Another milestone

I finally got brave enough to let Evan have his first sleepover this past weekend. I don't know why it seemed like such a big deal to me, but it was a thing I was trying to put off as long as possible. As it turned out, it wasn't so bad. And, I dove in head first. Not only did I invite Evan's friend who lives down the street, but also his little sister who is Pressley's BFF. I figured it might actually be easier if Pressley had a friend too so she wouldn't just be subjected to abuse all evening and into the following morning.

The kids were good - just a little LOUD and a lot ACTIVE. Pressley's buddy told me at 8:30 (in the middle of Cinderella) that she was ready to go to bed. So, I put the girls to bed at 8:30. Little did I know that they would be up for the next TWO hours playing and giggling. Poor little thing has a broken foot and was wearing a walking boot when she arrived at our house. Her mom told me I could take it off at bedtime. I did as I was instructed, but was horrified to find the girls jumping on the bed - sans walking boot - around 9:30. What a bad host I turned out to be!

The boys, on the other hand, stayed up an hour and a half later. They finished their movie, played Wii, etc. and didn't go to bed until 10. But they were both asleep before the girls. And up and rarin' to go early the next morning.

All in all, it was a fun time and we'll definitely do it again.

A little gem

I've been sitting on this for about a week and I've finally gotten around to uploading. Last Saturday, Corin, David and my dad decided to go play golf. The women-folk stayed home with all the kids, and the cousins had big fun. Pressley has discovered all of Abby's dress-up clothes, so that is the first thing she goes for when we go to Beth and David's. She also very much enjoys Abby's two microphones. This is not the first time the two girls have dressed up and given us a show, but it is the first time I've gotten video footage of the spectacle.

Please note (1) that P turns on her own applause noise and then bows graciously - with her eyes closed dramatically; (2) P makes up her own songs/lyrics more often than not.

Here they are:

I don't know that I could possibly add anything after that.

Sick Daze

Evan has been sick for the past two days. He came home from school with a fever on Monday and has been running a fever between 101 and 102 ever since. After finding out that a friend whose birthday party Evan attended over the weekend had strep, I took Evan to the pediatrician yesterday just to make sure. After all, his symptoms were fever, headache and sore throat, so the nurse said "come on in." The quick strep test was negative, and since I have yet to hear back about the overnight culture, I guess that must have been negative as well.

It is one of those things where Evan feels bad enough not to go to school (and I don't feel right sending him with a fever), but he does not feel bad enough to just lie around all day. So, we bored. Really bored. We are really tired of being cooped up. He asked me yesterday if we could go for ice cream while Pressley was at school. Not wanting to set any bad precedents or make staying home from school attractive, I said no. But, have I mentioned we're bored? This morning I made the kids turn off the T.V. so we could do some of Evan's homework. We were done with several days' worth of homework in 45 minutes. Normally, I would be grateful that the assignments are brief, but today I actually e-mailed the teacher looking for additional assignments. We are bored!!

I was talking to my mom about my dilemma about this evening. Tonight is the first night of the school-year Wednesday night church activities. And I've signed on to help a friend teach pre-school music. I can't possibly leave her in a lurch on the first Wednesday night, so I need to go. But Evan doesn't need to go. And Corin worked from home yesterday so I could attend orientation for the fall semester continuation of my career counseling gig at GSU. So, I can't really ask him to come home early. Mom was sympathetic (but she can't really help either since she and dad are teaching a Wednesday night class at church too). And she said something about how hard it is when you are working or have other obligations and your kids are sick. It made me take a little trip down memory lane to revisit what her solution often was when we were kids....

Mom was an x-ray tech at a private office facility that I guess serviced several doctors' offices in the area. When we had to stay out of school, I can remember going to work with her to lie on the couch in the break room of her office for the entirety of the day. I don't know if there was a t.v. I don't recall how I entertained myself most of the day. I do recall that the radiologists or other techs would stop in to chat from time to time. (Side note: the radiologists all had names that were strikingly similar to the seven dwarfs, or so it seemed to my elementary school-aged self. I know there was a Dr. Smiley. In my mind, I'm pretty sure there was also a Dr. Sneezy, but that seems unlikely in my adult reality.) Anyhow... the thing that is the most clear in my mind was that there was a tiny dorm fridge in the break room that held an array of Coca-Cola products in the glass bottles. And as a token for our sick and boredom misery, mom would usually let us have a bottle of coke at some point during the day. Needless to say, it was not enough to make one want to stay out of school if one was not good and miserable, but it was the one bright spot in an otherwise really, really boring day.

In closing, I know I had promised to blog in detail about our end of the summer fun activities, but as is becoming my habit, I'll probably break that promise. I have posted photos of our trip with the cousins to INK (the children's museum in Gainesville) and the waterpark in Gainesville under the tab "End of Summer Fun." There are also photos of our fun playdate in Acworth at the Stephenson's new house/ neighborhood pool with our Sunday school friends and our trip to the Yellow River Game Ranch with the Citrons under the August 09 tab. Its called photo journalism, people! Or photo journaling....? Or copping out...? (By the way, despite the fact that I have developed quite a case of germaphobia since I had kids and I'm just not all about touching animals, the YRGR is really quite amazing. It is not often you get to see so many animals so close up. I sucked it up and enjoyed it through the kids' eyes, but there was a healthy dose of hand-washing and Purell all around when it was over.)

Allow me to backtrack a bit

So, I'm sure I've said this before, but Facebook is incredible. I know there are a lot of FB haters out there, but it has allowed me to re-connect with some folks that have really meant a lot to me over the years. Case in point, one of my best friends from the 1st through the 6th grade was Sara K. We were thick as thieves. I have great memories of walking home with her from school (she was so lucky that she got to walk to school), playing in her back-yard (she had a creek back there), taking private flute lessons together (ok, so that wasn't one of the happier memories), clogging together, and the list goes on.

I moved to Florida at the end of the 6th grade and, though we returned to Atlanta, I ended up at a different high school and Sara and I lost touch. Enter FB 25 years later.... Sara lives in Boston now and has two super-cute kids who are the same ages as my kids. Her parents still keep an apartment in Atlanta, so she comes to visit every once in a while. When we first got in touch, she said we should get together the next time she was in town. I've heard that before. Everyone says it, but no one really does it.

But here is the amazing thing: Sara did. She was in town in June and she brought her kids to a park near me for a play date. We had run into each other briefly after college, but we had not really seen each other since 1984. I have to say, I was a little nervous about our meeting. I didn't know if we would have much in common anymore. But, we did. It was great. Sara even brought her parents, who looked exactly the same as they did when we were kids, except that Mr. K now sports a beard and mustache. Sara had also contacted another friend of ours (from ye olden days), Tracie, who also still lives in the area. Tracie brought her daughter too, and we all had a blast. The three moms talked and the five kids played like they had known each other, lo all these years.

It was such a great day, I just thought I would share it. And now, I will share photos from 1984 (and before). Please refrain from laughing at what may be the most awful haircut I have ever seen on a tween (long before we were called tweens). I'm really putting myself out there with these:

Here is a clogging picture of us, I'm guessing from the late 70s, early 80s. That is me on the left and Sara on the right. I'm not sure who the girl in the middle is.


Here we are playing the flute together in the 6th grade band.

And here is one of Tracie and me having lunch together in the 6th grade. Front row: Tracie, Christy T. and Jenny W. Back row: Mr. "O.D" (the P.E. coach) and me. I can't believe I ate lunch with the man who made me run laps for 6 years and wouldn't let me use my asthma as an excuse to get out of it! :-) And I appear to be smiling at him.

Here is a photo of our kids playing together: Tracie's Kayla; Pressley; Evan; Sara's Eric and Mikayla (I hope I spelled that right).

One last pic of me and my kids, Sara and her kids, and Tracie and Kayla.

Good times!

The bus fiasco

Just when I thought I was well on my way to earning my elementary school mom badge, we've had a little setback. First, let me brag that we have had 3 days in a row of being on time for school - with a home-packed lunch. Now, let me reveal my inadequacies.

I put Pressley down for her nap in plenty of time for her to get a nap and then walk with me to the bus stop, but she decided to chatter for an hour before she fell asleep, so I ended up having to wake her to go get Evan from the bus. We arrived at the bus stop about one minute before the bus came rambling to a stop. Yesterday, I had to get all the way onto the bus to fetch Evan because he doesn't know his stop yet and couldn't hear me calling his name from the front. Today, I boarded the bus just as his little friend, Mark, was getting off. I asked Mark if Evan was coming and he shook his head "no." I asked Mark if he had been sitting with Evan today and again, he shook he head "no." My bad feeling was quickly justified as I reached the back of the bus without finding my child.

The bus driver, Ms. Bailey, calmly informed me that he probably got on the wrong bus and that the other bus driver would bring him back to school when she finished her route. I wasn't so sure. You see, this morning, Evan asked if I would pick him up today. He said he liked riding the bus yesterday, so I told him we need to stick to riding the bus OR having mommy pick him up, but we couldn't go back and forth. And then we got out of the car and got caught up in the chaos of drop-off and didn't really finish the conversation. So, I had visions of him insisting to someone that he wasn't supposed to ride the bus.

So, I raced home from the bus stop. Well, as much as you can race with a 3 year old who has been awakened from her nap prematurely and who keeps getting phantom "sand" in her shoes, requiring her to stop and remove them every 10 steps. I kept telling her that Evan was "lost" and we needed to hurry because mommy was worried. She received this news by stopping in the path and crying at the top of her lungs "I want Daaaaddy!" Spectacular. My response: "I kinda want daddy right now too."

We finally made it home and into the car and headed up to the school. The office people were very nice and helpful. To make a long story short(er), the principal got on the phone and located the driver of the bus they thought Evan was on. He was. They told me the driver would bring him back and I should just wait at the school. And then they presented the form, in my handwriting and with my signature, where I had written the wrong bus number FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES.

After I was reunited with Evan, who was not nearly as shaken by the experience as I thought he would be, I stopped to look at the bus route sheet posted in the front window, ready to point out to someone that my error was completely justified. But there it was....in black and white...our bus stop...on the OTHER list. Oh, the shame!

When we got back home, Pressley burst into tears and started following Evan around until he finally came to a stop. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight and said, "I LIKE you Evan. I was scared." Priceless. First time I've teared up all week. I guess she wasn't deliberately being difficult during our walk back from the bus stop. Poor baby was just worried too!

First day of school !!

Well, it happened. Evan has started "big school." We officially have a kindergartner in our household. This morning was a bit crazy. I dutifully labelled all the school supplies last night and got them packed into the backpack. I asked Evan what he wanted for lunch. I thought I had it all together. We got up at 7 as planned (having two adults awake at 7 is a big departure from routine in our house). Both of the kids had to be roused. Of course, when you need them up, they sleep. When you want them to sleep, they wake us up. But that is a rant for another day....

We finally got everybody dressed, fed, hair brushed, teeth brushed, and ready to get out the door. I managed to pack a lunch - after one ill-fated attempt to use the cute little divided container I love. The thing just fits into the lunch bag, but then there is no room for the yogurt Evan wanted or the afternoon snack. So, I had to take it all out of the container and put it into baggies. Precious time wasted.

We got out the door at 7:46. Sixteen minutes later than I had planned to leave. We turned onto the street where the school is located and there were cars parked all the way to the corner. We found a spot and parked to walk the rest of the way. I'm guessing we walked about half a mile in what seemed like 100% humidity. Evan was a trooper wearing his backpack loaded down with school supplies. We finally reached the school at 8:00 on the dot. We made it to the classroom just as the principal came on the intercom and invited the parents to exit the building.

There was very little time for ceremony at the door. No time for posed pictures, much to my chagrin. Evan just walked on into the classroom and his teacher, Mrs. Appling, took his lunch and his backpack and sent him off to find his seat. No hugs. No tears (from Evan or me). No drama.

I did manage to take a couple of photos in all the chaos. Here is Evan just before we headed out the door.

Evan and Daddy on the long walk from the car.

Evan in his classroom with his teacher, Mrs. Appling, who is expecting her first child. There should be a rule against kindergarten teachers getting pregnant, don't you think? :-) First the kids have to adjust to a new school and a new teacher and then just about the time they get settled in... BAM! Long-term sub... (For the record, I have been assured by a former teacher at Mary Lin that the long-term sub will be highly qualified, and I have no doubt that Evan will adjust just fine.)

No photos; just some reflection

I know I have been absent for a while. Our home internet went out sometime late last week and then we went to the Laser Show at Stone Mountain with our Sunday school class....there was a torrential downpour, the cooler was re-packed hastily, outside pocket left unzipped, and... the camera and Blackberry ended up sitting in a half inch of water for a bit too long. So, I have been completely cut off from the world (apart from my home phone) for nearly a week.

I'm back now and have a lot to report. We've had lots of fun since the Six Flags trip, including a trip to the children's' museum and a water park (both in Gainseville), a fun play date with sweet friends who have moved to Acworth, my dad's birthday, etc. But, I'll have to save all that til later. Because today was a big day all its own.

You see, Evan (my sweet baby boy; my first-born child) is starting kindergarten on Monday. So, today was our last day of summer. We got up this morning and went to our local park to meet up with several of the seven kids from our street who will also be starting kindergarten on Monday. The moms have been talking about getting the kids together for a while. Some will be in the same classes, and even though Evan will not be in the same class with any of the kids on the street, several of them will ride the bus together. It was a good introduction. A couple of the moms brought bagels and fruit, so we stood around and talked while the kids got to know each other. It did not take long. By the end of an hour and a half, they were all playing together like old friends. It was sweet.

This afternoon was open house. It was WILD. I had no idea. We met Evan's new teacher, joined the PTA, bought school supplies (supporting our first PTA fundraiser), found out which bus Evan would ride, and so forth. Please let me point out that I was completely emotionally stable through the whole thing. Monday may be a completely different story, but today I was all business. (If I'm being completely honest, the scene was much too chaotic to be a hallmark moment. It would have been like getting all misty-eyed in the farmer's market on the Saturday before Christmas. Just no time or space for such nonsense.)

I am really looking forward to being a part of the elementary school community. But, I know you've heard it before - and you'll likely hear it again on Monday, I still can't believe I have a kid entering elementary school. Didn't I just bring the child home from the hospital?? I must say, it makes me all the more glad that I made the decision to take some time off from my career to enjoy my kids. I have thoroughly enjoyed our past two summers together and wouldn't trade them for the world. I am so blessed.

Yall have a good night. Me, I'm going to sit here and watch the time fly by....