the 3-D. When we got back out to the car we opened up our candy for a post movie treat. As Rion took a handful of my Snowcaps he said, "Hey mom, it says 'great with popcorn'"! "I know, I know," I replied. And the debate continues....

Birthdays galore

This Saturday the kids have two birthday parties to go to. I was actually going to have Rion's birthday on Saturday too, but after we got the two invites I had to postpone until next weekend. Oh well. At least I hadn't written out the invitations yet. So last weekend, Torii, Cordelia and I made a trip to Target for presents and some treats for us as well. Torii's Bakugan game for the Wii was on sale so I bought that for him and I finally bought a sewing machine for myself. Then we headed to the toy department to look for presents. Torii picked out some Barbie Cinderella dolls for his friend, Cordelia picked out some Sesame Street toys for our neighbor and they both found a present for Rion too. So with our cart full of "wants" instead of "needs" we headed to the checkout. And there in front of us was another family from church. I can't imagine what they thought of our purchases. I was wishing they were behind us so they could clearly hear me tell the cashier I needed a lot of gift receipts. Seriously I'm not spoiling my children! Most of this stuff isn't even for us! Oh well. It doesn't really matter what they think, but it is funny.

Parent teacher conferences

Last week the boys had their conferences for school. They are both doing really well. They have mostly met all of the year end benchmarks. I worried a little about Torii since he barely made the cut off to get into kindergarten this year, but he is doing very good. He may get some help with his fine motor skills like Rion, but other than that he is doing great. Rion did go down in one area: he talks a little too much when he should be working. He has missed out on some things because he has to stay behind and complete his work first. Although he went down in this area, it's also a good thing. Rion takes after me a little too much and he was really quiet at the beginning of the year. He's come out of his shell a little so that's a good thing. Torii's teacher didn't have much to say since Torii is doing so well. She complimented me on our very well behaved boys. I just wish she could see them at home! Completely the opposite. I'm glad they behave at school. I guess we must be doing something right after all. The kids were with during conferences since Fred was at home not feeling good at all. Cordelia loved being in the classrooms. In the kindergarten class the boys showed her the reading corner and the puppets. I thought she was happily playing when I heard "ahhhhhhh". It was the kind of ahhhh you hear on pop commercials. Sure enough, there was Cordelia at the teacher's desk with the teacher's pop in her hands. At least the teacher thought it was funny.

Red light, green light

Our Torii is the best at giving Fred and I fits. We give Torii timeouts, take toys and privileges away and he still throws monstrous tantrums. We are both sick of Torii's attitude and really needed to do something about it, but really had no idea what to do next. Then over the weekend Torii, of all people, suggested we make a chart like they have in school. It looks like a stop light and on the side are clothes pins with each person's name on it. If your clothes pin is on green, you've been good. If it's on yellow you must have did something wrong. On red, you might as well go sit in your room and think about what you did. I made the chart mostly to humor Torii not thinking it would actually work, but it has. Torii and I have been playing checkers, but he is a rule breaker and a cheat. Now all I have to say is "you'll go to yellow if you don't play right," and the game continues without any more major disagreements. I think I should sit in with his class more often so I can learn more of the techniques they use to keep 15 kindergartners in check. I know "criss cross applesauce" and "marshmallows!" which is my personal favorite. I'm not sure how long this stop light chart will last, but everyday that is tantrum free is a good day.

The good old days

The other day I happened to pass the kids' school during lunch recess. It looked like it was the older kids that were outside at the time. As I passed I noticed all the boys were near the playground and having a lot of fun in the snow. Meanwhile, the girls were all huddled together in little groups near the school. Some things never change. But then I began to think about how much they really have changed. When I thought about recess in the sixth grade, I thought about huddling up with a group of girls and listening to music during recess. I must have gotten a Walkman for my birthday or Christmas because I remember bringing it to show off. And we had to bring the newest cassette single to listen to also. Or we would bring a mix tape of all the songs we got recorded from the radio over the weekend. Y93 used to be the best radio station in town. They played all the newest and hottest songs and on Saturdays they gave out a cassette every hour. I remember winning at least twice. I got the Billy Joel tape with "We didn't start the fire" and the Crash Test Dummies. So while I spent my Saturdays trying to win a new cassette I was also close to my tape player waiting to hit the record button when a good song came on. I suppose this is one of the things my kids will someday laugh at, as any music they could ever want can be instantly had at the click of the mouse. And the radio? Who listens to the radio anymore, mom? Rion still can't understand a childhood without a computer. When did my childhood get so nostalgic?

Another kindergartner

On Friday Cordelia and I were waiting as we usually are outside of Torii's classroom waiting for the final bell to ring. We got there a little early and the kids were still coming out in the hall to get their things. One of the girls wanted to show Cordelia the Valentines garland that was hanging down in the doorway. She showed Cordelia how to walk through it. When Cordelia walked through, she thought she was pretty hot stuff being in the classroom and then the girl continued to show her to the rug where they have their end of the day songs. The kids were singing Valentines song and when I peeked in the room, Cordelia was sitting right in the middle of the group and trying to sing along. She was singing pretty loud too. She sat there so nice with the kids. I think she really liked it. Torii used to sit in with the class almost every day last year when Rion was a kindergartner. Since I knew Torii's teacher, I knew she wouldn't care if Cordelia sat in with them either. I think she was impressed how well Cordelia sat there too.