JustJessie

Magnetized

Not being the king and queen of forethought,  we were not at all concerned with the school district when we bought our house. After all, I had every intention of homeschooling our kids.  Since we have found out that doesn't work for us, we have been in a quandary about Grayson's school situation.  The school for which we're zoned is terrible; there's never been a question of him going there. 

So anyway, back in March Grayson's class along with every other kindergartner in Decatur, took a test called the MRT to see who would be invited to the Magnet School.  We have really been hoping Grayson would get in.  Magnet school classrooms offer a lot more than the regular neighborhood schools.  They offer more art, drama, hands on science, music, and history; whereas the neighborhood schools do well to teach enough reading and math to stay above board.

Today was the day that every mom of a kindergarten was running to her mailbox to see if her child got a letter of invitation, and (as I'm sure you've guessed) Grayson got one.  Yay!  I'm so proud of him.  I never doubted he was smart enough to get in, but I was very worried that the means by which they test them is a three day long bubble test.  That is a major amount of concentration for my hyper boy!  I am so happy... this has been niggling at the back of my mind for ages.  So tonight be happy for us and raise your glass to desegregation in Alabama, for without it Grayson would be stuck in a stinky, stinky school.

Say Hello To Mah Leetle Fren'

Sadly, with outdoor adventures come run-ins with disgusting critters.  This one was attached to our screen on the back porch, and we were debating what he actually was.  I decided to be the big brave momma and go catch him in a jar... cuz I thought he was just a little brown butterfly or at the worst a moth.  It wasn't until I got a close up side view that I came squealing and shivering back into the house.  Macho chick I ain't. 

   

Look at those disgusting legs and barbed antennae!!  Can you blame me?!  I found the only lethal, cow-killing, butterfly/moth thingy in North Alabama!

After a serious eye-to-eye lecture from Grayson about how I always make him face his fears, he sent me back out.  This time armed with a very wide mouthed jar and a butterfly net.  With his big brown eyes watching me, I crept up to this nasty booger, shaking like a leaf, and I trapped him.  I then showed him to Grayson up close, who proceeded to shiver and "blech" and run to the other room, with a, "Seriously, that thing is disgusting!  I can't believe you wanted to bring it in the house," thrown over his shoulder on the way out.

Warm Fuzzies For Your Day

Megan showed me this video this morning.  I cried like a baby.  I hope it makes your day as well!

Paintings and President's Days Past

About a hundred twelve years ago, the funky blond in that picture was me.  My partner in crime was my best friend at the time, Alyssa.  We were always into something that would have gotten us into trouble had we been caught. 

I remember one time we got all worked up about how unfair it was to be out of school for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, but not for President's Day.  After all, President's Day honored... um... somebody really important, right?!  We felt, as students, that we should stand up for our rights and show allegiance to our country by having a sit-in protest in the school gym, and not going to any of our classes.  We quietly started rumors buzzing around the school about it, and then printed fliers advertising the event.  Before we knew it, everyone was talking about the protest.

When the big day arrived, the gym was full of kids.  Some were joking, some were singing, some made up silly chants to repeat over and over.  Until Vice Principal Lacey came in with her megaphone.  She made an announcement to the effect that whoever was still in the gym in five minutes was going to spend the rest of the week suspended from school.  You'd have thought the gym was on fire that place cleared out so fast.  At least that's the way I heard the story told the next day.  Alyssa and I decided our protest would be most effective if we didn't go to school at all that day.  We were just so patriotic.

Anyhoo, that long lost little girl in the photo above painted this picture.  It's one of the few I kept for myself, and I came across it in the top of the playroom closet, so I thought I'd show you guys!

Toasty tootsies

Hardwood floors can make for freezing tootsies, which has led to one of my favorite impromptu morning rituals.  Grant snuggles up close and thaws his icy toes on my coffee mug.  It wasn't exactly an easy thing to get a picture of, because he's squeezed in beside me, and there's much wiggling involved to keep from burning his toes.  It's one of those happy little things I'll be missing in a year or two!

Happy Easter!

Hope you're having a better weekend than the bunny.

Workin' Hard for the Money

As I sat at my computer desk yesterday morning, I felt a little bit ashamed.  Here I was with the worst looking yard on the block, chatting away on GoogleTalk and blog-hopping, while my retired neighbors and their various surgically replaced joints were out making ready for spring.  I know our yard is the scourge of the neighborhood, and that won't particularly help when we put our house on the market next month.  So, after I picked Grayson up from school, we got busy. 

I decided to get the boys in on the act, and set them to work picking up pine cones.  The boys decided to be "secret fairies" for the elderly widow next door, and pick up her pine cones as well. 

I was so proud of them, especially of Grayson.  He set such a good example for his little brother.  There were a LOT of pine cones in the neighbor's yard, and he stuck with it to the very end.  He even went above and beyond, helping me drag limbs to the street from our nappy rhododendron bushes.

Grayson's pearl of wisdom for the day: "It sure is great to be a boy, so you can just get naked on your top half when you get too hot."

Old Folks, News Trucks, & Weather Radios

I feel betrayed.  Let down.  Bamboozled. 

Today I drug my still-recovering carcass to my usual grocery store.  The store I chose for it's smaller-than-Walmart crowds, it's friendly employees, it's good natural food selection.  I knew something was different today as soon as I pulled into the parking lot.  Was it my keen extra sensory perception cluing me in?  Maybe, but instead I think it was the Channel 48 News truck parked in the fire lane with the huge antenna thing towering over the building.  Hmmm... that's odd.

So, I was trying to decide if there had been a robbery or a murder or an attack on a certain text messaging, gum smacking, teenage clerk, when I noticed no one was in a panic.  That seemed like a good sign.  Then I got confused.  As I was trolling the lot looking for an empty space, the aggression and rudeness of the drivers combined with an overall lack of parking spaces led me to believe I had somehow gone to Walmart after all.  But, no.  The big blue sign still said "Kroger" sandwiched between Hancock Fabric and Kmart.  As I thought about it I realized it was Senior Citizen discount day... slow news day?  Or was there something more sinister going on inside?

When I got into the store, things finally made sense.  Sort of, in a rural Alabama kind of way.  See, they had a whole crew of folks there selling and programming weather radios.  People could even bring in ones from other stores and they would program them for free.  You might be wondering why weather radios would bring such a crowd.  Read here for a short summary.

So, my sniffles and I happened to walk into Kroger NOT ONLY on senior day, but also on crawl out from under your rock in the sticks day as well.   I suppose I should look on the bright side... teenage texting gum smacker clerk had been fired.

Wiped Out

This is Grayson Thursday morning at his Valentine's party:

This is him Friday morning at home:

He woke up with a temp of 99.1 and within an hour it was up to 102.1.  I blame the five thousand pounds of sugar he ate at school for wrecking his immune system.  Of course, that doesn't explain why Grant and I caught it the next day.

We're all mostly recovered and trying to get back in the swing of things.  I'm not sure my home will ever recover.  Who would've thought three sick people could make SO MUCH MESS?!

Let's Review...

For those who don't know, Props and Pans is a website where normal folks like us review products we have in our homes.  They review everything from electronics to makeup to baby products.  Anyway, I just did my first review for them on the Nintendo Wii.  What's even cooler is that they sent a free Wii Diego game for the boys to try out, all I have to do is send in a review on it.  Yippee!  I love free stuff.  Anyway, y'all go check out my review, and leave me a comment to let me know you were there, ok?