Embracing A Rainy Day

It has been one of those days that, once upon a time, I would have loved; a rainy one.  While curling up with a good book,  my lap top, or a movie, cup of coffee in hand, would be lovely…yeah. Not with 3 stir crazy kiddos.  Fortunately, the thunder and lightning abated so I sent them out to play.  They got some energy out and I made a point to snap some photos.  I was holding a green umbrella, so hopefully the pics aren’t tinged green…lol.

Maddy’s First Day Part 2

Well, it seems I underestimated how crazy yesterday would end up being and, consequently, how tired I was.  I think we went to bed just after 9. Between the early wake up, a disturbed nap schedule for Aaron, and tidbits of the usual drama sprinkled throughout the day, we all sort of crashed into bedtime. Lance arrived home around 7:30 to complete chaos and it just capitulated with a screaming tantrum from Aaron that didn’t end until he fell asleep around 8:45.  Makes me more thankful for the staggered start that the kindergarteners here have (only about 6 kids per class start each of the first three days, so Maddy doesn’t go back until Thursday as she had her first day yesterday).  This morning has been calmer. The boys didn’t sleep in any, but it’s definitely been less hurried.  One thing I did learn from yesterday was that getting up at 6 to get things going and all the kids fed—NOT early enough.  That makes me want to cry…lol.  Ahhh…we’ll figure it out.  Until the baby comes anyways.  Then we’ll have to re-figure it out.  But such is life; particularly with kiddos.  Always figuring out the new plan at each stage of the game.

So, anyways, back to the original point of this post—the rest of Maddy’s day after drop off. 

After lunch, I was hanging up some clothes in Maddy’s closet.  I happened to look out her window which faces the school playground and noticed that the kids out there were smaller and looked like they might be the kindergarteners.  As I scanned the scene, I noticed her teacher—I was right!  So I gathered up the boys and we went out back to stand on the fence and see if we could spot Maddy.  Tommy spotted her right away.  She happened to be on the one piece of play equipment—a big slide—closest to our house. 

She had just gone down the slide.  She’s the tiny figure at the edge of Tommy’s hair…lol.

We called her name and she spotted us and I could tell she was trying to explain to the two kids with whom she was playing that the crazy folks peering over the fence were her mom and brothers.  She wasn’t able to run as far over as our yard but stopped at the perimeter of the play area and waved.  It was a neat thing and the boys enjoyed getting to see her.

She’s the pink shirt on the left in the group of three at the center of the picture.

Pick up went well.  The kindergarteners have their own “Parent Escort” pick up area and she was there waiting with a few other kids from her class.  We were a few minutes early so the whole group wasn’t yet present.  After checking my ID they let us go!  --But not until after a few obligatory pictures, of course!

I was glad to see she had a shady area in which to wait!

Tommy specifically requested a picture with her.

All 3 kiddos!

Yeah, that’s the car line down the street from the school entrance, which isn’t included in the picture.  Thankful that we can walk!

Making our trek back to the neighbor’s back gate.

Some First Day Q and A:

Did you make any friends?

Yes, but I don’t remember her name.

What was your favorite part?

Playing on the playground.

What was your least favorite thing?

Carpet time.

What are you most looking forward to when you go back on Thursday?

Going to computer lab because I’ve never done computers before.

It was like pulling teeth to get info! She had a fun time, though, and is looking forward to going back!

…And we’re off!

Today is Maddy’s first day of Kindergarten!  I just couldn’t wait until this evening to get a post up. I was worried about how she’d wake up this morning given I had to wake her at 6.  She popped right up saying, “I remember I have to wake up early for school today! I’ll go get dressed!”  We’ll see how long that enthusiasm lasts…lol.  She barely ate her breakfast she was so excited and could NOT wait to get out of the house. I managed to snap a few pics here and there amidst the chaos of getting her and the boys ready to walk down the street.

So smiley!

Excited to finally wear her new backpack

Aaron was not happy to be relegated to the stroller.  He wanted to ride his scooter…ha. ‘Cause all I want to do is chase a 2-year old across the school at 7:15 while 6 months pregnant.  Oh yeah, today is 24 weeks for Tiny Tegen #4.  I guess I should try and get a pic of that posted later.

Tommy was excited for Maddy as well. It was sweet.

Walking down to the court on our street where one of our very kind neighbors allows us to cut through a gate in their backyard so we don’t have to walk out of and around the neighborhood to get to the school.  Maddy and Tommy were chatting about this, that, and the other as we walked. Cute.

All ready to go!

After a few attempts to get this picture, she was all, “Ok mom, you can stop taking pictures now. Time for you to go.”  Am I dropping off a kindergartener or a middle schooler? Sheesh! A stark contrast from the little boy that was across from us who was crying and being consoled by both of his parents. 

As we walked out, Tommy gave a loud and clear, “Bye Maddy!!!” and was not satisfied until he got a wave and goodbye back.  Aaron just continued to yell, “Get me out of here!” from the stroller.  We’re quite the crew.  Also, as we started back down the hallway, Tommy sweetly said, “Mommy, I gonna miss Maddy.” 

On my agenda today is my 24 week OB appointment and then just trying to get the house back in order after a busy weekend.  I can’t wait to see Maddy this afternoon and see how her day went!  I’m sure I’ll manage a part 2 part of Maddy’s First Day later tonight! 

Wishing all my fellow mommies out there a great day whether it be the first day of daycare, PK, college, or something in between! And thank you to all my friends in the schools who instruct, love, and cherish our children for us while within those school walls.

Photo Nesting?

So, with the pregnancy toodling along to nearly 24 weeks (beginning of the 6th month for those who aren’t all up in the pregnancy/week timeline), I have found myself feeling the need to better document stuff.  I also am feeling really bad that I still have yet to create a first months photo book for Aaron.  Part of the issue with that is that a good number of his baby photos are on a different laptop that may or may not still work. :-( I’m not sure when I last backed that one up—and I haven’t checked to see what’s on my back up drive lately.  Just a couple tasks to add to my to-do list.  I guess maybe this is how my pre-baby nesting is manifesting this time around…’cause I sure don’t feel the  need to do things like scrub my baseboards! --Or more accurately, as was the case with the other three, complete grad school assignments early.  
I thought that for now I’d attempt to get some bloggy stuff done. 
First off, pictures from Maddy’s FIFTH birthday! This was her first birthday party that was NOT water play in the backyard.  We held it at a local bounce house place not too far from our house (okay, it ended up being a bit farther than we thought…lol…Thanks to all who make the trek out!).
These first few are actually from the morning of her actual birthday, 8/5.

This was a plain yellow hat she got from a fiesta at summer camp and decorated at home with the pom poms a week ahead of time.  It was her official birthday hat.

My Five year old cutie

Picture with daddy!

NOW for the party pics!

We were so happy to have the Friedmans come by for part of the day! They are one of the few reasons we miss Tallahassee ;o)

The Cake(s)! :)

Yummies

She really doesn’t need any gifts this Christmas…so thankful for the generosity of our friends and family.

Table #1

One of the best group shots of the day!

Table #2

Time to sing Happy Birthday!

Serious cupcake eating!

Super excited about a Barbie!

This picture cracks me up because it was the two boys intently staring at a princess dress up kit…lol.  Not sure where the girls went!

Back out on the fun stuff! Aaron loved going down the slides any way other than his bottom.

Birthday girl!

My cutie…

…who is also a complete cheese ball!

So big!

This guy managed to lose TWO pairs of socks in the obstacle course blow up.  After that, I just gave up and hoped no one noticed as socks are required.

Grandpa Jack being silly! That’s one reason we love him!

Growing up to be a lovely little lady!

Family pic with one set of grandparents before we left.  It was a fun afternoon and lots of fun memories were made!

Another significant event in the past week…Meet the Teacher was this morning! While I did make a point to bring the camera to take at least one picture, I didn’t include her actual teacher.  She knows at least one of the kids from her VPK program that she did last year, which is nice.  Her teacher is a newly graduated one, but has years of work experience at a local Montessori school, and so comes with some good stuff.  Montessori schools are known for lots of hands-on learning strategies and activities, some amount of self-pacing, and lots of creative play.  I think she’ll enjoy her teacher.  Another cool thing unrelated to her teacher—she can see our house from her classroom window!  Kinda cool!  Which brings me to what I perceive will be one of our greatest challenges as she starts school on Monday.  Walking her to school is the quickest way to get there, which is totally fine with me.  It’s the walking her with 2 (and come December, 3) others in tow that has me a little nervous.  We’ll figure it out, but I’m sure the first few days next week and then the first month or so with the new baby will be kinda hairy.  As always…Never a dull moment!

Well, that’s all for today.  Perhaps I’ll find my way back over to the blog again sometime soon.  Most likely for the obligatory first day of school photos and subsequent first day recap.  Otherwise, I’ll be busy trying to build Aaron that first-months photo book. Hopefully it happens before #4 arrives!