Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Pride


I got a letter in the mail last week that said PootiePie had been selected to receive her middle school's "Lion's Pride Award" and there would be a ceremony Friday afternoon right before school let out. She didn't say anything to me about it and I didn't say anything to her about it, thinking it would be a surprise for her Friday afternoon when they told her to go to the auditorium instead of Athletics.

They give out this award to a few students from each grade (6th-8th) every 9 weeks. Bugaboo got one in 7th grade and this is actually Pootie's second time to receive one. The first one she got at the end of 6th grade. A teacher nominates them based on the Six Pillars of Character: Respect, Fairness, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Caring and Citizenship. Pootie thinks she knows who nominated her because that teacher always makes her sit with "the bad kids".

SSB and Bunny and I headed up to the school with camera in tow for the ceremony. As the choir sang a couple songs to open things up, I scanned the seats for Pootie. No sign of her. Because they were sitting in alphabetic order, I found the kid she was supposed to be next to and saw an empty seat with her name taped to it. Shitballs! No one told her about it. I went out to the front desk and told them and they sent a runner to go get her from class, but she didn't come. When the dismissal bell rang the ceremony was still going on so when I saw her come down the hall I dragged her in there and brought her up to the stage. Several students had not been notified so even though most people were leaving, they were still announcing late-comers. Pootie was mortified and very crabby with me, but by God I was going to get a picture of her receiving that certificate if it killed the both of us.

Seems like the person whose job it was to notify the kids that they had won could use a few lessons in responsibility and trustworthiness. And caring. And respect.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Hippy Chick *Updated*


We went to a 60's party last night at M&V's and I found this shirt for Bunny at the last minute at Goodwill. It makes a better hippy dress than shirt. She loves it and wouldn't let us take it off of her last night OR this morning. She is still wearing it She is the girliest girl EVER. You can't see them in this pic, but her toes are painted the same color so she is feeling very chic.

*UPDATE*
And here is SSB as Sonny Bono. He looked AWESOME. He looks like Italian Sonny Bono or a Mexican bandito. Either way, he rocked it. (Straightening his hair with the flat iron wasn't fun though.) I, on the other hand, don't make a very good Cher. Fat blonde chicks can't pull off skinny, black-haired Cher very well.


Sunday, October 19, 2008

Dinner and a Movie

Last year around Halloween the older kids wanted to watch some Vampire movies so I made an event of it. We rented "Lost Boys" "Interview With A Vampire" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and I made this penne pasta dish with Italian sausage and LOTS of garlic. Real garlic that had to be roasted and pressed, not garlic powder. The whole house and its occupants smelled like garlic for a week.

This year we wanted to do something like it again but didn't have a movie picked out until yesterday when I threw it all together at the last minute.

The boys were gone this weekend so it was just the girls and us, Bugaboo's boyfriend (Cradle Robber), Dupree and SSB's mom. I picked The Shining because SSB was the only one of us who had seen it. (But he didn't even remember what RedRum meant so I figured it had been a while.) I was 11 when that movie came out and I wanted to see it SO badly but never did. I'm not sure why I wanted to see it because the only other scary movie I had ever attempted to watch was The Silent Scream and as soon as some girl got slashed to death on the beach my sister and I were OUTTA THERE. We went to the lobby and called our dad to pick us up. He told us about how he went to see Phantom of the Opera when he was little and had gotten scared too. But he was only 5 years old so it didn't make us feel better about being so chicken.

The fun part of last night was trying to find some foods to tie to it. This is what our menu ended up being:

Appetizers/Snacks:
Chips and Outlook Rotel
Chips and Hell On The Redrum salsa (Cradle Robber's sister's family makes this line of sauces called "
Hell on the Red".)

Main Course:
Chicken with Crazy Jack Cheese (I couldn't come up with a very good name for that one. I had never made it before. I just found the recipe on the internet and went for it.)
Wendy I'm Homemade Fries

Beverages:
Red Rum (adults only)
Room 237-Up Punch
Heeere's Johnny Apple Cider

Dessert:
Mr. Hallorann's Chocolate Ice Cream

All in all it was a pretty good night. But scary movies are scarier when its quiet and there are no interruptions and the suspense can build. That didn't happen here with Bunny and PootiePie around. Maybe I can come up with something else and we can try again next weekend.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Sucks To Be Just Another Cog in the Wheel

So. I got a call from the elementary school principal yesterday. Not a note from the teacher. Not an email from the school. A CALL from the PRINCIPAL. This was Big Time.

Snickety and his friend got mad at a couple other boys at recess and called them a name. A BAD name. A name so bad that I gasped (ME!) and then tried not to giggle because she,THE PRINCIPAL, had said it. I will never be able to look at her the same ever again. Every time I see her now I will hear that word over and over in my head. Anyway. She said they will have to stay in at recess for two days next week and she was sending home a discipline referral form for me to sign and send back. I apologized to her and thanked her for calling. Then I waited for school to get out.

I picked the kids up and acted normal, but for the knowing glares I gave Snick. They went right over his head. I asked how everyone's day was. "Goooood" they all
chimed. Really? I asked. Everyone, all of you, had good days? Nothing bad happened? Nope. Great days, in fact, because it was the first early release day ever. OK. We'll just see about that, mister.

We got home and I told Snick to put his backpack away and then come down and sit on the couch. SSB and I were in chairs facing the couch just like I'm sure an FBI interrogation room is set up.

SSB: So. What did you do today?


Snick: Well. First we had regular class, then we went to recess, then we had Switch Class, then we had lunch, then we came back and had AR time then we packed up to go.

SSB: Oh. What did you do at recess?

Snick: Well. First I got in line to play kickball because I thought we were going to play but no one else came. Then I walked around by myself. Then I saw some boys
playing with a football and I thought they were playing Jackpot which is my favorite game so I went over there. But they were playing football so I asked if I could play.

(My heart is breaking a little right now but I gotta hang tough.)

SSB: And did they let you?

Snick: Yes.

SSB: And that's all?

Snick: Yeah.

Me: Time out! I don't think that's all. What else happened? Where else did you go?

Snick: No where.

Me: EH! (buzzer noise) Wrong! Let's move on to you going to the principals office.

Snick: Oh.

SSB: Why did you get sent to the principal's office?

Snick: Well. These guys on the other team made a touchdown and they were being really mean and bragging about it and then when they punted it they hit Daniel with the ball on purpose. He called them names and then I copied him and then they told on us and when we went back to the room the teacher took us to the office.

Me: What name did you call them?

(Ready for this??)

Snick: A cogsucker.

SSB and Me (trying really hard not a laugh): A WHAT??

Snick: Cogsucker. I don't know what it means but it is inappropriate.

SSB: Yes it is. But what you said isn't what they think you said. They think you said _______ sucker (Edited for family reasons. One of them being my dad he thinks I already have a potty mouth.)

Me: Do you know what that means?

Snick: No.

At this point SSB, all flustered and floundering, goes on what I call a "Sin and Syntax Rant" trying to explain American colloquialisms and slang and getting his tongue stuck to the top of his mouth in the process. At a convenient stammering point I jumped in.

Me: Penis! It's slang for penis. So when you said they were _________ (again edited so as I won't be disinherited) what does that mean you say they do??

Snick just stared at me with a mortified look on his face for what seemed an eternity. Then instead of answering he just said, "I get it." I like that answer. That boy will go far in this world, I do believe.

I'll spare you the blow by blow (tee hee) of the whole conversation but what it comes down to is that the other boy said it first. He had heard it on a movie, he said. Snick copied him in a misguided attempt to avenge his friend. The school doesn't know that he didn't actually say the REAL version but that's OK. He'll do his time for calling a name even if it wasn't what they thought it was and he didn't know what he was saying.

He knows what it is NOW though. And he will NEVER SAY IT AGAIN!!!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Bikini Kill



Love you like a sister always
Soul sister, Rebel girl
Come and be my best friend