Survivor--Mommy Edition

Well, we survived the first week of school! Emma had a pretty good week--her teacher gives the kids a play dollar for everday that they don't get in trouble. At the end of the week, if they have at least 5, they can get something out of the treasure box. If they want to save their "money", they can get a better prize. Emma of course spent hers as soon as she earned them--no saving up for something better:-) She picked out a penguin (looked like a McDonald's toy), and she also was able to take home the Play Do she has been using all week. Caleb had a good week as well--he made a 100 on his spelling test, and he was able to pick something out of the treasure box on the first day. He did have to miss 5 minutes of recess a few times this week--one was for tooting in class ( he will kill me for that later in life). He told me he just couldn't hold it in:-) I bought each of the kids a toy to celebrate surviving the first week--Caleb received 2 small ($4) Lego sets, Emma received an small Ariel doll with outfits and small shoes and such, and Jake got 2 new "Cars" cars. They were so excited and appreciated--I was told over and over that I am the best mom ever:-)

Jake did well without Emma here--he has asked everyday where she is, and once I answer that she is at school, he is fine. He has become very sufficient at playing by himself, which suprised me--he has been watching the movie "Cars", and has been playing that a lot.

Caleb had soccer practice Thursday night, and they received their uniforms--I hate to say it, but they really aren't that cute. They are black, grey, and white. I guess I don't like them because there is no color--last years had red, white and blue. His first game is tomorrow, and it is in the middle of naptime, so Shon will unfortunately have to take him alone--I know Jake will sleep, and I am betting Emma will be exhausted as well. Emma starts ballet Monday, and hopefully her things will be in, as her outfit from last year is not fitting to well--she has grown taller. (For those that don't know, our church has a dance program called Circle of Praise--the girls dance to praise music and the instructors teach that dance is a way of praising God). She is really not that excited, because after watching the Olympics she has decided she would rather take gymnatics. I told her since we had already paid for dance we would do that this year, but maybe she could take gymnastics in the summer.

I am going to try to finish up all of my outstanding embroidery projects this weekend so that I can use some of the new fabric I bought to attempt to make Emma some new dresses. I bought a few new patterns at www.youcanmakethis.com, and am anxious to try them.

We missed promotion Sunday last weekend, so the kids will all go to new Sunday School classes this weekend. I am praying that Jake will react well--he is at a really difficult stage right now with going into new situations. At my Kids Day Out meeting last week, he sat by the door and cried for the first 45 minutes, and then he fell asleep by the door. He got better as the week went on, but I felt so bad, both for him and for his teachers. I do know, though, as mom says, this too shall pass.

Well, gotta get to bed--I am sure my kids will be up early tomorrow even thought it is Saturday!

First Day of School!

That line always makes me think of "Finding Nemo". You can definately tell I have children in the house! Today was Emma's first day of kindergarten--I can't believe my baby girl is in school! I did great getting her there and into her classroom--and that is when my eyes started to tear up. I tried really hard not to let her see me, though. I had dropped Caleb off in his second grade hallway (apparently it is "not cool" to give your mom a hug when you are in second grade), and Jake and I took Emma in. She found her desk right away and hung her backpack on the back of her chair, put her napmat in her cubby, and was ready to go. Jake went over and hugged and kissed her, which started me going teary, and then I had to hug her and leave her there--she looked so little to me at that moment! Her teacher, Mrs.Petrie, was wonderful and gave me an encouraging pat on the back, and out the door we went. Once in the parking lot we made our way to the van and as Jake was getting into his car seat, he said," Where's Gray?" (for some reason he calls Emma by her middle name, Grace). I said she is at school. I immediately tried to call mom once I was on the road in the car, but she didn't answer. I called Shon and started truly crying, and I could tell he was uncomfortable on the phone as he asked if I had talked to mom yet:-) I did eventually make it home and talked with mom. Thankfully I had a Kids Day Out workday today, so my mind was elsewhere most of the day.

At pickup time, Emma was all smiles about her day, as was Caleb. However, by the time we had snacks and were relaxing a little bit on the couch, she began to tell me she didn't want to go back and she wanted to stay home with me. When I told her it was the law that she had to go to school, she told me to change the law:-) She cried a few tears, and then went upstairs to play. At supper she told me she had a good day, she was just upset earlier because she couldn't be a but rider.

Caleb won the distinction of being the first patient for the school nurse for the year 2008-2009! All of this over a bloody nose. Ms. Tracy is so sweet to him, though--not that he is in her office a lot, but on the last day of school I had to pick him up early for--a bloody nose! Nice that we are bookending the years like this. He enjoyed his day and his teacher, Mrs. Davis.

Jake was a little lost at home without Emma, but we quickly left to go up to church and work. We didn't leave there until 2, and then it was on to pick up the older kids.

Tonight at bedtime Emma was telling me the story of Sleeping Beauty--in her version Aurora "picked" her hand on a "steering wheel" and was friends with the "tooth fairies". Life is never dull with her!

Before I forget, Jake learned a new word tonight (thanks Papa!): googer, which means goober:-) He also learn b-ikle --bicycle, and ikle--motorcycle.

PS I was going to post of BTS pics with this, but I can't find the cable to plug into the computer and camera--so I will post them when I find it:-)

Bits and Pieces

So we have been trying to get ready for school, and 1 of the things we had to do was take Emma to her Kindergarten testing. So we went to the school and she went right in and one of the teachers took her back. When she was done, the teacher came out and said that she was very smart. I asked if she talked a lot, and the teacher (who was also named Emma) said, oh yes:-) Hopefully we won't have a problem when school starts. After we did testing, we went to Wal Mart so Caleb could pick up his school supplies. Emma did not need any, as we pay for all of the at her school. The kids had a good time looking at everything, but the Wal Mart I went to did not have a very big section. So on Friday I had to go back. Thankfully Shon was home and I was able to go to Wal Mart, Sam's and the mall sans kids. However, that meant I had to go in the heat of the day, where it was almost too hot to breathe:-)

Saturday mom and dad came here so they would be here for Caleb's baptism. They arrived around 12:30, and we just bummed around the house. I tried a new chicken recipe which thankfully tasted really good. (I am always nervous about trying new recipes, especially when it is not just Shon and the kids, but it turned out great). We also had squash casserole and salad, and pound cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. It was nice to cook for my parents, since I don't really have a chance to do that very often.

Today was Caleb's baptism. We had to be at the church at 8:30, which meant leaving the house at 8:15 at the latest. Thankfully we made it there with time to spare. Shon took Caleb to get changed, and I took Emma and Jake to their classes. Caleb did great! He was nervous, but Mr. Greg (kid's pastor) was really good with him. It was over by 9:10, and we enjoyed the rest of the service and sunday school. Then we went to eat at Las Palmas (yummy) and came home to pack up Emma and Caleb. Jake seemed disappointed that he couldn't go, but he has had a good time playing with daddy and getting into brother and sister's rooms:-) He brought something of Emma's downstairs, and I took it away from him. He forgot about it for a little while, and then tried to get it again. I told him no, and he crossed his arms and said, "oh man!" Thank you, Dora! Well, tomorrow is the dentist for Jake (Caleb and Emma had their appts. last week, and did great). I have a feeling that tomorrow will not be as smooth. That is the only thing we have to do before the older 2 come home, so I am looking forward to trying to get some embroidery and sewing done.