Grasshoppers, Soccer, And The Playground

I haven't been around much lately. It seems like I've been on the go constantly, but when I look back at what I've done these last few weeks, it doesn't look like much.

So- today I'm sharing pictures. All but the first one were taken today. The first one was taken a few days ago- I'm sharing it because I think it's really cool.

This little guy lives in our backyard. He spends time sitting on our back fence (there was a pink blanket sitting on it when I took this picture), and he's been chased by Rosie. I love the contrast between the pink and the green in this picture and I'm loving the detail that I managed to get with my camera. Can I just tell you that it's so nice to have a really nice digital camera?

Now- for today's activities. Today Cody played his second game of soccer this season. We're back to where we were last fall- he doesn't want to run and play the game with the other kids. I have a ton of action shots of the other kids on his team, and him just moping along in the background. The thing is- he really likes soccer and really likes to play soccer. He's just too shy to actually play the game on the field. So- we're going to work on that.

I call this one 'Dazed.' Sometimes I wonder about my son... This one was taken right after this one...






I love this picture, however. I think it turned out great, and you can't tell that I was all the way across the field from him when it was taken. It also doesn't look like a soccer picture.

Sometimes, you just don't want to hear what they're saying... I'm not sure what she was saying, but I thought that this was hilarious, especially since Cody doesn't like girls (and apparently, this little girl has a crush on Cody).

He spent the entire game playing defense (can't imagine why....). He was even goalie during one quarter...

Yep- he spent most of his time as goalie inspecting the net.

After soccer, we played on the playground for awhile, which is where I got this shot of Dylan:

He surprised me with this one (because I'm not sure that I would have let him do it if I had caught him doing it in the first place).

He Said What?!?!

Be warned- there will be graphic language in this post. I'm sorry about that, but it's part of the story.

I picked Cody up from school yesterday like I do every Thursday. He gets in the car, and I asked if he had his spelling test back. He said 'You're not going to be happy with me.' So- I look in the bag, thinking that he failed his spelling test, while telling him that I'm not going to be mad if he got a bad grade, we'll just have to study harder. Sure enough- he did fail his spelling test (poor kid). But- that wasn't what he was talking about.

Yesterday, my normall sweet, somewhat angelic little heathen said 'fucker' in school.

Yes- you read that right. My six year old son said the f-word. I made him talk to Mike about it (because he certainly has never heard me say that word). Mike told Cody that he needed to think up a punishment for himself and he had six minutes to do it. Cody chose to give up the computer for a week. Mike added that he couldn't go to the carnival one day this weekend.

Evan's birthday is coming up. We've been talking about his birthday party and what he wants. While the boys were eating supper yesterday, Cody and Dylan started telling Evan what he should do for his birthday party. Cody wants a chocolate cake- but Evan's original vote was for a pumpkin cake. Dylan thinks that Evan needs to have a Spongebob birthday party- but Evan originally wanted a superhero birthday party. I finally had to tell the two of them that if they talk Evan out of whatever it is that he wants for his birthday party that I'm letting him plan their next birthdays (that shut them up, lol).

The First And Second Days of First Grade

Cody started school yesterday. His school has what they call a 'clap in' every year. On the first day, they line the halls with parents and teachers and everyone claps and cheers as the students walk to their classrooms. It's supposed to make them feel good about learning, I think that they just enjoy being cheered and applauded (at least, the first and second graders do, when this becomes boring, I don't know). It fits with the local parent mentality, but I'll get to that in a moment.

While doing this clap in, and the subsequent picture taking a few minutes later, I noticed something. You could tell the scrapbooker mom from the regular mom.

The regular mom- one or two pictures, taken in one or two places.

The scrapbooker mom- these are the moms that are saying 'ok, let's take a picture of you hanging up your backpack, let's take a picture of you sharpening your pencil, let's take a picture of you glaring at Mommy because you realized that you are the only child whose mother is still in the room and the teacher is waiting to start class....'

Growing up, I knew that the kids in this town were a little on the snobbish side. You get used to it, and figure that things will even out as you get older. Nope- wrong. What happens is that those kids I grew up with became the type of parents that I can not stand. And I had to deal with them today.

Our school has a circle drive, which is the only place where students can be picked up and dropped off (except for the bus riders). It's a huge pain in the read end to pick up or drop off students because it's very narrow and there aren't enough parking spots. Drop offs are hell. Literally. Because these parents, who believe that their children poop gold nuggets, can not let that precious child walk more than ten feet to the door. So- they sit and block traffic while they wait for one of the three prime drop off spots to open up. And then they nose in, take the spot, even though their mini van or SUV does not fit in that spot. Which means that they are still blocking traffic, and when it's time to leave, they can either a- back up into the passing lane or b- wait for the person ahead to pull out.

I droppped Cody off at 8 this morning. I didn't get home until 820. I live a half mile from the school. It took me twenty minutes to get out of the drive because people don't want to make their child walk. Tomorrow, I'm parking on the other side of the three prime spots to drop him off, at least then, when they're blocking traffic waiting for those spots to open, I'll be able to just get out and leave.