Exhaustion hits

The last few weeks I have been running around like crazy and I am tired. Last night I was the first one to bed at 8:05. The boys tucked me in for a change.

I knew parenting would be hard, but I didn't realize how exhausting it would be at the same time. I don't know how people do it that work full time. Maybe they have less demanding jobs or more energetic personalities.

I am off to bed as the melatonin kicks in and hopefully lets me get a good nights sleep.

More amusing anecdotes later, when I am awake.

Blackberry Ketchup

I used to go this restaurant, before we moved, solely for their blackberry ketchup. It was great with shoe string fries. Who needed a meal, when you could have a bucket of fries and a container of blackberry ketchup? It had been quite a while since we had been there, so imagine my dismay when we went there and they had dropped the blackberry ketchup from the dipping sauce menu. It was almost enough for me to leave on the spot. We stayed, but it just wasn't the same.

Thank goodness for the internet. I hunted for a recipe for it and wa-la, I found one. Yippee, now the delicious aroma of blackberry ketchup is wafting through my house and the french fries are in the oven.

It really is all about the little things.

Lunch Tales from First Grade

So my dear sweetP has started first grade. He a rather reserved little guy. The first day of school came and went this week. He took his lunch to school and because I forgot to deposit money into his lunch account I sent him with a juice box. No problem. He had a great first day.

Day two. I packed him a lunch and wrote a check for milk money. I deposited the money into his account after dropping him off in his room. No problem. We are getting this first grade thing down. He comes home having only eaten his cheese and half his crackers.
Me: "Did you drink your milk?"
SweetP: "No"
Me: "Why not?"
SweetP: "I didn't get any."
Me: "How come?"
SweetP: "I didn't know how to get it."
Me: "Ahh."

Day three. I packed his lunch (using most of the stuff that was left over from the day before). We went to his classroom. As he emptied his backpack, I asked his teacher to please buddy him up at lunch with someone who knows how to get milk. Problem solved. Wrong. He comes home and only ate his fruit snacks, crackers and half a bagel.
Me: "Did you get your milk?"
SweetP: "Yes."
Me: "Good, did you drink it?"
SweetP: "No."
Me: "Why not?"
SweetP: "I didn't know how to open it."
Me: "Ahh."

Last night. We practice opening an old orange juice container. Then I tell him to ask his friends for help if he can't do it. Then I find out he asked his teacher to open his fruit snacks for him. So it is all about priorities, fruit snacks are much more important than milk when you are six.

School's In

I am ready for the first day of school. I think. Our classroom is cleaned and organized. The desks have names on them. Our bulletin boards are up. My back to school outfit is picked out, but not pressed. My lessons are planned for this week.

Do students realize that their teachers are nervous too? That we lay awake at night running through never ending to do lists.

I am embarking on a whole new adventure in teaching. Fifth grade is a whole new level. At least in the classroom. I have worked with fifth graders before, but not every day. I better like it. I committed until retirement to my teaching partner. Retirement is long, long, long time from now.

But tomorrow the students show up and then the rollercoaster begins. And you can't get off until June. I hope it is a ride that makes you want to run around and get in line again immediately.

Realization

The other night I realized that once school starts (tomorrow!), I won't get to see my sweetP very much. I will get him ready for school in the morning and walk him to school. Then I won't see him again until around five at night. I know that most working moms experience this all the time. I, however, am used to seeing my children for at least half the day nearly everyday. Heck, I work part time for a reason.

He is my clone and I am having a hard time grasping how little real time I will have with him. So today we went on a date. Just the two of us to run errands (his and mine). Not exciting, but time just the two of us. What is an errand for a six year old? A visit to the Lego store and the Build a Bear Workshop. We agreed that he is a very spoiled boy, but nice none the less. He was very patient in the container store and the craft store, not a single complaint.

I was the first to complain once we got to the second hand store. He needed an over-sized, button-up shirt to take to school for painting in. We had given all of our old shirts away about six months ago. I have never visited a second hand store with a sale before. Wall to wall people. No express line. Our quick trip in and out to buy a shirt grew to nearly 40 minutes. I grumbled, he snuggled in. Now you see why I will miss spending time with him. We passed the time by seeing who could balance on one foot longer. Those yoga classes I took oh, so long ago came in handy.

We agreed that we need to plan dates to make up for our lost time. I think we all have some adjusting to do.

Remodel Photos

As requested here are photos of the almost complete remodel. You know how you get all excited about a project and jump right in before you realize that you should have taken some before photos. I had to dig deeply into iPhoto to find any photos that showed our house in its original state. So add this image to the before photos... dingy 12 year old beige carpet (even after deep cleaning), dingy white walls (probably also 12 years old), no character what so ever.


Our living room shortly after we moved in several years ago. The furniture was rearranged many times, but never seemed to work. The after photo from this angle has to wait until the stairs are done later this week (cross fingers).


A before shot of the view that greeted you when you opened the front door.


Our new and improved view. We actually have an entry way now. There are baskets for shoes, rather than the unsightly pile that used to develop by the door and a place to sit. And it doesn't feel all crowded now. We love it.



A better view of the entry way in all its glory. Can you tell that I love the new space. By turning the stairs we made the vault make sense, visually defined the living room and dining room areas and actually made the living room feel larger.

Ahhhh, Saturday

The progress on the house continues, but not by me. Ducky is outside on our sweltering deck reweaving our siding. It is a mere 78 degrees outside, but the deck thermometer says 102. Yikes. It is nice to get to be the one hanging out with boys, my only job is keep them out of the way.

I have even managed to get them started on a major cleaning of their room. Ice cream is being made as I type and all is right with the world. It's early yet, but I am deeming today a success.