Everyday Life- late fall 2010

Grandpa Ken came to put up the swing he made Lucy for her birthday...she loved it. The other kids were a little unsure but they soon got the hang of it. This was mid-November, but the day after he put it up, the weather was gorgeous and a few neighbor children came over. They stayed out there for about 3 hours, taking turns on the swing!




Jane was using pattern blocks one day, and called me over to see what she made.


A few minutes later, she called me again. "Mama, I made ME!"


The car was covered with condensation one morning before school. The kids were miraculously ready early, so I let them wipe the windows.



This puzzle of the United States has been sitting out on our floor for a couple months, and all the kids have done it a few times. Even Jane can put all the pieces in within about 5 minutes...she's our Puzzle Girl now!


Jane somehow got interested in counting all the way to 100, so we stopped at the library after school to get her some books about it. That fed her interest, but she was always asking for help when she got to 29, 39, 49...what comes next? So we made her a chart, and she could look for herself. She figured it out pretty quickly, thank goodness. I'm talking about EVERY TIME she was in the car with me, she'd start counting, and needing help. Now, however, she is doing it in Spanish. And there's no way I'm making a Spanish counting chart...she can't even read yet. But she can go up to 100 (cien) with help.



I forget why we were so tired, but I know we stayed up really late one night and then had to wake everyone up to go to church. The girls crashed with Brendan in the afternoon.


Gene almost fell asleep, but then for some reason Brendan turned on a football game to fall asleep to...but Gene's eyes stayed open from that point on.


Jane figured out the entire ABC puzzle, which stretched across the dining room floor.


The girls built a barn stall for their animals.


Lucy arranged all the different-diameter pony-tail holders in concentric circles.


And Jane...she's into headbands these days:)

Long-overdue update...Thanksgiving 2010

The kids were all excited about the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration, especially since they are all talking about it and making Thanksgiving art projects in their respective classes. Jane kept asking and asking how many more days there were until Thanksgiving...so we made her a calendar (notice the stickers on Thanksgiving Day). She loved it!


We drove to Niles the day before, to spend Thanksgiving with Hannah's grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins. Whenever we go, for some reason, Brendan is always given the job of carving the turkey. A privilege, right?


Hannah's Grandma Lucy, from whom Lucy Joy Cousino was named. She observed the preparations...


Aunt Kate (right) and Cousin Lizzy, dressed for dinner.


Aunt Pat always brings out her best toys for the kids when we come...the girls just love all her Beanie Babies and Pound Puppies...

Jane (right) and her second cousin Easton played with the dollhouse. Actually, Jane put things in and Easton threw them out I think. He is about a year younger, though the same size as Jane.



Pat made aprons for the girls a while ago, and they insisted on bringing them so they could wear them when they helped cook.


Lucy helped Grandma H arrange the rolls.


Those are all the pictures we took, but Thanksgiving morning we all ran in the Niles Thanksgiving Day fun run...Gene ran a whole mile (!!!) and Lucy ran her goal of a half-mile (yeah Lucy!), while Jane rode along in the stroller. Grandpa H and Brendan and Kate's fiance (though not at the time) Craig ran the 5k.

Daily Talk

I haven't updated our "kids quotes" in quite a while...and I don't know that I'll even cover them all here. There are a ton! We went through a phase awhile ago when none of the kids were saying anything particularly amusing, and I was a bit sad that maybe they were growing up and out of that phase of life. But no, they were simply getting ready for the here and now. Here they are, in a somewhat particular order based from oldest to most recent...feel free to not appreciate these as much as I do, since you weren't actually there when the words were spoken. Half the fun (as you probably all know) is in the context and intonation in which the dialogues took place. Just use your imagination...

Last year (!!) Gene, watching baseball with B, "Papa, can the players see you through the television?"


Jane, eating a second muffin at breakfast, and having drunk none of her milk, "My throat is hurting after so much muffin.

Jane had laid her dolls ("babies") down for naps on the family room floor, covered with little washcloths, and started experimenting with how loud she could play the piano before they would be disturbed. She played a note quietly, "That doesn't wake up my babies." And another note, with the same comment. She went all the way down the keyboard, and her babies slept through the entire performance. When she played the last note, she stepped back a little and tripped over her babies, knocking one of their heads off a pillow. She astutely observed, "That DID wake up my babies!"


Jane, talking about a friends' baby who was born in May, "She's my sister. And she always likes to eat jelly beans, from my candy basket."


Jane was definitely in a "jelly bean phase" following last Easter. We went to Florida in the spring, and rode an airboat in the Everglades. Following the ride, having been helped down from the boat by the captain, she turned back to him and said convincingly, "I will give you one of my jelly beans for that!"

Lucy and Jane were discussing the eating habits of our (temporary) pet turtle.
Jane- Maybe he would like some worms or something.
Lucy- There are worms in our garden. What color worms would he like? Maybe pink.
Jane- Maybe he likes pink, or blue.

And then we were trying to figure out a new container for him to live in , because the cardboard box we had was too small...
Lucy- I know what Jake's new box could be- the whole house!
My- But where would he poop?
Jane- He could come get us and we would open the door for him and he could go outside.
Me- How would he tell us he had to poop?
Jane- He has a mouth.
Me- Does he talk?
Jane- No.

Now, moving up to the more distant past of September...

Lucy was eating breakfast one morning, and randomly (remember, she is dubbed the Queen of Random") said, "Mama, someday I want to dress up in a pineapple costume." We hadn't been talking about costumes, or pineapple, and we were not eating pineapple for breakfast.


Jane volunteered one afternoon to fold washcloths while I folded the larger towel. She said, "This is my exercise for my arms!"

One afternoon Lucy came running up to my and said, "There is going to be a jumping show! Do you want to come, Mama?"
Me- Who is going to be in the show?
Lucy- Jane.
Me- When is it going to start?
Lucy- In 5 minutes. The studio is just practicing now. Jane, go practice.
Jane- No.
(definitely you-know-who's idea...)

I had just decided we wouldn't do "afterschool jobs" because we were getting ready to go to the All-School Fall Social (a big party) at the big kids' school. I told the kids, and Lucy thought for a minute before replying, "Mama...Fall Social days are the days that we don't do afterschool jobs." (As if there were multiple "fall social" days.

Jane, speaking to Lucy as they began their pretend play, "There is going to be a parade soon."
Lucy- What kind of parade?
Jane- It will be a candy parade.

Jane painted a small birdfeeder, but when it was dry she didn't want to hang it up outside, "because someone might nibble it! Maybe a baby bird might nibble it!"

All the kids like to sleep in just their underwear, and think it's a special treat or something...for some reason they refer to it as "sleeping naked." So occasionally we get the odd request shouted down the stairs as they're getting ready for bed, "Papa, can I be naked??"

Sometimes Lucy can be rather hard to figure out. Case in point...she came downstairs on a still-dark school morning recently and said, "Mama, before I came downstairs, I flashed."
Me- Flashed what? Oh...you turned on the light for a minute?
Lucy- No, not the light. A flashlight. To see what color my clothes were that you laid out.


Lucy, directly after the preceding conversation, stared deeply into my face. "Mama, isn't it funny that your nose is like a bridge?
Me- For my cheeks?
Lucy- Yeah.

Gene (yes! A quote from the boy!), explaining why he's chewing gum, "It's always good to freshen up the breath!"



Jane, cold after having played at the park a long time, came up with a worried look on her face, "Mama, this sweatshirt isn't as warm as it usually is!"

Jane was trying to figure out "scary things" during the time leading up to Halloween. I explained that we don't need to be scared of things we see at Halloween, because God is stronger than anything scary. She mulled it over and then said, "Only babies are scared of lions and tigers and things." Then a minute later, "Really really bad ones will only nibble it (the baby?) but they won't eat the whole thing."

Lucy learned ALOT about the solar system during the first 2 months of kindergarten. One night she was out sweeping leaves from the patio (voluntarily- she loves it), and it was getting dark. She showed me her leaf pile, I admired it, and told her she could keep sweeping. As I was about the shut the patio door and go back to the kitchen she paused and looked up at me, "Well Mama, time to look for Mercury." And she did.

Jane, at the breakfast table, randomly..."Mama, when I turn four, Reenie won't know."


Lucy, at the breakfast table, randomly..."Mama, do you know what? The hand that I am eating with right now is my 'doing hand'."

Lucy, from the bathroom, "Mama, come and see the longest poop you ever saw!" I come reluctantly and she sits there and looks at me. "Why don't you take a picture of it?" I give a vague explanation of nobody really wanting to see a picture of poop, and made my exit. I don't think she understood why I wasn't as excited as she was.

Jane understands the concept of a "nickname" perfectly. She came up to me with a stuffed mouse and a ribbon, and asked me to tie it around the mouse's neck. "His name is Squeaky. But his real name is Squeaky Head."

Jane, while putting on her pajamas and a pull-up diaper in the kitchen, "Mama, thanks for buying me new dipes!)

I asked Lucy and Gene to go upstairs during that same evening and get ready for bed, and not be too silly with each other in the process. Jane said, "Yeah, cause I'm trying to get dressed with all this noise around my ears!"

Jane, in the middle of dinner, interrupting Gene who was talking about something else, "Mama, for next Halloween I want to be a tree stump. And you'll have to make it for me!"

And last but not least, an update on the youngest member of our family...Jane is growing! One night she ate one bowlful of mac n cheese for dinner, and a couple cucumber spears, and asked for seconds. When she was half-way done with that, she said she was full. She pushed her bowl aside and started eating a sucker for dessert. A couple minutes later she said, "Mama, I will take one bite of sucker and one bite of mac n cheese." And the next thing I knew the bowl was empty. She started back on her sucker again, until she felt hunger pangs again and reached for another cucumber. She said she was going to eat the rest of them! And she came pretty close.

Sick days...

So, the day after Halloween all the kids went to school like usual. But on the way home, Lucy fell asleep in the car (slightly unusual)...and when I brought her in and deposited her on the couch so she could start waking up (and I could start making dinner) she kept on sleeping. Jane, meanwhile, had also fallen asleep (very common) and I put her on the other side of the couch. Both girls slept maybe another hour, until I finally woke them up for dinner. Lucy said she wasn't hungry, Jane came to the table but proceeded to eat nothing...I finally thought to take their temperatures, and they were both over 100.

They proceeded to be sick for the rest of the week. Until Thursday evening their fevers stayed a little below 100. But it happened to be an awful time to be sick...Lucy's birthday was on Tuesday, and we had a big family party planned. So, the party went on as scheduled, and the girls perked up a bit and had a great time...but crashed again the next morning. They missed 4 days of school...Lucy missed her school birthday celebration, and her "Friend of the Week" week...every child in her class gets a special week to bring in pictures of themselves and treasures from home. Not good timing. But luckily, she didn't seem to worried, and she'll make up her week sometime.

The girls were confined to the couch mostly, but got bored after the first day. Jane got off her couch to sort Halloween candy.


Lucy and the magnetic cubes...


Opening a birthday card...


Decorating her birthday cake... (she requested a zebra cake, though she never talks about zebras and doesn't seem too attached to them in general)


Party at Grandma Hendricks'...



The girls had a smidgen of cake and a tablespoon of ice cream, and were jealous of Gene who got a bit more...



Lucy got many nice presents...the one she pulled out the next morning when she was confined to the couch again was a "box of goodies" from Aunt Reenie- art supplies! And we got her some art things too...To use an analogy: Art is to Lucy as sports are to Gene (is that an analogy...now I can't remember the right term for those things that were always on standardized tests). She can't get enough!

Halloween 2010

Candid pizza-eating shot at the Mitzel's house...some candid shots turn out better than others...they did exactly enjoy the pizza. I think 9 kids actually enjoyed the pizza before getting dressed up for trick-or-treating.




And then came the costumes...

Johny Appleseed




Little Red Riding Hood...



And little miss pumpkin... (with Aunt Kate)




All the kids posed together in those few minutes before the official start at 6:00...


The weather was nice...good times, good times...

Kids in training

We're training for the one-mile Thanksgiving Turkey Trot! So far Gene can run maybe 1/4 mile without stopping, and Lucy half that. Jane won't actually compete, but she's enjoying the practice...Gene gets his stopwatch out and times how long certain stretches take, and Lucy runs for a bit and then gets "bored" (her favorite word these days). She's not motivated in the same way Gene is, but I'm doing my best to keep it fun and without pressure. Our training is self-motivating: the first day we just tried to run/jog as far as we could. I recorded where each child stopped running. Then each day everyone tried to run at least a LITTLE farther than they ran previously before stopping to walk. If they beat their goal, they can have a chocolate chip when we get home.

After two days, it's been a success. We'll see where they are in a month!

Another week...

*Gene's birthday was last Thursday, and he had a "kid party" Friday afternoon, and a "family party" Sunday afternoon. The kid party went completely as planned- he planned the whole thing, and handed me the schedule of events the day before...down to what time each activity would start, and how many minutes it would last. He had three friends play a football game, and they had a blast! They were actually all interested, and played together for more than an hour. Then they wolfed down their dinner so they could go play more. I was hoping Gene would be happy with how it turned out, and I don't think it could have gone better!

*Saturday night was the "Monster Mash" at school. I brought Gene and Janie (Lucy had a cold) and it was an alright party. Tons of decorations (as in, parents spent all Friday evening and all day Saturday decorating the school), food, gross things to feel, science experiments, and little activities...Gene and Jane didn't seem to have a stellar time, but they were certainly interested in everything.

*I have a LOT of pictures to post, but it's too late now and I'm going to postpone those until another night. Also a lot of funny kid quotes, but those too shall wait.

Wednesday, Oct 20

*One more day until Gene's birthday...he is not as excited about IT as Lucy is about HER birthday which is in another two weeks. She is a lover of all things "birthday"- cake, ice cream, balloons, presents, friends... And having her birthday come last out of all three of the kids just makes her anticipation grow even more. She and Jane went out with B to buy a present for Gene (Brendan knows exactly what he's getting), and she said, "How about a balloon holder! You know, you tie a string onto it and then it keeps the balloon from flying to the ceiling." Would Gene like it? He would probably just give her a funny look. Lucy is known around our house as the Queen of Random.

*There were conferences at school today...Jane didn't have class, and spent various parts of the day with Grandma Patti, Great Grandma Rose and Great Grandpa Gene, and Grandma Hendricks. She had a great day! Gene and Lucy spent their day doing different activities around the school with substitute teachers, while their teachers met with parents all day. A creative way to keep kids in school at that time! Lucy told us they "just roamed around the halls" all day!

*Gene is really into math right now, and is happily working on addition and subtraction problems in his head (with the help of some fingers, sometimes) whenever he's at home. His teacher gave me a Montessori math activity to borrow for awhile, and I think he'll love it. I'm going to wrap it up and "give" it to him for his birthday:)

New Blog Format

So...this summer I was taking pictures, and then posting the pictures with short explanations...and that was that. Now, things are a little different. I no longer take many pictures throughout our day at home, because we aren't home as much. I have a different camera now, that doesn't fit in my pocket very easily, so I don't carry it around as I used to do. And, even when we are home, the kids don't do anything very interesting- most of our home time is spent changing clothes, putting away lunchboxes and backpacks, practicing spelling words...then it's dinner and bedtime.

That being said, I do still want to post and keep everyone updated on our life. I think I'll try the "seven quick takes" style and just post a few random thoughts/happenings every time I have a chance. There won't be a single topic for each post, just some random things. That's what my brain can handle this year! I won't have a specific number of thoughts, either- just as many as I can think of or have time for.

Here's what I've got today:

-Jane has a LOT of energy today after school. Usually she heads right up to take a bath, but today she asked if she could walk down the sidewalk a bit and come back. Then she started jumping off our wall, about 20 times. Then we had to go in, and she got out a stool and started jumping off, about another 20 times. Now she's finally settled down...:)

-We are getting overwhelmed with birthday party invitations! Being in school now, each of my kids has the potential to be invited to 15-25 birthday parties, depending on the number of children in their class. And it seems like all children's parties now include ALL class members. Gene had two parties this past weekend, Lucy has skipped one and has another coming up at the end of the month. Jane has one in early November. The other funny thing is, since they are including so many kids, not a single party takes place at the birthday child's home. We've been invited to a bowling alley, the Hands On Museum, two jumping/bounce houses, and Jungle Java. They are not the personal, intimate parties that I remember from my childhood, where we invited only our close friends (or our parents close friends) and had a simple house party. Now, we have Gene and Lucy's birthdays coming up very soon, and we can't compete at all! Gene is having a few boys over to play a football game (he was very insistent) and we'll have a family party as well. I'm not sure what we'll do for Lucy yet, but something small as well.

-Halloween is coming up...Lucy will be Little Red Riding Hood (with a red cape made by Grandma Patti), Jane will be a pumpkin (she wanted to be a pumpkin, and we happened to see a costume in her size at Goodwill one day...so there we go). Gene wants to be a Revolutionary War soldier, and is all excited about it, but now I think that costume is going to be tricky...we're going to try to convince him to be Johnny Appleseed...we'll see.

-We made applesauce all day on Saturday (after a birthday party, actually) and came up with close to 50 quarts. Enough to last the year, hopefully.

-I haven't been out to my garden since September, except to pull up a few green onions. I should declare it a disaster zone, if I could ever get out there to assess the damage the weeds are doing. I was pretty good all summer, but school started and I've been swamped with other work. So much for a "weedless garden"...(I've based the last 3 years' gardens on a book called Weedless Gardening...really works, if you have the time!)

Okay, that's all for now. Gotta put some stuff away and wash all the apple gunk off my kitchen floor before we pick up Gene and Lucy.

7 Quick Takes

I feel like I should post, but it's late and I can't think of a topic...so here goes some randomness...

1. Gene has been rather shy in class about asking questions, and I'm trying to deal with that on the parent side of things. I'm not going to be a hovering helicopter-parent and talk to his teachers for him, but I also don't want to allow him to miss out on things because he doesn't ask for help...case in point: he has been keeping his sweatshirt on all day in school, and I noticed that it was still on when I would pick him up, on really nice afternoons when everyone else had short sleeves. I asked him why he didn't take it off...and it came out that he didn't know how to hang it up (they use hangers in the class). Just ask, dude. There are no other great examples, just vague feelings I'm getting that he could really do himself a favor if he gets over his fear of initiating conversation with his teachers (who are a bit outgoing, but very friendly). I, the maker of all types of charts, posted a "Ask a Teacher for Help" chart on his wall. If he asks for help, and writes down what he asked for, he can have some extra Wii time if he asks 10 times. He has two so far, and a third is posted but it says, "I asked for help but I can't remember what it was for." Doesn't count, but nice try...

2. Jane has been sick since before her birthday in early September, with at least 3 separate colds, I think. The first one was accompanied by a fever. The third with an ear infection. Now she has been on antibiotics for a few days, and she seemed to be better since the weekend. But this afternoon her nose started running again. And she is (still?) coughing once in a while. I don't know if this is the beginning of round #4 or what...?

3. Lucy is the slowest kid in the world after school. She took a full hour this afternoon to change into playclothes, show me her papers from school, and put away her backpack and lunchbox. Seriously! I try to make her hurry it up a little, so she can have some playtime before dinner, but she doesn't see the point in that. She seems to need her "playtime" while completing these simple tasks. Maybe I should just let her...and just have her try to finish before dinner?

4. Our dishwasher has been leaking on and off for the last few months, but this evening there was a growing puddle on the floor and we finally had to operate on it. By "we" I mean my wonderful husband! We cleaned out the steam vent, and then just pretended to do other stuff, but basically we're just praying we won't need to replace it anytime soon.

5. Had a great weekend on a church retreat...usually I stay up really late talking to friends on these retreats, but not this one. I actually went to bed early (9:30 one night!) and slept in as long as I could. It was great. I wanted to catch up on sleep, but also to come home and not be completely sleep-deprived. A gift to my family, right?

6. I am really enjoyed my job as a preschool/kindergarten teacher. But now I'm reaching a point I know every student-teacher reaches at one time or another: I want to be the one in charge! I want to be the head-teacher, and make the decisions in the classroom. I see a number of small changes that would make a big difference in the classroom, but I can only speak up so much. I don't want to offend, and it's not my classroom after all. I am just there to learn, and to help out if needed. The tricky thing is, I have to make a good impression, and keep it, if I want any chance of being offered a job for next year. But if I go along with all their ideas and don't speak up, and then am offered a job, will it be a big shock if I run my classroom differently? Oh well...who knows what will happen next year, anyway?!

7. How many birthday parties are we obligated to go to, having three kids in a private school, and seemingly every child in all three classes intending to invite their whole class to a party? The girls have each gotten one invite, and Gene two. That makes 4, and it's only been a month of school. Each party took (or will take) place somewhere other than the birthday child's home...like the Hands On Museum, a bowling alley, Jungle Java, and a bounce house. I have met (in person) 2 of the birthday children. What are we supposed to give as gifts?? How many more invitations will be coming? This is crazy! And then I am planning parties for Gene and Lucy coming up, and we are definitely not planning a full-class outing somewhere expensive! Gene may have 3 (count them, 3!) boy friends over to play football...his idea, and he's very excited! Not sure about Lucy yet, but she'll probably have about the same number of girl friends for some low-key activity. Maybe an art project... Why don't other people have birthday parties like that anymore??

It's working!!

Jane and I are home today, since she is still sick with a runny nose and cough. We call it a "kleenex day". However, regarding kleenexes, it is always the parent telling the child to get one in our family. The kids like to pretend their shirt is an okay place to wipe boogers. Gross.

So, our big accomplishment of this sick day is the Kleenex Chart. (I realize I have become a chart person, but I can't help it- they usually work...) Jane can put a sticker on a piece of paper taped up to the piano (call it a "chart") every time she gets a kleenex without prompting. If I see her wiping anything on her shirt, I will make her get a kleenex, but no sticker.

A few minutes ago, in the middle of a movie, she jumped up and said, "Mama, I have to get a kleenex."

Wonderful!

First month of school

After the first month of school, I have learned the following...

-all of my "home time" during the week is consumed with either preparing, cleaning up, or thinking about FOOD. Breakfast in the morning, then clean-up. Come home and make dinner. Clean up. Plan and make lunches and snacks for the next day (5 lunches, 2 snacks for Lucy, 1 snack for Gene) and fill waterbottles. Then it's about bedtime, and I'm not kidding.

-the kids REALLY like cereal in the morning. It used to be just a Saturday morning treat, and I would cook something on the weekday mornings. Now it is just fast, and that's what counts. No one dawdles coming down to breakfast though, and they are all smiles in the morning. Granted, we are eating extremely healthy cereal...did you know kids could like Kashi's Go Lean Crunch? We also indulge in granola, Granola Raisin Bran, and Frosted Mini Wheats. They all like them all.

-it takes us exactly one hour from when the kids wake up until we can be in the car. Half of that time is spent eating the above-mentioned cereal. Apparently, healthy cereal requires a lot more chewing time...

-the kids are all into "art" these days. Lucy is a self-proclaimed artist, and the other two are aspiring artists, I think. Gene spends a lot of his free time coloring (with marker) some snake-like creations that he has drawn...he fills them in with stripes. True to his nature, once he gets interested in something, it becomes a full-time passion. We couldn't get him to touch markers, or any other artistic medium, for his first 6 years. Now he is drawing striped snakey things, and loving it...he probably does 1 or 2 a day, and has at least 15-20 by now!

-Jane is potty-trained now! Maybe a couple accidents since school started, but I proclaim her done. Finally! That was a long 1.5 years... She is also a master of the public restroom now. She can operate a stall door (both lock and unlock it) and is not (as) bothered by the loud flushing noise of some toilets. She can wash and dry her hands by herself, as long as there is a stool. She is proud of herself, I think.

That's all for now...too tired after packing all those lunches. Bed is calling...

There are a TON of good quotes from the kids, who have not said many funny things in the last year (at least it doesn't seem like it) but all of a sudden are spouting them right and left. Is something in the water?

Here's a small sample, but more later...

Lucy, sitting in the front seat of the car, tells Gene and a friend (who are being noisy in the back) to be quiet because they are "making my head fall off!"

Lucy, speaking to Jane...actually, arguing over who gets to be the waiter in their pretend restaurant. And Lucy was determined to outsmart Jane when she said, "Jane, there are two types of waiters. One is the waiter who waits for food. The other is the waiter who brings food."

And my favorite from Jane...I was wrestling with Gene a bit, and pretended to vacuum him while at the same time vacuuming up some crumbs. We do this often with the kids, and they generally like to be "swept" or "vacuumed". But this time Jane didn't see the humor in the situation. She came over with a very worried look on her face and said, "Mama, will you please not vacuum Geno? He's my favorite brother."

First day of school

We survived the first day of school:) I didn't take a single picture. I meant to, really, especially that "first day of school standing in front of the car with my backpack and lunchbox" picture. We'll get one tomorrow, and pretend it was the first day.

We made it there on time, with lunchboxes and backpacks, and the kids were just fine going in. Gene and Lucy spent some time in the before-school care room. Gene had to bring his favorite fruit (he chose watermelon) to make a class fruit salad for snack. Lucy brought nuts and raisins for snack, and came back with 3 cheez-its in her snack container. Jane told me she didn't have any snack (I'm pretty sure she did).

Gene said his favorite things were Spanish and music, Lucy did a bunch of art projects (most of them on her own, one with the class) and Jane had to change into her "extra outfit" as soon as we got to school, because I forgot to put the stopper in her sippy cup and water leaked all over her lunchbox and lap.

Everyone is fine, even excited, about going back. That is all that we can ask right now:)

As for my day, it went well. The children (for my mom's sake, I will refer to my own offspring as "kids" and the classroom bunch as children...will that work, Mom?!) were all ok about their parents leaving, and no one really cried. I like them all, and see a lot of potential in them...really a bunch of cute children! I spent the morning in the preschool class, then go to eat lunch with the kindergarteners, and spend a bit of recess with them, then head to the nap room and rub backs and try to get the little children to sleep. Jane was one of them, so I got to see her.

That's all for now. Pictures coming...sometime.

An update already?!

I actually have a minute, so here is a new update. We haven't been home a lot lately, but when we have the kids have been keeping themselves pretty busy.

We had a puzzle morning, and Gene and Lucy put together most of a 100-piece puzzle all by themselves, after complaining that it was too hard for them. Jane is a whiz at the wooden puzzles, and I've had to pull out the easy ones and leave the hardest for her.



We had pancakes for breakfast one morning, and Jane at one point announced, "I am going to make a face." She promptly broke her pancakes into pieces and arranged them like so:


Two eyes on top, a mouth on bottom, and a nose and two cheeks in the middle.



We went to watch our friends play softball, and while they were playing the kids played on the playground. Until a few of them discovered the dirt in the dugout of another field...



This one ran to investigate, was told by her mom that it was ok, stopped to get a drink, and announced to the kid-pack on the playground that the dirt was up for grabs.


Pretty soon it looked like this. And all the parents started planning bath-night.



Jane helped me make my bed one morning...she actually insisted that she would do it by herself that time...and she mostly did:)



We've had the sprinkler on the last few days, because our grass is parched and looks awful, and the girls have enjoyed taking advantage of it. Their favorite sprinkler activity is trying to catch the water in buckets (which takes forever, but they don't mind!


We're headed up north for the weekend, and then school starts!!