School Projects

You know, school projects are never for the kids. They usually become a contest for the moms to turn out the most fantastically original craft ever in the history of school projects. I bet some moms hail their kids school projects as their own personal "David" or "Mona Lisa." But of course, no mom would ever admit that they are competing in a contest in the first place because it is suppose to be about the children. Right. It is always about outdoing some other mom. "Oh, you used the store-bought glitter? Not me, I had some extra time on my hands and I made my own glitter. Really, it took no time at all. I did it right after I baked 5 dozen cupcakes for the church bake sale I organized. And it's completely organic and safe for the environment." How many moms out there do you know do their kids 5th grade science project? My mom did mine. The subject, photosynthesis. She spent hours and hours for weeks, researching, planning, preparing, and writing my science project. Towards the end, I guess she thought it was time for me to participate and had me copy what she had written on to the posterboard. Unfortunately, I forgot to include the word "the" in one sentence. When she noticed this she cried. CRIED! I had single handedly destroyed her science project. I might as well have drawn a big, fat, black mustache on her self-portrait because now the science project would never bear the words "Property of the Smithsonian."

So what prompted this post you might ask? I will tell you. Last week, Chloe was sent home with a project that the whole family was to work on. It is a gingerbread girl cutout that needs to be decorated in the things your child really likes. Naturally, I procrastinated starting this project because it sounded like lots of work. Today, as I was dropping Chloe off I noticed that someone turned in their gingerbread girl early... with organic, earth-friendly, non-store bought glitter. Clearly the bar had been set very high. I came home and practically sewed a dress for Chloe's gingerbread girl. Then I spent a good hour practicing how I would draw a face on the gingerbread girl. Then I spent another hour scouring through pictures of Chloe because maybe I would collage a face onto the gingerbread girl. Soon, I had to stop so I could get dinner started. Chloe came walking in and spied her gingerbread girl project and announced, "Mom, she can't see! She doesn't have eyes. I'll put some on her." I almost dropped my pan of salmon to keep her from desecrating my work of art. Nooooooo, don't touch it!!!!! Only then did I realize my foolishness. This is her project! Let her draw on the eyes for crying out loud. So I am handing over my handiwork for her to complete.

Random Updates

First of all, last week Chloe started pre-kindergarden. She has been attending the same preschool for 1 1/2 years now so it wasn't such a big deal for her. She still only going 2 days a week for 4 hours a day but it is a great break for me. Plus, Ryder really misses her and they end up playing together much better throughout the week.

Getting lined up for morning recess to get all those jiggles out. And this is where my friend Stacy and I started yelling, "Yay! It's the first day of school!" The kids didn't seem to be as excited as we were.

Then Ryder and I came home to play in his room. This is where we discovered the next American Hero. Move over Rambo.

Garden Update

Yes, my vegetable garden is still alive. But is it growing anything? Yes, but not what you think:

Yuck! Aaron picked three caterpillars off my tomato plant and the kids wanted to keep them as pets, so I put them into a container with some old spinach. The caterpillars kept Chloe and Ryder entertained for hours. I find this amazing because it is not like the caterpillars were performing gymnastics, they just crawled around. At one point, I was convinced they were dead! Chloe even named them, Genevieve, Popeye and Fuzzy. However, after 24 hours of living in the house, Mama could not take having those "grody to the max" creatures in the house. They were released into the wild during nap time. I just explained that the caterpillars were much happier being outside and the kids seemed to be okay with this explanation.

Okay, I think we are updated now.

Helping Daddy

They didn't really get the car all that clean but they were squeaky clean.

A Hermanson Family Addition

Aaron's dream of owning yet another Jeep has come true. Honestly, it has been lots of fun to go exploring in the desert with the kids. Ryder loves the jeep and is always wanting to go for a ride. Chloe, on the other hand, really dislikes it. The Jeep makes her "hair go all around." Those are her words. Then last night when I asked her to say her prayers she asked, "God, I really don't want to ride in the Jeep tomorrow. I want to ride in the van with Mama." Yesterday afternoon, we went riding in the Yucca Valley backcountry and it was beautiful.

We packed a small picnic lunch for our adventure. Here's Chloe and me enjoying some yummy pudding.
Then here's me wondering why Ryder is playing with the coyote pups. And Chloe is thinking that maybe she'll get a chance to sit in the front seat now.

And now I'll leave you with a typical Yucca Valley sunset.