Seriously, they were THAT SMALL?

First things first, even before the wallpaper tools are put away or the switch plates are reinstalled (where is that stinkin' screw, anyway?) First the hand prints go back up. I have enforced a strict Look With Eyes Only rule for these; they are irreplaceable. TheGuys love to compare their mondo, sticky, filth-encrusted hands with them.

And they are fascinated with Baylee's hand print. Maybe because knowing she was born in the same hospital as were they, and met the very same Handprint Lady, just makes her real. Neither of them can remember their older sister, a valiant little super hero of a kid who fought the good fight against Rett Syndrome for six years before her little heart gave out. But there's her hand print. So she was really a person. Wow. For a moment -- a very short moment -- they are quiet. Thank you, Bayls. I needed a quiet moment.

I sometimes wonder what life would be like if she had lived. So many changes now. Her disabilities were profound, but she found joy in some areas of her life. I think she would have loved watching her bros.

Blog Mama's clean kitchen post has inspired me. I feel like my house has gotten out of control, and that upsets me (not enough, apparently, to stop typing and go vacuum something). I'm going to hire in the big stuff, like having the carpet shampooed, and all the blinds cleaned. But for the most part, it'll be me-all-me whipping my adorable house back into some order.

Little Church is starting soon, which means my home will sparkle every 2nd and 4th Tuesday, but between now and then, I want it clean so I can just look around and smile.

I was at the local Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep dealer yesterday, picking up Phopl, who's Dodge Intrepid has been in and out and in and in and in the shop for 13 months now. As I walked through the lot, a hopeful young man asked if I was looking for anything in particular. "Are you kidding?" I asked with sincere incredulilty. "I drive a Pilot."

Was that too snotty?

Um, your opinion, please...

After 3 weeks of Kindergarten, should we not be seeing more than coloring pages coming home? Oh, there's the occasional page on which C-Monkey has written his name, and once he had to match blue to blue and pink to pink. But otherwise, nada. When Quatro was a Kinder, he was already bringing home pre-readers. C-Monk has a long term sub, and although her classroom is quiet and under control, I'm not seeing much academically. Yes, he is a squirrelly little boy, but he's bright, and he is starving to learn.

Kinder teachers and moms, am I expecting too much too soon?

Edit: C-Mama points out the coloring pages also include KinderMath functions, like understanding order, placement by size and other algebraic stuff. So maybe I should relax...

Baby, You Can Drive Me Crazy

We had purchased a little truck for The Princess Bride back in 1996, and paid it off in less than a year. So when we sold it last year, you'd think we'd have the pink slip. Yeah, not so much. No prob. I just had to call Ford Credit for a lien release. They were SO-O helpful, and two weeks later, I had the lien release, took it to the California DMV, and was told it needed to be notarized. You'd think people who daily deal with car sales would know that, but everyone makes mistakes so ... I called Ford Credit again. They were SO-O helpful, and two weeks later, I had the notarized lien release, took it to the California DMV, and was told it was incomplete because they didn't indicate which California county they were in when they signed the form. (they were in Nebraska, and although I'm no Miss Teen South Carolina, I don't think any of the California counties are in Nebraska) so ... I called Ford Credit again. They were SO-O helpful, and two weeks later, I had the notarized lien release, with the Nebraska county indicated, but the name of the original signer was not included. Guess what the California DMV thought of that? yup. So ... I called Ford Credit again. They were SO-O helpful, and two weeks later (today) I had the notarized lien release, with every stinking line on the form filled out. I'll be taking it back to the DMV tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

A Very Hungry Little Reading Boy

Riverside Unified School District has a set of words for each grade they call Sight Words, or No Excuse Words. These are words the kids will encounter a lot, and are expected to recognize on sight. So C-Monkey and I are making a Word Caterpillar. When he learns one of his Kindergarten words, we will add a segment to his caterpillar. By the end of his Kinder year, he should have a nice long bug. This week's words: "I" and "see". (OK, we're starting small, but he's a little boy, so we'll give him some slack!) As soon as we have more body parts than just a head, we'll take a picture. Thanks, Aunt Krista, for the fun idea to help us learn!

Mexican Pete

It's a silly little brainless game. Just match number to number
until you've played all you can, then hope someone else passes
so you can play your "offs" on them. No math required until
the end when you have to add up the left over dots. So why
is it so addicting? Maybe it's the company...