Live 2 B Green

Sofia, one of my Wild Irish Sweeties, celebrates St. Patrick’s Day.

Best Sweetie line of the day

Veronica, tucking 6-year-old Sofie into bed after a loooong weekend: “I love you. You are my princess.”

Sofie: “I love you, too. You are my servant.”

Redux redux post of the day

This one was first posted here five years ago today.

It was titled: What four-year-old boys sometimes do to their one-year-old brothers when Mom isn’t looking

The little guy seems more proud than irritated.

Redux post of the day

First published here four years ago today.

Mack, official oldest grandchild of NewMexiKen, was nervous. According to his mother, it was “pajama day” at Little Lambs pre-school. That meant that all the five-year-olds were supposed to wear a favorite pair of pajamas to school. In his pajamas in the car on the way however, it felt a little uncertain.

To alleviate the uncertainty — which by then had started to settle into her own mind — his mom began to suggest other “clothing days” there might be. In the joking that followed, Mack suggested — as 5-year-old boys will — “underpants day.”

His mother assured him there would be no day when the kids just wore underpants to class — at least not until college.

Today’s Photo

Mack and Aidan, their second time on skis, today.

I played with this photo some to see if I could lighten the boys’ faces without losing the shadows in the snow behind them. I had no luck. Anyone know how to do that (with simple photo editing tools)?

Best Sweetie line of the day

“Oh, Mack has been on skis once in his life. But that hasn’t stopped him from planning how he will act on the medal stand after he wins his downhill gold. (Rock and roll finger horns yes, mouthing the national anthem no.) The kid does not suffer from a lack of confidence.” Mack’s Mom

Ahh!

Warning, too sweet. May send you into insulin shock.

Eight months.

Ain't it the truth

Chuck & Beans take a nostalgic look at nostalgia.

Binky of Death

I include this only because I love the kid’s binky.

Household Hint

When making deviled eggs it is important to realize that the eggs may be wet on the plate. Accordingly, when turning to put the deviled eggs in the refrigerator, try not to turn too quickly. Otherwise, you may find that it is a slippery slope between a dozen deviled eggs and nine deviled eggs.

Click here for other Household Hints based on my personal experience.

Innocent bystander

Jill tells about a variation on brotherly love.

And, from three years ago, even then Mack always had HIS priorities set.

The saddest sentence I have ever heard

Jill crosses a threshold with her oldest child.

Redux Sweeties post of the day

From 2006.

Grandpa likes to tell The Sweeties childhood stories using their names for the lead characters. For example last night The Three Pigs were Reid, Mack and Aidan. Since I was telling the story to Aidan he got the brick house.

Grandpa: “So the wolf huffed and puffed and huffed and puffed but he couldn’t blow the brick house down. Do you know what happened next Aidan?”

Three-year-old Aidan: “I turned into the Black Power Ranger and killed the wolf.”

Pardon me while I brag

Last week the elementary school three of my grandchildren attend was recognized by its district as a School of Excellence. That means the school has made “Adequate Yearly Progress” under the No Child Left Behind Act, and achieved an overall score of 90 or more out of 100 points on district Strategic Plan-based measures. It’s a big deal.

So they had a little ceremony at the school to mark the occasion and the Superintendent of Schools was there to present the banner. From the more than 1,000 students the Principal selected one girl and one boy to receive the banner for the school.

And the boy was?

Yup, Mack.

They also had an essay contest. All the students were asked to write why they thought the school was an excellent place to learn. The best essay was chosen for each grade.

And the winners were?

Yup. All three. Aidan got the medal for kindergarten (his was a poster), Kiley for first grade, and Mack for third.

Excellence R us.

Oh, BTW, this announcement is on the school website today: Escuelas cerradas, Código Rojo. El programa SAC no se ofrecerá. In Virginia. It’s a bilingual country. Excellent.

Law and Order

License, registration, I ain’t got none
but I got a clear conscience
‘Bout the things that I done
Mister state trooper, please don’t stop me
Please don’t stop me, please don’t stop me

Bruce Springsteen, “State Trooper”

Emily, official mother of four-year-old Alex, reports:

“Twice this week, [Alex] has handed me a paper with a name written on it. He then asks me to send the name to Santa because the kid has been naughty at school.”

Mack

Sweetie Mack is 9 today. Mack isn’t his given name. It’s his nickname (from birth) and comes from his middle name — Mackenzie, a family name on his dad’s side. Mackenzie is a Scottish name, from the Gaelic Maccoinneach, meaning son of the fair or comely. (And also meaning son of Kenneth.)

Lord of the Flies

Mack, the oldest of The Sweeties®, turns nine tomorrow. His birthday party is today.

Here’s what we wrote five years ago:

The oldest of the Sweeties, Mack, turns four Monday, so his parents decided to host a birthday party. To their horror, nearly everyone invited accepted — and all who accepted came. That meant that Saturday afternoon 24 three- and four-year-old boys (and one two-year-old girl cousin and one little brother) took over the island that is Mack’s playroom.

Jill, official mother of Mack, reports that the swarm was amazingly well behaved, but that it did require a periodic “Freeze!” so that a census could be taken to make certain no one had escaped to some other part of the house, or worse, outside. (”Christopher? Are you sure you dropped him off? We don’t remember seeing him.”) There were moments, Jill also reported, when the boys seemed to realize that they had the adults grossly outnumbered, but she says they were easily held at bay with the cake knife.

The ice cream and cake was delayed until the last minute so that the children could be released to the custody of their parents before the sugar fully kicked in.

NewMexiKen is sad to live so far from his grandchildren; hence the prominent display of their photos on this blog. Even so, 1900 miles seemed about right while this party was on.

Two Brothers

Brothers Mack, who will be 9 in a week, and Aidan, who was six in September, ran in the Jingle Bell Fun Run Saturday morning. The distance was a mile and during the race the rain changed to snow. Their mom, Jill, reports:

The boys came in third and fourth overall…Aidan was third.

Yep, Aidan ran a [personal best] 7:40 and Mack was right behind him at 7:41.

To be fair, Mack struggled the whole way and threw up two times after the race. He had thrown up Thursday at school, and was home sick yesterday. He has a bunch of junk in his lungs and has that cough that has passed from Aidan to Reid to him.

I know, I couldn’t believe he was out there, either (after I saw him halfway through, begging me for oxygen as he came around — like was I supposed to have a spare tank sitting by me?). I think he thought he had a chance to win overall, which is always fun. And on a normal day he probably would have. …

In typical fashion, after the race Mack was crying about doing poorly, and feeling sick, and Aidan didn’t say a word. In the car, Mack looked at me and said, “Aidan beat me (sob sob).” I looked at Aidan and Aidan softly said, “I wanted him to win.”

Three Boys, One Capitol

I took a lot of photos during my recent stint visiting and babysitting. This is probably my favorite.

There’s a larger version underneath your mouse click.

Winner

Oldest Sweetie Mack ran a personal best 3K at the USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships for Region 3 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, yesterday, competing against boys born in 1999 and 2000 from Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Mack didn’t place, but every time you set a new personal record you’re a winner.

A couple of nine-year-olds got the 2.1 miles done in about 11 minutes. Lots of over-achievers in this crowd.

(Mack and his Daddy got to visit the UNC and Duke campuses on their way home to Virginia, even attending a volley ball game in Cameron Indoor at Duke — and getting to touch the famous floor. I think Mack, who won’t be nine until next month, has already been on more college campuses than I have.)

What color are you?

I got nothing, but Jill discusses sexism at the dentist over on Dinner without Crayons.

Yummy

Veronica reports as Sofie recovers from a serious bout with the flu:

Me: Hey sofie. You haven’t eaten in 4 days. You can have whatever you like.

Sofie: Anything?

Me: Yup.

See photo for results.

Missing

The boss of a large company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers, dialed the employee’s home phone number and was greeted with a child’s whisper.

“Hello.”

“Is your daddy home?” he asked.

“Yes,” whispered the small voice.

“May I talk with him?”

The child whispered, “No.”

Surprised, and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, “Is your mommy there?”

“Yes.”

“May I talk with her?”

Again the small voice whispered, “No.”

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, “Is anybody else there?”

“Yes,” whispered the child, “a policeman.”

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked, “May I speak with the policeman?”

“No, he’s busy,” whispered the child.

“Busy doing what?”

“Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the fireman,” came the whispered answer.

Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the phone the boss asked, “What is that noise?”

“A hello-copper,” answered the whispering voice.

“What is going on there?” asked the boss, now truly alarmed.

In an awed whispering voice the child answered, “The search team just landed the hello-copper.”

Alarmed, concerned, and more than a little frustrated the boss asked, “What are they searching for?”

Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:

“Me.”

Got their motors runnin'

8-year old Mack ran a 24:07 5K yesterday, taking three minutes off his previous best for that distance (3.1 miles).

He threw up after crossing the finishing line, so I guess we can conclude he gave it his all. It was good enough for second place in his age/gender.

Today, Sunday, both Mack and Aidan ran in the King George Fall Festival Mile.

Aidan took first for “Men 6 and under” with an 8:06 mile. He has improved his personal best by two minutes in less than two weeks! It was head-to-head for the finish line and Aidan pulled ahead to win by a second. It was his first “gold.”

Mack also took first, running his second best mile ever in 7:03.

Mom meanwhile was moving along too. She got a speeding ticket.

UPDATE: Jill says I’m not like other moms.

You should see the other guy

 


No wusses on the kindergarten playgrounds in Virginia.