Kinder-isthisreallife-garten

Wednesday, September 7, 2016:

Today we sent our firstborn off to Kindergarten.

Well, today, I accompanied her to Kindergarten to meet the teacher, get to know the place, ride a bus, and so forth.

It was devastating and exhilarating all at once - a clear marker of the passage of time, the end of a very special chapter. On the other hand, "Hey kid, we kept you alive all the way to Kindergarten! Go us!" We're also entering a whole new school community and so far I like what I see. We talked to everyone: teacher, bus driver, principle, custodian, other students, other students' parents, PTA people. The head of the PTA assured us PTA here is "nothing like that movie. Have you seen Bad Mom's? So funny. But no, no, not like that." I keep hearing about this movie. Might have to check it out. Riley's teacher was warm and ultra-organized and displayed excellent class management (for all the education majors out there, high praise :). I got all signed up for volunteer stuff and field trip stuff. 

In pictures:

Girlfriend lost her tooth yesterday and woke up to money from the tooth fairy. "Is this American money, Mom?" haha - it's from a song on the radio. Recently they've taken to singing, "green, like American money." Or "Camerican" if you're Joe.

A video from the day before that:

 The tooth poster on the wall made Riley feel better about having lost a tooth (that and the tooth fairy money) so she is smiling in pictures again (yesterday she didn't even let me take her picture and send it to Dave.)

 The real test will be tomorrow. Putting her on a school bus and saying goodbye for seven hours...Joe was feeling a little left out I think today so we are going to do something fun tomorrow. A movie, perhaps.

But for now I'm off to bed. Prrretty tired. This afternoon during Henry's nap Riley and Joe were playing nicely so I laid down to "rest my eyes" for a minute and they came into the room and told me, "don't come in the kitchen," and then ran off giggling and much clanging and banging ensued. I didn't even budge. I figured, even if they destroy the kitchen, it'll probably be worth it. Alas then Henry woke up so...they can destroy the kitchen another day.

Thursday, September 8, 2016:

This morning I couldn't sleep past 5 - thanks to Henry - so I got up and made cinnamon rolls, packed her lunch, filled out forms and read comforting scriptures. Riley was up early too. She wanted to eat first so she didn't get anything on her new school clothes. Orientation day she'd been very specific about her hair style - the braid, the ponytail, the hairband - but today she seemed very distracted as she went about her morning so I asked her (leading) if she wanted a ponytail and hair bow and she consented. Over breakfast we read a couple short stories from The Friend about being a good example, and somehow that relaxed everyone a little bit and the rest of our morning prep went smoothly. Didn't stop my heart from pounding when I saw the school bus pull up though.

Ready 1 hour before the bus was scheduled to arrive.

Copied from my Instagram:

Wow, I finally get it! That was freakin hard. So many feelings as I watched her climb the stairs to big for little legs, to sit in the front row window seat and wave and blow kisses and smile with that now gap-tooth smile. The blessing she got from her daddy this morning helped. And she'll be getting lots of prayers from this mommy! Please be safe! Please others kids be kind to her. Please Riley be brave and overcome your fears.
Please hold it together, woman! 😭

The rest of the day was a minefield of emotion...I kept tearing up over the smallest things. Her tea set on the play table. Joe walking forlornly around the play ground and asking if I knew how to play "rocket ship." Thoughts that ambushed me in the grocery store, along the lines of, "I wish I had made more positive reinforcements in her time at home - what if she doesn't have the confidence she needs in facing bullies or cliques, impatient teachers, etc?" A strange thought, considering Riley is actually more confident than most. It was a hard day.

Joe had plans - after Riley left, he went in his room and filled two backpacks with books and came out and wanted to read all of them while sitting in my lap. And we did! For 45 minutes! A rare experience for this brother to two!

I was flooded with relief when I saw her get off that bus though. In my head I knew she"d be okay, but it was still a huge relief when she alighted on the sidewalk looking whole and happy. She was glowing, actually. Joe and she had an ecstatic reunion - always good for a mother's heart to see - and then she started telling us about her day. I don't think she stopped for breath for a solid 45 minutes :) I made cookies like my mother before me. I wish she could have enjoyed them over a paper with a glass of milk, which was my tradition growing up (Dear Abby and the comic page....hmm...might need to subscribe to the newspaper someday). Well, she can't even read much yet, so there's plenty of time for that.

In videos:

(The one video of her and Joe after she'd got off the bus was filmed a moment too late - it was a precious joyful reunion, both of them shouting eachother's name and sprinting in for a hug. It was beautiful, one of the moments you witness with the feeling you won't ever forget it.)

Friday September 9, 2016

Sooo much easier today than yesterday. In the bus line she reunited with the same little girl she sat with yesterday - now a fast friend, apparently - and didn't even look back for a wave!

After catching up on some chores, Joe and I packed a picnic to a beautiful lake where we walked and ate and played on the playground.

Henry in the new carrier - the beco is much quicker to get into and out of than the Moby, and has the option of forward-facing the baby, which is excellent. However: a con to baby carrying made evident at Costco yesterday: you're in range. As in, if the baby is in a bad mood, tired of being in the carrier/carseat/stroller all day and doesn't want to be shopping, he can smack his spit-drenched paws on your chin while staring you down with his piercing gaze, and there's nothing you can do about it, especially if you are pushing a big cart and loading it with diapers and things while darting in for samples that your 4yo just has to have.... Nevertheless. Love the beco gemini baby carrier.

Then Costco and back home to meet Riley's bus. She was happy to see us but tried to dodge Joe's hug/tackle this time. Tried.

(Ready with the camera this time:)

I was trying to hustle them into the car then, as we had to go pick up Dave, but Riley had to give her new friend one more goodbye hug, as if they faced months apart instead of just a weekend :) The sentiment was was mutual - her friend was furiously whispering in her mother's ear and then the mother said she was asking for a playdate and she could she call me to work something out. It was super precious.

We were late picking up Dave.

So we survived this week and I am now hopeful that it is going to be a fantastic year. It is wonderful to see her blossoming into a more independent, autonomous human. Of course, it makes sense that she would like school. I mean, she's always been super social, and she loves organized learning, crafting - glue and scissors, oh my! - and she has been imagining and asking and dreaming about this for a while.

I'll be attending my first PTA meeting soon and have signed up to volunteer in classroom and on field trips...it feels like a milestone for all of us. Oh, and as for Joe - if anyone, especially someone with little boys his age - wants to meet up for a playdate, you would be doing us a favor! I'm not that good at playing rocket, turns out.

I guess I'll learn ;)

A Sparkly Day

There are a lot of posts coming, but the only thing I want to share tonight is a golden moment that came a couple days ago when it was sorely needed. We were on our way back from VA, a trip that takes 16-20 hours, or more, depending on traffic, car temperament, rush hour traffic, and how many baby's you've packed along with you...I didn't want to loose much time on sightseeing, but Dave suggested we stop and see Lake Michigan and I'm so glad we did. I left the kids and Dave on the beach for a while and went for a walk, just Henry in his carrier on my chest. The day was warm and breezy, the path lined with flowers and trees and dotted with butterflies. It was so peaceful.

It did set us back a couple hours but I'd say they were well spent :)

Out on the town

Today. Was a great day. And I took pictures. Well, it started with last night: I got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Little H has been nursing every two or three hours for over a week, around the clock. Some nights, more like hourly :'( But last night, that awful streak finally broke, Hallelujah! (haha - that's not going to make anyone want to have kids. It's just that newborn stage, I promise.) Well, so at 5am when he finally woke up to nurse, I was awake and waiting. I was up before either of the other two and had a load of laundry done before breakfast, go me! We cleaned the house a little and got ready for the day and then headed to the library, finally! We have lived three months without a library trip, sadly, but I'm in "check off the to-do list" mode this week, and the library card was next. By the way, our new library = super cute.

Funny story: so after Henry's week-long binge-eating sesh, today, suddenly he's barely interested in food at all. In fact, he's more into pretending to eat, and grinning while looking up at me side ways to see if I'm watching. Sooo funny :) He decided to pull this in the library. I had a nursing cover on kind of, but he kept popping his head up to see my reaction to his antics, so it was basically useless. Then I look over at the boat to check on Riley and Joe and I'm met with a stare from a little three'ish year old girl, looking at me through binoculars. She wasn't shy either. She waved, I waved, we had a good laugh. Ahhh me.

We loaded up on books and then they wanted to go for a walk. It was another scorcher, so when our walk took us near this little soft serve place, how could I resist? Such a fun spot, and very busy.

Yeah, it was picturesque. Then we came home and Joe had a belated birthday present. Oh my goodness - our new best toy is not a toy! Coolest bank ever. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

How fun is that?! They spent the rest of the evening filling it up and emptying it out, over and over. This is a great toy for Joe, i.e. old moneybags. Literally! He keeps ziplock bags of coins in his drawers and random places throughout the house. There was some confusion about how money put in the bank somehow should disappear and go magically to "the real bank," but I think I cleared it up. Although it's hard to say. Remind me to tell you about the time I explained alcohol to the kids and they somehow got that alcohol is pool water and if you drink it you will go to jail. Oh yes. Super awkward when they got to the pool and pointed at every person they passed with a beverage and said, "That guys' got alcohol. That girl's got alcohol." Erm, ahem, cough cough. Of course, mostly they were right, but it was still awkward.

I guess he came to the dinner table still hyped up, because he used his plastic plate to bat his plastic cup off the table, just something he gets a thrill out of doing sometimes. Alas, this time his cup actually had milk in it. I never realized how literal the saying, "cry over spilled milk" was till I had kids...so much spilled milk. Or rather, exploded milk, as in this case. Milk on the walls, the floor, my hair...it was quite the clean up.

For dinner I was feeling the veggie vibe and I made a pretty scrumptious stir fry with chicken and rice. Of course, I always have to over-sell veggie dishes to get the kids on board. I said, "I am loving this stir fry guys - all your favorite vegetables and a few other ones to try, chicken, soy sauce and honey (Joe likes honey)...Oh! And I made rice too!" Joe's response: "Yeah, but tomorrow Mom, can you please make something yummy for dinner?" Wah wah... And then Henry spit up on me.

So yeah, great day! haha! In review, it looks like a big chaotic mess. I guess what made it good, was one, feeling rested. Two, my plans actually worked out and the kids actually had a fun day. Sometimes, it's the little things.

What Summer Looks Like Now

Today was kind of a funny day. Fun, even. That's the way this week has been, in retrospect. I know I was pretty tired for most of it and woke up with...low expectations, but you know, it's summer and you just got to make the most of it. There's been swimming - pool and lake - ice cream, a 4year old birthday party, sugary cereal, toons... well, here we go.

Riley loves her new roller skates, even though she has to hold someone's hand to use them. Joe got a new big-boy bike and is very proud of it.

 Last minute one day this week, we decided to go to an outing with the church playgroup. Alas, I didn't do my research - when we got there I realized, too late, that it was a lovely little swim beach. Luckily, these guys have a super chill mom (haha) and we don't care about swimming fully clothed.

 Joe's birthday was this week too! Four! Or "sore," as he says. Bless, I didn't get it together for a huge party, but I did get some patriotic popsicles for he and his friends to enjoy out by the pool. It was the perfect day for a swim, and no one got burned (I now apply sunblock every 90 minutes or so, at least to Riley. That girl burns!) Winning!

Picking up birthday packages

 That night Don joined us and made it a party. We had pizza and mint-chip ice cream cake by request ("Because Emmy loves ice cream cake." Even though Em wasn't even there? I don't know, guess he really likes Aunty Em and respects her dessert choices.)

Too much smoke from this bonfire! :)

He loved his presents. I found some Pez candy refill packets in a package from home and threw those in with his presents and he was over the moon! First thing he did was go find his Superman pez dispenser and fill it back up! haha! He also got a wooden train set, magnetic tiles, cars, and a fisherman's vest. The vest was my idea - he needed something with lots of pockets to put all his treasures in, i.e. rocks, cars. He literally has filled his pant pockets to the extent that his pant snap poppes open and his pants fall off! So now he has this vest and it has already become more like a weighted vest, full of cars and marbles ('narbles') and what not. He's going to be so strong!

Joe has a grateful personality. He was so thrilled with it all, and I loved the way he lit up during this rare opportunity to be in the spotlight. You knew he felt special. I have a goal to create more frequent moments like this. I know from experience how awesome it is when your family shows you how special you are to them; it matters!

Goal number 2: get more pictures of Joe's face. When I was looking for pictures for a previous blog post about Joe, I noticed that there aren't a lot of good ones of our happy boy. Plenty of sister, but not so much for Joe. So the past couple days I've made it a point of snapping his smile. Although honestly, I think he is just not as much a picture person. He doesn't seem to care if I get his picture, or if he does, he wants to do a goofy smile. Well, he's only four, after all.

A few more pictures from this week (lazy blogging ahead - twill be another "pictures are worth a thousand words anyway" moment. But I'm tired!)

Saturday mornings with Dad home: "I'll start kickin' and you start flippin'! Just like the circus!" haha!

Henry wouldn't let me sleep in so I took selfies. ha :)

But at least he's cute.

 

Torrential downpour this morning, and throughout the day. Riley: "we are just watching to see if it floods the earth." (Apparently they hear at least parts of the scriptures we read at bedtime, while they are rough housing and crazy. We read about Noah last night :)

Dave took them out to play in the rain while I watched from the balcony. They had a blast, right up till they came in when the lightning started. Joe is certain he was struck by lightning, actually. There is a scratch on his face we asked him about and he insists it was the thunder.

Dave also took them to see Finding Dory today, another huge success. Riley was so excited when she was telling me about it I could barely catch a word of what she was saying. As for me, I was glad to have some quiet time at home with my napping baby, being not very productive. I was supposed to take a nap. Nope! Painted my nails, watched Dan in Real Life, aaaaand...compiled videos on my phone for this blog post! I give you:

Summer Times!

To finish the day off, we went to Snuffy's Malt shop for dinner, where everyone got along and laughed and had fun, like we loved each other and everything! Then a little shopping (light throw pillows - hooray!), a tad late bed time, and an episode of "Stranger Things," on Netflix. Now I call that a good day. Tomorrow's the Sabbath and I strongly suspect we will be hearing Riley, Joe and the rest of the primary to sing in Sacrament meeting in honor of Pioneer Day next week. I heard a  whole lot of "pioneer children sang as they walked. And walked. And walked. And waaalked," this week. So here's hoping! I do love a good primary program!