Kyle's School Shopping Trip

The older two would live in blue jeans and t-shirts if we let them. Kyle is a completely different story. Here is the list of things that Kyle chose when we went school shopping:

• -8 button down oxford shirts


• -5 ties (2 clip on and 3 that work like slip knots)


• -3 pairs of dress pants (need to find more in his size)


• -1 pair of black square-toed dress shoes


• -1 pair of khaki shoes that aren't quite dress shoes and not quite tennis shoes


• -dress socks


• -underwear (of course)


• -"wife-beater" style undershirts to go under the dress shirts.

I have to admit I am kind of glad that the suspenders were to small and that the sweater vests are not out on shelves yet! Also very glad that he doesn't go to the local public school. If he went anywhere else, he might come home with a bruised eye (or ego at the very least). Here, he will probably be very well-received.

Ode to Gretyl

The boys both start school August 25th, but G has an extra two days. She begins the first day of highschool on her birthday. Poor thing :( I think it will be good for her to get back to some kind of normalcy.

Maybe when she turns 15, it will be magic and all of the teenage drama will come to an abrupt halt. (we can dream, right?) If I don't kill her first, I am certain she will grow into quite an extraordinary individual. Right NOW, however, she is somewhat of a royal pain in the ....elbow??

We are so proud of her individuality, she is constantly amazing us. A while back, she was obsessed with Leonardo DaVinci. She spent HOURS practicing writing with her left hand, backwords (so you could read it in the mirror). I'm not sure if Leonardo was left handed, she just has something about left-handedness. She seems to be willing herself to be left-handed--because it is less common.

Yes, Big G spends most of her life swimming upstream, against the current. This is my child who refused to read the Harry Potter books. I thought she just wasn't interested in them. Long about the time book 7 was due to come out she couldn't refrain any longer and read the first 6 over a two week period and drug me to stand in a horrendous line at midnight to buy book 7. (of course we also saw it the next morning at the corner CVS--where there were no lines!) She explained that she didn't want to read them before because everyone else was reading them. Very cool. Kind of makes the speech about "if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?" a little less meaningful. I have it tucked away, though, should I ever need it in the future.

Though she doesn't know how to play the american version of chess, she somehow researched and studied up on Japanese Chess. She made her own little paper board and pieces and everything. Very interesting game, actually. They have extra pieces and they move in very unique ways. Makes my brain hurt, though.

Sometimes she spouts things out in foreign tongues. I don't know what prompts her to learn some of the things she does. I think she said something about us not appreciating her art the other day. In Italian. She asked me to purchase her spanish II text book online so she could study it over the summer before school started. She loves foreign languages (or so she said today). She got a book from the library today on ASL (American Sign Langauge). Her little cousin just turned 4 and they suspect he has almost a total hearing loss in one ear and very limited amount of hearing in his other. He may be attending a special school for the deaf. So she is all set to learn sign language now.

Well, this post was supposed to be all about how the kids are starting school and what all we have to do and the greatest, awesomest, best news ever about Keenan's school for next year. But I guess that will have to wait...oh yeah, and I guess I should change the name of the post to be something more in line with the subject matter. Very little about school in here!

Even Dogs Need Manners

Keenan was very funny this evening. He was using his words very appropriately and although he wasn't happy about a myriad of things, he was telling each of us (including the dog!) what we were doing *wrong*. At one point he was thorougly frustrated with Gretyl and I as he was trying very hard to tell us something and he felt that we were interrupting him. In reality, though, it was just a crazy time of the night with dinner and all the mess that goes with it and everyone all in one place. He finally felt as if he had our attention and could continue with his saga when the dog started barking. He leaned down next to Chester and said very seriously, "Chester, You're interrupting me and that's rude." So cute:-)

My Strong Little Man

Kyle was particularly laid back this morning! It could be a fluke. I like to think that this is the miraculous result from only four days of not eating artificial colorings, flavorings, and preservatives. Time will tell. I asked him as we drove to school and he ate his banana, if his body felt any different since eating only *good* foods. I saw his little head nod emphatically in my rear-view mirror. Really?? What feels different? He told me he was feeling much stronger :-)

Not the point of this thing at all--but far be it from me to argue when he was so pleased with his results-LOL.

The New Bread Maker

So, we have decided to try and get back to the basics. We're cutting foods with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and general gross and unpronouncable items from our diet. I feel really good about it. The kids are cautiously optimistic about it and Chris is completely on-board with the whole thing.

Domestic--I am not. Somehow I have managed to make it through 15 years of motherhood and three children, without ever really getting into the whole cooking and baking thing. I am sure it has something to do with my saint of a husband who could whip up something out of ketchup, baking soda, and freezer-burned lima beans if need be.

That being said, I am pretty sure he enjoyed the stranger in his kitchen that he came home to this evening! Armed with a bread maker I found at the good will for the bargain basement price of $5.99, and several natural recipes, I was on a mission. I had even managed to find the manual for my second-hand b-maker online. By 7pm, I had all the ingredients in the machine and home made bread was less than 2.5 hours away.

In another part of the kitchen I had *whipped* us up macaroni and cheese from scratch and it was cooking in a crock pot. (Mind you, I don't really go into the kitchen and *whip* anything up--ever.) Add to that, the quadrupled batch of dry ingredients I mixed together for our own homemade pancake mix (we should have enough to last us until G Graduates in 2012), I think I made more *homemade* items tonight than I have altogether this millenium (sad but true).

The macaroni looks as though it was a success. The bread finished up an hour ago and the house smells soooo good. I let the bread cool for this entire time and have made several attempts to slice the bread into sandwich slices--as my original intention when I bought the machine was to never buy store bread again.

The first few times I went to slice it, I managed to slice of the ends. Those wouldn't be good for sandwiches--and I had to make sure it tasted okay, didn't I?? So of course I ate both of the *butts* off my yummy loaf of bread. I decided it was just too warm to cut, because it was soft and squishing as I tried to cut it.

I waited 20 more minutes and tried again. I managed to slice off one slice that was not even really a slice. Way too thin and not even a whole slice. What would anyone do with such a small piece. Waste-not, want-not. I ate that too.

Not wanting to repeat my blunder, I sliced off a thicker piece but it was way to thick for a sandwich. This bread was not cooperating!! Still too squishy and somewhat warm. And thhis last piece was so crooked, it was an embarassment to see. I was sure I had better slicing skills hidden away somewhere within. I needed to get rid of the evidence. So--I ate that slice as well.

So now I have roughly 1/2 of a loaf of bread left. I don't want to leave it out to go stale. Not my beautiful bread :-(. I am bewildered as to how to go about making it into sandwich slices, though.

Ebay! Now if ever you need something, but aren't quite sure what it is, ebay is just the place to go. I have found countless items that I didn't even realize I was looking for on there.

I found several bread knives, but I seriously doubted they were superior to my own. After all, its practically never been used (on bread at least). I may have used it once or twice to cut some windows out of cardboard box houses once. And quite possibly, in a pinch, on some carpeting. But that is it.

After a very short search, I realized what I needed was a bread slicer. Good old ebay. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. I have seen these at Panera. They are very quick and efficient. Thin, thick, tailor sliced to your exact specifications. Never crooked. I can hardly contain my excitement. And some of the cheaper countertop models started around $500! I saw a used full-sized model that stands on the floor, but wherever would I put it?? Let's be reasonable:-)

So, to recap before I head off to dream about my wonderful healthy, preservative-free bread: I found quite a bargain today with the breadmaker, but I ate half a loaf of bread, and I now all I *need* is a $500 bread slicer.

Here We Go!

Hola & Welcome!!

Reasons for beginning this blog include:

• Life gets a bit crazy and we don't always do a decent job of keeping everyone up with what is going on. (Thus the blog name of KeepingUpWithTheCunninghams--clever, I know).
• I need a captive audience for my babbling, bragging, venting, whining.
• I want a permanent record of all the wonderful things that happen to us, as well as obstacles that we have overcome. Anyone who knows me, knows that I would otherwise forget these things within a few weeks!

The reasons below are NOT the reasons that prompted me to blog:

• I am an articulate writer, with nary a typo, and this is my road to discovery.
• I don't know what to do with all of my spare time.
• We are being paid a sizable sum to share our unsurpassed parenting skills with the world.

Things you can expect from this blog:

• Pictures will be updated at a snail's pace--because it just isn't my thing.
• Most pictures will include at least one family member with at least half of their person cut off.
• I will bore you with more details than you bargained for in some areas, and leave you wondering from lack of details on others.

Things you shoud not count on from this blog:

• That it will make sense 100% of the time.
• That it will be updated daily, or even weekly at times.
• That it will be educational, entertaining, or that there will be any added value in return for your time investment.