School Pictures are In!

Just got the girls school portraits today and had to share! :-) I think they both came out great (as their mother I can, of course, give an unbiased opinion on such matters...ahem).


My third grader



















My kindergartener




















OK, now that you have seen my cute kids you can get to bed so that tomorrow you can get up bright and early and GO VOTE! Polls open at 7am around here and I'm sure they are open early at a polling station near you. Just do it!

School Begins!

Thursday Eldest girl was off to her first day of third grade. She was excited and happy to be headed off to school again. She was anxious to see her friends and maybe a little nervous about meeting her new teacher. We had been able to ascertain ahead of time that at least two very good friends would be in her class. I think that helped to give her some level of confidence in heading off for her first day.

She had a successful day at school and came home with stories to share of her new teacher, what her classroom is like, where and with whom she sits and all the usual first day kind of stuff. She was allowed to choose where to sit and she is at a desk next to her crush best friend, J, and there is another boy whose name begins with a J who sits on her other side. She found out on the first day that the "other J" likes Harry Potter - so they are off to a good start seeing as she is reading the series again for the third time...

Her second day went as well as her first. She has come home with two practice worksheets for cursive writing and has received 100% on both for her efforts which pleased her to no end. She also said that she was nervous about her teacher but has been pleasantly surprised at how great she is. I had heard mixed reviews on this teacher so far from those "in the know" who had kids in her class and she has a reputation as being a yeller. So far, so good though. And Eldest girl is already aware of the fact that if you follow the rules you'll be fine. She told Middle girl as much at dinner the other night. LOL Eldest girl is very much a "stick to the rules" kind of kid and she is very bright so I think she will get along fine with that teacher (who I have also heard works well with the kids who need/want to be challenged academically).

When did she start looking so grown-up?


Traditional 'first day' picture by the brown-eyed susans.


Picking flowers for her teacher.


Off she goes!


Just for comparison...her Kindergarten picture from 2005!

(I am laughing right now as I realize that she *still* has that Jacket!! It's a little too short on the sleeves but she likes enough that she still wants to wear it!)

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Friday was Middle girl's Kindergarten orientation. I drove her to school at 9am to meet for an hour with her teacher, assistant teacher and a few specialists who will spend some time each day in her classroom (primarily the ESL folks since we have a large spanish-speaking population in our elementary school). She got to check out the layout of the classroom and I also took her on a brief tour of the cafeteria, library, and gym. She is very excited and can't wait for her first real day on Tuesday when she will be able to join Eldest girl on the big yellow school bus.

So big...and yet I still one of my babies. She picked flowers for her teacher, too.


Standing in front of the school.


She found her cubby!


I wanted to get a picture of her with her teacher but she adamantly refused! She is not one to be camera shy so perhaps she was thinking - "enough with the pictures, mom...it's embarrassing!" LOL Or maybe it's just not her style to share the limelight.... ;-)

Middle girl has the same teacher that Eldest girl had for Kindergarten which makes me very happy (especially considering the fact that the other two K teachers are brand new to the school this year and both are very young --- in fact, one is a brand-new grad this year from a local college). She has one boy from preschool in her class - but unlike her big sister she is all about the girlfriends. In fact, we were recently spent some time hanging out with a family that had two boys and she told me before we left, "ya know mom...boys are just not my type." She is very sad that one particular little girl from preschool is not in her class but I'm sure she'll make new friends very quickly with whatever girls are in her class. She met two girls and three boys at the orientation but both girls were extremely shy. Hopefully, Middle girl will befriend them quickly and help them feel more at ease! She had become somewhat of a leader and was more than willing to help the younger kids at preschool last year so I'm thinking those skills will be useful in her new classroom. I know she is going to love school this year!

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As for me - I'm back to work as of this week but it was mainly procedural and planning meetings. Next week I will be visiting at least one classroom where I will be providing assistive technology support/consultation. I met the new SLP in that classroom on Monday at the SPED orientation meeting and she seems great. We are both new to the middle school environment so it will be a challenging year for us both but she seems up to the challenge and I think we'll work well together. Phew.

I have yet to completely figure out what the rest of my weeks are going to look like but I will definitely have enough consulting work to do!! My biggest challenge once I have a more or less set schedule will be to figure out childcare coverage for morning and afternoons. In most cases, I have to juggle an early start day at the middle school or high school I'll be working at with the later bus times of my elementary schoolers and the fact that some of the schools are somewhat far away which means I won't be home right at 3:20 to catch them off the bus! Thankfully, my MIL is around the corner and will be available to help out and Rick will try to work his schedule so that he can do some of the morning or afternoon coverage. We just to get a set schedule worked out so that everyone is on the same page! Ah...the life of a working mom. I'm only part-time but I have a feeling it's not going to seem like part-time once things get rolling!

To add to the crazies I'm also doing some volunteering at the school through the Parent/Guardian Organization (PGO), I'm on a committee at church for Christian Education, and I'm hoping to continue with my weekly knitting group that I joined recently. Oh and how could I forget - Middle girl has one gymnastics class a week after school, and the two older girls are signed up for an 8-week swim class which starts in a couple of weeks.

Let the crazies begin!

Home Again.

We've been home for almost a week actually. Just have not had the inclination to write about the vacation. I think I've been enjoying the lingering feelings and not really ready to share them just yet. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. I promise I will post some choice pictures soon. As soon as the mood strikes.

I had dinner with a good friend last night. It was a lovely dinner and I enjoyed getting back in touch. We haven't had time to get together in many months. She shared with me some stuff she is going through right now and my heart aches for her. If you want to say a prayer for "Jeanne's friend" I'm sure she would appreciate it. I know God is keeping her close right now and will know she is the one who needs the extra prayers.

We are getting yet another insane thunderstorm this evening. The sky has been rumbling on and off all day and the skies are randomly letting loose in torrents of rain. This has been the Summer of the Thunderstorms. Somehow we lucked out last week and had fair skies for most of our vacation and very little rain. But, now that we are home again, the rain seems to be making up for lost time. And if you believe the weathermen there is plenty more rain in our future.
Geesh - enough!

This morning I went to work for an organizational meeting to get ready for the upcoming school year. I can't say we got incredibly more organized but it was fun catching up with everyone and getting a slightly clearer picture of what my schedule is going to look like for the new year. I will be starting the year off doing two days a week, but the understanding is that I will increase to three days once the schedule begins to fill in. I also found out that I will be getting (hopefully sooner rather than later) my very own brand-new laptop. Talk about feeling officially official! I nearly bought myself a laptop last spring but really couldn't justify the expense since most of my hours were on-site in our office where I had access to a desktop. Any other computer needs were easily met here at home on my desktop. But, starting next month I will be out in the field most of my work days and a laptop is going to be a necessity, not a luxury. Thankfully, I did not have to plead my case too strongly. The SPED director does have to justify the purchase but I didn't have to go into much detail because she realizes that a traveling "assistive technology specialist" needs to have a portable computer. Apparently, the organization is in general trying to move away from laptop purchases because they don't last very long and many of the other specialists do not have laptops. But, in our area of expertise the technology really needs to travel with us wherever we go. Period.

We have a few more weeks left before school begins. My brother-in-law and nephew are arriving on Saturday from Virginia for a week's visit and at the tail end of that visit I have plans to drive to the Cape with the girls for a mid-week visit with my parents. I am sorely missing the water and the smell of the ocean so I'm trying to fit one last beach visit in this month. Rick has to work so he's going to be staying home (and probably enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house...I think I may have to figure out a way to work out a deal like that for myself some day!! I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be alone in the house for a few days...and how I would make use of all that free time!).

My birthday is coming up at the end of the month and although Rick has asked what I would like to do I have no really great ideas. In fact, at today's staff meeting I found out that orientation is three days before my birthday and we ended up scheduling a planning day ON my birthday. It just so happens that my birthday is also Eldest girl's first day of school (which seems way too early for me because school always started the Tuesday after Labor Day when I was growing up). So, I'll be busy getting her on the bus, getting the other two off to some kind of yet-to-be-arranged childcare situation (Middle girl's first day of Kindergarten is not until the following Tuesday!!), and spending the day getting prepped for our first full week of work. I also made plans to out for a quick drink with my coworkers to celebrate my birthday!

Life is flying by. Summer has been great so far and I can't believe that the need to go shopping for school supplies and clothing is essentially upon us. But, as much as I'm enjoying summer I have to say that autumn is my favorite season and I am looking forward to it. I love crisp blue skies in the morning, apple-picking followed by warm apple pies, walks in the woods with leaves crunching underfoot, and all the goodness that is autumn in New England.

My Young Poet

A little mommy brag here. :-)

R's class has been working on poetry this past week. They have been discussing such things as line breaks and how poetry compares to other writing styles.

When she came home from school she shared with me this poem she had written.


Shell
by R.

Full of Holes
and very small
a shell
holds wonders
big
and small.
The inside smooth
as a polished stone
and white
as the
ocean
froth.

What was that? Something just whizzed by....

Zzzzerrrrooooosh!

That would be me - in my fly-by posting mode. I've been a bad, bad blogger of late. Life is just going full-tilt of late and not leaving me much time to ruminate, much less write about my ruminations.

Some of the stuff I'm doing these days:

• working 2-3 full days a week

That is going very well and I'm loving my job. I love the techie side of things and learning about all the new and exciting stuff in the world of augmentative communication. And I've met some really great kids who are an inspiration and a challenge all at the same time. My co-workers are amazing. Even though I've been dealing with a fair bit of chaos and certain conflicts among members of the team, I would not want to work anywhere else at the moment.

Eliza is dealing (mostly well) with the transition to my status as a WOHM. She has her moments of not dealing so gracefully but I have two capable and loving people who care for her (her Grandma and Godmother, no less...) and she is just having to make that adjustment of not having me 24/7.

• Getting more involved with the Parent/Guardian Organization
  

I have not been as involved as I feel I should be in the past couple of years - I'm making that more of a priority and looking ahead to next year. They have lost quite a few of their highly involved parents over the course of the year and they are down to bare bones and looking at the dissolution of the PGO if people don't step up to the plate. I certainly don't want to see that happen.

This week I'm trying to help out by typing and binding a few books for R's class. Each year the K-3 graders write and illustrate their own books which the PGO volunteers to type and bind so they look more professional and official. I went to the Ice Cream Social with Rick and the girls last week and while families were enjoying a bit of musical entertainment I went to the community room and learned how to bind the books. I have a bag sitting in my kitchen just waiting for my attention. Must find time! Soon.

• Board of Christian Education (CE)
  

I'm a member of the CE board at church and we are in the process of trying desperately to hire a new director for the youth/family program. It's not been easy! This week things have come to a head and we are in the process of scheduling meetings and interviews. I'm sort of the coordinator by default since I was the only subcommittee member at the last committee meeting. It's been a bit hectic and crazed pulling that bit together in a very short time. I am also the board secretary and still have the minutes from the last meeting to type up -- which is probably what I should be doing instead of updating my pals here on my blog? Nah....

• Preschool Graduation

A's second, and final, year of preschool is coming to an end. I am so sad to say goodbye to her little schoolhouse for the next year but E will start there the following year so it's more of a 'see ya later' than an actual goodbye. And it's truly a bittersweet transition because while I say goodbye to her preschool days I'm thrilled for her as she enters the next phase and becomes one of the big kids who rides the yellow school bus and look forward to all that she has ahead of her. Ask me in a few years if I'm as excited for my 'baby' to be heading off to Kindergarten and you might find that I'm in a completely different mindset about that 'last one heading off to the big kid school' -- or maybe not. Both A and E are October babies and I'm sure E will be just as eager and ready at nearly six-years-old as A is right now. A is chomping at the bit for bigger and better things and seems to want to be older NOW.

I've stepped into the role of coordinator for the teacher gifts for the past two years. It's not a huge deal but it is one more thing that needs a bit of attention. I am collecting money from the families to present (along with flowers and cards) to the teachers to thank them for their hard work. The check will be used to buy something for the school that would not ordinarily be purchased from their budget. For instance, one year they replaced the clothesline/clothing pin system with an honest-to-goodness drying rack for all the beautiful artwork the children create each day. I had honestly not even realized until last week that the graduation date was fast approaching. No one else mentioned teacher gifts so I just decided to take the bull by the horns again and get it done. Everyone is usually very appreciative of the effort and I don't really mind doing it because I love our preschool....but I won't be there next year so it is time to pass the torch along! And with everything else going on I'll be glad when I can check one more thing off my list!

• Birthday/celebration central

Over Mother's Day weekend we celebrated on Saturday night with Rick's parents and had a nice steak dinner here at home. On Sunday I drove to Boston with R and A to meet up with my two sisters, one niece, two nephews, my brother-in-law and my parents. We all went to see one nephew in a HS production of West Side Story (which was amazing and fabulous and funny and heartrending). Then we all went out for a Mother's Day dinner at a restaurant in the Back Bay section of Boston called Fire & Ice.

This week is not only Rick's (40th!) birthday (today!) but also his mom's (Saturday) and my mom's (yesterday). Happy Birthday to all the special people in my life! Tonight we are doing a very quick dinner and cake and ice cream with my in-laws (because of my 6:30 meeting at church regarding the CE director position - see above!) and then on Saturday we are doing a full-blown cookout with more family in attendance. Burgers! Hot Dogs! More cake and ice cream! (And to think that life is creating a perfect storm of late that is keeping me away from the club and my morning walks! eek.)

• Head cold or tree pollen?

Every year since the year of R's birth I have suffered from a 'seasonal' (April and/or May) onslaught of cough, itchy throat, and sinus congestion. It lasts for a few weeks and from the best I can tell by googling symptoms and allergens each year at around this time, I think I'm allergic to either oak or birch trees (or both). It's a total drag. And it's really not a convenient time - particularly this year - for me to be dealing with this nasty crap. I'm giving Claritin a trial but so far, three days in, I'm not noticing any difference. A friend recently told me that the 10mg that is the OTC Claritin is not actually clinically beneficial and that I should give Zyrtec a try. Another friend suggested Tylenol Sinus. I was very glad for those tidbits and will likely make another trip to the drugstore to give one a try. I'm trying to be patient and wait another day or two with the Claritin before I toss them and try something else. But, something has to be done. And soon.

• Was there anything else? Or perhaps that list is the exhaustive (and exhausting) list at the moment. It is certainly plenty to be juggling and I'm hoping that I've not forgotten something... What a crazy month this is!
  

It's All Good

Yesterday afternoon we had R's parent-teacher conference and today we went to A's school to talk to her teachers. I must say that I feel so blessed to have healthy and happy kids who do well in school. It makes the conferences something to look forward to and enjoy!

Last year at this time I was angsty and twitchy about R' s conference because the classroom she was in was just not a right fit and the year was a difficult one for her socially and emotionally. She was not happy and not challenged in the right ways. Additionally, the teacher was having her own personal issues that impacted the class as a whole due to her stress and her frequent absences. This year was a huge improvement. Her teacher has been fabulous. She was aware of R's social needs and worked on helping R build relationships with other kids. It wasn't always smooth-going but R made some great strides this year and was with a group of really great kids which helped make the process that much easier for her. I think she is developing a few friendships that will hopefully carry over into 3rd grade. Her teacher let us know that she is going to try to place R with kids that she works well with (and she is going to specifically ask R who she might want to be with in 3rd grade) so that the friendships can continue to grow next year. The teacher also had to work on encouraging R to talk more in small and large group discussions. It was something that she was very resistant to in the first half of the year and her teacher told us that it is something that will be expected of her a lot more in 3rd grade. We talked with her and explained that it was not really optional and that it was her "job" at school to share what she knows...particularly when she is asked a question by the teacher (her response was usually to drop her head and refuse to look at the teacher or answer the question). She is a very "rule driven" kind of kid so once we laid the groundwork and told her what was expected she really rose to the occasion and started working harder on those skills. Academically, R is doing really well - her teacher showed us some of her writing (and we all had a good laugh over the "how to" pages) and she told us that she has really developed some great writing skills over the course of this year. Her math skills are right on target (or even advanced in some areas...which must be Rick's genes at work in her because she doesn't get that from me!) and she is decoding above grade level with comprehension skills at least at grade level (she had inconsistent test results because of R's reluctance to talk/answer certain questions on that day). It's always nice to hear that your kid is doing well academically but I was even happier to hear that the social piece is starting to fall into place for her to a certain degree. I don't expect her to ever be the 'social butterfly' kind of kid, but I also don't want her to feel out of the loop and alone in those instances where she might want to be part of the action but just isn't quite sure how to go about it.

And speaking of 'social butterflies' - today was our conference with A's preschool teachers. It was another great meeting that reinforced our notion that A is more than ready for Kindergarten and is doing well both academically and socially. Her teachers have been so happy to have in her the class and she is a good friend to all the kids at school. She shows none of the sassy 5-year-old attitude that we experience here at home and her teachers were surprised to hear she was even capable of such behavior. Boy, she's got them fooled all right. But, in some ways it is nice to know that she is able to self monitor enough to realize what is and is not acceptable behavior depending on the setting. Not that I find it acceptable for her to sass me or Rick - or that I let her get away with it (far from it!) - but at least she knows that home is a safe place to test those limits and she knows better than to test them in school with her teachers. The teachers also told us that she is taking on more of a 'helper' role in the classroom when it comes to her interactions with her classmates. She likes to explain things to the other kids - like how to play a game - and she does so in a very nice way. And she is getting better at speaking out for herself when she encounters issues or problems of her own - last year she often sought out a teacher to fix the problem but now she is having fewer tears and using her language more to resolve an issue with peers all on her own. She has had a wonderful (almost) two years of preschool and we are all looking forward to her transition to kindergarten next year. We are hoping that she has the same great teacher that R had for kindergarten and there is a good chance that she will know at least a few other kids in her class - one from preschool this year and a couple of others from the neighborhood. However, we feel fairly confident that she will make plenty of new friends next year and will have a great time!

First Day of School, Part II

A's first day back at preschool was yesterday. She's been a bit difficult to live with over the course of the last week as she was chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things. She was very jealous that R got to start school so much earlier than she did (and of course, as things usually go with sibling rivalry, R was upset that summer had to end so much sooner for her than for A...).

With her first day of school outfit already decided upon she got dressed right after waking up and was eager to get going as soon as R had one foot on the bus. I made sure the camera batteries were charged last night and that her backpack was by the door. Once R was safely off to school I loaded A and E into the car and we headed off to school. Before we left the driveway, however, A reminded me that she had not yet picked flowers! Heavens to Betsey! I ran inside and grabbed scissors and she happily found the perfect one for each of her beloved teachers.

Once at school, with backpack flung on her back and flowers in hand she headed to the little red brick schoolhouse. She was greeted at the door by one of her teachers and after finding her new cubby space she settled right down to the business of playing.

There are only a handful of kids who are returning from last year (the rest are off to Kindergarten this year), but some of the "new" kids were still familiar faces. Many of the new students are actually siblings of kids who attended preschool with R so we know the families well even if A doesn't! One new student, however, is a great friend of A's who we have been having playdates with frequently over the last few years. A was so happy to finally welcome N to preschool this year and N was pleased as punch to finally be old enough to attend with A!

Yesterday was only 1/2 the class in attendance - the other 1/2 of the kids will have their first day of school today and then the whole class will come together on Monday for the first time. Since A and N were both off from school today we arranged a playdate and the girls are right now playing happily in the playroom. I need to get going and make them some lunch and then it's naptime for little Miss E.

I have a meme that I need to fill out since I've been tagged. I'll try and get to it at some point today!

Savvy, Self-assured and in Second Grade!

It was a very easy send-off this morning for R - she is just so much more confident and at ease. We usually have a stressful week leading up to the start of school - more meltdowns, fits, and arguments. This year seemed a bit less traumatic. R did shed some tears at the thought of summer coming to an end and she seemed a tiny bit stressed upon hearing that she would not have the same teacher as last year, but on the whole things went fairly smoothly. The only thing that really stayed the same was the increase in the fighting between R and A this past week. A is ticked off that R gets to start school a week earlier than she does and that R gets to ride the bus. So, she has been difficult to deal with and it has rubbed off on R a bit (can't say as I blame her, though!). Although I had previously been lamenting the end of the summer this week was enough to make me more than happy that the first day of school has arrived.

This morning I went on my walk with Lauri and we got back just before 7am. To my great surprise the older two girls were awake and fully dressed. Can you say "first day of school excitement"? R had picked out her entire outfit last night per my instructions so we would not have any issues this morning picking out just what to wear. We had also made sure her shiny new backpack had lunch money in it and she put a few pencils in her new pencil case.

After breakfast I got showered and dressed and the girls worked on their newest fuzzy art posters for a few minutes. I got R's hair brushed and she went to put on her snazzy new sneaks. I had bought her tie shoes this year because she liked them but I wondered after almost a year of only velcro if she'd do OK with tying them. But, she proved that tying shoes is a bit like riding a bike and she did just fine getting them on and tied into double knots. A proud mommy moment!

Once she was geared up we headed outside for the usual photo op session and the traditional "picking of the brown-eyed susans for the teacher."

My big second grader!


Flowers for Ms. M.


This picture is the epitome of my three:
the fashionista/diva, the cool big kid, and the little imp!



Check out the snazzy new sneaks!


Sisters - big and small...


Barely taking the time to give me one last backward glance. The Savvy, Self-assured 2nd grader takes off for her first day.

This 'n that...

Time for a bulleted update!

* R was giving us a fair bit of sass and drama lately and we were at our wit's end with her. So, from our parenting bag of tricks we pulled the "Chore Chart Incentive Program" and it has actually worked WONDERS. Amazing what a little bribery will do. The way it works is this: she has specific chores to do each day (actually we are using it for both R and A since they were both interested in getting some cold hard cash) for which she can earn stickers on her chart. Some of the stuff they do is already part of our routine such as clearing their dishes from the table and helping with the trash and recycling. They can also earn extra stickers for helping with chores that are not generally part of their routine - like helping me vacuum or weeding in the garden - or for having particularly good behavior during the day. Each sticker earned gets them a nickel at the end of the week. This week R has done a complete 180 and has willingly done various chores and has behaved so well. I keep checking the cabinets and under beds to see if I can find the pods... This week R earned herself $2.05 and A earned $1.75. The way I figure, it's a bargain for regaining some level of peace and sanity in the house!

* I was recently invited by R's school to sit on a search committee for a new second grade teacher. I immediately agreed to do it and then second-guessed myself and wondered what the hell I was getting myself into. I have not had to do something like that in a very long time and I was extremely nervous. In the end, it all went well and I found it a valuable experience, even if I was completely brain dead after a 7-interview day that went from 8:00am to 4:00pm! Perhaps some day I will share more on that experience but for now the search committee is still "in process" with no formal decision on hires so "mums the word"...just in case someone were to stumble across this blog. Unlikely, yes...but even so...

* I'm getting back in the groove with my morning walks - the mornings have been brisk/cold but otherwise beautiful - so that's good. My basement workouts have fallen by the wayside over the last week or so because of a cold (or possible allergy...??) that has had me sniffling for a couple of weeks and now with a lovely, phlegmy cough to add to the misery. I can't seem to bring myself to doing the heavy-duty sweat-fest videos when I'm feeling this way so I'm glad I'm at least able to get in the walks most mornings. I'm now down 22 pounds and holding steady for the time being. I've been pretty good about food intake of late. Not perfect -- I could probably see faster progress if I were more strict. But, I'll take what I can get and enjoy the rest. Slow but steady wins the race, right?

* Rick has been working hard on our garden for the past couple of months and we have a nice little crop growing already. He decided to start a bunch of stuff from seed this year and set up some lights in the basement so he could get them started nice and early. He even set up programmable lights that would turn on and off at the appropriate times. Yeah, he's a geek...and I love him dearly. (It makes me want to go and order one of these.) So far, we have the following growing in our raised-bed garden (with cold frame to keep in the heat at night because we still have lows near freezing some nights): broccoli, lettuce, turnips, spinach, bush beans, and green onions. Everything planted in there, with the exception of the carrots, really took off and is growing great! Rick also started cucumber and yellow squash from seed and has those growing in separate pots that can be moved indoors if we suspect and overnight frost. Those have yet to start sprouting. And lastly, he started basil, Anaheim peppers, tomatoes, and a couple of different flowers from seed and those just recently came out from under the grow lights and he is starting to put them outside during the daytime to harden them off a bit before planting them in the ground. We are going to have a kick-ass garden this year -- all thanks to the green thumb of dear, wonderful Rick. 'Cuz left up to me we'd be doing our 'harvesting' at the local grocer every week...

I guess those are the major highlights for now.