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Wm has discovered a love of NPR. His favorite thing to do is listen to podcasts of NPR programs while he has a snack or is getting ready for bed. Steve never listens to NPR. He listens to sports radio. Because he sucks and is boring. So, last night, I had my first ever discussion about an NPR program over dinner! Wm and I had both heard a morning news show about implicit bias in teachers. It showed that teachers discriminate both by gender (boys ARE evil, so I kinda get this one) and by race. I asked Wm how he felt about the fact that his teachers could be treating him differently because he's male and he goes, "I certainly don't feel good about it." Ha! Basically, black students and male students are more likely to get in trouble and to receive a more severe punishment for the same issues that may be ignored in female or white students. It included all the science behind it and Wm was very interested in the eye-tracking software they used. It's fun to have someone to talk about this stuff with - thank god Wm is a tiny nerd!

Speaking of the tiny nerd, Wm is wearing his little cardigan today since it's chilly. He looks ADORABLE. I asked him if he liked his cardi and he goes, "it's AWESOME." Yaaaaaas.

News

Wm yesterday afternoon: "I like the new iOS 10 update that shows the news when you just swipe. I like to stay on top of the news. Do you know the first debate is tonight? I am going to watch."
(And he did!)

Superfun Times

We have had a great weekend! Grandma and Grandpa came into town yesterday to watch Wm's soccer game and hang out. Mimi and Guy also came to cheer Wm on and then we all went out to lunch at the Rusty Bucket. Steve was also the recipient of an awesome new grill that his parents brought and he is REALLY excited about it. He has been thinking of all kinds of things to grill. First up, bison/black bean burgers on twig-filled buns!

In awesome "I told you so" news, I am right and Steve is wrong and he was forced to say the words, "you were right." BOOM! This doesn't happen often, so I'm really enjoying it. Wm and I typically go and do our grocery shopping early Sunday morning at Whole Foods while Steve is at work. He's home in time for lunch and the groceries are put away and we are ready for the week. I usually spend about $150 on a week's worth of groceries. Steve grumbles every single week while we eat lunch that he could get stuff for SO MUCH LESS if he went to Kroger. So, this week, he decided not to go in Sunday morning since he worked his ass off last weekend. I told him it was the perfect time to test his theory and sent him off with the list to Kroger. And guess what? $153. AND, I refused to eat any meats from there, so he didn't even get the salmon or chicken we need! So it would be even MORE since I would have bought those things had I been at Whole Foods (or should I call it The Bargain Grocery Store, perhaps?) Steve is very contrite and I am victorious. IT FEELS AMAZING. Needless to say, I am bringing this up as often as I can.

Then, after the grocery trip of joy and happiness and Cory's rightness, we went apple picking with Suzanne.

Wm did try a few apples while we picked!

Steve scouting

Found a winner!

The fake bite was a fun pose...

Blue skies and sunshine...and 80 degrees!

Suzanne giving things a try!

Wm picked a bushel

Apple galette

I made Steve a Mediterranean quinoa for dinner and a low-sugar apple galette for dessert. While he was eating it, he goes, "this isn't very sweet." I told him he didn't have to eat it if he didn't like it and he goes, "No...I'm enjoying the torture." He also liked the quinoa! Winning!! I made him a baked oatmeal that he LOVED. So I'm figuring this business out. On the flip side, I made Wm some brownies today. Steve is quite jealous, but he didn't eat any!

Wm is now off at the playground with friends. And I am not getting off the couch until bedtime.

Random Stuffs

Steve had his physical and discovered he has high cholesterol. So I have put him on Cory's Diet for Health and Wellness. He is NOT pleased about it. One bit. But I don't care. His new, heart healthy, diet includes lots of fiber and plants and the cutting out (or way down) of: sugar, alcohol, refined grains, trans fats and caffeine. Basically, all of Steve's favorite things. I have been making him eat oatmeal for breakfast and he's a real grump about it. He was not pleased when he saw my meal plan for next week - which includes lots of quinoa and beans and veggies. I AM making him hamburgers one night! But I am using bison and also making them half black bean. And his will be on one of those whole grain, twig-filled buns. He's pretty annoyed because Wm and I will continue to eat our delightful fluffy breads and buns because our cholesterol is great. Well, I'm assuming Wm's is great. He's 10. I KNOW mine is. Suck it, Steve!

We went to the Open House/Ice Cream Social at Wm's school last night. His last one!! I talked to a couple moms and got some good intel. One told me that the principal at the middle school never replies to her emails either, so it's confirms she sucks balls. Then, the other mom has an older kid in 7th grade. She said he really hated the middle school, had a bit of a freak out about it, and transferred to the Gifted Academy. He really likes it there! So that could be an option for Wm. It would mean an hour long bus ride each way, which isn't ideal. We'll tour it, anyway, and see what it's like. Wm would like to go there because that's where 99% of his friends are headed. But we shall see....

Wm has gotten into a strange app wherein he replaces everyone's head with a cat head. No idea why.

Breakfast Buds

Wm has destroyed every dining room chair he's ever sat in through vigorous and intense activity (such as rocking it back on its legs, leaning on it weirdly, and dancing around in it). So we decided he no longer gets a chair and put a bench on that side of the table. It's impossible for him to break a bench! The added benefit is that Schroeder now has a place to sit next to him. They are Breakfast Bench Buddies. We took these pictures of them this morning:

Steve captured the BBBs eating some toast and being cool

I got them eating yogurt and looking sleepy

You will also notice that Wm got a nice haircut yesterday! His school pictures are next week, so we needed to groom him up.

Wm not only destroys chairs, but he is King of Crumbs. He could make crumbs when eating pudding. I swear to god, that kid is the messiest human alive. So this weekend, I told him he had to vacuum the dining room because it was littered with peanuts and cheerios from his trail mix. He got on it!

Working hard!

As expected, he did a craptastic job. But, he's figuring it out and he did try his best. I just had to go over it again when he was distracted so it was done in an acceptable manner. Wm is pretty nice about helping around the house. We are currently working on rinsing our dishes and putting them in the dishwasher consistently. I do, however, wonder if that kid is right in the head sometimes....

Me: Hey, please make sure to put the water bottle from your backpack on the rack.
Wm: OK. [goes and gets water bottle]
Me: Don't put it next to the sink. Put in ON THE RACK. You keep putting it next to the sink like it's dirty, but you need to use it tomorrow!
Wm: Got it. [sets the water bottle next to the sink]
Me: WILLIAM!!!!
Wm: What?
Me: You are killing me! PUT. THE. WATER. BOTTLE. ON. THE. RACK.
Wm: Oh. OK.
Me: [intense inner monologue about idiot child that I repressed so I won't damage him - just glared at him while he smiled sheepishly]

Yesterday was a long day, but right before I left, a student brought me homemade cookies she had put in the cutest little jar as a thank you for writing her a reference letter! They were GOOD. We feasted on them after dinner. It is a bit like rolling the dice since some crazy ailment is tearing through the student population like wildfire. She looked healthy and there was chocolate involved...and we like to live dangerously.

Dangerous

OH! Also, this is just fun. Yesterday, I called out, "hey, poopface!" and both Wm and Steve immediately went, "what?" HAHAHA! Trained 'em up right.

Fat Blob

Wm and I had a very busy day! We woke up and Wm wanted pancakes. So I decided to make him some (Steve is usually the Pancake Master). When I poured the first one, I realized something was wrong. I forgot the baking powder. So I basically made him a crepe. Wm declared it disgusting and didn't eat it. Luckily, I realized my mistake, added the baking powder to the rest and salvaged the remaining pancakes!

After Pancake Catastrophe, Wm and I went on a long Pokemon walk. When we got home, he had to get changed and we headed to his first soccer game of the season. Mimi came to cheer him on! Wm, however, spent most of his time dancing. Here are 3 time lapse pictures of said dancing:

Wm did have a great game despite the dancing! Here is a video I took of him kicking the ball, even on the ground after he fell! Wm risking life and limb for the ball. They won 5-2.

After soccer, Wm took a fast a shower and then headed over to his friend's house to collect him and bring him back here. They hung out all afternoon. His friend headed home when Steve got home from work and it was dinner time. After dinner, we walked up to Whit's (which FINALLY opened right at the top of our street!) and got some frozen custard!

Enjoying life

Also enjoying life...but tired.

Steve had to get up and out the door at 5:15am. So he is exhausted. He has to do the same thing tomorrow. His brain must be in a fog, because this just happened...

Schroeder was laying with his belly all out on display as if requesting a belly rub. So I reached down and scratched it. His response was to evilly bite me and then look offended when I yelled. So then, 5 minutes later, I saw him splayed out fatly on the floor with his gut blubbering out and his tail slowly flicking all around in his evil repose.
Me: Look at you, you fat blob. You just lay around my house. You eat my food. You don't contribute anything. And then you BITE ME.
Steve: Bite you?
Me: Yeah - he bit me!
Steve: Who bit you?
Me: The cat!
Steve: Ohhhhh.
Me: Wait. Did you think I was talking to you?
Steve: Yeah.
So, apparently, Steve thinks it would be normal of me to call him a fat blob and then imply that he is a freeloader...and bites.

Einstein

Wm is on a field trip today. He is pretty excited about it! They are studying ecosystems, so they are going to a metro park for some program called SEED. I think one of those e's stands for "ecosystem." Wm came in first in his class in some science thing they were doing at school, so he fancies himself the next Einstein and has declared that science is now tied with math for his favorite subject. Today is also robot day in Math (every Friday is robot day), so it's a day of wonders for Wm!

Steve works this weekend, so he was off on Wednesday. I took the day off and we had a blast! We took a long walk, went out to a fancy lunch, and Steve got to go to Dick's and I got to go to J.Jill. So Wm and I will be left to our own, evil, devices this weekend. He is supposed to have his first soccer game of the season tomorrow, but the forecast is calling for thunderstorms, so that may not be happening! He had practice last night and he got very sweaty and his hair was wild. Here he is trying to take a picture of it:

Nailed it.

Then, here is when I actually wrangled my phone away from him and took a picture of it:

And, just for funsies, here is a picture of The Buddies hanging out, like they do:

Fast Pecker

Wm was whining about keyboarding (again) and said, "I just hunt and peck, I don't need to touch type. I am a fast pecker!" He was very confused when Steve and I started laughing and laughing.

We went and finished up all of Wm's fall clothes shopping yesterday. Steve got a couple things too and is all happy. I am washing Wm's little fall jacket today. I'm ready for some cooler temps! Wm has the cutest little fall clothes! Mimi got him some adorable things, including a little Irish-looking sweater, and, yesterday, I got him a tiny cardigan! He looks SO CUTE in it! If I can talk him into a little bow tie, I will have lived a full life. His school picture day is in 2 weeks and it's still pretty warm, so I have my doubts about cute fall clothes appearing in his picture. Sadly.

Steve and I are heading to our most favoritest restaurant of all time tonight for our official anniversary dinner tonight. My excitement knows no bounds!! And Wm is insanely thrilled because he is going to Mimi's and getting a Donato's pizza.

Tough life.

Poem

Wm had to write a "metaphor poem" for school. I loved his so I made him recite it while I recorded it.



Wm is very frustrated because they have started a keyboarding unit at school and he's terrible. They use some computer program that makes a loud buzz when they hit a wrong letter, and if they hit too many in a row, the word "FAIL" splats up on the screen. Wm is not used to not doing well at school. Or even not excelling easily at school. So he was VERY grumpy about keyboarding!! He has his own strange method and hates the home row and how they teach keyboarding. It's good for him to suck at something in school once in a while!

Also, I am taking 100% credit for Wm's brains since Jess sent me THIS LINK!

Fiddlin'

I don't know if you can tell, but Wm's face is aglow with 3 screens in this picture:

iPhone, iPad, and MacBook: Appletastic!

Wm had his violin lesson yesterday. He played a GREAT Can-Can. I am super sad that I only thought to take a video when he was nearly done! But, here is a taste of Wm rocking out:



And here he is playing a quick trio with the student arriving for the lesson after his:



Wm is also the sweetest. I was sitting on the couch yesterday and he came downstairs and gave me a big hug and said, "I'm so grateful for you." <3

I'll end with a funny story. Wm and Steve went out yesterday, despite the heat advisory, and did a very intense Pokemon Go search. They both came home just drenched in sweat. I went to sit next to Wm to hear about his adventures and said, "Omg, dude, you stink. It may be time to get you some deodorant!" A couple minutes later, I went into the kitchen and was like, "Hm. It smells in here too." Then, when I went into the living room, it still smelled. Which is when I realized that 'twas I who smelled. Wm was fine. We have staved off puberty for another day. And I needed to go take a shower...stat.

And a VERY happy 17th anniversary to The Best Husband Ever!! Wm was amazed that Steve and I have been married for 17 years. I told him he could be driving now if we had had him immediately after marrying!

Long Weekend

It's been a fun long weekend! On Saturday, Mimi took Wm to see the BFG and then we went over for dilly bars in celebration of Guy's birthday. Wm cannot shake his crazy cough (he sounds like an 80 year old smoker!), so The Boys decided to lay low on Sunday. Meanwhile, Suzanne and I took a hike and went out to lunch. When I got home, Steve repaired our front stairs (for $17 - as opposed to replacing them for $900!) We figured there is a fairly good chance we will move in a year, and we won't recoup the money we'd put into them. Wm is majorly horrified that they look spotty now and says he is going to paint them himself!

Today, Suzanne and I went to Polaris and did some shopping. Which was super fun...but then Steve grumped around about my purchases when I got home (apparently $20 is too much to spend on an Aveda volumizing hair tonic - and I MAY have discovered an awesome store called Madewell that is slightly pricey). So I let him buy some 99 cent app and he was appeased. He's easy to distract.

After lunch, we took Wm Pokemon hunting at Antrim Lake. We thought we'd just stroll around leisurely, but it is 9,000 degrees and we are all hot and sweaty and gross now. But Wm got some Pokemon he is all happy about. He is now in his room quietly. I think we wore him out! Mission: accomplished.

Some random pics of the last few days:

Nerds doing nerd things. Wm in front being most enthusiastic. 

Wm capturing a Pokemon

Antrim - and baking in the sun

Disconcerting

The bus came yesterday! WOOOT! Wm said it was weird being on a giant bus with 3 other kids, but otherwise, everything went smoothly. FINALLY.

They are do a robotics project in Math. It sounds super cool! They are building robots that run on a little track. They have to code the robots to know the angle of the turns, how far to go before turning, when to stop, etc. So they are using Math, Engineering, and Coding. Very nice!!

Wm came home with his State of Ohio 4th grade proficiency tests. The scores went: Limited-Basic-Proficient-Accelerated-Advanced and tests Math, Reading, and Social Studies. Wm tested Advanced in all categories. BUT, it also had the state, district, and school averages so you could see where your kid was in relation to others. Wm's school average was Accelerated or Advanced in every category. The state averages were Proficient in every category. But, the district average was always either Limited or Basic. Wm was looking over the results and saw the district averages and goes, "Well....that's disconcerting."

School Update

Well, the bus has still never arrived to take Wm and his amigos back to elementary school after they finish at middle school. Every day, a parent has had to go transport the kids. The principal of his elementary school (who has no dog in the race here - she is just a saint), said she would go today if the bus didn't come. The Tiger Mom who waited outside initially sent a scorched earth email to THE WORLD about it last night and, we think, got it sorted. So hopefully the bus comes today! Wm seems unconcerned about the bus situation. He still doesn't like the school because he says it is hot and dirty. He was very mad yesterday because they did MAP testing in the computer lab and the other kids in there were noisy and no teachers intervened. He was all, "it was crazy!" Wm is pretty much on board with getting out of dodge before he would start there full time next year!

Last night was Curriculum Night at Wm's elementary school. It turned out to be a pretty big waste of time because more than half the night was dedicated to math, which Wm will not be doing there. And then they talked about Reading for most of the rest of it - and Wm is in a special pull out class for that. So nothing really applied. Steve bailed halfway through. But I stuck it out until the bitter end to hear about camp! And it sounds awesome!! They didn't really talk about it much, BUT, I did find out that the camp goes from May 3-5. Sooo, Wm leaves for camp ON his birthday! I thought he'd be upset, but when I told him, he goes, "AWESOME! Best birthday present!" So, that's good!!

They also talked briefly about Momentum, the dance class they do. Apparently, they have a big show in the spring at the Capitol Theater! I am SO EXCITED! I told Wm that they also ended their ties to Ballet Met, so it's NOT ballet. They called it "athletic movement" and said it will be like a game for the kids. So Wm is marginally more excited about it!

Wm and Mimi have started reading Lord of the Rings! It is like a million pages, so it should keep him busy for a while! He just finished Tuck Everlasting. Guess what the first book they are reading at school is? You guessed it: Tuck Everlasting. He told his teacher that he already read it and she was all, "No, you didn't! You have to read it, Wm!" And he said (SPOILER ALERT), "Winnie doesn't drink the water and dies - it ends with Tuck going to see her grave." So the teacher goes, "Well, read it again - you'll pick up different things." HA! I love his elementary school. I am going to miss it!