Target practice ….

*Disclaimer*

I am not a gun person nor a hunting type person but the man I married happens to enjoy both. 

I am proud to say though, that he mostly hunts for the social aspect of it and I have never had to witness a dead deer landing on our back porch.  Don’t get me wrong … he would love to bring a deer home but he’s smart enough to know that I would never be open to anything but pictures or the occasional ‘knick knack’ on my walls.  He also has a huge love of all animals and doesn’t hunt just to ‘kill’ something and to feel all ‘manly’ but rather to help control the ‘circle of life’.  There is a huge deer over-population problem in Western Kansas and evidently my husband likes to be a part of taking that matter into his own hands.

Anyway, Tucker wants to be just like Dad but has the sensitivity issues of Mom.  I understand the whole over-population thing but my heart just always goes back to that beautiful, free spirited creature.  Tucker goes out to Western Kansas with his dad every year to go hunting …. well …. Darrin goes hunting, Tucker hangs out with Grandma:-) … but this is hunting to Tuck and I’m ok with that.  He got a bb gun for Christmas and wants to do nothing but shoot targets.  He is already trying to convince his dad that there won’t be any shooting of deer next year … just target practice:-)  I love that.  I can deal with that.  He’s really good about understanding that the gun only comes out of the gun safe (which is ALWAYS locked) with Dad or Grandpa.  I love this too.  He already gets how dangerous they are.  I know it’s just a bb gun but that day will come when he wants something a little bigger and I think it’s so so important that he understands the seriousness of this.  Honestly, this is the only way that I will even allow a gun in this house.  I’m not a big fan but I do believe that it all comes down to a proper education about them. 

Anyway, enough of the blah, blah, blahgity, blah…

He’s a pretty decent little shooter (is that how you say that?)….

Sis was not too thrilled with not having her own pink bb gun…

This kid could have a good time anywhere…

 

I told you he could shoot.  All those divots are HIS … well, all but one.  I had never shot any kind of gun before.  He was gracious enough to give me a few pointers and yes, my mark is the one at the bottom of the red on the BULL’SEYE!  You can just call me Calamity Jane…

BB’s stuck in the fence… To Tuck, these are like handprints in cement:-)

 

Car Talk …

Tucker:  Mom, when I grow up, I’m gonna be an owl man just like Mr. Lockwood.

[you must read previous post for this to make sense]

Me:  Yep, you will be buddy. 

Tucker:  Ya know what people will call me?

Me:  What’s that?

Tucker: Mr. Tuckerwood.

Me:  :-)

American Hero …

A very special thing happened this last Saturday.  A beautiful symbol of American beauty and freedom was released back into the wild.  Mr. Lockwood of the Eagle Valley Raptor Center rehabilitates native birds of prey (those that are hurt and might otherwise die without Mr. Lockwood’s intervention) right here in Kansas. … Cheney, KS – to be exact.  My parents live in Cheney and were the first to tell us about this center a few years ago.  Since then, I have heard LOTS more about Mr. Lockwood from none other than Tucker.  You see, Mr. Lockwood has visited the kids’ preschool the last two years and has brought with him several ‘friends’ to show to the preschool kids.  Tucker now wants to be an ‘Owl Man’ just like Mr. Lockwood.  He has such a strong love of animals and truly LOVES what Mr. L does for these helpless creatures.  Well, Darrin had heard that Mr. Lockwood would be releasing a bald eagle on Saturday down by the Arkansas River.  The whole thing was just a little more special than just a release back into the wild for this animal.  Mr. L wanted to dedicate this release in the name of Brian Etheridge.  Etheridge was a Sheriff’s Deputy here in Wichita.  He lost his life in the line of duty back in September of last year.  This event completely shook all of Wichita.  To Mr. Lockwood, this release as a tribute just made sense.

Darrin and my parents (I had a show) took the kids down to the river to watch the release.  I really think the pictures speak for themselves…

More V-Day celebrations ….

Tucker’s class had their party today.  I was one of the room mothers for this one and got to witness musical chairs – 5 year old style.  Mrs. Bolan divided the class between boys and girls.  The boys went first.  A chair was always taken away with the stopping of the music but in order to save a few 5 year old feelings, nobody was ever asked to leave the game if they didn’t get a seat.  They simply …. have a seat … on somebody’s lap:-)  I thought this was a great idea for this age and so stinkin’ fun to watch …

 

Then it was the girls’ turn …

 

Honestly, this is what visiting my kids’ classrooms is all about.  I love being able to see them in their ‘kids among kids’ state …

One of the moms brought fruit pizza.  Tucker LOVES fruit so this was the perfect treat …

 

Evidently not all kids feel the same way …

What a great day!

LOVE is in the air….

This little girl can be so cute…

And oh so….

 

So, so bad…

Today was her Valentine’s Party at school…

  

And when they came home, I had promised them that we would decorate the cookies we had baked yesterday.  They frosted (errr… dipped – WAY easier than spreading or piping!)

There were lots of sprinkles involved…

Did I mention LOTS of sprinkles?…

This poor little man has been sick with a fever for the last two days.  It shows in his eyes:-( 

“Someday you will get to decorate cookies too, Porter-man.  Just not when that yucky stuff is dripping from your nose, OK?”

I just can’t get enough of the teamwork.  It has been nothing but screaming, hitting, pushing, torturing, fighting ALL week.  And you should see what they’ve been doing to each other! … :-)

It’s nice to see some cooperation…

  

Aren’t these nice to see too? …

Tuck’s Turn to be Star of the Week…

Yes, I’m a little late posting this …. but last week was Tucker’s turn to be Star of the Week in his class at school.  When you attend 5 days/week school, being Star of the Week is a bit of a bigger deal.  The biggest responsibility is bringing a show-n-tell for every day of the week.  This was not a hard task for Tuck.  He’s that kid that wants to share everything … and I do mean everything with his classmates. 

He brought home ‘Pony’ (the class mascot) a week ago last Friday.  Pony spent the weekend with us and was then returned on Monday. 

Every Star of the Week gets to bring special treats on one day of his ‘term’.  Once again, I pretty much procrastinated on this.  Having experience as a teacher, I appreciated snacks that were easy to distribute and NOT messy.  Sooo, I decided to make chocolate covered pretzel rods and oreo pops.  Well, I had never made either but thought, “how hard can dipping stuff in chocolate be?”  I know,  I said the same thing about Sawyer’s candy corn cookies.  Well, the pretzel rods went great.

… and the oreos …

… I guess I can say ONE turned out alright …

… the rest …. Well, let me tell you, these are not as easy as all these websites say.  You’re suppose to take the oreo apart, insert the lollipop stick into the cream, and put the oreo back together.  Sounds easy, right?  Right!  I don’t know if I was just too rough with my oreos but I broke every stinkin’ wafer!

So chocolate covered pretzel rods it was!

Thursday was a big day for our SOTW.  It just so happened to be the day that Tanganyika Wildlife Park came to talk to the preschoolers.  They brought several animals with them and Tucker seemed to be most interested in this one…

Thursday was also the day that I was to come and read a book to the class.  I left after the wildlife assembly and came back about 15 minutes before school was to let out.  When I arrived, Mrs. Bolan had left the door open ajar so that I would know that it was ok to enter.  Thursday was Tuck’s most favorite show-n-tell.  Can you tell what it was?

Yes, Batman came to visit his class that day.  I was so impressed with how Batman sat so quietly listening to the Bible story. 

He stayed for the snack and even participated in the ‘Melting Snowman Song’.