George Washington

(2016) Today’s adventures in third grade… My readers have been learning about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington because of Presidents’ Day a few weeks ago. Today my small reading group was doing a compare and contrast activity about these two famous men. The kids were shocked and saddened when I told them how Abraham Lincoln died. One of them then asked how George Washington died.

Me: I’m not sure how he died. I know he only lived a few years after his second term ended. I think he got some sort of infection.

One of my 3rd grade boys: He probably died because he was so tall! (We had just read that George Washington was 6 foot 2). 

Me: How could he die from being tall?

3rd grade boy (Dead serious and highly concerned): He probably couldn’t bend that far down to clean his feet and got a bad toenail fungus. Those can be deadly.

(Rest of 3rd graders nodding sadly at this obviously plausible possibility.)

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

You just can’t make this stuff up!

#3rdgraderscrackmeup

Snippets

 (2014)

Love these! Lily was 6. ❤️❤️❤️

Conversations with Lily are always interesting!  A few snippets from today as we were running errands ...

"Does Jesus drink Coke?

Then inside a store, "I'll push the cart Mama, since you're a little bit old."

"I wish God was a girl .. that'd be better."

And, after we saw a funeral procession with a white hearse with flashing lights, "OH MY GOSH!!!  A PRINCESS IS IN TOWN!!"

NASCAR

 (2023) I was letting Lily practice her driving today and she went what I thought was particularly fast around a curve. I said, “Whoa, slow down! This isn’t NASCAR!”

To which she replied, “NASCAR, Mom?

I’m going 11 miles an hour. 

In a minivan. “

Point taken. We both cracked up! 😂😂😂

Moms

 One of my favorite memories of the boys is perfect for Mother's Day: one day when the boys were younger, they were arguing and bickering. Dylan kept telling Brandon what to do.  They came stomping up the stairs with Bran shouting, "DYLAN, STOP telling me how to live my life!!  NO ONE can tell you how to live your life!!!"  Then there was a pause and Brandon added, "Except Mom, she tells everyone how to live their life.” Glad he learned that early!!! 😂😂😂

Scotch Tape

 (2016) You might teach third graders if ...You can’t find the Scotch tape on your desk and two of your little girls pipe up and say, “Oh we have it, Mrs. Taylor. We were just using it to wax our eyebrows!”  Really?! 😂😂😂 #neveradullmoment

China

 (2014) Life with Dylan 101. 

He was assigned a project in his Social Studies class to learn about China. His task was to bring in a Chinese artifact of some sort and explain about it to the class. 

Me: "How did your Social Studies sharing go today? What did you take in for your Chinese artifact?"

Dylan: (whipping out a John Cena wrestling action figure). "This."

Me: (dumbfounded) What? Why?!!  John Cena has NOTHING to do with China!!

Dylan (emphatically): "Yes he does, Mom!  It says right here on his foot, 'Made In China'!"

Great. Can't wait to see the stellar grade we get on that one.

Easter

 (2011) Life with Dylan:  This morning we were talking about Easter and I said, "Jesus died for us then rose from the grave three days later!"  Dylan:  "Cool!  So Jesus is a skeleton now?"  Sigh.  "No Dyl, Jesus is not a skeleton!"

Book

(2012) I gave Lily a new Berenstain Bears book this morning and she gasped real big and said, "Wow! This is my most favoritest book I never seen!" 

Nehi Peach & Boiled Peanuts

Nehi Peach and boiled peanuts.  Takes me back to our dating days when Skeet and I stopped along the roadside in the mountains to buy boiled peanuts. He told me I was the only girl he’d ever met who liked boiled peanuts, and I told him he obviously hadn’t been meeting the right girls! Pretty sure those boiled peanuts are how this Georgia girl captured the heart of one very handsome Georgia boy. 

Useless

 (2016) Helping Bran with a paper for his British Lit class tonight that is about how the Victorian ideals of the time were portrayed in Dickens' Oliver Twist and how he used the novel to attack the Poor Laws of the time, etc.  I am all enthused and loving every second of it and remembering how much I LOVE everything about this time period and topic. Meanwhile, Bran is miserable writing this paper and says to me,"Seriously ...  This is completely useless and and no normal person cares about a bunch of poems that make no sense and all these long, confusing stories ....What kind of weird person would go to college and get a whole degree in this stuff!!?"  Long awkward pause.  "Um.  That would be me, son."  Nice backpedalling, Bran. Yes, he is definitely his father's son.  

Rag A Muffin

 (2011) Whenever Lily Claire has been outside playing and she looks a mess, I tell her she looks like a little "rag-a-muffin."  Today she had a checkup at the doctor and I told her we needed to brush her hair, to which she replie, "Why?  Am I a "mag -a -ruffin?"  

Skunk

 (2013) Dylan came home all dirty and sweaty from his batting practice then played outside until dark.  When he came in, Lily took one step toward him and said sternly, "Dylan, you better go get a bath or your friends will think you're a skunk."  No one loves you like your siblings!!! 

Rules

 (2013) One of the hallmarks of being a Southern mother .... reminding your kids of every rule of good manners ever known to man while taking them to any event away from home  ... a birthday party, a sleepover, whatever.  The poor kid is trapped in the back seat of the car all the way to their friend's house while you repeat the same age-old list ... "Don't ask for a bunch of food, wait until it's offered ... don't grunt when an adult speaks to you, say Yes M'am and No M'am ... be SURE and say thank you and please ... don't run in their house and wipe your feet on the mat when you go in ... don't act like a buffoon or you'll never be invited again ..."  The kid just nods automatically at every rule you throw out there, like one of Pavlov's dogs hearing a bell for the millionth time.  By the time you pull into the driveway, they can't get out of the car fast enough and the only thing they are thinking is that they sure wish DAD had given them a ride instead of Mom!!!  

Marshmallows

 (2010) Skeet bought Dylan a big bag of mini-marshmallows and now he's the new George Washington Carver of marshmallows!  So far he's had peanut butter, jelly, and marshmallow sandwiches, marshmallow cinammon toast, marshmallow and Cocoa Puffs cereal, marshmallow milk ... you name it and Dylan has put marshamallows on it!

Scratches

I had a sweet memory today. I was cleaning the master bathroom this morning, and as I was scrubbing the sink on Skeet’s side, I noticed all sorts of scratches in the sink. It reminded me that when Brandon was little I used to let him play “car wash” in that sink with his Hot Wheels. He would take all his cars outside and get them real dirty running them through the dirt and grass and then we would line them all up to go into the car wash in sink in the bathroom. He would zoom the cars all around in the bubbles and water and play for hours! Yes, I have scratches all in the marble sink, but I’m glad I do. ❤️