The Beauchamp FamilyYes, we really are this geeky…

I absolutely must brag on my children. They both got really really good grades!

Jamie got 2 As and 3 Bs. 2 of those Bs were 89s, so just one little point away from an A. Here’s how they broke down:
Reading – 86
Written Comp – 89
Social Studies – 89
Math – 92
Science – 93

He received “satisfactory” in PE and Art and an “excellent” in music. The only “bad” grade he got was a “needs improvement” in the citizenship department because he doesn’t work well in groups and he doesn’t always pay attention (welcome to my world, teacher lady!) It’s no surprise he doesn’t do well in groups. I get annoyed when I have to work in a group too. I’m just 35 years old and have learned to grit my teeth and deal with it. *laughing*

Cassie did very excellent as well. She doesn’t get actual grades, but I don’t think I’ve seen a B come home from that child. She’s super dedicated. Her report card was all 3s and 4s with a few 2s thrown in. The only 1 she got was in technology because they hadn’t done it yet. Yeah, the kid with her own blog and has a computer in her room. Cute.

At any rate… mommy brag over. I am quite proud though!

Cassie let me take a video of her playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star last week. She’s getting pretty good at it. She’s gotten better even in the past week, speeding it up a little and letting her fingers move faster on the strings. I’m pretty impressed seeing as she’s only been at it for a few months. (be warned, she’s a little squeaky in places, this is not the symphony folks!)

Maybe Jamie will let me post him playing clarinet soon too.

So, Saturday night both the kids lost teeth. Cassie lost that top one that had been loose since April (not kidding) and Jamie lost his first molar. I did end up pulling Cassie’s for her. She has really weird teeth, they don’t seem to dissolve all the way and they start poking her and she starts complaining and I can’t take it anymore so I reach up and tug it just a little and it pops out. So there’s no real “pulling” going on there – I just need relief from the constant whining. I seriously cannot take it.

So, I yanked her tooth out. After many tears beforehand, I yanked it out and she didn’t even know it was out. Of course.

I had promised we would have a sleepover on the living room floor and watch Tooth Fairy, the movie. So that’s what we did. We laughed and giggled in all the right places, etc etc.

I started to fall asleep when Jamie comes over and tells me “hey mom, my tooth is getting looser”. I told him that was great and it’d probably come out next week. Next thing I know, I’m awakened by “Mom! It’s out! My tooth is out!”. He had worried it until it came out.

It’s funny he’s a lot like me when I was a kid. If I had a loose tooth, I’d play with that thing until it came out. Not Cassie, she protects and babies her loose teeth until they are hanging on by a thread. He had quite a bit of blood (on his face, on his shirt – where he had wiped his fingers) so we got him cleaned up and all set.

So, all that was left was for the tooth fairy to come… which, of course, meant that Tom and I had to come up with some evil thing to do to our children (yeah, that’s not a college fund people, that’s a therapy fund)… here’s the morning after…

So yeah, they were disappointed more than thinking she was silly. It’s still kinda funny though

That’s it! I quit! I want off of this mommy train NOW please. First, you should know that I’m weird about germs and hygiene. I have a very high ick factor and get grossed out pretty easily. If a kid pukes and misses, Tom, who is a saint, has to deal with it. I simply cannot. Dog accidents? I’m out. So imagine my horror when my BFF called to tell me that her daycare had an outbreak of lice and her daughter (who spends about 36 hours with us each week) has them. Ewww… ewww… ewww…

Tom checked our kids, but didn’t see anything, but I (who am crazy and psychosomatic) spent most of the day scratching my head and SWEARING I could feel something crawling on my head. After dinner I decided to check the kids to be sure. Found a louse in each head (can I, again, say “Ewwww”)? And what might be a few nits in my girl’s hair. Ewwwww…

For those of you who have never had to deal with this… it could very well end a marriage. I’m not kidding. First, you have to wrangle two children, put this goop in their dry hair, let it sit for 10 minutes. Oh, that’s the easy part because then you get to rinse it out and spend an hour with a fine-toothed comb hunting in their heads for nits, dead (or dying) lice. This sounds easy, but the hair is about the consistency of dry hay. My kids were really good about sitting still, but I could not IMAGINE doing this on a smaller kid or one that hadn’t been threatened to within an inch of their lives (what? Did I say Ewwww?)

Oh, but in the meantime, you’ve washed every sheet, pillow, towel, stuffed animal, and comforter in sight. You even dig up the stuff you packed away from 2 months ago and wash it again (ummm… okay, maybe that’s just me). Can we say Ewwww? When that’s done, you have to do your own head. Oh, but not your HUSBAND who is freaking bald anyway (thus the photo). Your husband gets to do your head and you start to eye the knife block in the kitchen as he drags this “comb” through the straw that is now your hair.

It wasn’t fun. We had some stuff that couldn’t be washed, so it’s in a plastic bag in the garage so they’ll starve or whatever.

Tom didn’t find anything in my head, thank goodness. I didn’t want to take a chance though. The bad is that I had just colored my hair so it was already a little dried out, but adding the other chemicals, it was like steel wool hair. We did a deep condition too. Ugh. Cassie, we found a few nits, maybe 7 or so lice. Jamie, we only found one little louse. I’m sure more were in there that washed out or whatever, right? I don’t know how this works.

If I never ever ever get to do that again, it’ll be too soon.

Oh, wait. You’re supposed to do it ALL OVER AGAIN in seven days. Score. Not. My advice? Buy extra lice shampoo if this happens to you – and don’t count on your husband to find those little buggers!

And yes, I realize that nearly ever kid gets lice and it doesn’t mean my children are dirty or gross or anything, but… ewwwwww!!!

I’m going to get a massage tomorrow morning. I deserve it. *shudder*

There were BUGS in my child’s HAIR. Crawling around. Seriously.

I just found this and it reminded me of why Cassie wrote it…

A couple of months ago, she called me from school saying that *I* forgot to put her library book in her backpack. Yeah, you can imagine how that went over. Lead bricks. I did, however, find it and schlep it up to the school after reminding her that it’s not MY responsibility to keep up with HER stuff.

My favorite part is the “We forgot to read the book.” – cuz, ya know, something has to be my fault right? *laughing* She did come that night an apologize. Little Brat.

I have this weird thing with Cassie (tell me I’m not the only mom that tortures her children). Any time she tells me another mom did something really cool, I ask her if that means I’m not her favorite mommy anymore, it makes her giggle. I always proclaim that the other mommy is OBVIOUSLY her favorite mommy now.

Cassie came home from the neighbor’s house on Friday with a mini pencil and a silly bandz (I hadn’t heard of them either until very recently). I was joking with her after her shower that Mrs. Neighbor was now her favorite mommy. She was giggling when I asked her who her favorite mommy was and she stopped and got really serious. I thought she was going to be mad because I was picking on her, but no. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, “No. You’re my favorite Mommy.” I asked why and she replied, her voice full of seriousness and sincerity, “Because you are MY Mommy.”

Dammit. She almost made me cry. Yes, sweetheart, I certainly am your mommy.

Jamie has been sick, home from school the past 4 days. I took him to the doctor on Tuesday because he said he had a sore throat when he swallows and his tummy was hurting. I thought there was a chance he had strep because those are the two tell-tale signs. It was negative (whew!) but he still didn’t eat hardly anything all week. On Wednesday night he was crying in his sleep because he had an earache. Back to the doctor yesterday and he has an ear infection. It’s been quite a week.

When the kids are sick, we let them sleep on the floor in our room or in bed with me (poor Tom takes the sofa). Last night, we moved the mattress from Jamie’s bed into our room on the floor and he sacked out there.

Cassie comes in dressed this morning while I’m brushing my hair. I had music playing (Single Ladies) so she and I were dancing around, being silly. Cassie announced it was a dance party morning. Jamie sat up on his bed and started bouncing up and down and said, “That means I’m the bouncer!!”

Heh. Yup, it’s Club Beauchamp apparently.

Oh, and the photo is Jamie reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman on my Kindle. Little thief

So, my kids are Webkinz freaks. Especially Cassie.If you don’t know what those are, count your blessings. They are basically stuffed animals. BUT they each come with a code. If you enter the code into their website, you can start an account and play with your animals online and add them to your account so you have a house with a bunch of Webkinz. I think Cassie has something like 19 of these things.

When you buy one of these overpriced stuffed animals, it comes with one year of service. So, by my math, that means my kid should have like nineteen years of Webkinz time, right?

Um. Not so much. It only gives you one year from the time you enter the code. So you have to buy (or enter a code) at least once per year. It’s not even the point that my kid won’t get at least one per year. She’s obsessed and when she’s not obsessed, she won’t buy them anymore or care about the online thing. It’s not the point, it’s kind of a rip off.

But that’s the rule and if you look under Account Expiration on the FAQ page, you will see it.

Just kind of lame. Having said that, they did help a friend out when they had a house fire earlier this year. I’m still annoyed though.

On February 11th, Cassie turned 7. Yeah, I know! She was JUST born, I’m pretty sure! She insisted on a Bakugan party with bakugan cakes (thank goodness for Tom, I was so in over my head!), her best girl friends, and a sleepover afterwards with pizza and snacks. So speaketh the princess, it shall be done

Tom rocked, the cakes turned out fabulous (although I kept making boob comments cuz I’m 12). He copies the designs from 2 of Cassie’s favorite bakugan ball things.

Here’s the party crew checking out the cakes

Cassie, of course, blew out the candles

She opened gifts

The all posed for a silly picture

I kinda got told to go away during the sleepover. Oops.

… and Daddy made pink heart-shaped waffles for breakfast the next morning. Yes, he is awesome.

Earlier this year was Science Night at the school. Cassie did an optional project for the science fair. She did an experiment to see what would melt faster – an ice cube, an ice cube with sugar on it or an ice cube with salt on it. She was quite proud of herself! The kids also got to do some activities. The favorite was the static one. They put their hands on a ball, the volunteers turn it on and voila. Crazy hair! Check it out!

Here’s Cassie with her project. And yes, that dress is totally retro. In fact, I bought that dress for my sister when she was Cassie’s age (my sister is now 23).

And the crazy hair photos: