Calvin: A new perspective on The Three Bears

Calvin's assignment: Rewrite a fairy tale from an unexpected perspective. He decided to retell Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

One day in Bear World three bears were reading The Daily Bear newspaper during breakfast. The three bears -- a father, a mother and their son -- were getting ready to enjoy their honey-flavored Mini Wheats when they saw an ad for free golf. But the deal was only good from 8 a.m. to noon. So they decided to skip the cereal and eat at the golf place instead.

They got into their Bearmobile and went to Golfing Bears Putt-Putt. After 18 holes of golfing and a three-way tie, the family ate honey pancakes. Once they were full and ready for a nap, they headed home. But when they got there, they found the place trashed. Dad Bear went to the honey-money box and discovered it was empty!

Suddenly, they saw the robber! They grabbed her and threw her in the closet. Mama Bear called the Bear Police. The robber was named Talia Goldilocks, and she was a wanted criminal. The Bear Family received a reward for catching her -- $50,000 in honey-money.

The End

All is well

PJ's 9-month well-baby checkup went, um... well. He is 20.5 lbs and in the 50th percentile for height and weight. An average baby! He has two little bottom teeth poking through -- much more noticeable for anyone who forgets and lets him suck on their hand or arm (ouch!). It seems that he is above average in developmental milestones: He's not only pulling up on the furniture and cruising around, but he's sometimes brave enough to let go and stand on his own for a few seconds. And the little darling loves to have "conversations" with anyone willing to answer his baby talk.

Big C is finally getting the hang of fractions, thanks to some extra workbooks on the subject. He's halfway through the 4-book series and is hardly missing any questions now. He's also enjoying learning about explorers and the Renaissance.

Miss T loves her tumbling class. She's still working on her cartwheel technique but her bridges are looking better every week. Not quite ready for back-handsprings, but making progress in coordination and flexibility!

Mr G saw Miss T having so much fun in her class that he asked to try gymnastics, too. He's just so cute bouncing and swinging and wiggling around. His class has 4 boys and 1 girl, ages 3-5. They use the trampoline, the vault, the uneven bars, the rings and the mat. He tries really hard and is the BEST behaved one in the group. (No mom-bias here, he really does pay attention and follow instructions.)

K is doing great in his classes this semester. He's sent out a few resumes, but isn't really focusing on the job hunt since he won't finish until May.

We took the kids to the Texas Renaissance Festival last weekend. More on that later...

Might be too much information

My last headline may have been little overly dramatic, so I tried to show restraint on this one.

Hubby: So, is today a fertile day?
Me: (Thoughts racing through my head -- What?! Why is he asking this? What does this mean? Isn't four enough?! ... Do I even know the answer to that question?)
Long pause...
Hubby: Well? Is it?
Me: Huh?
Hubby: Is. this. a. furlough. day?
Me: Uh, no, I'm going to work. (Whew!)

CJ: Feeling Like A Hero

Mr. C's writing assignment was to tell of a time that he felt like a hero. He was allowed to make up a story if he wanted to. I'm not sure that what he came up with is an example of heroism, but it's what he wanted to write about. So, we went with it. Mr. C. welcomes comments on his story.

First, Nana and I decided to go bowling. There's a certain way you have to go to get to the bowling alley because it's on a one-way street. Once we got there, we went to the check-in spot (like in a hotel). Then we got the bowling shoes and bowling balls.

We played two games and Nana used my ball part of the time. I got two spares and I think Nana got one or two strikes in the first game. I'm not sure who won. But the next game, I won!! Nana's score was 98 and I h ad128, I think.

Then, after that, we returned our stuff and looked at the arcade for awhile. Winning the game made me feel like a hero!!

The End

Miss T: The Cow That Turned Purple

Today's writing assignment: Pretend you are a purple cow. Write about how you got that way and what it's like.

There was a farmer that had a cow named Talia. The farmer let her cow out of the barn to eat. The cow saw a plant that was as purple as an eggplant. The cow tasted the plant. It was good, so she gobbled up the whole thing.

Suddenly, the cow turned purple!

The cow went back to the barn. The farmer went to the barn and saw that the cow had turned purple. So she put the cow in the trailer and went to the vet. The vet said, "Your cow is going to be purple forever."

(Image from Google Images, original source unknown.)