A Georgia Girl in Germany

One of the chores Zachary and MacKenzie are entirely responsible for is taking out the trash and recycles, and sometimes Benjamin assists. Tonight, he helped with a small bag of recycles, which meant all three of them headed to the dumpster for a few minutes leaving me alone in the house.

Just before they headed outside, MacKenzie called out, “Mommy, you’re going to have some ‘Alone Time.’” It took me a moment to realize what she said...then I chuckled since my “alone time” was hardly enough to tackle emptying the dishwasher of the clean dishes, loading the dirty dishes, running and folding two loads of laundry, making a strawberry pie that Zachary’s been craving lately and checking quite a bit of homework. She had good intentions, but I don’t think she realizes that the “alone time” I truly crave is time to sit and watch a non-animated or kid-themed movie, read a few chapters in a non-kid-bedtime book or craft a few words to catch up on updating the blog. As much as she thinks “Mommy rocks” lately, those four minutes of “alone time” weren’t enough even for a Super-Mom. Such innocence!

BTW, I managed to empty the dishwasher in those four minutes, and Zachary loaded the dirty dishes from supper tonight before we made the pie. Homework is done (and corrected), although the laundry is still waiting to be folded (at least it's all clean). And as a bonus, we’re all looking forward to a refreshing dessert tomorrow night!

Labels: Kid Quotes, MacKenzie

Valentine’s Day was a great day for the Cook kids. MacKenzie woke up that morning and immediately asked me for her present. Nope, I made her wait until after school. Actually, I made her wait until after supper. I don’t think they were disappointed though. Zachary and Benjamin showed off their new watches, while MacKenzie displayed her new cross-pendant necklace. Benjamin’s watch is an “Incredibles” theme watch, complete with a red laser on the side. The band on Zachary’s old watch broke three days before Valentine’s Day, so he received his gift early, but he was a good sport about not boasting to the others that he’d already received his gift. Of course, the heart-shaped “Peeps” marshmallows were a hit too.

Nana and Papa also sent new Webkinz for them. They all rushed to the computer to officially adopt their new friends: Thunder, Mudball and Peanut.

You can hardly tell in these photos that Zachary had a permanent tooth extracted from the gum earlier that afternoon. It was very traumatic -- much worse than when he had five teeth pulled last October (four baby teeth though). On another note (literally), when we arrived at the dentist’s office that afternoon, we were greeted by a Barbershop Quartet as it began singing love songs for the clinic staff and patients. It was a nice show and a short distraction before the dreaded tooth-pulling began.

Labels: Benjamin, MacKenzie, Zachary

Yesterday was Boy Scout Sunday (not to be confused with Super Bowl Sunday for those of you who don’t have to get up in the middle of the night to watch the game -- kickoff was half an hour after midnight here on “Super Bowl Monday”). Zachary’s friend, Ben, spent the night Saturday night, and they both helped show the Boy Scout presence at church in the morning. They began their assistance by handing out hymnals before service began, even heading outside in the 34-degree cold -- without jackets -- to be the first to greet the worshippers.

Once again, Zachary opted to be an usher during the service and help with the offering. After three years doing so, I think he’s found his calling. He doesn’t have to get up in front of the congregation and read a passage nor does he have to organize anything. Instead, he and Ben (who was also an usher) sat together in the back of the church and performed magnificently during the offering.

It was wonderful to see all the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, adult leaders and parents stand to be recognized during the service. It showed how many people are involved in teaching the boys good, solid values so they can, in turn, grow into tomorrow’s leaders.

Labels: Boy Scouts, Zachary

It’s that time of year again -- time for Girl Scouts around the country and at overseas military bases to hit the streets tempting people with their delectable sweets. All eight varieties of the cookies arrived here in Stuttgart on Friday, so MacKenzie’s troop didn’t waste any time pounding the pavement.

MacKenzie is typically shy at ventures such as this, but it didn’t take her long to warm up to the idea of approaching potential customers and making her pitch. I guess there is hope that she’ll eventually overcome her shyness.

She’s part of a pretty good troop as well. Half of them helped sell cookies Saturday in front of the PX. When we first showed up, it didn’t seem very cold (mid-30s), but by the time our two-hour shift was over, the wind had picked up and we were all rather frigid.

We had two cookie costumes available, and the girls took turns wearing them. When our shift started, MacKenzie was adamant that she didn’t want to wear one. However, two-thirds of the way through our shift she changed her mind and finagled her way into the Thin Mint costume.

By the time we were done, she and Natalie (aka Samoa) understood that walking cookies really grabbed the attention of potential shoppers. I never would have imagined that she would be willing to dress as a costumed mascot!

After just two booth sales, the girls managed to sell about 400 boxes total. Wow! Hopefully we can sell the rest at our third and final booth sale next week.

Labels: Girl Scouts, MacKenzie

A few weeks ago, MacKenzie went to her school’s ’70s Dance. She’d been looking forward to it for a while, although most outfits she selected were more ’80s than ’70s. Fortunately, she has a new dress that fit the bill...even if she was adamant about wearing her ’80s-vintage Converse high-tops with it.

I never had the opportunity to attend dances in elementary school, but I can certainly say that they are very different from junior high and high school dances! It’s a totally different kind of energy flowing through the room!

MacKenzie and her friends enjoyed dancing, and got quite a workout while there. Yes, they even danced the conga line as it snaked around and through the gym.

They even found time to strike their “Charlie’s Angels” poses. Just about any time I pulled out my camera, they donned their finger guns and struck a pose.

I was tired out after two hours just watching MacKenzie and her friends, but she still seemed to have energy to spare. Oh to be young and vivacious again! Next up: the ’60s Dance.

Labels: MacKenzie