23 posts tagged “strider”
Yesterday was Miles' 3 month birthday, so I whipped out the camera to take what has become my goofy traditional 3-month shots of the boys. They all have worn the same outfit (given to Strider by Aunt Katie and Uncle Dan, back when they were students and shopped at the Nike Outlet in Grove City! Thanks, Kate and Dan -- it's been a long-lasting gift, as you will see below) They also all have the same silly toy bat in the picture --and is anyone else, besides ME, impressed with myself that I have been able to find that same toy for each photo shoot? Usually this house is a black hole for toys and other items -- things disappear, never to be seen again when I actually want them!
Anyway, see if you can match up the right boy with each picture (answers below):
I'd venture to say they look like brothers!
And, thankfully, they have a sweet sister that they can take care of -- and who can take care of them! It's a big task for her, but she says she can handle it.
[Answers to the picture quiz: 1.) Colsen, 2.) Strider, 3.) Strider, 4.) Miles, 5.) Miles, 6.) Colsen ]
Last weekend my dad took Strider camping, along with 80% of the Dreschers. Then, on Saturday, my mom brought Rayna up for the day, too. Needless to say, both kids LOVED it. I've been hearing stories about it all week. And just like I used to, Strider gets most excited about the food when camping. (When dads are in charge, we all know what kind of "meals" are made) My favorite quote from Strider, though, was "Then for breakfast, Uncle J. made pancakes, and then he drownded mine with 2% maple syrup"
"2% maple syrup? What's that?" I asked.
He said, "That's what it said on the bottle! The other 98% is all chemicals."
So there you go.
Here are a few pictures of them loving the outdoors this past weekend...
Heard randomly throughout the day sometimes...
Rayna: Sports. Sports. Sports. Sports. Sports.
Me: Why does she keep saying that?
Strider (with his devious grin): She's trying to annoy me. I told her I didn't like that word, so she keeps saying it. But I tricked her.
Upon learning about adverbs (that most of them end in -ly)
Strider: I guess Dolly Parton is an adverb.
As I was serving some salad
Rayna: I want some of those....those... leperchauns! (She really meant "croutons" -- we don't have them in salad very often, obviously!)
During a conversation in which Colsen and I were pretending he was 38 years old:
Me: Where do you live these days/
Colsen: California
Me: Oh. What job do you have?
Colsen: I'm a goldfish
This morning:
Colsen: Hic… hic…. Hic
Pete: Colsen, do you have the hiccups?
Colsen: Yeah. Can you buy me a new mouth?
Said about 10 times a day:
Me: Go put the…. in the….you know what I mean.
Said about 8 times a day:
Me: I just need to ….. get the.... you know.... for Cole-I-mean-Ray-I-mean-Miles.
[NDD (Noun Deficiency Disease) is evidently stronger than ever with me.]
Funny things said by Pete recently
N/A
[He's been too busy and stressed to be funny lately. Apparently students aren't the only people who find the end-of-semester time hard!]
Today at lunch, completely out of the blue
Strider: I really wish I could find the area of a circle.
Me: What? Why?
S: Because then I could have PIE!
Talking about his future in baseball
S: Well if they aren't going to let me play, I'm going to sit on the bench and chew tobacco.
Me: Great.
As we're driving in the car
Rayna: This is the most beautiful country!
Strider: Rayna, this is the only country you've ever been in.
While sitting in her "time out" chair after doing something she shouldn't have
Rayna: Mom, can I get down now? I forgive you!
.
After hearing Strider tell me something I that was excited about
Rayna: Mom! Mom! I wanna tell you something!
Me: What?
R: Umm...There was this man.... and let's see.... what did he do?....
On his truck
Colsen: Look, Mom, I'm on my skateboard! Can you take a picture of me so I can see it?
Twenty minutes after I sent him up for a nap
Colsen: Hi Mom, I'm awake now!
Me: Cole, you did not sleep.
C: Yes, I already did!!
But this is what he looked like.... I think I was right.
I realized recently that I needed to teach Strider about Roman Numerals. Apparently his Singapore Math workbooks never cover this, and I figured he needed to be exposed to this numbering system -- at least so he can read a formal table of contents or the random clocks that only have that type of numbering.
So I sat down and made out a whole sheet of symbols and translations ( I = 1, X = 10, etc) and then made a sheet of problems for him to translate for homework. I called him over to the table, and before I could even start the lesson, he picked up the homework sheet and said, "Oh I can do this." Not believing his cocky little self, I told him to go ahead and try. About 5 mintues later, he brings me the finished sheet -- all correct! And these were problems like "Translate XXXIX and CCCXLIV."
"HOW did you know this??" I asked him.
He answered, "Mom, this isn't hard. The Super Bowls are all in these kinds of letters, so I just figured it out awhile ago. I just needed to look at your sheet to find out what "C" and "L" stood for because the Super Bowl doesn't go that high."
I, personally, had thought that the little tricks like you have to put a "I" before an "X" to get 9 were a little complicated, but apparently not.
So, thank you NFL for taking care of this math lesson for me.
Of course, when Pete came home last night, Strider announced, "I already knew all about German Numerals today for math when Mom wanted to teach me".... so I guess I still have a little teaching to do.
Today was the Closing Ceremony for Classical Conversations!
For 24 weeks, Strider and Rayna have been part of this academic program (here's the national web site if you're interested), and today was the end for this year. All the families gathered together for a program that all the classes put on, and for the handing out of awards. Here are a few short videos of the pieces our kids were in.
(Miles is trying to sing along in the background of the video above)
Each child received a character award: Rayna got an award for "enthusiasm" and Strider's was for "wisdom." Rayna also received an award for memorizing John 1:1-7 in English and in Latin, and Strider got an additional award called "Memory Master" for learning all 562 facts (comprised of geography, math, English grammar, Latin, history, science, and timeline cards) that the kids worked on throughout the year. We are very proud of them both for working so hard.
This program was so good for our kids -- we're very thankful they got to do it this year. And our friend Kate did a GREAT job directing it all -- I think the program is about 90 kids big, so she had a huge job being in charge! And it's her 40th birthday tomorrow -- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATE!
Strider wanted to recount our April Fool's Day, but says he types way too slow. So this will be me (Amy) typing, but Strider is doing full dictation!
Yesterday, April Fool's Day, I had a great day, starting really early in the morning when I went and got my dad's underwear and put it all in the fridge. Then I got socks and threw them at my mom in her bed as confetti. And then I went in Rayna's room and got her clothes and threw them at her when she was sleeping. Then we got all the balls in the house and put them in the pantry, so when my dad went to make breakfast all the balls were in there! And when I got dressed, I found all my clothes were in the wrong drawers, so I punched my mom. Just kidding -- hey there's YOUR April fool!
Then we went to our Classical Conversations co-op for our last week. We came home from that, did some more schoolwork, then did some more April Fool's tricks, such as hiding all my mom's underwear. When Colsen woke up from his nap, he had clothes all over him, too. I threw them on him (laughs)!
We played outside for awhile and when we came in, my mom told us that she had burned dinner, so she gave us these really weird cupcakes instead. The cupcakes had potatoes for the frosting and meatloaf for the cake part!
And I played a trick on my dad saying that a guy called for him named Mr. Lyon and I gave him the phone number to call him back -- of the zoo! My dad went to a meeting and we stayed home to watch American Idol.
And that's it!
This picture cracks us up... Strider's class, which happens to be all boys, having a very girly baby shower for their teacher, who is expecting a girl!
A recent conversation...
Colsen: That's Tony Romo? [Pointing at the football game on TV]
Strider: No, that's Matt Ryan.
Colsen: Why?
Strider: Because this is the Atlanta Falcons. The Cowboys aren't on right now.
Colsen: Why?
Strider: Because they are all done -- they didn't make the playoffs.
Colsen: Why?
Strider [turning to us]: Man! Answering all these "Why" questions is HARD!
Pete and I share a knowing look, and a chuckle.
We went caroling tonight with some friends, which was a highlight for all of us. On the way home, we were trying to talk about how meaningful it was and asked the kids about their favorite songs.... but Rayna just kept singing "Shrek the halls with boughs of donkey" all the way home. This was NOT a song we had caroled.
And last week, the ever Mr. Literal-and-Practical Strider was listening to "What Child is This?" The only comment he had about this beautiful (and rhetorical) song was, "This song is weird. It's too easy! It's Jesus!"
He also doesn't like one of the Oak Ridge Boys' Christmas songs (this album from 1982 plays daily at our house throughout the whole Advent season) called "Christmas Carol" because he thinks it's dumb to write a carol about a carol.
So, the kids' wackiness notwithstanding, the merriment continues. And we wish you all a Happy Christmas Eve Eve!
