Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

Apologies for being away Friday and Saturday~

Gown ironing, hair curling, make-up applying, and high-heel teetering was taking place Friday afternoon after school since Dear Husband and I had the MP Ball to attend:

We enjoyed a wonderful meal, sat at a table with funny and friendly soldiers and spouses and even did a little dancing before the clock struck twelve, though we didn’t make it out of the ballroom quickly enough before my aching feet demanded to be freed from shoes that *felt* like glass slippers.  Ouch.

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Though my carriage was a Dodge Ram driven by DH, here are some inspiring pumpkins from BlogLand:

~ Oscar the (Pumpkin) Grouch?  See it at Craft and Clutter!

~ Smitten Kitchen makes Pumpkin Swirl Brownies…

~ CakeSpy posts a letter to the editor from the Mellowcreme Pumpkin (TOO funny!)

~ A Storybook Life shares painted pumpkins…

~ Bella Pink Cafe visited a pumpkin patch…

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Carriage found here…

Tags: family, links, military life

My online complaint to a different school photography company:

Hello, my daughter attends _______________________ High School in __________, Kansas, and in stark contrast to your advertised “no hassle” photo days, she was today, in fact, REFUSED the opportunity to have her school photo retaken.  She was told by your representative that because 1) she wasn’t purchasing photos (why would we purchase photos we didn’t like, hence our decision to have her RETAKE them?) and 2) because she didn’t blink or have hair out of place her photo would not be taken.  Apparently your company doesn’t realize that the problem(s) with her original photos are determined by US, her parents (and your potential customers)- who were frankly more than willing to allow you to take another photo today that we were likely to have purchased.

We were told by school staff that it is your company’s policy that limits retake photo opportunities and that YOU determine who will therefore have flattering photos in the school’s yearbook.  Does this policy exist because there are too many customers who would want retakes, or in much more plain language: does your company take that many poor quality photos each year, creating monstrously long lines and time consuming photo sessions on Retake Day?

We are not happy- and are frankly disappointed that our daughter had to experience what she did today. She was looking forward to having her first school photo done over and spent extra time on her hair and clothing only to have your company refuse her and make her feel stuck with a picture that neither she nor we are happy with.

Not cool.  And certainly not “hassle free.”

Good thing I snapped a photo of her this morning before she left school (and no, the company hasn’t replied):

LifeTouch, where are you?

Sorry I broke your leg when you were… two and a half?

At least you got me back by giving me the chicken pox for my thirteenth birthday!

Happy 30th!

Tags: family

Favorite Costumes:

Mine:
1) Kitty Cat

2) Angel

3) Witch (though I do the twirly dress/feather trimmed hat version, nothing scary for this kindergarten teacher!)

Others:
1) High school friends waaaaayyyyyy back when dressed as the

Ghostbusters

2) My daughter as a bride and my eldest son as a Star Fleet officer

3) A former student dressed as the Big Bad Wolf (he wore a baseball   cap on which his mother had glued fake brown fur and huge googly eyes, wool ears, wool teeth hanging down from the brim, etc.)

Favorite movies:
1) Sleepy Hollow (a la Johnny Depp)
2) Something Wicked This Way Comes
3) Lost Boys (though I enjoy the vampire genre year ’round)

Trick-or-Treat Candy:
1) Peanut M-n-M’s
2) Smarties
3) Old fashioned bubble gum

Family events/traditions:
1) buying pumpkins and carving jack-o-lanterns
2) decorating the house with our favorite figurines and decorations
3) trick-or-treating with the kids

Halloween songs:
1) Five Little Pumpkins
2) Purple People Eater
3) Humming “La dah dee dee dah dee dee, la dah dee dee dee dah abracadabra…”

Halloween recipes:
1) Pumpkin Pie
2) Popcorn Balls/Chex Mix (I’ll make popcorn balls one year, Chex Mix the next…)
3) Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

Crafts:
1) Wreaths
2) Banners
3) Magnets

Tags: meme

That’s been my mantra today.

When I woke up wanting chicken corn chowder for breakfast, I told myself “just go for it.”  The soup was delicious.

After I finished breakfast, I got the urge to clean the whole house and start laundry, at which point my inner voice replied again with “just go for it.”

My inner dialogue for the remainder of the day:

Let’s check through two hundred blog posts…go for it.

Let’s put on Christmas music and make a Christmas banner…go for it.

Okie dokie, laundry time again…wet clothes into the dryer, and then get back upstairs for more craft inspiration…go for it.

How about a wreath?  A Halloween wreath for the living room?  Go for it.

Ah, pizza rolls for lunch.  I’m feeling like putting together the pennants for multiple Christmas banners.  Heat up the oven and go for it.

I like go for it days.  Go for it days where no one is around to tell me NOT TO.

Now that EduBlogs is back up and running (*keeping my fingers crossed here that I didn’t just jinx it all*), let me link you back to Kindergarten’s 3 R’s (which was NOT off line for a few days) so you can get caught up:

We’ve put up our Halloween decor:

Halloween at Home

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

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…and I’ve posted tips for upcoming Parent Teacher Conferences too!

Tags: links, parent teacher conferences

…but you have to meet “Ninja Cat!”