Well this is just Ducky!

So as I was loading photos and videos onto the computer, I happened upon this little video clip that Miles had made on Valentine's Day. It was a complete surprise to me, and since it's sort of cute in an obscure video sort of way, I decided to share it with you. Enjoy.

Poetry Slam, Kindergarten Style

It's amazing and so impressive to me what these little kids are capable of. Of course the teachers deserve a lot of credit too, leading these little poets in writing, revising, and presenting their individual poems. Here's Ruby with her "senses" poem, "I Like to Watch Netflix."

And boy, does she! She got into a serious Netflix habit while she was home sick for about a week. Her favorite show is Horseland, thus inspiring her poem. Enjoy!

Poetry Slam

Here's Miles' performance at his class poetry slam, held on Valentine's Day.

Toothfully, it's been a Tiresome Week

I felt out of practice, and sadly out of shape for dealing with both kids at home yesterday with their various illnesses. Ruby had already missed school on Monday and Tuesday due to fever and Miles joined her at home yesterday after waking up at 3am with the vomit sort of sick. Thankfully, he recovered quickly, but didn't sleep much after that. The doctor couldn't find a source of Ruby's fever, so she was just on round-the-clock medicine to keep it down. She was mostly quiet and restful on Monday and Tuesday when it would start to spike, and even wanted to go to bed early. Yesterday was a different story, though. Her first loose tooth made itself evident on Tuesday night so that yesterday, combined with a mild fever, the theme was pain, pain, drama, and more pain! She reverted right back to a teething toddler that just wants to be held and soothed constantly. We spent a few hours before dinner on the couch watching TV, but most of my day was spent trying to keep her happy while also trying to do work, cook, clean, and give Miles tasks to do between video games.  We somehow survived and I'm happy to report that the tooth came out at 2:50 am and Ruby's fever was gone this morning.
Here's a picture I took when her 1st tooth came in

and here she is this morning

In the midst of the drama, Miles made some interesting comments. He admitted to me that he had been trying some strategies to "catch germs," like "eating dust" and putting his fingers in his nose. He was hoping for something like a cold, not the nasty sort of stomach sick that he ended up with. He also noted that real vomit tastes even worse than the vomit-flavored jelly beans, if you can believe that!

Playing Cupid

We have been making Valentines like mad around here, preparing for the classroom exchange coming up on Thursday. In typical Miles fashion, he was reluctant to participate at first, especially since they were given specific directions to make a card for each classmate and to write a positive statement on each one. We compromised and came up with some short and "snappy" sayings that he felt good about using. In fact, he came up with "Here's Lookin' at You, Kid!" all on his own. His cultural influences trend more toward Calvin and Hobbes than Casablanca, so we're still stumped on where this came from. Others included "Nice Work!" for the girl he calls the Teacher's Pet.
Somehow in the midst of all this goodwill, he also felt like playing Cupid for George and I. We found these cards in our respective jacket pockets. He explained later that he just wanted to "strengthen our bond."















We wish he'd put the same energy into strengthening his handwriting skills, but still, very cute!

Ruby got into the act too, so between the 2 of them we have lots of lovely Valentines to each other, all ready to go for the big day. And my favorite of Ruby's gems for her classmates--

And who wouldn't appreciate that sentiment?

Old Blogger, New Tricks

I apologize to my faithful few readers that I haven't been updating this blog much lately. Good news! I have a brand spanking new website with blog, movies, and photos....all in one organized space. Check it out at http://web.me.com/kantorlopeisland/kantorlopeisland.com/Welcome.html

pick, pick, pick

Ruby loves to pick her nose, almost as much as she loves picking a fight. Today in the car I told my dear little children that I loved them and she replied, with every ounce of passion she could muster, "No, I love you!"
You bet I'll be bringing that one around whenever she's in one of her contrary moods.