Tongues...and the Trouble It Gets Us In

On the drive home from preschool, I asked Tayshaun about his day....

Tayshaun:  guess what, Mom, Marcus got in trouble today for looking at a tongue.


Me:  Why?


Tayshaun:  I don't know.


Me:  Why'd he wanna look at your tongue?


Tayshaun:  It wasn't MY tongue he was looking at, it was Mia's.


Me:  Oh?!


Tayshaun:  That's just radickolus, huh?  I mean reedicolus!  You know what I mean, Mom.  It just makes no sense!!!!

I'm sorry but I refuse to correct his enunciation.  I love to hear his chatter!

Dumpster Diver?

So this morning, I go downstairs to the kitchen and Tayshaun's poking around in the garbage...

Me:  Did you lose something?


Tayshaun:  No


Me:  What are you doing in the garbage?


Tayshaun: I'm looking to see what kind of things we throw away.


Me:  What did you find?


Tayshaun:  guacamole salad with ranch on it, cans, plastic containers, paint brushes, chicken bones.

ok...boys/men are such Ratards!!!!  Gosh I hope this isn't any indication of what's in store for Tayshaun's future.

mod Kitchen or new Camera?

I've been waiting for it for a long enough.  I've talked about it for the last five years.  I've ignored it and and then revisited it many times.  I've consulted with people about its brands, it's accessories, it's suppliers, etc.  And now I think i'm ready to take the plunge.  I wanted to make a good investment because hopefully it will become more than a hobby for me.


When Tisha was in high school, she decided to take photography.  At the time, I imagined that her desire was to be on the yearbook staff, take pics of her friends, and maybe take some pics of snowboarders.  Instead, she came home with various artistic photos captured in a shutter speed fraction of a second.  She rarely shot people but instead, she saw thought provoking and eye-appealing shots of otherwise ordinary things.  She developed photos of an old vehicle abandoned in a field or of structures/buildings at a peculiar angle.  I thought she'd pursue the hobby because I think she had a talent and good eye for it.


My idea of photography has always been to capture family and friend mementos.  But in the past few years my slightly techie inner self has perked up at the idea of photoshop, image editing, and digital photography.  I don't know if I have an eye for it but I figure I'll have fun trying.  I didn't want to jinx myself or I might go back and hide in my shell again before actually making the commitment ot purchase but I think I have some real incentive this year.  And I'd like to practice a little before Miami and the Bahamas.  And poor Tayshaun will be my guinea pig because he already is my main model behind my little Sony touchscreen.  Hopefully, he and Nikon become swell friends very soon.


Drum roll Please!  And here it is.  My final decision....has almost been made.  Awwww, I can't wait!

Next month, I hope to get some shots similar to these 'cause we'll be in the Bryce Canyons/Capitol Reef area:

And of course, we'll be visiting the Bahamas and Miami soon:

And I'd like to take Tayshaun fishing at Mirror lake this summer:

And the architectural photos, Tisha can I get some help!!!

Here's a cool website for an artist/photographer: 

http://www.simoneportrait.com/resume.html

And here's my favorite photo subject..... Tayshaun

You know when you Laugh with a Mouth Full of Milk and it makes it Up Your Nostrils...

well, yeah, that's what happened to me this morning.  I was reading a book while eating breakfast when I came to a part that took me back many years ago when I was growing up with my brother and sisters.  In the summers, we used to go on long road trips and we'd get bored and start irritating each other, usually until one of us got in trouble.  This snippet I'm going to include is from the book I'm currently reading.  By the time I got to the end of this section, I was busting up laughing so hard that the my mouth full of milk made it up my nostrils.  While I was choking and teary-eyed giggling, Tayshaun asked me what I was laughing about so I had to share...

Road Trip…

Since we'd hit the road before breakfast, Mom would wait until the sun was up to unfurl the Pandora's icebox of odors.  In the space of the cramped van, those odors assumed a pungency that was the inevitable prelude to carsickness.  For breakfast, there'd be bruised bananas, and tepid milk in oft-used Styrofoam cups, rinsed out by me and Hannah as the tent came down.  Mom stretched the milk by mixing it with nonfat milk powder and water.  This made us gag, but we each were required to down a full cup.

Then Caleb, chewing banana with his mouth not entirely closed, hollered, "Mom! Rhoda's gonna barf again!"  He prodded my arm with his banana.  "She's holding her mouth!"  Then, confidentially to me "look here."  Caleb held up one of the long stings that sometimes attach between the banana peel and the flesh.  "Lookit, it's coming out of my eye.  Lookit, it's the white thing in your eye when you wake up."

"You're the white thing in your eye, moron!"  replied Aaron.  "Bet you don't know the capital of Colorado.  This raisin is the capital of Colorado.  Watch this," Aaron said, shoving Denver into one nostril.

Not to be outdone, Caleb shoved the moist banana string into his nostril.  "lookitt, lookit, lookit."

"That's lame," said Aaron scornfully.  "That's just a thing on a banana.  This is Denver!"  He retrieved Denver with one sticky finger and wiped it on Caleb.

"Booger Territory!"  shouted Caleb joyfully, flicking Denver back at Aaron.  He missed.  Denver got stuck in Hannah's white-blonde hair.  "Booger territory!  Hannah-fofannah, you got a booger in your hair!"  She began to cry.

"We don't use those words in this family, young man!" barked my father over his shoulder. "Mary, what's going on back there?"

She turned and looked inquiringly at Aaron, the oldest.

"Caleb's saying bad words, Hannah's crying 'cause there's a raisin in her hair, and Rhoda needs to puke."

My mother unexpectedly focused on the raisin.  "How did that raisin get in your hair?"

"Caleb put it there."

Mom got stern.  "Caleb, you eat that raisin right now.  We don't waste raisin in this family."

"But--"

"Not a peep, young man.  You Eat. That. Raisin."

Caleb sulkily ate the raisin that had been in his brother's nose, but he made powerful retching noises that helped me along.

"Um, pull over.  Rhoda needs to throw up."

Parent Teacher Conference

Where does the time go?  My baby is almost in Kindergarten.  He entered preschool focused on socializing.  At the beginning of the school year, he'd bring home his coloring projects that were obviously done very quickly (mainly in a black or blue crayon).  He was probably trying to hurry so he could go outside to play.


In the past few months though, it's as though the lightbulb has blinked on.  That's not to say that he hasn't been learning all along but lately it just seems like he's retaining so much more. 


Last week Tayshaun asked me if 51 came after 50.  He was in the backseat of the car the other day, singing a little song and naming all the months of the year.  The other day I heard him reciting 10, 20, 30, 40.....and so on.  He's always trying to quiz me in arithmetic; he's absolutely sure he's going to slip me up.  I do sometimes forget that 2 + 3 is 5.  He's such a patient teacher.


Today I received Tayshaun's progress report where he was given glowing reviews.  His teacher says he's learning with the older children.  He picks up his assignments quickly.  He's especially good in mathematics.  For the summer, she wants him to work on recognizing the names of the alphabet.  He has his sounds down but he sometimes forgets the names of some of the letters.


Here are some items that Tayshaun's passed off on his Progress Report

• days of the week
• months of the year
• pledge of allegiance
• number recognition
• counting in 10's
• counting to 100
• colors
• geometric shapes
• writing his name
• telling time using o'clock
• telling time using half past
• tying his shoes

There are several other items he's passed off but these were just a few I listed.  I'm so proud of this little boy!!!!!

And the Training Wheels Were Removed

Just before the end of the summer last year, we took off Tayshaun's training wheels. I didn't take him long to realize that he was going to need to learn how to balance so he insisted that I put them back on. Chicken!



Today, Tayshaun's preschool had a bike-riding day. He told me that kids were going to take their tricycles, bicycles, and scooters. He decided to take his scooter. When I picked him up, he told me that LOTS of kids had taken their 2-wheel bikes - WITHOUT the training wheels. So needless to say, he was anxious to get home and give his bike...training wheel-LESS....a try. I asked him if he was sure about it. I told him that we could practice for a while and then take off his training wheels. But he felt confident that if the other kids could ride without them, he could. When we got home, we packed the bike into the car and took it to a gas station to pump up the tires.



When we got home, I took off the training wheels and told Tayshaun that we needed to have some supper before we practiced riding the bike. So I went into the house and started warming up yesterday's take-out and went back outside to check on Tayshaun. And to my surprise, Tayshaun was riding his bike like a pro. He's so funny!!!!!