Mete RePete

Here's a little bit about RePete that you might not know. He's 3.

• Started gymnastics today. He, like his brother, is a natural. Actually, I am more impressed that he did EXACTLY what he was told to do by the coach. It's amazing to see your little ones under someone else's direction.

• Can yell louder than anyone I know.

• Is a bowling fiend.

• Hugs like no other.

• Has beautiful hair that I guess I have to cut so he doesn't die of heat exhaustion this summer.

• Loves music. His shoulders start to shrug at the first note of any song.

• He can sing all the Kid's Bop cds.

• Loves mud puddles.

• Mud puddles love him and his chocolate shoes.

• Refuses to use the potty.

• Loves going to the zoo to see the ammals.

• Is a big cheeser and immediately wants to see all pictures taken of him. He is also a fair photographer himself.

• Decided this year that he can talk.

• May not be able to remember every letter name, but knows what sound they make. Thank you Leap Frog videos.

• Is able to navigate the computer without help. He somehow got from the Thomas and Friends website to Nick Jr. I still don't know how that happened.

• Won't read a children's book, but can be found devouring the Atlas, Menus, Magazines or anything bigger than him anytime.

• Stops to smell all the flowers.

As much as he is RePete, he's also coming into his own very nicely. Love you buddy,

~Mom

Meet Pete

For Mother's Day, I wanted to devote this weekend to my reasons for celebrating. Pete is 7.

• Taught me how to be a Mother and is still teaching me.

• Has a giggle that is infectious.

• Looks exactly like he did at birth, just bigger.

• Makes friends everywhere we go.

• Is starting to outgrow his tics - squealing, throat noises, eye-"stretching"

• Likes to walk on his toes.

• Says his taste buds are changing.

• Would rather make up a game than play video games or sports.

• Has artistic talent.

• Is sensitive.

• Teaching RePete everything he knows. (hmmm.)

• Is still the messiest eater I know.

• Finally started taking showers, as opposed to baths.

• Loves flip-flops and soft pants.

• Likes to eat marshmallows and cereal from a baggie.

• Never wants to go back to "regular" school.

• Can create anything out of rocks, sticks and dirt.

Sometimes I still wish he fit into his Buzz Lightyear costume. Love you Sweetie,

~Mom

The 60 Second Toothfairy Shuffle

Last night we ate at the Mexican restaurant and Pete had his favorite Mexican dish - chicken fingers and french fries. About half way through dinner, BN looks at Pete's mouth and says where's your tooth? Pete was unaware he'd lost it, but it was definitely in there when we arrived. Pete ate his tooth! Which ultimately led to a discussion about, you guessed it, poop.

Fast forward to today. While eating pancakes this morning, Pete suddenly jumps up and yells I forgot to look for the money. I choke on my pancake as I decide what to do. You see I forgot to put money under the pillow because 2 certain someones did not fall asleep until about 11pm and I was too tired to remember the Tooth Fairy money.

The first thought that comes to mind as I hear him running up to his room is that this would be a great time to tell Pete that there is no TF. But as I hear him tearing his bed apart, I realize he wants this charade to continue a bit longer, so guilt adrenaline sets in. I run into our bedroom and raid BN's change for $2 in quarters (guilt prompts $2 instead of the usual $1) and then hightail it up to the office to get a little baggie out of my scrapbook supplies and a piece of card stock to jot down something clever from the TF. I then casually waltz into his room and pick up his pillow while ever so carefully slipping the little baggie into his pillowcase. Then as I shake the pillow, I ask if he is sure he's checked everywhere, he hears the jingle jangle of money. He gets all excited and dives into the pillow case head first.

Pete finds the baggie, immediately counts the change, then jumps up and down with glee. It was so worth the 6o seconds.

~R

Why Robinella

Have I told you guys how I became Robinella?

A few moons ago, I was in the Navy. I worked as an Air Traffic Controller.

So, I'm in the Navy and stationed on a little island and we were a very small group. When you sit for hours couped up in the Tower or Radar trailer, you get to know one another, so naturally we talked and revealed personal stuff. We were sitting around talking about where we were from and something came over me. (All while aircraft were flying and in our care) I don't know what it was but I blurted out that my real name was Robinella. Of course, that was met with "Nahs" and "Reallys?" and I backed it up with factual information that made it conclusive. You see my sister's real name is not Doodah, it's $ella and my cousin's name is $&ella. After I mentioned their names, everyone believed me and I then became Robinella.

I let this play out for about 3 months before I told them the truth. Unfortunately, it stuck and I was Robinella until the end of my tour. ( I was also called the Porch Goddess in bootcamp and that stuck too, but that is another story) It's amazing how easily you can fool other people, which is why actors are so believable. I guess Pete gets his theatrics from me.

It's one of the reasons we thought homeschooling was better for him. He loves to make people laugh and school just doesn't have a sense of humor. He definitely keeps us rolling and it sure is good for the soul. And just today he actually made a funny that didn't involve poop or butts. His sense of humor is evolving and becoming more complicated. We were talking about mummies and how they are buried (for the zillionth time) and he says, "they must have needed a huge kitty box for that cat". He was of course referring to the Sphinx. And then he added, "It's a good thing he was built in the dessert...plenty of sand for the kitty box." Now while that wasn't har har funny, it was darn cute of him to come up with it all on his own.

Okay, so that was about poop after all. But at least there was some thought put into it. It wasn't just a random "RePete eats poop sandwiches".

~R

Boys and Anatomy 101

When you birth boys, you should be given an Anatomy Pamphlet before you are allowed to leave the hospital. And no, I don't mean with a literal Anatomy Lesson. If you have birthed a baby boy, then you have had s3x and I sure hope you know enough about that body part because it's what got you in this Mother of Boys predicament in the first place.

You know what body part I am talking about...the p3nis! Apparently, that is not the only name for it and as a mother of boys, you really need to get a p3nis dictionary and brush up on all the synonyms. That is the very pamphlet I am going to write and present to all the local hospitals. Basically it will include all the names for the p3nis and rules for avoiding saying any of them out loud in front of your boys. Here's an example of when the rules are not followed.

The other day, Pete and his friend from down the street (he's eight) were playing at our house and RePete was playing nearby and doing something silly. After 3 times, I finally told RePete not to be such a "dingdong". HELLO! That is on the list of names that shall not be said out loud in the presence of boys. Immediately the giggling started and then this. "Heh, heh, uh dingdong", "Heh heh heh she said dingdong", and "Heh (snort) heh dingdong, uh dingdong". If this dialog sounds familiar, let me entertain you, oh mothers of tubesteak owners with the originals. **Beware, this is 6:09 minutes of your life you will never get back!** (Beavis and Butthead bit removed)

~R

It's Testing Time

Here in the Old Dominion, we have to show proof of progress each year. Testing seems the easiest method and since this is our first year homeschooling, that's my choice. Word around town is the CAT from Seton.

There are others out there that are more strenuous and cover more subjects. I personally don't think it is necessary to put my children through this process. I am their teacher and I know what they do and do not know. Take it from a skimmer, tests do not show your child's true potential. I was famous for missing answers I knew and for guessing the ones I didn't! I did decide to give Pete a little assessment test I found online just to prepare him for test taking. Since Pete doesn't like to read, I read the test questions and the answers choices. He did very well and we discussed test taking strategies - such as elimination for answers he wasn't sure of. He caught onto this very quickly.

So great, he now knows how to be a good guesser.

In fact he made up a guessing method I hadn't heard of for a few of the easier math problems and I decided I had to curb that process. Here's an example: The picture showed 11 pencils lined up by twos. He looked at the picture for about a second, looked at the four answer choices and immediately picked 11. At first I thought wow! All that time counting by 2s on the abacus is paying off. Then I asked him how he counted the pencils so fast. His reply, "I saw a lot of pencils and 11 was the biggest number." I asked him to count by 2s and he got the same answer and he said, "see, I was right." You just can't reason with that! Especially when he did the exact same process for a similar problem and chose the correct answer.

We'll have to keep working on those all important test taking skills.

What Dreams May Come

This is The Old Mill of Guilford.

Rowen County Court Minutes
10 January 1764

"Ordered that Daniel Dillin have licence to build a Publick Grist Mill on the Ready Fork of Haw River at the Mouth of Beavor Creek..."

Guilford County, NC was created out of Rowen County in 1771.

This is the Mill of my Dreams. Memory Bank 1977.

I was born in North Carolina. We lived there until I was about 7 or 8. We hadn't lived in Virginia long before the Mill creeped into my dreams. I never visited this mill, but we drove past it many, many times.

In my dreams, my family lived at the mill and one day our electricity, that was powered by the mill, went out. In my dreams, the wheel was inside and down a small flight of wooden steps. You then walked out onto a pier of sorts and the wheel was just across the water. You could feel the moisture in the air and see it dripping down the stone walls.

In my dreams, my Dad went to check it out and he was gone for a very long time. My Mom, my sister and I decided to check on him and when we got to the end of the pier, we saw him dead on top of the wheel. In my dreams, it panned from us on the pier to him dead on the wheel and then back to us and then back to him. I had this dream over and over for months.

And then my Dad left. It was probably 15 years later that I thought about those dreams again and realized that I dreamed my parents were divorcing. Intuition if you will. Do you believe in it? It's strong in our family. My Mom jokingly calls us witches.

This past February, my good friend Pogo and I took a girls only trip to Asheville. Interestingly, of all the paths I could have chosen, I chose the road that went past the mill - I was drawn to it. The Mill in the picture above was the second mill built and the one I remembered from childhood. The original had been across the road. I've always wondered if the wheel was inside the original mill...