Triple C! Class Character Caleb

The Rams way!  No, not the once mighty, once hi-octane, once loaded with weapons St. Louis Rams, sorry, not this time.

Rams way is a slogan that the Southeast Polk school district teaches to their students.  It's the "pillars of character; respectful, always responsible, manners, and safety.

Throughout the school year, the teachers are able to select kids who they feel fit that definition.

Robby got Kid of Character back in October, I believe it was, after not getting it last year.  He was bent when the last week of school rolled around and they selected the final KoC for the year and he was not it...

So fast-forward to the 4th week of January and we find out that Caleb, Master C, Calebber, Marvin McNutt, Lil' Crunchy, Curious George, C-Lab is receiving the Class Character award!

What does that mean?  

Well, they have a ceremony at school in front of classmates to honor the current gaggle of Class Characters, they get a Rams Way dog tag, and the kiddo gets their picture and a short write-up (the first photo below) put up in the RAMS Way Wall Of Fame at school.  

That's Caleb getting his dog tag necklace from the skool haus prinsabull, Mr. Mohning.  His Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Riordan, is the lady in the blue'ish shirt at the microphone.

There's the lad in high water pants and his Hawkeye jersey getting some love from his teacher.

The "gaggle" I spoke of earlier. The current crop of Class Characters.

After the ceremony, they play some fun little games of various styles and Robby got to play in one of them.  I wasn't there, so I didn't get to see exactly how this game was played.

Robby "won" the game, he says.  That's him in the uh...  football jersey.

Triple C and his new dog tag necklace.

I was only going to include one of these similar photos, and I initially selected the one above because of the look on his face.  However, I melt when ever he smiles like this so I thought that I had to include this one as well.  Stinkin' cutie.

So there we have it.  One more reason to be a proud Daddy!  As if I needed another one...   =-)

It's a party!!

Funny things just sometimes happen.  This is one of those times.

This was an invite that Caleb came home with, but it wasn't just for him... it was for Robby as well.

I smudged the address and phone number for obvious reasons, but you can get the idea.  It took me a week or so to figure out the 'JB' part of it.  I think it means, "Just boys".

You can't make this stuff up... nor would you want to. 

But funny?  Yes, indeed!

Random Happenin's from the 'Hill, 2013

Doesn't seem possible that kids (and Momma!) are heading back to school, and I'm beginning my second week of work in the new year, but that's where I find myself.

Since our last visit, Momma organized a play date with one of Robby's friends from school.  The went to Incredible Pizza for lots of games and, uh... pizza, along with other food.  Then they came back to our house and played like a bunch of wild donkeys.

It was a big day of playing that all three boys did not want to come to an end and did everything in their power to prolong it.

Saturday was the first rounds of the NFL play-offs and while neither game was great, it allowed me a good reason to sit and do absolutely nothing all day long as I was not feeling great. 

I also had the boys go out and clean some of the snow off the deck as well since the temps were supposed to be a little warmer and we had thus far neglected it since the pre-Christmas snow storm.

They did some good work.  I had cut a path over to the steps from the door, but my back does not enjoy that kind of work anymore. 

Caleb likes this kind of work but I had to threaten Robby to get him out there.  And of course, after he's out there for 40 minutes or so, he says, "Dad, this work is hard, but it's also kinda fun!".  Typical Robby.

The ham n' eggers jacking around as the ham n' eggers do.

And Caleb got hold of the camera again, which is not necessarily the most desirable thing but as a general rule, he's pretty careful.  The problem is that you usually have to delete about 400 photos of random things like curtains, blankets, balloons and so on.  This time though, there was a delightful self-protrait of himself. 

Sunday was round two of the playoffs and saw Daddy getting crazy bad sick again. I'm growing quite weary of this feeling somewhat decent for maybe a week/10 days and then have another couple of days where I feel incredibly bad, like today! 

Oh well, it too shall pass.

Robby began swimming again for the new semester this afternoon.  He really seems to enjoy it and has his first swim meet next Saturday afternoon.

That's about all of the happenin's from our humble abode. 

Happy New Year!

2012 came and went seemingly before I even noticed!

Oh sure, that's not 100% true, but it seemed to go really dang fast!  My dad used to say, and I used to mock, "the years go faster and faster as you get older.".  That concept seemed stupid to me at the time, but how do you argue with a know-it-all teenager in the prime of his/her life?

I digress.

In the year when I turned 42 years old, we saw a small Chinese boy of crazy beauty take over our lives and change our perception of "normal". 

Poor Robby... he went from the first born, center of attention to first born of two kiddos, 50% of the parents attention and the "normal" one when it came to education, and the apple of one small Chinese boys' eyes.  That's certainly not a dig on Calebber, but a reality when you consider the learning curve that he has to catch a 4.5 year old (on Got'cha day) up with the peers of a new country.

Robby has made Caleb's transition to American "everything'ish" so much smoother that neither Caleb or Robby will ever know.  That being said, I think there is a "security blanket" relationship that goes both ways there, especially when it becomes bed time.  Caleb will flat out refuse to go to bed without his big brother and Robby will go to bed without his little brother, but will find excuses why they should end up in the same room / bed / couch / blanket on the floor / whatever else.  It's sweet, to say the least!

Calebs teachers have been outstanding in the help they have given him and continue to do so.  He has learned so much and occasionally surprises us with a 5 or 6 word sentence that makes every day exciting, if not mildly frustrating, as we work with him.  The key is to remember that if we are 10% frustrated, he is probably approaching the 80 - 90% frustration level with us.  His whole world is at least on it's side, if not totally upside down!

So as he got a break from school and the pressures he must feel from the current kindergarten curriculum (as well as mom and dad working with him) he seems excited and possibly even a little reluctant to go back to school.

In addition to all of the Christmas celebrations that we had, we had fun sledding in the back yard, playing games of Wii football, Tetris and other stuff.  In fact, we've played three games of Washington-opoly, our new game from our friends, the Gonsalves in... you guessed it, Washington D.C. 

Funny thing happened yesterday.  We had played two games of Washington-opoly as a family of four but Momma has made it clear since about a year after meeting me, that she is not interested in playing a full game of Monopoly ever again.

So Robby, Caleb and Daddy sat down to play the full version of the game, regardless of how long it took.  Caleb was eliminated after roughly 2.5 hours but Robby stayed with daddy (a.k.a.  Tycoon Teddy!) for a full six hours!  Six complete hours!!! 

Craziness!

One other fun thing that has happened over their break from the skoolhaus, is that Momma and their Aunt Dianne, with cousins Samuel and Jonah in tow, went to the Science Center of Iowa for a full morning of fun and discovery.  They seemed to have a good time and Robby especially seemed to learn a few things.

The most fun part of that for Daddy was when Momma called home and told me to turn on the 12pm news for channel 13.   They were broadcasting live from the Science Center that day (for weather) and Sam, Rob and Caleb were on the first time with Robby on the air another 4 times, I believe.  Cute indeed.

Other than that, we've all been sick to various degrees and that's getting a little old.

Daddy went back to work this week while momma and the boys will go back to school next Monday. 

It's probably time to get back to more routine schedule, but when Caleb and I were outside filling the pick-up tires to proper inflation levels (that's a whole 'nother story!), I asked him if he was excited to go back to school next Monday. 

His response was quick and decisive.  "No, Daddy.  No more school.".

2013 should be an adventure!!

Let's get it started!
Ted