Ramble, Ramble, Back to School, Ramble, Ramble

Well, now that school is back in session, I'm almost back into the swing of things...almost.  Here's the rundown on how things have gone thus far:

Jakob

On back to school night, we took Jakob’s school supplies to his class and got a chance to meet his teacher.  She seems really nice.  There’s a girl in his class that he’s buddies with.  She is just a little doll and a half.  She came up to him and said, “Hey, Jakob! Are we going to play at recess?"  Jakob, with a shy little smile, replied, "Yes." She said, "What are we going to play? ....Zombies?!?!?"  And Jake got a huge grin on his face and said, "You KNOW it!"  It was just so cute.  I'm glad he has some friends in his class.

I think he’s doing...okay so far.  He wants to be able to do everything right the very first time he tries something, and if he can’t then he gets frustrated.  We talked about it, and I told him that if he already knew everything, there would be no reason for him to go to school at all.  He really is a smartie pants, though.  He hasn’t had homework so far, which has been nice (for me).

Brock

I got to meet Brock’s teacher the week before school started.  She called parents and had them come in individually with the student and school supplies.  She’s a thinker, that one.  She is also very much on top of things-she didn’t miss a beat in asking me if I could come in to help in the classroom.  I told her I would try-my only hiccup is how Ivy is doing when she is with me.  Sometimes, when I’ve gone to help at the school, Ivy has been great-she just sits there quietly and plays.  Other times, she’s wanting to run up and down the halls.  So we’ll see how this year goes.

The first day of school, Brock lost his lunch box.  I swear it went to the Phantom Zone for a while, and this is why: he forgot to put his lunch box in his room’s basket.  At the end of the day he realized that, and so they went to the lunchroom and found his box, and sent him on his way with it on the bus.  But then his box was exactly like a girl’s box that rides the same bus, only she’s in 3rd grade, and somehow he had her box.  So he came home and was in tears because he lost the box.  We went to the school, to his classroom, to the lunchroom, and called the bus, all to no avail.  The next day, voila!-the lunch box appeared…in Jakob’s class’s basket.  Hm.  Very random.  But we got it back.

Brock loves school.  His homework has taken the most time so far, because he wants to color everything meticulously.  Grr.  I’m like, just scribble, child!  But he is a SUPER artist, and wants everything to look right, so I have to hold my tongue.  He’s getting better and better at reading, but still wants to guess at words.  If I stop him, though, and point at the word that he guessed, he’ll read it the right way.  I think he’s just trying to go fast or something.

Troy

Troy is just so cute.  He’s a dawdler, so I worried about him being on time in the morning to catch the bus.  But he’s done great so far.  The first day of school we were walking in to the front doors with a bunch of bigger kids.  Troy’s eyes got wider and wider.  But once we got to the classroom I think he was okay.  There are a few kids in his class that he knows from church, so I think that helps.  And he plays with his neighbor friend at recess that’s in the other kindergarten class.

This week for homework we had the Mom Scrapbook Project, as I like to call it.  Each of my kids has had this: it’s a packet that asks questions about your child, like their favorite color, a cool trip they have been on, what they are scared of, etc.  (Incidentally, Troy said his favorite trip was “when we went to Wyoming”.  He doesn’t say when we went to Lexi’s wedding, but that’s the only time we’ve been in Wyoming.  So random.)  So you answer the questions, and then you have to find things to show the answers, like pictures, and stickers, and dye cuts, and on and on.  When I did it with Jakob, I think I put a lot more time and effort into doing lots of different…mediums?  Like, stickers, and yarn, and I had him color a whole bunch.  This year, I did almost all pictures, because it’s just that much easier.  We got a few stickers, too, but that’s about it.  Oh, and I had Troy draw a couple of pictures.

Troy is just so eager to learn - he wants to know everything, and how things work.  He’s constantly asking about what words start with what letters, that kind of thing.  The other day he asked Pete to explain how waterfalls work, and ate up every word.

Ivy

I thought about trying to do a little group school thing for Ivy this year.  And then I remembered how much I hated doing the neighborhood preschool for Troy when he was three, so I quickly changed my mind.  So far, she mostly just wants to play with toys while “da brudders” (translation: “the brothers”, which is what she collectively calls Jakob, Brock, and Troy) are at school.  Sometimes she wants to be with me, so she’s at my mercy-she helped me do laundry, and put away dishes, that kind of thing.

Twice a week my mom and I are walking - outside right now while it’s still nice, and then we’ll start mall walking when it gets cold.  So Ivy rides in a stroller with a blanket over her.  She thinks it’s the best thing ever.  Which takes us to…

Nat

Have I been productive? Yes.  Am I busy? YES.  But do I have down time?  Yes. 

During the summer we slept in, and kind of took our time doing things during the day.  It’s amazing how much more one can get done when one gets up and gets moving.  After I get the boys out the door, I’ve been exercising for the first time in YEARS, either walking with my mom like I mentioned, or doing yoga.  I bought this DVD of 20 minute yoga, and so far I really like it.  The dude on it talks about how people go to bed too late, and then get up with a huge to-do list and rush through the day.  His philosophy is to go to bed earlier, and then start the day right with down time, to set the mood for your whole day and get you in a peaceful mindset.

My other morning routine is reading my scriptures.  This has been a wonderful way to start my day.  We read together as a family at night, but it’s just one page.  Reading on my own has been hit and miss, but now it’s part of what I do, and it’s been great.  It does the same thing as the yoga - it gets me in a peaceful mindset to start off my day.

Another great thing about school is the lunches.  I came up with a rotation of sorts for school lunches that I send with the kids.  It’s not fancy, but it helps break up the monotony of a PB&J every day.  I’ve been trying to include healthier sides, like carrots and celery, or little fruit cups.  So, when Troy gets home, I make the same lunch for him, me, and Ivy that I did for the other two.  So I’ve been eating a little better as well.  The other day I was like, Ooooh, celery!  I don’t normally chop up celery for my own eating, but since I had already cut a bunch of sticks it was easy to grab and eat.

After school, I teach piano.  I have 14 students this year.  Every year, before I start teaching, I get really nervous - about if I’m teaching well, if I’ll have enough time to get everything done, that kind of thing.  Last week was my first week, and it went really great.  Well, at least it went great for me – I hope it’s the same story when my students get home.  I really love teaching, and all my students are awesome.

And then at night, of course, I clean at my dad’s office.  Luckily, I’ve been doing that for a couple of months, so that’s really second nature now.  I’m glad things have been adding on little by little or week by week so I didn’t get inundated all at once.

So, weekdays, doing okay.  Weekends, however, are a different ball game, especially Saturdays.  On Saturday, I just want to sleep in, and relax.  But what I NEED to do is grocery shopping, and cleaning at my dad’s, and cleaning my own house with my kids.  I wish my kids were old enough that I could just set them to it, but I know we’d end up at the hospital with bleach in a kid’s eye or something.  So I help them out, which takes longer than if I were to just do it, but they need to learn at some point. 

This last Saturday we were cleaning after dinner and clear up till bedtime, but at least it got done.  So that’s something I need to think about.  I could try fitting one chore into every day of the week (like Monday is dusting day, Tuesday is windexing day, something like that), but I don’t know if that would be better or worse than what I have going on now.  My other thought, and I REALLY need to do this, is go grocery shopping on a different day other than Saturday.  It would be less crowded on a different day, that’s for sure.

Well, I think this post is long enough now, so I’ll be off.  But don’t worry-I’ll be back to ramble another day!

Like a Fiddler On a Roof!

So, now that Christmas is long gone, one would think that the busyness of my life would have gone along with it (hence the lack of posts as of late). Because I’m usually busy, but you take busy and add, like, 20 million more things to The Busy, and…well, you get the general idea of how the end of 2010 went for me. (And for some reason the fun hasn’t stopped. I need a remote, like Adam Sandler in the movie "Click".  But I think I’d perpetually have it in the pause mode, so maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea.)

Anyway, Christmas was awesome. It always is. But you know how I was whining about how we don’t have any traditions? Well, after I thought about it, I realized that we really do. And we added a few more this year. Wanna hear about it? (YES, Nat! PLEASE fill us in on what happened 3 1/2 weeks ago! We’re on the edge of our seats with anticipation!!!!)

Tradition 1 (old, but tweaked to be new): For FHE after Thanksgiving, we set up the Christmas tree. Usually I decorate it by myself, and try to have the breakable ornaments at the top. I also try to get the ribbon just right, and have all the ornaments all spaced evenly. But by the time Christmas rolls around three weeks later, all the ornaments have been moved (thanks to my kids) and the ribbon has been pulled down (thanks to my cat). So this year I had the kids help me, but we ended up with about 42 ornaments on a single bough. Oh well. They had a blast decorating, and that’s what matters, right?

Tradition 2 (new tradition): In Pete’s family, I guess they drew names amongst the siblings when they were younger, and then exchanged those gifts on Christmas Eve. They still did the everyone open stuff all at once thing, though. So I told Pete that Christmas morning we can have the kids open things all at once, but on Christmas Eve the kids were going to take turns. This is the first year I’ve had the kids draw names and get gifts for each other. So they took turns, and it was really great because they got to see the gifts that they got for each other. They were all, “Thanks, Brock!”, or whoever gave the gift. I loved that part of opening gifts when I was younger-seeing the person’s reaction to what I got for them.

They all did a great job picking gifts out for each other-I only helped Ivy with the selection.  Jakob got a Bumblebee from Brock, Brock got an Ironman from Ivy, Troy got a Batwing from Jake, and Ivy got a Rapunzel barbie from Troy.

Tradition 3 (oldie but goodie): Early Christmas Eve evening, we did luminaires. Which, I guess they’re called “luminaries”, but I think that sounds weird. We also ended up doing them over at my parents’ house as well. I think it looks really cool when they’re all lit up. I didn’t get a picture of it, though, because it doesn’t show up very well in a picture. My whole neighborhood did luminaries growing up, and it looks SO cool.

Tradition 4 (another golden oldie): We went over to my parents’ house and ate a very yummy dinner. And then we had a little Christmas program, where we sing songs, and read stories, etc.

That night I took a video of Jake playing the piano, but I held it sideways, thinking that there was some button I could push to make it be upright, but apparently not. So sideways it is, and I know better for next time around. I’ve been teaching Jake piano this year, and he is doing so well at it.  (I tried to upload the video of Jake playing the piano 4 times, and for some reason it won't do it.  So tilt your head to the left and pretend you're watching Jake play "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night".)

Tradition 5 (a yummy oldie): For Christmas morning, I made butterscotch rolls. They are called different things by different people-I’ve heard Sweet Rolls, and Monkey Bread, and Breakfast Rolls, but to me Butterscotch Rolls is the most descriptive. (My kids say “butter-squotch”. Super cute.) What was that? You say you want the recipe? Happy to oblige:

BUTTERSCOTCH ROLLS

Place about 12-15 frozen Rhoades rolls in the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Melt ½ cup (one cube) butter and pour over the rolls. Sprinkle one 3.5-oz. package of Cook N’ Serve (NOT instant) butterscotch pudding on top, along with ½ cup packed brown sugar. Add nuts if desired. Let it sit overnight with greased Saran Wrap on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes with a piece of foil loosely on top.

Like I said before, we had a great Christmas. Jake got a Robot Cop:

Brock got a Megatron and a new Woody from Toy Story:

Troy got a Batcave:

Ivy got a “Tih-chin”, or a kitchen:

We all got movies, too:

And, the grand finale, from my parents-a Wii! We bought Dr. Mario for it, and I totally got my mad skills back. (Can we say Level 20 on Hi? That's right, baby.)

So, like I said, Christmas was great. Add to it the elementary school program, my piano students’ recital, and doing Brock’s school party (where we did the star thing like in Jake's kindergarten class), and you get why I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

The week after Christmas was a lot more relaxed. Though, that’s when I started potty training Ivy. That story coming soon to a blog near you. Meaning this blog.

Turn Back Time Tuesday (Because I Missed Memory Monday)

This one is for Jakob, because I recently found out that he's being picked on at school again this year.  Sheesh.

I was a nerd growing up.  Okay, I'm still a nerd.  The only difference now is I've come to terms with it.  I was also very smart growing up.  It's not like I was the smartest kid in class.  There were other kids that were just as smart, if not more so.  But I think I became known as "Brain", because of the whole nerdiness.  Maybe it was my appearance.  In 6th grade, the year this story takes place, I had awesome feathered bangs (which were in style), a fabulous perm (also very "in"), an A-line hair cut (NOT cool-and yes, a permed A-line is a not-so-great combination), glasses the size of half my face (seriously, whoever came up with that concept needs to be shot), and a super cool headgear.  I also had braces on my front four teeth, but you couldn't see them under the headgear.  I had to wear the headgear thing pretty much nonstop, too, which meant during school.  Yee-haw.

So, basically, with the combination of the glasses and braces and headgear and big perm and feathered bangs, I don't think you could touch any skin on my face without some serious maneuvering.

Good times, my friends.

Anyway, we did a rotation in 6th grade, and Mrs. Nickerson was our science teacher.  Oh man.  Back in the day, I always thought "how old is this woman?"  She had neat 70s polyester pants.  She had a big chin wart complete with sprouting hairs.  And her hair was always a shade of blue, purple, or pink.  I think there's a theory that when you get gray hair, if you dye your hair with an undertone of one of those colors, then you don't look as gray or something.  Which is true.  You just look like you have blue, purple, or pink hair instead of gray.  (Now when I think about Mrs. Nickerson, I realize that's probably what I'll look like in the future.  Though, having never dyed my hair, I don't think I'll ever be convinced to do "gray with a pink undertone".  I'm hoping to get gorgeous silver hair like my grandpa, or platinum white hair like my grandma.)

Now, science has never been my strong suit.  I've had one class where it kind of sort of made sense to me.  Two of my sisters got all the science proficiency in our family.  So, even though I was known as "Brain" to my classmates, I really did not deserve the title when it came to science.

For some reason, Mrs. Nickerson thought it was a really good idea to read our test scores out loud after they were all graded.  If you got below a 70%, though, she wouldn't read it out loud.  How merciful.  I usually did well, but there was one test that the info just was not clicking in my mind. 

So, she went down the list, and...I got a 70% spot on.

Now I'm sure my little 11-year-old self blew the reaction of my classmates way out of proportion, but I saw everyone turn and stare at me, and whispers of "Brain got a 70???"  "Natalie did so bad!"  "Wow, I can't believe it!"  I sunk down in my chair, but the taunts kept coming.  And, because I'm a girl, I started crying.

And then I ran out of the room.

I know-take something not so bad and make it into a huge deal, right?  Right.

I ran into the bathroom, and just cried and cried.  I was so embarrassed, not only for the bad test score, but now for running out instead of blowing it off like no big deal.

Anyway, I waited out the rest of the class period, which wasn't super long.  When the lunch bell rang, I decided to go back.  Luckily, there were a couple of girls that were nice enough to come looking for me, and assured me it wasn't a big deal.  And there was one boy that was super nice to me, too.  So that made me feel better, that people would make sure that I knew that no one really cared what my test score was, that being upset was okay.

So Jakob, if you ever read this, know that it's okay to want to get good grades.  And know that you get your perfectionism from me.  And hopefully, you have some little friends at school that will take your side and put their arms around you and make you feel okay.  Also, you will live through the bullying, and hopefully be a stronger, more compassionate person because of it.

Oh, Their Bags are Packed, They're Ready to Go...

(I wanted to wait to post about the kids going back to school until Troy had gone to preschool, too. Just...FYI. Mostly I'm just sayin' because I want to make myself feel better about not doing this 2 1/2 weeks ago.)

The first day of school for Jakob and Brock was cloudy and rainy and cold. But despite the nasty weather, they were still excited to start school again.

Jakob insists that he hates school, but whenever he says that, he says it with a big smile on his face. The little punk actually really likes school.

Every year I've taken the kids' picture out by our dogwood bush. I made Jake stand out there in the rain. You can just read his thoughts on his face: "Mooo-oom, do we have to do this in the rain? Come on!" Yes, yes we did.


The weather got a little bit better (not warmer, but not raining) by the time afternoon kindergarten rolled around for Brock.

He's been looking forward to school for forever. And he absolutely loves it.


He gets so excited. Every day he's like, "I LOVE homework! Let's do more homework!" Our kindergartners get a packet of homework on Monday and it's due on Friday. He finished it Tuesday. So today he's all, "Mom, I need to do homework!" And I'm all, "Um, it's all done already." And Brock says, "But Mom, I need to do homework!!!!" So we did a couple of extra things today.



Such an eager little guy.

It was so weird and quiet to have two boys gone at school. I was so excited for them, but a little sad, too. I missed them.

While the older two were gone, Troy and Ivy played together. Troy built a cat plane (that's what he calls it).

I picked the boys up from school, and Brock ran over and gave a great big hug to...Jakob. Well, at least he was excited to see someone.

After school the weather was much better, so I got a few pictures by our humongous bush.

Here are Jakob and Ila. They've gotten way too big in the last few years.

Last week Troy finally got his first day of preschool. He just could not wait!

He insisted on wearing his old scroungy Bumblebee shirt the first day. *sigh*

Ivy and I went with him the first day. But then Monday he went all by himself. When I got back in the car from walking him up to Miss Karla's door, Ivy gave me a look like, "So, we're not going with Troy? And he's not coming back to go with us?" It was really weird to have just one kid with me.

So far school has been great. Both Jakob and Brock have been champs at doing their homework without complaint. Brock rides the bus home with Jakob, and the first day they walked hand in hand. They both have been looking out for each other, which is so wonderful and sweet. I'm glad to be back in a routine, and getting up early-I get way more done now than I did in the summer.

But it's still kind of empty and lonely without my boys all home.

Summer FAIL, Complete with Tantrum

I AM SO NOT READY FOR SCHOOL TO START ON MONDAY! AAAAEEEEE!!!!!

I keep hoping that if I DON'T blog about my kids' birthdays, and our car dying, and going to SLC and visiting Pete's fam, that I can somehow prolong summer, and that it's not really coming to an end.

my gorgeous gladiolas

But yesterday it was all chilly outside, and fall was in the air. *sigh*

I love fall, and I love school routine (because then I actually get things done), but my lazy summer has been so nice.

Yet, my summer has FAIL written all over it. I know that's exactly opposite of what I just said. (Lazy, wonderful summer equals summer WIN, right?) But. Ivy potty trained? FAIL. Downstairs family room painted? FAIL. Nasty cold for three weeks? FAIL. Car wreck on the 4th of July weekend, which bummed me out, and so we didn't even buy fireworks? Triple FAIL.

I guess I'm not ready for summer to end because all of these craptastic things happened amidst the awesomeness. Also? I'm not ready to get up early. I've been really trying the last couple of weeks. FAILING that, too. Grrr. Me and the snooze button-we've become tight in the last little bit. Which worries me, because how am I supposed to get my own body, along with another, up and at 'em, and out the door at 7:30?

Please, someone. Invent a Time Pause Button. I could really use it.

O'Doyle Rules!

I'm starting to think that the "dear old golden rule days" are not going to be so "dear". This week we were driving to the dentist, and Jakob started telling me about a kid in his class. We'll call him McMeany.

First, I need to tell you about a kid that was in my grade in elementary school growing up. I was one of the really good kids. I was also very runty. There was this huge kid with red hair, and he was kind of mean and kind of bad. I always got put in a seating chart next to him, maybe to keep him in check or whatever. He reminded me of those kids in the Billy Madison movie-the really big red-headed kids that are mean just to be mean, and they're way bigger than the other kids, whose last name was O'Doyle. But you know? I was so scared of him. He could have eaten me for breakfast, and still would have been hungry. The point: I know what it's like to be the little kid in class, sitting next to the big kid in class. Which brings us back to McMeany.




This is not our first encounter with McMeany. When Jakob and he were in nursery together, McMeany would go out of his way to push Jake, or hit him, or whatever else. I seriously had to be Jakob's nursery bodyguard. I would tell McMeany to keep his hands to himself. And really, I just wanted to do a little "laying on of hands", if you know what I mean.

One would hope that by first grade, the urge to hit for hitting's sake would have grown out of children. Not so, my friends. After the first week of school, the seating chart got changed, so that McMeany was sitting next to Jakob. He started coming home, telling me about how McMeany would hit him, and take his crayons and markers, and draw on him. I asked him if he had ever told his teacher about it, and he said that every time he would raise his hand to tell her, McMeany would stop. Of course.

The final straw was on Tuesday, where Jakob was telling me about how at lunchtime McMeany asked him to share his lunch with him. "McMeany would take a bite, and then me, and then McMeany." I asked if McMeany shared his lunch with Jakob. Nope. And the mother bear alarm went off.

What I wanted to do was go to his house, and kick him in the shin. (Kind of like Brett does at the end of the video below.) What I actually ended up doing was writing an email to Jakob's teacher, telling her the situation, and basically asking if she could move him away from McMeany. She wrote back first thing the next day, telling me that she would move him (whew); then she also told the lunch ladies and music and PE teachers to keep McMeany away from Jake (whew).



That morning, Jakob had been pulling the "I don't feel good, I'd better stay home from school" thing. That afternoon, he was bouncing off the walls, and told me how he told Ila and Katie (our neighbors) about his "really great day".

But. He's still having some meltdowns at school, though, which is super awesome. I guess he had a big old fit on Friday. I asked him about it, and he said he hadn't finished his worksheet before it was time for lunch. CLEARLY a thing to over-react about. So today I made him write an apology to his teacher, saying he'll try to control his actions when he's angry or upset. Like instead of crying and freaking out, that he can just keep his anger inside. Or maybe pout and get emo about it, because he's really good at that. I'm not really sure why he's having meltdowns at school; he'll do that every once in a while at home, but it's only when he's really tired. So maybe he's just really tired at school, even though he's getting a ton of sleep? Hmmm.

It just makes me wonder: is it easier to have the kid that can't cope and gets picked on, or the kid that's the O'Doyle? And, I'm going to go with... neither.

SO MUCH!

Wow, I've been away for a while. Just...so busy. There's so much to tell, and so little time, which is mostly why I've been gone for a while. So, I'll start with...

Pete: He's starting to study for the CIH exam again. Lucky sucker! (Sorry, you get the short end of the reporting stick on Pete. But he has his own blog, so if ever he decides to update it, you'd get a fuller picture of his life.)

Jakob: When Jakob got home from school one day, Pete asked what his favorite part was, and of course he replied "recess". Pete then asked what he did at recess; Jakob's response: "The girls chased me." He got a little shy grin on his face. Then, he put his hands behind his head, elbows sticking out, and said, "And it...was...AWESOME!" His teacher called and said he was a terrific reader, but that he was crying a lot at school. Good times with that. And really he just gets that way when he's tired, so we decided to move him to his own room, so that he can have quiet. (Brock sits and plays with toys in his bed at night, and so while he's not talking to Jakob, he's keeping Jake awake while he makes his toys act things out.) So, I hope that helps him out a bit at school. He also lost tooth #5, so now he looks like a Jack-O-Lantern because one of his humongous top permanent teeth is in the middle of two gaps.

Brock: We went to the fair with my parents. Poor little Brock was SO scared on a dragon ride. Every time he passed the ride attendant he would yell, "Please stop! Please help me! HELLLLP MEEEE!" It was SO cute, and it shouldn't have been, but we laughed and laughed, poor kid. Brock started preschool. I'm thinking he's going to love it. A new Brockism: Brock will ask a question (Mom, is that a blue shirt you're wearing?), I'll answer (Yes, it is.), and then he'll say "Ooooh!" But he says it "Ew" instead of "oh". It's really cute.

Troy: Troy also started preschool. He's loving that a whole lot. I think he's the only one in his class that's not potty trained. The other day I heard him teaching his toy cat (which is really a bear, but it kind of looks like a cat, so whatever) how to pee and poop in the toilet. I'm like, uh, so when are YOU going to do that? He knows what to do, and brings me his diaper after pooping, but just doesn't want to be bothered with it, I guess. Plus, I have no idea when in the world I would find the time to potty train (more on that in a minute). He got moved down to share a room with Brock, and I think he really likes it, and makes him feel like a big boy. He needs all the help feeling like a big boy after our day at the fair; he's all of 36", which means he couldn't ride a bunch of the rides the older boys were going on. He would just cry and cry. Poor Stumpy.

Ivy: I keep wondering where my Baby Ivy has gone, because all of a sudden, I have Little Girl Ivy. She just is so big and important, as opposed to how she used to be little and important. Oh, and she's starting to get into stuff and make messes. Ah, the joys. One of her favorite things to do now is to have Pete chase her around. She runs away, laughing a little growling laugh, like "look how clever I am!" She's full of sass: her first word was "no".

Nat: And then there's me. I should for real write just a post about my craziness, but I'm afraid if I don't do it now I'll never get the chance! Originally I was going to get up at 7:00 this school year, but that quickly turned into 6:00. Uh, 6 a.m. Yep. (And Pete mocks my pain, because he has to be up at 5 a.m.) Sometimes I make it out of bed, and sometimes I snooze it a little, but for the most part I'm up and at 'em. Which is why I start nodding off at 10 p.m. And the night owl in me is ashamed.

I started teaching piano lessons last week, and I had forgotten how much I loved it (I taught in high school). I have 11 students-well, 12 now: Jakob, after last Friday's students, asked if he could take piano as well. So we got him some books, and we've sat down a little bit. My students are amazing-I'm blown away by how much they pick up and how wonderful they are. So fun.

I went to hydrofit with Arin at the Aquatic Center. Hydrofit is kind of like deep water aerobics, with little foot floaties/weights and barbell thingys. And hoo, boy! I was sore while in the pool, but not so much the day after. So I know I got a work out, but it didn't have the lasting percussions, which makes me wonder if it's because it's a no impact workout. (Um, I haven't been back since, but that should change on Monday. Right, Arin?)

I also got up last Saturday, before going to the fair with my cute fam, and went to the temple. I saw one of my old seminary teachers there, which was so fun! I got to say hi to him in the celestial room. Oh, and did I mention it was the 6:00 a.m. session??? Which means I was up at 5:00. Go me! (By the way, getting up early has never, ever, ever been my strong suit. Staying up late? No prob, Bob. But early? Man, it's like I'm a different person these days.) It rocked, because a) it's the temple, and b) I haven't been in who knows how long.

I've mentioned the fair a couple of times. It was way fun, and started off nice and cool, but got hot and muggy and more crowded as the day went on. My mom entered a cross stitch that I had done for her. No prize, but prize schmize. YAY for my cross stitching skillz! We had fun eating the carnie food, and taking the kids on rides, and checking out the animals (Jakob was obsessed with all the animals' poop), and watching random people. (Pete and I saw a pretty sweet mullet, where the guy had curled the front part back and it was super hairsprayed in place; it reminded me of the late 80s/early 90s bangs that girls would do, where they would spray them straight up and curl back just the very top part.)

I finished reading the Sherlock Holmes stories, the ones that are 20-ish pages long. I LOVED them. I've also been trying to pretty up my yard, we're refinancing our house, we paid off a debt, and I've been working on Personal Progress (leaders can get their medallions; who knew?). And I taught Troy's preschool on Tuesday, and 7 cute energetic 3-year-olds is a LOT to handle. Well, for me, anyway. (Truth be told, I'm really glad my next turn isn't for another 7 weeks!)

So...yeah. I think that's about it.

Food for Thought

Okay, wonderful moms out there. I need some help. School starts in three days (and my insides do a little lurch at the thought). After looking at the menu from the school, I spotted a few meals that I think Jakob might try, but as picky as he is I'll most likely be packing his lunch every day.

On the few days last year that Jakob had to take a lunch (they do this flip-floppy thing with the kindergartners-don't ask), I would normally do a pb&j sandwich, string cheese, fruit snacks, a drink, and some kind of dessert/chocolate, if we had it. Something like that. But having that day after day? Bo-ring! I could go out on a limb with something as crazy as a pb&honey sandwich, or even -gasp!- a ham and cheese sandwich (whoa, there! the mind numbs at the possibilities!), but other than that...

So, what do you pack in your kids' lunches, so it's not the same thing every day?

Anticipation

School starts soon; it has come sooner than I thought it would. The school supplies are bought, new clothes are waiting to fill the void of the very worn out, very getting-too-small old clothes and shoes that have been or will be shortly discarded; the weather is even cooling down, signaling that our short short summer is over.

I feel like it's me that's going to be starting school instead of my children; I've had this gut-wrenching, nervous, excited, anticipatory feeling for the last week or so. Because it's not just school that's starting, but about 50 thousand other things, too. We're going to be busy.

Busy is good, but man, if I put one foot out of line, just shirk my responsibilities for one day, I'm going to be screwed. I made a little schedule, complete with color-coded blocks of time (I'm totally not OCD, I promise), so everything fits into place, and hopefully I have the energy to carry it out week after week. Right now, we get up, and get ready for a day of leisure and play. In a week, well... Besides school and homework for Jakob, we have preschool for Brock twice a week, pre-preschool for Troy twice a week, karate lessons for Jakob twice a week; I will be teaching piano lessons three days a week, exercising twice a week, and having Jakob help me with a few chores for an allowance. Instead of getting up at 8 or 8:30, we'll be getting up at 7:00. Instead of the leisure, we'll be running around, constantly doing. I dread it, but I also look forward to it.

I hope that, because we (ahem, I) will be "ceasing to be idle", that we (ahem, I) will be able to accomplish great things. That I'll be able to cherish the down time (because, thankfully, there still is a small bit of that). That I will find joy in the busyness and thrive in the chaos (which has happened to me in the past, so I hope it is still true of my character now).


But, oh. Heaven help me. (Because seriously? Look at this thing.)

Honing My Fine Glue Gun Skillz

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus this week, mostly because I've been crazy-busy with stuff that coincides with the celebration of Christmas. (I'm thinking next year I'm going to celebrate a holiday that doesn't take as much preparation, decoration, or perspiration. Kwanzaa? Hanukkah? Maybe I should learn how to spell those first. Hm. Or maybe I'll just stick with Christmas.)

Anyway, one of the many activities that has been occupying my time has been Jakob's Kindergarten Christmas party. I made these little popsicle star ornaments, with my hot glue gun. Yep, I'm practically a pro now. If anyone is looking to mass-produce popsicle star ornaments, I'm definitely your woman. For a very large fee.



The other activities we had were coloring a picture, and stringing a macaroni necklace (here's Ty with his):


Jakob's Halloween party was way too complicated; we had too many activities and too much going on. But the Christmas party we had too little, so the kids were done in a matter of a few minutes. Doh!

Here's Kaylan, taking extra care making her star:


I just realized I have no idea where Jakob's star went. But his necklace is hanging on his bed post. The things that kid treasures!


Here's Ila and Jakob. Arin and I are kind of hoping they end up getting married. Jakob is already planning on it after his mission. You know, the whole "girl/boy next door" thing.

Yes, not enough activities this time around, but I think the kids still had fun. And we gave them a sweet bag of sweets at the end. Although the gum (bought at the dollar store) left much to be desired. It was awful! Live and learn, though, eh?

All Hallows' Even

Halloween was mucho funo this year, but I'm glad it's over! It was so busy for me, and we didn't even carve pumpkins! (I know, I'm such a slacker. The Scrooge of Halloween, if you will.)

The night of, Arin and I took our kids around trick-or-treating, which took forever because the kids were going so slow! We went to Arin's for cookies and hot cocoa, then headed to my parents' place and met up with Kar and her family while there.

Here are the bubbas. It's so funny how different they are! Micah is a skinny winny with cute little dimples and long spindly legs, and Ivy is a chunky monkey that smiles with her mouth wide open. They are both just so dang cute!



Here are Jakob and Dylan in their superhero/action figure costumes. Dyl was Bumblebee, and Jakob was Ironman. Sadie was already out of her Little Mermaid costume, and Brock and Troy went as Toto and Scarecrow, respectively (of which you've already seen pictures).



Here's Jakob the day of his class party. They weren't allowed to wear masks at school, so we decided to paint his face and color his hair instead. (By the way, the only way we could get him to be Tin Man with the family is if we struck a deal where he could be Ironman at school and trick-or-treating. It worked for me.) He insisted that Ironman's eyes are blue on his mask, so don't think that he pulled a Troy or something.



I'm one of the room mothers, so that means we did the Halloween party at school. Some of the timing of the activities didn't work out so well, but it was a first time for both Stephanie and me, so now we know a little better what to do.

We had the kids do different activity centers. They made spider treats with SnowBall treats and pretzels, we had a ghost walk (think cake walk), they decorated pumpkin faces with crayons and craft foam, we did a spider toss (tossing the spider rings into cups), and played trick-or-treat (if you pull out the word "trick" you had to do something like hop on one foot, make a silly face, act like a chicken, etc.; if you pulled out "treat" then you just got a treat).

Those little Kindergartners are so cute!

Yes, Halloween was a lot of fun, but I'm glad it's a whole year before we do it again!