Yes, Boys and Girls are different

In so many, many ways, as I have been humbled to learn over the years - my son and my daughter are very, VERY different. I see it in a variety of ways. Talking, cleaning up, eating, writing, playing games, relationship with the Waffle, relationship with me. I could go on and on, but, no need. I'll just show you pictures that prove my point.

I asked the children to write their Thank You cards for the birthday gifts they received. Mallory's were a little late, but who's counting???

Here is what the boy wrote:

Here is what the girl wrote:

I was cracking up laughing when I saw the difference in the two cards. I don't know why I though it was so funny, it was just a perfectly good example of the difference between boys and girls.

Carving Pumpkins - Contractor Style

It's October. Halloween is in 4 days. It's cool and crisp outside. Yep. Time to carve pumpkins. Many of you may have already done yours for this year. We've had the pumpkins for several days now, but just haven't made the time to do this wonderful, long anticipated, much loved event. Do you detect sarcasm? Maybe just a hint? Carving pumpkins rates up there as one of my top "eewwwwwwww - I don't want to do that" jobs as a parent. There's something about cutting open this VERY large gourd, just so you can dig in with your hands and pull out all the ewww and goo simply to make a glowing face for your front porch. (You know, you can buy a rubber one that plugs in . . . ) It really doesn't help that Halloween just isn't my favorite holiday. I'm not really sure why - it just isn't. But pumpkin carving is definitely not my thing. Maybe it has something to do with this:


And this:


Anyway, as much as I look forward to this event, I do everything in my power to make sure that I am not the one digging out the eww and goo. This year was no different. When the Waffle and the kids got started last evening, I determined that I needed to run to the grocery store to pick up some pork roasts that were on sale. This little plan worked out very well until I came home to see this:

And this:


Yes, my contractor husband decided to bring a little excitement to the carving table this year in the form of power tools used to carve the pumpkin faces out. Hmmmmm . . .? Dangerous, you say? Well, no, not any more so than a sharp knife. And, come to think of it, maybe even less so! Interesting? Yes. Fun? Yes. Messy? YOU HAVE NO IDEA!

Turns out that power tools sling eww and goo everywhere when you use them to carve out pumpkin faces, much like they do with sawdust when you use them to cut wood!

But, since I wasn't the one in charge of pumpkin carving, what could I say? Ummmm, "Nothing" is the answer to that question. So, nothing is exactly what I said. I just grabbed my camera to capture a few of these fun-filled, memory making moments that the Waffle is so good at providing for our children.

Thank you Honey, for making life fun!

An "Extreme" Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Yesterday, instead of making a big Sunday lunch after church like I normally do, I did not feed my family a smorgasboard of leftovers from the fridge.

I did not do this simply so I could have a quick lunch before begging the Waffle to drag me and my family to a big muddy field in the middle of nowhere over an hour away from our house to watch (from a distance) many, many people, all wearing the same blue t-shirt, volunteer to do lots of work building someone else a new home.

We did not have to wait in line for over an hour and a half inside an airplane hangar just to get on a bus to take us to this muddy field in the middle of nowhere. And if we did wait for an hour and a half in line, I would not have enjoyed every minute of it.


My children also would not have enjoyed this very long wait to get on a bus. They would not have passed the time by playing silly games like thumb wrestling, "Rock, Paper, Scissors," "Mercy," and the hand slapping game called "Hot Hands."

If I had not done all of these things yesterday, we would not have arrived at the Extreme Makeover Home Edition Build Site in Bunker Hill, IN, about 3 hours after we originally left our home. I also would not have been completely amazed to see all of this:

Ty: You are totally AWE-SOME!

Here are the children in the "spectator tent" making a sign for the family.

"Move That Bus!"

Mallory wanted her picture taken by this pink tractor - pink is for Breast Cancer Awareness month

The episode of the home built for the Cowen-Brown family is set to air sometime in January - watch for it! It's sure to be awesome.

Happy Monday everyone!

An Olympian in Training?

Tonight was Mallory's first night back in gymnastics. We've been on a break since she started softball last spring. I enrolled her in the Intermediate level, rather than Beginner, after all, she had taken 3 or 4 sessions at the Beginner level last year. Time to move up! She has Miss Megan for an instructor again. Megan is very good with the girls - firm, but good. She had lots of fun tonight, doing all her stunts on the mats. She was also quite graceful on the balance beam (which is nearly impossible to practice anywhere but at the gym). There are no competitions in gymnastics, so I know it will be hard for me to get really excited about it. In this sport, it's all about personal improvement. Mallory is lucky to have the kind of personality that thrives in that sort of environment, though. She will work and work at something, trying to get better. Hmmmmm . . . . wonder if that has anything to do with having an older brother that beats her at almost everything she does??? Possible. Yes, very possible!

They practiced cartwheels and round-offs for what seemed like an eternity.

Then they moved on to the balance beam.

It was lots of fun watching her tonight. What I like best about watching her is that I can tell she's happy when she's on the gym floor.

***Warning*** Proud Parent Alert

I titled my post in such a way in case the pride I have about my children bothers you. If it does, please stop reading right now. If you read any further, you might get the feeling that I am bragging. Probably because I am. :)

We received report cards for the 1st nine weeks of school today. And let me just say - we've got some pretty high achieving and well behaved children 'round here! Since Hayden is the firstborn and seems to get to do everything FIRST, I'll tell you about the little one first!

In the 2nd grade, our children don't receive letter grade scores, just "ratings" as follows: E = Excellent, S = Satisfactory, N = Needs Improvement and U = Unsatisfactory. Mallory received an E in both reading and math. She received an S in Writing (this is writing ability, not penmanship). Her behavior ratings were all E's and S's except for good listening habits and focuses on task - those need improvement. We've been hearing that since Kindergarten - most teachers have attributed it to her young age. But, we've made a note to work on it.

The kids also took a test called NWEA. This is where I am absolutely amazed, surprised and pleased. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, Mallory improved her Math score from 180 to 199, her Reading score went from 173 to 195, and her Language Usage score went from 184 to 198! Those numbers are a HUGE improvement! We are so pleased with her progress. Her percentile rankings are all Hi-Average to High, compared with all students in the school district in her grade. Good job Mallory!

Now, on to our eldest. This is his first year getting letter grades (except for science and social studies, which go on the scale mentioned above). At the beginning of the school year, when he would bring home his papers, I was a little concerned that he didn't understand the numbers and how they related to his report card later, so we sat down and talked about it. Turns out, either he listened, or he knew all along! He received E's in both science and social studies. He got an A+ in spelling, and A's in math and writing (again, this is not penmanship). He received a B+ in reading, due to some quizzes that he didn't fare so well on (3 out of 4 is a 75%, you know?). Two very important things to note: his teacher commented that "Hayden is an excellent, excellent writer." That's right folks, not one, but two excellent's. He commented on how creative Hayden is and how he does a very good job telling a story - drawing the reader in and developing the plot to a climax. All mom can think is "Wow." The second thing to note is that his behavior is "Excellent in all areas." Yes, this is the same child who received so many discipline notes last year that it made my head spin (and caused me to question my abilities as a parent). Hayden's NWEA scores improved, as well, but it wasn't as dramatic an improvement as Mallory's, so I won't list the numbers here this time. Way to go, son!!

I think a little celebration is in order, don't you? Of course you do! And celebrate we will. Maybe later this weekend I will post something about our celebration. You'll just have to come back and check!

"Not Me" Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It’s been a few weeks since my last “Not Me Monday” post. Trust me, it’s not because I don’t have dirt to tell, I think it’s because it takes a lot of effort to make that “dirt” sound clever, funny and interesting. So much pressure! Self inflicted, of course, because remember, I’m not living up to your expectations! I’ve come to realize that the expectations I have the hardest time with are my own – that's Spaghetti for ya!

Oh, alright already – here we go:

While emptying out the dishwasher this weekend, it wasn’t me who used her fingernail to scrape the dried up, baked on food from the edge of the soup ladle, and then proceeded to put it away without even rinsing it. Nope, Not me!

It also wasn’t me who saw a spider on the window blind in my daughter’s room, and just looked the other way because nobody else saw it and I didn’t feel like getting a tissue and killing the little eight-legged creep. Nope, Not me!

It isn’t me who is hoping that the new had-to-get-it-for-a-school-project “pet” Anole in our home doesn’t last long and is secretly considering Anole murder in order to make this wish come true. Nope, Not me!

And it wasn’t me who took a guilt-free 3 hour long afternoon nap yesterday and had absolutely no problem at all going to bed like normal at 11 pm last night. Nope, Not me!

Happy Monday everyone!

Living on the Couch

2:40 a.m.

That is what time it was when Mallory last threw up during the night. Then, finally, she drifted off to sleep. Though it was a restless sleep. For both of us.

Sometime after lunch Saturday, she started complaining that her tummy hurt. I told her to try using the bathroom, which she did. The report: runs. Well, I didn't think much of it until she got her pj's on, grabbed her pillow and headed for the couch. Then she turned down dinner. And halfway through mine I found out why. She threw up consistently throughout the evening and into the wee morning hours.

Talk about exhausting. This, after 6 hours of splitting and stacking wood. I was mistaken to think that I would sleep like a baby last night.

And today? Yep, still throwing up. Lovely.

So, she's living on the couch.

Poor baby.