Sunday, July 13, 2014

One Bad Bumper Sticker

Earlier today, I saw a bumper sticker that stuck out to me. 

It read:

Unless you are a hemerrhoid, get off my butt!

Well, the word butt was replaced with another choice word, but given the nature of family audiences, I have changed it to be more "sanitary."

Now, don't get me wrong. I am a fan of bumper stickers and honestly, I get the point of this one. Still, upon a closer investigation, the bumper sticker is actually scary. Nay, disturbing.

In essence, the person is actually suggesting that you should get off their butt unless you are a hemerrhoid. But, honestly, who really wants a hemerrhoid on their butt, either. Let's face it, there isn't too much you want on a butt and hemerrhoids are chief among them.

So, I am thinking that the bumper sticker should be rewritten. Something like:

Don't be a hemerrhoid...get off my butt.

Gets right to the point. Pleasantly!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Buzzzzzzz

We had a weird incident happen yesterday.

As I was cleaning out a portion of a garden weeding, little did I know that a group of yellow jackets had been working on one of their ground nests.

My knee - it appears - sat squarely on where their nest was.

Before I knew it, I felt a sharp piercing in my arm, then neck, then knee. I quickly lept, batting at the air. Then I dashed to the driveway, waving about furiously. I quickly ran to Kiff and Bri and rushed them inside, my sides, neck, and arm burning.

I got inside and found two of the yellow jackets still on me.

After putting an ice pack on my neck and having help me out, I started counting. I had about ten stings.

Yikes.
 

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Happy Graduation

Well, the day finally came. Like a whisper in the wind.

The day that Kiff finally graduated from preschool.

We knew it would happen. But, it seemed like it would be forever before he would be in preschool, let alone graduate from it. Those first few steps. His first few words. That sparkle in his eye when he played with his first few cars. It was only the foundation.


Then, came the day when he first went to preschool. What a moment that was. We decided to send him for two years instead of one, so we knew the journey would be slow, but steady. 

And we were right. For two years, he enjoyed the fun, learning, and joy of preschool. Sure, there were some bumps along the road. Worrying if his parents were late to pick him up (they weren't), or who he might play with, or if his best friend was going to be there.

But, one this was always a constant...preschool. He was there.

Magically, this journey has come to a close and a new chapter has begun. It is hard to believe. But this past Friday, June 6th, Kiff graduated preschool at 4:00 PM. Both sets of grandparents were there to see him. He marched in with cap and gown. He sang. He even danced (to the Tooty-Tah). 

And then, it was time to leave school (or in this case the YMCA gym for graduation) one last time. A slow march down the hall...and onto kindergarten,

Congratulations Kiff. One chapter down in the long book. A new one is waiting for you.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The One with the Roller Skating Birthday Party

Ah!!!!

We had one of those fun memories recently. Bri had her birthday party at the nearby Roller Palace. The local hotspot for birthday parties for decades in these parts, we had been told by many a parent that we would be spending some time here from Kindergarten on.

And sure enough, those parents were correct.


And, it was a ton of fun. it was the second time Kiff had been there...and he definitely wanted to be on his own as much as he could. As for Bri, she was spending an amazing amount of time on the floor, getting her patented move down. She has grown better over the year.

The party itself was a blast. The place helped to time it well: 50 minutes of skating 15 minutes of pizza, 15 minutes of cake, another half hour of skating and arcade games (they were a hit) - and even one person actually successfully pulled a toy out of one of those games that no one ever wins.

The party flew by - Bri had a good time - and before we knew it, it was time to go. Kiff wanted to play one more video game, so he and I went to the car racing game. As we left, it was clear - we were the last people to leave the place...besides the workers. 

I told Kiff, "Let's remember this moment."

So we looked around took in the fact that, for the first time, Kidd was "closing down a place."

Sunday, May 4, 2014

The One With the Parade

Yesterday was quite a day, filled with many things.

 But one that sticks out was the event that started out the day...the SoftBall Parade.

This is the first year Bri has decided to play softball and we started the day by heading to the center of town at 9:30 for the softball parade. There, the teams gathered to march with the Little League through the center of town to their prospective home fields.

Bri was nervous at first that we might be late - after all, this was a new event to her. But, was excited when we got there. She found a friend and together - with her team - held the banner and shouted "Let's Go Dukes" through town.

It was fun to watch the procession...which was long indeed....go through town, by Tapley Hall, cutting down Essex street before Gios, and heading to Pickering Street, past the YMCA, and to the school. But, they hung in there well.

There were many people we knew as well, which made it fun. But, what stood out was the past that it was like the passing of a tradition...I remember walking in the parade in Natick back in the 1980s...just like her.

Now, on with the season.


Saturday, April 26, 2014

The One Where We Went to Plymouth


This past week, we visited Plimoth Plantation for the first time. It was a lot of fun! It was the first time Brie and Kiff had ever been there. We visited the Plantation on the first day - it was great - and we even met two Pilgrim ladies that talked about life in Plymouth. We visited the Wampanoag site and went into a home. We stayed overnight, and visited the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock the next day. We capped off our adventure by eating at Nicole's Cafe on the Plymouth waterfront...it was great.

Here's what we thought.

Kiff
Favorite Part: Stopping at McDonalds
What question I still have: How the Native Americans go the bathroom?
Interesting to see: How they dressed up.

Brie
Favorite Part: Mayflower
What question I still have:  How did the animals survive the trip?
Interesting to see: In Native American homesite, I liked how they made the food and made the canoes.

Dad
Favorite Part: Seeing Brie and Kiff see it for the first time.
What question I still have: Was it really as cold as it felt on the Mayflower? It was chilly.
Interesting to see: The Native American homesite seemed bigger; the new construction of a Pilgrim house.

Mom
Favorite Part: Exploring the Mayflower and the historical sites
What question I still have:  The Native American and colonial kids games.
Interesting to see:

Saturday, April 12, 2014

The One Where We Go to School Every Night

Phew!

What a busy week. This was the week of "Night School."  Each day in the middle of the week had a different event related to Bri or Kiff's school.

Tuesday night was Bri's art show. It was a lot of fun. The students put on a choral performance in the gym, which was fun to see. Then, scattered throughout the building were pieces of art they had made. Bri's included a spring scene and owl art.

Wednesday night brought us to the high school. There, it was time of Kiff's parent orientation for kindergarten. Wow. That was wild! It was hard to believe that he is going to kindergarten. It was funny being "second-timers" at that orientation...you could hear some interesting questions from "first-timers," including questions about school security. At the end, we ran into a few people we knew.

Finally, the wild week was capped of by Open House Thursday at Bri's school. There, she participated in a performance about weather. Her class did reader's theater and she was the Sun. At the end, she actually said, "See you later...I'm off to the beach" which got a laugh. After, we visited her classroom.

It was a busy week...with a lot of school connections. But, it was a lot of fun!