Killing Time on a Rainy Day

Doing the Robot.

This guy is good at the robot, too: link

21 Days to Go

F is for Friendship Fans.

AND Char' was called to the office on Friday because her name had been placed into the Super Star  drawing, and she had been selected.

Being called to office is pretty exciting in kindergarten. In high school? Not so much.

22 Days to Go: No picture today.

"Hey Char, what's today's letter?"

"E..." Charlotte's voice was soaked in disappointment and her shoulders sagged.

"What's wrong with E? What do you get to wear today?

"Nothing!" she shot back with a surprising edge, "Today E stands for exercise."

"Oh. Well, that should be fun."

"Not if you have lazy bones. It's a terrible letter for someone with lazy bones."

23 Days to Go

D is for denim and dance.

Mom nailed it!

Countdown to Summer

Char's kindergarten class is counting down the last 26 days of the school year with theme days for each letter in the alphabet. What a fun idea!

Today's post is brought to you by the letter is C.

And C is stands for Crazy Hair.

I Think It Works

I spotted this mirror while searching for patio furniture on Craigslist.

I'm just glad he's wearing pants.

Two minutes later...

Look! There he is again!

I wonder...

This is fun! Let's see who else we can see.

I don't think she knows that she's on Craiglist.

One More Can't Hurt

This is how I found my newest hobby.

1) I recently read the UHS library's latest issue of Hot Rod.

2) I noticed this ad in the back of the publication.

3) I thought, "Dang, that's pretty cool." I love it when people combine dissimilar materials in creative ways. I went to the  Bohemian Guitars website to check out their stuff.



  4) While reading the "Shop" menu options, I spotted this word.



That word gets me into so much trouble.

  5) The "clearance" option brought me to the online store's "scratch and dent" department - my favorite department in any store.



  6) I thought, Look how cool that ukulele is. And check out the sale price. If I bought the clearance model I'd be saving 37%! - I'm only good at math when I want to talk myself into buying something.

Before you ask, the answer is, "No." I have no idea how to play the ukulele. So, I obviously don't need one. Not at all. Not even a little bit. But that fact has no bearing on this impulse buy decision.

Did I buy one?

  7) Yup.

  8) This was on the front step 11 days later.

  9) !

10) Since I now owned an electric ukulele, I stopped by the Salvation Army the next day and bought this little 10 watt guitar amp for $25. I had no way to test if the amp actually worked, but I had a hunch that it would be fine. It was.



11) The amp looks pretty good sitting on Daphne's childhood school chair. It's like I was meant to buy this amp. (This is how I reassure myself that my impulse buy decisions are good ones.)

12) Now I have to teach myself how to play the ukulele. There are all kinds of websites and youtube videos dedicated to beginning level students, so I should find someone I can click with. I also checked out this DVD from the Urbandale Public Library this afternoon.

13) I tried playing a few chords last night, but I couldn't press the strings very well. I guess I have weak fingers. That's okay. They'll get stronger with use. Thank goodness I have these Don Ho glasses to hold a refreshing beverage after a tough finger workout.

14) Do I have to learn to play this ukulele? No. I could just put in on a bookshelf in the basement and it will look cool. But I want to learn so I can play and sing the theme song for Peg + Cat. I think Charlotte would be pretty impressed.

"Everything a man does in his life he does in some ways to impress a girl, and she was the girl I wanted to impress." 
Author Justin Cronin discussing his 9-year-old daughter and his book The Passage.

Peg + Cat link

Don Ho link

Kindergarten Demonstration Day!

Char's favorite days of school are when she gets to go to P.E. and Music. She was able to show us what's she been learning in those classes yesterday.

Usually I'm working at 2:45, but because I co-teach 8th period, I was able to attend Charlotte's Demonstration Day without getting a substitute teacher. My principal was kind enough to let me leave early. Daphne took a half-day personal leave so she could be there, too.

We had a blast.

The first activity was a hop, skip, run and gallop circuit. Char was excited to show off her skills.You can't see it in this video, but she was beaming as she ran towards us.

We've tried hula hooping at home, and it hasn't gone well. I think we just need a better hoop. This is the best hoopin' I've seen Charlotte do.

It takes teamwork to make the spider ball jump, and coordination to catch him.

We need a bit more practice with the jump rope. 

Do you remember how much fun the scooters were?

Using milk jugs to help catch beanbags is a great idea. We can do this at home.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any decent videos or pictures during our visit to the music room. Char sat in front, and the angle was wrong. I can tell you the music program is impressive. The students sang and danced with confidence. 

I took the gals out for FroYo afterwards. Getting food after doing your best is a Monson family tradition.

It's hard to believe that Charlotte only has 28 more days to be a kindergartener... not that I'm counting down to summer or anything, I'm just remarking how fast the school year has gone for my daughter. That's why I'm counting days. I'm always sad when the school year ends.

Honest.

I mean it.

What? You Don't Name Yours?

This morning Charlotte was down to her last two Cheerios when she asked me, "Dad, who do you think will win? Circle or Horace?" She was looking into her cereal bowl.

"Ummm, I think Circle will win."

"Nope." She brought the spoon to her mouth and quickly slurped and swallowed its contents. "Horace wins!"

"Figures I'd pick the losing Cheerio."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you take a picture of me and Horace?"

"Sure."

That's How You Do It

Charlotte was less than enthusiastic about plant shopping for mom's garden, but the Earl May store in Waukee is well prepared for children shoppers. Char's eyes lit up as soon as they adjusted to the interior lights.

There was a mini picnic table with crayons and coloring pages on it. Also, a small TV was playing the Penguins of Madagascar movie nearby. It was great!

The only thing that could have made it better was if Earl May served free snacks.

They do.

"Can we stay here for a few more minutes?" is not a question that is asked in most stores.

In other observations, there was a frost Friday night, and these plants were sprayed with water so the ice would protect them. I first read about this idea in the short story, "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa." I hadn't seen it in practice, though. The ice and the drying concrete make for a surprising contrast. 

Nice job, Earl May.

Bonus Egg!

One of my favorite memories from childhood is finding an undiscovered Easter egg weeks after the holiday had passed.

You'd be on the couch, watching one of the 11 channels that the TV offered, and then something shiny would catch your eye. What's that? You'd jump up, run across the room and find a small, chocolate football covered in foil. It had been almost too cleverly hidden, and now it was all yours.

Yea! So glorious!

I now "hide" a few of these around the house so Charlotte can enjoy this delayed fun, too.

I Scream, You Scream

Let's do another one of those "time flies" posts. I've got a buddy who agonizes over pictures of his kids when they were younger. All he sees is the time that has passed and what he'll lose when they grow up. Instead of looking for what I've lost, I like to see how far we've come.

One of the surest ways to know that spring is here is the annual opening of Snookies Malt Shop. We've been going to this malt shop for years. In fact, Charlotte had her first taste of ice cream on Snookies' opening day in 2011.

 

She had the teeth to chew the animal cookie that comes with every cone three years later.

Now she's experienced enough to pick her own flavor. She chose a marshmallow sundae for this year's opening of Snookies. Looks like Mom wants some, too.

What did I get? 

Check out this thing of beauty - a small sundae with melted peanut butter and hot fudge. I'm not being abstemious by ordering a small; I'm splurging. I don't think people know that Snookies puts on the same amount of toppings on all their sundaes. It doesn't matter if you order a small, medium, or large. Getting a small increases the topping to ice cream ratio tenfold.

Just look at that fudgey, peanut buttery sheen. I'm a genius.