1st day 2nd day...what's the difference?

We took some pictures of Jacob again this morning...since you know who, did you know what...Second time was a charm. Jacob had a great morning and day at school. I did not have to work technically so I was able to pick him up. That is the hard part about being a working mom. I don't get to pick him up when he gets out half-day. But today I did and I hold on to those bright smiles I see when they see I am there.

When we picked up Joshua, he looked a little sad. With his lip quivering he told me that Paul was not his friend anymore and he would show me why when we left. I took him in the hall to get the scoop incase I needed to talk to the afterschool assistants. You know me, why wait until tomorrow to open up a can of whoop-ass. It turns out to be a funny story. Each day I learn how sensitive my rough, tough, muscular boy is. He was upset because Paul made him sit in the swing with bird poop and it got on his shirt. I told him boys always tease and trick each other and hopefully he will not let it ruin a friendship because good friends are hard to come by. I mean really, do you know how many piles of bird poop Chris made me sit in...and we're still friends.

Have a fun, safe Labor Day Weekend. I'll be welcoming my students back on Tuesday. I look forward to seeing them again.

Jacob's turn

Did you ever notice how there are millions of pictures and video of the first child, and less and less of the following children. Well, today Jacob started school. I'd love to show you a picture of him. But he is not the first child so I don't have one. Before you hang me on the cross with nails, I DID take one, two actually. Auntie Chris DELETED them before I got them on my computer!! Can you believe that? And she calls herself an Auntie. We may have to revisit that...

So it was a bit of a rough morning. Let's just say that after they peeled him off me, I called Jim to see if we could homeschool him and then called Kellie, his babysitter since birth, to see if she would homeschool him. But, being a teacher for many years and a mom of a boy who have two years of tough starts, I know that they are fine when they are in class. Jacob was picked up by Kellie with a glowing smile on his face. He is so articulate and shared his day and worries, told all about the story they read and I think he will be ok tomorrow.

It was the sweetest moment though this morning especially when you have brothers that can annoy the heck out of one another. Before Jacob even started crying, Joshua was already teared up, "Mom, I'm worried about Jacob in school". When I picked him up this afternoon the first thing he did was ask Jacob how school was. I think he was relieved that he had a good day. I love those moments.

1st Day of 2nd grade

Joshua started school today and he did great. He went to the before school program with 2 years under his belt and I was on my way. He was excited to see his friends. He was a little upset at me when I picked him up a little later than he asked me to from the afterschool program but all was forgiven quickly. He resumed his routine of ravishing anything left in his snack/lunch bags and rested a bit when he got home. It is so great that he has more confidence and comfort. Tonight he went to bed after a leg massage (the poor kid gets growing pains) ready for the next day ahead. Tomorrow Jacob will join us. Oh man, my little babies are growing boys.

Time for another baby!!! If only...my husband just won't budge :)

Busy Busy

Being the last weekend before entering the Real World again, I wanted to do some fun family things. On Saturday we went to the beach. We brought blankets, four wheelers, sunscreen and the intention to just hang out near the water. The sky was a beautiful blue with not even a puffy white cloud in it. There was a nice breeze which makes you forget you're burning. When we got there the tide was out and then started coming in after a few hours. We just moved our blanket back a bit, got some lunch and then headed back to our blanket. The waves were much bigger and fun for the boys. Jacob, however, is not much of a wave boy (Jim quickly put him down when his teeth fell out of his mouth and Jacob was met with a wavel.) so he hung out mostly in the sand with his four wheelers. It was relaxing and I don't think there was one fight while we were there.


On Sunday Jeffrey went to play paintball and the rest of us headed to some new trails in Alton where they were having a mudbog. Not quite as exciting as the one Jim played in but it was still fun. We did a little riding but not too much. Jim's machine is still not fixed since his mud bogging so he was on the back of mine. I offered to sit on the back but he said I could chauffer. Jacob has also been sick so he was getting tired easy. He loves that he has a fourwheeler of his own now (Joshua's old one) but we can tell he misses being Daddy's co-pilot. I think the next time we go we will go somewhere where he can ride with Jim for a change.

This week marks the start of school for all of us. The boys are ready.


School supplies Check

Backpacks Check

Sneakers Check

Haircuts Check

Clothes............(We'll save the picture for the 1st day of school)...Check

Jeffrey starts on Tues., Joshua starts on Wed. and Jacob starts on Thursday.

What a great few days we had! We took our time on Tuesday, not rushing to get ready. I knew we would have Auntie up early on her birthday since we were going to StoryLand so I let her sleep until 10. On our way up we stopped at the Basin for a little break. We walked around a bit and took a few pictures. It was a bit too muddy on the trails from all the rain that has fallen this summer. Then I dragged everyone to one of my old neighborhoods. Places sure look a lot smaller now than they did when I was 5. We stopped to get some new flowers to bring to the cemetary but I couldn't decide on any, I'm not quite ready to get the fall colors yet. We went to visit anyway. I can't believe it has already been that long. It will soon be one year that I found out my dad was first sick and in no time it will be a year that he died. It is still very hard for me and even though things weren't great in his last years, I remember the years when they were. He and I had a special relationship and in the end he and I knew it and the rest was forgotten.

StoryLand was a fun day. It is a cute little place based on Mother Goose tales. Sadly, the boys don't really know any of them to realize the pigs and goats were not just cute animals and what the Old Woman in the Shoe was about. It's kinda like Disney. They don't watch Mickey or many Disney movies to know many of the characters if we went. To them it would all be about the rides. I remember when we brought Jeffrey and he was not impressed at all with the surroundings. It was nothing like the commercial where the kids pass the gates and are frozen still with amazement. All he wanted was the rides. I remember thinking we could have saved a few thousand dollars and just went to Canobie Lake Park for $25 a whack. I did learn that we need to model some patience for the kids in that some things are worth waiting for. Joshua did not want to wait in any lines. If there was a line it was not worth waiting for. We live in such a fast society that we always keep moving forward and we need to rmember that sometimes you need to slow down and wait to enjoy things.

We saw a special friend on the way home too. She must be popular because everyone stopped to see her.

Happy Birthday Chris and Christian

Auntie is such a good sport. We are going to Maine for a few days and she will be spending her birthday at StoryLand on Wednesday. Yippee!!!

She shares her birthday with our nephew, cousin Christian. He is turning three.

Here is a little Happy Birthday Video for Christian. (We'll sing to Auntie in person)

What have we been up to?

It's been a few days. But sometimes our life seem boring, mundane and not worth reading about. Each day I am greeted by Jacob saying, "Mommy, what can we do today?" He greets his babysitter the same way. I don't always feel like doing 'things' especially if we've had a busy day the day before. Like today. Yesterday we went to York's Wild Animal Kingdom, then to the beach and dinner. Got home @10 pm and today I'm still in my PJ's doing overtime for what didn't get done yesterday.

Auntie has been wanting to go to a zoo and we had hoped to this summer but it hasn't happened yet so I asked Jim if he wanted to go to York's. It's no zoo but they do call it one. We had a fun day. Jim told the boys they could have whatever they wanted, which to them meant soda and gift shop. We went to the gift shop and guess what Jacob picked, a nice reminder of our day with the monkeys, ducks and other animals, a four wheeler and trailer. That's our boy! Thank goodness the piece of plastic crap only cost $8, unheard of from a gift shop. It was fun, but certainly not something we would probably do again. One time is enough.

After we headed to York Beach. We got there and it was about 5, so not crowded, and really low tide. It was great. We have been there several times but never caught it this low. It is a great little beach and Jim and the boys searched for their usual crabs in the rocks. They did find a starfish, the first real one the boys have seen. Next to Patrick Star that is.

I think the school shopping is pretty much under control. Joshua is going to be a tough one I can already tell. We went to 6 shoe stores and two online sites before he picked a pair of sneakers. I think it was more so difficult for him because he had to pick one pair. He is used to having 5-6 pairs. I told him he needed to love the ones he picked because we have on two occasions had him have to have shoes that he didn't end up really wanting to wear. He has always been a shoe guy since he was a baby wearing everyone's shoes at the door. Last night at the restaurant we were seated near a corner and they had Elvis sitting in a chair with a guitar. Joshua was across the table and said, "Jacob, can you move? I want to see his boots." He cracks me up. A couple of times I have asked him, "Who was the girl sitting next to you in the class picture?" to which his answer was "What shoes was she wearing?"

Today was the last day of summer school. I have to admit, it wasn't anything like I thought it would be. I was worried about only having 3 students(1 new and 2 of which can get on my nerves during the school year) and an aide. I actually ended up enjoying it. The kids were great and I really think they got some intensive instruction that they really needed. Each Thursday we 'cooked' or made something. Today we made an Orange Dream with orange, pineapple and cranberry juice and orange sherbet. It was yummy. It is so good to see the kids do things that many do not get to do as it is just easier for us Moms to do instead. PS- I always thought it was sherbert.

I took this picture the other day and Jim and the kids saw it and asked me why I took it. I took it because I always wonder what it is that people actually have in their refrigerators. I have seen many people's fridges and they are jam packed. We have a family of 5 and it seems the only thing in our fridge is drinks. What do people keep in the fridge?

I brought the boys to the pool today. They are into diving and it is the cutest thing. Jacob totally reminds me of a little penguin. He starts off with a divers stance, then puts up some animal ears and floats on the top like a penguin. I could just eat him right up. Here is a quick video.

It's just around the corner

We started school shopping this week. I'm trying to be better about not waiting until the last minute and complaining that they have nothing. We started at Wal-mart to get the school supplies. It is crazy the list of supplies they would like us to consider getting. Pencils, scissors, markers-fat and skinny, highlighters, 6 glue sticks, colored pencils, crayons, scotch tape...and all of that is supposed to fit in one small pencil box?!#% I think we should start asking where our tax dollars are going and the Box Top for Education money as well. Not to mention the tissues, wipes, paper towels, clorox wipes etc. that would also be appreciated.

Jacob was so excited when we got home. We took out all of the supplies and labeled them as we put them into the pencil boxes. He helped by sharpening the pencils. When he tried his backpack on he came back in and said, "Mom it knocked me over." I told him just wait until it is filled with his spare clothes and snack. Thank goodness the pencil box will stay at school.

I was just saying the other day that I hadn't gotten any letters from school so neither of them must be in a peanut free class. Joshua was in one last year. I did see on the school roster that Jacob's teacher was labeled as an allergy free classroom. I thought maybe they changed it each year to give the teachers a break. Well today I got the letter. Jacob will be in a peanut free class. Luckily I am already use to it. Joshua was not a peanut butter and jelly guy anyway and for Jacob it will only be snack. I am already use to reading the backs of packages.

We got some clothes at Old Navy and JCP. I was so disappointed with Old Navy and was last year as well. They just really seem to have nothing these days for boys. The little boys section is cute and the girls is as well. We scored some things at JCP even with Auntie not there. It is so hard with Joshua because his waist is too big for the 8 and his legs are to short for the 10. We are literally going to have to try on different brands and see what we can come up with. Good thing he will wear shorts for a while. I was bad though and had to buy some things for my nieces just because I don't have girls and the stuff is so damn cute!!!

PS I forgot to mention that Jim messed up his machine playing in the mud. It is idling real high and can't go above 10 mph. He'll have to take it apart and clean all of the grass out. You wouldn't believe where that stuff gets. Jeffrey had to be towed back by his friend. It apparently didn't like the mud puddles from all of the rain. And Joshua's...........the thing just hasn't been right since we got it. Not quite sure what the outcome of that will be.

3 days, 3 trashbags of laundry???

How does that happen? I guess it's same reason that when we go grocery shopping for the weekend, it costs more than my weekly bill!!!!

The weekend weather ended up being better than it had looked. We started off early Friday morning, with 6 people in the truck and six machines in the back, one standing on end and another in the truck bed. We went right to the ATV Rodeo and it looked like the weather was keeping people away. It was a little disappointing because they didn't really have any events for the kids to do. In the past they have had an obstacle course, which was apparently under water this year. The place was saturated as is the rest of the state. It rained off an on but not too bad, they had tents to protect my hair seek shelter under. The cool part was that they made a new mud run this year. Since Jeffrey is older and is at that 'don't really want to hang out with my family' stage, he was off with his friend and not around to do the mud run. He usually brings Jim's machine through. So this year, Jim did it. The little boys were so proud and loved getting to watch him go through. "That's my Dad!", I heard Joshua say. Here are some pictures of him. Can anyone say bleach?

Even the girls get into this. Here are some pictures of one attempt.

Here are the boys ready for Daddy to time them. Joshua didn't want to try the Radar Run with the big boys so they used the track when they were done.

The rest of the weekend was blue skies with fluffy clouds. The water was quite cool from all of the rain and was much higher than I have seen it in years. Not too much swimming happening this weekend.

Friends and Family site

I went to look at the Friends and Family site that I set up for us all to share pictures on. It has a new look and it freaked me out a bit. I had to figure it out but here are some tips for those of you who do post pictures or comments. The sign in is as the top, Member sign in. Then there is some faint writing that says ask to become a member. I think that will allow you to add pictures when I get the email to add it. What a pain! I hate change...it will take me a bit to get use to it.

Time for the Mud Runs

Tomorrow we head back up north, this time for a four wheeler jamboree. I think this is year number three that we have been. The most interesting part of it is watching people go through the 'mud pits' which are actually 3 foot deep mud puddles in my opinion. Jeffrey takes Jim's machine through it, doesn't want to get his dirty-doesn't like to clean it. Jim chomps at the bit to go through but never has. Honestly I don't think he wants to get his boots muddy. What else would he wear? :) The rest of it is really venders, so I get to hear a lot of "Mom can I get this?" and "Babe, I've got to have that!"

This could be a tough weekend up at the camp. It looks like they are having the same weather we are having here. That makes it tough when night falls and you have one channel that comes in and it is the one that always shows shows like Crime Scene Investigation and other gruesome shows that are so appropriate for a 4 and 7 year old. So weird saying 7 and I can only say 4 for another two weeks. Jacob turns 5 on the 3rd. The biggest problem is that we are bringing an extra teenager and four wheeler so we will not have much room to bring extra entertainment objects, aka toys. So please be sure to channel me all of your patience for the weekend.

Hey I think know I learned a new trick. Now if I could figure out learn how to do it without the underline. Ooh, a challenge.

Got it! Boy I'm good AWESOME!! j/k

A little of this a little of that

We headed up to the camp for Joshua's birthday. This caused him some stress. I had told him he could stay up as long as he wanted for his birthday so he didn't want to drive home on his birthday. "What good is staying up if all you are doing is riding in a car?" We got home around 9 and he did stay up. Jacob, surprisingly, went to bed on his own and Joshua enjoyed his night of watching television until Jim told him @11:15 that we were going to bed and that he really shouldn't stay up past 5:30. "I'm going to bed if you are". So we went to the camp, had a great time with Auntie, Jonathan and Nicholas and Joshua got to stay up as long as he wanted (and got to watch TV-which is apparently the great thing about getting to stay up late).

Believe it or not, school is just around the corner. And that means Joshua is chomping at the bit for new clothes and shoes. "What do you guys want to do today? Do you want to go to the park?" "Can we go to JCPenney?" (Joshua) At Target, "Hey Jacob, do you want to look at the backpacks? What kind of backpack do you want for school?" "No, I want to look at the toys. Can I have this mom? Mom, can I have this?" School shopping always cracks me up. You go shopping and they end up wearing shorts for the first month.

We did go to the mall the other day to get some hermit crab sand and a new friend for Crabby. Unfortunately, it didn't even make the trip home. They have a 7 day return policy so we headed back later in the afternoon for a replacement. So far, so good. This one is a little bigger and I can tell...I can see the poops all over. That's what happens when you're surrounded by boys, you get poop on the brain. Today I brought the boys to a park that had one of those talking tubes that you talk into on one end and are supposed to hear through the other end across the equipment. I find that I have to remind them that there are other kids around because I know the first thing out of their mouth is going to include poop, fart or their noises. Lucky Me :)

Happy Birthday Joshua

This blog thing is almost like work. I had to search and search in order to complete today's post. Today Joshua turned 7. I though it would be fun to take a look back at all of his birthdays.