Conversation about classroom contracts

 “When it says ‘signature’, that means you sign it in cursive, lovie.”

(All in one exhale) “I don’t care. I’m not using cursive. It’s not legally binding and I’m only 14.”

Wow. I was unaware that Calvin & Hobbes had moved in…

I was also accused of gatekeeping as our household rule has been no cell phone until you get a job and can pay your portion of the bill. Thing Two skirted that rule by heading to college sans job, so Thing Three is getting desperate and is unhappy about his options, especially given his math teacher will give bonus points for turning a phone in to her during math class. So if you see Thing Three with a ball cap out hoping for alms, feel free to put some sympathy in!

First day of school!

In my head, I always hear "first day of school" in Nemo's exuberant voice as he bounces on Marlin to wake him up. Our kids are WAY past being that excited about Day One, but photos are obligatory anyway.

Thing Two kicked off his first semester of college this week. (And there was much rejoicing. Hallelujah, brothers and sisters!) He's taking an English comp class in which he was the only guy, Calculus, Chemistry with lab, and Welding. It is going to be an interesting semester!

So far this week has been ice breakers and "this is the actual book we will be using" and "we are moving to this room" and so forth. 

We are excited to see what this semester holds for him in new friends and knowledge gained. Have a great Fall of Firsts, buddy!

 

Kid goin' places

Thing Three kicked off his first week of high school still recovering from some rotten virus that has him coughing and hacking like he's trying to rid himself of his lungs. Whilst talking with our pediatrician's admin I asked if bronchitis was going around. She sighed, chuckled ruefully and replied, "All. The. Things. are going around. We even had pneumonia cases in the hospital this weekend." 

Fabulous.

So he is the masked and hooded crusader to kick off freshman year, I guess. It was around 50 degrees at the bus stop at 7 AM and I may need to remind Mother Nature that it is still AUGUST. Ahem.

I object.

Could we please borrow about three degrees from Texas for another month or so?

Happy trails to everyone beginning a new school year!

 

Happy hump day

An eagle-eyed Thing Three spotted a mama deer with her triplets while I was ogling over a beautiful morning sun. She headed for the intersection as a pickup truck approached and I held my breath as math equations galloped across my brain: if Mama is traveling at speed X in this direction as a Truck approaches at this velocity Y from that direction, at which spot will we need the turkey buzzard cleanup crew? 

A) Here

B) Everywhere

C) There

I say B.

Fortunately for all involved, she is an excellent mama who knew to STOP before reaching the intersection and those babies hit the brakes too. The truck passed, more slowly, thankfully, as the sun was behind him- it might have been a different story from the opposite direction- and then once it passed the entire family made it safely across. 

As Thing Three and I sighed in relief and turned away from the sun to watch for the bus, he spies another solo deer in the other direction, also trying to cross the street with a different pickup truck challenge. She made it as well, as did the eventual bus, all without incident. 

Have a safe, wonderful hump day, people!

 

Full of hot air

We had the opportunity to go to the Flag City hot air balloon festival last weekend. Lots of bouncy houses, food stands, and balloons of all shapes and sizes:

And inflatable aliens, apparently.

When my mother asked why Thing Two was attacked by a stereotypical alien all I could say was that these things happen. His name is George.

That's Tick Tock and Ellie, below.

And Dada with Space Cowboy hogging the background.

When it gets dark enough, the emcee (who is a friend of ours- great to see you, Rich!) calls for them to "twinkle" or "glow", which prompts lots of delighted "ooooohs!"

So glad we went! We had to stuff George in the back of the Jeep for the drive home, but he didn't complain. Have a wonderful week!

 

Monday morning madness

 I will confess that it's a little disconcerting and completely hilarious to come downstairs in the dark to find an inflatable 8 foot tall alien peering at the glow of an unmanned computer. I had to wait to take the picture until it was brighter, but it cracked me up in the full dark, for sure. 

Geoooooooorge? What are you doing?

E.T. phone hoooooome…?

George gets around

Something tells me we will be having a good time with George...

 

Loveliness

 

A bumbershoot reveal

 Nobody guessed what Thing Two bought in Washington, D.C. and I can't say that I blame any of you. I, too, was not expecting him to come home with a yellow umbrella! He loves that it folds inside out, has a button that does all the work, and he uses it in the slightest of sprinkles to put the dogs out. 😊