Shuga, Ah Shuga Shuga

So, I found this in my email yesterday, (this is only part of the email). And I must say it has turned into a fire storm.

Dear parents,



I'm writing this from one parent to another. And maybe as a plea of sorts. Now that our children are in 4th grade, they now have 30 classmates. Which mean 30 birthdays. Here is a list of the treats your kids have consumed in the last 6 days...



8/22...Cupcake

8/23...Sugar Cookie with icing

8/24...Popsicle

8/25...Glazed Doughnut

8/26...supersized popsicle

8/29...rootbeer float



I'm not sure that all parents are aware of what has been consumed and which birthdays have fallen so close together. I'm assuming most kids don't come home and readily give up this information. Mine don't. I just happen to be picking them this year and have seen the evidence.



What was my response?

Thank you for your thoughts Juli (Julie is not the one that started this crazy emailing she just had something good to say), I love what you said! Very diplomatic and well said. I feel that these kids aren't going to want treats much longer for birthdays because it won't be "cool". I can say my kids tell me when they have a treat and it's just that.....a treat. It's like a right of passage. I remember when I was a kid and looking forward to birthday treats that I could share or my friends could share. Our kids are still getting excited about it, not embarrassed and we need to celebrate that.

I admit I was one of the parents to bring something in for my child. I loved to see the excitement on his face knowing he was going to share a Popsicle with his class. It gave me joy to see him so happy sharing something so simple. It also put a smile on my face to see all the kids enjoying a nice cold treat on a hot summer day.

While I appreciate the concerns of other parents I also feel it is up to the parent and child to determine what they will bring in. As Juli said it would be a sad day if the school decided that we had to have some sort of protocol for sharing treats on special days. It is our job, as parents, to teach our kids to make good decisions and know when to say no. I hate to admit this too, but it is my job to be the "bad guy". Playing the "bad guy" is teaching our kids boundaries, giving them structure, teaching them morals and values. Nobody said parenting was easy.

The parent who wrote this email wrote several more and has taken ALL the response emails and pasted them to a new email to try and start a school wide ban on birthday treats. Is it hard to teach our kids to say NO? I realize given the choice to say yes to a treat or no is tough, but these kids are in 4th grade and they know how to make smart choices.

Does there have to be rules and regulations for everything? Don't we have enough of those? Why can't kids be kids and enjoy sharing something special?

This One's For You Aunt Spicy

A few month's ago a girlfriend of mine asked if I wanted to join a craft/quilt block group (Thanks Christie!) The group has only met twice. The first meeting, which I missed, was to choose colors. The group decided on 12" blocks that are Red, White, and Blue......An Americana quilt just in time for the 4th of July Holiday.

I had gone to the quilt store to see what they had and I found the cutest fabric that had stars on it. I bought it and then enlisted help from one of the first Quilting bloggers I met here in bloggy land....Aunt Spicy. She sent me over to another blog with the cutest block ever. It's the Wonky Star Tutorial. That's my block below, The Wonky Star.

A pretty little heart made out of left over scraps. Some of the other hearts had buttons sewn on them too. They turned out awesome.

I'm a beginner quilter so I am unable to tell you the names of the rest of the blocks below. I just know they turned out lovely and I can't wait to start piecing the quilt together.

I like how this one has some beige instead of white. It gives it a different feel, an older rustic feel.

Another block of the same pattern as above.

They are all so unique. It's amazing that we all chose different variations of the colors. Not one fabric was duplicated. We all live in the same town and hit the same fabric stores.

I love that they are all different. I just need to find a way to coordinate them into a lovely Americana quilt.

This Summer: The A List

This summer:
1. Sent the kids to All Sports Camp.....twice!

This is important for them. It gets them out of the house, keeps them active, allows them to socialize, and just go play fun games with new and old friends.

2. I took they boys to Tahoe.

They have never been and we got a cabin for super cheap. They got to hang out at the local park, eat a ginormous ice cream cone, and just be.

3. We took them camping to a different lake this year.

Our usual spot had a ton of snow still so we went to a new place where we could fish, 4 wheel, and watch others get stuck, break their rigs, and be foolish when it came to rock climbing.

4. We went to the beach.

We live about 30 minutes from the beach and hardly ever go. I decided last minute to take them and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We even had the pleasure of seeing dolphins swim along the shoreline.

5. I planted about 29 tomato plants.

I'm still waiting for them to turn red. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we have a super hot spell so that they turn red in time for the Tomato Harvest party we host each summer.

6. Luke turned 10.

He is a decade old.

7. Trevor will turn 9.

How time flies.

8. I took the kids to Family Camp.

We went with 3 other families. The kids got to do some archery, carnival games, raft down the river, and just run wild. Little supervision was necessary.

9. I took the boys to Great America.

All 3 of them went on their first ever upside down ride.....The Demon. Found out Luke is not a fan of roller coasters.

10. We went to Raging Waters.

I went on the new ride Bombs Away while my kids went on every other ride the park has.

11. The boys have been brushing up on math and reading this summer.

While none of them are too pleased about it they are practicing math skills with a program called IXL and reading some books that one of the teacher's sent home with me. It hasn't been easy, in fact we have encountered a lot of tears, but it will keep them fresh and remembering some things over the summer.

How has your summer been?