Hollywood Hillbilly(S)

Silly goofy boys have dug into AJ's tricks and pranks kit....

Jack getting his GQ on
and Harry can't resist an opportunity to show those gaps....dad has convinced him that he'll have to move to the mountains if he loses another

Dale Watson

Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box

The boys' Book Club is finishing up their third book, Pippi Longstocking, a classic that I remember well. My friend Lisa Weaver and I went to see the movie the week that I moved from SC to VA when I was twelve years old..yikes, what a blast from the past!

Their culminating project is a Cereal Box Book Report, which turned out to be a really fun way to incorporate some of their favorite scenes. The front included identifying information and a picture of their favorite scene from the story, the first side had a list of characters with descriptions, the second side described the setting/s, and the back included a game that related to the story in some way. They are to include a surprise inside that is something real and reflects something about the story.

Here is Harry showing off his box and 'surprise' (this is probably the best shot I've gotten of his three missing teeth, bonus!)
He drew a picture of his favorite scene, the silly one from Chapter 1 where Pippi cracks an egg on her head - he did a great job with the yolk and it falling over her nose

His 'cast of characters' highlights Pippi, her two friends Tommy and Annika, and her monkey Mr. Nilsen

He drew a picture of Pippi jumping from drain cover to drain cover during a game they play, and noted that most of the story took place outside, but a few scenes were inside, including Pippi's 'berthday' (her spelling) party

His favorite part was the back, where he created a maze to get Tommy and Annika to Pippi's birthday party, including obstacles that were birthday-themed: hats, cakes, balloons, and noise makers. He even put a few directions for the non-maze types ;-)

Jack proudly displaying his cereal box before soccer practice

His front cover depicted the scene where Pippi whomps up on two bullies, who end up in a tree. He was really proud of his 'dots, like teachers make on their letters'

He described the same characters, the kids and Pippi's monkey

He mentioned the town and a neighbor's house, where they had a tea party as settings

Jack's back cover had a Differences game, and he took great care with the details of her clothes and shoes that were discussed in the book and her expression.

They had a lot of fun with the project, and since Pippi is such a funny girl, there were a lot of laughs at our house.

Edie Brickell's What I Am

There's a lady that stands in a harbor

First grade has its first social studies project due at the end of this week. Guess what Jack chose as a great American symbol to study? Surprise! I'm working on the SoL montage from our recent trip to NYC, but suffice it to say today was his second-favorite SoL moment - he is so excited about this project!

She's still in need of robes and a little painting, but she's shaping up nicely. Tops in Jack's book, right in front of this moment.....

Aaron Tippin's Where The Stars And Stripes And The Eagle Fly

Destination IMAGINATION

Harry liked his first turn at blogging so much that he's asked for another go - this time he wants to tell you all about Destination Imagination.

Jack and I are in Mommy and Mrs. C's after-school Destination ImagiNation science, and we make scripts. We always eat snacks, and sometimes we laugh at each other. Jack has a part, I have a part, Erin has a part, Gina has a part, Kaitlyn has a part, Isaiah has a part, and Rashmi is the narrator. But we can't decide who's going to make their parts first because they all want to make them. Sometimes we argue, and sometimes Mrs. C. says "guys, guys, time-out" and sometimes Mommy says "shhh, Jack" when he's interrupting us, and that always distracts me. One by one, we make more parts and every time when we get home, sometimes we make new scripts. We will make some costumes for the play so that people can figure out who we are and what real bugs look like. I am a bedbug, Jack is a tarantula brother, Isaiah's a tarantula brother, Gina is a popcorn lady - gee, she makes good popcorn and I think I could eat all of her popcorn in her popcorn machine! - Erin is a black widow, Kaitlyn is a dog, and Rashmi is our narrator. One day Erin wanted to go to a party, but Gina said no and I said 'I wasn't invited either.' I'm a bedbug and she said 'no bedbugs allowed!' Isaiah said 'we weren't invited either, she said no bad bugs or spiders'. We went to the fair instead, and we had fun. We always love DI, and I love it because it's my favorite thing of my life. The End.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from DI so far - this is all of us trying to show our feelings - we were trying to show 'sad' faces, like how we'd feel if we weren't invited to a party.

This is a picture of me working with my teammates in the back and Jack working with his teammates in the front of the picture. We were making up skits with our bug puppets.

Over and out,

Harry

The Commitments' Destination Anywhere (Harry loved this version - said 'it sounds like jazz, my favorite)

Never know how much I love you

They tell you and you sort of know, but I've been watching this face sleep in almost this exact same position for almost 7 years now, and my heart melts every time. It's one of the first things I noticed holding them both in my arms in the hospital - Harry would lean his head on his left hand. :wub:

He missed his first day ever of school today because he had a little fever this morning. Dean sort of laughs at me about the attendance, but I only missed one day for a family funeral and think it's important that they don't ditch school for every little thing - fevers are another story. Dean and I were just talking about how healthy they have both been...jinx! Harry's fever popped up again just before he snuggled into me for this nap - hoping another day will be all it takes. His good buddy has pneumonia and over 10% of his entire school was out yesterday. Be gone, sickies!

Elvis, and just about everyone one else, singing Fever

Writin' fan letters

The last half of Harry's Star Student week got snowed out, so he got to extend into this week. His friends made notes and pictures to tell him what he means to them last Tuesday, and he had a lot of smiles telling us about all the friends and their writing and drawings. He's looking even more forward to getting to know next week's start student, Alexis, better after experiencing all the fun he had during his turn!

Thanx to his teacher and all his friends for making this week so much fun for Harry!

JB's Pencil Thin Moustache

I was just a bandage

Harry's new hero is the school nurse, who hooked him up with this way-big bandage to cover the cut he got yesterday.

John Ralston's When I Was A Bandage

HIS MOMMY, she wrote HIM a letter

So, it was Harry's turn for having a parent write a letter, and he opted for me. It was much harder than I thought - it's easy to write something personal to him, but to make it something he would want to share with his friends was a bigger challenge. It's fairly cheesy, and of course I thought of a million things I left out after I sent it, but he laughed and smiled and seemed happy....he couldn't tell Dean any of it on the phone tonite, so who knows?!?

They have a snow day tomorrow, so he'll miss out on bringing in his favorite book, or possibly he'll do that and show-n-tell on Friday.

Dear Mrs. W and Room 116,

I hope you’ve been having a fun time getting to know more about our Dearest Harry this week. Some of you have known him for a long time and know that he can be the nonstop-talking class clown or as quiet as a mouse. You have probably seen Harry read and spell like a champ, but you may not know how happy it makes him to have good friends like you. You could never hope for a more thoughtful, loyal friend or a sillier playmate; if you love music, have a poor sense of direction, or like to laugh, Harry’s your guy!

Harry is the heart, musician, comedian, cruise director, and Human Garmin for our family. He always wants to be sure that everyone he loves is safe and happy. He has a twin brother named Jack who he loves more than anything! Harry is one minute younger, so that makes him the ‘little’ brother, but he may be the most mature person in our entire family. He has a great memory for anything he ever sees or hears, and he can easily imitate characters that he hears in movies or television shows. He and Jack love to act out entire episodes of their favorite tv shows like Curious George and Rescue Heroes.

Here’s a little poem I wrote about Harry and what he means to us:

Harry is the youngest one
And he loves every song ever sung!
His smile is so sunny
And he likes to be funny.

He’s very friendly and kind.
If you want to be boss, he may not mind.
Harry is so curious
But sometimes he’s nervous.

He loves to laugh and tell stories,
Draw houses and maps,
But he hates, how he hates
Homework and naps!

He loves to create
And stay up late
He loves the moon
And Name That Tune

He loves to spell
And read as well
Harry loves to sing and play piAHno
And go, go, go!

Thank you, Harry, for bringing so much love, music, joy, and direction to our family. You truly are my sunshine, and I’m the luckiest Mommy in the world!

We all love you,
Mommy

Joe Cocker's The Letter

Can't read-a my poker face

Guess whose turn it is?? Funny what a pose can hide - He's really excited....
...I mean really excited!

Have a great week, little man! We are so happy you finally get your turn :-)

Lady Gaga's Poker Face

My DADDY, HE wrote me a letter

The Star Student week continued today, with a letter from a family member to the class explaining what is special about the star student. Dean has been traveling but wrote a letter as a surpise for Jack. It was a huge hit, especially since it gave Jack a chance to do his Silly Dance ;-)
Thanx, Dean, for being such an amazing Dad - he was so proud to have your letter today!

Dear Mrs. C and Room 118,

I wanted to write to tell you how proud I am of Jack and the fact that he is the Star Student of the Week in your class! I hope this is a chance for the class to get to know Jack even better and find out what a truly special boy he is. From the first time that I saw his picture with his brother Harry before he was even born I knew that having Jack in my life would bring so much joy and happiness. Seeing him grow up and learn so much has been even better than I could have ever imagined. It seems like only yesterday that I could hold Jack in one hand and now he is a Star Student in 1st Grade!

I am not the most sensitive person, but somehow Jack has become a caring person with a huge heart (he must get that from his mother, huh?). He tries to act tough sometimes, but he always tries to make his friends and family feel better. Whether its with a joke or his silly dancing, he makes me laugh all the time. I love being able to spend time with him playing sports and have been really lucky to be his coach for soccer and T-ball. Some of my favorite memories with Jack are when we are doing things as a family. Jack is really a great son and a great brother and the times we spend together mean the most to me. And when I am feeling down, Jack can really cheer me up with his awesome hugs.

Jack loves to read, play games, try different sports and is a great fisherman. From catching his first bass at his Uncle Les's house to catching our dinner at Ocracoke Island, Jack loves to bring in the big ones! Of course this makes him a great story teller and he often cheers me up with his tales and his quick wit. When the day is winding down, I love to have Jack read to me or for me to read to him as we finish the day off with a good book.

It's hard to sum up how I feel about Jack in a short letter, but I hope that everyone in his class gets to know him as I do. He is truly a special person, a great friend, and a wonderful kid and I am truly blessed to have him in my life. Congratulations, Jack!

Sincerely,
Dean
aka Jack's Dad

Joe Cocker's The Letter

Just like a star across my sky

Jack had his second day of Star Student, so I tried to start it off with a little special lunch surprise - he loves, and I mean loves, PB and anything....today it was PBJ, tomorrow he wants PBB(anana), tho we haven't been able to convince him to fry one ala his favorite Elvis ;-)
Timing is everything, Harry brought this home today:
I am thankful for my brother Jack. We do things together! I love art. He loves PuzzleMania! Happy Thanksgiving

Jack's class wrote special cards to him today, and he got to bring them home to share with us. Many of them had pix and/or writing on both sides, but these are the best views - thanx to everyone who said such nice things. Jack is one lucky boy!

Corrine Bailey Rae

Hey now you're an All Star get your game on

Jack's class has a Star Student Of The Week every week, and it's his turn this week - he's, um, a LITTLE bit excited!

He jumped off the bus full of all the exciting things he gets to do this week, the first of which is taking in pictures for a bulletin board that's all about him. He picked these pictures, from in utero (about 20 weeks) to last spring's fishing expedition with Daddy and Uncle Les. It was fun looking thru all the old pix and watching him choose his favorites - he ended up with lots of 'firsts' and action shots that showed a bit of his personality.

When we went to town to print the pix, he got to choose a special little treat (the marbles) and took Harry and I to dinner at Burger King - I know, it screams Superstar!
How excited is he?!? He looks like a giant in this picture, it's amazing how quickly they are growing. I'm so lucky to be able to share all these moments, and we're trying to share as much as we can with Dean as he's traveling for work - we miss you, babe!

SmashMouth's AllStar

When the big report card comes

The boys got their report cards a couple of weeks ago, studied them, read them to Dean, and ask me if their behavior or chores are excellent on a regular basis now....yay for first reports being stellar!

JB's Summerzcool

Money For Nothing

The boys' PTA has an Operation Free Money committee that coordinates all sorts of programs that earn money or supplies for the school. Somehow I offered to head up the Box Tops portion, and this is what my first submission looked like - it's bulkier than bills, but hopefully will spend just as well for over $450 worth of school goods! We're at 1/2 of last year's totals in just 3 months - go Lions!

I don't find the Box Tops Site particularly thrilling, but they do have a list of products that carry boxtops, information about special promotions, and you can sign up for several options that get you extra points for online and in-store shopping. Thanx for all the help everyone has given us, special kudos to the amazing Casey, who has been so generous over the years!

Dire Straits

Think (think) think (think) think (think)

Jack has been loving all the social studies and science in school lately. He's really enjoying learning about historical figures like Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin.
I loved his story about loving people He's been working on reports in science and reading, and told me the other day that he needed to do more research ...um, this is NOT your mama's first grade ;-)

He's all about the 'for example' lately, and I caught him mid-lesson yesterday before school.

It's awesome listening to him talking about school. Tonite, the boys were talking about the different grades, thru high school. Harry shouts excitedly "Then we'll.be.in.college...YAY!" Jack says "Sadly, we'll have to live at college and miss mommy and daddy. We'll have to take a picture and put their phone numbers in front of the picture so we can call them when we miss them." Wouldn't it be nice if they feel like that when the big day comes??
Aretha Franklin

....sOn shine, it's better than moonshine

I love this boy, especially when he's smiling a sweet smile for his Daddy. He saw the picture and realized he had chocolate chip smudge all over the place...
...and he smiled, and the sun shone. Little moments. He had his last soccer practice tonite, and it was a beautiful, crisp nite....look at that moon! This was his best practice yet, and he got the ball in the goal a few times, even getting it by the coach a time or two. Way to focus!

Allman Brothers' Soulshine

Destination Anywhere

The boys are participating in Destination Imagination this year, and I get to help coach with a fun friend! My bags were packed early this morning,

and we had a great time getting to know the kids and their parents tonite at a local restaurant. The theme of the Rising Stars (1st and 2nd graders) is Big Bug's Bad Day, so it was all bugs all the time. Thanx for a great evening Rashmi, Harry, Erin, Jack, Kaitlyn, and Isaiah :-)

We can't wait to meet our final teammate and get started after Thanksgiving!

The Commitments

All In A Day's Work

Here's what work looked like for the boys in the last few days:

Guess who they are studying?

Jack's clues (the colored one): discovered electricity, first fire department, first library, one hundred dollar
Harry's clues (pix and abbreviations): Poor RA= Poor Richard's Almanac, le = lightning experiment, sftl = started first (t?) library, he started ffd = he started first fire department

Harry brought home several 'for a grade' activities and seems to have had a stellar week...now, if he can just remember to put his name on the papers, he'll be sailing!

Here's what work looked like for me today:

I about died of embarrassment when a friend visited Sunday and I realized how overgrown the yard has become. We never go in the front door and it's a mess, but I'm hoping to let people think we spookified it as part of Boo Day decorations ;-) The rose bushes are dangerous, so I suited up and only got one scratch this time.

The trees are in desperate need of attention, so I attacted them with some borrowed tools (thanx for the long lops, C&B). I still have a few days' work, but it's a good start

Styx