Tuesday, December 27, 2011

New Toys Are the Best

Ahhhh!  Christmas has come and gone.  The lead up was a bit like torture as the kids were excited.  One thing I have found about being a teacher is that when you are off before Christmas with the kids they drive you nuts as they are full of excitement and anticipation.  After Christmas they have all these new wonderful toys to play with and don't make my head explode.

I used to groan about having to help the Boy with his Lego sets,  now I sit upset that he won't let me help build the new Lego Cargo Train.  I have been cast off to rebuilding some old sets that are among the 8000 Legos in the bin, not separated into the nice bags that come in the box.  We will see how long the Police Command Center stays together after I rebuilt it.

The Girl has her passion, Fairies and Princesses but there is a new girl on the block - Barbie.  At least Princesses have floor length dresses.  Then the Girl did the unthinkable, she put a Barbie party dress on Princess Aurora.  I was feeling a little uncomfortable for the Princess, although Prince Philip was smiling.  Barbie is fine as long as she doesn't go the way of the Bratz, plus she does have a cool car even though it is the Girl's favorite color - PINK!

Santa was even good to me, bringing all sorts of stuff from Williams Sonoma.  Already enjoyed the Pancake Waffle Pan, and can't wait to use some of the new recipes in the slow cooker cookbook.  My AGW had a swell Christmas as well as Santa made sure to listen well, plus now I think Land's End believes I am a girl and White House Black Market is trying to get me to sign up for their super customer platinum card.  Sounds like it is time for a trip to Best Buy and buy a TV that is bigger than me to re-establish my man card.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Winter Break

So it begins, Winter Break!  It is good and scary all at the same time.  The good part is that I made it through the first two quarters of school and feel pretty good about it.  Yes there are the rough days but overall it is a great job, ranking below staying home with my kids but pretty awesome.  It has created some craziness in our house as not being around as much but it is getting a little better, especially with the new member of our family - Cuisinart's Multi-Cooker.  The scary part is after getting into a good routine of sorts it is now two weeks off of school with no schedule to adhere to, at least I will get to play with some new toys (their toys) when Santa comes this weekend.

The Boy is doing pretty well at the 2nd grade.  He seems to be getting the hang of a classroom environment after skipping 1st grade.  The Girl is really enjoying school and she will start 5 day a week preschool in January and I think she is pretty excited as she seems disappointed when she doesn't go the two days she has off.

Being the nice Dad I am my kids get to go to the dentist on Dec. 22nd.  Maybe I can add to the joy and call the doctor to see if they need any shots as well.  The Boy handles the dentist well, but the Girl is just a 30 minute wrestling match and she is getting stronger everyday.

The question now is after Santa comes and there is no more room for toys will the kids notice if things just plain disappear?  Can we tell them Santa needs them to give to other kids, after he fixes them up of course?  I certain need to find a way to get remove the things the kids really don't play with but will whine and scream if they see me take it away.


Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Adventures of a Turkey

The story that has been widely anticipated, maybe, just maybe it will get picked up for the big screen: