My favorite quote from Eve ever… “Mom, do you want me to read you…?” Fill in the blank. This story. Goofus and Gallant. Calvin and Hobbes. I always say yes when she asks. I LOVE it!
Reading
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Labor Day weekend – life in the fast lane!
Ok, maybe “fast lane” is a bit of an exaggeration, but we kept busy. On Friday (a day off) we went to the hair salon, appointments for everyone! Then we had friends over to play in the afternoon.
Saturday we braved the potential elements and headed for the apple orchard. We started with the corn maze, an annual favorite, then on to the apple orchard, then we were pleased to discover blueberries still ripe for the picking!
First things first, weighing ourselves on the giant scale.
Lost in the corn maze?
Not for long! They’re off and running again!
Lex stopped and read the story along the way, but the other two just plowed ahead.
Lex is very efficient with his apple picking.
The moms doing the heavy lifting while the kids run ahead. Lex was nice enough to capture the moment for me. :)
I was so happy to find blueberries on the bushes!
We met another friend on the wagon ride back down the hill. She was in pre-k with Eve. Lex looks funny in this picture, but I like the angle otherwise. :)
Then we bought cider and donuts and had a picnic lunch. I had brought lunch food as well, not just donuts. :) Back home we made an apple pie and apple donut muffins. Yummy!
Eve peeled apples for pie.
Eve likes apple pie! And apple cider. :)
Sunday the forecast called for rain, but instead we got lots of sunshine so we spent the afternoon at a friend’s pool, soaking up the last rays of summer.
It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for the pool.
They had a lot of fun with these pool noodles. I may have to get some next summer.
Sunday night Eve and Alan had a “daddy date” (dinner and Home Depot) so Lex and I went out as well. I was thinking of taking them both to see Planes if it was a rainy day, but Eve didn’t want to see the movie and it wasn’t a rainy day, so that plan fell through. Lex really did want to see the movie though, so we while Eve and Alan were out, Lex and I went to see Planes, then we had dinner and did some grocery shopping. It was a really fun night, despite the fact that we stuffed ourselves with movie theater popcorn and Recees Pieces and both came home with bellyaches.
Lex helped with the grocery shopping. :)
Today we had friends over to play in the morning, and Aunt Mandy came to visit in the afternoon. Her and Alan went out shopping and to dinner so the kids and I went to the neighbor’s house to have s’mores! Nothing says Labor Day like s’mores! Parrish said, “We’re eating marshmallows. This feels like a holiday or something.” I said, “It is a holiday!” :) Lex had two s’mores (and a few stray marshmallows, I think) then ran around the house eight times! Eve had half a s’more and decided she liked toasting the marshmallows better than actually eating them.
We made another apple pie today. This one was a birthday present for Mandy. Notice that my helpers are so big these days they don’t even need to stand on chairs!
We have a lot of apples!
Toasting marshmallows.
S’mores. Yum!
Eve. What more can I say?!
Eve, contemplating how best to begin with her s’more. She got about 3/4 of the way through before she was done and handed it over to me.
She liked this part much better.
Lex ran around the house eight times then crashed at my feet. :)
Eve learned how to get up on the trapeze bar, with a little help from brother. I love when they work together.
They did some fancy tricks while burning off marshmallow energy!
The best trick! They can swing like this. I told them that now if I need to sell them to the circus (a running joke in this house) they will at least be useful there. :)
Now we are hopefully crashing early. Tomorrow begins week two of school. Hope we survive another one. :)
Happy September!
We survived the first week!
We survived week one of 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade! Luckily it was a short week because we are all TIRED today. School is great though! For everyone! Lex loves his teacher and was excited that they are allowed to chew gum in school now. Eve loves her teacher and her class. They are both pretty chill about it all. Old pros at this school thing.
I’m having fun with the 5th graders. We have a great class this year. They are friendly and funny and nice to one another. I got to teach my first lesson yesterday and another mini-lessons/UVEI assignment today. My mentor teacher is super supportive and encouraging. There are three 5th grades and the teachers work very well as a cohesive team. They are even doing rotating classes with “homerooms” this year, so my mentor teacher teaches writing/language arts to all three homeroom classes. Basically he’s teaching the same lesson three times a day. Yesterday I taught it the third time, after watching him the first two. :) Today I rotated with my homeroom class, so I got to see all three teachers teach their subjects. It was interesting to see their different styles and their different room setups and how they interacted differently with the same class. So much to learn! Our team meetings are really useful for me to learn what teachers watch for in student behaviors and development, what’s par for the course and what’s a red flag.
My kids are adapting to our new routine with the expected amount of overtired fussing. Alan walked them into their classrooms the first three days, but left them in the hall today. Lex apparently had a hard time with that. He told me all about it after school. Alan is weaning them off the morning drop-off routine that I’ve done for years (because I liked it) and moving to a drop at the door system, like most other parents do. They will be fine with it… eventually. :) It’s a year of transition for all of us.
Now we have a four day weekend and then another four day week. Time to recuperate and get caught up on some sleep!
More later. For now, a picture of Eve’s silliness this evening:
That looks like a good place to keep the toothbrushes, right?
Parking
On the way out of school today I told the kids that we had to go out the side door instead of the front door. Lex said, with wonder in his voice, “You parked in the teachers’ lot today?” I said yep and was amazed with the honest enthusiasm in which he replied, “Congratulations!! That’s one step closer to being a teacher!”
If it only it were so easy. :)
The first day of school!
Today was the first day of school. I wanted to be at school at 7:00am (I got there by 7:10 so there’s room for improvement tomorrow!) and Alan brought the kids in at 8:00am. I wasn’t confident in his ability to remember to take pictures, in part because he assured me he would not remember, so I had the kids dressed and ready for pictures at 6:50am. :) Don’t we look snazzy?!
First day back to school and we have smiles all around! The color coordination was pure coincidence.
Just the two of them… notice Lex is wearing the same shirt as last year? :)
I wish we had a really nice clean wall or hardwood door or something to take these pictures. They look a little trashy with our screen door and unswept porch, but it is what it is. It’s also been cool and rainy for the past two years when I’ve taken these pictures!
Lex.
Eve.
Everyone had a great day. The kids both came home happy and tired. Not too chatty, but I think that will come as they settle in. I enjoyed my class, and really enjoyed working with a teacher in the room. Sooo much easier than subbing!! Of course the real challenge comes when I have to write my own lesson plans. I’ll be there soon enough.
On the way home I suggested popcorn for snack (a favorite in our house) and Lex said, “Yeah! We can eat popcorn together and we can tell you about our day and you can tell us about your day.” Wasn’t that sweet. Of course once he got food and a book at the table he lost all interest in talking. Oh well. He ate three regular bowls of popcorn, a bowl of sugar snap peas, a tiny bowl of ice cream, plus another half of that blue bowl full of popcorn! Then an hour later he put away a big bowl of oatmeal (the usual way with almond butter, honey, and raisins) with a big glass of milk and a cookie. Hungry boy!
Lex was HUNGRY after school today!
Eve polished off her popcorn and ice cream, but didn’t have much else this evening. She caught a yucky cold on Friday and has been dealing with sniffles, low energy, scratchy voice, and loss of appetite ever since. She went to bed early tonight. I hope she can kick it soon. Of course, not without passing it to Lex who seems very sniffly tonight. Sigh.
Let’s see if we can pull this off again tomorrow! :)
Tomorrow is the big day
We are all pretty excited, though judging by the craziness of all of our actions, I think we’re all a bit nervous/anxious/eager ummm…. ya know, first day jitters! This is a year of change for all four of us and it begins tomorrow!
Videos
A few videos from the past week…
Last weekend Alan made oobleck with the kids. They all loved it. :)
During the week while I was at orientation and Alan was home with the kids, Lex decided to make a top-secret surprise. He spent a full day in the office with a Top-Secret Work in Progress sign (I should have taken a picture of his cute sign!) hanging on the office door. One morning he emerged with this:
I had the camera on the wrong setting which is why that video is all orange. I paused it for a second and switched settings. Here’s the rest.
That’s what we’ve been up to around here. That and so much more! One more day at home then three of us are off to school!
Necklaces
Do you like my new jewelry display? I have been thinking about for months. Scouring Pinterest and the blog-o-sphere. Planning. Thinking. Almost shopping for supplies. Are you noticing that I tend to over-think the stupidest things?!?
I bought two necklaces at the Gap yesterday (tres chic!) and with barely a thought started sticking thumb tacks into the inside of my closet door. A few thumb tacks, a sheet of old fabric, and voila! Jewelry neatly arranged. No tangles. No mess. Easy peasy.
It only took me about six months of thought and five minutes of work!!
Day three of “full time”
Day three of teacher training, “full time” away from home, homework every night, and I haven’t even started in the classroom yet. I’m exhausted! Rushed and trying not to be cranky with the kids. Tired. Oh wait, I said that already. One more day, then into the schools we go.
I picked Eve up from dance camp yesterday and took her to run errands. She was tired and wanted to go to a playground. I was tired and wanted to go home. We did ok, but we both clearly didn’t want to be there. As we headed home Eve said to me, “Mommy, I’m glad you have a job you like doing, but I wish we could go back to how it was last year.” So sweet and so sad because we are only just beginning!
Back to school… for me!
Today was my first day at UVEI! I’m so excited! It went really well and I came home feeling tired, but motivated. Let’s hope it lasts!
I started a new blog. I actually revived an old blog I started years ago when I was applying to nursing school. Like a lifetime ago! Check it out if you’re interested: exploring.learning.teaching. I thought it would be good to separate my personal blog and a somewhat more professional blog. I need to work on the style a bit, it’s kind of boring right now, but it’ll get there.