Country Fair

Dylan's elementary school hosted its annual oh-so-cute Country Fall Fair yesterday. The rain clouds finally parted and made way for sunnier skies and a great turnout. Grandpa Joe arrived from Florida and joined us for games, food and pony rides all afternoon. Yee-haw!

i heart yard sales

So I'm a little late with this photo, but better late than never right? This past July, Grandpa Joe and Grandma Bobbie paid us a visit and we had a little cookout action. Uncle Chris, Aunt Jessica and Josh and Maya came over for some grub (if I recall, I believe Andrew smoked some meat that day) backyard play and cold beers (okay, juice boxes for the kids). Anyway, we mananged to wrangle all the kids together and snap this photo of us all, which rarely happens. Bella even snuck into the photo and I got to hold my favorite (and only!) niece.

We're expecting Grandpa Joe again this afternoon for the next few days, and we'll be heading to Dylan's school Fall Fair this afternoon (my awesome spouse is there pre-making cotton candy and inhaling spun sugar right now). The fair was postponed from yesterday's torrential downpour and it appears the sun might be starting to peek out.

However, many good things came from yesterday despite the monsoon. We harvested our second garden cantalope this morning, along with some awesome looking Heirloom tomatoes and beans.

Shopping our huge community yard sale yielded me a awesome new kitchen table and chairs (straight from Arhaus, it looks like it was hardly used, and its totally so comfortable and I got the whole set for a steal can you tell I'm excited?!), Andrew scored a Big Green Egg (BGE) - the Cadillac of ceramic smoker grills (retail price new $750, we got it for $75!), the boys got a (loud and obnoxious) table top air hockey/pinball game, and we also found a great, huge over the fireplace mirror for $5. Love it! Oh, and Andrew and I actually watched a movie last night for the first time in months. Not bad for a rainy Saturday.

three weeks in....

Today is the last day of the third week of the school year, and I'm thrilled to report that so far, so good. Although our days are starting much earlier than they used to, we all seem to have adjusted well and no one has missed the bus yet! My boys contintually make me proud at how well they adjust to change and welcome new experiences with complete open arms.

Last night, I attended Dylan's back to school night and had a chance to meet the entire First Grade Team. The teachers presented the curriculum for the year, and explained how homework will operate. Up until now its been one math work sheet a night but the full load begins next week with math, spelling and reading every weeknight (except Fridays). The first graders were all individually tested and have been grouped together with other first graders at their same language level. Starting next week, Dylan will spend two hours a day with his Language Arts teachers, focusing on reading, writing and spelling peers at his same ability level. I remember first grade being the time I learned to read, and I've carried a passion for reading my whole life. I hope this for both of our kids!

We're constantly impressed with Dylan's school, both the entire faculty and the programs, and feel so fortunate we have such great schools in our community. His school Fall Fair is this weekend and Andrew and I will both be volunteering in between letting the kids play games, sink Dylan's teacher in the dunk tank, and eating some great food. Next month, I'll begin volunteering in Dylan's classroom perdiodically too.

Meanwhile, Logan loves preschool and can't wait to hop in the car on preschool mornings. I walk him to his classroom and he greets his teachers, eagerly heading right in, barely stopping to give me a kiss goodbye. He loves to stay busy and I know his time flies when he is there. His teachers are so sweet, and so nurturing. Its a fantastic preschool and the staff is so organized and fun. This week they introduced music class and got to have the first of many birthday cupcakes, I'm sure. I'm one of the two Room Parents for Logan's class, and we're already starting to plan for the oh-so-cute Halloween party.

Its fantastic having this chance to be involved at the boys' schools, meeting other parents and getting to know the teachers. I'm very, very fortunate to have this opportunity.

Dear 3 year old darling son,

Just because you have a cold doesn't make it okay to use me as your human Kleenex all day. Or scream your head off when I won't buy you fruit snacks at Costco. Or hide my flip flop so I'm now left with only one shoe. So lets suck it up a little bit, okay? Because you know your bedroom door? It has a lock on the outside. Don't tempt me.

Love,
Mama

gleek!

Tonight, my new favorite show is on. Have you seen it yet? Its been a long time since I found a new show worthy of latching onto.

First, the description of the show as a comedy/musical might sound like a turn off. I'm not really a musical kinda gal. In fact, I've only seen five of the movie musicals listed on the AFI's Greatest Movie Musical List. I'd make a terrible gay guy.

But this show is awesome. Its for anyone who ever felt like an underdog in high school (and who didn't?). The adult relationships are entertaining, endearing and dark with some very unlikely love triangles. Jane Lynch is hilarious; just as funny as she was in The 40 Year Old Virgin. In last weeks' episode, some of the male faculty members (mostly older and overweight) form a boy band called the "Acafellas" and energetically perform the Bel Biv DeVoe song "Poison". There is also something very John Hughes-esque about it. How can you go wrong?!

Its mindless, funny, and brilliant all at the same time. And, it just got approved for a full season, yay! I guess I'm officially a Gleek.

cleanliness is a virtue

Dylan got off the bus this afternoon carrying an award - a baseball hat with the name of his elementary school, and an envelope containing a $20 gift card to a yummy local Chinese restaurant. "Mom, I won this today because my desk was the shiniest and cleanest in the whole class!".

I can't take credit (or blame) for everything he's learned up to this point, but I think the neat freak in me has totally gotten through to him. And if its going to keep us in good Chinese food, I'll teach him how to wash the teacher's car next!

falling for fall

Fall is so close, I can smell it. And though its still technically summer for two more days, we're turning our minds to the things that make fall so much fun. The boys have been discussing Halloween costume ideas, we've hung the Indian corn on the front yard lamp post, and I'm craving chili and apple crisp. There are many things I love about where we live, and the change of seasons is one of them. I get excited this time every year, knowing the best holidays are within reach, and we can soon pull out jackets and sweaters to keep us warm in the crisp air.

Yesterday, we took advantage of a perfect weather day and spent the afternoon at our very favorite fall festival destination. There are so many of these around the area, but this one totally rocks. And lets face it, nothing kicks off the fall spirit like some apple cider, corn maze, gigantic slides that give you a dusty hay butt, awesomely long hay ride and kettle corn.

So after soccer yesterday morning, we headed over to romp in the hay and get our autumn spirit on.

The boys got to milk a cow. Dylan stepped right up but Logan was a little more weary. There were also baby pigs born just hours before our arrival. Adorable and aplenty - 17 of them! The poor mama...

Inside the House of Cards and the Tunnel of Bugs and Reptiles in the Cornundrum Corn Maze...

They have the best hayride ever -- live dancing aliens, live horses, singing trolls and a disco barn full of ghouls. Doesn't get better than that.

Dylan's favorite, the giant rope swing into pit of foam.

Logan was finally big enough this year to try it, too!

Other fun fall upcoming events: Dylan's school fall country fair, neighborhood brewfests, the annual Croom Fall Football Fest, and lots more!

if i were the President of shopping...

Okay. This issue has been on my mind for a while. But now that I have TWO mornings a week to run errands/go shopping with NO CHILDREN, its been pushed to the forefront and must be discussed.

I love me a good bargain, I do. Its true. For as long as I can remember, I've been a bargain shopper. I think it all started back 10th Grade, when I discovered Village Thrift Store and bought my entire back-to-school wardrobe for under $20. Really, those mens paisley suit vests over white undershirts were HOT back in those Pretty in Pink days.

Rarely, in my adult life, have I ever settled on paying full price for clothing or shoes, or furniture, or really hardly anything now that I think of it. I just can't do it. First, there is ALWAYS a sale at Kohl's. You'd be hard pressed to find anything in there that isn't marked down, at least a little. Second, once you get a taste for the thrill of finding a bargain, it becomes a whole story in and of itself. Its no fun telling someone who asks "Oh, thanks, I paid full price at the mall." It is however, really cool to tell someone "Oh, you'll never believe it. I was at the Eddie Bauer Outlet and this $70 sweater was in a box marked down to $7!"

Today I needed a new rug for the laundry room. The laundry room does not deserve a $45 rug at the mall. The laundry room deserves a $10 clearance rug at Marshalls.

However, herein lies my issue. WHY oh WHY can't I have my cake and eat it too? I get in line to pay for my $10 rug, and there is ONE REGISTER open. The same register that is open for returns and exchanges, mind you. I'm third in line, and I have a very precious few minutes left on the ticking clock before I have to go pick Logan up at preschool. PRECIOUS MINUTES I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SPEND WAITING IN LINE TO PAY FOR A $10 RUG.

The one cashier is ringing up a lady, who is buying an obscene amount of clothing (probably to resell on eBay). Slowly, the line behind me is growing. 5, 6, 7 people now. The cashier gets on the paging system and calls (I think she was speaking English, but I can't be sure) for another cashier to assist. 1...2....3.....minutes go by. Nothing. She gets on again and calls for back up. Nothing. Nada. I look around, nervously glancing at the clock. Should I just put my rug back? Then it will have all been for nothing. So I wait. I notice there is not one, not two, but THREE store employees trying to hang up a sign not 20 feet from this first cashier. I know they've heard her asking for some reinforcement cashiers. But so into the sign hanging are they, that they blatantly ignore the now 9 people in line and their fellow overwhelmed employee. The lady behind me and I start a conversation. "I'm going to have to just leave" I say. "Me too, this is ridiculous. Its not rocket science, you know?"

Several more moments pass, I decide THIS IS IT. I walk over to the Three Siugn Hanging Mouseketeers and take notice one of their badges says MANAGER. "Excuse me, but you have an entire line of people getting ready ditch their purchases and walk out of your store if someone doesn't come over here and open another register." NOW she gets it and jumps to action. Well, I wouldn't say jump exactly, because just as the Main Sign Hanger Lady was about to come help us all, a more elderly employee materialized and honest-to-God the poor thing had to be taking a break from her oxygen treatment at the pace she was moving. And I thought "oh my Lord is this poor lady going to make it through the work day because the store has only been open for two hours and she looks like she might keel over before lunch break."

Bless her heart. But JEEZ LOUISE its like this every single time I go into one of these places.

And they're all the same. Walmart is the worst. I don't know why they bother to have 35 check out lanes in their stores because really, when have you ever been in there when they've had more than 6 open at a time? And just as a little sidebar, does Walmart not have the best people watching on Earth? They should charge admission to get in there! A friend recently told me about this website and trust me, if it doesn't make you laugh in loud and/or gasp in horror, nothing will.

Another pet peeve, and this goes for Target and Walmart.

When did they decide it would be a good idea for cashiers to no longer put your bags of stuff into your cart for you? Instead, they either pile them up at the end of the counter for you to retrieve, as you're also trying to prevent your three year old from shoplifting another candy bar and use your debit card at the same time, while your other child is ramming the cart into your leg. OR - and this one is the worst. They put your bags on those hanging turnstiles for you to retrieve. But then they start checking out the person BEHIND you before you've even put your things into your cart and before you know it, you have NO EARTHLY IDEA which bags are yours and which ones aren't. And when you get home and open 'your' bags, you find some items that oopsie you didn't buy. One day I came home from Target with an entire bag of toiletries and cold remedies that didn't belong to me.

Seriously. There has to be a better system. Remember the old days, when you could count on multiple registers being open, and the cashiers actually placed your bags into the cart? WHY oh WHY can't I have my cake and eat it too? Why can't you shop at stores that have nice, reasonable prices and get the same stellar service that you get at say... Nordstrom. I don't need sucking up to. Just a smile and a friendly hello. With unemployment where it is, you'd think there would be a whole selection of prime employees out there chomping at the bit to kick ass at work. Someday, when I'm President of Shopping, I'll get right on this.

big strides

Logan attended his first speech therapy session of the school year this morning at our elementary school. As I suspected, he’s by far met all the goals we set for him in his IEP last spring. His speech therapist wants to meet with him a few more times so she can determine what our next set of goals needs to be. He sometimes still drops some of his consonant sounds when he is using words in a sentence, so it makes him hard to understand at times. So that will probably be a next goal that we write.

Sometime this fall or winter, I think we'll be to a point where he's all caught up, and will no longer be eligible for speech. What a difference a year makes! This time last year, he was receiving speech and occupational therapy every week at home. And here he is, going to big boy preschool, making new friends, speaking in paragraphs and making us proud.

Awesome job, big guy!

taking on the world, or at least preschool

Dear Logan,

And so begins your formal education. Your very first day of preschool, buddy. You were so proud getting out of the car today wearing your brand new backpack, smiling big when you saw your teacher and barely stopping to give me a kiss goodbye.

There have been many, many days in your three little years when I thought this day couldn't come fast enough. Then there were days when I thought you might not be ready, or willing. You've come so far. Really, I can't even say how proud I am to be your mommy.

When I picked you up from school (after three hours of blissful kid-free, snack-free, no-taking- anyone-to-the-bathroom, no-whining errands), your teacher brought you to the car and when you saw me, your smile was just gigantic and so proud. You climbed into your seat and gave me your verbal first day checklist: Snack? Goldfish. Craft? Frog puppet. Playground? Yes. New friends? Yes. Nice teachers? Yes! Can't wait to go back? Yes!

You loved school, and I love that you went there today, big and bold ready to take on the world.

Love,

Mommy

little by little...

...the First Grade details are forthcoming. I think its taken a few days for it all to sink in, and now he's remembering more and getting used to being in school for 6.5 hours a day. Details about art class and that the teacher "has been painting since he was a little boy". Details about the boy in his class who was already sent to the Principal's office on the third day of school and gets time-outs everyday. Details about science, morning announcements (which are done via the school's internal TV channel with student reporters), and gym class. Details about learning new words from the Spanish teacher - Buenos Dias! Who he plays with on the playground, how he buys his lunch and has 'almost enough time to eat it all'. Who he sits next to at lunch, what they do in music class and what books he checks out at the library.

As a parent I struggle between letting go of the control and letting him make his own path, and still wanting to know every single detail of his days. Are the other boys nice? Does he raise his hands to answer questions? Does he finish his work on time? Does he remember his manners?

All I know is this. Everyday he will be faced with choices, and everyday he makes us proud of the decisions he makes. And everyday, I love him more than words can say.

preschool orientation

I can't take too many big changes at once and I'm so glad we have another week before its time to send Logan off to preschool. We're getting Dylan eased into his new school life this week, and next week we'll begin Logan's new adventure. Today we got to go to Logan's preschool and meet his teachers, see his classroom, and get all the details about what his mornings at school will be like. He's in the Blue Butterfly classroom, and it sounds like they're going to be very, very busy.

I can hardly believe he's going to a preschooler. It seems like he was just a baby, totally dependent on us. Now he's a big boy, ready to make new friends and learn new things. He's ready to go, since he has always had a Big Boy Complex and just wants to do whatever Dylan is doing. I don't think he'll look over his shoulder even once as he begins his preschool journey.

We got to meet his teacher, Mrs. H., and the assistant teacher, Mrs. B.:

While I met with his teacher, he got to make his very own blue butterfly:

all about the details

As I talk to lots of my friends who have little boys, I hear over and over again that they just aren't that great with the details. Building a huge racetrack for Matchbox cars with nothing but couch pillows and scotch tape - yes. Getting as filthy as humanly possible after being outside for only 20 minutes - yes. But sharing every intimate detail about the oh so important First Day of First Grade - not so much.

And so last night, as we tried to pluck tidbits from Dylan (whose eyes were drooping shut at the dinner table at 6:30 pm) about his special first day at school, we pretty much got nothing. We know he ate a huge bean burrito for lunch. We know he played outside. We know they had a fire drill. What happened during the rest of the 6.5 hours of his school day is anyone's guess.

First Day of First Grade

And just like that, my little man is off to a whole new adventure.

He got up easily at 6:30 this morning, got dressed and headed down for a bowl of cereal, fruit and yogurt. Put on his shoes and backpack, patiently posed for front porch photos and arrived first to the bus stop, ready and eager.

I already miss him. Its a little strange, knowing he's gone until 2:50 this afternoon. I didn't realize until last night that I was nervous for him. Thinking of how many new situations he'll find himself in this year and just hoping that he'll remember to make the right choices, do the right things. To always be kind to other kids, and to always respect his teachers.

First grade. Another milestone he embraces with a smile on his face.

I can't wait to hear about his day and see his smile when he gets off the bus.

First Grade!

We attended open houses at both Logans' preschool and Dylans' elementary school this week. As much as I've been in denial this summer, our big guy is getting ready to embark upon full days of school for the first time. I'm sad. I'm excited. And he'll do great, he always does.

Last night, Dylan got to visit his first grade class, put his school supplies away, meet his teacher, and get the lay of the land. All the while, I signed up for a few volunteer opportunities to help throughout the year. School starts Tuesday and a whole new journey begins!

This is Dylan's teacher, Mr. P..

Ready to rock 1st grade at his very own desk!

Logan's school event this week was adult-only. I'll get some photos of him there when I have my first teacher conference with his preschool teacher next week.

so long, summer break

I saw a quote in a parenting magazine a few weeks ago that struck a chord with me. How can summer break seem so long and so short at the same time. Many days I didn't know if we'd all survive until bedtime, what with all the wrestlemania thru the house, whining and begging to play just one more video game. But most of the time, we stayed on the go this summer, taking in all the summer had to offer at full force. And here we are, the Labor Day weekend upon us. Three more days of no schedules, no homework and no mandated early bedtimes.


This week we took advantage of the cooler temperatures and played outside as much as possible. The boys and I went to a local farm one day, enjoying a wagon ride, seeing all the animals (including a baby calf less than 24 hours old!) and then a picnic.

I'll miss these free-wheeling days, but it feels right for the school year to begin. It's time.