Moving Right Along

Let's see... I just answered an automated call from Bro's school. 

"This is an important message regarding your child's attendance at school today.  {{Enter name here}} was late to school today.  Please call the office if you have any questions regarding this message."

I immediately called Dear Husband.

Me:  I just got an automated message from bro's school and it said that he was late for school.

Dear Husband:  Yes, he was late today.

Me:  Oh... um... okay... why was he late today?

Dear Husband:  Because I called the radio station to talk to the radio people and the kids wanted to stay in the car and hear me on the radio.

Me:  Ok.   {{enter confused look here}}

Did that just happen to me?  Yes, it did.


In other news, yes, Lulu loves her new school.  She has called it, "enchanting" and "perfect."  The girls are so so so very nice and the teachers are just as helpful as we had hoped. 

Most recently, her french teacher made up a "game" for her.  It's not really a game, but she loved lining up the flash cards in each verb family.  I'm just grateful that she is studying... or whatever you call this. 

Yes, Baby Bee smudges my clean windows cleans my windows for me every single weekend. Sweetie pie!

Family Time

Oh my goodness.  Lulu has been asking to go to the Rennaissance Festival with us for a few years now and we finally made a point to go.  A great and fabulous time was had by all.  I wish I had more pictures to share, but I was enjoying living in the moment... so these will have to do.
 

 

We ate great food and watched fab shows.  Lulu really enjoyed the final show featuring the King and Queen since she had been looking for them in the crowd all day long.  Bee's favorite act was the "Wheel of Death" - no, I'm not kidding.

We arrived in the middle of the day and closed the place down.  However, Daddy has been eyeing this strong man challenge during our last few visists, but he's never tried it out.  Folks - I have seen some very beefy and macho men step up the the challenge and then never hit the thing hard enough to make it ring the bell.  It's embarrassing.

Gulp!

Nonetheless, Daddy decided to give it a try and, unbeknownst to me, had plans to win keepsake prize necklaces for each kid.  That means, he had to reach the desired achievement level three seperate times to get a necklace for each kid.  GULP! 

 

 

Whoa - ladies... when you see your man step up the the strong man challenge and totally BLOW it AWAY while your kids are watching... well, that, my friends, can melt a woman's heart.  

 

 
He came back with necklaces for two kids and then so very nonchalently turned to our teen and asked if she wanted one too.  She politely declined.  LOL!  I was shocked that he so easily rang the bell, but he said, "Mommy - I chop my own wood.  This is easy.  Next time you will need to spot me a $100 bill so I can really impress you."  LOL!  I guess we'd better start saving.

Today, I am volunteering at the beer garden at the Ren Fest as part of a fundraiser for Lulu's school.  We have 16 volunteers from the school and I guess we will be serving ujp beer all day long... and then the school keeps part of ths profits??? I'm not quite sure how that works. 

Here's to family fun!!!!

Talk to you soon,
Napmom

Transitions

Whoa!  I have three kids in three schools in two different parts of the county and no one can take a bus.  Thus, Daddy chauffers in the morning and Mommy gets the afternoon shift.  How long is the commute?  Well, it goes something like this:  leave my office, walk to car (a block away), drive to get Bee, go in and gather her and her stuff, get in car, drive to get Lulu, wait for her to get to me (depending on her commitment, this could be a 15-minute wait), drive to get Bro, get in and get bro and his gear, drive home.  All in all, this takes an hour and 45 minutes.  Many days, Fairy Grandmother (who lives very close to me), will get Bro.  This saves me 45 minutes.  SWEET!

The evening consists of unpacking and cleaning lunch containers, cooking and cleaning up from dinner, and prepping for the following day. 

Look at the picture below.  Do you see the large mound of dishes?  I am not kidding you when I tell you that this pile mostly consists of:  containers from their lunches and a few items from preppring dinner. 

Folks - our dinner consisted of spinach dip, leftover pizza, carrots, and edamame.  So, what this really means is that... most of this pile is JUST the pile from their lunches.  On the nights that I cook a real dinner, this pile is twice as large.

Is anyone else shocked by this?  Thank goodness I only have lunches for two of the three kids.  I am partly tempted to just go with disposable storage (juice boxes and baggies) but I just cannot bring myself to create that much trash every single day.  Ugh!

See - I told you... look at this dinner. 

 



Funny story.  See those edamames up there?  Edamame is pronounced "eda-mommy" but Bee calls them "eda-mommas" instead of "mommy" and for some reason I think this is adorable.  When she is really showing off, she will call them "eda-daddas."  BWAAAAA!

Yes, I know you want to know how school is going.  Well, Bro loves his teacher and his new friends and learning, but he is having a hard time transitioning in the morning.

I had to send this note to the principal today:

Dear {{Principal}}: 

 

Thank you for taking my call this morning. My concern is that my new Kindergartener, {{Bro}}, is have a difficult time transitioning to school in the morning. He has a great time during school and he loves his teachers and the new friends he is meeting, but this morning transition is difficult for him.

{{Bro}} comes from a preschool environment and it has been his habit to watch Daddy drive away and wave to Daddy from his classroom window every morning. After Kindergarten orientation, last Spring, {{Bro's}} only concern was, "Will there be a place to wave good-bye?" This Fall, we were putting {{Bro}} on the bus and this was NOT working for him at all. Thus, we moved to driving him to school and letting him wave good-bye to Daddy. Finally, we were making some progress and he is tear-free 50% of the time. Nonetheless, this morning, he was rushed into the building and was not permitted to wave as Daddy drove away, and {{Bro}} had the biggest melt down yet. I respect that you are responsible for tons of kids... I do. I respect that you have to watch for not only the safety of Brody but also the safety of every kid in the school. I respect that each child is a precious gift and "kids + cars = bad combination." However, is there any way that {{Bro}} can be permitted to wave to Daddy as he pulls away before entering the building? I really feel that giving {{Bro}} an opportunity to wave good-bye would be extremely helpful. Any help you can provide, or suggestions you may have, is greatly appreciated.       

 

Sigh - yes, this transition has been hard.  I cannot begin to tell you how this breaks my heart.  We rewarded him  for keeping up with school evevn though it seems "scary" (his words) by taking him to the LEGO store this weekend.  He picked out some Star Wars LEGO sets.  Why the sudden fascination with Star Wars???

 

 

 

He said that Bee should be permitted to get something too (yes, HIS suggestion) so she picked out some bricks and three people, which she made herself. 



"I made this wall for my brother's Star Wars set Mom!" said the sweetest sister ever!

 
Bro is not the only kid in our home transitioning to a new school this year.  There is still more to come!

Stay tuned!