one down, twelve to go

Titus finished up his first year of school. Yep, kindergarten is in the books. He won some awards at the end of year assembly for teamwork in PE, completing the reading challenge every month, and getting published in the district K-12 anthology called Lodestar. Following in his father's footsteps already!

Here's his writing sample selected for excellence among all the kindergarten students in the 20 North Kansas City School District elementary schools.


The Right Kind of Fries

McDonald's makes the kind of french fries I really like. They're salty and skinny. I pick um up, dip um in some ketchup and then chew um. Then I just wipe my mouth with the napkin and I'm done.

Ok, my turn:

1. One movie that made you laugh?
Jackass, The Movie

2. One movie that made you cry?
Shindler's List

3. One movie you loved when you were a child?
Star Wars

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once?
Dr. Zhivago

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it?
The Chronicles of Riddick

6. One movie you hated?
Muholland Drive

7. One movie that scared you?
Alien

8. One movie that bored you?
Pirates of the Carribean II

9. One movie that made you happy?
Finding Nemo

10. One movie that made you miserable?
Mulholland Drive

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see?
28 Days

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with?
Lara from Dr. Zhivago

13. The last movie you saw?
The Return of the King

14. The next movie you hope to see?
Prince Caspian

15. Your favorite movie?
Lawrence of Arabia

my movie favorites

So this is appearing on the blogs of some friends of mine. I'd be interested to hear your responses too!

1. One movie that made you laugh
Nacho Libre

2. One movie that made you cry
Crash

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
The Bourne Supremacy

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
Pulp Fiction

6. One movie you hated
Train Spotting...does that count? I couldn't even make it past the first 20 minutes.

7. One movie that scared you
A Thief in the Night

8. One movie that bored you
Lost in Translation

9. One movie that made you happy
Ratatouille

10. One movie that made you miserable
There Must Be Blood

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
Blair Witch Project or any horror flick - but I don't equate it with bravery...

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
Mel Gibson as William Wallace

13. The last movie you saw
Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer

14. The next movie you hope to see
Midnight Express - it is the movie we currently have from our Blockbuster queue

15. Your favorite movie
I can't choose just one! Are you kidding? If it is witty, smart, a good 'who dunnit' element, beautiful, clever .... then I'll probably like it a lot ... here are some ... Run Lola Run, Crash, The Bourne trilogy, Finding Nemo, Little Miss Sunshine, Stranger Than Fiction ... just off the top of my head

a few updates

For those of you who follow our lives via Weikalpedia, you'll be glad to know that Titus did indeed stop eating his boogers! (What a relief to finally find an incentive for him!) We opted for the Star Wars Legos, specifically Luke Skywalker and his star fighter over the dino Legos. Titus is quite pleased. I am very proud of his self-discipline and very gratified by the additional lesson he learned regarding lying. Hopefully that one will stick around for a long, long time.

I have had some unpaid time off work lately at ADT, which has been very helpful. I guess they are overstaffed on the day shift right now. At any rate, it has allowed me to finish up my three on-line classes with UMKC which I needed for my educator's license renewal. If you aren't aware, I have decided to find a job with the schools and continue seminary studies on the side. I love working with youth as a counselor and teacher and the benefits of a professional salary, weekends and holidays off, and breaks that correspond to Titus' schedule kind of make it a no-brainer.

I had a first interview with North Kansas City Schools last Friday. The first step was a screening interview with one of the Associate Superintendents. Next would be an interview with a building principal. The exciting thing is that the school I am most interested in has an opening for a counselor for next year. It is the most diverse school of the district's four high schools and is located less than two blocks from our house. I'm carrying a lot anxiety and haven't been able to find peace with the process yet. Keep praying for me.

Also last Friday, we all got to have a special pancake breakfast at Titus' school because we attended all of the previous three "Breakfast with Boooks" events. It was a fun morning of visiting with Titus' t-ball coach, watching out for flying pancakes (The guy who cooked them is a world record holding pancake flipper and he would flip them without warning half way across the gym onto random plates.), and a few good books shared with my boy.

my first dinosaur legos

I get some dinosaur Legos this Thursday. To get my Legos, I shall not eat my boogers.

It has been very, very hard, to tell the truth. Sometimes I think I should tell a lie when I really did eat my boogers. But my mom said from now on whenever I tell a lie she would not believe me and she would ask me if I'm telling a lie. I am going to start telling the truth because I started telling a lie when we at a restaurant named O'Dowds. Then I snuck under the table and I ate my boogers and then I told a lie. Mom said to me "Are you telling the truth?" And I keep saying, "Yes". And then my mom once said, "I believe you." I felt kind of bad.

Today I told a lie and then I told the truth. My dad came and my mom told him about lying and then she told him about telling the truth. She told me that she could feel the badness in her heart when I was lying. And I said I felt it too. And then she told me that she could feel the goodness in her heart when I told the truth. And then I said I could feel it too, in my heart. I was feeling better when I was not lying and not feeling so good when I was lying.

what a weekend

We finally had a beautiful spring weekend and lucky me, I was on my new work schedule so I actually got to enjoy it with family and friends. We had a last minute bbq Saturday night, lunch with some friends after church Sunday, and an afternoon meander through the Brookside Art Fair. All in perfectly delightful "California weather".

Some of our best friends here include Laura and Nathanael Lyons. (She has the long hair and glasses, he has the long hair.) Laura wants to be theology/philosophy professor one day and Nathanael is looking into nursing. (I think he might have studied international policy or something politically minded in his undergrad days...he's also a CUBS FAN! Yippee!) These guys are great fun and super with Titus.

The other couple pictured is Mindy and Josh Hancock. In addition to being our pastors, they are our friends...maybe that should be stated the other way around. We love spending time with these guys and feel so blessed by their vision for and leadership of our church.

friday evening

Last night was a beautiful spring evening in NKC. We all went for a walk to Macken Park and snapped a few pix of our lovely boy.