More Beach Pictures

Posted August 30th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

Here are some more pictures from the beach…

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

8.30.2008

Posted August 30th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

I realized that our beach vacation pictures that were on one of my older posts got deleted at some point, probably when an update to our site was done.

Here are the pictures again, with a few more. Thanks B for adding more pictures to my computer. Now I have an even better selection to choose my personal wallpaper from!

These pictures are in thumbnail format, so if you click on the pictures, they will enlarge on your computer.

C Bikes Home from School (with me, of course!)

Posted August 29th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

Since we live close to C’s elementary school, I thought it would be fun for me and J to ride our bikes to get C after the school day today (Friday). I told C about the possibility of me putting his bike in our bike trailer and bringing it to him to ride home and C was really excited.

Today when J and I left home, J was riding on his razor scooter and I was on my bicycle. I was pulling the bike trailer and in the bike trailer was C’s bike and helmet.

About 4 houses from home, J starts falling way behind me (he was on the sidewalk, I was riding in the street) and calls for me to “slow down and wait!” I stop and ask J if he wants to ride in the trailer. B had already shown some concern about how slow J can be. We knew he had the strength and energy to ride that far, but he can be awfully slow. We left J’s scooter on the sidewalk and J got in the trailer.

Okay – now it is me riding my bike in the street while pulling the trailer. In the trailer is C’s bike, C’s helmet and an almost 40 pound chunk of a boy. Here I am, struggling to get up a hill and wonder, “I’m not THIS bad out of shape! Jill and I just walked this a couple of days ago and I did fine.” I then realize that it is the trailer and its contents that is causing an extreme strain on my legs (and chest as I huff and puff).

Halfway to school and J calls out from the comfort of the bike trailer that has a good breeze as it rolls along the sidewalk, “Mommy, did you bring a water bottle? I’m thirsty.” I answer a simple, “No, I forgot the water bottle.” However I am thinking, “You little kid! I’m pulling you and I’m huffing and puffing and YOU’RE thirsty?! If I had a water bottle, I would be drinking it ALL!!”

Finally we made it to school. Ah! Water fountains are in my future! J and I find C. C said that he had a really fun day. (I later realized that C obviously did have a good day. Talking with friends that is. He received a G in conduct for talking so much. But on the flip side, I am glad he is making friends. We just need to work on when to talk and when not to.)

After finding C, I tell him that we need to get a drink of water and will then take him to him bike. As hot as I am, C has his flannel jacket on. Goodness, C stays cold! C did decide that it was warm outside and asked me to hold his backpack while he took off his jacket. We all got a drink of water and then went to the bikes.

I was so proud of C! As soon as we got to the bikes, C asked me, “Where’s my helmet?” C knows that helmets are required, no exceptions! I did have C’s helmet in the bike trailer and handed it to him whereby he put it on and got on his bike. J gets settled in the trailer where he is much more comfortable now that C’s bike isn’t in it anymore and I also deposit C’s backpack in the trailer as well.

C and I cross the street to the sidewalk on the other side with the assistance of the school crossing guard. The principal is on the other side and coaxes C across. She is so sweet! Once across, she calls C by his name and asked him if he had peanut butter for lunch. C replied in the affirmative and she tells me, “he loves his peanut butter!” I love that the principal is so great. She knows all the kids by name and even knows MY name. I’ve been told by my friends that she knows all the parents’ names including the names of the students’ siblings. Wow – what a memory.

Once on the sidewalk, we are ready to ride. C takes off like a rocket on his bike. It is obvious that he has been sitting still for a long time. My child with the love of the great outdoors needed to work off some energy!

Halfway down the school street, C is ahead of me and calls back, “I love riding my bike home from school!”

On around the corner and going pretty fast, C calls back to me, “I’m an airplane!” Not too far after that, C also calls out, “Did you bring a water bottle?” Where did I hear that before…?

I’m glad C is having a good time. I would like to do this more often, especially since we are heading into fall, with its cooler weather.

Almost home, on the home stretch and C starts lagging behind. J has obviously been watching C and calls for me to slow down and wait for C. I do slow down a bit, and finally stop where J had left his scooter – about 4 houses down from home. I tell J to get his scooter and by the time I got J unbuckled and out of the trailer, C had already passed us. C did beat us all home. I was second with J following on the scooter.

This was a great adventure. I guarantee I won’t forget a water bottle next time! Want to go again next Friday, my boys?

8.29.2008

Posted August 29th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

C is doing really well in kindergarten. He is bringing home work papers with smiley faces and 100’s. His conduct grades have been mostly E’s (Excellent) with a few G’s (Good) thrown in for either talking too much or on one day last week for not working quickly enough on his work papers and not finishing in the alloted time.

Yesterday I went to school at lunchtime to eat lunch with C (My mom was very gracious to offer to keep J while I went to eat with C. Thanks!!). I brought Chick-Fil-A for both of us – an 8 piece box of nuggets with lots of ketchup packets for C and a chicken sandwich for me with extra pickles. C enjoyed a treat of lemonade as well. I met C at his classroom and walked with him and his class to the cafeteria. C was thrilled to hold his lemonade and carried it into the cafeteria while I carried the bag with the food in it.

When I first got towards C’s class, I saw that the students were lining up to get ready to go to the cafeteria. Jake, C’s friend from the neighborhood that sits with C on the bus, was first in line and recognized me as I came towards the classroom. It was so cute to see Jake point to the inside of the room at C, showing me where C was. C’s table was last to line up, so it worked out well that I was the caboose of the line while walking to the cafeteria.

Lunch lasted for 30 minutes and I enjoyed watching C’s little friends (it was particularly fun to watch the little boy that was sitting across from C – he first ate his Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie with such enjoyment, while leaving his sandwich in its plastic bag. I could just imagine his mom when he got home saying, “(Name here) ate his treat and left his sandwich untouched!” ) Kids are so much alike!

After lunch, I walked over to the opposite corner of the cafeteria to throw our trash away. I don’t think C normally goes to the trash can (and wanted to make sure he knew where it was!) since his lunch box comes home with the wrappers from his fruit roll-up and sometimes the trash of those kids sitting near him. C took his sweet time in dumping the ice out of his Chick-Fil-A cup into the “liquids” garbage bucket while a short line grew behind him. We then got in the line to leave the cafeteria.

After lunch, Mrs. R takes the kids down the 5th grade hall to where the teacher’s mailboxes are located so she can check her mail. C held my hand the entire walk down the halls and at one point let go to hug my arm to his chest (yes, a big pull on this Mama’s heart strings!). On the way out of the 5th grade hall, we were near the front door, so I said my good-byes to C with a big bear hug and kiss. Earlier, C had mentioned at lunch that another child went home after lunch with their mom and that he wanted to go home as well. I told him that the child probably had a dentist or doctor’s appointment and that is why they went home. C replied, “No, (name here) just wanted to go home.” I told C that school wasn’t over and he still had classwork to do. C was less than thrilled about my reply, but went peacefully along.

After school, we didn’t have anything planned – a welcome rest after a VERY BUSY Wednesday. On Wednesday C went to school and J had his orientation day for 4 year old preschool. J was at preschool for 1 hour and after I dropped him off I went to work. My mom picked J up from preschool and after her errands brought J home for his nap. I got home from work with enough spare time to say bye to Nana, get a glass of water and pick up C at the bus stop. After C got home, I got me, C and J in the car to go get Nana so we could go to church.

We ate dinner at church and after finishing dinner I helped C with his homework at the dinner table so we wouldn’t have to deal with it after getting home. Nana took the kids to a show of BibleMan while I went to a teacher’s meeting for AWANA Cubbies. I am teaching J’s Cubbie’s class on Wednesday evenings to give him equal time with me, as I am spending time with C being his kindergarten Room Mom.

We didn’t get home from church until almost 8 o’clock – a VERY long day for C, as he is used to quiet time after school where he plays xBox or with his toys. None of that on Wednesdays for awhile! (I must note that C’s eyes looked really tired at lunch on Thursday. He is having a difficult time skipping nap time. He doesn’t complain about being tired, but at night time he does want to spend a lot of time with either me of B, since he is gone SO MUCH at school! But, once we leave his room, he is asleep in under 1 minute!)

C might be 6 years old, but he sleeps like a baby! Especially after working so hard in kindergarten and doing a GREAT job!! Way to go, C!

Sometime I feel like I just can’t win…

Posted August 22nd, 2008 by Mom | Comments (1)

This evening I am hosting a Pampered Chef Sip and Dip party. Amy is making a delicious sounding punch that I can’t wait to try and nachos followed by a chocolate and peanut butter torte. Yum!!!

Yesterday after I got home from work, I spent a large part of the evening cleaning house. It was the same this morning. First I got C ready for school (today is school picture day, by the way!) and J and I walked C to the bus stop and got him off to school. We came home and while J took toys upstairs to the playroom, I cleaned some more. I must confess, the house looks really nice!

After lunch J and I were both pretty tired. I got J in bed for rest time and I stretched out on the living room couch for a little break. Not too long passed and I see Tara, the cat, really agitated.

Oh, I must go back in my story – After getting C on the bus, J and I returned home and while he played with his scooter, I changed the lights in the light fixture at the front porch. While I am busy doing this, 2 things happened:

1. J drops a glass jar in the garage that contained a lot of brass screws (he obviously got tired of the scooter…) and

2. J started chasing a lizard in the garage and excitedly came to tell me about it.

Back to my story. Tara is very agitated and I glance at her to see what is the matter. Oh, no. (well, to be exact, “Oh, no” isn’t the phrase that first hit my brain…) Tara is walking through the foyer with a lizard in her mouth. Capture! I call, “Kitty, Kitty, Kitty” and get up to open the back door. Who knows?! Maybe she is smart enough to take the lizard outside. Nope. She dropped the lizard on the living room floor so she could play with it. Stupid cat!

Tara and I spend the next 30 minutes chasing the lizard back and forth while it is under the bookcase in the living room. Finally I catch it with my kitchen tongs. Eww. The tail came off. (The lizards around here – or salamanders – whatever they are, have the icky quality of losing their tails if they are in danger of being caught.) I finally catch the rest of the lizard and fling it outside.

Yes, the kitchen tongs are in the trash. (They could be sanitized, but, um, NOT GONNA DO IT!)

And as I write this post J is in the living room chasing Tara. I’ll go put him back in bed.

Amy – I need a new pair of kitchen tongs as part of my Pampered Chef order…

“I Love School!”

Posted August 21st, 2008 by Mom | Comments (1)

On Monday I took C to school. I had to be there for a meeting, so it was convenient. Plus, C had a lot more school supplies to bring and I feared that it would be too daunting a task for him, while riding the bus.

C reached for my hand as we got to his classroom at school. I came into the classroom with him and Mrs. R showed C his hook for his backpack. C is #4. I told him that it was a great number and told him how easy it would be to remember – “There are 4 of us in our family!”

After the school supplies were taken by Mrs. R, I walked over to C’s table with him, got a big hug and he was fine, so with one last wave, I left. *Sniff* *Sniff*

My meeting was in the cafeteria. It was put on by the PTA and was called “Kindergarten Cry.” All of the kindergarten parents were invited, but only about 30 of us showed up. I won a little live potted flower as a door prize. It is pretty on my kitchen bar.

At “Kindergarten Cry” we got to meet and greet other parents, be introduced to the PTA and school counselor (she is also known as “the Puppet Lady” as she uses puppets to teach the kids about making good choices). The meeting only lasted about 45 minutes, but Meena, Melodye and I sat awhile longer talking to each other. A local newspaper person came over and asked us a few questions and took our picture. I will have to see if it is in today’s paper, as the paper arrives weekly.

After my meeting, I saw Mrs. R in the hallway. I asked her if I needed to hide, as to not allow C to see me, in case it would upset him. She said that she was on her way to get the class from Spanish and asked me if I would like to say “hi” to him. I happily obliged. When I saw C, he asked he, “Is it time to leave?” I assured him that the school day had not ended, yet, but that my meeting was over and that I just wanted to say hi to him before I left. I walked with him part of the way to his classroom and then departed. I was glad to see that he had his jacket on – that meant that he found it in his backpack – as I had forgotten it last Tuesday.

When C got off of the bus, I was waiting for him at the bus stop. He immediately handed me his backpack and lunch box and I traded them with him for Giggles, his teddy bear. I had told him that I would have Giggles waiting for him.

Once inside, I asked C a few questions about school. He replied with a loud yell, “I Love School!”

**Whew!** A good start will make for a good year. This is a load off of my mind!