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I hope that all those with kids who went back to school this week managed to survive the last minute panic of 'Back to School' shopping for calculators and compasses, not to mention the most hideous task of all - sewing in bloody name tags. Ugh! Just the thought of it makes me break out in hives.
At Ethan's last school in the UK, every last piece of clothing - even his socks (I kid you not) had to have name tapes sewn into them. No biro scribbling allowed on the washing instruction labels either let me tell you. Only proper printed name tapes, sewn on with proper thread would suffice. When my Mum was still with us and she would come and visit over the summer (the timing of which was not accidental), she would quite happily sit all afternoon with a giant pile of uniform neatly sewing in labels with the tiniest of stitches. Bless her! She had far more patience than I'll ever have. I seem to recall the last time I conducted the exercise, I stitched the opening of two of Ethan's socks together and one of his jumpers to the arm of my cardigan! **snort**
Thankfully, I have been spared this task here so far as last year Ethan managed to swerve P.E (or any type of sporting activity for that matter) as the requirement to graduate Middle School here is only 2 years of PE and as he had already done it every year in the UK he was deemed to have met the requirement and could choose to do Media Arts (in this case designing/making video games) instead if he wanted to. No prizes for guessing which way that decision went! Therefore, with no reason to ever change out of the clothes he left here in each morning, I decided not to bother. **smugface** This year though, being his first year of High School, there is to be no escape from the dreaded PE, although as this term takes the form of 'Health' (yes, the irony is not lost on me) I have had a reprieve until January.
This past Monday, was Labor Day here in the US and so a holiday weekend. On Monday morning (well, I think it was still morning when he finally emerged from the teen cave), Ethan announced that in addition to the list of books they are reading in English this year, he also had to have a 'personal book choice' which had to be a physical book and could not be on his Kindle. Cosmic.
"Oh, and by the way, I need it for tomorrow ..." **rolls eyes**
Luckily, as everything here seems to be open whether it is holiday or not and nowhere is more than a 15 minute drive, we headed off to Barnes & Noble so he could choose one. We are all avid readers in our house, including Ethan (who can get through a book a week!) so this was not a hardship for him however, as we all have electronic reading devices, none of us had frequented an actual bookshop in quite a while. As soon as I opened those doors and that first whiff of 'new book' smell wafted over me, I realized how much I had missed it! I have always loved books and as a little girl would look forward to those Saturday morning trips to the library with great anticipation and excitement (no Kindles in those days and a trip to W H Smiths would only be allowed if I was lucky enough to get a book token for a birthday or Christmas present). I would wander up and down the aisles several times, making sure I had given everything due consideration, before carefully making my selection and couldn't wait to get back home to snuggle down on the sofa and be transported into another world. What would the Famous Five get up to this time, and surely no-one could manage that much ginger beer without being sick? Ahhhhh happy memories .... although those girls at Mallory Towers have a lot to answer for ...! I heard on the news recently that here in America, physical books are now regaining their popularity over e-books and after our trip to the bookstore today, I have to say I can see why. It was also very busy in there so it would seem others concur.
Anyway, these are the two books Ethan chose for this month - apparently they can add as many as they want to their list each quarter ... great ... they certainly don't come cheap. Sadly the library has never been an option for Ethan as he will not entertain a book that someone else has read **sigh**. Trust me, the amount he gets through I have tried several times! Not that I mind really. I can think of worse things that he could be doing that reading!
At Ethan's last school in the UK, every last piece of clothing - even his socks (I kid you not) had to have name tapes sewn into them. No biro scribbling allowed on the washing instruction labels either let me tell you. Only proper printed name tapes, sewn on with proper thread would suffice. When my Mum was still with us and she would come and visit over the summer (the timing of which was not accidental), she would quite happily sit all afternoon with a giant pile of uniform neatly sewing in labels with the tiniest of stitches. Bless her! She had far more patience than I'll ever have. I seem to recall the last time I conducted the exercise, I stitched the opening of two of Ethan's socks together and one of his jumpers to the arm of my cardigan! **snort**
Thankfully, I have been spared this task here so far as last year Ethan managed to swerve P.E (or any type of sporting activity for that matter) as the requirement to graduate Middle School here is only 2 years of PE and as he had already done it every year in the UK he was deemed to have met the requirement and could choose to do Media Arts (in this case designing/making video games) instead if he wanted to. No prizes for guessing which way that decision went! Therefore, with no reason to ever change out of the clothes he left here in each morning, I decided not to bother. **smugface** This year though, being his first year of High School, there is to be no escape from the dreaded PE, although as this term takes the form of 'Health' (yes, the irony is not lost on me) I have had a reprieve until January.
This past Monday, was Labor Day here in the US and so a holiday weekend. On Monday morning (well, I think it was still morning when he finally emerged from the teen cave), Ethan announced that in addition to the list of books they are reading in English this year, he also had to have a 'personal book choice' which had to be a physical book and could not be on his Kindle. Cosmic.
"Oh, and by the way, I need it for tomorrow ..." **rolls eyes**
Luckily, as everything here seems to be open whether it is holiday or not and nowhere is more than a 15 minute drive, we headed off to Barnes & Noble so he could choose one. We are all avid readers in our house, including Ethan (who can get through a book a week!) so this was not a hardship for him however, as we all have electronic reading devices, none of us had frequented an actual bookshop in quite a while. As soon as I opened those doors and that first whiff of 'new book' smell wafted over me, I realized how much I had missed it! I have always loved books and as a little girl would look forward to those Saturday morning trips to the library with great anticipation and excitement (no Kindles in those days and a trip to W H Smiths would only be allowed if I was lucky enough to get a book token for a birthday or Christmas present). I would wander up and down the aisles several times, making sure I had given everything due consideration, before carefully making my selection and couldn't wait to get back home to snuggle down on the sofa and be transported into another world. What would the Famous Five get up to this time, and surely no-one could manage that much ginger beer without being sick? Ahhhhh happy memories .... although those girls at Mallory Towers have a lot to answer for ...! I heard on the news recently that here in America, physical books are now regaining their popularity over e-books and after our trip to the bookstore today, I have to say I can see why. It was also very busy in there so it would seem others concur.
Anyway, these are the two books Ethan chose for this month - apparently they can add as many as they want to their list each quarter ... great ... they certainly don't come cheap. Sadly the library has never been an option for Ethan as he will not entertain a book that someone else has read **sigh**. Trust me, the amount he gets through I have tried several times! Not that I mind really. I can think of worse things that he could be doing that reading!
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Now that I find myself living in Arizona, it is quite disconcerting to be well into the second week of September and still be putting on shorts and a t shirt each morning, feeling relieved to get inside into the air conditioning as temperatures are still reaching 100 degrees and mourning the upcoming end to the monsoon season in another week or so (not sure if it knows that?!) There is a slight hiny of a change creeping in now though. Not sure I would ever describe it here as 'Autumn' as we know it, but the mornings are ever so slightly cooler than they were over the summer and it gets light a little later and dark a little earlier. Other than that it seems to be business as usual, although having now been here through two Septembers, at least I do know that the cooler weather is coming ... eventually ... just not quite yet!
It doesn't seem to prevent everyone here pretending that 'Fall' is here though ...pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks, the shops are full of pumpkins and pine cones and halloween decor/ridiculous costumes (I can feel another outing to Target with Mr B coming on). Hobby Lobby even has it's full array of Christmas trees and baubles on display! You may recall that in a recent post I mentioned that I wanted to make an autumn wreath for the front door (you can read about that here) - well, I set about making one following this video tutorial from MayMay Made It Crafts in case you fancy having a go. It was surprisingly easy to do.
It doesn't seem to prevent everyone here pretending that 'Fall' is here though ...pumpkin spice lattes are back at Starbucks, the shops are full of pumpkins and pine cones and halloween decor/ridiculous costumes (I can feel another outing to Target with Mr B coming on). Hobby Lobby even has it's full array of Christmas trees and baubles on display! You may recall that in a recent post I mentioned that I wanted to make an autumn wreath for the front door (you can read about that here) - well, I set about making one following this video tutorial from MayMay Made It Crafts in case you fancy having a go. It was surprisingly easy to do.
I finally added the finishing touches to it this week and can't wait to put it up now but Mr B says it's still too early **sulky face**. What do you think? (might have to get another hanger - not sure the green christmas one really works!)
I can't wait for some cooler weather now so that I can get back into my cooking & baking groove. I have made the odd cake ...
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| ... might just leave it up - he probably won't even notice! |
I can't wait for some cooler weather now so that I can get back into my cooking & baking groove. I have made the odd cake ...
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| ... still searching for that perfect chocolate cake recipe - this wasn't it |
... and a tray of brownies or two over the summer, but somehow I am just not inspired to be in the kitchen cooking when it's 115 degrees, even with air conditioning. Plus it's so easy (not to mention reasonable) to eat out here, especially during the summer months when most restaurants are less busy (as anyone with an ounce of sense and somewhere else to go clears off from June to Aug!) and who doesn't prefer eating out to shopping for, cooking & clearing up after a meal given the choice? OK, you can put your hands down now.
Which reminds me ... when Eldest was over he introduced me to the blog of a friend of his, Rosie. If you are a fellow foodie and especially for my friends that live in Brighton, you might want to check it out. Click on the link Rosie's Puddings and Pies for refreshingly honest restaurant reviews, recipes and all things Brighton food related. I love it!
Well think that's about all for another week. Hope all your little (and not so little) students have settled in without too much stress and worry and you are brushing up on those maths skills ready to help with the dreaded Algebra homework! On the subject of algebra, I thought I would end on a humorous note with this classic rant from the legendary Billy Connolly (NB: don't watch if you're averse to the odd four letter word!)
Which reminds me ... when Eldest was over he introduced me to the blog of a friend of his, Rosie. If you are a fellow foodie and especially for my friends that live in Brighton, you might want to check it out. Click on the link Rosie's Puddings and Pies for refreshingly honest restaurant reviews, recipes and all things Brighton food related. I love it!
Well think that's about all for another week. Hope all your little (and not so little) students have settled in without too much stress and worry and you are brushing up on those maths skills ready to help with the dreaded Algebra homework! On the subject of algebra, I thought I would end on a humorous note with this classic rant from the legendary Billy Connolly (NB: don't watch if you're averse to the odd four letter word!)
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again next time.
TTFN
Bev x
TTFN
Bev x
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