Kindergarten Man

Sam started Kindergarten in September.  He absolutely loves it!  I did have a few surreal moments when I was walking behind him on the way to school where I thought I might cry.  Hood up, loose-fit jeans, backpack, hands shoved in his pockets…he is very much a little man.  Thankfully he is still more than happy to rush out of the school and into my arms when I pick him up in the afternoons. 

Mrs. Hince, his wonderful teacher, has repeatedly referred to Sam as “SO sweet.”  He is friends with everyone in his class.  Mrs. Hince said that several children who have trouble getting along with others have “attached themselves” to Sam as he is so patient and gentle.  She said she’s heard him more than once try to diffuse an argument by saying, “You guys, let’s find something we ALL want to play!”  Sam is kind to his core.  I think it’s my favorite thing about him. 

He’s doing well academically, too. By the end of the year, all Kindergarteners need to be able to read 80 sight words.  Sam knows them all now, as well as the sight words for first grade, and most of the sight words for second grade.  He’s a reading machine.  Mrs. Hince did suggest that we expand his library to include more non-fiction books, as they will help his vocabulary, so we are definitely going to work on that. 

We are so incredibly proud of our boy.

Daddy Hunting

The last few posts I wrote about Matilda before going AWOL mentioned her growing vocabulary.  It has been a year and there is really nothing she can't or (unfortunately) won't say.  I honestly don't know where she gets most of it.

This week Matilda and I were at the store.  A rather attractive man came down our aisle toward us.  Matilda looked up at him and said hopefully, "Mom?  Is that Daddy?"

The man chuckled and I laughed nervously.  "Matilda!  You know that isn't Dad."

I hustled Matilda out of the aisle as the man watched.  I can't let anything go, so I poked my head back around and said, "She has a father. I have not told her to say that to strange men."

Matilda appeared again by my knees. "Yeah," she added sadly. "My NEW daddy is at home."

The little stinker won again.  I had to slink away from the no-longer-amused stranger and continue my shopping in shame.

I Miss Your Blog. Will You Come Back?

I opened Facebook today and found that lovely comment posted on my wall. Simple and direct, it made my day.

 

 

I feel it deserves a simple and direct answer: yes. Yes, I will come back.

 

 

Thanks, Kristi. I desperately wish I had an old picture of us to scan to commemorate this occasion (Too Hot To Handle comes to mind) but I destroyed all of my old pictures in one of my post-Hoarders-marathon cleaning fits.

  

Have patience with me as I get back into the swing of things here.

A Christmas Miracle

After Matilda was born, Lance and Gina were two of our first visitors at home. I selfishly slept through their visit - I was fiercely protective of my rest, knowing full well the insanity that comes from lack of sleep with a newborn.

They are dear, darling people, and never said a word about my rudeness. They just dropped off a huge homecooked meal and a taggie blanket for Matilda. Their friend, Katie, makes baby gifts by hand and I had admired her work when their daughter was born. They remembered and gave us a piece of our own.

It is a little blanket - 12 inches by 12 inches, with a bold animal pattern on the front and hot pink fleece on the back. Each side has strips of multi-colored ribbon for a baby to play with. I thought it was darling and put it with Matilda every chance I got. My persistence paid off when Matilda developed a major attachment to it. It was dubbed "Blanks" and I knew I'd need a backup. Gina came through again and was able to get an almost identical blanket from Katie. The animal print is the same but it is backed with bright blue fleece. Matilda instantly loved it and happily used them interchangeably. Now, one will do in a pinch, but Matilda really wants both of them with her all the time.

This morning the kids and I went to Target. Matilda left both her Blanks in the car and the kids and I did our shopping. While we were in the store some winter weather came through. There was whipping, brutal wind combined with snow and sleet. I fought my way back to my car, pushing Matilda in the cart and dragging Sam next to me, and stopped short when I saw a Blanks on the ground about five feet from my car.

I dashed to it, certain it was about to blow away, and found it partially frozen to the ground. "Ohhh...Blanks!" Matilda said. I clutched it in my hand, horrified by how close we had been to losing it. I walked to the car and was shocked to see the other Blanks stuck to my rear tire.

Obviously they had fallen out when we went into the store. How in the world were they not both lost? The wind was so strong I was having trouble steering my cart in the parking lot. They should both be gone - one of them, at least! - but both were rescued and tucked in with Matilda in her carseat. "Blanks wet," she said a bit disdainfully.

Seriously, if anyone out there is looking for baby gifts that are both beautiful and functional, you need to get in touch with Katie. They're not just blankies - they are magic!

Halloween at IBM

2010 marked our third year of trick or treating at IBM - our favorite! It's our entire Halloween celebration.

We have roughly 70 costumes in our house that I've picked up on clearance and at garage sales. Therefore, Sam chose to wear the same costume he wore last year. It just about killed me. Matilda was a very excited puppy.

Thanks, Grandpa Mark!

She Speaks

"Matilda, what kind of cake do you want for your birthday?"

"Num-num."

"Yep, it'll be good. What kind do you want? Elmo? Cat In the Hat?"

"Melmo. Go go go go go."

"Elmo AND Cat In the Hat? Which one do you want?"

"Num-num."

"Yes, but what do you want it to look like?"

"Cake."

Done.

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"Mama! Mama!"

"What?"

"Oh, Mama. Oh, NO. Mama, DOWN."

"What fell?"

"Down, Mama! Down!"

I follow her into her room to find a book on the floor. I put it back in her bookshelf.

"Tain too, Mama. Nice."

I live to please.

---------------------------------------

Sam, Eric, and I sat around the dinner table and discussed our Christmas lists. Suddenly:

"No!"

We all looked at Matilda in surprise.

"No! No. Shhhhhh!"

"Wha -" Eric started.

"SHHHHHH!" Matilda hissed, covering her mouth with her finger. Stunned into silence we all stared at her for a moment.

She nodded, satisfied. "Shhhhhh," she said again, and continued eating.

-------------------------------------------

And a few translations:

"Mama, show-show and brush." (Mom, take a shower and do your hair, you filthy creature.)

"No Sam! No shut! Mine! MINE! AAAAAAHHHHH!" (Sam, please open your bedroom door. I left something of mine in there.)

"Milk an' num-num an' fork." (I would like a bowl of cereal.)

"Mama! Towel!" (I have made a huge mess and need this cleaned up.)

"Shhhhhhoooooooopppppiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggg!" (We just dropped Sam off at school - let's hit the stores!)

"Go. Socks. Shoes. Coat. Go." (Let's get out of this house!)

"Mama brush." (Please put my hair in a ponytail and get it out of my face.)

"Tub-tub. Bubbles. Book. Down." (I'm ready to do our evening routine and go to bed.)

Deesh-deesh - TV
Bubba - friend/loved one
Butt - diaper/bathroom
Eeeeewwww - any of us, at any given time
Bee - Grandma Bay
Papa - all grandparents
Neckdice - jewelry
Pus - puzzle
Song - all music, instruments, radios

I Had No Idea That Heaven...

...was right off the 75th St exit.

Sam had his very first friend-driven playdate today. His life has been one playdate after another but today's was the first one that wasn't my doing. Garrett invited Sam over to play and Sam accepted.

We have been very, very excited about this playdate. We headed out to Garrett's house at 9 this morning. When we turned on to the gravel road leading up to their house, Sam could hardly stand it.

"Oooooooh, Mom...the road is BUMPY!"

"Sam, it's gravel. If you're already this excited you're going to need a nap this afternoon."

I could hardly believe it when I pulled up to the house. It was Wonderland. They had a play structure that is better described as a playground in their yard. There was a dirt pile covered in toy trucks and shovels. The bunny cage stood next to the motor bikes. A pony patiently waited for attention under the treehouse. All of this stood in the middle of a massive, working farm. There were barns, semis, cows, tractors, and ATVs as far as the eye could see.

Garrett dashed out of the house and threw himself under the tires of my car. Sam went inside without even a goodbye. Matilda, devastated that she couldn't stay, was given a short tour by Garrett's mom. ("Matilda, do you want to pet the bunny?" "No." "Matilda, do you want to pet the pony?" "NO!")

Sam spent the whole morning there and I picked him up after lunch. He was a little sad at first but I was able to lure him out to the car with a new book. We said goodbye to Garrett, the dog, and the cat, and we went home.

I begged and pleaded with Sam for ANY information about his day. 50 points to anyone who can guess what he reported.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Yep. "We had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, AND milk, AND chips, AND A BROWNIE!"

We owe Garrett a playdate. Does anyone know where I can buy a giraffe?

Sam in the combine.

Sam on the pony, Bullseye. This may be my new favorite picture of my dude.

There's A First Time For Everything

As we drove to school this morning Sam was talking about his friends. He always confuses Garrett's name with Beckett.

"What is his name, Mom?" Sam asked.

"Your best friend is Garrett," I answered.

"Oh yeah, Garrett," Sam said. After a moment he added, "And my girlfriend is Brooklyn."

Wha - ?

"Brooklyn is your girlfriend?" I asked.

"Yeah," Sam said. "You know, your friend's little girl."

"Yes, I know who Brooklyn is. I just didn't know that she was your girlfriend."

"Yep," he said.

When we walked into Sam's classroom, none other than Garrett and Brooklyn were waiting inside. Sam cried happily, "Oh, my best friend and my best girl!"

Here's Brookie - we really can't blame Sam for being smitten.

All We've Got

Everything can be related back to an episode of Roseanne.

Does anyone else remember when DJ was in the spelling bee? Dan and Roseanne were out of work and the whole family dressed up and sat in little chairs in DJ's classroom to watch him compete. They hooted and hollered, cheering their youngest child on, until a woman behind them sneered, "For goodness sake, it's just a spelling bee."

Roseanne turned around and snapped, as only she could, "Hey! Listen lady, this is all we've got!"


Last night was the Homecoming coronation at Dover-Eyota. I'd been counting the hours until I could go, as this year Miranda - our darling Miranda - was nominated for Homecoming Queen.

I'll let that sink in.

Homecoming Queen! Miranda, who doesn't get excited about anything, was calm and mildly amused by all of it. I was more worked up about it than she was, to say nothing of the hysteria felt by Grandma Barb, Jackie, and Mike. We've talked about nothing else all week. Right away Jackie made plans to buy yellow caution tape to block off seats for the huge group of people who would come to cheer for her girl. Some very silly people, who had obviously never met Jackie, thought she was joking.

Jackie, Mike, Kaci, James and I piled into Jackie's car and headed to Eyota at 5:00. Coronation was at 7:00 and there was no way we weren't going to be the first ones there.

Me and Mike on the way - you can see the hysteria in my eyes! Mike doesn't look that excited but trust me, he was out of his mind.

Me and Jackie. Wheeeeee!

The school was locked when we got there two hours early. What's a loving family to do? Why break in, of course.

Jackie and James, living a life of crime.

Once in the auditorium Jackie and I used her caution tape to save 25 seats. 25! Some kids had a mom come...some had both their parents and a sibling...but it's safe to say that Miranda was the only one who had seats saved for 25 (and that was just the reserved seats!).

I honestly felt a little bad for the other queen candidates. When Miranda walked out on stage we all went absolutely nuts. We were screaming and cheering like crazy people. Each candidate couple did a walk around the auditorium and as Miranda walked by us we waved, called hello to her, and her grandpa tried to give her a high five. It was just ridiculous.

At the coronation, when the kings and queens are crowned, the crown is held in a teasing way above each of the candidate's heads and the crowd cheers for each one. Again, I felt bad for the other kids from the noise that was made when the crown was over Miranda's head. And it wasn't just us - the whole place went nuts.

Well, the crown didn't end up on Miranda's head, but that didn't stop our enthusiasm. After the crowning, the lights were up and the royalty was still on stage for pictures. "Miranda! Miranda!" I called. Jackie yelled, "MIRANDA!" With a slight frown on her face, Miranda jumped and looked out at us. The second she did, our entire group again erupted in cheers and waving.

A slightly amused, tired look passed over Miranda's face and we saw her turn to the girl next to her. "That's my family," she said simply.

My sister and my Miranda - love, love, love.

Gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful, proud and happy family.



Stunning, beautiful queen.

All we've got? Admittedly, yes. But truly, too, all we'll ever need.

Baffled

Sometimes I feel like I'm totally in control, the house is amazing, and my kids are in line.

Then I wake up.

Where, oh where, did I lose my grip on this family? What moment pushed me out of this speeding car? And will I ever regain my role as ruler of this household? I LOVE all of my committments - friends, kids, job, Aldrich - but it's too much. I feel like I'm giving 50% to all of them. I am a 110% kind of girl so this scraping by drives me nuts!

Something's gotta give, y'all, but I don't want to give anything up!

Sigh. Ramblings like this are what happens when Matilda wakes me up at 4:30 to retrieve her nuk from the floor and I'm unable to go back to sleep. Now, I have to get breakfast, do dishes, bathe and dress all of us, return a shirt at Target, get diapers, design and make fundraiser posters, bring catalogs to my friend, do a cubby stuffer at Aldrich, mow the lawn, go to the bank, do laundry, send Lunch Bunch reminder emails, clean the bedrooms, make and clean lunch and dinner, and go to a meeting tonight for the Aldrich fall party. Oh yeah, and there are two children in there somewhere who expect to be properly raised. And have I mentioned my lovely husband who would like a chance to see me, too?

Well, no time for brooding - I'm off to tackle today!