Pudding and Pie (in the face...)

Yesterday Danith was able to take off of work and stay home with Isaiah and Jojo. It was MLK Day, so school and day care were closed. Unfortunately, I had to go in to a stressful day at work, but at least they got to have a guys' day out together!


Isaiah has been begging to make this cookies n' cream pudding that we got at the grocery store the other day, so they did this before heading out to see War Horse (chosen by Mr. Isaiah - the war and history fanatic in the family).

Yummy!!

Fun fun fun with Daddy! I'm jealous I wasn't there (and I got an earful from Jojo for missing it - next time he has warned me that I will be in big trouble!)!

And about this pie in the face...

Isaiah has been in Cub Scouts since 1st grade. This year is his fourth year (4th grade), and he is a Webelo I cub scout. Every year, the Cub Scouts sell popcorn to raise funds for scouting, and it is a tradition in his Pack (#1324) that each boy who sells over $300 in popcorn gets to throw a pie in someone's face. The boys get to choose themselves whomever they would like to throw a pie in the face of, whether it be a sibling or a parent or the Cub Master or a Den Leader.

Well, of course Isaiah has sold over $300 each year and has had a blast throwing a pie in people's faces. He as thrown a pie in the face of is Cub Master and his Den Leader...

 his Daddy...

and this year...

it was me. BOYS!!!

Enjoy the video! ha!

Isaiah's Balloon Car

Tonight, we are up very late working on Isaiah's two school projects that are due tomorrow for major grades. He just mentioned one of them to us tonight, and this is part of his research paper on Neils Bohr, who not only helped with the Manhattan Project, but also created the atom structure commonly used in textbooks today (and this is what I have learned in helping him tonight!).

For his second project due tomorrow, he has made a balloon car. The assignment was specifically to make a car without fuel or a motor, and to use items found around the house. After doing some research, this is what he created. All of the students will be racing their cars next week!! When blown up, his balloon now says "Go Texans!"

Swimming!

Jojo had a swimming evaluation today! It lasted about 2 minutes, but he was so excited and LOVED it.  He'll start next Tuesday in the Angel Fins class, which is a beginner class for young children that are a bit scared of the water. The teacher said that he was hesitant to get in the water (which you can see from the video), and that he clinged to her a lot. He's a flirt, so I wonder if that really had anything to do with his fear of water... haha!

Trouble in Unexpected Places

Today was Jojo's first day in preschool. Danith and I have tried to hype him up about it for several weeks now. My dad even called the night before to wish him a good first day (or in Jojo's own words, "he said a lot of words" to him about it)

After all the prepping, would he like it? Would he cry? Would I cry? We all went to the school this morning to meet his teacher and of course, to watch his reaction. It was a big day for him! But of course, the anticipation was more on our part than on his. Mr. Cool walked in, said his goodbyes to the four of us, and he walked away calm, cool and collected to go play with the other kids. Uneventful - whew!

All went well with the four year old... but what I didn't expect were the events of Isaiah's first day back at school.

When I left work this evening, I made my daily call to Danith on my hour drive home from work. Danith said that Isaiah had something to tell me when I got home, and it wasn't good. After saying this, did he think I would wait until I got home to hear the story?! Absolutely not!

Isaiah got on the phone right then to tell me what happened at school. Long story short, a kid was bullying him and his friends on the playground today. They were playing catch, and another boy took their football and ran off with it. They ran after him and got the ball back, and then they took off running. But apparently the boy pushed his friends and even was choking one of them. When Isaiah turned around and saw this, he ran back to help him, but the bell rang and the bully let go by the time he got there. (I could be chopping this story up, it was much longer when Isaiah told me).

What do you tell your child in a situation like this?! My first instinct was to ask, "did you beat him up?!". As a parent, you want to make sure your child is capable of taking care of himself, to make sure that he'll be okay when you're not around. But I had to stop myself and not let my protective and defensive instincts get carried away. I held back, remembering that I'm trying to raise a thinker, a peacemaker, a mature and responsible adult, turning a boy in to a man, and one with integrity and smarts.

We went over scenarios. What if HE was the one being choked? What if the bully had pushed HIM instead? What if he had caught up to the bully while he was still choking his friend? I don't know if my advice was "right", but I tried to maintain all of the principles and values and morals that I want him to be mindful of when he reacts in a situation like that. And of course, we talked about what to do in situations when those tactics don't work out so well.

At the end of the day, I can't be with him 24/7. I have to trust what we've taught him (gosh, so soon?!). He handled today with a lot of maturity. I'm so proud of how he responded, even to the teachers questioning him, and to the other kids riled up and wondering what happened. His response to those kiddos, "eh, I don't really care to talk about it." And that was that -- God I truly hope that was.

Day 2 of 2012 (Day 1 of Keo Kronicles!)

Day 2 of 2012, and Day 1 of Keo Kronicles. So here's to a new year, and a new blog site. My first. I'm not a professional writer, nor a blog expert. I am a working wife to a selfless husband, and mother to two amazing boys-- ages 9 and 4-- looking to capture the laughter and tears and every other emotion these three men fill my life with.

I'm documenting for not only myself and my memories, but for my out-of-town family. So that they can get more insight as to what Isaiah and Jojo are all about, and what this family is all about from day to day.

For everyone else visiting, I hope you laugh and enjoy this also.

Beyond the introductions, it's time for dinner, then baths, then getting ready for Isaiah's first day back at school, and... hold your breath... Jojo's first day in daycare/preschool. My mom and I have always said that the "principal" will be calling me on his first day of school. If that doesn't say much about my four year old, then stay tuned for many more stories on that. Until then, let's see what tomorrow has in store for us (and let's hope he doesn't moon the teacher)!