Obligatory first day of school pics

Time flies. Children grow like weeds. All those things are true. But seriously, how do I have a 1st and 4th grader already?? A beautiful, exuberant, smart 1st grader and a handsome, witty, and smart 4th grader! Mind.Blown.

It's been our tradition to take pictures at their grandparents house on the first day of school. I'm so glad that's still alive and well!

Lily

First Day of School -- The Better Late Than Never edition

I like a trend to really take hold and sort of be on the way out before I latch on. I don't know why but it's always been my way. I first realized it when Pogs (remember those) hit my school. I scoffed at the stupid new game and proudly held to my non-pog playing position. And then I realized I was kind of missing out and I humbly asked my mom to take me to the drugstore to buy my first set. Henceforth a full-fledged pogger I became. 

So much like my pogging story, I like to arrive late to the party and so I present you with my 3 week late First Day of School post.  


Kindergarten and 3rd grade. WTF dude? I have a third grader! And my baby is in full-day kindergarten. [Insert mind exploding here]

I wasn't scheduled to have the kids that morning and I frantically and pathetically begged their father to let me have them for the night so I could get the ready for their first day and do our traditional first day of school activities like freak out that Bud's pants don't fit him because he grew 7 feet overnight and scream at Babe to find out where she put her damned lunch box that I told her not to play with. Thankfully he took pity on me (since he leaves for work so early he wouldn't be the one to get them ready anyway) and I was able to salvage one of the few traditions I've established over the course of their short lives. First Day of School pictures at grandma's house! You'd think "grandma's house" would be my mom, but no, it's my ex's mom. We still have a fabulous relationship, and possibly an even stronger relationship now, and we are still very much a part of each others lives. I don't know what I would do without them! But enough of that. It's picture time!!

Do I have beautiful children or what?

Bud says: "Let's be lions!" Babe says: "I'm too cute to be a lion!"

Still a lion. Still a cutie.

I told them to get excited! Bud's more worried about not looking into the sun.

"Seriously mom, I can't look into the sun anymore!"

Babe says sun is no excuse to hold back on the sass! 

My non-baby-OMG-when-did-you-even-become-real-kids kids

He's finally coming around to the whole posing for the camera thing. 

(It's because he secretly hopes I'll post stuff to Facebook)

Kindergarten. Just...kindergarten. Whoa.

I am so proud of these kids! They've had to deal (and are still dealing) with a lot over the past year and a half, but they are both amazing individuals. Bud is so smart it's scary. He understands things that he has no business understanding at 8 years old and he just craves knowledge like no child I have ever met before. He's funny and silly and so compassionate. Babe brings vibrancy to every dark corner. Her personality and exuberance for life and fun is unrivaled. She is sassy and smart and thoughtful. They both make me laugh and make me strive to be a better person and a better mother. I couldn't ask for more. I think it's going to be a good year.


Lily

Tomorrow we'll be earlier

This morning Bud and Babe’s bus driver told me I was one fast mama. While I don’t appreciate the possible undertones of that statement, I have to admit it was quite appropriate. Why you ask? Because at 7:05 this morning I was sprinting down the sidewalk in my socks yelling WAIT at the top of my lungs with the kids trying to keep up behind me.

According to the published bus routes, their bus is supposed to come at 7am every day. Since the first day of school he has unerringly come at 7:12 every. single. day. Those 12 extra minutes are crucial to our morning routine. It means they get more time to sleep in, it means I have another few minutes to get my morning in line, it means if I shoot to have them ready by 7:05 every day that gives us a few minutes to sit in our stairwell and spend some time together that isn’t distracted by finding backpacks, making lunch, and any other sidetracking task. I love those few minutes in the stairwell. We can see the bus as it turns the corner and the kids still have time to get to there. We are warm and dry and talkative. I can tell them how much I love them and ask them what they are looking forward to today. It’s only a few minutes but it means so much to me.

But today as I picked up my shoes to put them on, I heard the familiar rumble of the diesel engine coming down the street. (I can’t tell you how thankful I am that our windows face the street and I can see these things!) I had no time to get my shoes on but thankfully the kids had their shoes and jackets on already and were just waiting for me. As I picked up Babe and ran with her down the stairs behind the speedy Bud I figured I’d just stay at the door and let them run to the bus. I kind of have this thing about going outside in my socks. I don’t like it. But there weren’t a lot of kids at the stop this morning and my kids aren’t there every day so the driver wouldn’t know to wait for them. As we emerged from the house I knew there wasn’t going to be enough time if I let them go alone. So, in all my shoeless glory, we started running down the street. The DPW guys next door noticed us and started yelling STOP to the driver…which got me yelling WAIT! NO! DON’T GO! WAIT!...which made them laugh at me. As the bus doors closed I knew he was going to pull away and we were still far enough away for him not to notice us. I dropped Babe’s hand, put my head down, and started to sprint. After a several yards I heard his brakes engage and I thanked my lucky stars! He stopped and opened the door and my kids ran up behind me and climbed on. “You are one fast Mama!” he said to me. Thank the good Lord for that!!

As I walked back to my house I couldn’t help but think of the scene of Dottie and Kit running to catch the train. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, shame on you better get yourself a copy of A League of Their Own and watch that classic STAT!

Tomorrow I'll make sure we are ready earlier.

Lily

School Days

I’ve been trying to write a post about the first day back and the words just aren't coming. So instead I’ll let the pictures do the talking. 

This one takes my breath away

Also, can her backpack be any bigger on her?

They are the cutest

But they still are brother and sister!

She did NOT want his arm around her! He thought it was hilarious!

I love these two!!

But it doesn't mean I'm not going to tickle them when they won't keep their eyes open for the camera

No nerves here! She was so happy to get her name tag and stand with her class!

Bud lined up outside his classroom. 

He's upstairs this year so we had to find our way...but we made it!

My favorite story of the day happened as we were walking into school. Babe couldn't walk very fast in her new shoes (they were a little big) so I was carrying her and she was snuggled into me so nicely. I told her I loved her and she gave me a squeeze. I leaned over to Bud who was walking next to us and I said "I love you Buddy!" He turned to me and said "Keep your voice down, I don't want the other kids to hear!" And so he begins his journey into second grade! 

This morning was their first morning of going on the bus from our apartment. It conveniently stops right next door so I couldn't ask for better. But I got better. The bus they ride is the Butterfly bus (as you may know, Babe refers to herself as Princess Butterfly)!! So I like to think it's a good omen and this school year will be a good one! I'm so proud of both of them. Bud is just unbelievably smart and kind. I am in love with the boy he is turning out to be! And Babe is giving her brother a run for his money with her brains and sweetness. She already is one awesome little girl and I love watching her grow and state her independence (as troublesome as that may sometimes be). I just couldn't love these two more!

Lily

Bud's work

Bud brings home a lot of fun stuff from school. They do a lot of neat projects and his teacher pushes them to do challenging work. Writing isn't his favorite thing to practice but he does pretty well and sometimes he comes up with some really great sentences. Like the Father’s Day story he wrote:

My ipod pictures aren’t the best so if you can’t read it, it says:

“The best thing about my dad is when he goes bowling he gives me change so I can play games. He likes to go bowling. His favorite foods are chili, apple pie, and stir fry. Dad knows a lot about…

…nature and animals. I love when we go bowling together because it is fun and I go after he does.”

Doesn’t that make you want to say “Awwww!” I know that was my reaction. But what until you get a load of this one…

Translation: “My sister’s appearance is colorful.”

SUPER AWWWWW!!!! She is colorful! So cute that he recognizes it! 
(I don't think she has man hands though. He probably put emphasis on her hands since she's always touching his stuff. I think this picture is proof that he sees her as two big hands.)

He also recognizes his own talents…

Translation: “My talent is climbing and running.”

Yes, yes it is and he’s so good at both!

But sometimes there are ones that you know what he’s saying but it’s so much better if you read it the wrong way…

Translation: “I made a mistake by spilling Jose on the floor.” 

Poor Jose. I don’t know why Bud spilled you on the floor but I’m sure he’s sorry. Oh wait, Juice. He spilled JUICE. Right. I still like Jose better.

But then there are the ones that you KNOW you are reading wrong but you just can’t quite figure out what he was trying to say. (I even asked him about this one and he sat there staring at it for about a minute saying “It’s ummm, it’s ummm, it’s aaaaaa, yeah I don’t know what I was trying to say.”)

Translation as best as I can figure: “My momdesing some of my shit.”

I, uh, I...I...I just don’t know what he was going for here. I’m a little put off by the profanity. Especially after he told me yesterday that I need to watch my language after I said “Crap!” Sounds like a double standard to me!

But what really gets me is this one. I don’t believe any translation is needed…

But look how well he formed those letters. Not really any confusion on what he was going for. I'm so proud.

In other news, I may get him tested for Tourette’s. 

Lily

Catching up

So we've had a busy few days. Let's start with the bad news and work our way to the good. 

Last night Bud was playing tag at the park and turned to run away and smacked right into a pole! He turned ash white and started to vomit. Awesome. He has a grade 2 concussion. He's doing ok but I have to keep a close watch on him. I had to wake him up every two hours to make sure he was responsive (he was) and we are keeping a cold compress on the bump which has really helped the swelling. Hopefully he doesn't show any symptoms in the next 7 days. 

Let's not dwell and make me freak out that my 6 year old has a concussion, shall we move on?

Moving chronologically, I got my grade in my Shakespeare class yesterday. I got an A-!! Look...

For real, that's MY grade! In Shakespeare. Whoa!

Now to a real scary fun topic! Babe is officially done with nursery school! How is that even possible? She can (mostly) write her name and can do all the skills she should be doing and now she's ready to move on to pre-k in the fall. Holy crap! She had an end-of-year program this past weekend where she looked way older than she should. 

She has the best little smiles

Where'd my little girl go?

She's so beautiful...if I do say so myself

The program was the typical mix of adorable and painful, but there were some moments that stole the show.

The moment she spotted us in the crowd. 

She was soooo excited that we were front and center!

Anyone familiar with the song Tooty-Ta? Hilarious!

Possibly my favorite picture. 

(The little boy is our family friend .)

That little smile!

She looks just like my sister-in-law in this picture. That's a very good thing! :-)

Lily

Warning! Bragging going on here

I’m not going to lie. Things are pretty shitty right now. I’m not going to go into details because it is neither the time nor the place, but I bring it up because I really need some positivity and humor around me right now. And for me, that means I’m going to brag about my kid. I understand people’s distaste for people bragging about their kids. I get it, I do, and I try not to do it very often. But when you have a genius for a son and the rest of your life is crumbling before your eyes, you’re going to focus on the genius. Well, at least I am. It’s my blog and I can brag if I want to. If you don’t want to hear it please move along. This post isn’t for you.

So that’s all to say, if you didn’t catch on, my son is a genius. Also, I really like having my sister-in-law be his teacher. We’ve always known that Bud is a great reader. He isn’t just good at sounding out words he doesn’t know. He can read with expression and he can comprehend everything he reads. He loves reading science and other fact-based books. He can’t read them fast enough and when he has homework that only requires he read parts of a book, he’ll always read the whole thing, sometimes twice, with no prompting at all. He just can’t get enough! So the other day my sister-in-law told us that she was able to see all of the reading scores from all of the first graders in the school (I believe there are 3 or 4 classrooms of 1^st graders) and Bud’s reading scores were higher than anyone else in the entire first grade!! He reads the fastest and has the best comprehension in the entire first grade! My boy is a damn genius and I couldn’t be any more proud of him if I tried!!

Anything you want to brag about? Feel free to share in the comments. Let’s all focus on the awesome for a little while and leave the shitty stuff to rot for a different day!

Lily

Thought Vomit Wednesday

So you might not know this about me but I think about some really random crap. (I know! Hard to believe, right!) Most of the time I spare you guys the details but I have come across the perfect platform to spew my mind vomit all across the Internet. 

Thought Vomit Thursdays was brought to my attention by Josey over at “My Cheap Version of therapy”

 (Go ahead and click the link. She’s fun. The first link will bring you to her home page, the second will bring you to her first TVT post.)

Here goes…

So yeah, lot’s to talk about. It’s been a while and I think a Thought Vomit post is just about right for this mish-mash we need to discuss.

A)  Super Grandma keeps living up to her title. The mass on her pancreas was a fluid filled cyst and the surgeon who drained it yesterday said he didn’t think it looked cancerous. YAY! But we still have to get the pathology results back so we are sitting tight on the celebration. She also has a few more hurdles to overcome before she can go home. (Her poop has been a hot topic of discussion in my family. We love you Super Grandma! You can do it! Give us a big ol’ poop we can be proud of!)

2)  A couple of weeks ago now I left you hanging on a weekend getaway for me and the husband. It went really well. We had a really great view of the lake from our hotel and rented some kayak’s and voiced big dreams as we paddled past all the beautiful lakefront cottages. It was a much needed getaway and it was definitely a good distraction.

III)  Speaking of the husband, I’d really like this roller coaster to be over now. The suckiest part, it’s my attitude and actions that are causing most of the bumps. We had a kind of breakthrough, or I should say , I did about myself, so figuring out a major issue is great, but I still don’t know how to get over it. Baby steps are one thing, these micro steps are frustrating.

D)  We went to visit my cousins on Long Island a couple of weekends ago. It was a fabulous weekend with a little surprise party for me and ended with Bud (and the rest of us) being covered in ticks. It was amazing! Oh, what? It’s not normal to end a fabulous weekend with ticks? Then obviously you haven’t had my cousin try to show you a fabulous weekend. (I love you Wench!) So this story could be a whole post of its own but you see how great I’ve been about posting. If I wait I fear it will never get posted. So, very long story short, we wanted to do one more thing before we left to go home so we decided to go to a historic house right on the ocean. It was pretty awesome. At the end we walked around the family cemetery plot and then got back in the car to head home. As we were backing out Bud said there were bugs on him. Being overly dramatic and scared of bugs I told him it was just dirt and to brush it off. His response? “But they are moving!!” So I took off my seat belt (I was in the 3^rd row of my mom mobile) and looked to find THOUSANDS of ticks on him. I wish I was exaggerating. There were thousands!! So I tossed him out of the car, stripped him down in the middle of the parking lot (thankfully it was deserted) and started wiping him down with baby wipes. His car seat was also covered so Wench wiped that down for me. As I was frantically wiping Bud down, my husband grabbed Babe to check her over. She had a few on her too. My husband said his shoes were completely covered in them too. He cleaned them off before I saw but he said he couldn’t even see his white socks because they were covered with ticks. I had a bunch on me and Wench had some on her. Her fiancé (it’s so fun to write that – they are recently engaged) didn’t get any because he didn’t walk around the cemetery like we did. Jerk! We stopped at CVS on the way home to buy some rubbing alcohol (apparently that kills them?) and we rubbed the kids down before throwing them in the tub. I can’t tell you how many times we have checked them (and ourselves) over but we seem to have escaped. I really don’t know how. Thank goodness Bud saw them pretty quickly, if not I can’t even imagine how many we all would have had!

5) I had my first master’s class yesterday. I was super prepared and read the first book a couple of weeks ago so I was all ready to intelligently discuss the boring as hell book. Until I found out that the professors switched which book we were reading first and I didn’t know. So instead I sat in the back with my head down and didn’t engage once. What a great way to start off my MA!!! Who rocks the house? Lily rocks the house!!

VI)  Babe is awesome. She routinely gets herself dressed in the morning before she even comes out of her bedroom. Reminder: she is 3. This morning I went in her room to shut off her A/C and this is what I found…

She even folded her underwear! Which means she actually CHANGED her underwear. I love this child. (We’ll work on getting the clothes in the hamper or back in her drawer but seriously, thank you dear Lord!) (And yes, she sleeps in a pink batman shirt. Have I mentioned that I love her?)

G)  Dudes, I turn 30 tomorrow. When did I get old enough to be 30? And what happened to my 20's? Seriously, it's a complete blur. 

Ok, I think this is enough vomit for one day. Huh, I missed blogging. I might have to do it more often.

Lily

Big News!

No, I’m not pregnant, let’s get that right out of the way. Two’s plenty, thanks.

My office is on the crest of some big changes (people leaving, the structure of the office changing, etc.) and it’s been a big topic of conversation among us about what shape the changes will take, when they will happen, etc. The sad part is I work with a great group of ladies. A person couldn’t ask for better co-workers and I will be extremely sad to see a couple of them go. I won’t just be losing great co-workers, I’ll be losing great friends, and that makes me very sad. However, it’s the right thing for them to do. There are many reasons for them to move on and all the reasons make sense, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.

But with these changes comes opportunity. Opportunity for me to advance and get paid more. The three of us had a very good discussion a couple of weeks ago and it was brought up that the position I really want (when it comes open) may require a higher education then a Bachelor’s degree. I’ve given it a lot of thought, discussed it with my husband, etc. and I’ve decided  I’m going to pursue my Master’s degree! (Holy crap holy crap holy crap). The thought was planted because of the possibility of that job but the more I think about it the more it makes sense that, no matter what, I get my master’s. The thing is, the college I work for has a great benefit. They offer classes to staff for $20 a class. Whether it be undergrad or grad class, it’s still $20. Which means, I can earn my Master’s degree from a prestigious university for $140. It will take me 4 years because I’ll only be able to do one class per semester but still. $140 people!!! $140!!!! I’d be stupid not to!

I started by talking with my friend who handles the administrative stuff for the MAT and MA programs (and one of the people who will be leaving at some point - sniffle). She gave me great advice and helped guide me with my decisions. Then I met with the chair of the English department to see if she thought it was possible for me to pursue. The university doesn’t have a large MA program and it’s been several years since anyone has pursued a master’s in English so she said it was definitely possible but we’d have to have more conversations about the shape of my program. (It will be individualized for me.)  I didn’t want to approach my boss with the idea unless I knew for certain I could do this and was starting to get pumped up after speaking with the chair of English.

So yesterday, after talking with my friend again, I decided it was time to bite the bullet and talk to my boss. I was very nervous about her reaction. My boss is great and is always supportive of me doing things to advance my career (I’m lucky) but this is a big commitment. It will mean time out of the office (the university doesn’t have night classes so every class will be during working hours), it will mean altering my hours so I could make up time, it would be asking my co-workers to pick up my slack while I’m out of the office. I realize that this doesn’t just affect me and I was afraid she’d see it as too much of a disruption. So with frayed nerves and a shaky voice I walked into my bosses office and asked if she had a few minutes to talk. I had hemmed and hawed about how to approach her, what to say, and what points to bring up. As soon as I said “I’d like to pursue my master’s” she immediately said “great!” GREAT! After that I calmed down considerably and we had a very good discussion about my plan. She thinks it's a great idea and is very supportive of the whole thing. She said we would "make it work." How can I ask for more than that?

I’m going to take a couple of grad classes prior to matriculating in the program (partly so I can see if I’m up to the challenge and the other part to give the department an opportunity to see my work before they commit). I’ll be able to apply those courses (up to 2) once I matriculate so it will work out well. I’ll have to do 7 courses and then a thesis. It’s a little scary to think of all the work involved but I hope I can keep my eye on the prize. It will be such a rewarding goal to accomplish.

So there it is. I’m going to be a master’s student. HOLY CRAP Let the fun begin!

Lily

Hey Now, He's An All-Star

Bud’s school has a program with the student-athletes from the local college (which incidentally is the same college where I work) that links up a team of student-athletes with a elementary classroom. The athletes will come and do special projects with the kids (mostly reading based projects) and just interact and have a good time with the kids. (They gave the kids t-shirts so you can imagine the excitement level for this program. Free t-shirts = kid crack)

He came home last night with a certificate from the program. He has been chosen by the student-athletes as the “All-Star” in his class! He’s also invited to the Collegiate All-Sports Banquet held for the athletes in May. I wasn’t sure if this was one of those “everyone gets a trophy” type thing or if it was actually something special so I got my relations involved (I love having in-laws that work at the school) and apparently this is a special thing! YAY BUD! I mean he’s always an all-star to me (I mean he IS a future NHL-er after all) but I’m so proud of him for being recognized by the athletes. 

(By the way, the team matched to his classroom? Totally the hockey team! AWW YEAH!)

Lily

Love is...

This was Bud's contribution to the bulletin board outside his classroom in February. I hope this doesn't say something about my parenting.

In case you can't read it it says

"Love is when my Mom lets me play on her ipod."

I think I will just focus on the fact that "love" and "mom" are in the same sentence. 


Lily

Babe's First Day

You know your child has a good teacher when she sends you an email about your child’s first day AND posts pictures of their activities, all within two hours of the class ending. (And before I was even able to upload my pictures from earlier in the morning!)

It looks like Babe had a GREAT first day!

I was kneeling to take the picture and she thought she had to kneel too

Still trying to convince her to stand all the way up!

Ok, Mom, I'll do a little dance for you.

 And I'll show you how smart I am by counting on my fingers.

 And I'll show you that I may be 2 but I can still have attitude! Enough with the pictures already!

Her GIANT backpack
(which incidentally, I saw one of the college kids walking across campus in the SAME one just the other day. I tried to get a picture but she was weaving in the crowd too much and I didn't want to be crazy stalker staff member taking pictures of all the college girls!)

  Her teacher posted this picture

 And this one

Lily