Go ahead and google it

So, I have a tool that allows me to see where traffic is coming from on my blog. It will tell me if someone is coming directly to my site, through Google reader, or bloglines, or whatever. It also will tell me if, say, someone happened to stumble upon my blog by googling particular words. Like "comfort letter for kindergarten", for instance. Go ahead, you know you want to.

GUESS WHO'S NUMBER ONE??! That's right! I'd like to thank the academy....oh wait. Not number one like that.

I've gotten at least one hit a day (more often two or three) from Google for people who are HONESTLY looking for a LEGITIMATE letter to comfort their child in case of emergency. And they stumble across my half-baked letter. I don't know why this strikes me as equally hilarious and embarrassing. I'm a smart ass in a legitimate directory. These poor people who keep searching for help. All I can say is I'm sorry! Sorry, I can't be of greater assistance. Sorry to waste your time.

And to set the record straight, I did not put a copy of our will into either of the emergency kits. I thought that might be taking it to a whole new level. I tried to focus on the FUN GLOW STICK and the MYLAR SPACE BAG that would be really cool things to think about in the event of a major catastrophe. I also threw in a few "you BETTER LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHER!!" comments.

But, you do what you think needs to be done. And, if you are brave, please post a copy of your letter here. So that others may also find the information they are searching for. Because mine is simply no template.

And, honestly, when did emergency kits become such a popular thing??

Another day at the spa

Yes, I realize I'm getting quite spoiled. We'd been planning our girls day out to the spa for something like five months and a couple months ago, we finally settled on a day that would work for all the moms in Bennett's playgroup. We met at 10am and were greeted by plenty of champagne and orange juice for mimosas. Three of us got massages while the other three did facials and then we swapped in the middle. It was probably one of the best facials I've gotten (though I'm pretty sure I drove Cristina crazy by asking my esthetician about a million questions). The massage? Let's just say she wasn't quite strong enough for my taste. I could tell she was trying really hard because when she was giving it her all, she was totally all shaky. But, her all just didn't cut it for me and my hard knots and muscles. Ahh well. It was still a heavenly way to spend the morning.

Afterwards, we all went over to a little restaurant for a leisurely two hour lunch, where I'm pretty sure we offended the family that was seated next to us. Let's just say we WEREN'T talking about the kids. :) They had a little girl with them who was maybe 8 or 9? Yeah, she was totally eavesdropping. She all but pulled up a chair. Problem was, we didn't catch on until we'd said way too much about bachelorette parties and the like. Oops.

I came home and the kids were already up from their naps. We took them outside to play for a while. That's when Bennett decided he was man enough for a pink scooter and helmet. I mean, just check out his totally tough face in this picture. :)


After we decided that it was too hot to hang out much longer, and that I also wanted to be COMPLETELY lazy today, we decided to hit SuperFranks for their 19.99 special. Large pizza, four drinks, admission for two to the mini gym and Taught Town, and five dollars in tokens. We had a blast! I seriously adore this place. We all rode plasma cars, bounced balls, and even Lance and I got to do the zip line. Oh, and they had a mini bouncy house up in Taught Town, so Bennett got to have his first bouncy house experience! We were there from about 4:45 this afternoon until they closed. They had to practically escort us out of the building. :) Good times.

Don't send a man to do a woman's job

Last time when Lance took Bennett to get his hair cut, I was all "I don't care. You're a guy. Get it cut like a guy". When I wasn't too happy with the way it turned out, I couldn't really say anything about it because of my laissez-faire attitude. This time, I mentioned that I wasn't too pleased with his last cut, so I gave him a picture to take with him. Imagine the horror when he brings him home YET AGAIN with a bad hair cut. Lance told me that he had gotten antsy towards the end of the cut, but that he thought it turned out okay. Yes, okay if my child had a really awkward shaped BOWL on his head. The instructions were NOTHING off the top/front and clean up the sides and back. So, how come the front was EVEN SHORTER and the sides and back looked like they had hardly been touched??

So, I grabbed him up, got the receipt from Lance and intended to go back and make them do the haircut the right way. I mean, why keep paying for bad haircuts? Only, when I got there, they were CLOSED! Extremely frustrated and with my "backwoods haircut" baby in my arms, I spy a SuperCuts across the parking lot. With the determination only a mother can have, I march over there and plead my case to them. PLEASE FIX MY BABY'S HAIR!! And please, please don't charge me full price for it since, believe it or not, he *just* got his haircut over there. The first lady said she didn't think they could do that, but the second one came along, took one look into my baby's big blue eyes and said, "How can I say no to that face??"

So, she got her scissors out and we sat him in the chair. Now, he had just gone through an entire haircut experience and wasn't too pleased with the thought of repeating the process, so we decided to fore go the wrap over him. The lady cut his hair with super quick speed and you would NEVER believe that he had actually JUST had a haircut with all the hair that came flying off her scissors. She said, "yeah, this is pretty long on the sides and in the back!" and "That's just wrong that they went and jacked up his hair and then closed down!" Bennett hung in there pretty good for the whole five minutes it took her. After all was said and done, he got a good haircut and the lady said she wasn't going to charge me for it as long as we'd come back. I told her we definitely would and slipped her some cash.

The funny thing was, when I got home and after we bathed the hair off of Bennett, I was telling Lance that this is the way it's supposed to look. Not like he has a bowl on his head. Bennett looked up, pointed to his head and said "bowl". Over and over. We were cracking up.

Saturday is my favorite day of the week

Although Morgan was upset to hear that there was no school today, I am glad it's Saturday. I got my hair cut and colored this morning and came home for a fun lunch with the kids. Morgan and Bennett were cracking each other up, making faces and giggling. When the kids went down for their naps, so did I. I was up way too late last night. I met some friends for coffee and we were there until almost midnight. Then, I have this bad habit of having to "unwind" after getting home, and didn't get to bed until 2? Yeah, so I was none too pleased when Bennett woke up around 7 this morning. Thank goodness for naps!

Operation Binky Free Zone has been going smoothly. I didn't give Bennett a pacifier on Thursday afternoon for his nap and it was like NO BIG DEAL. Not sure why I've been fretting it. It was SO not a big deal that we decided to give it a whirl for bedtime. Also no problem. He didn't get one at all yesterday or last night either. No problem. Today? For his afternoon nap, when I'm napping, nonetheless, he wakes up screaming an hour into his nap (which is normally two hours) and can't seem to calm himself down. I don't know if it's the pacifier removal or what. He was a little upset when I put him down because I had ONLY read him his "baby" book and not Brown Bear. He was screaming BROWN BEAR BROWN BEAR at me when I left his room at nap. But, he did go to sleep for an hour anyway. After he woke up and I couldn't get him to go back to sleep, I got him up and we watched some Project Runway together. If Lance hadn't have been getting his hair cut, he might not have liked the sight of us sitting on the couch watching the show. :)

When Lance got home, he took Bennett to get his haircut. Last time, I told him I didn't have a preference for how they cut it. This time? I sent them with a picture of what I like. :) Morgan, is going on hour THREE of her nap. I believe I have the only five year old that still naps, but obviously she needs it!

Nothing else planned for tonight. Maybe we'll take a nice long walk tonight after dinner and after it's cooled down. I just love Saturdays.

She's going to give me a complex

Yesterday, while we were eating lunch at the pool, we were sharing our pretzels with our friends Melissa and Clare. I made an offhand comment about having a five pound bag of them at home. Morgan took that opportunity to become part of the conversation, saying, "They are really cheap".

Today, after eating a lunch of bologna and cheese sandwich and veggie sticks, Morgan asked for pretzels. I told her that if she was still hungry, she could have one of the apples I just got from Costco (you know - they 16 pack of apples?). She said okay. I washed one up for her, asked her if she wanted it whole or cut up and then gave it to her whole. She looked at it and pronounced it to be "huge" and then followed that with, "I bet they are really cheap."

Wonder where she's getting that kind of language from.

SHUT UP ABOUT THE LAMB BREAST!

Yes, I'm THAT Mom.

You know the one with the kid that hits other kids?? Well, apparently that's MOI. Here I had this fun day planned. I dropped Morgan off at school this morning, did some chatting with other moms in the playground and then headed off to the tennis club to work out. My friend Melissa was going to meet me at the club later for some swimming. After doing some cardio and hitting the weight room, I got the call from her that she was on her way, so I got into my swimsuit and got the lunches I had packed and the beach bag from the car.

I got her all registered at the front desk and then went out to help her in. I was just going into the nursery to get Bennett when I get PAGED OVER THE INTERCOM to please come to the nursery. I was already there, so I'm all "that's me" and they are all "Bennett your mom is here!!" He comes wandering over and I ask what was wrong. They told me that they were having a problem with him hitting other kids. With toys. And even though they tried to distract him, he was still doing it. So they said that if he did it one more time they would call me. And they did. So, first thing when Melissa got to the club, she got to hear me being paged to pick up my rowdy boy. I know, super classy, right?? How embarassing!!

We swam for a little while, Bennett trying to give me a heart attack every five minutes by stumbling face first into the water. Pretty soon it was time for me to go get Morgan, so we raced over to pick up Morgan while Melissa and Clare hung out at the pool. Here I am, slightly wet with a damp cover up over my swimsuit, carrying a wet Bennett who was wrapped in a towel. Into school. Hi, there's nothing to see here. :) I think most people understood though - it's supposed to get up to 103 here today. At 8:30 this morning, it was already 83 outside.

I felt really bad for the kids that were going to daycare after school. Because Morgan announces, loud enough for EVERYONE to hear, that she's about to go swimming now. Ooops. At least I didn't get a call that she was hitting anyone, though.

Back to our schedule

With the summer coming to a close, I'm ready to get back on a regular schedule. Regular activities for the kids, regular activities for me, and less of the frantic running around and driving great distances for a day of summer fun. As much as I love the summer and all the fun stuff we do, I also crave the day-to-day sanity, come August.

Morgan's school is on an early release schedule this week, which is a good way to ease into school. But it also means that I have another week or so before I can really get the schedule nailed. This morning, I walked Morgan to her class and waited until they went in. I chatted a little with her teacher about working in the classroom (she'll have sign-ups next week at Curriculum Night).

After we left Morgan, Bennett and I headed back to our car, stopping to talk to a few friends on the way. We stopped by the doctor's office to have my TB test read and then headed over to the tennis club, where I was early for the spin class (it didn't make sense for me to go home). Which was apparently a good thing, since all the moms across the Tri-Valley region descended upon this class at once. I felt the estrogen as I entered the room. Oh my! Where have these women been all summer?? Glad I was there early to pick a non-squeaky bike. The workout kicked my ass. Literally. I was already sore from the squats and lunges we did in kickboxing last night, but the spin class just really brought it home.

After class, I went to the nursery to pick up Bennett and got a list of babysitters from them (hooray!!). We were too early to go pick up Morgan, so we went home for all of 15 minutes before we had to turn around and go pick her up. Now I know why parents who's children have 8:30-11:45 class schedules are not big fans. Thank goodness for 8:10-12:10!! Anyway - we picked Morgan up and it was less chaotic than yesterday, which was really good. Morgan was excited again, telling me that "it was AWESOME AGAIN!" She really seems to like her teacher and she's told me stories about how her teacher is teaching them to be respectable (she meant respectful) and how to handle scissors. Two very important life lessons.

The boy that she reported yesterday was not a good listener, was apparently not listening again today. I had told her last night that I was proud of her for listening and she mentioned this little boy. I told her that maybe he will be a better listener today. Today, she reported that I was wrong about him. :) She told me that a kid was doing something mean to her today and she just asked them to stop and that was the right thing to do. I asked her how she knew that was the right thing to do and she told me she knew it because her teacher told her that it was the right thing to do. She also told me that she would always be a good listener and be respectable (again, respectful) to her teacher because she doesn't EVER want to get into trouble. She only wants good news to tell us. VERY HAPPY to hear this!! Her favorite part of the day yesterday was playing with the doll house, which had a cat with a bed who ate dog food. So, wouldn't that make it a dog-food-eating-cat-house? Anyway -her favorite part today was eating their snack outside. Seriously? We've been eating snack and lunch outside practically all summer. But, this is her favorite part of her day! :)

We came home and I made lunch and then finished up my chores (except laundry, which is going on now). All before nap time. Love it! This is feeling faintly like a normal day. Crazy.

As a side note, please do not ever take advice from me to buy WHATEVER is on sale at the meat counter. Because lamb breast?? Yeah, I'm having a hard time finding a recipe online that doesn't make me gag. My favorite recipe site, allrecipes.com, informed me that there was NO RECIPES that had the words lamb and breast in them. NONE. At ALLrecipes.com. And then I start googling lamb breast and I find out that it "is typically well over 50% fat, even if you trim it. When I was growing up it was something that only poor people bought, and these days most of it ends up exported to Pacific Island countries or processed for pet food. I only see it for sale in places where a lot of Pacific Islanders shop." Ummm, yeah. So, I'm debating myself on whether or not to just toss it. Or perhaps I could cook it up for THE DOG?? Hey, at least it was REALLY CHEAP.

A good influence

My daughter is a good influence on me.

This afternoon, on the way to the gym:

Morgan: Mom, tonight, after you and Daddy put me to bed and I'm alone, I'm going to do something.
Me: What are you going to do?
Morgan: I'm going to say some prayers.
Me: Oh! Okay. You know, we can say some together, too. Or if you just want to do it alone, that's okay too.
Morgan: Yeah, I want to do it by myself. I know how.
Me: Okay.
Morgan: I also know how to pray about food.
Me: You mean before eating?
Morgan: Yep.
Me: Well, we can start praying before meals, if you like.
Morgan: Yes, I'll show you how.

Then, later, on the way home from the gym.

Morgan: Did you run the track today, Mom?
Me: Yes, we did. We shuffled to the right for one lap, ran three laps and then shuffled to the left for one lap.
Morgan: What's a shuffle?
Me: I'll show you when we get home.
Morgan: What else did you do?
Me: After we ran the track, we did five sets of stairs.
Morgan: FIVE SETS!! WOW!!
Me: Yep! And after that, we did wall squats and then walked another lap around the track.
Morgan: What's a wall squat?
Me: I'll show you when I get home.
Morgan: What else?
Me: We did walking lunges back tot he classroom.
Morgan: What's a walking lunge?
Me: I'll show you when we get back.
Morgan: We have a lot of exercises to do when we get back.

We forgot to say the prayer before dinner tonight. At bedtime, Morgan reminded me that we forgot. She asked if she could say a prayer then.

Morgan: Dear God. Thank you for all the food you give us. You are so nice! We love you so much! Amen.

*hearts melt everywhere*

"It's even GREATER than I thought"

Well, I'd say Kindergarten is a hit around here. Morgan can't stop talking about how cool it is -- all the fun stuff they have and how nice her teacher is and how she made new friends. The title of this entry is a direct quote from our new Kindergartner herself. She cannot wait to tell Daddy and Grandma all about it. And she is super excited to go back tomorrow. Here are a few more pictures and a video of the fun this morning.








Here are pictures from school - Morgan getting lined up for her classroom, hanging up her backpack and of her in the classroom at her desk pointing to her name (I've masked out her last name for security purposes).


Here was their schedule for the first day of school, them reading The Kissing Hand and the favors from the Boo Hoo breakfast.








And here's some video so you can experience the excitement and chaos for yourself. :)

All grown up

I first woke up around 5am this morning and tossed and turned a little to get back to sleep. Next, I woke up at 5:57 am, just a little before Lance's alarm was set to go off. I'd already showered and set out my clothes last night, so I didn't need a lot of time to get ready, but it was time to start The Day. My daughter's first day of Kindergarten. I got up, washed my face and put on my makeup. I got dressed and then made my bed. Cue Bennett waking up. Lance seems to think he has some keen awareness of my bed making, so I'm going to have to test that out on another morning. Anyway, he woke up, which in turn woke Morgan up.

She got up and got busy right away. She got dressed, made her bed and turned off her night light all before I even came downstairs. She greeted me, telling me of everything that she's already done and I knelt down to give her a hug. She said, "See! I'm all grown up!". Cue a bawling Momma. She gave me a big old hug and kiss and patted my back, reassuringly, letting me know it's going to be okay. Then she told me how excited she was to go to school!

We had breakfast (fruit salad I had made up yesterday afternoon) and she grabbed the snack bag that she helped pack yesterday and put it in her backpack. We started taking pictures, and I opened the door to let some natural light in and that's when we saw it. Someone delivered a welcome sign to our house last night and it was there, greeting Morgan this morning. She was super excited. She told me she thought that her teacher left it there. After copious amounts of pictures, we got all packed up in the car and headed to drop her off for her first day of school!

The traffic was crazy, and parking was difficult, but we got there just in time to have her line up and then they went into their classroom. She was amazed at how her name was everywhere. In fact, she kept saying, "I can't believe my name is everywhere!" Once in the classroom, we helped her find her seat (right in front of the teachers desk -- which Lance and I are TOTALLY LOVING), and she was asked to put her name tag on, find her name plate at the head table and bring it back to her seat. Then, she was to trace her name and then go put it on the pocket board over by the circle area and then take a seat for circle time. She did exactly as she was told. The teacher read them this book called The Kissing Hand for circle time and that's when the flood gates started to open again. What a sweet story! Then she taught them the sign language sign for "I love you", asked them to give us the sign and wave goodbye with the other hand. They did this, we said goodbye and then we left.

Morgan did great! I'm so proud of her and so excited for all the new things that lie ahead. After we were dismissed, we headed to the Boo Hoo Breakfast the PTO was sponsoring for the parents of incoming Kindergarteners. We chatted a bit with our new mom friends and then it was time to go!

After dropping Lance off at home so he could finally get to work, Bennett and I did the grocery shopping and now we are about to go pick up Morgan and see how the first day went! More pictures to come soon!

The night before Kindergarten

Her clothes are laid out. Her shoes are by the door. Her backpack is packed and ready to go. We packed her snack together. My little girl is growing up. How did this happen?

It was just yesterday when I brought her home from the hospital, not knowing exactly what to do with this precious baby with a head full of hair. She just started walking, just started talking, and just called me Momma for the first time. I remember it clearly, when she first told me that she loved me. I remember the first time she threw a tantrum and the first time she went poop on the potty. And wasn't it just a second ago that she was starting preschool?? Now, she's going to be in Elementary school. With big kids that are losing teeth, rather than cutting teeth. Where she's going to make new friends and have homework and learn how to read. A whole new world is opening up before her. As Lance put it to her tonight, this marks a whole new chapter in her life.

We read her "The Night Before Kindergarten" tonight before bed. She's glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, just waiting. Just waiting for the tears to drop. As soon as she sees them well up in my eyes, she's all "I knew it!!" She was a little surprised to hear that we were leaving her at school tomorrow. I guess she thought maybe we'd all play together?? But, all in all, she's very excited for tomorrow.

So are we. Us parents of an elementary-school-aged-kid. *sigh*

Now if I can just figure out a way to get Bennett to slow down. I can't have both my babies growing up so fast.

It's *almost* time to rest

Okay, I need to get this first day of Kindergarten thing over with, because I'm running ragged and making myself crazy. We were at the doctor's office this morning at 8am (which was a good trial run for tomorrow -- and let's just say I need to work on PATIENCE and less stressing) for my TB test. We were done there at 8:20 and my spin class didn't start until 9. Plenty of time to run back to the house and finish cleaning the bathrooms and run the dishwasher. Because we can't just kick back for a few minutes, now can we??

I just feel like things are all in disarray after my busy weekend and I always look forward to Mondays to get them back in order. Well, I need them in perfect order before tomorrow because tomorrow is The Day. Anyway, I digress...

Spin class at 9 and she always goes over making us do push ups and sit ups, which are good for me, but always make me feel like I need to rush through getting showered and ready so as to not go over my two hour time limit in the nursery. I was right on time, however and we got loaded up in the car and headed for the mall, in search of the elusive white tennis shoes with NO pink, sparkles, bangles (this is the latest thing in girls shoes ---why, I implore shoe makers, why??), and that have Velcro instead of laces. These shoes DO NOT EXIST people. I got something that I can make work with various colors of clothing at JC Penney's -- they are white Sketchers with silver Velcro stuff. I don't love them, but they will work. We also got Morgan's new backpack at Penney's. The one she had wasn't big enough to fit a 9x13 envelope in it, so we had to buy a new one. Which is practically as big as her. She looks so tiny carrying this huge backpack. But, it's cute and she helped pick it and the matching snack bag out. She's so cute and excited. She even asked if she could carry the snack bag around the mall. Ha!

We went to lunch at Fresh Choice while we were there. Fresh Choice is slightly logistically difficult with a two kid to one parent ratio, particularly when one of them isn't voice control trained. But, we made it work. Bennett wasn't really into much of the food I got for him except the beets and corn bread muffin?? Strange child. But OH BUDDY, when it was time to get ice cream, he was ALL about it. Smiling, laughing, saying "Mmmmmmm!". I wasn't going to get him any since he had officially ended his lunch by throwing a pita chip clear across the table and practically on our neighbor's lap, but how can you resist the "Mmmmmm"? So, I put a small amount of frozen yogurt in his bowl and we all go back to the table. Where he proceeds to PRY my hands off his bowl, saying "No No" the whole time. I tried to let him hold the bowl while I fed him. "No No!" I tried to hold the bowl while he fed himself. "No No!" No, in fact, he insisted on both holding the bowl AND feeding himself. Just like we big kids do. In fact, I caught him stealing glances over at Morgan and imitating what she was doing. He actually did a pretty good job, but he took FOREVER and the frozen yogurt wasn't so frozen anymore. And then it was just a huge mess. So, I told him "One more bite" and I helped him take his last bite and if you've never heard the wail of a child who's had his ice cream taken from him, well my friends, you just haven't lived! I knew it was about to erupt, so I'm quietly and calmly whispering to Morgan that it's time to go. "Finish it up we are leaving NOW", as I'm wiping Bennett up and trying to muffle his screams at the same time. He does the complete back arch stiff legged approach to the stroller, so I have to man-handle him down into the stroller and this only escalates the screaming. I snatched his sippy cup off the table and WE WERE OUT OF THERE. So quick, in fact, that I almost felt like someone who was trying to dine and dash.

Yeah. So, note to self. CONES for Bennett at Fresh Choice. CONES.

Now it's nap time and I've got to vacuum because our Roomba is refusing to cooperate, dammit. Then I need to bust out the iron and iron some of Morgan's clothes for this week and then once they get up, I'm washing their blinds and windows. At some point, I suppose I'm going to need to cook dinner. And then, maybe then, it will be time for me to relax.

I'm so glad school doesn't start tomorrow

I've got stacks and stacks of laundry folded up in the living room and I barely made it through my weekly planning session this afternoon. I just don't feel "ready", although I doubt I'll really feel that way tomorrow night either. I've been going non-stop all weekend and, dare I say, I need Monday to recover?? Yep, it's true.

Besides being non-stop yesterday, today has been pretty much the same. Church this morning with Morgan and then we hit Old Navy afterwards for a little more shopping. We got home, did lunch and then Lance took her to a birthday party while I stayed home with Bennett. I got my planning and some laundry done and then when they got home from the party, I headed over to my friend Melissa's house to deliver some stuff to a friend of ours. Afterwards, I was able to unwind over some amazing crab & pumpkin spring rolls and a glass of wine with Melissa. I didn't get home until after the kids were in bed which was both good and bad. I wasn't able to set their clothes for tomorrow out, but I also was able to come in and dive straight back into laundry and Big Brother.

We have to be up early tomorrow because I have an appointment for an 8am TB test and then I plan to hit the 9am spin class. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, between approximately 3pm and 5pm, I can relax. And really enjoy the pre-school jitters. Perhaps I've subconsciously over scheduled myself so that I don't have to spend too much time thinking that in less than 36 hours, my daughter starts Kindergarten. Denial is a powerful drug.

Where's the cleaning crew?

One of the things that they've been pushing for at the school is for people to volunteer time over the weekend to do clean up. They had a bulletin board up at the barbecue last night, where you could pull a card for the activity you wanted to do. I was there with another Mom from Morgan's class and we both pulled cards to clean up the Kindergarten playground. Mine was to wash the play structures and hers was to sweep it. Seemed like it would take us, what, like an hour?? Try nearly FOUR! There was so much that needed to be picked up, cleaned up, swept up, etc. Of course, it didn't help that we are both kind of perfectionists. :)

Anyway - we got there expecting SOMEONE to be there, maybe at a table with coffee and donuts?? I'm not sure what movie I was stepping out of, but the stark reality hit me when it was us, one other mom who was weeding, the principal who was cleaning the hallways, and the janitor. And then it dawned on me. Similarly to the moms club, where 10% of the people do 90% of the work, it's going to be that way at the school, too. I know cleaning parties aren't everyone's cup of tea. I also know that people may be coming at different times all weekend long. Or maybe they are the ones who signed up to hand out sno-cones at the barbecue last night. But if you saw the building that the school district gave the charter school, you'd understand why I was anxious to go clean. Also you can understand why they want to break ground on the new school next summer and have it open by the time school starts in 2010.

Even though there weren't that many parents there, I feel good knowing that come Tuesday morning, I've cleaned every square inch of those play structures with vinegar and water and the yard is all swept up. And Morgan even helped, so I'm sure she'll be telling everyone of her good deeds to make their environment a little nicer. Plus she got to play with her friend until they were sick of each other. Maybe they'll be able to listen to the teacher come Tuesday morning.

Kids are napping and I'm nasty. Must go get showered. Birthday party tonight. I'm running myself ragged....

Dear Mom

I know there was no way of knowing. I mean, how could you have known? But this wasn't a great time for ME for you to take your Alaskan vacation. I'm a wreck and you're out of cell coverage. I know you didn't know when the first day of school was or exactly what my level of comfort would be, but I'm dying over here without having you on speed dial!

I changed at least four times before settling on something conservative enough, fun enough, casual enough, but also nice-looking to wear to the back to school barbecue tonight. The mention of anything remotely related to what Morgan will be doing in school is enough to make my eyes well with tears. Peeking into her classroom tonight, seeing the tables and chairs with names labeling. Seeing the coat hook where she'll hang her backpack on Tuesday morning. Well, it's all just a bit much.

I hope we made a good impression on her teacher. She sure made a good impression on me. She spent a good amount of time talking to Morgan and trying to find out what Morgan was interested in, what kids she knew, and letting her know that they were going to have so much fun this year. There are at least four other kids in Morgan's class that we know, one of them son of the woman that I'm going to be exchanging child care with so we can work in the class! Us new Kindergarten moms are bonding together. Going into this unknown territory together. And we are all terrified!

The barbecue was full of excitement -- maybe even too much for my five year old and sixteen month old. There was a BAND for crying out loud! Playing rockin music such as Jessie's Girl and I'm Just a Girl. Not to mention all the prerequisite cake walks, ring tosses, ice cream floats, bouncy houses, and water slides. And TONS of people. It literally took Morgan OVER AN HOUR to eat her dinner. All of it was.....a bit much.

And I'd love to debrief on this. Ask questions like "how did you do this?" or "how can I quit getting all choked up at every little thing??" I need to get any last minute advice for preparing Morgan, or better yet, preparing myself. But she's on vacation. I know!! As if we mothers get to do that! ;)

My husband torments me

I asked him to help me make the bed this morning. This is how he torments me.


The pillow on the right is mine. The one on the left is his. He just keeps saying that he "prefers" it that way. But I know he just knows how much it bugs me that he does this!! Can't I file for some sort of spousal abuse??

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

We went back to Cull Canyon today for our last summer fling. The weather was warm, the sun was bright and the sand was delicious. Oh? We're not supposed to taste the sand?? Oh, alright then. Can't help it when a certain 16 month old decides he's going to toss some in your water bottle and see if you figure it out. Which I did. After I took a major gulp. Anyhow....

The kids had fun swimming in the lagoon, digging in the sand, and the MOST fun playing in some sprinklers that came on while we were there. Because, you know you can't find a sprinkler just anywhere. You must go to the beach for that. And you can find a chlorinated lagoon ANYWHERE. The are practically a dime a dozen. But, they were having fun. So who cares? Summer time fun. What a nice way to end the summer!

After we were done there, Morgan's friend, Chenoa, came home with us. It was so funny to listen to them on the way home. Things like, "Okay, Chenoa. Let's have a chat on the way home. If you are done chatting, just let me know. We can talk about what we are going to play when we get home." And Chenoa would say, "Okay. Let's play house."

They discussed who would birth what baby and how they could also incorporate the stuffed animals into the action. Bennett was sitting in the middle of them, just looking back and forth, I'm sure wondering to himself what these crazy girls were talking about. Once we got home, I put Bennett down for his nap and they started playing house and school while I unloaded and put away our TON of gear that we take everywhere. I was able to grab a shower and they were still playing so nicely when I was done. Now they are playing Wii. Quietly. Because they are girls. I'm sooooo loving this. :)

I've got to go dry my hair and throw some makeup on because the back to school barbecue is tonight. I'm stressing a little less since we got a letter in the mail yesterday that told us who Morgan's teacher will be. She's going to be one of the Terrific Toucans and her teacher is the same person who did her assessment. Morgan really liked her as did I. What a relief! And one of the moms who I emailed yesterday emailed me back and said she got a letter and that her daughter, also known as Morgan's twin, will also be a Terrific Toucan! How exciting!! So, tonight we meet the rest of the class and teacher and get to have some fun at the same time. Morgan is very excited.

It's been a busy day. Started early at the gym where I did the crazy 9 laps on the track, 9 sets of stairs, 8 laps on the track, 8 sets of stairs, etc. thing again. So, I'm tired, but I MUST! KEEP! GOING! At least Lance will be home early for the barbecue. And Bennett is in a good mood, so that helps. :)

Go ahead, try not to smile!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Let the freaking out begin!

It's official. I'm a nervous wreck over this whole starting school business. It started first thing this morning with a pre-planned playdate with the woman and daughter (and her five year old son) whom I am going to be exchanging childcare with once a week so that we can both work in the classroom. We started talking about schedules and it was enough to make my head explode.

I'll have her daughter (14 mos) and Bennett once a week while she takes the big kids to school and works in the classroom and then vice versa another day of the week. Then there's playgroup for the little kids (she's joining Bennett's playgroup), not to mention other activities for all the kids. She's doing Wonderful Ones with her daughter on Tuesdays and I'm enrolling Bennett in a Terrific Toddler class at the tennis club on Thursdays. Her son will be taking other classes, similarly to how I've already enrolled Morgan in ballet and soccer. When you slice it up, we're pretty much busy every day of the week, not to mention EVERYTHING else we have going on.

After the playdate this morning, we went to the school for orientation to drop off the thousand-page registration packet and to have pictures taken. Morgan had hers done first and they couldn't get a real smile out of her. She's at this age where she tries to fake it and it looks totally forced. So, her kindergarten pictures will be without a real smile. I had to have my picture made also since I plan on working in the classroom and will need it for my badge. From there, we stopped by the fundraising table to sign up to work the Bingo fundraiser and to drop off the keys to our savings account. Next up was the PTO table where I signed myself up, paid for myself and Morgan's teacher, and got the schedule of reoccurring meetings. Once that was done, we headed over to the office to pick up the packet of paperwork and information I'll need to go have my fingerprinting and background check complete since I plan on working on campus. That was another chunk of money. Finally, I was able to walk Morgan through the Kindergarten hallway and give her a chance to see where she *may* be coming next week. We find out who her teacher is tomorrow at the back to school barbecue.

We got home and had lunch and when I got done, I sat down and started filling out yet more paperwork for this background check. And then I needed to call and make an appointment to get a TB test since I'll need that done also. Last night, I had a long talk with a friend of mine who went through all this last year with her now first grader. She gave me some tips on the first day of school (traffic, parking, etc) and I decided I should pass that information along to the other moms I've gotten to know over the summer at the park playdates. Emails to them. Finally, FINALLY, I remember about ME. And how I haven't had a hair cut in ---OH MY GOSH--- almost FIVE months. Holy crap. Thank goodness she can fit me in fairly soon. Is this what happens to busy moms? You forget to get your hair cut? At least when I was working in the corporate world, there was a sort of sanity check for personal hygiene. Now? Anything goes!

Now I'm sitting here after my appointents are made and paperwork is filled out. Calendar is updated. And tomorrow is the back to school barbecue where we'll find out not only who Morgan's teacher is, but also what other kids are in her class. I wonder if Morgan will like her teacher. I wonder if the teacher and I will get along. I wonder if she's going to be in a class with other kids she's met over the summer.

Let the freaking out begin.

There's no motivator quite like guilt

I just received an email from someone that I can only presume is the grand pubah of the PTO at Morgan's elementary school. I wouldn't know yet because WE HAVEN'T STARTED SCHOOL YET. But that's neither here nor there because I'm already getting emails fraught with despair over the fact that there may not be anyone to man the popcorn machine at the back-to-school barbecue or that a child might have to go down the water slide without four adults standing by. As you can probably tell from my tone, I'm thinking that these are not earth shattering positions that must! be! filled! But what you probably can't tell is that I'm fighting myself to not volunteer.

You see, guilt is a strong motivator. While on the one hand, I would like to actually sit back and enjoy my child's very first back-to-school EVERYTHING, the other part of me is feeling guilty about not volunteering. I mean, I feel like I should contribute. I am now part of this new community, and as in everything I do, I like to give it my all.

Like this morning, when I *had* to make homemade waffles for the kids because Bennett asked for waffles. I mean, the kid calls toast, bagels, muffins, pancakes, and pretty much any other bread-like breakfast substance a "waffle", but that is beside the point. And forget the fact that I had to practically bribe Morgan to pass on the cereal for just one day. Noooooo. It was more important that I cook a hot, home cooked meal for their breakfasts. Because I'm feeling GUILTY that I will likely not be able to do it much during the week once school starts.

Oh and also? This morning? When Bennett decided to poop just as I was walking out the door, already late for the 9am spinning class (see previous mention of hot homemade breakfast), all I could think about is how disappointed those people in the spin class would be that I wasn't there. So, I quickly got him changed and we high-tailed it over to the club and I was only a few minutes late. Because I would have felt guilty if I had not gone to that class. Where people look for me.

Another reason I was running late this morning was because I had to prepare a roast in the crock pot to cook all day. So that dinner will be ready early without too much fuss. Because I have a meeting to go to tonight. A BIG Town Hall Meeting where they will be discussing the new location for the new state-of-the art school facility and, of course money. Which totally stresses me out and makes me have pre-meeting guilt because I have already been asked for thousands of dollars to be donated in my child's name to the school (a single thousand dollars will cover the holes in the budget) and I know that they will need more. Education is very important to us, so this is where I'd like to donate money. Particularly on a new facility, that will also be a preparatory high school. And will benefit BOTH of my children. But, hey -- remember I quit my job about 9 months ago?? So, here I sit, feeling guilty over what I would be able to give if I was still working versus what we are able to give now.

So, I'm sitting here, willing myself to NOT volunteer for something at the BBQ. I already volunteered to go to the school for a pre-school-starting-spruce-the-place-up day. But that doesn't seem to satisfy the guilty feeling of denying these poor kids their sno-cones at the BBQ.

I'm so selfish.

Someone is reading this blog!

Yes, it's true. I couldn't believe it either. Makes me wonder if maybe I should start censoring my posts?? And here's the interesting part - she likes it. I know!! To quote her, she says, " Paige at My Home is My Heart fills her blog with a delightful combination of humor, fun, and adorable pictures of her kids. She is an amazing woman and mother, and I really enjoy getting to read these snippets of her life every day." Delightful? Amazing?? So, clearly she isn't reading carefully. :)

No, seriously. Emily is a friend of mine (who blogs here) that I met online a bazillion years ago and had the pleasure of meeting in person a couple of icy Februaries ago when I was stuck in Washington D.C. for a Lockheed Martin Leadership academy. Eight months pregnant with Bennett, in crazy high heels trying to walk on snow. Sing it with me, "One of things is not like the others. One of these things just doesn't belong." Not sure if it was me fully pregnant or the high heeled boots, but I was making EVERYONE nervous walking around on the icy snow. But I got to experience a full on blizzard in the dead of winter in DC. Everything was shut down. Except the academy, of course. Anyway - Emily was nice enough to come rescue me from our hotel one afternoon so that we could meet in person. Her kids Claire and Ben are so cute and so smart, kind of like their mom. She's one of those people the helped convince me that having two was going to be good. Even if the second one was a stinky boy.

So yeah, she's awarded me with this smile award. Isn't it cute? Thank you, Emily! You put a smile on my face as well!

So, I will now do my part and play by the rules.

The Rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the award's creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.




Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

So, here are my award winners, I'll do three like Emily did. 'Cause I'm all about breaking the rules!!

1. Laura at lauralohr.com. I love reading updates on her because (1) she's a runner and passionate about it (2) she's a mom and passionate about it and (3) she is also passionate about traveling, spending time with her husband and family and living life, in general. Notice a theme? Not to mention that Allie brightens up her blog with her cute little face.

2. My friend at Born Still but Still Born. She has taught me so much about what it's like to go through a loss as deep as hers. How things we say and do, even with the best intentions, may not be well received. You just never know what another person is going through. She's taught me how important it is to go with your gut and take charge of your health and the well being of our children. She's taught me about grief and joy. Love you, girl!

3. Libby at Spaghettios with Sliced Us. Libby has a very witty sense of humor and a cute pug and daughter to boot. I love how upbeat Libby always is, finding humor in even the toughest situations. Plus, who can resist Scarlett's big blue eyes??

Comfort letter

Part of the thousand-page registration packet we picked up was a sheet that described how to put together two "emergency kits" for the kids in case of earthquake. Now, I'm from Florida where we were never asked to do such silly things. No earthquakes out there, and if it was raining too hard and too windy, well then you wouldn't be at school. So, this is kind of new territory for me.

The sheet has a list of things to go into two different ziploc bags. One bag is for a shorter term, more immediate emergency and will be kept in the classroom. This one only has ONE non-perishable food item and only ONE bottle of water. The other bag is for longer term and requires two bottles of water, three non-perishable food items. a small toy or book, notepad and pencil, a space blanket, two 33-gallon trash bags, etc. This bag is going in a container outside of the classroom. Both bags also require a family photo and a comfort letter from mom or dad.

Given that I'm the "writer" in the family, I thought I'd give it a whirl. My first inclination was to open up my laptop and knock something out. But then, I thought that might not be too comforting to my daughter. She might prefer something handwritten. So, I go get a nice stationary and pen and sit down to write this letter of comfort for her.

But I'm stuck. What do I say to comfort my child in some undetermined emergency state?? Here's my first draft.

Dear Morgan,

I'm sorry that some unfortunate situation has occurred that requires you to open this bag and read this letter. I don't know if it's an earthquake or what, so I don't really have any words of advice for you. Even if it was an earthquake, your Southeastern U.S. mother wouldn't know what to do. Hopefully they've taught you that at school already. I can tell you what to do if it's a hurricane though. Not much help, huh?

Did you eat your raisins yet? Hope they didn't get stale. I picked them as your non-perishable item because they are self contained, and to be honest, what we had in the cupboard at the time I put this kit together for you. It was another thing to mark off my ever increasing to-do list and just part of a thousand page registration packet getting you ready for Kindergarten. If this is a major catastrophe, then you'll also be able to enjoy a Kids' Cliff bar -- you love those!! Oh, and you'll get to practice writing or drawing on the cute notepad you picked out! Hope you enjoy seeing your small toy. We opted to use something you already had rather than have you pick out a new toy that had to immediately go into a bag you will hopefully never see again. Until now.

Yeah, so I'm not sure where you are or what you are doing when you are reading this. Or better yet, I don't even know if you are able to read this yourself yet or not. In which case, I hope the adult or older child who is reading it will excuse my handwriting. I don't write things by hand much lately. You know, with the advent of computers and all. Which reminds me. If you are getting cell phone reception, I'm including my cell phone number at the bottom. Send me a text and let me know that my child is busy reading their comfort letter and so I have a chance to actually come comfort her in person.

Anyhoo - I hope you are able to make the best out of the bad situation you are in. Really the only thing I can tell you that would be of any comfort is how much Daddy and I love you. We always will. Regardless of whether or not you or we live through this catastrophic event.

Love,
Momma

What do you think? Positive? Upbeat? Extra points for humor??

The 80s called. They want their STEP back.

The class I got everyone up and out of the house for was supposed to be Cardio and Core with my all-time favorite instructor, Jenn. So, imagine my surprise when I walk into the classroom to see a seemingly washed up 80s STEP aerobics instructor there. What??

She had several circuits set up -- STEPs, BOZU's and a rope ladder laid out on the ground. Looked interesting. I'm already here. The time slot works for me. I'll give it a shot.

Except it was such an 80s flashback. Remember back in the 80s when STEP aerobics was the hottest ticket in town?? I'm sure this instructor was also the hottest ticket in town. Back then. Roughly 20+ years ago. As it stands today, in 2008, if I want to TAKE a STEP class, I'll go to one. You know the one? The one they have a week. Because, like....uh....nobody really does STEP anymore. Sure, you use the STEP to do other exercises. But using the STEP and doing STEP; two different things. She had us doing all these crazy combinations all over and around the STEP. There were even arm movements. Up-up, down-down, Both up, both down and cross in front (twice). And if this weren't bad enough, she didn't give you any warning when she was switching movements. It was really like she thought everyone must do these steps every day. It's like she walked out of August 18, 1982 straight into August 19, 2008. I seriously felt like I was being PUNKED. Even the music!! Oh the music!! It wasn't even the GOOD 80s music. Oh it was soooo bad. The saving grace was that at least she wasn't wearing some crazy 80s lycra unitard or something.

I was working up a good sweat, so I stayed for half the class. But after that, and with some more crazy straddle, hop, shimmy moves over the STEP, I decided I'd ditch it. This is TOTALLY against my being. I NEVER do something like that. That should give you some indication of how bizarre this class was. I need to figure out who that instructor was. I want to make sure I never walk into her class again!

We are all smiles over here

Not only did practice day 2 start great, it just keeps getting better. Every one in this house is all smiles right now. Love it!

This morning, Bennett started rustling around at about 6:30, which allowed me the pleasure of rolling over and waking up my snoring husband who clearly turned the alarm off instead of hitting snooze. I got up and got my day started by getting dressed for the gym and making the bed when Bennett decided to lay down and be quiet. So, I was actually able to spend some time to myself this morning, first thing. When I was ready, I came downstairs and Morgan was already up and dressed, had made her bed and was brushing her teeth! It was about 7:15 at this point, so we are right on track for practice day 2 target of being ready to leave by 7:45ish. Bennett was awake, so I got him up and dressed, and aside from COMPLETELY losing it because Daddy had to go to work (and make money, Morgan chimed in), he was fairly pleasant. I made him some eggs for Bennett and myself and it was the usual -- cereal -- for Morgan. She was so pleasant the whole time.

I had packed my gym bag the night before, so all I needed to do was grab the pre-packed "gym diaper bag" and throw a sippy cup in there, and grab Morgan's pre-packed soccer bag. We went to the gym, I dropped off the kids (Bennett actually just walked in the nursery without any crying. I was shocked!). I headed off to a cardio and core class. It was an interesting class. More on that later. I actually ended up bailing on the class at the half-way mark and hit the weight room and indoor track to finish my workout. Morgan decided to do kid fit, so she was in the gym and could see me running around the indoor track, so she was happy. When I was done with my workout, I showered, shaved and got dressed. I threw my hair in a pony-tail and then picked Morgan up from the gym. She was happy to see me and then happy to go get Bennett. We picked Bennett up and all walked, hand in hand, to the car to head over to soccer.

This was Morgan's last soccer practice of the summer. They haven't really been doing traditional games this whole time - just working on soccer skills. My new soccer mom friend and I were both saying that we hoped they would do a game today for their last soccer practice. Well, weren't we pleasantly surprised when the kids started playing a game! It was great! All the parents suddenly became sideline cheerleaders, cheering on the kids. The kids did GREAT; there was a lot of back and forth and then, right at the end, Morgan scored a goal and it was the WINNING GOAL for her team. Want to know what she said to me after soccer?

Mom, I'm so proud of myself!
I just didn't want to let the green team down!
I made my goal!
I'm so proud!
Can we call Daddy and tell him??

She was so excited! It was a great moment to experience.

Also, the whole time I was at soccer? I was making a new BFF! Get this! She took her five year old son to see Willy Wonka and then to do back to school clothes shopping this weekend!! And her husband? Took him to get school supplies. Hello?! Mirror lives! She's the one that also has the 13 month old son. And is a member at the tennis club where she took a kickboxing class with me on Saturday. And she wants us to enroll the kids in the same soccer league for fall. So we exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. And I already have two emails from her in my inbox. Yay! Yes. I feel like I'm thirteen. But, I'm sure you can understand, given the recent events in my friend life. Now, I'm just crossing my fingers that her husband and Lance get along. He's a software developer also, so it's almost a given. Seriously, we just have a lot in common with these people. I think that's cool! I do realize that I'm taking my coolness level way down with this admission, but that's okay. I was too cool to start with. ;)

After soccer, we had to make an emergency pit stop at home because Bennett decided to have a blowout. We got him changed, had lunch, and then went grocery shopping where the kids were....get this....good. I don't know what's happened to my kids. Maybe it's some sick joke the universe is playing on me because it's nearly the end of summer and this is how I would have liked EVERY day to go this summer. But you know what? I'll take it!

The went down for naps at 2 and Morgan was up at 3:30 (early for her), but agreed to go back to her room for more quiet time with books while I finished up paying/filing bills and similar tasks. She's up watching Backyardigans right now and Bennett is still napping. It's 5pm. I should probably wake him up soon. But I'm really enjoying the peace and quiet.

A fun outing....I'll have another.

We had fun at Studio Grow this morning. We rode with our friends to the educational center and the ride was fairly uneventful except the part where I was tossing a book back to Morgan, who was in the back of the van, and hit her squarely in the forehead. Yep, I think that earns me yet another Mom of the Year award.

Bennett was in a good mood this morning, all smiles and giggles. Once we got to the center, he took off for EVERYTHING. He was running in and out of the rooms like he owned the place. We went first to the area where there was a big pit of BALLS. BALL! BALL! Oh my goodness Momma - BALL!! They had a great slide for the little ones and some gymnastic mats also. Shortly after we got there, they had music time and so we tried that out. Except he didn't want to sit on the carpet square. Or in my lap. Nope. He wanted to wander around, bumping into other kids as they sang about the farmer taking a wife. And then the wife taking a child?? Who makes up these songs anyway?

So, we ducked out of music time early and the kids played in the kitchen area, where Morgan must have "packed lunch" about fifty times. Gosh, wonder who she's seen doing that ALL SUMMER LONG. After time in the kitchen, we played with the blocks and dinosaurs for a bit before heading over to do a little bit of art. I was surprised Bennett wanted to sit down and color with markers, but then I quickly found out that he didn't really want to color with the markers. He wanted to take the tops off and try to put them on the end. Only the didn't fit. This didn't make the little tyrant very happy. He practically cussed me out in his baby talk.

When Morgan was done painting her snail (can you see the resemblance?), we went to the "cafeteria" to eat lunch. Where the kids continued to push each other's buttons by kicking each other. I had to separate them and then Bennett decided that he wanted to get out of his chair while he was eating, which was NOT going to happen (I refuse to chase my kids around with food, getting them to eat. I know I'm a cruel mother, but I've got rules dammit). So, he eventually finished eating, under duress and the kids went back to the art room, where Bennett preferred to express his artistic side by climbing the stool to get up to the sink rather than coloring, painting or gluing. We went for round two of the blocks and dinosaurs, and found some rather cool keyboards where the kids could sit and pretend they were all-important dot com CEOs. Morgan even asked for blocks to make a monitor. Bennett was emailing Daddy about how Momma didn't let him eat lunch on the run and then he was off again -back into the room with the ball pit.


It was a fun outing. But I'm kind of thinking I need to do one more outing before school starts. One more time at the beach or something really summery. Because the Educational Center didn't scream summer vacation to me. I want things to be *just so*.

I know. It's a sickness.

Good Morning. Welcome to practice day 1.

Let's see how we are doing. Morgan will need to be at school at 8:10. Which means to be sure, we should be leaving the house by 5 til 8. Which means I should plan on quarter til. Which means we are SCREWED! We would have to be walking out the house right this minute and that would involve.

1. Snatching a bagel out of Bennett's hands
2. Putting Bennett's shoes on
3. Convincing Morgan that she needs to get out of bed and quit playing with her Leapster.
4. Convincing Morgan to get dressed in the clothes we laid out last night.
5. Get Morgan's teeth brushed.
6. Do Morgan's hair.
7. Get Morgan to put her shoes on.
8. Figure out a good breakfast for Morgan to eat in the car. On the way to school. In ten minutes. Which is pretty much a world record eating time for our world's slowest eater.
9. Put a nice strong cup of coffee in a travel mug.

Okay, maybe the last one isn't that important. Heck, I even skipped over Morgan making her bed. But you see? On practice day one, she is failing MISERABLY. She said, and I quote, "I don't want to get out of bed. I'm too cranky". Hello pre-kindergarten stress and resistance. Nice to meet you.

Given that today is not an actual school day, I'm going to exercise some lenience. We do, however, need to be ready to go in about an hour because we have our last "outing" of the summer planned for today. I think we can manage that. I'm very excited because I've never been to this museum and I've heard lots of fun stuff about it. I think it will be particularly fun for Bennett.

Off to clean bathrooms before we go. Oh, and make Morgan get up.

Balancing Needs

Yesterday was my day to spend with Morgan, getting her ready for Kindergarten. This weekend, Lance has been sanding and painting an old desk that we had, getting it ready to move into Morgan's room. He has taken her school shopping to buy stuff like notebooks, pencils, markers, etc to go in her new desk. She has no idea this desk even exists and is going to be really surprised when she gets home and sees it in her room. In fact, right now, I bet she's picking out a chair to go with the desk that she doesn't even know is in her room. I'm so excited to see her face!

This is all very exciting for us, but I'm starting to gather that it's really stressing her out. She nearly had a breakdown when Lance told her that he was going to take her shopping. She said she wants to keep things like they are now. No school. She wants to just do things like go to see movies or go to museums. Just fun stuff.

I think this all stems from us telling her that we're going to have to practice getting up and going in the morning because she can't be late for school. It's not like preschool where you have an hour and a half window of time to get them there. School starts at 8:10 and you need to be there by then, or else there may be ramifications. She's not real keen on that part of school. I suspect we'll have the same battles over homework this year. But you know what? At least she'll have a dedicated place, where Bennett isn't allowed to go, to do her homework.

Maybe we've made a mistake by putting too much emphasis on starting school. We've had the whole summer of meeting kids that she'll be going to school with, we've started talking about schedules and routines and after a summer of nothing but non-stop fun, who can blame her? I'm trying to balance her need to soak things in before school starts, my need to prepare our house and schedules, and also trying to keep things positive and fun. This is actually a lot harder than it sounds.

I'm hoping that she'll have so much fun at the back-to-school barbeque this Friday that she won't be able to wait for school to start. They'll be having a cake walk and water slide and all kinds of fun stuff. I think that's what she needs to see right now. Because all Kindergarten sounds like to her at the moment is rules and structure and then end of fun.

Every girl's dream...theater then shopping!

Today was my afternoon out with Morgan. We try to do this about once a month and then Daddy takes her somewhere special once a month. It's one of the ways we try to make sure that we spend time alone with each kid. Particularly Morgan since she can actually remember when she didn't have to share us with her brother.

So today, I planned for us to go the the theater and then to go shopping for back-to-school clothes. I mean, how much more girly can it get?? We saw a children's production of Willy Wonka Junior that was playing at our new community theater. The kids in the show were very cute and a couple of them were actually pretty good. This, of course, was on the heels of our girls' night where we watched the movie (hmmm, wonder if that was planned?) and I refused to tell her what her surprise was all day. She kept begging me! She even woke up a little early from her nap and ran upstairs to where I was getting dressed to ask me if I'd tell her now. She was just dying!! As we were driving there, she keeps guessing and asking questions.


"Momma, is it going to take long to get there?"
"I know. We are going to Chuck E Cheese!"
"Are we going to see a movie?"

Even in the line at the theater, she's insisting that it SURE DOES SEEM LIKE A MOVIE. We go inside and the show is starting just as we arrive. I asked her if she knew who it was and she shook her head. I told her it was Willy Wonka and the girl actually went "squeee!". She was very excited and loved the whole thing. She also happens to be a Loud Talker and was calling the upcoming scenes in a fairly loud voice. "Oh yeah! That's the girl that turns into a blueberry!" or "Isn't that the kid that falls into the chocolate??". After the show was over, they handed out chocolate bars to all the kids and one of them had a golden ticket in it. It wasn't ours. But that didn't detract from the fantasy around the whole thing. Morgan was so excited by the whole thing and kept telling me that this was SUCH A GREAT SURPRISE MOMMA!

I knew she was really tickled when she turned to me in the theater and whispered, "Does Daddy know??" :)

We went and got smoothies after the show and then when we were ready to go, we took off to go back to school clothes shopping. I told Morgan how excited I was about this and she didn't seem to share my sentiment. I said, "I remember going shopping with Grandma when I was little. I always had fun. I still have fun shopping with Grandma." She responded that she doesn't really care for shopping. "It's always boring. It's just food and stuff." I realized then that she thought we were going GROCERY SHOPPING. I laughed and told her that no, we were not going to be buying food. We were buying clothes. For her. Then she got it. She even asked if she could try stuff on in the dressing room like I do. Now that's my girl! Since I had my camera with me, I thought I'd do a little photo shoot of the fashion show in the dressing room. She was really hamming it up for the camera.

We had a successful shopping trip, but one thing is for sure. I'm glad that she insisted on trying stuff on. My girl? She's got junk in her trunk. We had to go to size 6 on some of her pants. :)

Member Night at the Zoo

We had fun at the zoo last night for Members Night. The only downside was that they didn't order enough food for everyone, so they were starting to run out of some of the stuff when we got there. No big deal for us, but it just kind of put a damper on the evening for some. The kids had fun running around the zoo at night, they had a couple of different musical performers throughout the zoo and it was just a nice, casual family night out. Here are some pictures!












































And a video of Bennett dancing. :)

Bennett Performs

Please be sure to stay tuned until the end. When he decides he's done. Little turkey!!

Revenge

Is it so wrong that I am secretly satisfied at the sight of varicose veins on the legs of my favorite instructor at the club? She was there working out at the same time I was there and I spied them. RIGHT THERE IN PLAIN SIGHT. Just like mine.

It *might* have a little something to do with the fact that Bennett pointed to one of mine yesterday and innocently said "Boo Boo". So yeah, a little revengeful of me, I suppose.

The scale went back up again today. By like two pounds?? I suppose this is my punishment for not working out yesterday. But I was busy in the morning and then the kids didn't wake up from naps until 5. I was busy doing chores during nap time and reading through the 100+ pages of the registration packet for Kindergarten. After naps, Morgan begged me to let her play Wii and then we played a few rounds of hide and seek before it was time to clean out her drawers and closets and make the list of what she needs for school. That's what we were doing when Lance got home from work and then it was dinner time and then there was bedtime and Big Brother and the Olympics. So yeah, when was there time to workout yesterday?? I know, likely excuse. Which is why the two additional pounds today.

But, I did 3+ miles around the track and 15 sets of stairs today. Hopefully that will account for something?? After, I got showered up and dressed. I even shaved. And put lotion on. And dried my hair. And used he flat iron. I went all out, I'm telling you! Then, I went and got the kids and we headed to the park where we met some friends for some fun in the sun. On the way down, I must have played this song at least a thirteen bazillion times. I downloaded it off of iTunes after watching the video over at Dooce. I dare you to try not to dance to this one. Double dog dare you.

Morgan and Chenoa had a blast playing together, as usual. It's so nice to have her play so nicely with GIRLS! Such a foreign concept over here! They did get dissed by another couple of girls, who Morgan defined as bossy (try not to laugh!). That's the interesting thing about her playing with girls. They are....ummmm....girls. Complete with having to go to the bathroom together. A new frontier! But it's great!















Bennett was happy to be in the water, eating lunch. and then being on the loose with Kylee. The only downside was when a bigger kid tried to take away his ball. Like right out of his hand. Luckily, I was right there to tell the kid THAT IS NOT NICE! The same kid also pushed Kylee down into the water and kept pushing on her. I'm not sure where his mom was. But you know what? We got our revenge because I saw another little girl following him around trying to kick him.


All kids were sufficiently tired out when we packed up the cars and left. And now my little bundles of joy are all tucked into their beds napping. Given that I've been staying up waaayy too late watching the Olympics, and that we are closing in on a looooong and busy summer, I think I'll follow suit in a minute. We are going to the Member Night at the zoo tonight, where we'll be enjoying a catered dinner. No cooking dinner for me! Again! Yay! Gosh, it's almost like I planned it this way.

The look of terror

If I were to look it up on Wikipedia, I'm positive it would match the expression I saw on my daughter's face after her naptime story. You know? A little light reading before nap? Well, as it turns out, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is not very soothing for a little girl who has had issues with lying in the past few months. I don't know if it's the thought of not being believed or if it's the actual being eaten alive by the wolf. Whatever works, though.

See?? Parenting can be fun!

Good things come to those who have totally lost their minds on previous occasions?

I'm feeling really good today. Like today, I can do this. Like today, the kids are good, loving children who listen well and are kind to each other.

Which is in stark contrast to the way I was feeling yesterday afternoon. When Bennett decided that me cooking dinner is the PERFECT time for him to start hitting everything with a pan from the play kitchen. Including his sister. Or maybe it would be a good time to start climbing over our deftly placed magazine holder to get to the bookshelf that's off limits. I was nearly at my wits end last night, trying to get dinner on the table and dealing with him. Morgan was nicely sitting on the couch, looking at a book. I finally ended up grabbing him and putting him in his high chair. I mean, what other choice did I have? I can't cook dinner if I'm in the living room refereeing or disciplining every two minutes. So yeah, what other kid do you know that has to be PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED so that their parent can cook dinner. Yep, therapy.

But today? Lots of good stuff:

1. Even though they woke up at the crack of dawn (6:15 this morning!! SIX FIFTEEN!), I was still able to get dressed, with makeup and hair that looks half way decent, make the bed and come downstairs when I was done.

2. I got them up and fed and dressed and sun screened up and we left for the Kindergartners park play date with enough time to pick up the registration packet at the school on our way. I'm ALL ABOUT conserving gas.

3. We were the first ones at the park, Morgan played nicely at the park with her "attitude twin" and Bennett wasn't too much of a handful. I have made plans to do a play date with the little kids with one of the other moms so we can swap off for childcare while volunteering at the school. And the other mom actually said to me that she thought her daughter would be the tough one between the two of the little ones. Wasn't that nice of her to throw that bone to me??

4. When we were done at the park, we headed over to the library to return Morgan's "If you give a ______ a _______" books (which I actually remembered since we weren't flying out the door this morning).

5. While at the library, Bennett actually sat still and colored for a good five minutes. His first real coloring! So cute! I wrote his name on it and he even tried to mimic me writing his name, saying the letters. Cute! Morgan was playing on the computer at the library, going through "Green Eggs and Ham" on it, which she was tickled with. I checked out a book for myself, got the story about the boy who cried wolf for Morgan, and then she picked out another. We saw some friends we know at the library, which is why I love living in a smallish community.

6. We left the library with relatively little fuss, headed home. When we got home, I discovered that hell had apparently frozen over because instead of asking me to carry one more thing while already schlepping enough stuff around to be considered a pack mule, Morgan asked me if she could carry my water bottle inside FOR ME. So, of course I praised her up and down for FINALLY considering that there are, in fact, other people in the world. And then she asked if she could fill it up for me. And then put it in the refrigerator so that it would "be all nice and refreshed later".

7. We got home just in time for lunch. I baked them some chicken nuggets for lunch, which they both ate fairly well and without too much messing around.

8. Now, they are sitting on the floor in the living room and Morgan is "reading" Bennett some of his picture books.

9. I'm also loving the fact that Morgan has a water bottle attached firmly to the hip these days. She's clearly trying to model what she sees and I'm glad it's that I drink water a lot and not the sarcasm and lack of patience that I tend to have by the end of day.

10. Tomorrow is Friday. Wheee!