The Tantrum

Luke has some pretty epic tantrums, I will certainly be the first to admit that.

But when he has a tantrum, he has to pay for it. With Mommy bugging him until he stops. Watch the evolution of a tantrum unfold:

1. Luke is informed that it is time to do . . . (fill in the blank) and Ele-fun must be turned Ele-off. Luke collapses in a heap.


2. Mommy grabs camera to document tantrum to use as embarrassment in future.


3. "Stop! STOP! Don't take my picture." *giggle*


4. "Mommy, I'm mad. I'm MAD." Despairingly crawls away to find Daddy.



5. Daddy is non-responsive.


6. Luke crawls behind trash can knowing that it is super-icky back there and will make Mommy squeemish.



7. Luke commences playing on trash can. Mommy and Luke have punished each other equally.

Ele-funtastic!

I would like to start off by saying thank you to the Rosbrugh clan for bringing Ele-fun into our lives. It is really quite Ele-funtastic.

It is such a simple game: the elephant blows butterflies out of its trunk and kids run around trying to catch them with butterfly nets. Luke absolutely adores the game. So we just set it up and let 'im run!

Goodness.

I was really just trying to survive March. That was my goal. Apparently, March has followed me into April!

I didn't see that coming.

The good news: I actually have pictures that I've taken recently.
The bad news: Life is still chaotic, one camera is still at school, the other camera needs a card reader that I need to find. Nuts.

So, instead of pictures (which I know is the fun part) I'll give you a quick run down of our lives in the last few weeks.

• Todd is now going to have two after-school hockey clubs. The kids can't get enough of him and they sure keep him busy.
• I am tutoring and trying to keep my head above water. Standardized testing starts next week, and with my class this year, well . . . let's just say I'm a little nervous.
  
• Luke is getting into trouble daily. Poor kid. Just when he gets one thing down, I toss another problem on him. We finally have the poop situation taken care of, but . . . let's just say he's a bit of an "attention-seeker." Imagine that.
• Luke likes to view "circle time" for phonics and math as more of a time of "get-up-and-dance-in-the-middle-of-the-circle-while-everyone-is-there-time."
  
• Luke had his first talk with the principal.
• Luke did stay quiet at the end of nap time with the loss of his trike time hanging over his head.
  
• We're working on making "good choices." "Scribble-scrabble" on his papers is not a good choice. "Walking feet" is a good choice.

Poor Luke. He's come from a completely no-holds-barred complete freedom daycare to a super structured preschool. And he's just three. Mostly, he just gets so excited with all the kids around and just wants to play. Like a three year old. Imagine that.

Honestly, I think at this point - we're all burned out. We all need a break. Easter coming late this year has been a friend to no one.

So, we're counting down the days and eagerly anticipating Spring Break.

I will be burying my nose in a book for the next few weeks as a way to hurry the break along. If you aren't already a huge fan of Margaret George, I highly recommend her. She just released Elizabeth I and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Tomorrow: Field Trip
Thursday: Book Reports
Friday: Tests - Spelling, Vocabulary, Math Facts, Math Concepts, History (13 Colonies, cumulative)
Next Week: Standardized Testing, and more Book Report stuff

Anyone interested in some grading?

(next time I'll have pictures . . .promise)

Avoiding.

I'll admit it. We have actively avoided Thomas the Train because those toys are so freaking expensive. But we couldn't avoid it forever, could we?

Some parents of my students got together and got Luke a battery-powered Thomas the Train set. It was incredibly sweet and thoughtful and completely set the Bickels up for the "Thomas Poor House."

All the money stuff aside, there really is something truly wonderful about watching a little boy with his trains. I also really have been enjoying Todd working very hard with Luke to set up complicated, multiple routes for the train tracks. It is wonderful to see them bond over the trains.



Once it is all set up he just watches the trains go around and around, trying to avoid them crashing into each other and timing the track switches.



We had put away his traditional wooden train set away because he had still been a little too young for it, but the time is upon us. The train table is ready to come into its own!

Ear Infection

FYI: I am so out of chronological order, please do not look for any sort of pattern.

Back to info from January . . .

So in the course the month of January, Luke had three really high fevers, beginning in Tahoe and the final one on his birthday. Luke is not a sick kid - he's really very healthy, so we equated the successive fevers to starting preschool full time. By the third fever though, I was really concerned, as they were all getting up to 104-ish. My wonderful MIL stayed after Luke's birthday to watch my little sick one, including changing her flights to stay even longer. She's fabulous!

After taking Luke to the doctor, we discovered that Luke was the proud recipient of his first ear infection. The doctor said he had probably been fighting it the whole month and we just hadn't figured it out. He's such an agreeable kid, we really didn't notice.

Thanks to my MIL, we were able to survive the first ear infection and got that all out of the way! Luke really didn't seem to mind - he got to take all sorts of fun medicines, hang out in his jammies and watch tv with Nana - all day!

Valentine's Day

I do love decorating the mantle. It is such a beautiful fireplace. Though we spend hardly any time in the room (mostly it is Luke toy storage), it still makes me so happy to decorate for the holidays.




We kept Valentine's Day pretty low key at home, as Valentine's Day is anything but low key at school. Todd was so sweet and decided to surprise me by making a classy dinner at home. He often cooks (out of necessity usually, since I'm a basket-case in the kitchen) but Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite meals and he wanted to surprise me. He made dinner without a recipe, something I wouldn't even dream of attempting.


It was absolutely delicious! I'm so spoiled!
I was in charge of Luke's dinner. As we decided it was a special day for all of us, we let Luke choose his dinner, which of course, was pancakes. I bought special Valentine's pancakes (I'm a sucker, I know) and Luke helped make them.


He was interested for approximately 5 minutes and then found other ways to spend his time.


Cupid even brought Luke a few things - some candy and and a wooden fruit "cutting" set.


It was such a fun, family Valentine's Day.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

St. Patrick's Day almost passed us by this year with all the craziness of March. I feel bad for Luke - sometimes he really gets the shaft because of our schedules. Bless his fabulous teachers. I really wanted to surprise him with Lucky Charms for St. Pats, but that was not to be. His teachers though, treated the whole class to Lucky Charms and green milk - the kids were so excited! All three of us dressed for the day, though Todd only wore a shirt that said "Lucky Shirt." Harumph. I, though, dressed in my usual foolish way - wearing my green argyle socks and knickers. And of course, the hat that Luke is wearing in the picture. He preferred my hat to his, so I let him wear it for pictures. I can't wear the hat in the classroom though, as it is terribly difficult to redirect and discipline students wearing a goofy hat. So I switch it out for a St. Pat's Day bow. I'm prepared for that, at least.

We got together with family friends, let the boys play and eat pizza. Not exactly traditional corned beef and cabbage, but at least we knew the kids would eat!

Likewise, I still had my Valentine's Day decorations up and quickly took them down and put up my St. Pat's decor up quickly before we had guests. How embarrassing. Luke covered for me though. When they asked if the leprechauns visited, he told his teachers they did. *phew* Next year, I promise I will be more prepared.