Run Fun

Today was the run and dinner at the kid's school and boy did they have a great day.  The run was during the day and they both ran (and walked just a bit) the half mile.  They were giving it their all and were so happy to see me and Lance there to cheer them on that they really sped up when they got in front of us  :)!

This evening we went up to the school for dinner, a silent auction , bouncy houses, cakewalk, balloon making, pony rides - all the old school carnival favorites and we had a great time.  The highlight for Katie was that the pony she got to ride "was a girl because she had pink."

We had fun, but I am glad it is over.  Between the constant reminders to try to raise money for the run in different ways, the soliciting we had to do for the silent auction, and keeping up with where we needed to be for what and when, the fundraiser added an element of stress that I didn't expect from Kindergarten!  I can already tell, too, that it will only get worse as they get older and we get more and more sucked in  :)! 

I accidentally emailed the wrong person on the PTO today and found out that the person who was formerly PTO president moved to the county 5 minutes away when their oldest got to middle school age, overheard someone in our neighborhood saying they would move when their Kindergartener is done with 4th grade, and am closely watching the neighbor's real estate sign who is trying to sell for the same reason in hopes that they sell their house for what they are asking.  All of that made me think that we really should try to sell now while we can still get in to the desired area in our price range (if the market stays good we will definitely be out-priced soon), but it also makes me question why all of the parents that are so involved in their kid's school now (as evidenced by the unbelievable turn-out tonight and the number of parents at the field trip,  and the 100% participation in both kid's classes of parents in PTO) can't just carry it over to the zoned middle school.  I know that by planning to move 4 to 5 years out from when we need to puts me in the same boat as all of the other parents (I  have a guilty, ridiculous obsession with house hunting, though, so that's my excuse), but it also makes me wonder if in that time we could possibly influence change at the middle school nobody wants to go to currently (bad test scores, poor perception of administration).  We have, so far, been so pleased with their school experience, and I guess I just think it is a shame that another community school can't thrive as well!  Either way, it was a really fun day and made me happy to have made the decision to send the kids on to school.  Another class photo was taken today and Katie is literally 5 inches shorter than most of her classmates - but the teacher assures me that she is keeping up and fitting in and I really don't anticipate that big of a growth spurt in the next year, anyway! 

Vandy game tomorrow, Titans on Sunday, but most importantly the last week before our beach getaway!!!  I cannot wait - I don't think I have ever looked forward to vacation more and I don't even care if it is cold or raining, or if the kids whine for the full 8 hours of the trip down - it will just be nice forget about work, have a break from school, and spend some time with Lance and the kiddos.  Everything seems so rushed lately and we haven't had much opportunity to just hang out - so I am eagerly anticipating playing in the sand, reading a book, and cooking fresh seafood from the market our friends say is right near their place where we are staying.  We may work on a few sight words, since we were very slack this week with all of the festivities and no homework, but other than that no agenda - woohoo! 

First Field Trip

Well, the very first field trip is behind us and we all had a great day!  They have been to Gentry Farms every year since they were born, but this time was even better because they got to go on a hayride with their friends (and me - which is still a good thing at their age  :), got to do the maze, and the farmers market without crowds, and best of all picked out their very own pumpkins.  Katie took "forever" to select just the right one - one that "is not too big and not too small."  Tyler picked out the biggest one he could find, of course!

 

They were absolutely giddy when they arrived.  The bus trip over was definitely a highlight (that was a first too) and then they were just super excited to have a day of fun and to get to introduce all of their friends and teachers to me. It was more difficult than I anticipated to go between the two classes since they were doing different activities at different times, but I managed and neither seemed to feel too slighted (I think they were just happy I was there at all, since I warned them that I might not be able to make it since the run is on Friday).  Plus, Katie's teacher let her split off and come with Tyler's class for the hayride so we all go to go together and see the baby cows and pick out pumpkins! 

We got a couple of class pictures, but since I haven't yet made the blog completely private I hesitate to put them up in case other parents wouldn't want that.  It is pretty funny, though, to look at the two of them compared to their classmates - they really are small!  They seem to fit in just fine, though and they might as well get used to being the shortest and littlest now since it isn't likely to change, at least for Katie, for a while.  

More fun tomorrow at the run! 

Tacky Tuesday

It is a fun week at school for the kids - spirit week in preparation for the big fundraiser on Friday!  Tyler was really excited that they have no homework this week - he loves school, but I can already tell that getting him to do his homework will be a challenge.  The don't have to wear uniforms this week and have a different theme each day.  Today was "Tacky Tuesday" and after seeing the kids last week Katie got a little more into it - yay!  Tyler is all about it - no worry for him that others will, in Katie's words, think he "looks weird."

Tomorrow is their first field trip and they are very excited!  The Run is Friday and I hope that the kids are OK with me making it to just that, since I just can't help chaperone the trip, too.  This week is tough - Lance is in a class all week from 8:30 - 5:30 which means I have to pick the kids up each day from school, and leave early, and finagle people to help me out when I really should be at work with groups and such,  so I can't also get off during the mornings for school events this week.  If we don't make it in to aftercare next year I don't know what we are going to do - this just doesn't work!  The kids absolutely love the girl who picks them up two days a week - but she is a Senior so won't be available next year or this summer, and we really need more than two days of help!  I would totally be able to do things with their class like the other parents if I didn't have to cut my days short so many days each week!!!  I am going to be positive that we can get into the Y program if we show up the very first day with money in hand - and beg if we have to  :)!

All in all things are going pretty well, though!  The kids are doing great in school - they have passed their sight word tests with flying colors and still really love going each day.  We are making progress in the battle to get them eating better (a struggle lately because they are starving when they get home and have snacks, albeit healthy typically, and then won't eat dinner).  Now that it isn't quite so hot I am hoping we can get them outside and distracted from wanting to snack so much (I know they need something, but Tyler thinks he is absolutely starving even after having yogurt, a granola bar, and raisins, etc.).  I would really love to find a way to get the swing set put up so they could play in the back yard.  Lance is super busy (a good thing) though, and with football, rain, etc. it just hasn't been possible.  I hope we can get to it soon to take advantage of the awesome weather, but I know that Lance isn't going to be able to help and I can't do it by myself and I even contacted a few handymen who said they were too busy to add any new projects. I guess it is good that things in every industry seem to be picking up - I just hope it doesn't all come crashing down with all that is going on with politics/government!  Even though I complain about being busy and whatnot, I really do like that things have started seeming hopeful and positive lately rather than the doom and gloom (in terms of the real estate market, donations to non-profits, etc.) of the last few years!

This weekend should be fun, even if I never did convince Lance to go to the Zac Brown concert  :)!  The dinner at the school is Friday night, Saturday is a football game that I think we can take the kids to, and then Monday is Lance's birthday so the kids and I will probably make him a cake on Sunday.  His "present" will be to fix his car, finally!  I got pulled over the one day that I drove it,  for expired tags, and he is having to risk it every day since he has class this week, but hopefully we can find the time next week to get it taken care of.  We are also going down to the beach next weekend (woohoo) and probably need to figure out why my check engine light is on in the car - but that might be wishful thinking that we will have time for all of that!  I am still pretty firmly on the bandwagon to buy used cars, but it sure would be nice to have a dealer loaner when these things crop up.  That isn't enough reason to break the budget though, even if I am still obsessed with the new Explorer  :)!

Yuck!

Well, a stomach bug hit our house this weekend and it was not fun!  Friday night Tyler woke in the middle of the night vomiting everywhere and Katie was oblivious in her top bunk.  Poor Tyler really hated the whole episode - I have never seen him so upset and he just kept saying that "I do NOT like throwing up" while screaming angrily in between and proclaiming all of it to be gross and disgusting (I wholeheartedly agree).  We attributed it to the ear infection that we discovered last week that he had (Doc told us not to give antibiotics unless it continued painfully through the weekend because new research says that antibiotics are not necessary to make them go away) and that he is still (at least a month now) very congested and snotty and has the allergy eyes.  We let him go to a birthday party and a really fun afternoon at the Bowie Park nature fest with some preschool friends, because all seemed to be fine and he acted like he felt great and was eating, and never had a fever, etc.  Well, Saturday was without incident and we thought all was fine, but Sunday night Katie woke up puking as well.  Her episode was more prolonged (and involved the top bunk over a sleeping the whole time Tyler) with it continuing off and on for a few hours.  She is home today and still not eating, but seems to feel fine otherwise.  I have to assume they both had the same thing, but "luckily" it seems to get a whole lot better after the vomiting starts and stops.

Poor Katie was very upset that she had to miss school today and kept telling me "I wish I was at school right now."  She had a library book to return (the highlight of school for both of them so far), Book Fair starts this week, and they have a much anticipated field trip to Gentry Farm coming up, not to mention all of the prep for the Hound Dog Run that is the talk of the school.  The Run is the big fundraiser sponsored by the PTO at their school and includes the kids trying to raise money and do the actual running, a dinner the night after the run, t-shirts, silent auctions and much more.  It was all kicked off by a pep rally last week (and the kids got to wear mixed up clothes that were not uniforms) that they thoroughly enjoyed that whole day.  Katie told me all about the "real" cheerleaders who were there, and Tyler was impressed that the older kids sang songs on stage.  Should be a fun few weeks ahead, capped off by their two week Fall Break.  We enjoyed some Fall like weather this weekend, and I managed to go through some of their clothes to see what they will have to wear when it gets a little cooler.  Tyler wanted to wear a jacket and pants last Friday when it was 70 degrees, so the request for warmer clothes may come sooner than I think!  Luckily, Katie is pretty squared away - we can use her dresses and skirts that she wears now and just pair them with some tights and maybe a long sleeve shirt underneath and she should be good to go.  Tyler can do the layered shirt thing, too, but we'll need to get him some pants.  I still think we are doing size 4 - I bought him some size 4 shorts recently that are pretty big and I feel like even if he does grow they will fit throughout the year.  I love this uniform thing even though right now it seems like we are spending more than usual because we have to get new things for each season, it is just so much easier in the mornings, so much easier to shop for, and really we would have had to buy new things anyway since they grew just enough for things from last year not to fit!

The kids are still absolutely exhausted each day when they get home.  They have started whining and picking at each other more, and I hope they will get adjusted soon.  It is, honestly, taking me quite a while to adjust too!  Homework to do, papers to fill out, money to remember to send in for this, that and the other (which doesn't sound difficult but becomes so when you forget that you don't have cash EVER, and don't have checks and have to make a last minute run to the store at 11:00 at night), tests to prepare for, etc., etc.  Plus, the kids are becoming masters at giving me guilt trips for not being at things like the pep rally, or field trips and that makes me overcompensate and feel really bad when I drop the ball or am late getting something in (like the request for each parent to solicit silent auction items that I still haven't gotten to).  I definitely see now why they say that life just gets busier when school starts, and my two aren't even in sports or extracurricular activities yet!  Although, next time it is available we are going to sign the kids up for soccer and possibly dance, or gymnastics for my little cheerleaders wannabe.  I have been talking to Lance about trying to sell the house and downsize and maybe be able to have a more part-time job - but that is just a pipe dream, with a lot of work burn-out thrown in.  We really do love the school they are at and they wouldn't go if we moved - and realistically our next move will probably be more lateral in nature since we think we are going to try to move just 5 minutes away over the county line in a school district that is better for middle and high school.  That doesn't need to happen until 5th grade, though, so we have some time  :)!  I think the combo of stress at work, being a slight (OK - a lot more than slight probably) perfectionist, and being envious of all of the stay-at-home moms that seems to be the norm around us, are just getting to me - but I hope all of that can be tempered with the not too far away vacay!

The Fun Continues!

This birthday has been unreal for the kids, in my opinion.  They had an awesome time at Chuck E. Cheese and then got some really great gifts on their actual birthday ( plus bought exactly what they wanted with "credit card money" from my mom), and for the last two nights have slept in their new bunk beds!  I will have to take a picture of just how happy they are in "the most awesome beds ever" according to Tyler.  I put a lot of it together by myself yesterday afternoon and last night with "help" from the kiddos before Lance got home, because the kids were so anxious to try them out, but Lance was a lifesaver helping me at the end to get them built just a little past their bedtime.  They were way too excited to go to sleep, so Katie was quite grumpy today but they settled down a bit quicker this evening - maybe because they were obsessed with them when they got home and wanted to show the sitter every nook and cranny so it wasn't so intriguing.  Tyler looks absolutely tiny in his full size bed (that the whole family really could lay on if the weight requirement didn't restrict), and Katie has claimed the top bunk (which is a good thing since she doesn't require middle of the night bathroom trips as often as Tyler and may be able to navigate the ladder a bit better - fingers crossed ).  It is a really cheap unit and mattresses, but it serves the purpose and the kids are loving it.  I picked up some sheets for them today and I just have to live with nothing coordinating in the room right now  :)!  Plus, their toddler beds are still in the room because they have to be dismantled before we can get them out and after putting the bed together yesterday and tennis tonight I am way too sore to tackle that immediately! 

The kids also got another great gift from my dad that Lance is not nearly as excited about.  The same day that the beds arrived, a swing set did too!  I really think the kids will love having a swing set in the backyard and it will be a great fall and after school activity that doesn't require going anywhere.  I am really excited, but Lance isn't since it requires assembly, taking up space in our already small yard, necessitates mowing around it, and safety concerns  if we try to do it ourselves!  Admittedly, I have no clue how we are going to get it together or make it level in our yard - but I want to try to work it out because some really great weather is around the corner and I can envision sitting out there with them as they play and I read and it finally being the way I imagined going to the park with kids would be until I actually had children.  Katie is close to learning to swing on her own and I don't know that we will be able to get her off when that happens if there is one right in the backyard!  I really wish I could put it together myself so I could just "surprise" Lance with it being up and not have to endure the misery that is us trying to assemble anything together (i.e. - tents, Christmas trees, or gifts for the kids with thousands of pieces, which are all almost a guaranteed "disagreement") - but I have read reviews and I just don't think I have the skills to do it on my own!  This is coming from someone who had to re-do multiple steps trying to put together bunk beds that most reviewers said were "easy to assemble," compared to the swing set reviews that say up to 5 hours and 2 people trying to figure it out  :)! 

This weekend is a Vandy game tomorrow afternoon and evening, and trying to get the house back in order with the additional toys, beds and whatnot!  I am so proud of the kiddos - Katie had her first "test" today and mastered her sight word list!  She knew the only one that she missed, but said she "wasn't paying attention."  Tyler was able to name all of the lowercase letters with the exception of mixing up p and b and is doing good with his numbers, but has a little trouble with the teens.  They are working on 1-5 right now, though, so all is good.  Katie is unbelievably proud of her sight word knowledge and writes the words on her new chalkboard (along with mom, dad, Ray-Ray and So-So and any other word that she can remember how to spell).  It is pretty funny to watch her "play school" just like I did when I was little and it is great that she is getting some confidence back about how she can do in school.  I do think it helps that they are in separate classes.  Tyler, on the other-hand, seems to be underachieving now that he doesn't have Katie in class to try to show up.  He halfheartedly does his homework, and answers the teacher incorrectly when I know that he knows everything she asks and has for a while, and says he "doesn't remember" anything.  I am trying to help him learn that you give your best effort anytime you do something - and I think he will continue to settle in to the classroom and start learning again rather than concentrating so much on trying to figure out what this school thing is all about! 

Chuck E. Cheese

We've had a fun day and it still isn't even K & T's Birthday!  We successfully pulled off the surprise Chuck E. Cheese "party" and they were so excited when we got there on our "errand" and they got to go in!  When they greeted them and told them Happy Birthday and showed them their guitar balloons and gave them tokens they were in heaven!  There were only four other kids there (and one really of the age to play with Katie and Tyler), but it worked out great that Katie got to pair up with a friend and Tyler got to hang with them or do his own thing as the mood struck - but it wasn't so chaotic that they were overwhelmed!  They really seemed to have a good time, and I am glad that we finally relented and let them go to Chuck E. Cheese as they were begging for!  Tomorrow we are going to breakfast and giving them our gifts and those from So-So and Ray-Ray so another fun day in store! 

Early Birthday

Last night we took the kids to the toy store to get ideas for their birthday.  Lance and I went earlier in the week, and thought we had some things they might like but were having a really hard time with Katie.  Tyler is pretty easy - dinosaurs, cars, art.  Katie is more difficult because she spends more time dancing and cheering and flipping and singing and drawing than actually playing with toys, but she loves the toy store and opening gifts so we wanted to get her something that she would be excited about (especially since we aren't really doing a big party like they wanted).  One thing we were specifically looking for is a doll that doesn't have a "hard face."  Those were Katie's words to describe all of her other dolls that she can't sleep with because of the plastic. Cabbage Patch dolls was what I thought was a brilliant idea from Lance, but alas they have gone to plastic faces too.  We decided to let them pick out one thing to get early so they could play with it all weekend since they won't have much time if they get things on their actual birthday, and Katie picked out one of the things we were considering and absolutely loves it.  She danced around (it attaches to her feet to dance with her) with it all night, slept with it, woke up first thing to bring "Bella" into bed with us, and she hasn't left her side since.  She chose a ballerina rag doll that has a soft face and is almost as big as her - plus it was the exact same price as Tyler's chosen early toy (all about fairness and luckily both under $15)!  Tyler has been pretty obsessed lately with his Switch and Go dinosaurs that he got for his birthday last year (they are kind of like Transformers and switch from a dinosaur to a car pretty easily).  When he saw those there was no other choice and he was so excited to have his new one"meet" the old one and he too has played with it all morning (and doesn't even want to go to the pool today because he can't take them because they can't get wet).  Birthday gifts are a lot more fun than Christmas to me because you don't have to keep secrets about who gave what! 

We managed to sneak a few gifts into the trunk last night while they weren't looking to give to them on Monday.  Tyler wants the full collection of the switch and go dinosaurs and really wants the red one (he knows what kind it is but I don't remember), and of course we chose the yellow one gift for his actual birthday.  Oh well, it will give us ideas for Christmas if he is still into them.  Also picked up a dinosaur mountain and new dinosaurs for him, a Monsters University night light and some matchbox cars.  For Katie we got cheerleader barbie, a barbie carrying case, a single doll stroller (number one choice for some reason because she doesn't like the double stroller) and a keyboard with a microphone even though she, as expected, can't stop talking about the guitar that we were debating between and no longer wants the keyboard. 

We are going to pick out their birthday cake this morning, and then we are going to go to the pool (too hot to do anything else).  When Lance gets home I may go exchange the keyboard, but I have a feeling that may backfire and once I do that the guitar will be second choice!  I think they will have fun with the surprise small party at Chuck E. Cheese and certainly have enough toys even without anything new so I am not too worried about it - I think they will have a good 5th birthday!  I seriously can't believe they are going to be 5 in just a couple of days!