Yesterday at Speech, Logan got to pick a prize out of the toy chest. He picked the ever-popular vampire teeth. His therapist laughed because this is what he picks all the time. She went on to tell me that she's wanting to get scented pencils. This led to a conversation about scratch and sniff stickers (remember those?!?!), which lead me on a trip down memory lane.
One thing I LOVED in school was stickers. My third grade teacher (who I really didn't like, by the way) gave stickers for As. But she didn't put them on the paper like other teachers did. She let you pick whatever sticker you wanted out of a box. And thus started my sticker collection. I had an old, unused photo album and stuck my stickers in there. When I filled up that album, I started a new one. I think I only had two full ones, and I am unsure if I still have them somewhere. But, oh, how I loved stickers! Those "bubble gum" machines with the stickers? I couldn't wait until a weekend trip to Wal-Mart or the grocery store so I could buy one or two of those "giant" stickers.
This sticker love has carried over into scrapbooking and onto Logan. I buy A LOT of scrapbook stickers. And I use a lot of scrapbook stickers. If Logan gets a sheet of stickers, he has them stuck on his little table in a matter of minutes. Last summer I tried to convince him put them in an album, but that didn't work. We ran into trouble when he stuck one to the cofee table and told us he was "decorating."
I also had a thing for pencils. Not the boring, yellow #2 pencils, but the fun ones that were decorated. Yep. I was (and still am) such a nerd. A few teachers gave out these sorts of pencils around holidays and on birthdays. Some even gave them out for good grades or getting on the honor roll. You would think as much as I loved these crazy things, that I couldn't wait to sharpen them and use them. Nope. I had a massive collection of these things, safely stashed away in a shoe box under my bed. I kid you not this box was half-full of pencils. I still have some of them...that I did sharpen and let Logan use. And let me say that the quality of the fancy pencils today have gone down big time. Half the pencil is gone by the time you finally get it sharpened. But, homework is just more fun when you have a fun pencil to write with!
Finally, I liked those crazy shaped erasers. I didn't have a lot of these, because they weren't as popular. But I do remember my sister's pediatrican gave out erasers. That's where the bulk of mine came from. Rainbows, unicorns, (can you tell this was the 80s?), I even had a few in the shape of crayons (which I found some of these a few years ago and HAD to buy). Sadly, I think the eraser collection got trashed at some point.
These three little things would make me the happiest kid in the world. So, if anyone has a a good lead on scratch and sniff stickers, let me know. I think my kid is missing out ;o)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Sunday, February 24, 2013
A Snowday....and a Birthday
I spent almost all last week in anticipation of a winter storm. I'm a bit of a weather junkie so I was following forecasts, constantly checking the WAND weather app on my phone (seriously one of my favorite apps), and hoping for a snow day.
It didn't start snowing in Toon Town until around 3 p.m. Thursday. It was just barely spitting snow while I was sitting at the school at pick-up time, but by the time we got home, got into the house, and Logan changed into play clothes, it was really coming down. By 3:30 the sidewalks and street was covered. It was a beautiful snow to watch: big, fluffy flakes and lots of them.
Matt had an uneventful trip home from work (it hadn't started snowing or anything in Champaign, and the rest of his drive was good). He said the only issue he had was when he slid pulling onto our side street. We spent the nigh cozied up inside, watching the snow turn to freezing rain or sleet or whatever you want to call ice falling from the sky. I spent the night glued to the TV and local news sites, hoping that the call to cancel school would be made early enough that I would not have to set the alarm. However, I did go ahead and bring down Logan's uniform and had some of his lunch ready to go. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. With the exception of one school to the east of us, cancellations remained west of us (one being our hometown, which I knew had gotten more snow and wind than we had). We did our bedtime routine at the regular time, I settled into bed reading "Gone Girl (which I highly recommend), and checked the news one last time. No news :o(
I woke up around 4 a.m. (blah) and decided to check the news. And by news, since I had my phone, I mean Facebook. If school was cancelled, someone would post about it. But before I could check I noticed a miss call from Logan's school. Ohhhh.....definately a good sign! However, since I am a big slacker and have not set up my voicemail, I had no message. So, onto Facebook. Yep. School was cancelled! Yay!
I know a lot of people in my area complained that school was cancelled, but 1) it was the first snow day in two years and 2) Safety people! It may not have "looked bad" but considering that people sue left and right for all kinds of crazy reasons....well, can you imagine what would happen if a bus load of kids got hurt in a school bus accident due to the weather? Or, if kids walking to school were hit by a car that went sliding on ice? I know our street was a sheet of ice until around 10 a.m., and this is a well travelled city street. Some things aren't worth risking. Ok....rant over.
Why did I want a snowday on Friday? Well, the main reason was because it was my birthday. An unrushed morning sounded delightful. I shut off my alarm and attempted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately Logan did not get the memo and was up BEFORE he is usually up for school. So, we had a very lazy morning laying around in our pajamas, him playing, me drinking coffee. I talked to my Dad, returned a phone call to my Grandparents (after Grandma had sang "happy birthday" to my answering machine). Logan and I built a snowman. Matt surprised me by talking a half day off work.
I am not into doing big things on my birthday. I like to keep it low-key. So, no plans for a big gathering, no big out-to-dinner plans. This disappointed Logan greatly. He was convinced since there was not a lot of people around that it was NOT my birthday. He refused to have any of the DQ blizzard cake that Matt brought home (fine, more for me). He changed his tune when he found out we was going to Cracker Barrell for supper.
It was a nice, quiet birthday...just the way I like it!
It didn't start snowing in Toon Town until around 3 p.m. Thursday. It was just barely spitting snow while I was sitting at the school at pick-up time, but by the time we got home, got into the house, and Logan changed into play clothes, it was really coming down. By 3:30 the sidewalks and street was covered. It was a beautiful snow to watch: big, fluffy flakes and lots of them.
Matt had an uneventful trip home from work (it hadn't started snowing or anything in Champaign, and the rest of his drive was good). He said the only issue he had was when he slid pulling onto our side street. We spent the nigh cozied up inside, watching the snow turn to freezing rain or sleet or whatever you want to call ice falling from the sky. I spent the night glued to the TV and local news sites, hoping that the call to cancel school would be made early enough that I would not have to set the alarm. However, I did go ahead and bring down Logan's uniform and had some of his lunch ready to go. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much. With the exception of one school to the east of us, cancellations remained west of us (one being our hometown, which I knew had gotten more snow and wind than we had). We did our bedtime routine at the regular time, I settled into bed reading "Gone Girl (which I highly recommend), and checked the news one last time. No news :o(
I woke up around 4 a.m. (blah) and decided to check the news. And by news, since I had my phone, I mean Facebook. If school was cancelled, someone would post about it. But before I could check I noticed a miss call from Logan's school. Ohhhh.....definately a good sign! However, since I am a big slacker and have not set up my voicemail, I had no message. So, onto Facebook. Yep. School was cancelled! Yay!
I know a lot of people in my area complained that school was cancelled, but 1) it was the first snow day in two years and 2) Safety people! It may not have "looked bad" but considering that people sue left and right for all kinds of crazy reasons....well, can you imagine what would happen if a bus load of kids got hurt in a school bus accident due to the weather? Or, if kids walking to school were hit by a car that went sliding on ice? I know our street was a sheet of ice until around 10 a.m., and this is a well travelled city street. Some things aren't worth risking. Ok....rant over.
Why did I want a snowday on Friday? Well, the main reason was because it was my birthday. An unrushed morning sounded delightful. I shut off my alarm and attempted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately Logan did not get the memo and was up BEFORE he is usually up for school. So, we had a very lazy morning laying around in our pajamas, him playing, me drinking coffee. I talked to my Dad, returned a phone call to my Grandparents (after Grandma had sang "happy birthday" to my answering machine). Logan and I built a snowman. Matt surprised me by talking a half day off work.
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| Our very first snowman! |
I am not into doing big things on my birthday. I like to keep it low-key. So, no plans for a big gathering, no big out-to-dinner plans. This disappointed Logan greatly. He was convinced since there was not a lot of people around that it was NOT my birthday. He refused to have any of the DQ blizzard cake that Matt brought home (fine, more for me). He changed his tune when he found out we was going to Cracker Barrell for supper.
It was a nice, quiet birthday...just the way I like it!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Valentine's Day
We celebrated Valentine's Day as a family. This has been our "thing" pretty much since Logan was born. Let's be honest here, it's another day for me to buy him presents, ok. Plus, Matt gets stuck with my birthday a week later, so we don't go too crazy around here. And that whole romance thing....not really us lol.
We played the whole "what do you want for Valentine's Day" game and I told Matt I wanted a new purse. He offered to pick it out, I gently told him I could handle it ;o) So I ordered a 31 crossbody purse. Crossbody purses are my new thing, as I discovered carrying a heavy bag on my shoulder was causing a lot of neck pain. I've wanted a 31 one for quite awhile and thanks to Ebay, I found a new in the package one cheaper. Yay me!
Matt wanted the new Bond movie, "Skyfall," but we ended up confusing each other and he just bought it for himself (good flick, watch it). I bought him the book "Killing Kennedy." He says it is really good, and I wouldn't mind reading it...I just need to get past the Bill O'Reilly factor. I really detest that man. Oh, and it's not in Kindle form ;o)
We bought Logan the Jedi Force Darth Maul action figure. He's been asking for Maul for awhile and we finally found it. He was thrilled! I also bought Matt and Logan season 3 of Clone Wars. Happy guys they are!
Logan had his class party at school and brought home a nice haul of cards and candy. He also made a very cute handprint craft for Mom and Dad. I was a little disappointed that his class/school didn't do bigger parties that required room parent assistance (since I'm a roomparent haha). I had a lot of fun with his Halloween and Christmas parties, and his class is just so much fun to hang out with.
Here's a few pics from our festivities!
We played the whole "what do you want for Valentine's Day" game and I told Matt I wanted a new purse. He offered to pick it out, I gently told him I could handle it ;o) So I ordered a 31 crossbody purse. Crossbody purses are my new thing, as I discovered carrying a heavy bag on my shoulder was causing a lot of neck pain. I've wanted a 31 one for quite awhile and thanks to Ebay, I found a new in the package one cheaper. Yay me!
Matt wanted the new Bond movie, "Skyfall," but we ended up confusing each other and he just bought it for himself (good flick, watch it). I bought him the book "Killing Kennedy." He says it is really good, and I wouldn't mind reading it...I just need to get past the Bill O'Reilly factor. I really detest that man. Oh, and it's not in Kindle form ;o)
We bought Logan the Jedi Force Darth Maul action figure. He's been asking for Maul for awhile and we finally found it. He was thrilled! I also bought Matt and Logan season 3 of Clone Wars. Happy guys they are!
Logan had his class party at school and brought home a nice haul of cards and candy. He also made a very cute handprint craft for Mom and Dad. I was a little disappointed that his class/school didn't do bigger parties that required room parent assistance (since I'm a roomparent haha). I had a lot of fun with his Halloween and Christmas parties, and his class is just so much fun to hang out with.
Here's a few pics from our festivities!
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| Writing Valentines to his classmates |
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| My funny Valentine |
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| Presents! |
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| I don't usually get him a card, but with him being so into Star Wars right now, it was appropriate. |
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| Opening their together gift |
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| So excited over the scary as hell Darth Maul |
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| My nerds :o) |
Ringing in the New Year
If I had to use one word to describe the month of January, I would pick.....stressful. It was a month of changes in the England house, which all revolved around one big change: Matt moving to day shift.
Day shift is a good thing. It really is. But it came with a lot of changes that really impacted us. The first big change was bedtime. Since I had been keeping Logan up until 9 p.m. (which was when Matt would leave for work), his bedtime got moved an hour earlier. We all head upstairs at 8 p.m. (Matt has to be up at 4:30, if not earlier). I, for one, love this earlier schedule. We are not as rushed. I'm able to chill in bed and read. The downside is Logan tends to get wound up around this time, and we've dealt with numerous bathroom trips and excuse after excuse for him to get out of bed.
Dealing with Matt's early wake up time was a big adjustment for me. I'd wake up right along with him and be unable to go back to sleep. I think Logan may have been waking up a bit too because he was harder to get out of bed in the morning, which hadn't been a problem before. The past week or so I feel like I've finally adjusted.
With Matt at work and Logan at school, I'm alone. It took awhile to get used to this. It's still kind of weird. I got used to having Logan home from Christmas vacation and had to send him back to school right as Matt started his new schedule. It's nice to be able to work upstairs without worrying about waking up Matt, and I can do laundry whenever I want (laundry was a big issue for me when he was working nights).
January also brought in a wave of sickness. Considering what a lot of our friends have dealt with, we have been very lucky. It started with me. I have dealt with sinus junk pretty much since Thanksgiving. Stuffy and sinus pressure one day, fine the next. I'd have days where the nasty drainage would make me sick to my stomach. I spent the first weekend in January in bed. It was the strangest thing. One minute I was playing Batman and Robin with Logan, the next I was telling Matt I felt horrible and was going upstairs. I was achy, nauseous, coughing, and had a slight fever. Despite having a flu shot, I was convinced I had the flu. I don't remember ever having to stay in bed for that long of time, but that's what I did. I'd come downstairs and have to go lay down 5 or 10 minutes later. The one bright spot in all this was being able to watch multiple seasons of The X-Files. I went to the doctor on Monday and......it was a flippin sinus infection. Seriously. I've had them before, but nothing like this. However, glad it was not the flu!
I recovered just in time for Logan to get hit with what we assume was a stomach bug the following weekend. He woke up puking around midnight and continued off and on until about 1 p.m. Just puke, nothing else. And he was in great spirits, dancing around, being crazy. After his first throw-up, he turned to me and said, "Hang on to your hats, folks!" The poor child was absolutely exhausted. He just wouldn't give in for a nap and got incredibly cranky. Since I had been up with him since midnight, I think we made it a 7 p.m. bedtime that night. I kept him home from school the following Monday just to keep an eye on him.
January weekends were setting a nasty trend, so I was worried. We had one weekend of "health" just for Matt to come home on a Friday not feeling well. He was pretty sure it was due to lunch. Once he finally got sick (and it was a one-time thing), he said he felt so much better. He went upstairs to sleep and woke up and went to the gym the next morning. Logan and I slept downstairs, just in case it turned into a long night for Matt.
We all ended January with colds. Matt's only lasted a couple of days, mine a week, and Logan's about a week and a half. Logan missed two days of school (not back to back) with his. Everyone finally seems to be on the mend around here (knock on wood) and adjusting to our new routines.
Day shift is a good thing. It really is. But it came with a lot of changes that really impacted us. The first big change was bedtime. Since I had been keeping Logan up until 9 p.m. (which was when Matt would leave for work), his bedtime got moved an hour earlier. We all head upstairs at 8 p.m. (Matt has to be up at 4:30, if not earlier). I, for one, love this earlier schedule. We are not as rushed. I'm able to chill in bed and read. The downside is Logan tends to get wound up around this time, and we've dealt with numerous bathroom trips and excuse after excuse for him to get out of bed.
Dealing with Matt's early wake up time was a big adjustment for me. I'd wake up right along with him and be unable to go back to sleep. I think Logan may have been waking up a bit too because he was harder to get out of bed in the morning, which hadn't been a problem before. The past week or so I feel like I've finally adjusted.
With Matt at work and Logan at school, I'm alone. It took awhile to get used to this. It's still kind of weird. I got used to having Logan home from Christmas vacation and had to send him back to school right as Matt started his new schedule. It's nice to be able to work upstairs without worrying about waking up Matt, and I can do laundry whenever I want (laundry was a big issue for me when he was working nights).
January also brought in a wave of sickness. Considering what a lot of our friends have dealt with, we have been very lucky. It started with me. I have dealt with sinus junk pretty much since Thanksgiving. Stuffy and sinus pressure one day, fine the next. I'd have days where the nasty drainage would make me sick to my stomach. I spent the first weekend in January in bed. It was the strangest thing. One minute I was playing Batman and Robin with Logan, the next I was telling Matt I felt horrible and was going upstairs. I was achy, nauseous, coughing, and had a slight fever. Despite having a flu shot, I was convinced I had the flu. I don't remember ever having to stay in bed for that long of time, but that's what I did. I'd come downstairs and have to go lay down 5 or 10 minutes later. The one bright spot in all this was being able to watch multiple seasons of The X-Files. I went to the doctor on Monday and......it was a flippin sinus infection. Seriously. I've had them before, but nothing like this. However, glad it was not the flu!
I recovered just in time for Logan to get hit with what we assume was a stomach bug the following weekend. He woke up puking around midnight and continued off and on until about 1 p.m. Just puke, nothing else. And he was in great spirits, dancing around, being crazy. After his first throw-up, he turned to me and said, "Hang on to your hats, folks!" The poor child was absolutely exhausted. He just wouldn't give in for a nap and got incredibly cranky. Since I had been up with him since midnight, I think we made it a 7 p.m. bedtime that night. I kept him home from school the following Monday just to keep an eye on him.
January weekends were setting a nasty trend, so I was worried. We had one weekend of "health" just for Matt to come home on a Friday not feeling well. He was pretty sure it was due to lunch. Once he finally got sick (and it was a one-time thing), he said he felt so much better. He went upstairs to sleep and woke up and went to the gym the next morning. Logan and I slept downstairs, just in case it turned into a long night for Matt.
We all ended January with colds. Matt's only lasted a couple of days, mine a week, and Logan's about a week and a half. Logan missed two days of school (not back to back) with his. Everyone finally seems to be on the mend around here (knock on wood) and adjusting to our new routines.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Celebrating Catholic Schools
This week Logan's school celebrated Catholic Schools Week with a whole lot of fun! He only had to wear a uniform one day this week, which was a BIG deal for him (and me, I'm not used to picking out outfits on a daily basis anymore lol). Each day had a different theme and activity.
Monday was "Get Up and Move Day." The kids and teachers wore "comfy clothes," and random music was played throughout the day to get everyone up and moving. I was a tad worried about this, because I didn't know if Logan's class could handle his smooth dance moves ;o) In fact, he told me he danced like Aaron from Ghost Adventures. I highly recommend going to Youtube and checking out the Ghost Adventures Gangnam Style video. Then you'll know what he means. They also had a healthy snack of fruit in the morning.
Tuesday was Spirit Day. The kids had to wear their uniform pants, but were able to wear a casual green shirt to show their school spirit. This was a bit of an issue because Logan had NOTHING in green. So, off to Walmart I went and found a cheap green T. I even broke into my pack of St. Mary School stickers that I purchased awhile back and let him wear one of the Hornet stickers. They had a pep rally that day to cheer on the school's basketball team. Logan didn't give me much detail on how that went ;o)
Wednesday was Wacky War Day/Mismatch Day. This was by far my personal favorite day. Logan helped plan his outfit. It came down to an orange plaid flannel shirt, a multicolored tie, sweatpants, and mismatched socks. I considered letting him wear mismatched shoes, but with his gracefulness I thought it would end in disaster. He really liked wearing mismatched socks and has asked to do it again. Thanks, cousin Holly! Logan told me that Miss Chris read the book "Wacky Wednesday: to them. This was great because the night before we had talked about this book, trying to determine if we own it (apparently we do not). They also had a special milk and cookies snack.
Thursday was a regular uniform day (also a regular church day). They got to have DQ sundaes (I know!) for a snack and made Valentines for the parish shut-ins with their Spirit Buddy. I do not know much about his Spirit Buddy except it was a fourth grader, but he did tell me about making the Valentines. He said they made them for people who "were lonely." He said they used paper and "funny scissors" and made hearts. I asked him about the funny scissors and they got to use the fun ones that I used to use a lot in scrapbooking (that I believe I have since gotten rid of and am kicking myself if this is something he liked).
Friday was a casual dress day and movie day! I cannot give a lot of details here because Logan is home with me :o( He had a very stuffy nose last night and did not sleep very well. I know because he woke me up several times, one time I'm pretty sure he may have been sleep walking! I decided to keep him home to push fluids and hopefully get him to rest. So, we are having our own movie day, watching Hotel Transylavania (fun movie, go watch it) and trying to stay warm. He was ok with staying home from school, but a bit bummed about missing out on the DQ kids meal lunch they were going to get at school!
It was a fun week. I love my son's school!
Monday was "Get Up and Move Day." The kids and teachers wore "comfy clothes," and random music was played throughout the day to get everyone up and moving. I was a tad worried about this, because I didn't know if Logan's class could handle his smooth dance moves ;o) In fact, he told me he danced like Aaron from Ghost Adventures. I highly recommend going to Youtube and checking out the Ghost Adventures Gangnam Style video. Then you'll know what he means. They also had a healthy snack of fruit in the morning.
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| Get Up and Move! |
Tuesday was Spirit Day. The kids had to wear their uniform pants, but were able to wear a casual green shirt to show their school spirit. This was a bit of an issue because Logan had NOTHING in green. So, off to Walmart I went and found a cheap green T. I even broke into my pack of St. Mary School stickers that I purchased awhile back and let him wear one of the Hornet stickers. They had a pep rally that day to cheer on the school's basketball team. Logan didn't give me much detail on how that went ;o)
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| Spirit Day! |
Wednesday was Wacky War Day/Mismatch Day. This was by far my personal favorite day. Logan helped plan his outfit. It came down to an orange plaid flannel shirt, a multicolored tie, sweatpants, and mismatched socks. I considered letting him wear mismatched shoes, but with his gracefulness I thought it would end in disaster. He really liked wearing mismatched socks and has asked to do it again. Thanks, cousin Holly! Logan told me that Miss Chris read the book "Wacky Wednesday: to them. This was great because the night before we had talked about this book, trying to determine if we own it (apparently we do not). They also had a special milk and cookies snack.
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| Wacky Wednesday! |
Thursday was a regular uniform day (also a regular church day). They got to have DQ sundaes (I know!) for a snack and made Valentines for the parish shut-ins with their Spirit Buddy. I do not know much about his Spirit Buddy except it was a fourth grader, but he did tell me about making the Valentines. He said they made them for people who "were lonely." He said they used paper and "funny scissors" and made hearts. I asked him about the funny scissors and they got to use the fun ones that I used to use a lot in scrapbooking (that I believe I have since gotten rid of and am kicking myself if this is something he liked).
Friday was a casual dress day and movie day! I cannot give a lot of details here because Logan is home with me :o( He had a very stuffy nose last night and did not sleep very well. I know because he woke me up several times, one time I'm pretty sure he may have been sleep walking! I decided to keep him home to push fluids and hopefully get him to rest. So, we are having our own movie day, watching Hotel Transylavania (fun movie, go watch it) and trying to stay warm. He was ok with staying home from school, but a bit bummed about missing out on the DQ kids meal lunch they were going to get at school!
It was a fun week. I love my son's school!
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