Funny, VERY Funny

Back to School

Spotted this at Safeway today in the "Back to School" supplies. This knife set is the perfect addition to your second graders backpack on the first day of school.

ELVIS

He is alive and well. Spotted this car driving south on Highway 85 near Eaton yesterday. He was exceeding the posted speed limit by 15 MPH. Must have been looking for a jailhouse rock.

AWANA

All 4 kids started in Awana this year. It has been going great for three of the four kids. Andrew said he doesn't really like it because "It cuts into my time at home. I also don't like games because I get all hot and sweaty." This past week was invite a parent night. It was great for Jennifer to see what goes on at Awana. Campingdad attended Awana years ago and is an old pro. Here are some pics of Jennifer and Andrew at game time trying to throw the ball into the brown cylinder, Andrew and his workbook, Nathanael and Andrew earning their vests and the award ceremony, and Nathanael hard at work.

Books

Campingdad is finally getting around to re-shelving the books that had to be moved after the great basement flood of 2008 (see post "Flood"). Wow there are a lot of books. Lets see.... 29 inches per shelf x 6 shelves per bookcase x 10 bookcases = how many feet of books? Who knows. The real question is "Has Campingdad actually read any of those books?" Bonus points for those of you who answer either of those questions correctly in the comments section.

Penn Friends

It was such a joy to have our Pennsylvania friends, Shawn and Becky and the girls, in town last week. We hosted them on Wednesday night for dinner and time for all the kids to play. Shawn even got some time to play Halo 3 on the x-box. The kids played so well together; they just picked up where they left off a year and a half ago when our Greeley friends became our Penn friends. We miss them so much.

Funny

Campingdad had just sat down to a nice hot cup of coffee and the morning newspapers, when Sarabeth came running into the dining room and said "Daddy, Daddy, the toilet is overflowing!!" Campingdad dropped the paper, almost spilled hot coffee everywhere, and ran to the bathroom expecting the worst. Sarabeth somehow had beat her daddy there, and when he ran in and saw there was in fact NOT a toilet overflowing, Sarabeth simply said with a smile and a giggle"Just kidding daddy!"

Books

Over the weekend, Campingdad visited two different bookstores in two different towns: a Barnes and Nobel in Ft. Collins, and a Borders in Greeley. In the politics section at both stores there were books by/about the two presidential contenders. However, they were displayed very differently. The first two pics were taken at B & N and feature cover out of the Obama book and spine out of the McCain book. The bottom three are at Borders and feature the Obama books spine out and the McCain books cover out. It has been shown in studies that books with the cover out sell more copies. Does this show a little favoritism on the bookstores part? A bias in the bookstore clerk who shelved the books? A blogger looking for a blog post since there haven't been any birthdays lately? Please share your feelings in the comments section.

Watch D.O.G.S

Last night all the dads at the kids school, Frontier Academy, were invited for free pizza and pop. The catch was we had to listen to a presentation about a new program that would be starting in a few weeks entitled "Watch D.O.G.S." So at 6:30, 453 dads and their kids piled into the lunch room for dinner. We then learned about this dynamic program that encourages dads to spend one full day at their kids school each year. During the day they are there, they provide an extra sense of security for the kids and the school. Helping get kids to class in the morning, walking the school campus to make sure it is secure, roaming the hallways to make sure the right people are in the building, eating lunch with the kids, playing with them at recess, ect., are a few of the "assigned" tasks. It is even more important at a school like Frontier, due to the fact there are only 5 males staff members in the two buildings.

The response from the dads at Frontier was huge. The principle later said they expected 80-90 dads at the first meeting. 190 showed up. Every single school day from now until May 22 was signed up for. Wow.

For more info on the program visit: http://www.fathers.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=60

Red Plate

There is a tradition that started several years ago in the home of Campingdad. In order to reward, honor, and recognize a member of the family each dad, Campingdad purchased a bright red plate that the lucky person gets to have their dinner served on. It can be awarded for any number of things: a 100% on a spelling test, a great grade on a Core project from Frontier, remembering to give a parent their Monday Folder, success in achieving a difficult goal, or another personal accomplishment. Here is Nathanael winning tonight's plate for receiving a 100% on his Fairy Tales unit at school.

Monday Folders

Mondays are very busy days after school at Campingdad's house. The school the kids attend, Frontier Charter Academy, sends home all the previous weeks work in a "Monday Folder." Also included in the stack of stuff is important reminders from the school, fundraiser notifications (anyone wanna buy some cookie dough?), updates on school activities, and the hot lunch order form. These Monday Folders are crucial to the success not only of the student, but also the parents understanding of where we have been and where we are going. When there was just one Roth child at the school, it was managable, but now that there are three, its a little overwhelming to try and keep up. Here are Noah and Andrew diging out their Monday Folders from their backpacks in order to present them to Campingdad. They are doing this first thing after school in order to possibly be awarded the "Red Plate". See next post.

Bumper Sticker

This sticker was spotted yesterday in front of the Greeley Mall on 23rd Ave. Evidently this man must not realize one of the people is back to being a Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the other fathered a love child while his wife was battling cancer. Maybe he is rooting for Nobama?

The Reading Mother

This scene tonight brought to mind the poem that hung in Campingdad's mom's bedroom for many years. It is truly a great thing for a child to be blessed with a reading mother. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, the poem is now presented here:

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be --
I had a Mother who read to me.
Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954)

Sarabeth

Happy 4th Birthday my sweet princess Sarabeth. Readers of Campingdad must think all we do is open presents and celebrate birthdays around here. The good news is there isn't another birthday for 6 weeks... the bad news for Campingdad's checkbook is that there are then 3 in 22 days. Here are a few pics from more present opening tonight.

Sarabeth

Tonight we traveled to Grandma and Grandpa's for Sarabeth's presents from them, and some birthday cake!It was a blustery evening in Greeley, so we ate inside. Grandpa made the kid's favorite chicken and noodle dish for dinner. Then presents!! And cake!!

Nathanael

Campingdad is a bit late on posting a few pics from Nathanael's 6th birthday. Here are several from the big present opening.