....and I laughed!!

We are down to 1 chicken.  She roosts at night on a chair near the cat's bed, she climbs through the cat door into the garage and eats the cat's food and a few different times I have found eggs in the cat's bed though I have never actually seen her in the cat's bed but....today when I got home from my walk I found this.....and I laughed all the way into the house to get the camera.

 

and then a little while later I found this......

 

Officially 8!!

 

Son3 is now officially 8!! 

Pronunciation and Busing

The routine goes something like this...Middle School is released at 2:50pm, they load onto the buses and drive to the high school getting to the high school around 3:15-3:30, they load the high school kids and are off.  Son2 complained yesterday about being on the bus for an hour and  could I please pick him up.  The pick-up zone at the Middle School makes me absolutely insane!!  So today I went to the high school to pick up Son1 and decided to pull Son2 off the bus when it arrived at the high school.  A fair compromise to having to battle the middle school pick up zone.  Anyway he sees me approaching the bus and waves excitedly, I approach the bus and he leans out the door and says can you pick me up?  "no son, I walked all the way over here to say hello to you so hi how is it going, now I will see you at home" I got the pre-teen eyeroll and he got off the bus.  Son1 drove us home and son2 was extremely chatty.  "hey mom, I was elected as assistant Librarian of the band" "I wanted to be VP but 5 people were running for that and they only pick one person so my odds weren't very good I decided to run for librarian because there were only 4 people running and they elect 2 so my odds were better of getting elected"  This is another one of those moments in my life where I sit in awe of Son2's ability to analyze a situation and quickly adjust his plan to get the best possible outcome for himself.  I may not have the title of his position exactly correct because when I asked him about it, I got the "it is my life and I don't want you blogging about it.
     In other news Son3 is a human bean with eyebulbs who is not afraid of eartwigs.  Obviously he has some pronunciation issues, since he is really a human being with eyeballs who is not afraid of earwigs.

THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO IS HURT YOU. BUT IT IS STILL ON THE LIST!!

Pretty much sums up the most ridiculous part of my day!

Today was payday, not that that means much it comes in, it goes out..anyway the children were starting to get these possessed by the devil looks around breakfast everyday for the past several days, since we have been without cereal and they have had to eat things like waffles and oatmeal. Really we had cereal just nothing that they liked. Deciding to get an early start to the day I laid out my mental plan of where I had to go, what time each place opened and what I needed to get. First stop was a place called Food 2 Store, they sell containers for storing food and already packaged food to put in your storage area. Apparently they don't open until 10am--seriously..oh well there loss on to Kohls...new shoes for me. The arches on my feet have been really sore after my daily 6 mile jaunts around the track. Success! In and out--love that kind of shopping--I also scored the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld for $5.00. Onto my next stop-Costco, always a stressful adventure so many choices, -- I called a friend to meet me there it is always fun to shop in pairs. Another successful mission. Now here is where things start to go downhill...as I am loading my groceries into the car I notice I have a flat tire. My first thought cannot actually be published in good conscience so onto the 2nd thought "this couldn't have happened at a better place, service bay diagonal from car. I re-enter Costco and approach the counter.
"Hi I have a flat tire out in the parking lot can you fix it?"
"Are they COSTCO Tires?"
"ummm NO.."
"Then all we can do is put on your spare so you can drive somewhere else to get it fixed. We don't work on any tires but the ones we sell, it is company policy"
"okay so you want me to wait in your first come first serve que (which I am okay with I don't expect special treatment-today anyway) to put on the spare and then drive somewhere else to wait in there first come first serve que to have them actually fix it?"
"Sorry that is all we can do"
"Never mind I will figure it out on my own."
I return to my car and called my wonderful husband. I need to point out at this point my husband puts up with so much crap from me I am surprised he even answers his cell phone when he sees it is me calling. So without so much as raising my voice-no seriously I didn't rant, rave or even yell--I said "I am at COSTCO, I have a flat tire, COSTCO won't fix it because I don't own COSTCO tires, you need to fix this for me now or I am going to have a breakdown in the parking lot" I am pretty sure I heard him choke back a laugh, but I ignored it because I didn't really want to know if he was laughing at me or the situation because I am pretty sure that knowing would have started me ranting and raving like a lunatic, I know this surprises you!. "I think we have towing on our car insurance (technically called roadside assistance) I will call you back" Now I am absolutely NOT a patient person, I know hard to believe right!? What seemed like hours, which was really more like less than 10 minutes, he called me back and said "tow truck is on the way I gave him your cell phone he will call you to find you in the parking lot" This incredibly nice man put my car on the flat bed trailer and I climbed into the cab of the tow truck, it was at this point that every crime show I have ever seen came flooding to the forefront of my mind, pushing those thoughts aside I managed to ride and converse with this man the 5ish miles to the tire place. I made it to Bruneel's tire Factory alive, I wasn't chopped to bits, kidnapped or any of the other horrible thoughts racing through my head, what a great day!! They fixed my tire for free even though I had not purchased my tires there.
After all that, I walked out of the house tonight and lo and behold my tire is flat..I suspect I have a bigger problem than just a nail in my tire.. So if I have to buy a new tire, it WON'T be from COSTCO and wherever I end up buying it from, I will ask them to send COSTCO a thank-you for sending us your business card!!

3 year ago and NOT much has changed!

except maybe his hair and his height and his teeth.....When son1 started 7th grade we were asked to "Tell us about your child in a million words or less"....Here goes...

Zach is a very intelligent young man, with a voracious appetite for reading and learning. While this is usually his greatest asset, at times it works against him. He is the oldest of four children and has many admirable achievements in his 13 years. However, many of these achievements came with little effort. This has causes Zach to continue testing the boundaries to find out how little effort he can put in and still receive accolades.

Zach’s story begins in the winter of 1995. His mother’s due date was on Super Bowl Sunday. Fortunately for his Dad, he did not arrive until the following weekend (Perhaps this was the beginning of Zach’s desire to procrastinate). He was the first child born to a young couple that had married only 15 months earlier. He was the center of their lives and received a great deal of undivided attention. That only lasted until the winter of 1998. Just one month before his third birthday a second son was born. Life would never be the same for Zach. Then, in the summer of 1999, his sister arrived. Life would REALLY never be the same. In the fall of 2002 another son was born. At the age of seven Zach became the oldest of four siblings and the expectation of setting a good example for the others began to be set.

At the age of three Zach started his school career in Colorado at a private Lutheran school. He remained there through first grade. During that time, his family built a house in a new neighborhood and moved in. He spent second through fourth grade in the public school just two blocks from their new house. By fifth grade, he needed more of an academic challenge and transferred to a charter school. The following year he attended the Connect charter school. During that year a change in employment required the family to relocate to Idaho. He attended Kuna Middle School for seventh grade and is back for eighth. To continue his academic challenge he has also decided to attend TVMS for part of the day. At each of these schools, Zach has made friends that he continues to keep in touch with today. The experience of changing environments should benefit him well in today’s work environment where people are expected to have several job changes during their careers. His success is a testimony to his ability to observe new situations and excel in them.

The downside to Zach’s ease of adapting is that it has taught him that with a little bit of observation he can identify the minimum required to be successful. He has also learned that homework which takes most of his peers two hours will only take him half an hour. That leaves him with an hour and a half to read or play video games before he has to focus. While most children are encouraged to read, Zach must be told to stop reading. He will stay up half the night if he is not monitored. His favorite book series is Harry Potter, but is also not afraid to pick up classics such as Animal Farm. Reading comes easily and provides new ideas of ways to be successful without trying too hard.

His high comprehension of what he reads is what allowed him to be successful at academics. In sixth grade he participated in the Science Olympiad genetics competition going up against seventh and eighth grade students. After taking second in the Southern Colorado competition, he took third place in the State level competition. Zach also has a passion for football. He played on junior teams, and is now playing is second year for the KMS team. His strength is in understanding the strategy of the game. Zach has also started to become more involved in the community. Last year he joined the Jr. Honor Society. This required him to think about what volunteer and leadership opportunities he has had. One leadership experience he had this summer was at an overnight camping event put on by his dad’s employer, AmeriBen. The camp is designed to give the employee’s children an opportunity to organize a company event. Zach was named president and was then responsible for assigning the other kids’ teams and schedule what the teams were responsible for. Additionally, he had to lead the campfire as if it were an employee meeting. He spoke in front of about 100 people and introduced each item on the agenda with confidence.

As you can see, Zach has had more experiences in his short 13 years than some people get until they are adults. The sky is the limit for how much more he can accomplish. His only limitation is to learn that eventually someone will challenge him beyond his abilities and the time to prepare is now.

NOTE: I thought about rambling on more just to see how close I could come to a million words, but I think I will stop here just short of a thousand (also because it is due tomorrow). If you wouldn’t mind reading this a thousand times, it will be close the million words asked for (I really don’t know where Zach gets his study habits – it must be from his mom). – Jim Negom

Tell me about your kid--in a million words or less

Our assignment for the first day of 7th grade was to describe our 7th grader in a million words or less.....So here is a description or our absolutely incredible child!!

Ben is a very special child. He was born in Colorado just after Christmas and on the same day as his grandmother on his mother’s side. She is a strong willed New Englander with true English heritage. His middle name was chosen to honor his great-grandfather, also a New Englander with a quiescent personality that was always quick with a joke. He is the second child of four. Preceded by a brother three years older, he feels obligated to constantly show his precocious side as he tries to do everything his older brother does. His closest sibling is a sister that is only 17 months younger. This caused him to be moved out of the crib sooner than most and we think he still holds that against her. The youngest sibling is four and half years younger and, if you ask Ben, is really just an annoyance in his life. When Ben was just a toddler he began to show his desire to be helpful. For example when his sister was learning to walk he wanted to help keep her safe so he would push her down saying “no baby!” As Ben’s personality began to show, we realized he was just like his dad, who is very much like his dad. Grandpa Negomir relates very well to him, and apologizes in private for passing on the genes that make Ben so special.

Ben passed through pre-school without much fanfare. Once in public school the fun started. One day while checking with his first grade teacher about missing homework assignments, dad decided to check his desk. Lo and behold, there were all the assignments. He had done them, just didn’t see the point in turning them in. After all, he had learned the lessons and that was the real point – right? First grade was also where mom and dad got to meet with the counseling team at the school and get educated about Love and Logic and choices and consequences and above all follow through. They were great about helping us think outside the box and provide consistent messages to him between home and school. By third grade he passed the test for Gifted and Talented and really started absorbing knowledge. Of course behavior was still a challenge and he spent a weekend morning picking weeds around the school with the fourth grade teacher (we totally appreciate creative discipline). Ben has always enjoyed time by himself, so we also realized about this time that grounding had absolutely no effect. Instead, his punishment is to have to take a shower and get out of the house on weekends and run errands with us (you can’t imagine the errands we could come up with). Mom finds great humor on Monday mornings reminding him that if he doesn’t behave at school he will be out on Saturday shopping in the women’s underwear section at Dillards, or attending a craft fair where they sell things like jewelry and candles and other girly stuff. Which, as it turns out is highly repulsive to Ben and quite a motivator keep his behavior in check.

After third grade, Ben relocated from Colorado to Idaho when his dad changed jobs. He spent fourth and fifth grade at the charter school, but then wanted to transfer to Crimson Point to blend in more with a larger class, and in his words “be in a more relaxed environment.” He has thrived there by having a somewhat flexible curriculum. In sixth grade with the help of some wonderful KSD employees he was able to participate in the STEM program where he was bussed to the middle school for Math and Science. Ben does very well with Math as he is a conceptual thinker who can usually see patterns in the numbers. He has even read a book about zero that he would love to discuss anytime you would like. His other passions are video games and technology. When he plays video games he observes quietly watching for patterns. He then plays the path of least resistance until he is satisfied that he understands the game. He has to make a conscious effort to not apply this technique to his school work. More recently, to extend his understanding of video games he has decided to teach himself how to create them. He has downloaded software development applications and spends much of his free time researching how to program games and is starting to create basic games.

As you can tell, Ben is an intelligent young man who needs to be challenged. He has a sharp wit and is not afraid to use it. He is always thinking outside of the box and has his toe on the line every single day. He is also very literal, for example Mom: “Ben, I thought I told you no television?” Ben: “I am not watching television, I am watching a movie.” He is also true to himself, most always marching to the beat of his own drummer (although as a twelve year old we are not always sure what that drummer is playing). I believe that when he is an adult he will be the friend you can call in the middle of the night to come help you, and he will - without question.

NOTE: I thought about rambling on just to see how close I could come to a million words, but I think I will stop here just short of a thousand (also because it is due tomorrow). If you wouldn’t mind reading this a thousand times, it will be close the million words asked for (I really don’t know where Ben gets his literal interpretations – it must be from his mom). – Jim Negomir

MOM! I ate cat food all for a starburst and a soda...

I read too much news, murders, kidnappings, car accidents but I think the articles that make me the saddest are the ones where someone has harmed an innocent child, or lost there child due to unsafe or unsanitary living conditions. Son1 and Son 3 wore pull-ups to bed until they were 6 because they wet the bed. I am a particularly lazy at 2 in the morning and getting up to change sheets was not on my agenda and believe it or not my "mostly agreeable husband" didn't want to do it either... so pull-ups it was. My feeling on the issue was if the kid wasn't going to wake up when he fell out of bed and hit the floor his little tiny bladder screaming "I have to pee" most certainly wasn't going to wake him either!! Anyway, many mornings the pull-ups would have leaked which would require all the bedding and pajamas to be washed and the room aired out. It always upset me to think about the kids out there who had the same issues, but would go home that night and get into those same stinky pee soaked jammies and climbed into the same icky smelly bed. I still have these thoughts but now they are more along the lines of my kids don't know how lucky they are to not have to know such things from experience...

So Johnny, who lives across the street and is Nick's partner in crime, called tonight to see if Nick wanted to have a movie night at his house, the plan was set. Of course the plan changed when both Johnny and Nick decided before the movie the must play Wii outdoor adventure at our house. We finally shove them out the door, movie in hand ahhh silence.... They were gone a good 1/2 hour and the phone rings....
"Mom"
"Yes, Nick"
"Mom I made this bet with Dennis that if I ate cat food with beef and gravy he would give me a candy bar and a soda"
"Oh Nick No are you doing it?"
"Yes, it is pretty good"
"AAUGH Nick seriously that is so gross! EWWWW I can't believe you are doing that" and then the kid starts reading me the label "but mom it's good for me, it makes my coat shiney"....All I can say is "THAT KID!" so I hung up the phone and told Jim "Nick and Dennis can't play together anymore, they get into more trouble..(Have you seen the shave me bald pictures from this summer? yeah you guessed it Dennis and Nick--and did I mention that Dennis is the adult supervision??))
So after a bit I called the house to see what really happened...Apparently Nick couldn't decide if he was a monkey or a cat...so Dennis told him to eat a banana and that would probably tell...he said "no I like bananas that wouldn't be a good test" "well then maybe you should try cat food" and yup it was game on... So when it was all over...Nick says to Johnny "aren't I brave?" Uh-yeah I am sure that was the first word that came to my mind!!