Drastic Measures.....

You have had to be living under a rock to not know what's going on in our economy. Because of that, I did something that I'm pretty sure I haven't done since 8th grade home-ec class. I "fixed" a pair of pants that needed some help. I purchased a needle and thread and fixed the clasps on a pair of pants.
In the not so distant past, I would have just went out and purchased a new pair and would have said goodbye to the old. But now, I've taken a new approach on saving a few dollars (or in this case at least 50) whenever and wherever I can.
What changes have you made to save a few bucks?

No. 49....

We took a family outing today. I never know how these will go, especially when it involves crowds of people. Will the youngest try to run away? Will the oldest bug the youngest the entire time? Will the husband be annoyed with the large crowds as the youngest is trying to run away to be free? Well, I'm happy to say we had a very pleasant trip the Children's Museum today.

Brett just couldn't get enough of it. He ran has fast as his little legs would carry him from site to site. He slid down Clifford's back, crawled around in an ant hill, drove a bus and bought groceries.

Colton on the other was borderline too old for the museum. He did have fun, but it was geared towards younger kids. Here's a couple of pictures:

Colton got to make paper.
Brett being a turtle.

I guess I can now cross off No. 49 from the big list!

Star of the Week.....

Today was a special day for Colton. He got to celebrate his turn at being Star Student of the Week. Today, he got read his "Star Sheet" and hear what all the other kids had to say about him and then, best of all, hand out treats that he picked out - donuts.
Brett kept the crowd entertained and Colton was so proud that his little brother was there to see "his school."
Here's the star himself letting kids choose chocolate or powdered.... Here's the masterpiece.....

And here's the happy little brother sitting at his big brother's desk shoving a powdered donut down his throat....

Oh, and one little boy that came in late and missed introductions could possibly be my new best friend. He walked up to me and asked, "Are you Colton's sister?" I could have kissed him.

*For those of you wondering why in the world Colton's hair looks like it does - well, he's begged us to let him grow it out and since there are no major holidays and no family photos, we agreed. He's got until March 16 and then the hair gets cut. Mom wins. ;)

Baller....

For the past six weeks, we've been getting up at dawn's crack every Saturday to get to Colton's basketball games. They are a riot to watch. I do have to say they are much, much better than I thought they would be. The play 4 on 4 for 45 minutes. Colton is loving it! Each game he gets a little more confident which is fun to see. Here he is in action (he's #2):
Look at that "D" - arms up!Warming up....poor kids can barely get the ball up to the hoop.In action although I'm not quite sure what he's doing here....Here's one of his biggest fans...

On a different note, I was so excited when my new Dell all-in-one printer showed up on my front porch last week. However due to our schedules, today was the first time that I had a chance to set it up. Well, after 59 minutes and 14 seconds trying to troubleshoot with the tech support, they have to send me a new printer. Technology and I have a love/hate relationship!

Mr. Smarty Pants.....

Ah, conferences. I'm sure teachers just cringe when these come creeping up. Anyhow, here's a quick update on how my smart little first grader is doing:
We received a letter stating that by this time of the year, first graders should be reading 45 words per minute and by the end of the year, they should be at 65 per minute. My guy? He's at a whopping 145 words per minute!! Therefore he's been put in an advance reading group. Cool!
Math? No problem. He's been one of a few kids selected to be in a math pull-out group so he gets to miss regular class for a few hours here and there to do some specialized math "stuff." Very Cool!
Handwriting.....well, we've got a little work on this. For some reason the kid thinks that every thing is a race (unless he's about to lose, then he says "it's not a race") so he whips through and writes sloppy. Figure that's easy enough to help him correct.
Bottom line is that he is a very good student and he really enjoys school. He's a typical boy though. When you ask him what his favorite things in school are he quickly replies phy-ed and recess. ;)