Boots, Training, Flowers and Monsters

We celebrated St Patrick's Day with some amazing, traditional, Irish food.  Jan and John invited us for supper Sunday and Jan prepared some of the best corned beef and cabbage I have ever eaten.  Yum!  Jentry and I made Leprechaun Loaf for dessert, which was very green as Jentry insisted we add lots of green food coloring. 

Jentry always enjoys spending time at the McKenzie residence, because Jan has some really cool toys.  She loves dressing up in her favorite ballerina costume and this time she accessorized with some really trendy cowboy boots.  I thought it was just lovely.

Last Monday I headed to Minneapolis for a work, training conference and left Nathan to be Mr. Mom again.  I think he was much more comfortable this time, however he did request that I leave plenty of leftovers.  Apparently mac and cheese for every meal can get somewhat cheesey. 

I had a great time at the training, however by Thursday evening I was very happy to get back home and see my family.  I was very surprised to receive some beautiful flowers upon my arrival.  Jentry helped Nathan select a purple arrangement because, "Purple is mommy's favorite color."  Good work Jentry!  I absolutely love them and it made me feel very special.

While I was gone, Jentry was learning about the letter "U" in preschool and was required to bring something that started with a "U" for show and share.  At first, Nathan said he couldn't think of anything that she could take but quickly found a bag with the US Bank logo.  I thought it quite fitting and even shared Jentry's drawing with some of my co-workers who attended the training with me. 

On Wednesday, I received a text message from Nathan that read, "We have a problem."  Not exactly something you want to see when you are hours away from home.  Jentry had been invited to a birthday party for her classmate Connor (AKA Conster the Monster).  The party was scheduled for Friday and they gave her a T-shirt iron-on that she was to wear to the party.  I had no idea how I was going to buy a shirt and find the time to make it while I was in another state!  John came to the rescue and took Jentry to York Wednesday evening.  John said he had been wanting to take her on a "date night" for a while now and this was the perfect opportunity.  He took her out to eat at McDonalds and then they went shopping for a T-shirt at Walmart.  Of course, Jentry talked him into also buying her a new purse, doll and book.  Geesh...talk about spoiled! 

They found the perfect shirt and I was able to help Jentry iron on the stickers when I got home Thursday night.  The project came with lots of pieces so you could create your very own, unique monster.  When it comes to creativity, I am fairly useless.  If there is not step by step instructions and a picture to follow I get a bit sweaty.  Thank goodness Jentry is not like her mother in this regard.  She could not wait to get started designing her monster.  She laid out all the pieces and moved them around until they were just where she wanted them.  All I had to do was iron them down.  Now that I could handle.  When we were finished, I was praising her about how great it looked and she just sat there looking at the shirt with her finger on her chin.  "Um, I think it is missing something mom."  She quickly handed me two, yellow ears and asked me to iron them on as well.  "Now it is perfect, mom!" 

Her creation was much better than anything I could have put together and I am very proud of her ability to take charge and think outside of the box.  Maybe this old mother could learn a thing or two from her.

Snow Family

Yesterday afternoon was a perfect day to build a snowman.  The temperature was in the low forties and the snow was nice and sticky.   Just perfect for creating snow people.

"Hurry up mom, the sun is killing me!"

We started with one snowman and immediately upon completion Jentry insisted that it was her and that we needed to build another one for me. 

When the two snowWomen were complete, she insisted on building yet one more for daddy.  When Nathan asked her where his snowman was she replied with a somewhat guilty face, "Well, I just wanted what was there when I was born."  Good cover Jentry!

Jentry had so much fun and even placed a small piece of snow in each mouth so that they had some chewing gum.  Yes, of course every snow person needs some gum, right?

Jentry even took time to chew on the snow-gum herself.  "Don't worry mom, it wasn't yellow."

We had a great time in what was hopefully the last snow of the season.  With the forecast in the seventies by Friday I don't think our snow family will last long.  Yeah, bring on Spring!  

Boys and Basketball

This year both the Sutton girls and boys basketball teams qualified for the State Tournament in Lincoln.  We were unable to make the trip to cheer on the girls, however last week Nathan and I decided it would be fun to spend a long weekend cheering on the boys.  I dropped Jentry off with her dad a day early and turned right around that night and drove east to Lincoln.  We were able to stay at Nathan's parent's condo downtown which was quite convenient as well as extremely economical.

Bright and early Friday morning we took our seats and the Pershing Center to cheer on the Mustangs.  My brother-in-law, Chad, and nephew, Isaac, also made the trip to Lincoln to cheer on my alma mater, Southern Valley.  Chad and Kelly moved to Orleans last summer when Chad took a teaching position there. Southern Valley played Freeman immediately after the Sutton game so we were able to see everyone in one short morning. Isaac was so excited to get to observe his very first State Tournament and I was thrilled to be able to sit next to him.  He was much more into the sport than Jentry would have been.

When the brackets first came out, I joked and said, "Wouldn't it be fun if Sutton played Southern Valley in the finals?"  Much to my surprise, both Sutton and Southern Valley won their first two games and were set to play for the C-2 Championship on Saturday morning.  I wasn't sure who I was going to root for but was excited to watch them both play at Devaney.  People from back home as well as Sutton teased me to no end about being loyal, wearing the right colors and sitting on the right side.  I wished that I was in the know with one of the Red Hat Society ladies so that I could have borrowed a crazy purple and red hat.  That would have really made a statement!

Saturday morning, I put on a very neutral, white shirt and took a seat next to my husband with my other new neighbors.  My dad said he had to sit on the purple side with my sister and brother-in-law.  I told him that I understood and really wished I could have been on both sides at once.

At halftime, Sutton was down by only one point and I was able to venture to the purple side to say hello to some old classmates and friends.  It was so fun to see everyone and reminisce about my old cheerleading days.  Lots of the cheers were exactly the same!  They really should look into some new ideas after ten plus years.  Just a thought.

Time ran out with the score tied and then the dreaded overtime began.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire game and in the end Southern Valley came out with the big win 38-34.  I told Nathan that it was a win win situation for me because now I have bragging rights for the rest of the year, however if Sutton had won I would have been very excited for the boys I have gotten to know this year and more importantly would have had bragging rights with my brother-in-law till the end of time.  Overall it was a very exciting weekend filled with exciting basketball, excellent food, great old AND new friends, loving family and, of course, super shopping.

Sunday morning we woke up to a fabulous Nebraska, March blizzard.  We got in the car and headed west into the storm.  There have been three major snow storms this winter and Nathan and I have been lucky enough to have been driving in two of them.   Three hours later we had traveled the whopping 70 miles and arrived safely in Sutton.  Lincoln, it was fun but oh how nice it is to be home.

Congrats to the Southern Valley Eagles for their first ever State Championship title and best of luck to the Sutton Mustangs in the 2013-2014 season.

P.S. Jentry cried when she discovered the picture of Isaac and me at the game on my phone.  She was very upset that she didn't get to go too.  Maybe next year!?!?!

A Quiet Student?

Yesterday evening I attended my very first Parent - Teacher Conference.  It makes me a bit sick to my stomach that I could even have a child old enough to require such an activity, however I was very excited to get the real scoop on Miss Jentry. 

Her teacher, Ms. Peterson, is very sweet and even took the time to write a summary report of what Jentry has been learning and her progress.

"Jentry follows the classroom routine and rules.  She engages in cooperative pretend play with her peers, and she maintains the interactions with both peers and adults for extended periods of time.  Verbal or visual cues may be needed with Jentry to help her use her words to problem solve with her peers.  She enjoys playing board games and card games, and will sometimes choose the academic activities during choice time, rather than pretend play.  She enjoys creating in the art area and engaging in pretend play in the house area.  Jentry preforms all tasks that are presented to her, and she is cooperative in the classroom.  She has age-level attention during choral activities, music/movement activities, and paper/pencil tasks.  Occasional verbal or visual cues may be needed to redirect Jentry to the task.  She also has good manners, and she is sweet and caring towards others.  She uses a very quiet voice in the classroom."   

Most of what I read was very predictable and expected, however when I got to this last sentence I had to double check the name because my daughter does NOT use a quiet voice!  The teacher reassured me, "She is always very quiet and I never have to ask her to quiet down."  What?  This can't possible be my energetic, boisterous Jentry!  It was difficult to believe, but I took the teachers word to be true.

"Jentry writes her first and last name independently.  She draws a self-portrait independently, and she adds simple objects in her pictures.  Jentry puts together 25 piece puzzles, zips her own coat and cuts out simple shapes.  She is dominant with her right hand, and she uses a tri-pod grasp.  Jentry identifies all of the basic colors and shapes.  She counts objects 1-39, using 1:1 correspondence, and she identifies numbers 1-19 with occasional prompts.  She also identifies all of the uppercase letters, and she is developing phonemic awareness skills to sound out and write other words.  She also has good large motor skills as she jumps, gallops, balances on one foot, hops on one foot, and skips.  Jentry continues to work on ball skills, such as kicking, throwing, catching and dribbling.  We really enjoy having Jentry in our class."

The fact that Jentry needs to practice her ball skills is no surprise to me at all.  If she takes after her mother, she will most likely have very little to possibly zero athletic abilities.  Hopefully this is not the case.

I am very proud of how far Jentry has progressed this year.  Last summer she had absolutely no desire to sit down and color and/or draw.  Sit still?  What? No way!  Now, just eight months later, she is writing and drawing all kinds of things.  This makes me very anxious to see what Kindergarten will do for her this fall.

The Tying Triumph

Jentry had very big news yesterday.  When I picked her up at daycare, she was sitting on a chair and tying her own shoes!  Yes, my four-year-old apparently taught herself how to not only tie her shoes but also finish with a double knot!  Miss Wendy said Jentry just came to her all excited and said, "Look I tied my own shoes."  Miss Wendy said she did not encourage her to practice she just went at it all by herself and after several minutes of trying she had it all figured out. 

Of course, we immediately had to call everyone we knew so that she could share her big accomplishment.  I felt somewhat guilty that I had not spent more time working with her on this milestone task, however I am very proud of her for taking the initiative to teach herself.  She will be one step ahead of her mates when Kindergarten begins this fall.  Way to go Jentry!

If you wanna learn how to tie your shoes
It's a very easy thing to do
Just sit on down and I'll give you the scoop
What's that?
It's called a loopdy loop!
You take one lace in each hand
You go over and under again
You make a loopdy loop and pull
Now your shoes are lookin' cool
You go over and back
Left to right
Loopdy loop and pull em tight
Like bunny ears or a Christmas bow
Lace 'em up and you're ready to go
Just make a loopdy loop and pull
And you're shoes are lookin cool!

Pink Puppy Chow for the Party

We have been focusing on love at our house.  Preparing for Valentine’s Day is always so much fun for me.  I love this hearty holiday for several reasons.

Firstly, my mother was born on Valentine's Day and let's face it.... without her I am nothing. Happy day of birth, Mom!  We love you very much!  Secondly, I love the heart shape.  I love that it is symmetrical and portrays a nice warm, fuzzy feeling without being overly girly like flowers and butterflies.  In addition, I get to assist my very special sidekick in making Valentines for her classmates.  I always love going through the new list of names.  This year we have: Griffin, Aaron, Esae, Katie, Jenna, Adrian, Connor, Adilynn, Landon, Carlos, Ms. Peterson, Mrs. Stone and of course my favorite mate, Jentry.

Jentry is responsible for bringing a snack for the class Valentine's Day party and I found the cutest idea on Pinterest.  Which by the way has become my new obsession ever since I gave up Facebook for lent.  I may be missing the point.  Nevertheless, I so enjoyed making Strawberries and Cream Puppy Chow. 

5oz white chocolate or white vanilla candy melts
5oz read candy melts (found in craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby)
5 cups rice chex cereal, divided in 2 parts
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup strawberry cake mix
1 bag of Valentine M&Ms

1. Put 2 1/12 cups rice chex cereal into a medium sized bowl. 
2.  Slowly melt white chocolate in the microwave, stopping it every 30 seconds or so to make sure it doesn't burn. 
3.  Add melted white chocolate to chex cereal and lightly stir to coat evenly.  Be careful not to break the chex cereal too much.
4.  Add the powdered sugar to the shite chocolate covered chex cereal and lightly stir to coat evenly. 
5.  Repeat the same process with the red candy melts and strawberry cake mix (instead of the powdered sugar).
6.  Allow to dry completely, combine the two kinds of chow together and add M&Ms.

When the chow was mixed and ready, I had two beautiful blondes assist me with filling the individual treat bags.  Miss Jentry and her friend Avery did an excellent job!

The class is learning about the letter P this week.  Pink Puppy Chow for the Party....I have really outdone myself this time!

Jentry is so excited for her class party.  I know this because she said and I quote, "This is going to be the best Valentine's party ever.  I have everything organized and ready to go."  Nathan's is terrified that she is already organizing, however that makes this OCD mama very happy.  She even selected and set out her Valentine's Day outfit three days ago.  Love it!

What a wonderful day to spread the LOVE!

Stripe Out on the Wild Side

Last week I did something I had never done before.  I painted stripes!  Yes, stripes on the walls of my new laundry room and I absolutely love them.  I was a bit intimidated by the entire process and even doubted my decision half way into the task, however the end result was fabulous and it was really quite easy.

Several months ago, I painted the walls a gray color so it was good and dry.  Since then, they installed the floor and ceiling tiles and trim board.  

1. I measured from the ceiling to the trim and divided by seven.  This way I didn't have to paint against the new ceiling or the new white base trim.  Lazy perhaps but I prefer to call this efficient.   The measurement was 87.5 inches and so my stripes came out to an even 12.5 inches.  

2. I borrowed a laser level from the carpenter.  This device projects a red laser light throughout the room and was absolutely the way to go.  I would highly recommend this tool when painting stripes.  

3. I began taping along the red line with green painter's Frog Tape.  Easy as pie and the outcome was super straight lines.  

4. I used a credit card to seal the tape to the wall and ensure that no white paint would bleed past the tape onto the gray.  

5. I opened the new white paint and rolled away.

6.  After I was sure the white stripes had two good coats, I immediately removed the tape.  I did not sit and watch the paint dry.  This allowed the tape to come off very easily.

7.  The result, straight white lines with no bleeding. 

Love, love them and think it is fun to have something a little on the wild side in our home.  OK, OK so it is only white on gray which is fairly subtle and the crazy stripes are hidden away in the laundry room, but this is a pretty big step for me.  The rest of the basement is tan, tan and more tan.  Very neutral.  I did enjoy the challenge of trying something new and appreciate stepping out of my box every once and a while.  I may even try them again someday.  Maybe bolder color choices or more, narrow stripes.  Time will tell, but until then I am enjoying doing laundry again!