I did it. I registered the older two boys for public school last week.
No, we still haven't sold our house. No, we haven't moved. (yet.) We have a contract building a house in the new district so we can send the kids there before we physically move.
I'm nervous and relieved about it.
I ventured up into the attic last night, because half our stuff is packed away up there, to find their back packs.
You guys, it's a mess up there. There are empty boxes, full boxes, holiday decorations, extra "stuff" and just... it's a mess. It's not organized. It's not neatly stacked. It's FULL.
The house down here looks nice and neat all the time, but that attic is how our life really is right now. Chaos.
It's shoved where no one can see it, so as to make a prettier picture for the world.
I'm exhausted trying to sell this house. I'm so tired of being grumpy about the kids messing stuff up and so sick of losing my temper trying to get them to clean it up. I feel like the attic. Messy on the inside and in the dark corners. Chaotic. A disaster.
----
I started this journey two + years ago as a very reluctant homeschooler. I've been both pleasantly surprised at how much I've enjoyed it and horrified at how much I wanted to stop doing it. Sometimes both in the same day.
D & O are doing off to public school this year and they are excited. I am excited, nervous and all the feelings rolled up into one. C (1st grade) & Miss L will still be at home this year, so it will be nice to have a little more time with them.
I hope they like it. I hope *I* like it.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Monday, July 22, 2013
Homeschooling Routine
I got this comment from Jen last week:
Would you write a blogpost on your routine with homeschooling and resources? I'm contemplating, but with only one child, I don't know how to handle the free time....I don't want her in front of the TV. She's just turned 3 and knows her ABCs, colors, can count to 20.
I think a lot of what you do in homeschooling can differ depending on your personality and your child's needs and personality. The possibilities are limitless!
Yes, there will be free time. You could take field trips, explore art and music, let your child explore her own interests when she gets older (my oldest child could build elaborate LEGO creations all day), learn a second language, take classes outside the house, have play dates, cook, play outside, read, play board games, visit the zoo or museums or farms or any number of places, and yes, sometimes watch TV or play on the computer! ANYTHING that you want to do could be a learning experience! The flexibility is my #1 favorite part of homeschooling.
My general, "best case scenario" schedule on a day when we don't have appointments, play dates, field trips or errands looks like this:
6-8 AM: breakfast, coffee, getting ready for the day, often a cartoon or video game is in here.
8-11AM: math and language arts (writing, spelling, reading, phonics/grammar)
There's often a snack in there somewhere around 9-ish.
Lunch and free time for a few hours. (The kids usually play LEGOs, do some arts and crafts or play various games.)
Around 1 or 2PM we do science and/or history and sometimes art or music, for about an hour or however long it takes.
Don't underestimate the importance of free play and time to use the imagination! I think kids are often not afforded those opportunities.
As for resources... there are so many! Find a good homeschooling group in your area. Check out websites and read, read, read! Go to home school conventions to look through different curriculum. Some of my favorites are listed below.
Resources:
The Well Trained Mind
Leaping from the box - TONS of great links!
Penelope Trunk - I don't agree with all her posts and views, and find her a bit radical at times, but she does give a different perspective on things that make me think.
Book Adventure
Lesson planning
On Socialization
Different methods/approaches
Would you write a blogpost on your routine with homeschooling and resources? I'm contemplating, but with only one child, I don't know how to handle the free time....I don't want her in front of the TV. She's just turned 3 and knows her ABCs, colors, can count to 20.
I think a lot of what you do in homeschooling can differ depending on your personality and your child's needs and personality. The possibilities are limitless!
Yes, there will be free time. You could take field trips, explore art and music, let your child explore her own interests when she gets older (my oldest child could build elaborate LEGO creations all day), learn a second language, take classes outside the house, have play dates, cook, play outside, read, play board games, visit the zoo or museums or farms or any number of places, and yes, sometimes watch TV or play on the computer! ANYTHING that you want to do could be a learning experience! The flexibility is my #1 favorite part of homeschooling.
My general, "best case scenario" schedule on a day when we don't have appointments, play dates, field trips or errands looks like this:
6-8 AM: breakfast, coffee, getting ready for the day, often a cartoon or video game is in here.
8-11AM: math and language arts (writing, spelling, reading, phonics/grammar)
There's often a snack in there somewhere around 9-ish.
Lunch and free time for a few hours. (The kids usually play LEGOs, do some arts and crafts or play various games.)
Around 1 or 2PM we do science and/or history and sometimes art or music, for about an hour or however long it takes.
Don't underestimate the importance of free play and time to use the imagination! I think kids are often not afforded those opportunities.
As for resources... there are so many! Find a good homeschooling group in your area. Check out websites and read, read, read! Go to home school conventions to look through different curriculum. Some of my favorites are listed below.
Resources:
The Well Trained Mind
Leaping from the box - TONS of great links!
Penelope Trunk - I don't agree with all her posts and views, and find her a bit radical at times, but she does give a different perspective on things that make me think.
Book Adventure
Lesson planning
On Socialization
Different methods/approaches
Thursday, July 11, 2013
School Days
Our "formal living room" has been a play room since we moved into this house. Last year it became half play room and half school room. Yesterday I was cleaning and organizing it for our first day of school and realized how very little the kids play with any toys in there. They helped me go through everything, and there is now one lone shelf of toys, which is a huge difference from the entire room of toys it used to be! The toys they play with most are in their rooms already, but it's very weird to essentially have an office where a play room used to be. (OK, office/play room.)
I had to take pictures... the room will never look so nice again... because today was our first official day of school!
---
PS - We've been without a washer for a week now. Outfits are getting interesting around here...
 | ||
| Those shelves and baskets are all holding school books, puzzles, files, notebooks, etc. They all used to be covered in toys! |
 |
| More books behind the door, art supplies and such in the door hanger and the one lone shelf of toys by the computer desk. (And a basket of L's tea party things under the table.) |
 | ||
| First day of Kindergarten, 1st and 3rd grade. Someone was VERY excited to be starting Kindergarten! |
---
PS - We've been without a washer for a week now. Outfits are getting interesting around here...
Monday, March 04, 2013
homeschool update
A request was made to update about how homeschooling is going, and since writer's block is still hanging around, I decided to oblige. I know a lot of people get bored listening to school stuff, and if that's you it won't hurt my feelings if you skip on by.
Homeschooling is going quite well. I want to reiterate, right off the bat, that nothing about me makes me special in regards to homeschooling. I honestly believe that if you have the desire, you can homeschool successfully.
I've been happy with most of our curriculum and feel like the boys are progressing very well. I know what I want to change for next year. The flexibility we have is pretty much one of my favorite things about homeschooling. We can work for a few hours, we can play outside, take field trips, have play dates, and go off on a tangent when we feel like it! We can study our interests!
We actually enjoy spending time together, and I find it doesn't bother me to have the kids with me all the time. I worried that I would get so burnt out, but I've adjusted my expectations and have surprised myself. We have fun. I don't have to miss the kids and in turn, they are blossoming! They are getting all sorts of experiences that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
It's not all easy, of course. All the work is on me, and if they fail I take the brunt of the blame. So far they are doing well, but it's always in the back of my mind. It keeps me motivated, but it also causes stress.
It's harder to do some things, like errands, when you always have several kids with you. I'm thinking of looking around for a mother's helper to stay with the kids one morning a week so I can do all my errands and such that day. Right now it's not a big problem since the two big kids and I do most of the errands when the two little kids are in preschool. Next year though, only L will be in preschool and I'll have all 3 boys to run errands with. Still do-able but not as easy. Ideally, D could flex his time at work and take half a weekday off and make the time up by working an hour more on the other days. We'll see.
A typical day looks like this:
5:30-6 wake up
by 7, breakfast is usually finished. I drink my coffee, watch the news/check FB & Twitter, talk to my mom on the phone
8ish we start school and work pretty solidly until around 11. We typically cover math and language arts in this time and sometimes some extras like art or music.
We take a break for lunch and a little play time.
By 12-1, it's nap time for the little kids (although they only nap 2ish days a week now), then we work on History and/or Science and the kids do some free reading as well. That's only about an hour, depending on what we do. Some days it might be 20 minutes, some days 2 hours... it depends.
Then we have the rest of the day to play or do whatever. We flex our schedule around if we have plans or the little kids have preschool, and do some work before 9AM when we leave, and some while they're in school or in the afternoon after they get home.
Overall, I'd call our first year of homeschooling a success so far.
Questions?
Homeschooling is going quite well. I want to reiterate, right off the bat, that nothing about me makes me special in regards to homeschooling. I honestly believe that if you have the desire, you can homeschool successfully.
I've been happy with most of our curriculum and feel like the boys are progressing very well. I know what I want to change for next year. The flexibility we have is pretty much one of my favorite things about homeschooling. We can work for a few hours, we can play outside, take field trips, have play dates, and go off on a tangent when we feel like it! We can study our interests!
We actually enjoy spending time together, and I find it doesn't bother me to have the kids with me all the time. I worried that I would get so burnt out, but I've adjusted my expectations and have surprised myself. We have fun. I don't have to miss the kids and in turn, they are blossoming! They are getting all sorts of experiences that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
It's not all easy, of course. All the work is on me, and if they fail I take the brunt of the blame. So far they are doing well, but it's always in the back of my mind. It keeps me motivated, but it also causes stress.
It's harder to do some things, like errands, when you always have several kids with you. I'm thinking of looking around for a mother's helper to stay with the kids one morning a week so I can do all my errands and such that day. Right now it's not a big problem since the two big kids and I do most of the errands when the two little kids are in preschool. Next year though, only L will be in preschool and I'll have all 3 boys to run errands with. Still do-able but not as easy. Ideally, D could flex his time at work and take half a weekday off and make the time up by working an hour more on the other days. We'll see.
A typical day looks like this:
5:30-6 wake up
by 7, breakfast is usually finished. I drink my coffee, watch the news/check FB & Twitter, talk to my mom on the phone
8ish we start school and work pretty solidly until around 11. We typically cover math and language arts in this time and sometimes some extras like art or music.
We take a break for lunch and a little play time.
By 12-1, it's nap time for the little kids (although they only nap 2ish days a week now), then we work on History and/or Science and the kids do some free reading as well. That's only about an hour, depending on what we do. Some days it might be 20 minutes, some days 2 hours... it depends.
Then we have the rest of the day to play or do whatever. We flex our schedule around if we have plans or the little kids have preschool, and do some work before 9AM when we leave, and some while they're in school or in the afternoon after they get home.
Overall, I'd call our first year of homeschooling a success so far.
Questions?
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Yummy & Other Stuff
I found this recipe on Pinterest (where else?!) and made it for a dinner we were invited to last weekend. It was SO good and not very unhealthy as far as frosting goes. It tastes like marshmallows and it's super easy to pipe and it keeps it's shape and OMGit'sSOGOOD. Here is what my cupcakes looked like:
Here's the link to the original recipe and the recipe is below. For once, I followed it exactly because it was perfect and needed no tweaking:
4 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Place everything except the vanilla in a double boiler. (Or, if you're fancy like me, in a pot over a pot of boiling water.)
Whisk the mixture constantly over simmering water for about 5 minutes. (until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot)
Pour the mixture into your mixing bowl and beat the heck out of it for 3 minutes or so. It gets very fluffy and that's how you know it's done. It should not be runny.
(1pt+ per serving for WW if you make it 24 servings)
I see so many possibilities for this recipe! Can you imagine this fluff in whoopie pies? MMMMM!
-----------------------------------
I'm struggling with anxiety again, and it seems exacerbated for 2 weeks a month, due to hormones. When I struggle with hormones and anxiety I also fight with my weight even more than usual. So, WW is not going well the last couple of weeks. I gained a pound at my last weigh in, but I'm working to get back on track.
I hate that it's never easy, and likely it never will be.
I don't want to struggle with my weight. I want to lose this stupid weight and be done with it once and for all. I KNOW that in the last week I slipped and didn't try very hard and didn't make time for exercise and that is why I gained. I CAN lose, but it's hard and I just got tired of hard for a little bit. Sometimes I can only handle so much at once and last week my diet was not one of the things on the list.
I don't want to have anxiety that makes it hard to breathe. I don't want to spend my life worrying and stressed out, with my heart pounding in my ears. I don't want to live inside my head with all the thoughts that sound irrational out in the light of day.
-------------------------------------
We've now completed 15 days of homeschool. Most days have been good, there have been some that were rough. It's a learning experience, right now, trying to figure out what works and how to manage my time with all the kids. We are figuring it out, and I'm very much enjoying seeing O reading and d is very into science and history - 2 subjects that weren't even touched on at school.
-------------------------------------
Monday is surgery day! C & Miss L will be going in for surgery on their thumbs. I'm nervous, although I know it's a simple procedure. I hate them having to be put under for anything, and am not looking forward to The Crazy when they come out of it.
Positive thoughts are appreciated!
4 egg whites
1 cup white sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Place everything except the vanilla in a double boiler. (Or, if you're fancy like me, in a pot over a pot of boiling water.)
Whisk the mixture constantly over simmering water for about 5 minutes. (until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot)
Pour the mixture into your mixing bowl and beat the heck out of it for 3 minutes or so. It gets very fluffy and that's how you know it's done. It should not be runny.
(1pt+ per serving for WW if you make it 24 servings)
I see so many possibilities for this recipe! Can you imagine this fluff in whoopie pies? MMMMM!
-----------------------------------
I'm struggling with anxiety again, and it seems exacerbated for 2 weeks a month, due to hormones. When I struggle with hormones and anxiety I also fight with my weight even more than usual. So, WW is not going well the last couple of weeks. I gained a pound at my last weigh in, but I'm working to get back on track.
I hate that it's never easy, and likely it never will be.
I don't want to struggle with my weight. I want to lose this stupid weight and be done with it once and for all. I KNOW that in the last week I slipped and didn't try very hard and didn't make time for exercise and that is why I gained. I CAN lose, but it's hard and I just got tired of hard for a little bit. Sometimes I can only handle so much at once and last week my diet was not one of the things on the list.
I don't want to have anxiety that makes it hard to breathe. I don't want to spend my life worrying and stressed out, with my heart pounding in my ears. I don't want to live inside my head with all the thoughts that sound irrational out in the light of day.
-------------------------------------
We've now completed 15 days of homeschool. Most days have been good, there have been some that were rough. It's a learning experience, right now, trying to figure out what works and how to manage my time with all the kids. We are figuring it out, and I'm very much enjoying seeing O reading and d is very into science and history - 2 subjects that weren't even touched on at school.
-------------------------------------
Monday is surgery day! C & Miss L will be going in for surgery on their thumbs. I'm nervous, although I know it's a simple procedure. I hate them having to be put under for anything, and am not looking forward to The Crazy when they come out of it.
Positive thoughts are appreciated!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I think I actually *like* this.
I almost hate to say it, but, you guys... I think I actually *like* homeschooling. I mean, I've only been doing it a whopping 8 days, but so far I'm surprised by how much I don't hate it. I already see the challenges and rewards of doing it this way, but forget the kids for a minute.
I like it. ME. I feel like I've gone back to work, except I still don't get paid. On the other hand, I don't have to get dressed up.
I'm more productive overall, and my brain? It's functioning more fully again, on an intellectual level. I'm only teaching elementary subjects, but re-learning history and doing science experiments and refreshing my mind about parts of speech is actually quite enjoyable. (I'm not as dumb as I've been feeling! I used to be good at this stuff!)
It's not like I couldn't have been learning and keeping my brain awake before, but the truth is that I really didn't make time for it. Like so many other things; I'll do it for the kids but not for myself.
I still reserve the right to start hating it at any minute and/or complain about it at any time. Just so you know.
I like it. ME. I feel like I've gone back to work, except I still don't get paid. On the other hand, I don't have to get dressed up.
I'm more productive overall, and my brain? It's functioning more fully again, on an intellectual level. I'm only teaching elementary subjects, but re-learning history and doing science experiments and refreshing my mind about parts of speech is actually quite enjoyable. (I'm not as dumb as I've been feeling! I used to be good at this stuff!)
It's not like I couldn't have been learning and keeping my brain awake before, but the truth is that I really didn't make time for it. Like so many other things; I'll do it for the kids but not for myself.
I still reserve the right to start hating it at any minute and/or complain about it at any time. Just so you know.
Monday, July 09, 2012
Half & Half
For a person that already worries more than anyone should, this endeavor is more than a little scary. (I read a story about a tombstone killing a 4 year old and promptly announced to D that we could never again go to a graveyard. Not that we ever really do... *ahem*)
On the other hand, I have no intention of failing.
After that, we had a nice long recess, PE, lunch, and when the 2 little kids went to nap we did another hour of school work. (Science 2 days a week, History 2 days)
All in all it wasn't half bad.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Schooling
I titled this appropriately, so in case you don't like to read about other people's schooling "issues" you can just move on in your reader. I've been getting questions/emails about it though, so I thought I'd go ahead and post about it.
We've decided to home school d & O next school year.
There's a lot to our reasoning but I'll just start at the beginning. I used to be a teacher at public school and it was hard. I'm not going to lie. The classroom behaviors, some of the admin, the higher ups and the crappy parents (of course there were great parents too), the bad pay, lack of supplies, and the ridiculous amounts of standardized tests (in K!) were...well, let's just say there was plenty that I had issues with.
However, I saw a lot of good teachers and very few terrible ones. Our specific school was trying hard to meet the needs of it's students and even though it was a very poor school, I think the kids were getting a good education in spite of some of the stupid government rules. I didn't have kids then, so my perspective might be different now but I'm not sure.
I say all that to point out that I've always had issues, as a whole, with the public school system BUT I still believe in it - if that makes sense. I think it can work, with the right administrators and good teachers and involved parents. (Even with all the rules that I think are stupid. I don't expect everyone to agree, that's just my personal opinion. Of course, I'd prefer less stupid rules but it is what it is.)
So, when it came time for d to go to school I sent him. I toyed with the idea of homeschooling but if I'm being honest it's because I wasn't ready to let go of my first born and not because of anything else. I don't think I was ready for it then. The other kids were too little and I was barely keeping my head above water. (I still have those days...)
d's K teacher wasn't terrible or great. I was lukewarm, but figured it was just one of those things. Next year would be better.
It wasn't.
Don't get me wrong; d learned. His teacher and the other 1st grade teachers grouped the kids and switched for math and reading and he learned a lot. Bit by bit, he started saying things that concerned me. He would mention something his teacher said, or did, and I would think, "She was having a bad day. I know what that's like." Eventually, I started to get really concerned. This lady had no business teaching kids.
I would go up to the school and hear her screaming at the kids until I knocked on the door and then she was sweet as pie when she answered. She shamed the kids, told the whole class to "shut their stupid mouths" and they almost never had recess (this is a district policy, so not her fault, but teachers are allowed to give recess at their discretion) and she made them have silent lunch a lot. They were never allowed to talk unless asked a question and when I went up for various things I couldn't even get my child to talk to ME. Even during a party or lunch. He never wanted to go to school and was always coming home telling me things that made my blood pressure rise. She shared test scores and made children who failed cry because they "ruined the class average." It wasn't even my child and it's probably a good thing it wasn't because I do think I would have lost it. We're talking about first graders here people.
We contacted the principal and hopefully the situation was taken care of, but it left such a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn't imagine O surviving a year with a teacher like that. He's more tender hearted than d and wouldn't have been able to take it. I regret that I didn't say something sooner, and I regret that I didn't realize what was going on sooner. I regret that my child and all those other children had to be verbally abused all year. (and yes, I may occasionally snap & tell my kid to shut up but I sure don't want their teacher doing it!)
I think it's important to say that I don't have anything against the school. I think there are some great teachers there; we just didn't get any of them. I could give it another go, but the teacher situations combined with what I already don't love about the system in general just isn't working for us right now. I SO do not pass judgement on any parent who likes the public school system, or homeschooling, or unschooling or private/religious school or WHATEVER. You have to do what works for you. We needed a change and I can't apologize for that.
Right now, at this age and school level, I can provide the things I want them to have in a school experience. We *might* be able to rearrange things, scrimp and save and afford private school. However, I would prefer to not live hand to mouth if possible and I would also prefer to pay for private high school instead, if it comes to that. I do not foresee homeschooling through high school, but I suppose anything can happen. Could I go back to work? I suppose I could, but I'd just be teaching someone else's child while mine would be in someone else's care so it seems like it would be smarter just to teach them myself.
I've been absent from writing because I've been reading and reading and READING. Wow is there a lot of information out there about homeschooling! For now, I'm comfortable with our decision and I reserve the right to change my mind at any moment. ;) Thank you to everyone who emailed me with helpful tips, links and information or responded with support and understanding. This truly has not been a decision made lightly.
We've decided to home school d & O next school year.
There's a lot to our reasoning but I'll just start at the beginning. I used to be a teacher at public school and it was hard. I'm not going to lie. The classroom behaviors, some of the admin, the higher ups and the crappy parents (of course there were great parents too), the bad pay, lack of supplies, and the ridiculous amounts of standardized tests (in K!) were...well, let's just say there was plenty that I had issues with.
However, I saw a lot of good teachers and very few terrible ones. Our specific school was trying hard to meet the needs of it's students and even though it was a very poor school, I think the kids were getting a good education in spite of some of the stupid government rules. I didn't have kids then, so my perspective might be different now but I'm not sure.
I say all that to point out that I've always had issues, as a whole, with the public school system BUT I still believe in it - if that makes sense. I think it can work, with the right administrators and good teachers and involved parents. (Even with all the rules that I think are stupid. I don't expect everyone to agree, that's just my personal opinion. Of course, I'd prefer less stupid rules but it is what it is.)
So, when it came time for d to go to school I sent him. I toyed with the idea of homeschooling but if I'm being honest it's because I wasn't ready to let go of my first born and not because of anything else. I don't think I was ready for it then. The other kids were too little and I was barely keeping my head above water. (I still have those days...)
d's K teacher wasn't terrible or great. I was lukewarm, but figured it was just one of those things. Next year would be better.
It wasn't.
Don't get me wrong; d learned. His teacher and the other 1st grade teachers grouped the kids and switched for math and reading and he learned a lot. Bit by bit, he started saying things that concerned me. He would mention something his teacher said, or did, and I would think, "She was having a bad day. I know what that's like." Eventually, I started to get really concerned. This lady had no business teaching kids.
I would go up to the school and hear her screaming at the kids until I knocked on the door and then she was sweet as pie when she answered. She shamed the kids, told the whole class to "shut their stupid mouths" and they almost never had recess (this is a district policy, so not her fault, but teachers are allowed to give recess at their discretion) and she made them have silent lunch a lot. They were never allowed to talk unless asked a question and when I went up for various things I couldn't even get my child to talk to ME. Even during a party or lunch. He never wanted to go to school and was always coming home telling me things that made my blood pressure rise. She shared test scores and made children who failed cry because they "ruined the class average." It wasn't even my child and it's probably a good thing it wasn't because I do think I would have lost it. We're talking about first graders here people.
We contacted the principal and hopefully the situation was taken care of, but it left such a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn't imagine O surviving a year with a teacher like that. He's more tender hearted than d and wouldn't have been able to take it. I regret that I didn't say something sooner, and I regret that I didn't realize what was going on sooner. I regret that my child and all those other children had to be verbally abused all year. (and yes, I may occasionally snap & tell my kid to shut up but I sure don't want their teacher doing it!)
I think it's important to say that I don't have anything against the school. I think there are some great teachers there; we just didn't get any of them. I could give it another go, but the teacher situations combined with what I already don't love about the system in general just isn't working for us right now. I SO do not pass judgement on any parent who likes the public school system, or homeschooling, or unschooling or private/religious school or WHATEVER. You have to do what works for you. We needed a change and I can't apologize for that.
Right now, at this age and school level, I can provide the things I want them to have in a school experience. We *might* be able to rearrange things, scrimp and save and afford private school. However, I would prefer to not live hand to mouth if possible and I would also prefer to pay for private high school instead, if it comes to that. I do not foresee homeschooling through high school, but I suppose anything can happen. Could I go back to work? I suppose I could, but I'd just be teaching someone else's child while mine would be in someone else's care so it seems like it would be smarter just to teach them myself.
I've been absent from writing because I've been reading and reading and READING. Wow is there a lot of information out there about homeschooling! For now, I'm comfortable with our decision and I reserve the right to change my mind at any moment. ;) Thank you to everyone who emailed me with helpful tips, links and information or responded with support and understanding. This truly has not been a decision made lightly.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
*
* This week has been crazy, with appointments or commitments every day, and really, this weekend is not much better. Ah well.
* I've been using MyFitnessPal to lose weight. It's a great site with a free calorie counter and you can track exercise, calories eaten, etc. There are message boards too, though I don't use those. I started off great. I lost 7 lbs and now I'm down... 7 lbs. *sigh* When I get stuck, I get discouraged. Seeing the same number on the scale over and over is ALMOST as bad as seeing a higher number.
Tomorrow is the next weigh in for a weight loss competition I'm in and I fear I will still be down 7 lbs. I find myself wondering why I'm exercising as much as I find time for, and depriving myself of calories and desserts and such, if it's not working! blah.
* This morning, after the crazy school-morning dash, I had all 4 kids loaded in the car, buckled in car seats, and the dog was eagerly waiting in the front seat. (she rides with us to drop d off at school, and pick him up)
It was 7:50, and school starts at 8. The van would not start.
I wish I had discovered it BEFORE I got all those darn car seats buckled.
* On Tuesday, I took the 3 littlest on O's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was fun! I was skeptical about how it would go with me vs 3, but it was fine.
* D & I went on a lunch date today, if you can call it a "date" when you have to carry a sippy cup and gold fish and baby wipes in your purse for the baby, who tags along since she's not in school. I still call it a dte because 2 on 1 is much better odds for a good lunch than 2 on 4.
* I leaned back in my computer chair just now, and totally went ass over teakettle. When I looked up, the children were all looking at me with wide eyes and Miss L peered down at me and said, "K?" (I'm fine.) heh
* I've been using MyFitnessPal to lose weight. It's a great site with a free calorie counter and you can track exercise, calories eaten, etc. There are message boards too, though I don't use those. I started off great. I lost 7 lbs and now I'm down... 7 lbs. *sigh* When I get stuck, I get discouraged. Seeing the same number on the scale over and over is ALMOST as bad as seeing a higher number.
Tomorrow is the next weigh in for a weight loss competition I'm in and I fear I will still be down 7 lbs. I find myself wondering why I'm exercising as much as I find time for, and depriving myself of calories and desserts and such, if it's not working! blah.
* This morning, after the crazy school-morning dash, I had all 4 kids loaded in the car, buckled in car seats, and the dog was eagerly waiting in the front seat. (she rides with us to drop d off at school, and pick him up)
It was 7:50, and school starts at 8. The van would not start.
I wish I had discovered it BEFORE I got all those darn car seats buckled.
* On Tuesday, I took the 3 littlest on O's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was fun! I was skeptical about how it would go with me vs 3, but it was fine.
 |
| On the hay ride, after picking their pumpkins. |
* D & I went on a lunch date today, if you can call it a "date" when you have to carry a sippy cup and gold fish and baby wipes in your purse for the baby, who tags along since she's not in school. I still call it a dte because 2 on 1 is much better odds for a good lunch than 2 on 4.
* I leaned back in my computer chair just now, and totally went ass over teakettle. When I looked up, the children were all looking at me with wide eyes and Miss L peered down at me and said, "K?" (I'm fine.) heh
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Around
I didn't realize it's been over a week since I blogged!
We signed all three boys up for soccer this fall and that has been taking up 2 evenings a week. Luckily, O & C are on the same team and they have a coach we know well, as well as several play mates on the team. Watching 3 & 4 year olds play soccer? Adorable and highly entertaining!
d is also playing and he is actually really good, and he's always been highly competitive so this is right up his alley. D is helping both coaches run practice, and I think he likes it more than he thought he would. He even skipped rugby practice last week because it's the same night as d's soccer practice! (I had a hard time picking my jaw up off the floor.)
----
We took all the kids camping over the weekend. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and the kids had a ball! I forgot how dirty everyone/thing gets when you go camping. Yeesh.
We don't have a camper or anything, so it's just a big tent in the woods. We made s'mores which was kind of a flop. They preferred the marshmallows alone.
We went to the observatory and planetarium which was a HUGE mistake because it was incredibly boring (kids don't care about Johannes Kepler and neither do I) and the littlest 2 were awful. We had to leave early. (never again.)
No one slept that much, but we still had fun overall. I wouldn't say I'm in a rush to do it again in the next few days or anything, but the kids are excited to do it again really soon.
----
We had a storm shelter installed in our garage and it necessitated that we actually CLEAN UP the garage. Our garage is temporarily making me extremely happy; and I can promise I have NEVER said that before.
We bought four of these
RAD bicycle hoists and now our garage has SO much more room! (We had to buy bigger lag bolts, so know that if you buy the same kind.)
D also hung a board with nails on one wall, and we were able to hang up a lot of things. Previously, everything on the wall or ceiling was on the floor, so yeah... it was a mess.
----
I'm currently tagging things for a consignment sale and although I have no emotional attachment to most of the things I'm selling, there is one thing throwing me for a loop.
The highchair.
We have had a highchair in this house for 6.5 years and it's going to be very weird not to have one all of a sudden. It just brings home the point that my last baby is growing up.
----
I'm about to brag on d for a minute SO, if that sort of thing makes you want to throw up in your mouth, just skip this part.
D went to have lunch with d on Monday and he told me that his teacher was bragging on him the whole time. She said he's very smart, and doing so well in math and, even better, he's reading like he's halfway through 3rd grade! (He's in 1st) As an avid reader, that made me really proud!
/brag
----
In one week, O & C start preschool. I'm not sure who is more excited, them or me! I also turn 30 in less than a week, but who's counting?
We signed all three boys up for soccer this fall and that has been taking up 2 evenings a week. Luckily, O & C are on the same team and they have a coach we know well, as well as several play mates on the team. Watching 3 & 4 year olds play soccer? Adorable and highly entertaining!
d is also playing and he is actually really good, and he's always been highly competitive so this is right up his alley. D is helping both coaches run practice, and I think he likes it more than he thought he would. He even skipped rugby practice last week because it's the same night as d's soccer practice! (I had a hard time picking my jaw up off the floor.)
 |
| d |
 |
| C is 2nd, O is 4th |
----
We took all the kids camping over the weekend. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and the kids had a ball! I forgot how dirty everyone/thing gets when you go camping. Yeesh.
We don't have a camper or anything, so it's just a big tent in the woods. We made s'mores which was kind of a flop. They preferred the marshmallows alone.
We went to the observatory and planetarium which was a HUGE mistake because it was incredibly boring (kids don't care about Johannes Kepler and neither do I) and the littlest 2 were awful. We had to leave early. (never again.)
No one slept that much, but we still had fun overall. I wouldn't say I'm in a rush to do it again in the next few days or anything, but the kids are excited to do it again really soon.
----
We had a storm shelter installed in our garage and it necessitated that we actually CLEAN UP the garage. Our garage is temporarily making me extremely happy; and I can promise I have NEVER said that before.
We bought four of these
RAD bicycle hoists and now our garage has SO much more room! (We had to buy bigger lag bolts, so know that if you buy the same kind.)D also hung a board with nails on one wall, and we were able to hang up a lot of things. Previously, everything on the wall or ceiling was on the floor, so yeah... it was a mess.
----
I'm currently tagging things for a consignment sale and although I have no emotional attachment to most of the things I'm selling, there is one thing throwing me for a loop.
The highchair.
We have had a highchair in this house for 6.5 years and it's going to be very weird not to have one all of a sudden. It just brings home the point that my last baby is growing up.
----
I'm about to brag on d for a minute SO, if that sort of thing makes you want to throw up in your mouth, just skip this part.
D went to have lunch with d on Monday and he told me that his teacher was bragging on him the whole time. She said he's very smart, and doing so well in math and, even better, he's reading like he's halfway through 3rd grade! (He's in 1st) As an avid reader, that made me really proud!
/brag
----
In one week, O & C start preschool. I'm not sure who is more excited, them or me! I also turn 30 in less than a week, but who's counting?
Monday, August 08, 2011
school days & fashion sense
d started first grade today! I can't believe how fast his baby years flew by. My boy is getting big.
I also can't believe how much I've gotten done today, and it's not even 2:00. Having the school-morning routine really gets me going on the rest of my day! I've packed a lunch, made breakfast, done dishes, cleaned the kitchen, made lunches, put kids down for naps, vacuumed, shampooed the carpet, cleaned all 3 bathrooms, did 2 loads of laundry and edited some pictures.
-------------
-------------
Miss L has her own unique fashion sense.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
paint & swimming
The boys are all in swimming lessons this week, and next too. Today was the second day and d is already swimming on his own! He just needed someone to properly show him how, apparently. C is trying all the things his instructor asks him to, and he's doing very well.
O... is terrified. I've known for awhile that he's been scared of the water.
That's not technically true... he loves the water as long as he is in TOTAL control. He will not let you hold him in the water, or take him off the steps.
I've been proud of him for agreeing to take swimming lessons, and for actually getting IN the water with a bunch of little kids and a few grown up strangers. He even *almost* put his head in the water. However, he spends most of the 30 minutes crying and refusing to do the things the teachers asks. I hope he starts to get a little better. I don't want to force this on him, so I'm unsure how much to make him try. The teachers are very good, and don't make them do anything they are really scared of, but they do push them a little bit, which I think is good.
By the way, spending an hour and a half at the pool with 4 kids (but mostly Lila - who is pure mischevious energy!) every morning is wiping me out! We also have VBS this week, and the late nights and busy mornings are already making the kids overtired and grumpy. Do you think they will learn to sleep in?
Yeah, me either.
---
We painted d & O's room this weekend. It was still the flat off-white builder's paint and after 3.5 years of messy boy fingers, and other disgusting stuff, it really needed it. d's favorite color is red, and O's is blue, so we let them pick colors and help us decide how to paint.
Before:
After:
O... is terrified. I've known for awhile that he's been scared of the water.
That's not technically true... he loves the water as long as he is in TOTAL control. He will not let you hold him in the water, or take him off the steps.
I've been proud of him for agreeing to take swimming lessons, and for actually getting IN the water with a bunch of little kids and a few grown up strangers. He even *almost* put his head in the water. However, he spends most of the 30 minutes crying and refusing to do the things the teachers asks. I hope he starts to get a little better. I don't want to force this on him, so I'm unsure how much to make him try. The teachers are very good, and don't make them do anything they are really scared of, but they do push them a little bit, which I think is good.
By the way, spending an hour and a half at the pool with 4 kids (but mostly Lila - who is pure mischevious energy!) every morning is wiping me out! We also have VBS this week, and the late nights and busy mornings are already making the kids overtired and grumpy. Do you think they will learn to sleep in?
Yeah, me either.
---
We painted d & O's room this weekend. It was still the flat off-white builder's paint and after 3.5 years of messy boy fingers, and other disgusting stuff, it really needed it. d's favorite color is red, and O's is blue, so we let them pick colors and help us decide how to paint.
Before:
After:
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sleep, School, Rugby & a Diet
C has been in a big boy bed for about 5 months? Maybe more. Or less. I can't quite remember. His crib broke, and I thought I would cry. Granted, that garage sale crib lasted through 4 children, and it was a *hushed whisper* drop side. So, a big boy bed was forced upon us even though C is a notorious trouble maker and I had no intention of moving him out of that crib until he was, oh, 16 or so.
It went surprisingly well at first, but then he started getting up. He would get up over and over and over at bed time. He would get up in the middle of the night, and at the butt crack of dawn. He would go into his siblings' rooms and slam their doors until THEY woke up. He would go into the kitchen and get out the eggs and drop them on the floor. We'd find apples in his bed at 5AM. Luckily, we have child safety door knobs so he couldn't go outside and play with the coyotes! (and an alarm that would alert us if he did figure out how...)
We tried bribing, threatening, sleeping with him, sleeping on the floor, letting him "sleep" with us, etc. Finally, out of desperation, we bought this alarm clock.
The hope was that he was just getting up because he didn't yet KNOW it was not time to get up, since he's only 2.5 and can't tell time. This clock has a yellow night light that you can set to turn green at an appointed time. I have never in my life paid so much for an alarm clock, so you know desperation had set in.
Long story short: The clock is GREAT but C didn't stay in bed despite knowing that he would get a treat if he DID and also repeatedly saying, "I stay in bed. Light turn green; I get up."
UNTIL.
After one particularly annoying night, I set up the pack and play in his room and told him if he got up he was going to sleep in that instead. (He never climbed out of his crib and I hoped he wouldn't realize that he is most certainly big enough/able to climb out.) Sure enough, he was up again 34 seconds later. I put him in the pack and play and he was... unhappy. I did not get to go back to sleep that early morning, but a few more days of that and guess what? He "magically" stays in bed until the light turns green about half the time! It's almost a success! Probably my first EVER sleep story where something I tried actually (sort of) worked.
-----------------
d got his report card last week! He's doing well in school but has suddenly decided he doesn't want to go. I think it's a combination of "I have more fun at home." and what he SAYS it is, "I'm bored and never learn anything." I know that he does learn SOME things. (They worked on fractions such as 1/2 and 1/3 this week.) I know he's bored a lot as well. (A lot of his worksheets are still focusing on letter recognition, and he writes and animates comic strips on the back.) (plus, they do pretty much "all worksheets, all the time.")
Although he's bored, he never gets in trouble. He's a huge rule follower (like me) and absolutely hates to get in trouble.
I don't really mind that he is not LEARNING NEW THINGS ALL THE TIME. I taught school and I know how it works. (and didn't expect him to be reading Shakespeare or anything - he's in Kindergarten)
I am disappointed that his teacher seems unwilling to let him do any varied activities. I'm bothered that they seem not to do ANY science or social studies (and I know it's in the curriculum). I'm bothered that it seems I'm supposed to just accept that "that's the way it is" and that now; I don't WANT to teach my younger children much at home because I will have this problem all over again! I hate that they have little time for learning social skills. (No recess! No talking!) (Although he's learning plenty of school skills. i.e. how to sit down and listen.)
Most of all, I'm very disappointed that my oldest child is now starting to dislike something he once liked quite a lot (and that is in his future for years to come) because he has to sit in a chair and be bored much of the day.
I don't want to sound like one of those parents who thinks their child is a genius (I don't. I do think he's above average in a few areas.) and complains non-stop about the teacher (who, despite my concerns, I DO like), the school, the public school system in general and shoots down every suggestion. I feel like, short of homeschooling - which I'm unwilling to try barring some HUGE motivation - and private school - which we can't really afford and even THEN I'm not sure it would be better - I've tried everything I can think of and explored every avenue available to me. So. Maybe I DO just have to accept that that's how it is for this year and hope for better for next year?
-------------
Oh hey, it's rugby season again! We're already fighting about it! YAY!
I've decided not to fight about it anymore. I can hate him being gone for practices and games on all-day Saturdays just as much inside my head and then my throat won't hurt from yelling. D is not going to give up rugby (and I can't honestly say I want him to). If and when he DOES give it up, I damn straight don't want it to be because I "made" him.
So. We'll see how long that works for me.
---------------
I wasted $4.99 on a Kindle
book that I'd seen on The View or The Talk or one of those yappy shows. I don't know why I do this to myself. It was supposed to help "cure" me from my "eating type." It helps you find your eating type. Yes, I'm an emotional eater - I already knew that. Thanks.
Then, it gives me a food plan for a diet for a month so I could lose 10 lbs. I stopped reading after that. Maybe it tells me how TO NOT be an emotional eater but, like I said, I stopped reading so I guess I should finish before I b*tch too much about it. What are the odds it will "cure" my emotional eating?
Yeah...
It went surprisingly well at first, but then he started getting up. He would get up over and over and over at bed time. He would get up in the middle of the night, and at the butt crack of dawn. He would go into his siblings' rooms and slam their doors until THEY woke up. He would go into the kitchen and get out the eggs and drop them on the floor. We'd find apples in his bed at 5AM. Luckily, we have child safety door knobs so he couldn't go outside and play with the coyotes! (and an alarm that would alert us if he did figure out how...)
We tried bribing, threatening, sleeping with him, sleeping on the floor, letting him "sleep" with us, etc. Finally, out of desperation, we bought this alarm clock.
The hope was that he was just getting up because he didn't yet KNOW it was not time to get up, since he's only 2.5 and can't tell time. This clock has a yellow night light that you can set to turn green at an appointed time. I have never in my life paid so much for an alarm clock, so you know desperation had set in.
Long story short: The clock is GREAT but C didn't stay in bed despite knowing that he would get a treat if he DID and also repeatedly saying, "I stay in bed. Light turn green; I get up."
UNTIL.
After one particularly annoying night, I set up the pack and play in his room and told him if he got up he was going to sleep in that instead. (He never climbed out of his crib and I hoped he wouldn't realize that he is most certainly big enough/able to climb out.) Sure enough, he was up again 34 seconds later. I put him in the pack and play and he was... unhappy. I did not get to go back to sleep that early morning, but a few more days of that and guess what? He "magically" stays in bed until the light turns green about half the time! It's almost a success! Probably my first EVER sleep story where something I tried actually (sort of) worked.
-----------------
d got his report card last week! He's doing well in school but has suddenly decided he doesn't want to go. I think it's a combination of "I have more fun at home." and what he SAYS it is, "I'm bored and never learn anything." I know that he does learn SOME things. (They worked on fractions such as 1/2 and 1/3 this week.) I know he's bored a lot as well. (A lot of his worksheets are still focusing on letter recognition, and he writes and animates comic strips on the back.) (plus, they do pretty much "all worksheets, all the time.")
Although he's bored, he never gets in trouble. He's a huge rule follower (like me) and absolutely hates to get in trouble.
I don't really mind that he is not LEARNING NEW THINGS ALL THE TIME. I taught school and I know how it works. (and didn't expect him to be reading Shakespeare or anything - he's in Kindergarten)
I am disappointed that his teacher seems unwilling to let him do any varied activities. I'm bothered that they seem not to do ANY science or social studies (and I know it's in the curriculum). I'm bothered that it seems I'm supposed to just accept that "that's the way it is" and that now; I don't WANT to teach my younger children much at home because I will have this problem all over again! I hate that they have little time for learning social skills. (No recess! No talking!) (Although he's learning plenty of school skills. i.e. how to sit down and listen.)
Most of all, I'm very disappointed that my oldest child is now starting to dislike something he once liked quite a lot (and that is in his future for years to come) because he has to sit in a chair and be bored much of the day.
I don't want to sound like one of those parents who thinks their child is a genius (I don't. I do think he's above average in a few areas.) and complains non-stop about the teacher (who, despite my concerns, I DO like), the school, the public school system in general and shoots down every suggestion. I feel like, short of homeschooling - which I'm unwilling to try barring some HUGE motivation - and private school - which we can't really afford and even THEN I'm not sure it would be better - I've tried everything I can think of and explored every avenue available to me. So. Maybe I DO just have to accept that that's how it is for this year and hope for better for next year?
-------------
Oh hey, it's rugby season again! We're already fighting about it! YAY!
I've decided not to fight about it anymore. I can hate him being gone for practices and games on all-day Saturdays just as much inside my head and then my throat won't hurt from yelling. D is not going to give up rugby (and I can't honestly say I want him to). If and when he DOES give it up, I damn straight don't want it to be because I "made" him.
So. We'll see how long that works for me.
---------------
I wasted $4.99 on a Kindle
book that I'd seen on The View or The Talk or one of those yappy shows. I don't know why I do this to myself. It was supposed to help "cure" me from my "eating type." It helps you find your eating type. Yes, I'm an emotional eater - I already knew that. Thanks. Then, it gives me a food plan for a diet for a month so I could lose 10 lbs. I stopped reading after that. Maybe it tells me how TO NOT be an emotional eater but, like I said, I stopped reading so I guess I should finish before I b*tch too much about it. What are the odds it will "cure" my emotional eating?
Yeah...
Friday, September 10, 2010
school daze
d has been in Kindergarten for a month now. O&C started their preschool/mmo program (in a different school) this week as well. I also had 2 doctor's visit, a lab visit for blood work (for the baby), 2 grocery store trips, an evening meeting, a BBQ and a coffee night. D continues to work overtime and he also has started rugby again. Yesterday he left the house at 6:30AM and didn't get home until after 8PM. I'm thanking my lucky stars I didn't sign d up for soccer just yet!
I don't see things slowing down anytime soon. There always seems to be a lot of things we have to do, a bunch of things we WANT to do, and even more things we wish we had time to do. I'm learning to prioritize.
Today was my first day with only ONE child at home. Miss L is home with me while all 3 boys are at school. O&C only go from 9:15 - 1:00 but so far I'm enjoying the break. As you can see, I'm using this time to do my super important stuff, i.e. blogging.
I also ate lunch in peace, visited d at school for HIS lunch (at 10:30!!) and even ate a popsicle with only one child begging for it --and she can't really talk so it wasn't annoying. (and she only takes bites and doesn't need her own. hee)
Next week, D and I plan to go on a lunch date while they're in school! Taking the baby along is no biggie and we haven't had a date in... awhile. Check out my big boys this morning, all ready for school:
Monday, August 09, 2010
Get used to it...
Well, d started Kindergarten this morning. I had planned to walk him into his classroom but after driving around the parking lot for about 20 minutes I realized I wouldn't be able to get a spot. He cheerfully agreed to me dropping him off at the front doors and insisted that he remembered exactly where his class was and that he was fine. As I let him out of the car, he looked so small. I saw him wander up to the school and some on-duty teachers pointed the way he was to go.
I'm glad he felt brave enough to go in. I am SO glad he was excited and happy. If he had even looked at me wrong I might have snatched him back into the car and driven away, back home.
As it was, I had so many tears falling from my eyes that I could barely make the less-than-a-mile drive home.
I guess I better get used to this. He'll be going to school from now on, and when he stops going to school then there will be college and weddings and all that grown up stuff that makes me feel slightly like hyperventilating.
D was teasing that this is the "beginning of the end," which he was kidding about because it sounded so ABSURB to HIM. But, it actually kind of is the first step in growing up and being independent so that also made me cry. Good thing I was smart enough not to put on mascara this morning.
Anywho... the other kids are going to have some adjusting to do as well. O&C fight a LOT and without d as a buffer I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Check out this picture with O in the window. Poor little brother. :( He cried when I was taking d to school. He and d are best friends and this is going to be hard on them.
We're also shifting our schedules because in order to pick d up at school @ 2:30 I need to leave around 2:15 to beat most of the traffic and that means that a 1:00 nap time is no longer an option unless I like waking up sleeping kids, which I do not. So, we're trying out an 11:30ish nap time, and I'm sure the 3 year old is going to skip naps even MORE than he already was.
Oh well. He & d share a room so I guess they'll be going to bed early, since I'm sure d will be wiped out from school and I'll be pretty surprised if he actually sleeps during their 45 minute nap time.
Naps and fighting. Ah, what a nice boring post.
In 2 hours I can go pick up my boy from school. I can't wait to hear how he liked it!
I'm glad he felt brave enough to go in. I am SO glad he was excited and happy. If he had even looked at me wrong I might have snatched him back into the car and driven away, back home.
As it was, I had so many tears falling from my eyes that I could barely make the less-than-a-mile drive home.
I guess I better get used to this. He'll be going to school from now on, and when he stops going to school then there will be college and weddings and all that grown up stuff that makes me feel slightly like hyperventilating.
D was teasing that this is the "beginning of the end," which he was kidding about because it sounded so ABSURB to HIM. But, it actually kind of is the first step in growing up and being independent so that also made me cry. Good thing I was smart enough not to put on mascara this morning.
Anywho... the other kids are going to have some adjusting to do as well. O&C fight a LOT and without d as a buffer I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Check out this picture with O in the window. Poor little brother. :( He cried when I was taking d to school. He and d are best friends and this is going to be hard on them.
We're also shifting our schedules because in order to pick d up at school @ 2:30 I need to leave around 2:15 to beat most of the traffic and that means that a 1:00 nap time is no longer an option unless I like waking up sleeping kids, which I do not. So, we're trying out an 11:30ish nap time, and I'm sure the 3 year old is going to skip naps even MORE than he already was.
Oh well. He & d share a room so I guess they'll be going to bed early, since I'm sure d will be wiped out from school and I'll be pretty surprised if he actually sleeps during their 45 minute nap time.
Naps and fighting. Ah, what a nice boring post.
In 2 hours I can go pick up my boy from school. I can't wait to hear how he liked it!
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Messy
I'm a mess, you guys. Every time I look at d, I feel a little teary. I can't believe he's going to Kindergarten on Monday. How in the world am I going to get through this?
I'm not trying to be dramatic about it, and I know that HE will be fine, but I am just so sad about it. My little boy. My first born. My sweet, emotional, smart little guy - is going to Kindergarten all day. And I have to let him go.
My little boy will be gone from me for 7 hours a day. I will miss him so much! It's just the first step in a long line of milestones that equal growing up.
I'm not trying to be dramatic about it, and I know that HE will be fine, but I am just so sad about it. My little boy. My first born. My sweet, emotional, smart little guy - is going to Kindergarten all day. And I have to let him go.
My little boy will be gone from me for 7 hours a day. I will miss him so much! It's just the first step in a long line of milestones that equal growing up.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
What we're up to...
* D & I are going away for a night! Next weekend!! My parents are going to be in town and it's my birthday next Saturday so we're finally going to do it.
We have NEVER left the kids overnight. Ever.
Well, I guess *I* have, when I was in the hospital having another baby. But that's not exactly a vacation!! (Although, with the menu & room service, nurse care, nursery, and a TV no one is hogging - it's not that bad...)
Where are we going? Not sure. Also, not sure I care. We're going somewhere, just the two us, and that's all that matters. I'm insanely excited.
* d is leaving preschool. It's too expensive, it's too inconvenient, and he's not learning things that I can't teach him at home. We plan to re-evaluate after the baby comes, but for now he's going to stay home. I just can't swallow paying $2000 for preschool when I'm home all day and it's a pain in the butt!!
* The baby is crazy active lately. I absolutely adore this part of pregnancy and it's the ONLY part I'm going to miss.
* I've been a cleaning machine this week. I've been posting challenges for our mom's group so we can all do some cleaning together. It's actually kind of nice to have people doing the same thing you are. Yesterday was bathrooms and it was a LOT of work, but my bathrooms are gorgeous now. I threw away, de-cluttered, scrubbed and shined.
Today is kitchen day, and it will be less work since I clean the kitchen more than any other room in the house.
Tomorrow will be a de-cluttering day. I have a feeling I will be focusing on my bedroom most of all. I seem to be neat in most other rooms, but not in my own.
* Peso is getting big! I swear he's gained at least a pound since we brought him home exactly two weeks ago. He's great with the kids and they LOVE him, sometimes a little too much. I swear the poor cat can't get a moment's peace unless he's sleeping under our bed.
* Did I mention my parents are coming next week? They haven't been here since last Christmas!!
So excited!
* The lower back and hip pain are getting bad again. Ouch! I will not miss this part of pregnancy at all!! Also will not miss: gaining too much weight in too short of a time.
* Little L's nursery is almost done!! I have to hang a few things, make a cover for our glider and look for a lamp that "goes." It's super cute, pics on FB, if you're my friend over there...
* Do you like iced coffee? I'm trying out a new recipe and it's pretty good. I improvised a lot when I was making it, so the following is approximate:
6 cups fairly strong coffee
3/4 to 1 can sweetened condensed milk
a crapload of ice cubes, 3 cups?
a few squirts of fat free chocolate syrup
1/2 cup or less of milk, any kind will do.
Mix everything.
Drink.
Enjoy.
Try to only have one cup so that baby doesn't come out wired.
We have NEVER left the kids overnight. Ever.
Well, I guess *I* have, when I was in the hospital having another baby. But that's not exactly a vacation!! (Although, with the menu & room service, nurse care, nursery, and a TV no one is hogging - it's not that bad...)
Where are we going? Not sure. Also, not sure I care. We're going somewhere, just the two us, and that's all that matters. I'm insanely excited.
* d is leaving preschool. It's too expensive, it's too inconvenient, and he's not learning things that I can't teach him at home. We plan to re-evaluate after the baby comes, but for now he's going to stay home. I just can't swallow paying $2000 for preschool when I'm home all day and it's a pain in the butt!!
* The baby is crazy active lately. I absolutely adore this part of pregnancy and it's the ONLY part I'm going to miss.
* I've been a cleaning machine this week. I've been posting challenges for our mom's group so we can all do some cleaning together. It's actually kind of nice to have people doing the same thing you are. Yesterday was bathrooms and it was a LOT of work, but my bathrooms are gorgeous now. I threw away, de-cluttered, scrubbed and shined.
Today is kitchen day, and it will be less work since I clean the kitchen more than any other room in the house.
Tomorrow will be a de-cluttering day. I have a feeling I will be focusing on my bedroom most of all. I seem to be neat in most other rooms, but not in my own.
* Peso is getting big! I swear he's gained at least a pound since we brought him home exactly two weeks ago. He's great with the kids and they LOVE him, sometimes a little too much. I swear the poor cat can't get a moment's peace unless he's sleeping under our bed.
* Did I mention my parents are coming next week? They haven't been here since last Christmas!!
So excited!
* The lower back and hip pain are getting bad again. Ouch! I will not miss this part of pregnancy at all!! Also will not miss: gaining too much weight in too short of a time.
* Little L's nursery is almost done!! I have to hang a few things, make a cover for our glider and look for a lamp that "goes." It's super cute, pics on FB, if you're my friend over there...
* Do you like iced coffee? I'm trying out a new recipe and it's pretty good. I improvised a lot when I was making it, so the following is approximate:
6 cups fairly strong coffee
3/4 to 1 can sweetened condensed milk
a crapload of ice cubes, 3 cups?
a few squirts of fat free chocolate syrup
1/2 cup or less of milk, any kind will do.
Mix everything.
Drink.
Enjoy.
Try to only have one cup so that baby doesn't come out wired.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Why do they have to grow up?
d has Pre-K open house tomorrow and on Wednesday he starts school. He'll be going MWF this year, from 9AM - 1PM. I know he's going to love it. It's good for him. That's why I do it.
Mama, on the other hand, has nervous tummy. Starting school brings back a lot of the anxiety I used to feel on the first day of school. Will he like his teacher? What if he doesn't know anyone? What if he can't find the bathroom and is too embarrassed to ask? What if he feels homesick and cries? What if no one plays with him on the playground? Luckily, he doesn't seem to share my anxiety tendencies, for which I can only say a big THANK YOU!
Plus, Pre-K is kind of a pain in the butt.
For one thing, it's not much of a break for me. He's the most self-sufficient child I have, so having him out of the house doesn't help me much. In fact, I often find myself entertaining the younger boys more than normal without him around to play with.
For another, I hate driving him to Pre-K. It's 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back and there's no car line. I have to take all the kids in and drag them down to his room and sign him in, then take the others back to the car. Repeat at pick up.
Also? I have trust issues. This extends to babysitters, teachers, even some family members. It's very, very hard for me to trust that other people aren't going to tell them something or do something that will p*ss me off. And they probably will, and I know the kids will likely be OK but I still have trust issues. The one and only person (besides me) I trust 100% with the kids is my husband. There are other people I trust about 90%, but they are not many... a handful at most.
Yes, I have issues. Didn't I just say that?
Lastly, Pre-K means that in one short year he will be going to full day Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to learn, and grow up and be independent, but why does it have to happen so fast?! He'll be 5 in March and 5 just seems so... not-a-baby-anymore.
This is one of those times when I want them to stay little forever. And then I hear them fighting in the other room and think... maybe they could grow up now. Simultaneously I wish it away and wish for it back, to enjoy it just a little more.
Mama, on the other hand, has nervous tummy. Starting school brings back a lot of the anxiety I used to feel on the first day of school. Will he like his teacher? What if he doesn't know anyone? What if he can't find the bathroom and is too embarrassed to ask? What if he feels homesick and cries? What if no one plays with him on the playground? Luckily, he doesn't seem to share my anxiety tendencies, for which I can only say a big THANK YOU!
Plus, Pre-K is kind of a pain in the butt.
For one thing, it's not much of a break for me. He's the most self-sufficient child I have, so having him out of the house doesn't help me much. In fact, I often find myself entertaining the younger boys more than normal without him around to play with.
For another, I hate driving him to Pre-K. It's 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back and there's no car line. I have to take all the kids in and drag them down to his room and sign him in, then take the others back to the car. Repeat at pick up.
Also? I have trust issues. This extends to babysitters, teachers, even some family members. It's very, very hard for me to trust that other people aren't going to tell them something or do something that will p*ss me off. And they probably will, and I know the kids will likely be OK but I still have trust issues. The one and only person (besides me) I trust 100% with the kids is my husband. There are other people I trust about 90%, but they are not many... a handful at most.
Yes, I have issues. Didn't I just say that?
Lastly, Pre-K means that in one short year he will be going to full day Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I want my kids to learn, and grow up and be independent, but why does it have to happen so fast?! He'll be 5 in March and 5 just seems so... not-a-baby-anymore.
This is one of those times when I want them to stay little forever. And then I hear them fighting in the other room and think... maybe they could grow up now. Simultaneously I wish it away and wish for it back, to enjoy it just a little more.
Monday, May 18, 2009
The merge
When I started my baby blog, it was because I was trying to be respectful to those who really didn't want to/couldn't read about baby happenings every time I posted. While I would still like to keep them separate, I'm finding that I'm now not posting in EITHER place, because what I have to say usually involves a little bit of baby stuff and a little bit of not baby stuff and instead of splitting it up I just don't write it at all.
SO, I'm going to merge the two blogs and just bring the handful of baby blog posts over here to my regular blog. Ignore your reader if I suddenly look like I've gone on a posting spree.
______________
In other news, let's venture onto a slighty controversial topic, shall we?
Schooling.
d is only 4 but that means that next fall he starts Kindergarten! There are so many options and I am having a hard time finding what's right for us.
Public school:
It's literally 1 minute away. They are building nice, new facilities. I am a fan of public schools in some ways, as I was a teacher myself.
I am NOT a fan in other ways, and worry about some of the problems that I know of personally.
Private school:
$$ - and we're talking 4 kids here!
We could have the option of half day kindergarten instead of full day. Either way, if we pick the right school, I feel like he could get a great education and more one on one attention. There are an abundance of private schools in our area to choose from.
Home school:
This option makes me groan a little because I KNOW I could teach him SO much but I really, really don't want to home school the kids. It makes my head hurt just thinking about how much work it could be, and how I would work out the schedule and the only good part is that it makes me smile to know how much it would irritate my mil. (I'm kidding!) (kind of.)
Other:
There is a private school/home school option which interests me, but I don't know a lot of the details. Basically, the students spend half their time learning at school and half learning at home is what I gather. This does interest me, but I'll have to look into it more. Again, money is an object. I want to be able to give all of my kids a good education, not just the first one!
What have you decided?
SO, I'm going to merge the two blogs and just bring the handful of baby blog posts over here to my regular blog. Ignore your reader if I suddenly look like I've gone on a posting spree.
______________
In other news, let's venture onto a slighty controversial topic, shall we?
Schooling.
d is only 4 but that means that next fall he starts Kindergarten! There are so many options and I am having a hard time finding what's right for us.
Public school:
It's literally 1 minute away. They are building nice, new facilities. I am a fan of public schools in some ways, as I was a teacher myself.
I am NOT a fan in other ways, and worry about some of the problems that I know of personally.
Private school:
$$ - and we're talking 4 kids here!
We could have the option of half day kindergarten instead of full day. Either way, if we pick the right school, I feel like he could get a great education and more one on one attention. There are an abundance of private schools in our area to choose from.
Home school:
This option makes me groan a little because I KNOW I could teach him SO much but I really, really don't want to home school the kids. It makes my head hurt just thinking about how much work it could be, and how I would work out the schedule and the only good part is that it makes me smile to know how much it would irritate my mil. (I'm kidding!) (kind of.)
Other:
There is a private school/home school option which interests me, but I don't know a lot of the details. Basically, the students spend half their time learning at school and half learning at home is what I gather. This does interest me, but I'll have to look into it more. Again, money is an object. I want to be able to give all of my kids a good education, not just the first one!
What have you decided?
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