School Work

To preface this bit of schoolwork, I've always said I want four kids.  DJ has always said two.  Now that we have three, he says we're done, and that's just how it is. 

 

I still ask for babies, puppies and kittens. 

 

Faith came home with this bit of schoolwork the other day: 

 

Translation: My Daddy sat on the couch.  My Mommy asked, "Can we have more babies"

"No, no more babies."  He almost had a heart attack.

 

HAHAHA!!  I love that kid!

 

The funny thing is, I have absolutely no recollection of this event.  I'm always teasing DJ about more babies, kittens or adopting a puppy, and he's always telling me no. 

Cawood's Splinter

Look what I dug out of Cawood's foot last night:

 

This was not a small procedure either.  I didn't arrive home from work last night until after 8:30, and found three absolutely filthy kids waiting for me (Aunt Barb says, "A dirty kid is a happy kid.")  Literally, I could see the filth, like Pigpen from Peanuts. 

 

Anyway, the kids had been outside and Cawood jumped on a wooden step . . . enter splinter. 

 

I had to slice open his foot with a hypodermic needle from the point of insertion to the point of rest.  This splinter was DEEP.  I then soaked the small child in a hot tub.  I was hoping the water would help his foot to kick out the splinter, but no such luck.  Instead, after the bath, I made DJ physically restrain our screaming three-year-old while I dug this fragment of wood out of his foot.  This was literally a surgical procedure that I performed on my small child in our home. 

 

Awful, awful, awful. 

 

But at 7 this morning, Cawood was running around the house saying, "Look Mommy!  My foot doesn't hurt any more!  I can walk on two feet." 

Syrup

Cawood's favorite syrup is the blueberry syrup I made from the 2011 over-abundance of blueberries.  I had so many blueberries last year that I was looking for any canning recipe, anything whatsoever, to put them back.  Syrup was a huge hit, but we used our last jar in June. 

The girls have always preferred maple syrup, but I only buy 'real' maple syrup, and I prefer Grade B over Grade A - it just tastes better.  Try it, you'll agree.  We ran out of Grade B maple syrup this week and I haven't yet been to Trader Joe's to buy more. 

I am absolutley a syrup snob but my kids eat Eggo waffles, so take that for whatever it's worth.  I'm not a purist, obviously.  If I were, I'd be slapping King Arthur whole wheat waffle batter over a hot griddle or making blender pancakes from my wheat berries (but at least I have  wheat berries - that's something, right?)

Anyway, Cawood is a very curious three year old.  He watched as DJ and I had a conversation about the syrup situation.  Back and forth. . . DJ had some janky Kroger syrup tucked in the back of the fridge, "Butter Flavor." 

I pulled it out and poured it into the little fruit dishes the kids use to dip their waffle strips.  As I set his breakfast before him Cawood said, "What kind of syrup is this?"

Me:  It's just syrup.
Cawood:  It's not blueberry syrup.  It's not maple syrup.  What kind of syrup is it?
Me:  It's Daddy's syrup.
Cawood:  But what kind?
Me:  It's high fructose corn syrup.

Cawood took a big bite and said, "I like this kind of syrup!" 

Neil Armstrong

Do you want to know something I find odd/strange/ironic?

Just last night, Cawood asked me to take him outside.  We laid down in the driveway and looked up at the moon and stars. 

I asked Cawood if he liked the moon or stars better and he said he liked the stars better, but he liked the moon too. 

I asked him if he knew that people have visited the moon, and he told me no.  For the very first time, I talked with my boy all about visits to the moon, and about astronauts.  He told me he would like to do that someday.

And just by pure coincidence, not even one day after my boy learned about real and true space travel, Neil Armstrong passed today: The Greatest of all astronauts. 

First Grade!

Faith's a big fat first grader!  School actually started last week, but parent night was last night, so I'm just now getting around to telling you about this.

 

On the drive to school I asked Faith if she'd show me her desk.  She said, "No. You have to find it."  I thought she was being sassy, so I blew it off.  Once we entered her room, Mrs. Strack told me to read the hints and see if I could find Faith's desk. 

 

"Hey Faith!  Where's your desk?"
Faith:  You have to find it!

 

She ran off and stood next to a desk.  I followed her, looked down and read these hints:

I have three cats.

I love flowers.

I have twins.

I love blue.

I love Orange Leaf.

 

I pulled the piece of paper down a few inches and read the name it was covering, "Faith Florence." 

 

"So this is your desk?"
She took off crying.  Hallway, tears.  "You found it too easy!"

 

Oh, my.  I didn't fully understand the game.  I just followed my kid and read the clues on the desk where she was standing.  She wanted me to walk around the room and see if I could figure out which bundle of clues belonged to my child.  Instead I followed my child to her desk and guessed immediately.  Poor Faith.  That was a bummer for her.

 

. . . but she got over it. 

 

Look at that tooth!  She lost it Monday, at school.  It was on the very verge of falling out all weekend, and Faith was super-extra-very-excptionally carefull to not let it fall out.  She wanted to lose it at school so the nurse would give her a treasure chest to keep it in. 

 

 And Faith with her teacher, Mrs. Strack:

Happy 3 1/2!

Yesterday morning, before I left for work, Eva came to me and said, "I'm ready to have another birthday." 

I ran to the calendar and looked. . . YUP!  August 20!! 

"Lucky you, little girl!  It's your half birthday!"

We haven't been talking about half-birthdays, so it was just pure luck she said this to me on that particular morning.  She asked for presents, and I explained to her that presents are for whole birthdays, but for half-birthdays we could absolutely celebrate with cupcakes. 

Sure enough, the first thing she asked me when I walked in the door last night was, "Did you bring me a birthday present?"

"No.  But I have cupcakes." 

Good enough. 

6 Year Checkup

DJ phoned a moment ago to let me know he and Faith have left the doctor's office.  She had her six year checkup, and this is only the second doctor visit I've missed in any of the kids lives.  I'm bummed, but hey - that's why she has two parents, right?? 

DJ said she's 47 pounds and 47 inches.  End of story.  That's all I know. 

Eva

I have a lot to show you from this weekend, but let's start with Eva because she's so darn cute. 

The kids were outside yesterday afternoon chalking the driveway.  Full disclosure:  I was sitting at the top of the driveway and reading "Brave New World" on my kindle.  I was watching them enough to keep them safe and alive, but not enough to watch this happen. . .

LOOK WHAT EVA DREW!!!!! 

I could not belive it!  I've never seen this child draw anything except scribbles before, so I was *shocked* to say the very least to see that she had drawn what she said was our family.  Look closely: three kids and two grown ups.  Good job, little girl! 

And another moment in time: 

Cawood Peed

At 6am this morning, Cawood and Faith were snuggled up tight in my bed with DJ and me.  OK, really they were snuggled with me, but DJ was there too.  Anyway, Eva was sleeping on the little couch in the great room.  I do understand why Cawood and Faith do not sleep in their beds - they want to be with me.  Simple.

Eva, I have no idea.  She doesn't like to sleep in her room, so instead she sometimes chooses to sleep on the couch.  That's how she likes to roll.  Usually DJ carries her upstairs and puts her in bed, but last night he let her stay on the couch.

At 6 am this morning Eva came to me and told me Cawood peed on the couch.  She did not hesitate one bit whatsoever.  She told me I needed to clean the couch because Cawood peed on it. . . even though Cawood had been snuggled next to my side for hours. 

However, upon inspection of Eva, she was wearing a oddly malfunctioning pull-up.  It was not saturated, but it was overflowing and her nightgown was soaked. . . you know, because Cawood peed on the couch. 

If you find yourself visiting us in the near future, don't worry about sitting on our couch. 
#1, It's already cleaned up.
#2: For Faith's birthday, Aunt Jill, Uncle Shaun, Cooper, Leah, Faith, Eva and Cawood were all piled high upon it and the cheap-o frame broke.  It's under warranty, so DJ called to have it fixed.  They can't fix it, so we're getting new couches. 

Pre-School

This is not going well, not well at all.  The twins still scream every time I drop them off at school and Faith doesn't like Sonshine either.  Sonshine puts all the kids from Kindergarten through grade 5 together, and Faith says the bigger kids are mean to her. 

That's an easy fix.  Once school starts, Faith can stay for the Danville community after school program.  No biggie.  I'll talk to her about it and see if she'd rather stay with her first grade friends from school after school lets out.  It's cheaper than Sonshine as well.  Double bonus. 

Twins: not so easy a fix.  I need to figure out why they don't like pre-school.  They just don't, and maybe we're still just in the adjustment period.  Who knows, but there have been a few little things that have bothered me, just a little and I've brushed them aside.

The twins teacher sent a note home after the first day of school praising Eva and Cawood.  Wonderful, right?  Yes and no.  It was quite kind of her to send the note, but I told DJ immediately that this woman's writing skills and grammar are atrocious.  Horrible, really.  I brushed it aside, thinking that she's teaching preschool - surely she can teach them to write their letters and help them build with blocks. 

The cars. . . the way in which she told me I needed to build two cardboard cars did not demonstrate the best people skills, but again, I brushed it away.  It was directed to me, not the kids.

This morning Eva woke and told me she wanted a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast.  I did stop long enough to look at the school lunch menu and saw peanut butter sandwiches listed as an occasional meal.  That confirmed this is not a peanut-free school.  Cawood spoke up, also requesting a sandwich.  I made two and brought them to pre-school. 

The twins walked in their classroom where all the other kids were muching on cereal and this teacher was very unhappy that I brought the kids breakfast.  She says it's Indiana law; I am not legally allowed to provide food for my children without a doctor's note saying it's acceptable.  I explained to her that I didn't know; nobody had told me. 

I said, "OK Twins!  Cereal for breakfast.  I'll save the sandwiches for your dinner." 

The twins both started crying.  Teacher cornered me in the hallway and said, "I'm not trying to make your life more difficult or anything, but it's not fair for your kids have something different for breakfast.  How do you think the other kids will feel about that?"

I honestly never thought about it, nor do I care.  I don't treat my own three with complete and certain equality.  That's life.  Sometimes Eva gets an extra story at bedtime.  Sometimes Cawood gets an extra half-hour snuggle on the couch.  Life is not about everyone having the same rice krispies for breakfast today and corn pops tomorrow.  Not at all. 

Here's how I'll handle it: if the twins want a homemade breakfast, I'll let them eat it at home.  Because I've sent Faith to school with breakfast and lunch so many times before, it never even crossed my mind that I would not be allowed to do the same for the twins.  They can eat breakfast at home.  That's not a big deal, right?

Lunch, they can eat what the school provides.  However, just to save ourselves all the headache in the future, I did call the kids pediatrician and request doctor's notes saying they have no food allergies and are permitted to eat whatever food I may provide for them from home.  If something comes up down the road, I want to have the option of sending lunch with my kids. 

But one more thing. . . . I had mentioned to one of my better clients a month or so ago that we would be putting the twins in pre-school.  This client runs her own in-home daycare, and she invited the twins to attend.  I declined, explaining that DJ had found this school and we were going to give it a solid try. 

Client was very, very sweet.  She smiled kindly and said, "I used to work at Sonshine.  If that doesn't work out for you, please remember your twins are welcome with me." 

It makes me wonder.

*****
Edited to add:  Kristin Marsh called me shortly after this post published.  She was fired up, and 100% on my team, or more accurately a member of the team "Life is not Fair."

Laughing, she commented, "We're the extremists now.  We need to form a colony." 

That would be awesome. 

Sick-E

Awww. . . doesn't Sweet E look pitiful when she's sick? 

She's not sick.  She was wide awake, the 'sleeping look' is from the camera flash.  She was running a tiny touch of a fever at 99.5, immediately after crawling from the depths of her warm and comfy bed, so that's something at least. . . something to tell DJ, to explain why he has to take off another day from work. 

Mrs. Strack

To tell Faith that Mrs. Strack will be her teacher this year, I printed out a small portion of the email that was sent to me.  I added a note at the bottom saying that Camdyn and Isaac will also be in Mrs. Strack's class.  Watch the video to see her reaction.  Also note how 'sick' Eva was.  DJ's not very happy she was sent home from school. 

Exciting News!!

Faith's going to be so excited!  I found this in my email inbox just a moment ago:

Hi Faith and Family!!

Welcome to a new school year at North Elementary. We hope you had a great
summer and are ready for first grade. School will be starting soon!

Your teacher this year will be Ms. Strack, Krissy, room xxx.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012 is the first day of school. . .

YAY!!  Faith's been hoping for Mrs. Strack for a very, very, very long time. 

Bonus:  I shot off a text to Isaac's mom and he's in Mrs. Strack's class too!  YAY!!

Here's hoping for Camdyn too.  Her mom's not answering me and I'm a nervous nelly waiting for word.  Yay or nay on the Camdyn/Faith/Isaac trio in first?

Please say yay, please say yay, please say yay. . .

Edited to add:  YAY!!!  Camdyn too!!  ALL THREE!

101.4

And, there goes Eva.  School just called and DJ's off to pick up the kids for the afternoon. 

Cawood ran a fever on Thursday and Friday and Eva's running at 101.4 as of 3pm today.  Poor girl!  With the 24 hour rule, that means Eva cannot attend pre-school tomorrow either. 

The twins will miss four of their first seven days of pre-school due to illness.  It also means DJ has missed work on these days - but his work schedule is much more flexible than mine, which has absolutely no flexibility whatsoever. 

When will all this settle?  That's what I want to know. 

Camping

Faith's been asking Uncle Matt to take her fishing for the past year-and-a-half . . .ever since I let her know Uncle Matt is a fisherman.  This past weekend, he did one better: Uncle Matt invited Faith to spend the weekend camping!  I dropped her off Saturday morning and left her with her Aunt, Uncle and two cousins for 24 hours. 

 These pictures are absolutely out of order, because Blogger's been quirky lately, but here's a summary of Faith's weekend.  Not a whole lot of journaling, because I wasn't there and can't tell you what was happening. 

Snake skins?

Faith, looking at a turtle.  Silly girl!  What's that face?!?!

I love this picture of Madeline, Faith and a dead animal.  Awesome. 

An old dug out canoe: 

 

 Faith caught two fish: 

Goodnight, cousins.

Sunday morning the twins and I popped up to the campgrounds to collect Faith.  While there, the twins played for a little while.

Uncle Matt, schooling Eva on her manners, "Say, 'Yes Sir!'"

Eva cried, "NO!!!" 

(You know Madeline has to be thinking, "Just say it, cousin.  It's easier if you just say it!")

Five cousins in a loft

Thank you Uncle Matt, Aunt Miki, Mackenzie and Madeline!  Faith had a wonderful time!

Cars!

I have a lot to blog about for this past weekend, but my day is booked solid with appointments so I'll throw up the quickest post first and work on the longer one between appointments. 

You all know that I started my new job last week.  It was a tough week for all of us, but especially for the twins and me.  I had applied for a part-time/relief position and was offered a full time job.  Trouble is, I do not want to work a full time job in addition to the part-time position that IVA is giving me.  I wanted two part-time jobs to equal one full time, but instead I have a full-time and a part-time.  Life doesn't always give us what we want, does it?  It's been making me grouchy: I want to see my kids but from here on forward, I'll see them on Sundays.  During the week, I wake them up and dress them for school, then I come home and give them a bath before bed.  On Saturday's, DJ has daddy duty while I'm at one job or another .  I'm still a little sad about it, but I'll adjust.

Eva and Cawood miss Jessy and do not want to go to school.  They want to stay home, like they always have.  The screams as we drop them off have been horrible, but their teacher swears up and down they cry for a few minutes and then play all day just fine.  Either way, the crying fits are all I see of their time at school.  It stinks. 

Last Tuesday, as I dropped off a set of screaming twins at pre-school, their teacher came to me and said I needed to make two cars for the coming week.  The three-year-olds are celebrating transportation week, and each child needed a homemade vehicle made from a box.  I almost cried.  Things would have been fine had I been asked to do this a few weeks down the road, but this week is a huge adjustment week and I didn't know how to get this done. 

Thank the Good Lord above for the Rediske's.  After I took a few hours to ponder this crisis, I called Trish.  Pretty please, help me! 

Yesterday afternoon, Mike and Trish showed up and helped me build cars for the twins.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to them.  I could not, ever, in a million years, have done this without help. 

Eva requested a covered wagon, and here's how Mrs. Rediske attacked that challenge:   

Cawood wanted a fancy 50's style speedster:

This morning, at pre-school (5 minutes later, Eva was teary and Cawood was screaming his head off.) 

Faith: On Growing

I was helping Faith dress yesterday morning.  As I pulled her little panties over her rear she asked, "Are those size six?"

I looked at the tag and answered, "No.  They are extra-small."

Faith sighed and said, "I can't wait until I'm big enough to wear extra-medium." 

Sick Day

5am:  Cawood was in bed next to me and he started coughing.  The thing with Cawood is he has two coughs.  The first cough is the everyday, run-of-the-mill, "something's in my throat," or I have a tickle in my chest cough.

This morning Cawood gave me cough #2:  Cawood's cough #2 means, "Prepare! The pukes are coming."  He coughed once and I was immediately pulled from deep sleep.  I had that boy over the toilet in five seconds flat and he started the pukes. 

I took his temperature:  102.5.   I gave him some Motrin. 

Welcome to pre-school!  Day four and we have a bug.

7:30am:  Eva was awake and in my bathroom asking that I help her with her dress.  After I pulled it over her head, she told me she didn't want to go to school today. 

"Well, Cawood is sick today so you don't have to go to school." 

It was like she won the pre-school lottery.  Her little face lit up into a huge smile and she cheered, "YAY!" 

She was actually cheering because her twin is sick.  Sad times we're living in.  Sad times. 

Faith?  She was also given the choice, and she chose to attend daycare.  Why stay home when she could go play with her friends?  I dropped her off on my way to work.  DJ's home with the twins. 

Cold Blanket

This morning was easier than the previous two, for me anyway.  Still difficult for the twins.  Eva allowed me to dress her without any trouble, although she continued to tell me she doesn't want to go to pre-school.  While I was dressing Eva, Cawood sat on the couch, under my tiger striped blanket, and watched.  Here's the little conversation we had:

Me:  Hey Buddy, you need to get dressed next.
Cawood:  Wait for the cold to get on the blanket. 
Me:  The cold on the blanket?
Cawood: Yes.  It's all over my legs and on my back too.  Wait for the cold to get on the blanket. 

That one had me thinking about college physics a little bit - I don't believe the cold goes to the blanket, but where exactly does that cold go?  Hmm. . . I can't remember. 

*****

Drop-off: DJ took the kids because it hasn't gone so well these past two days when I was involved.  He thought it would be a smoother drop-off if he were the one to do it.  Nope.  Twins cried.