Christmas For Halloween!

So today I am still thankful for the following post made on my cousin's facebook page on October 21:

Jennifer Manning so i went to a "friends"house and she said come in i want you to see something,when i walked in she had her christmas tree up(with lights)and she was very proud of her tree..please tell me WHO PUTS UP A XMAS TREE IN OCT..and the answer is the only IDIOT i know, Angela Manning i wont call your name but i will tell it,s.m.h

October 21 at 3:08pm · Comment · 

I was even more thankful for the laughs when I found out that Angela dressed up as a Christmas Tree for Halloween.  She is so AWESOME.  I don't care what they say about Angela Manning.  I say Angela Manning is a stone cold genius.  Aunt Bit did right by that one.  Speaking of Christmas, have you started your shopping yet?

Other expressions of Appreciation:

• Sunshine and Blue Skies - I love days like today
• Conversations with Allan - He is really trying hard to leave his current school.  When he got in the car today, I asked him how was his day.  He replied, "Not so good.  I got a half straight face and half frowny face."    Me:  "Really? Why?"        Allan: "I was talking."        Me: "Why?"        Allan: "I was bored."         Me: "What were you talking about?"          Allan: "I don't remember.  More than half the people at my school are obese.  And we don't even get a full recess.  We may get 5 minutes if that."        Me: "Really?  Do you enjoy those 5 minutes?"            Allan: "No.  We are not allowed to run at recess.  AND we can't play tag!  Not even tag football."             Me: "NO TAG PLAYING ALLOWED!!  Now that is just wrong!  We need to do something about that.  Well, tell me something good about your school."                        Allan: "If my school were a high school there would be no teenage sex because all the girls are ugly."  After that I had to give up.  Allan did more talking and I mostly tuned him out because my song was on the CD player.  I heard some of what he said:  "blah blah blah no homework blah not playing blah blah"  I had my mommy filter on so I only heard what really mattered.  Don't judge me for that.  I know all you parents reading this have done that before.  HA.
• Late night ice cream runs before President Blair Underwood comes on TV.
• The fact that I signed up for NaBloPoMo 2010.  I have something to do before bed.

Good Night and Namaste

I Can Now Go Out In Public - Smelling LIKE OLD LADY!

I had to redeem myself from that last video.  Mama will be proud.  I don't even remember what I was talking about in this video.  But anyway I gots a story about Allan to share.

Kids say the darnedest things again.  Everyday after I pick up Allan from school, we go to pick up the babies from daycare.  Their daycare smells like moth balls because the director or owner or somebody was trying to "HIDE" some other odor in the building.  I don't know what that other odor was.  Anyway, the first time Allan walked into that daycare, he noticed that "moth ball" smell and he didn't like it.

So on Friday after we picked up the girls we had to go pick up William from school.  As we were on the way to William's school, we had to drive pass TJ's old high school which was being renovated at the time.  When Allan noticed the school and the renovations he said, "TJ's old school is nice and the cafeteria smells good.  Our cafeteria smells like Old Lady!"

I was shocked so I HAD to ask, "Old Lady?  What does Old Lady smell like?"
He frowned and replied, "It smells like the babies' daycare!"

My initial reaction was, "Ewww!"  followed by a loud laugh.  It was just funny to me the way he matter of factly shared this.  I had to ask another question, "Who do you know who smells like Old Lady?"  I was afraid of what the possible answer or answers could be, hoping to God he would not implicate me or my mom.

"My teacher Mrs. HerNameShallBeNamelessForProtection!"

Again I laughed out loud.  Poor little Allan must have thought I was having a laughing fit.  Although I was laughing, I was still able to ask, "What does she smell like?"

"She smells like a glue stick."

We were both laughing now.  This pretty much ended the conversation.  Mainly because I felt and still feel so sorry for my young son that he is FORCED to endure so many unpleasant smells during the course of a regular school day: Old Lady, moth balls, and glue stick, and not to mention his own stinky feet.

This conversation did bring to my memories the old lady smell of the older ladies in church growing up.  They smelled like a combination of moth balls and Charlie.  If you don't know Charlie, click the link and you'll see what I'm talking about.  YUCK.

Isn't She Lovely

Even though she's picking her nose.

Location : Donau Dr, Columbia, SC 29229,

Isn't She Lovely

Even though she's picking her nose.

Location : Dahoon Dr, Columbia, SC 29229,

Attitudes Are Contagious

Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching? ~Dennis and Wendy Mannering

Allan said his are not worth catching because he takes everything personally. He’s learning that everything is not always about him. He agrees to work on his attitude.

William has a great attitude in my opinion. He doesn’t take too many things personally either.
I loved William’s attitude when his football team played in the little league Super Bowl and he didn’t get any play time that night. It was cold and pouring rain. All William cared about was that he was on a football team and his team won.

After the game when all of the players and parents assembled in the locker room, William was found posing and taking pictures with the championship trophy. His attitude was GREAT.

Some of the other players who didn’t get play time were crying, angry, pouting and complaining. Not William, he was posing with the trophies and giving himself kudos for cheering on his teammates who actually played in the game.

Go William!

See more progress on: Discuss a weekly quote with the boys as a Family

Go Outside and PLAY!

The following was sent to me via email. Everytime I read it I love it more. I know you've seen it before, but I had to share again. Now I am rethinking that Nintendo Wii.

My children do spend a lot of time outside playing, riding bikes, rollerskating, and participating in other outdoor activities. I am so glad they do.

Those Born 1920-1979



TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes after running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them.
CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Today is Sunday, November 11, 2007

and I am thankful for:

• friends
• family
• life
• love
• children
• deer meat. A coworker gave me some deer meat cube steaks and grounded deer meat. I cooked the cube steak today and it was delicious. Deer meat is tender, wild, and full of protein.
• motherhood. Although being a mom is hard work, I must say it is absolutely the best assignment I've ever had. Being a mom is over fulfilling and very rewarding. I love being a mom.

Just Sharing

The principal at my sons' school sends us email daily. Sometimes several times a day. Today she sent the following. It reminded me of this blog. I just felt like sharing.

Dear Lake Carolina Parents,

This morning I woke up weepy. Usually when I get weepy about Lake Carolina, it's because of something like our children singing, supporting each other, or reading for the very first time. But, this morning, my weepiness was due to seeing two little girls almost get hit by a car yesterday during dismissal. This near accident almost occurred even though I was in the street yelling "Stop, Stop, Stop," as well as Deputy Vance and Mr. Newton. The car didn't stop until through the crosswalk, but thankfully our little girls did. Even as I write this to you, I am getting teary again. This driver was not a Lake Carolina parent, but I must share with you that parent, neighbor, visitor, or whoever, we don't need to go anywhere so quickly that we will put the life of a child or anyone in danger. No where.

There is a very popular book titled Good to Great by Jim Collins. In his book, he refers to "brutal realities." We have some brutal realities at Lake Carolina. Four of those realities are:
1- We have traffic.
2- We are not the only school with traffic.
3- We have a lot of precious children.
4- Dr. Lynch and her staff will not compromise the safety of our precious children to hurry traffic.

Please know that I realize that "we" are a very caring community. But, I need to be able to add to that descriptor during dismissal and arrival the word "Patient." We continue to do things daily that compromise the safety of children and quite frankly, even though it makes me sad, I completely understand why Deputy Vance is now writing tickets.

Please understand that in Richland District Two and at Lake Carolina, Safety DOES trump everything. I ask that you work with us as a community to make sure that arrival and dismissals are safe EVERY single day for ALL children. Remember, no where that we need to go is important enough to sacrifice the safety of ANY child or ANYONE.




Dr. James Ann Lynch
Lake Carolina Elementary
1151 Kelly Mill Road
Blythewood, SC 29016
P(803) 714-1300

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It's GREAT being a GATOR!!!!