Not Me Monday

Thanks Jen for getting me started on Not Me Monday. I just want to say that I am proud to not be a part of not me monday. And because I am kicking off not me Monday, I would just like to say that I did not sit on the couch 80% of the day "playing" on the computer. That would be very, very sad. I most definitely did NOT let Collin pack his own lunch today and he did NOT end up with yogurt as the only healthy thing in his lunch. That would make me a bad mommy. I did not let Brian watch dvd after dvd today while I again did not sit on the couch all day. I absolutely did not forget (I use this word loosely) to feed Brian lunch instead going straight to naptime and then I did not let him snack all afternoon. That would make me an even worse mommy. Nor did I only feed Allison cheerios for lunch as that would not be a balanced meal. I did not cry just because my convection oven is not working, and I did not spend 2 hours (while sitting on the couch) trying to find someone who works on LG appliances. I also did not get irritated at the several people who aksed me incredulously "You did not get an extended warranty??" And of course I did not conveniently forget to plan something for dinner so that my husband did not have to come up with something after he get home from actually working all day.

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Too close to home

Collin came home with a letter from the school today. Apparently a child was approached by 2 men in a vehicle and offered candy. It happened right in front of Collin's school. Luckily the student is safe and went straight to the school office to report it. Right now I am literally shaking knowing that this happened right where Collin has been all day. I do not like this scary world that we live in. I was able to talk to Collin about why what happened yesterday with him at school was so dangerous. This is the exact reason that it is so important to be with his class. It is just plan too close to home.

I just wanted to be under the bell when it rang!

Sometimes Collin just makes me laugh. Unfortunately the school doesn't have the sense of humor that I have. Yesterday when I picked up Collin from school he was in a great mood. He didn't even fight with Brian. You'd be amazed at how much they can annoy each other in 3/4 of a mile. So when he was so happy yesterday I said he must have had a great day. He said he sure did. "It was a GREAT day!" He came home and got right started on his homework, we worked on his AWANA sections, he was very giving with his brother. He was perfect.





So imagine my surprise when I get a phone call later that evening from the music teacher at school. She tells me that when his class was going from their room to the music room Collin disappeared. She said there was about 15 minutes when they didn't know where he was. Then they found him outside in front of the school, which as you can imagine is a safety issue. She said that he was standing under the bell and when asked why he was there said, "I just wanted to be under the bell when it rang." You see, he goes to music at the end of the day, so he knew that the bell would be ringing soon. Now at this point I am trying not to laugh. He wasn't being bad in his mind. He wasn't trying to sneak out of class because he didn't want to be there, in fact he loves music. He wasn't trying to be disobedient. In fact we was perfectly happy even when he had to go in with his class and was given the "being outside by yourself is not safe" speech. The music teacher even said that for the last 15 minutes of class he was perfect. But, and here is the big part, today he was going to have to go talk to the principal about this and would have privileges taken away. I had to tell Collin that when I got off the phone to prepare him, and he was fine with it. I couldn't help but laugh to myself at how innocent it was for him. I just hope that the principal can have a sense of humor about it as well. Afterall, it would be fun to be under the bell when it rang, wouldn't it?

Routine

That is a word that I don't like to use. It might as well be a bad word as far as I'm concerned. I am not one of those supermoms who thrive on making a schedule and keeping to it. I am a totally random person. I fly by the seat of my pants. I'm a spur of the moment kind of gal. And I like it that way.

Enter kids. I know, I know, kids thrive on routine. They blossom if they know what to expect and when to expect it. Blah blah blah. Of course I know it's true, which is why for the last 8 years I have tried to keep to a routine. I am great at coming up with these fantastic plans for how I am going to have a schedule for the kids. We are going to do this, this and this every day and it is going to be great. 2 days later we're back to whatever, whenever. Hey at least I tried, right?

Well before summer started I did it again. I had big plans for a summer routine. I wasn't going to do another summer like the previous year where the boys watched hours of tv and fought ALL THE TIME!!! I was going to have structure. I was going to have a plan. I was going to have...don't make me say it....I was going to have...a ROUTINE. Sure, whatever, you say. This won't be any different than any other time you had visions of grandeur. I thought the same actually. Surprisingly this year was different. No way, you're saying. Yep, it was. My plan was to let the boys watch cartoons when they got up in the morning until breakfast was ready. Then off went the tv, they ate their breakfast, got dressed, brushed teeth, yada yada yada....then they would come back to the dining room where we have a huge white board and where I thoughtfully wrote down a list of chores for each one. Surprisingly, I kept it up throughout the summer. Not surprisingly, because we've already established that kids do well on routines, they did well on this routine. It was fabulous and really did make the summer go much smoother than the year before.

Now, enter school year. This is where I start struggling. No longer can I stick to our summer morning routine because we wouldn't finish until between 10 and 11. We are out the door at 9:10 every morning. How do I fit in chores? If I wait until after school, then I am spending my day trying to do my own chores and work around theirs without doing them myself. Not so easy to do. Plus we have daily homework and AWANA sections to work on. Then of course there is dinner, showers, and bedtime prayers. That pretty much takes up all the afterschool time. I would have to say that is one thing I am jealous of homeschool families. They are able to fit all these things into their day. So where do I fit it all in? I don't have an answer for that...yet. I'm working on it. Besides, looks like my schedule is getting ready to change again. I'll tell more about that later. And who knows, maybe I am becoming a schedule person afterall. Nah, that'll never happen!

Isn't she cute?? So tuckered out from a busy morning.

Classroom Volunteer

As of last Wednesday I am officially a classroom volunteer in Collin's class. I get to go in every Wednesday at 11 while Brian is in preschool. His teacher doesn't even mind if I bring in Allison. It was great to be able to watch Collin in his class interacting with the other kids and working on his work. He did such a great job with me there. He liked that I was there and was disappointed that I wasn't able to stay and have lunch with him. I'm looking forward to being in his class each week. It is just so great to be able to see how he does in his class.

Forty Eleventeen

Yep, that's right. Forty eleventeen. Brian and I were counting together and I lost because I only counted to 44, but he counted all the way to forty eleventeen. I think that is pretty impressive! I didn't even know that was a number. I guess it is time for me to take a math refresher course or I won't be able to help my kids with this "new math."

A Feeling Of Belonging

Yesterday as we left church Steve and I both felt that we finally belong. When we lived in Kent, we had that sense of belonging. We had our circle of friends, we had our ministries in church, people knew us, we were growing spiritually. It was a great place to be. It is a place where I know that if God ever decided to send us back we would be welcomed with open arms.

When we moved up here 2 years ago, we had to leave all that behind. It has taken us awhile to find our place up here. Although we have been able to make friends up here, and I am so thankful for my girlfriends here, we had a hard time finding a church. Without that weekly (or more) fellowship, I have found that you just can't fit in. Until I have that I will not belong up here.

We have now found a church where we are all happy. Even the kids, and that is so important. We are in a life group, our kids are in AWANA, and yesterday it felt official. We were no longer going to someone else's church building. We were fellowshipping with fellow believers. People who recognize us and talk to us. It is a place where we belong.

A More Refined Taste

So we went out for dinner last week and ended up entertaining our waitress. As we are ordering, Brian (now keep in mind that he is 4) says he would like a corndog. Normal enough, right? The waitress asks if he would like french fries with that and he says, "no" "How about jo jos," she asks. "No," he responds. "Can I have a salad?" "Sure, what kind of dressing would you like?" "Do you have the spray?" I then have to translate for her and ask if they have raspberry vinaigrette. Unfortunately they did not and he had to settle on ranch. Then I order mine and ask for grilled onions. To which Brian pipes up, "can I have some grilled onions too, please?" By this time the waitress is trying hard to keep her composure. She said that she has never had any child ask for any of those things before! Steve and I had a good laugh over this, but we also have to remember that this is coming from the boy who once said, very excitedly, "Mom, thanks for putting wensleydale cheese in my lunch!"

And yes, he enjoyed the salad (once we scraped off most of the ranch dressing) and the grilled onions!

Don't give mom a heart attack please!

I guess it was bound to happen at some point. Yesterday it did. Brian and I decided to park at school and meet up with Collin in the front of the school. Well there was such a sea of kids coming out when the bell rang that Collin walked right past me and neither one of us saw the other. So I continue waiting for him to come out, he still doesn't see me so he starts walking home. I finally go to his classroom but no one is there. By this time most of the kids are gone, and I am starting to panic. I go back to the front of the school and I am just getting ready to go to the office and start a search party, when the grandmother of his best friend calls me over and says she saw Collin walking towards home. So I load up Brian and Allison into the minivan and start driving. Sure enough, there he is up the road. Luckily he was walking with a girl in his class and her mom. The mom said that she saw him walking off the school grounds by himself and asked if he normally does that. No he says. So she had pulled out her cell and Collin tried calling me at home (note to self, write down cell number and keep it in Collin's backpack)but since I didn't answer, they walked together. On one hand I am so pleased that Collin walked with someone that he knew, but on the other hand he should not have left the school grounds without me. So now we have a plan if this happens again. He will wait for me at the flag pole and if he can't find me then he will go to the office to call. I am glad that we were able to make a plan so that it does not happen again! I would rather not have a heart attack at 31.

Frist Day of School

I guess since I just started blogging I should go ahead and blog about Collin's first day of school last week. Steve stayed home so that he could come with us to take him to school. It was a very exciting morning and the boys were ready to go with an hour to go. So we spent the morning playing uno attack! Once we finally left, the boys were more than ready. Collin seemed like such a grown up when we went into his class. He was very excited to see that he knew almost everyone in his class. There were quite a few friends from his class last year, and even a few that he remembered from his kindergarten class. The only bummer was his best friend is in a different class this year. It doesn't seem to be bothering him too much since he gets to see him at recess and lunch. After school it was hard to get much info out of him. The only thing he told me was how his teacher makes everyone put their heads down after all recesses. He does not like that! He mentioned it several times and still talks about it. Other than that he says school is boring. Big surprise. So far things are going well. He seems to have adjusted to being back in school quite well, which makes me happy! Here it is a week later, and so far things are great. I am hoping to get to help out in the classroom on Wednesdays this year and have already been able to talk to his teacher about that. Collin is very excited that I will be in the classroom this year. The last 2 years I was only able to help out for the class parties. I must admit I am looking forward to it too. So that is the first day/week of school update!

First Official Day of Preschool

Well, today was Brian's first official day of preschool. The day that I actually dropped him off and left. It was very exciting and there was only a small part of me that was sad. He is growing up! I can't tell you how much he was looking forward to this and kept saying on the way there that Mommy would NOT be staying. He walked in there like the big boy that he is and didn't even look back. I don't think he even heard me say goodbye. When I picked him up 2 1/2 hours later I could tell that he had a fabulous time. He told me that he was "playing on the playground until YOU showed up." made me laugh, but also showed me just how well he is doing away from me. He doesn't need me to be there all the time anymore. He is ready to go off and meet friends and be his own little person. That actually makes it a little harder on me. Although I am thankful that I don't have to deal with him crying and going through seperation anxiety, part of me knows that we have taken that next step in the growing process. He can't wait to go back tomorrow!

Okay, you convinced me!

Well, Jen convinced me that it was time to start a blog. So here it is. It will take me awhile to get this all figured out so you will have to bare with me. I have enjoyed reading so many of your blogs, that I guess it was only a matter of time. Thanks Jen.