Tuesday is our long day

Tuesday is our long day...or more accurately it's Lauren's long day. She's at school from 7-3pm and then we immediately head out for her new dance class from 3:30 to 4:30.

While Lauren was at school Tyler and I took it easy. We watched a couple of shows (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is his favorite,) played in his bedroom, did some puzzles and finished up with a Littlest Pet Shop birthday party. I'm enjoying my one-on-one time with Tyler during the day.

Once again Lauren jumped off the school bus with a big smile on her face. While she was changing into her dance outfit I asked her the daily questions.

6 Things She Liked About School
1. my friend
2. my teacher
3. my school bus
4. I liked eating snack
5. I liked everybody looking at how pretty my pony-tail was.
6. I liked P.E.

2 Things She Did Not Like About School

1. L: when I left I didn’t really like it. Me: Why? L: Because I really liked school and I didn’t want to leave it.
2. "I didn’t like when I leaved the PE room."

(Today she had her first day of P.E. She said they went for a walk outside and she saw another playground that was not as good as the one she plays on at recess...must be for the older kids. Tuesdays and Fridays are P.E. days)

After school we jetted over to Lauren's new dance class at the GA Academy of Dance. This is a different studio than last year's dance class but is much closer and has a much better viewing area. She is taking the Combo class (half ballet and half tap.) I was pleasantly surprised to find out that four of Lauren's friends are in her class. (Lea and then 3 others we've met through the Mom's club...the most familiar being Abigail (who's made this blog in the past.)) This will be fun for Lauren and also fun for me as I will get to have some company as we watch the girls dance.

Pictures from the first day.

Lauren and friend Delaney are paired up

...and there they go...

It was such a long day that Lauren fell asleep on the 15 minute ride home. Poor girl, she's still getting used to not taking a daily nap/quiet time.

After bath I braided Lauren's hair so she could have pretty waves tomorrow for school. Her and Cat Baby are modeling for me while watching Word World on TV.

Before it was time to read books and get to bed we watched a 3-D movie about the Boosterthon Fun Run that will be held at Lauren's school on the 20th of this month. Some family members may be getting an e-mail soon seeing if they would like to sponsor Lauren. (The kids were challenged to see if they could get sponsors from 3 different states. I'm thinking this may be possible with our family's geographic situation.)

Well I must be going. It's almost time for Big Brother to start and I still haven't watched today's episode of GH. So much to do so little time.

Night Y'all.

the bad, the shocking, and the school day

Matt got a letter from work last week saying that his 10% pay-cut was over.

YAY!!

The next line in the letter said that he was no longer a full-time employee.

NOT-SO-YAY!!

He now will be paid his full salary but only 32 hours per week worth.

YUCK! YUCK! YUCK!

In summary his 10% pay-cut has turned into a 20% pay-cut.

Due to our diminishing family funds we had to come up with cheap entertainment for the kids and also start to plan for a time when we may need a new primary residence.

And here you have the Cardboard House Fort.

(you can't tell from the picture but it comes with a flashlight taped through a hole in the top of it to provide some light inside.)

And as if this bad news wasn't shocking enough...

Lauren came off the bus today saying her tooth was about to fall out.

WHAT?!?!

My little girl who is riding the big school bus is now going to lose her baby teeth?!

I'll be looking for another gray hair tomorrow morning!

(this pic isn't for the queasy...(there's some blood))

But financial crises and my much-too-quickly-maturing-daughter aside...

Let's talk about Lauren's Second Day of Kindergarten

She once again came off the bus sweaty yet happy and healthy.

She quickly ate her snack and then had a 15 min. snuggle with Cat Baby.

Then she answered the following two questions.

Six Things She Liked About Her Day

1. everything
2. the school bus
3. my new friend but I don't remember her name
4. my other friend, Tera
5. the gummies in my lunch
6. my new friend's lunch bag almost matches mine

Two Things She Did Not Like About Her Day

1. didn’t get to play in the house on the playground
2. the round peanut butter and honey sandwich in her lunch box

I'm thinking about sticking with these questions for as long as she answers them.

1st Day of School and Weekend Recap

First Day of School

(I went to snap the obligatory "first day of school picture in front of the door" but my camera battery was dead!! I threw the battery in the charger and took this horrible photo with our ancient camera)

While Lauren was at school Tyler and I went to Jump 2 It.

He had fun and displayed an amazing amount of energy.

Naturally, he became parched.

Back home we waited, and waited, and waited

for the school bus to arrive.

finally!and sure enough my smiling little girl was safe and sound

and SOO EXCITED about her first day of school.

Emma asked if Lauren could come over to play and I said sure but I needed to be de-briefed first. Here she is giving me the scoop on her school day.

She was starving so as she was scarfing down raisins and graham crackers she told me about her day.

1. The school bus was her favorite part. She doesn't want to ride any other school bus but the one she did today.

2. They learned about respect and how to walk down the hall correctly with zipped lips.

3. They played on the playground with only their class. She made a new friend and played with her on the playground but she didn't play with Tera.

4. She didn't need any help with her lunch. She was able to open her applesauce, string cheese and put the straw in her chocolate milk all by herself.

5. She wrote her name "hundreds of times."

and I think that about covers what she told me. I will be grilling her everyday though for more information. =)

Overall, She Loves School!

and then it was off to play with Emma.

They showed up at my garage door awhile later and I gave them Popsicles to enjoy

Friday night we had the Hancocks over for dinner. Matt was glad because he got to eat meat tonight. (I've been on a vegetarian kick this week.) We had grilled chicken and rice with Aji Sauce. (Tia Mili's recipe)

On Saturday, Daddy and Lauren headed to Lowe's to build a Powerboat in their

Lowe's Build and Grow clinic.

She came home from the FREE event not only with a Powerboat she built but also an apron, safety goggles, certificate of completion and a patch for her apron.

Lowe's offers these children's programs twice a month. Matt said he saw one kid with over 10 patches on his apron. Next time we'll both go and bring Tyler too.

On his way out Matt asked if he could have another boat kit for Tyler.

Back at home the men got right to work on it.

Later Saturday afternoon Emma came over to play.

This was their chosen method of watching a show on TV.

...to each their own...Saturday evening we had Miss Olivia come over to sit with the kids while Dave, Susan, Matt and I went on a double date. Dinner and a movie. Yay!!

We started off at Uncork'd in downtown Newnan.

The food was good, the company was excellent but everything else was a little off. I think it had everything to do with the "outhouse"smell that greeted us when we walked in. hmmm.

After dinner we saw 500 Days of Summer.

It was funny and creative...I liked it.

After the movie we stopped in Wings-N-Things on the way home.

Here's Dave showing the dueces.

Do you think the employees were trying to tell us something?

(it's a little dark in the picture but all the chairs are turned up on the tables)

We asked when they closed and they said 10pm.

Weird since we walked in there at about 10:30.

It was a fun evening and we are sure to do it again very soon.

Maybe we'll let the guys pick the next movie. =)

And that concludes these highlights of the First Day of School and the Weekend Recap.

The Big Yellow Bus

My baby girl is on her way to school.

We woke up dark and early to catch the 7am bus.

She was so excited getting dressed and sporting her new backpack and lunch box.

She smiled big during all the picture taking.

(Tyler brought out his own lunch box too.) The elementary school neighbors

(l-r: Joshua, Shep, David, Emma, Lauren, Lea)

And then the bus arrived and Lauren broke down into tears.

She got on regardless and gave the bus driver Ms. Linda a big big hug.
Then she sat down in the front row with Lea and Emma and everything was better.
She even called me a "coo coo nut" which assured me she'd be just fine.

When Tyler found out he wasn't going on the bus he also broke down into tears.

And then the doors closed.

And the bus with my baby drove away.

I can't wait until after school to hear all about her day.

While she's at school I think Tyler and I are going to go to Jelly Jumping Beans and have some bouncy fun.

the latest

We've been gearing up for the first day of school.

Casey drove the school bus around at playgroup on Wednesday.

Lauren and Tyler broke the rules and popped their heads up through the roof.
At home Lauren showed off her skills at riding Tyler's bike.

and Tyler showed off his helmet.

Well done.

Today was "Meet the Teacher" day at Lauren's school. Matt took the afternoon off and we all went with Lauren to meet her new Kindergaten teacher, Mrs. Thomas. Her teacher seems like such a loveable person...I really think we lucked out this year. Another cool thing is that Lauren's good friend, Tera, is in her class. (This is the Tera who often appears on this blog.)

Tomorrow Lauren will catch the bus in front of our house at 7AM! and then enjoy her first day of Kindergarten at the local elementary school. I'm pretty sure I will cry when I see her off.

(Why are we starting school on a Friday?! Anyone?!!)

I'm pretty anxious to see how it all turns out.
Stay tuned!

Homesick Heartache

I’ve been feeling quite homesick lately. I know, I know, home is where you make it/hang your hat and all that good stuff …but we are making our home thousands of miles away from our family. We aren’t able to get together every weekend for family cook-outs, see our aging relatives as much as we’d like and we miss births and birthdays and on and on and on….

Don’t get me wrong though, I really love it here and I have many dear friends here but I guess I just get a bit homesick at times. And I suppose it’s not a big surprise that I should be getting homesick about this time of the year. It’s August 5th. It’s been two years today since my Dad died from a heart attack.

No warning…No preparing…No Goodbyes.

Just a 3am phone call from 3000 miles away to let me know.

It’s a homesick heartache I’m feeling tonight.

I miss you Dad!

conversations with the darlings, a two part act

Scene #1
Setting:
In the car in the parking lot of Walmart. Car and A/C is turned off, we are sweltering and yet going over the expected rules of behavior before we enter the store. (actually you really don't need to behave in Walmart but I see it as good practice for the kids none-the-less)

Characters:
Tyler
Lauren
Mommy (Me)

Me: [threatening] If you two don't behave in the store and listen to me then that means you are tired and you will both take a nap when we get home.
Tyler: [wisely] (silent)
Lauren: I know you say that but even if we are naughty then you will forget and we still won't take a nap.
Me: [in my head] Oh yeah, little girl?!?!... [still in my head] goodness sake she's probably right.


Scene #2
Setting:
I'm in the kitchen making up pizza dough.
Tyler and Lauren are in the playroom.

Characters:
Tyler
Mommy (me)

Tyler: (yelling from the playroom) Mommy, will you go upstairs please?
Me: [curious] Why do you want me to go upstairs?
Tyler: [adamant] I just want you to go upstairs for a long time.
Me: [quite curious indeed] What are you going to do?
Tyler: [matter-of-fact] I just want to knock this down (pointing to his Market Playhouse that I told him not to knock down.)



I Love These Clever Kids!!

The End.