Under The Red DRAGON

The boys have been completing a unit on China, and the three kindergarten classes had a parade on Friday, complete with dragon hats, musical instruments and this great red dragon

That's our neighbor Joe digging the parade
Everyone made dragon hats and wore red

Jack really did have fun, despite this picture ;-)

And the blur of Harry's hands is because he got to use those little egg shakers.

The teachers really go all out, and the boys have learned a lot about Chinese culture these last weeks.

Bob Dylan's Under The Red Sky

Cheesey, cheesey

There's been a lotta cheeeese around here lately, starting last Monday with a fun trip to CEC with some friends....

...even us moms got into the silliness.

School is celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday in a big way - we are supposed to send in a picture of the boys reading one of their favorite books in one of their favorite reading spots....since we thought the potty shots might be inappropriate for school, the boys had to improvise. They sort of overdid the cheeeese factor ;-)

Tomorrow's book is 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins and they will be sporting their fave hats! They get an entry into a contest for every day they read 20+ minutes, so wish us luck. They will get to go to their second AR monthly party soon - woohoo!

About the title song, you can't beat a song that involves rutabaga....who knows how it started, but somehow rutabaga is part of a whole lot of silliness at our house. My grandmother used to cook them great, but I have yet to get the hang of it....."Rutabaga" was the winning word in a recent spelling bee, so who knows when these things become educational, right?!

Frank Zappa's Call Any Vegetable

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens...er, turkeys

The animals are scrounging for food, and we have this little rafter (or gang) of turkeys in our yard. And, yes, about 1/2 of our yard is still dusted with snow more than two weeks after the last big blast....there is more in the forecast, but we're hoping it ends soon. Spring is just a few weeks away, don't ya know ;-)

BBKing

Free money, free money, free money, free

We've been busily working to make some free money for the boys' school - we accept any and all donations :hint:

Clipping Programs - the boys will cut and paste

Box Tops for Education
Cut out the “box tops” logo from participating products. If you can bring them to school in bags of 50 or on collection sheets of 10, 25 or 50, it’s a big help. Also, please watch the expiration dates. SIGN UP ONLINE at the Box Tops website to receive their newsletter to support our school & we get points.
Campbell’s - Labels for Education
Cut out the UPC and the Labels for Education logo. They NO LONGER accept just the front part of the label. Check their website for a list of products, including Pepperidge Farm. Use collection sheets if you wish. Campbell’s awards points so the school can select free items from their product catalog.
Tyson Foods – Project A+

Cut out the entire top section of frozen food bags or the entire side of frozen food boxes. The little black A+ is not sufficient. Tyson’s offers 24 cents for every label.

Valued Customer Cards - register online

Link your store cards to their school online. Contact me if you want the details or aren't sure how to do this. These are great opportunities for their school and SO EASY!! You may need to re-register every year so if you signed up last year, check again this year.

Food Lion – Shop and Share Program
Register your Food Lion MVP card in their Shop and Share program and each time you shop at Food Lion and use your MVP card, a portion of your entire purchase is donated to the school!

Kroger – elabels for Education

Register your Kroger Plus card on this website and they keep track of all Campbell products that you buy and give points for them in addition to the points when you turn in the UPC. That’s double points!

Kroger – Plus Card for Education

Register your Kroger Plus card on this website. It’s just like the Food Lion except we get points, not cash.

Target – Take Charge of Education Program

If you have a Target credit card, you can select the boys' school as a recipient of the money earned on your purchases.

AmeriGas - School Days Receipt
Save your AmeriGas propane receipts and try to collect from local businesses and households. We send them in at the end of school year and get ½ cent per gallon.

Subway – School Rewards
When you make a purchase using a SUBWAY Card linked to our school, we earn a portion of it. We have cards available upon request and you can load them online or at the store. Great gift idea!

Patti Smith's Free Money

**UPDATE** Just the boxtops portion earned our school almost $450, so it really does add up! Thanx for all the people who help :-)

I feel like falling asleep but the party's just begun

Last weekend was Party Central - first, I had a chance to help my dear friend Kristi get ready for her beautiful Baby Girl....it was a LOT of pink exploding in Nicole's house and so much fun to go girly....

Congratulations, KCA&baby!

...before heading to CEC for Jack's best bud Dylan's 6th birthday fete

Can you tell they were just a *little* bit happy?!?

Daddy and Harry had a chance to hang out, and Jack enjoyed his first solo party. Despite the weather delays, it was a great time.

Happy Birthday, Dylan!

Nelly Furtado's Party

Where Do We Draw The Line

Industrious boys of late - Jack writing love notes (and carefully spacing his words)

and Harry has been all about the Wacky (from Dr. Seuss's Wacky Wednesday) so there are about a bazillion versions of this silly bathtub around our house....and now outside on the drive.

It made me think about this little creature my friends and I drew all over everything in high school....did/do you have any signature drawing??

Poets Of The Fall

And in my head I Paint A Picture

It's all about the Wacky around here lately, and Jack has been getting all artsy with the camera. Here's what we've been up to the last couple of weeks....

Jack and Dean gettin' silly wit' it!

All the Valentine's love scatter

He tried sitting down and taking pix of me - lovely

Harry was a much better goofball

I mentioned the artsy part, right??

He spent a while creating this little tableau

They spent a lot of time playing computer games during the snowcation....mostly educational, so I just looked at it as an extended computer lab ;-) He did a great job catching Harry's reflection (and I thought they were watching Rocky, but can't tell who that is in the background)

Amy Winehouse's Valerie

I dig the snow and the rain and the bright sunshine

More than two weeks of sun and (sorta) warm temps, and this is what's left at the top of our driveway.....
...fairly persistent ice.

Tommy James and The Shondells' Draggin' The Line

Well, I guess it really pays to be a slacker

I cannot believe how long it's been - wasn't even sure if I could remember how the dashboard. We've been living life, and I promise to post about it at some point. It's good to take a break now and then....gearing up for coming in like a lion, don't ya know ;-)

Hope everyone is safe and happy!

Son Of Dork's Slacker

Without your love I would be lost

It's no secret that I am orienteerially-challenged and can thank my DH for helping me stay on track - now I can do it with a little more heart. Who comes up with these 'vehicles'? And what will I choose next?
We had a great Heart Day - the boys hung out at home while some friends and I took in the chickflick-du-jour Valentine's Day. I stopped for take out at our favorite cheesy restaurant, which was all decked out in its Cupid Glory

Hope your day was filled with love

Bette Midler's In This Life

I'm a twisting fool

Never one to be outdone, Jack wanted to make a movie of his card for Summit's party. Silly boy.

Summit had a rockin' party - with lunch at a cozy little music cafe followed by a pool party. It was great to see several old friends and meet some new ones. Thanx for letting us in on all the fun, Summit!

One of the best things about getting out of Simon Says early is you get to pick a primo seat ;-)

Harry decided to make a few fashion statements with his hat

There were laughs all around and some sweet moments

Harry and his buddy Asher dove into the books after lunch....talk about focus! They both read while all around them boys and balloons went wild

Grayson and Jack checked out Asher's book, but the balloons won...this time!

Happy Birthday, Summit! Thanx for all the fun :-)

Dire Straits' Twisting By The Pool

there's never a wish better than this

Snow delayed a whole lot of parties in February....100 Days, Ground Hog, the boys' first AR party, but their ambitious teachers were able to squeeze most of it in today...including Valentine's Day

Jack's sweet teacher arranged this pretty amazing 100th Day Safari - the kids had 7 stations where they learned about the given animal, counted something related to it and practiced writing the number and tallying the items counted.....the total added up to .... you guessed it - 100! It was a really creative and fun activity for them. Above you see the Safari-ites getting all decked out (Jack's in the back, 2nd from the left) and learning about their journals.

He was right, just a little zealous and wrote "7" twice ;-)

Summit, of the tomorrow birthday party, is a sweet friend in Jack's class. Each person in the class makes a wish for whoever is having a birthday, then their teacher staples the drawings and wishes together as a book for the birthday child. I hadn't seen one before, and it was really cute to see what sorts of things his friends wished for Summit...mostly puppy dreams, tho his dad was there and said it wasn't happening ;-)

Thank you, Ms. J, for letting me tag along on Safari today and see the great group of kids that is lucky to have you for a teacher. I may have mentioned that you are sweet and creative, but these kids really know their stuff and do you proud! Happy Valentine's Day :-)

Five For Fighting's 100 Years

You know how children can grow

The boys' friend Summit is having a rockin' birthday party tomorrow, and he's asked that his friends bring homemade cards in lieu of gifts - Harry's been on a card-making kick lately, so he is quite jazzed. He was describing his card to me this morning when I realized I could make a movie of it.....very few random a's thrown in there but you get a whole lotta Southern accent, stringing the story out to glory in his spotlight, a couple of sneezes and a sweet thank you for your trouble.

Warning: Jack says it's too long and boring...then again, he hasn't started making his card yet ;-)

Elvis Costello's Tears At The Birthday Party

rolling down the side of a snow-covered hill

I think it all started when I downloaded these new 'vehicles' for the Garmin, so you can see I cancelled them....hopefully, the big storms are over. The kids go back to school tomorrow
This is one of Harry's favorite songs - it may not translate, but if you know the song, that's just the feeling...my love for you just grows and grows.

Their buddy Asher hosted us for a great playdate. It was so fun that even getting towed out of their drive couldn't spoil the day. Thanx, Mr. B and Harvey and friends!

This is what our drive looks like after two weeks of snow and not much melting. The van didn't make it, but they are heading back to school tomorrow...just in time for about 3 parties ;-)

James Taylor's It's Growing

But there's a big blue sky waiting just behind the clouds

No, IDK why the Jeep has featured so prominently in pix of late, but I realized it's been all week since I posted and was doing a little island dreaming. So, here you go!
I think I'm busting us out of here this morning for some fun with friends - hope your day is a great one!

Brad Paisley's Behind The Clouds

Blinded By The Light

What a difference the flash makes, eh? Taken within seconds of each other, and undoctored

I was just playing around with the colors and thought these came out pretty cool

Just as it was, the slow thaw

Manfred Mann's Earth Band