For Stephanie and Laura

A "Real" Friend

"What is real?" asked the rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you, and a stick out handle?"

"Real isn't how you were made," said the Skin Horse, "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real. It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time...Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been rubbed off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Margery Williams
From The Velveteen Rabbit

I know that this is an excerpt from a kid book, but it is meaningful to me. I love this book. I was especially reminded of you both when I read the part about "when a child loves you...not just to play with, but really loves you." It is nice that, even though we can play, that our friendship is more than that There is something deeper there that is far more important than the surface garbage that today's world seems so obsessed with.

Thank you, Stephanie and Laura, for loving me even though my "hair has been rubbed off and my eyes drop out" It's nice to have people who want to be friends through it all! You are a blessing to me and I just wanted you to know it.

Field Day

Friday was officially the last day of school for Benjamin. They had a Field Day at school. Now, just because they don't have a field doesn't mean that they can't have field day.... The kids had a great time together. It was nice for them to leave on such a high note. Here are some pics from that.

Sidewalk chalk time. They got to write on the side of the building, the fence, the tables, etc. Benjamin's teacher wrote "Kindergarten Rocks" on the fence and the whole class wrote their names around it. Since Benjamin's name has an obscene amount of letters in it and he is trying to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, he just wrote his initials.

Have you ever tried to play musical chairs with 11 kindergarteners? No? Smart!!

Class picture at the end of the game.

There was a sports time in the schedule. Benjamin was not interested in soccer, bowling, horseshoes, or golf. He loved this giant basketball hoop. Every time you got it in the hoop, you got 100 points! If you missed, you got a free shot.

Then he moved on to the more advanced level...briefly.

Basketball is tiring!!

Mary Shannon agrees!!

There was face painting and tattoos.

And what Texas event is complete without a snoball?

"Mrs. Benjamin's Mom, what colors are our tongues?!?"

Relaxing at lunchtime--the last event of the day.

And this picture isn't from field day, but I forgot to put it in last week. I thought Mom and Dad Bulgrien would like it. It is from their ABC days. This was "U" day. They did an umbrella parade around the courthouse. The newspaper even came out to see it and put the kids in the paper!

Hot Diggity Dogs

Brookshire's has their Ball Park hot dogs on sale for .99. If you combine that sale with the B1G1 Ball Park hot dog coupon, you'll get them for .50 each. If you don't want to drive all the way out to Brookshire's (like me) just price match it at Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart also has the Bar-S hot dogs for .49. If you use the $1/2, you get them free!

Kevin and Benjamin will be going on a father/son camping trip with church next weekend, so these will be great for that trip.

The effects of gravity on Olivia's head

Today she landed forehead first on the concrete sidewalk. This left a mark right in the middle of her forehead. Then she did the exact same thing on the kitchen floor. This didn't help the lovely red mark any.

Then she ran into the corner of the kitchen table with the side of her head. She then decided to make her wounds symmetrical and ran into the table with the other side of her head. (Okay, so this really isn't gravity...but just roll with it.)

She gets to excited about where she is going and starts trying to run. But, well, that just isn't working out quite yet.

Needless to say, she wasn't really up to any photos of her injuries, so you will have to use your imagination.

Anyone have a crash helmet that they're not using?.....

Our Little Graduate

Today was Benjamin's very special day at school. He was very excited about his Kindergarten Graduation!! He has been telling me about this event for 2 weeks now. He's been practicing his songs and prayers. Yesterday he even made sure that I knew the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, The Pledge to the Bible, and the Pledge to the Christian Flag. He was rather impressed that this old mom of his knew those.

Well, here are the pictures from his big day! He was so proud of himself he could hardly stand it.

Entering the sanctuary to "Pomp and Circumstance."

The Lord's Prayer. He really got into it!

The graduating class.

Mr. Benjamin!

He loved his tassel. He couldn't keep his hands off of it. Good thing that the got to keep it.

After the graduation ceremony all of the children and their friends and families got to go and have cake and punch. The kids chattered and were very excited. We all looked over the scrapbooks that Mrs. Young spent unbelievable amounts of time on. She made individual ones for each child. They're very special! They were also given bibles for their age.

Benjamin and his "Texas Grammy," Evelyn.

Benjamin and his favorite classmate, Valerie. He said that he is pretty sure he loves her. "She is so nice and has very pretty hairs," he declared.

Benjamin and his half-day buddy, Christian (L).

My little guy wore a tie! It wasn't too close to his neck, so no gagging, etc.

Benjamin and Grammy cutting up!

Benjamin and his AMAZING teacher, Mrs. Young.

They really do grow up so fast. I love you, little Benjamin!

Interview with a 5 year old, Part 2

1. What is something dad always says to you?
Put up your shoes

2. What makes your dad happy?
That I play with him

3. What makes your dad sad?
If I don't listen

4. How does your dad make you laugh?
He tickles me A LOT!

5. What was your dad like as a child?
A baby.

6. How old is your dad?
45

7. How tall is your dad?
60 feet

8. What is your dad's favorite thing to do?
Play Crossfire.

9. What does your dad do when you aren't around?
He's at work.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
Fixing computers.

11. What is your dad really good at?
Fixing computers.

12. What is your dad not very good at?
Building airplanes.

13. What does your dad do for his job?
Earn money at Vertex

14. What is your dad's favorite food?
Vegetables!

15. What makes you proud of your dad?
That he can fix computers, my favorite things!

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
Spiderman

17. What do you and your dad do together?
Play Crossfire.

18. How are you and your dad the same?
We both have a guitar shirt.

19. How are you and your dad different?
All of our other shirts are different.

20. How do you know your dad loves you?
He tells me.

21. What does your dad like most about your mom?
That she goes and buys everything.

22. Where is your dad's favorite place to go?
Work!

Interview with a 5 year old, Part 1

I have seen several people post these, and I thought that they were cute. So, I sat down with Benjamin and did one this afternoon. We did a Mom and a Dad version. Here's the Mom one:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Clean up your room

2. What makes your mom happy?
That I love her

3. What makes your mom sad?
If I don't listen

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tickles me.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Funny!

6. How old is your mom?
16. Is that right? (I say no, I'm 30) Can you write 30 then?

7. How tall is your mom?
25 feet

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Play with me.

9. What does your mom do when you aren't around?
Clean the house.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Studying...even though you don't do it.

11. What is your mom really good at?
Cleaning the h-o-m-e (he has taken to spelling everything lately)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Spanking

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Clean the h-o-m-e

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Chinese, no, um....

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When she cleans MY room

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Girl Superman

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Sometimes clean the house (you'd think I have no other life), and sometimes play Wii racing.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We're both 13. (LOL!! Perhaps he means that we are the same, in that, neither of us is 13. *shrug*)

19. How are you and your mom different?
We don't have the same shirts.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She tells me that she loves me infinity.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
That Daddy can fix her computer

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Wal-Mart