Friday, November 13, 2009

Life, kids and so forth


Life is fast and furious here. I was "off' today which means I run my tail off trying to get all the stuff done that needs to be done. I had a an appt, went to weight watchers, out to lunch with Eric, passport pics taken, searched for a birthday gift (went to 3 stores) for a party that Emme is going to tomorrow, raked leaves, washed my car, made dinner, helped Eric (dry fit) tile the basement bathroom, bathed Allie, collected Greer's must have items for next week at school, separately went through cupboards with both kids so they can bring in stuff for the food drive at school next week and now paying bills and catching up with the kids "Friday folders". Typical day in my life. I am not complaining, but I seriously wonder what the heck I did with all my time before kids.
I relish my day off, seriously. When I was pulling my 5 days per week, I was loosing my mind. In retrospect, I have no idea how I kept up.

The kids are great, spent every day this week in some type of activity. Greer has swimming on Monday nights, Tuesday we went to a free play about body image at the Frauenthal, Wednesday we had the girls gymnastics and Thursday.... ah, we went to the kids conferences.

I am SO PROUD of both of them. They are excelling in school. Emme is one of those well rounded students. Her teacher really enjoys her and has come up with new ways to challenge her. She now gives her the work that she used when she was teaching her fourth grade kids. (per her teacher: Emme is her top reader and is reading mid 4th grade now). It makes me very happy! Greer is also doing wonderfully. He has a brain like no other, fluent reading, math and everything in between. He has far surpassed the "benchmarks" set forth by the school for the end of the kindergarten year. He has far surpassed many of the 1st grade benchmarks also. Because he only is in actual kindergarten 3 hrs a day, she has not been able to push him further yet (she thinks she will really be able to in April- I asked). Apparently, that is when she normally gets the kids caught up to standards and she can really push the kids who are more advanced. I know I am bragging, but if you can't brag to your friends and family, then who can you brag to? I really am just so proud of all of them all (Allie too, we just haven't had a conference yet).
Allie goes to preschool 2 days a week and daycare the other 2. I keep her home with me on my day off. We have some good one on one girlie time. She was so well behaved today out and about. So many of the ladies at Weight Watchers came up to us at the end and commented on her good behavior. Another proud mom moment.

My mom is good, she is moving into her new home in FL. She now has 2 homes there and none here in MI. They are golf-a haulics. Their social life is so full there, they don't have time to be retired. I know, rough sounding, isn't it?

My dad is good too. He officially retired in the fall. He had taken a voluntary lay off since the beginning of 2009 but finally made the "real" leap more recently. Ironically, he has intermittently worked here and there these last two weeks (for a few days) due to need but he is not out of retirement. Dad is my daycare when school is out or kids are sick. It works out nice and I am so thankful he is here and willing to do that for us. The kids love spending time with him.

Eric is feverishly working on the basement bathroom. The tiles are all cut and some are actually down, but we couldn't finish last Sunday when we started and our mud hardened overnight. He is not mixing new mud, nor putting it down, until the job can be completed. It looks awesome. I can't wait to see the final product. Now that I am getting small glimpses, I am getting more excited. On that note, he is probably cursing me now, as he is trying to get to sleep and I am typing away. Until next time.

Monday, November 2, 2009

So what is with the fever?

So, Emme developed a fever on Friday night. Being resilient, I figured she would all but be done with it by Saturday, especially since that was trick-or-treating. I was wrong. She is not super ill by any standard, but what is with the fever anyhow? I was just preparing (in thought) to send her back tomorrow, but she spiked again tonight. She says she feels fine, "except for my scratchy voice and cough, mom". Oh well, I get to spend the day with my big girl. Eric and I did rock, paper, scissors to see who would stay home today and he won. It is only fair that I stay home tomorrow. I always feel guilty when I miss work, even if it is for family that needs me. Crazy, isn't it?

Bullies..
Greer had his first encounter with a bully on the bus today. My heart totally went out to him. Greer's nose met the window coutesy of another naughty little boy. Eric was signaled over by the bus driver at drop off. She explained the situation and assured Eric that she would take care of it. Eric said she was very adamant (my guess is this little guy is somewhat of a troublemaker and she is tired of his antics... this was probably the last straw for her). We are fine with however she takes care of the situation. Greer was not at all phased by the interaction. When asked, he said the boy was mean to everyone but because he (the boy) couldn't get first (or second, or third..) graders, he only was mean to the kindergartners. He had a great day at school and a wonderful time at swimming lessions this evening.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Cricut Cartridges that I have

Cricut Cartridges I have

 

Accent Essentials

All Mixed Up

Animal Kingdom

Beyond Birthdays

Camp Out

Celebrations

Christmas Cheer

Cuttin Up

Doodlecharms

Doodletype

George and Basic Shapes

Going Places

Graphically Speaking

Home Accents

Jasemine

Joys of the Season

Learning Curve

Life is a Beach

Locker Talk

Lyrical Letters

Mickey Font

My Community

New Arrival

Paper Doll Dress Up

Pooh Font

Printing 101

Printing Press

Speaking of Winter

Sports Mania

Stretch your Imagination

Storybook

Stone Script

Walk in My Garden

Zooballoo

 

Want: My World, Teardrop, Calligraphy, Ashlyns Alphabet, Hello Kitty Font, *Seasame Street FONT, Jubilee, *Everyday paper dolls, *Hannah Monatana, Deep cut blade/housing, cricut jukebox. winter woodlands, Plantin Schoolbook, From My Kitchen, Sponge Bob, Sweethearts

 

Retail, these are pricey.  Cost is least expensive at www.customcrops.com

 


 

Beginnings..











I have contemplated starting a blog many times. It rates up there with entering the world of facebook and twitter. My hesitancy has ended for now. I guess in time, all things come.
Part of my hesitancy comes from being a mom of three. Emme, (my oldest) is seven. Greer, (my one and only boy) is five and Allie, (we like to call her Allie Diva) is three going on 18. Parenting is my full time job but my career path is a physician assistant. I work outside the home four days per week. I love both of my jobs very much. Both have brought me great joy and satisfaction.
Yesterday was Halloween. We had a great time. I had three little gobblins all decked out for the big haunt. Emme was a cowgirl. Mamu Deb had made her costume a couple years back for dress-up and it has served that purpose very well. Emme finally decided to use that dress-up bin for a costume. She looked great! She also got a horse from one of Eric's co-workers that added that extra special touch. Greer was a skeleton. This was his second choice. First he chose an astronaut. I was really glad he chose differently because this one was easier to make. After several coats of paint (with the top layer) being glow-in-the-dark paint, it was completed! He looked very convincing in the darkness. It was easy to see his bones, but not so easy to see the remainder of his body... perfect! We lucked out with Allie. We borrowed an adorable hand made costume from one of our friends. Allie was a bee, complete with stinger! The home made costumes have the look.