The Wheels Are Rolling

A Trick Or Treating Alternative

2009-11-05T05:35:00.000-08:00

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For several years now, I have been wishing for an alternative to trick or treating on Halloween. Most of the houses in our area don't participate, so it ends up being more walking and freezing than actually candy acquiring. So I found a local mall that was doing an inside event this year.

I was amazed at how crowded it was. The employees at the mall that I talked to were surprised too. The event was supposed to run from 4-6. We got there right around 4:00. The line for the jump inflatables was already down the mall, so we started out with trick or treating.

The majority of stores had an employee right at the door handing out candy, but a few were sticklers for trying to get people to actually come into their stores, probably in the hopes of buying something. I also thought this sign was funny because we noticed last year that the trick or treaters generally don't even say "trick or treat" anymore. They just stand there with their bags open. I made every kid say it before I gave them candy this year. It's the principal of the matter :)

After we had been around two of the four wings, the kids were starting to get restless because of some of the lineups. So we skipped the biggest lines to keep them moving, which they were thankful for.

Before we were even halfway around, another type of sign started appearing. Apparently, everybody in the mall had not anticipated the crowds that would turn out for the event. The boys weren't disappointed though, because they just wanted to get to the play area anyway.

Noah was less enthusiastic about the whole event until we got to the table that was giving away old beanie babies instead of candy. His new "buddy" has slept on his pillow every night since and has even made a trip to school.

Aaron's favorite, as always, was hugging the walking characters that were there. I wonder how old he will be when he grows out of it. It's still cute for now.

Unfortunately, the play area and the inflatables were still WAY too crowded, so we headed over to the brand new Barnes and Noble in the mall to browse instead. The kids loved that it was a bookstore "with two floors" so they were content to sit and read for quite awhile before we headed out for dinner.

After dinner, trick or treating was still in full swing and the kids were happy to just give out candy to those coming to our house before turning in for bed.

Even though it was crowded, Steve and I both agreed that we liked this better than what we've done in the past and I hope the event continues for years to come.

Wordless Wednesday: The Catalogs Have Arrived

2009-11-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Tackle It Tuesday: How Many Bags?

2009-11-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

Just like most of the population around here, we took advantage of a BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon this weekend and got our yard raked up. We always have to do two attempts, since our tree dumps leaves so late, but the first is always the major job.

We got the kids outside by bribing them with permission to jump in them as we were doing the majority of raking. At first there weren't very many leaves, so the boys found other ways to amuse them selves. It resulted in pulling out the now unused stroller, and taking turns racing each other down the sidewalk. After awhile, Aaron grabbed the doll stroller and it turned into "races" until Aaron, as was the case all weekend long, started whining about it. So Noah decided to "drive" his stroller through the sidewalk where we were working, and loved the leaf attacks from Daddy that resulted.

After the pile got bigger, we decided to do the same as last year and make predictions about how many bags of leaves we would fill before the job was done. Everyone made a prediction:
Aaron said
Noah saidDaddy saidand I saidStay tuned at the end for the winner

So seeing the piles , the boys finally got to jump. I was all motivated to try to get an artsy shot of two happy little boys jumping into leaves together.Howeeevrer, in reality, it didn't really come to fruition. I had the camera on the wrong setting, and as I stated earlier, Aaron was not being the most agreeable that day. But it was still cute, albeit a little blurry.

After the fun, we really needed to get down to business. After a run to the store for heavier garbage bags, and a little bit of unpleasant coaxing to the children that they needed to help, we made a lot of progress. Noah helped with raking and both boys got the hang of BIG armfuls of leaves going into the bags.

We did finally get the work done, and I even got started on hanging lights around the windows for Christmas. No, I'm not going to light them yet, but in Michigan, you have to take advantage of warm weather when you get it, or your fingers freeze when you're setting stuff up. I'll work on it more when we get another stretch of warm weather.

Last year, the winner of the bag prediction game was Noah. Guess who the winner was this year?
That's right, me. The leaves are now in the back of Steve's truck and on their way to the city. And we have a string of four houses with very nice looking lawns. Bring on the snow!

Wweekend Top Five 11/2/09

2009-11-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Yup, I'm bringing it back this week. We kept pretty busy this weekend, even though as I sit here, I have no idea what we did. Several of these I will be elaborating on later, but here's our weekend in a nutshell:

5. Aaron Class Party
After much work (and more cash than comfortable), I planned a pretty good little party for Aaron's class. They don't wear costumes at his school, and dub it a "Harvest Party", but we all know what we really were doing. I had the class do two crafts, decorate cookies, and had also made a little Bingo game. Then they had their treats and it was time to go.

Everyone had a good time, but a strange phenonmenon happened. While all the other kids were hyped on sugar getting ready to go, Aaron went the opposite way. He got VERY sullen and grumpy, refusing to even look at the camera for pictures. The teachers were both completely shocked, saying they had never seen him like that. It opened my eyes up to the possibility of having food issues of some sort with Aaron as well. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on it as time goes on. He actually stayed grumpy the entire remainder of the weekend, though, so who knows.

4. Friday Night Out
Steve had his long driving day so I knew it would just be me and the boys for the afternoon and evening. We came home from school and played for awhile, then decided to go out to Noodles for dinner (our favorite eatery, even though there is something in the pasta that makes the kids go psycho shortly thereafter). Afterward, I took them to Toys R Us to get a head start on their Christmas lists.

I wanted to know what to plan ahead for as I was searching the ads. I was glad I did though, because especially Noah became focused on one kind of lego toy he wanted, and now I won't have to guess. I was a fun night out but both boys were happy at bedtime when I told them that Daddy would be home on Saturday and we could have a full family day.

3. Saturday Halloween
Since it was supposed to rain, and our neighborhood sees fewer and fewer houses offering treats each year, we decided to forgo neighborhood trick or treating and take the kids to the mall instead. The crowd was bigger than they had ever had before. I am actually going to post about it later this week, since I got some fun pictures. Afterward, we took the boys out for dinner (kids ate free for Halloween) at a local burrito place, and were treated to smoke inhalation as the fans in the restaurant were broken. Hubby still has a headache from it as I write this Sunday night.

We came home just as kids started trick or treating and the kids were thrilled to be handing out candy. I was happy to be getting rid of all of the candy that we had just acquired at the mall anyway.

2. Sunday Time Change
I was pretty excited about the chance at an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning. But, alas, it was not to be. Noah, my usually good sleeper, was up at 5:00 using the bathroom, and proceeded to visit that room several times again over the next couple of hours, and nobody (except Steve) went back to sleep. However, both boys were in bed and asleep before 7:30 on Sunday night, so I guess it will be a good thing after all.

1. Sunday Afternoon in the Leaves
I am so weird. I actually enjoy raking leaves. It is one of those jobs that you work your tail off, and you can actually see an obvious result when you're done. Like so many years in the past, I failed to take a before picture. I have a fun little post written about it later this week so I won't share too many pictures of our acventure. I love that the boys are able to help with the task now, even though it took some coaxing after jumping in the huge piles for awhile.

I know we will probably have to rake one more time, but while we were working, apparently the other families around us got motivated as well and we had four houses all out raking and cleaning up their yards for the winter together.

Thwe Week Ahead:
We're still waiting for the flu to hit, as I'm sure it has to, since it's hit everyone else we know. I decided against the H1N1 vaccine for the boys last week at the doctor, and I'm hoping that I'm not sorry. This week will be a short week, since Noah has a three day week of school and Aaron a four day, due to conferences. I am starting to worry about Noah's conference on Thursday, since he seems to be slipping lately in behvaior both at home and school.

Hope you had a great weekend and I look forward to visiting you and seeing your Halloween pictures too.

Wordless Wednesday: A Chuck E Cheese Birthday

2009-10-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

Conflict Between Picture and Words

2009-10-27T04:36:00.000-07:00

At first glance, one would read this sweet little note from Noah and say "AWWWW!"

"My mom is so cool that I want to hug her. She is awesome. The end."

But, now, look again and see if you can figure out why I started laughing hysterically when I saw at the picture

Notice at the bottom of this nice note ALL ABOUT MOM, the picture has Noah on one side, mommy on the other, and "girlfriend" Kylie in the middle.

It's clear that I am no longer the most important woman in my seven year old's life :(

Aaron and Mommy's Adventure to A Show

2009-10-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

It's likely to take the entire week to share our weekend. I don't know when October became an entire month of birthday festivities for Aaron, but he sure did love every moment of it. And showed so much happiness during each moment that every bit of work or weariness was totally worth it.

Last week on Tuesday, I entered a contest of Toni's at The Shopping Adventures of Cheapo McFrugalpants (I love this blog name). It was for 4 tickets to a Disney Live show in Chicago. Since we travel back to that area somewhat often, it seemed easy to work into our schedule, especially since school got cancelled for the rest of the week for the flu.

Hubby and I had discussed the possibility of winning, just in case, since there were only a couple of other names when I entered. Then came the email Friday morning...I won!!! Let the logistics discussions begin.

After quite a few back and forth calls between hubby and my SIL, we decided that Aaron and I would make the 3 hour drive to Chicago for the evening and go to the show with my SIL and her 4 year old daughter. Aaron and Kira are such good friends, and they are our Disney fans. Steve stayed home with Noah and they had their own boys night.

So at about 2:30 in the afternoon, Aaron and I loaded up the car to head out. I looked up the address online for my GPS and we were on our way. After a short stop for dinner, we were about 45 minutes from our destination when we got a to traffic jam BIG TIME outside O'HAre. Aaron was such an awesome trooper in the car and we were finally at our destination, 4 hours after we left.

Or so we thought...

After paying the money for parking, we parked and we started getting excited. But then, entering the arena, we noticed that the only people we saw were dads and boys in hockey jerseys. Realizing right away that we were at the wrong place, I threw Aaron on my back and we RAN to the car, pretty much in a panic knowing that my SIL and niece were at the RIGHT place, waiting at will call since they couldn't get the tickets without us.

A call to them to get the CORRECT address and we FINALLY got there, two minutes before the curtain rose.

Aside: I won't go into detail about how I got the address wrong, but it was kind of legit)

The kids were definitely excited to finally see the show. The first half was fun for them, and nice and short so it kept their attention pretty well.

When the first half was over, the kids were VERY bouncy, especially after just having bounced with Tigger, and they walked off into the lobby for popcorn holding hands.

After taking a break to get popcorn and souvenir cups, it was time to head back in for the second half.

Aaron was a little more drained the second half, since it was an hour past his bedtime at this point, and spent much of the time nestled into my lap, which I always love since it happens rarely.

But the very last thing of the entire show was one last moment of bouncing with Tigger, and while the entire audience was full of bouncing preschoolers, Aaron finally perked up and joined into the bounce.

What did you think of the show kids?

After discovering that it would cost $12 to pose by the big posters of Disney characters, we settled for a nice picture posing next to the table skirt with characters, and we were on our way home.

Getting to the car, I got Aaron's jammies on and it took him less than ten minutes until he was sound asleep for the entire ride home, which was about 4 hours with Chicago traffic.

So after 9 hours total of driving for a 90 minute show, I was finally home in bed with memories of two very excited cousins having the time of their lives.

Was it worth it, you may ask.

You Betcha!!

Happy 5th Birthday Aaron!

2009-10-24T05:53:00.000-07:00

You were two days late, taking your own sweet time. And then you got here and gave us all a big scare. But then everything was okay and we were free to fall in love with you.

And we did. Head over heels.

Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy! We're so blessed that you're part of our lives.

Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother Noah

Aaron's Turning Five!

2009-10-22T05:26:00.001-07:00

As I was preparing to write a nice little Happy Birthday post for Aaron, I thought I would do his birth story in T13 style. But then I had a strange feeling it had been done, and sure enough I did it last year. So if you want to read the birth story, click here.

So, instead, I will do my T13 about 13 fun facts about my sweet little boy

1. Aaron took both dancing and gymnastics classes this year. He has been begging ever since to take tap class but we missed the deadline. He also wants to do ballet in the future and be a "ballerino". When he hears music, he HAS to move.

2. Although I've stopped worrying so much about sensory issues with him, Aaron still does have some issues with loud sudden noises. As for the sensory issues in general, his teacher has only seen small glimpses and says she doesn't have any concerns about it at all at this time.

A huge relief after so much time spent worrying about it. Some new little ones have just started creeping up, like only wanting to wear "soft pants" (sweat pants) rather than jeans, but we'll take each one as it comes.

3. Aaron is water obsessed. Most kids either like water or don't like water. Aaron, on the other hand, must be all engulfed in it. This includes diving and flipping into the deep end on the first day of swimming lessons, as well as turning ANY game he's playing into a "splash in the water" game.

We spent most of our summer at pools or lakes, just to appease this need in him.

4. Aaron is a boy. He likes cars and super heroes, but he also has a very sensitive nature in some ways. He likes "girly" things. He loves dolls and and has asked for a princess Barbie for his birthday (he's getting a Snow White Barbie for Christmas). Not a big deal now and we like to nurture this caring side in him as much as we can.

5. Aaron is "artsy" in so many ways. He is always clapping a beat and will play any musical instrument he can get his hands on. He has even started piano lessons, and I am constantly amazed at how quickly he learns and how concentrated he is on getting everything I teach him right immediately.

But he likes to also to be in the spotlight as the leader. He has "conducted" from the time he was a baby, and he keeps a pretty steady little beat.

6. After reading the above, you may think he's a calm, quite little boy. OH NO!!! Much the opposite actually.

When Aaron is not in a structured activity (like school or a lesson of some sort), he is CRAZY. He very rarely can sit still without spinning, bouncing, jumping, etc. It is amazing how he is two completely different little boys depending on which environment he's in.

7. Aaron started soccer this year. We used to think that Aaron was going to excel in sports, and he may still. But although he is excited to be playing, he could either take it or leave it at this time.

But he sure does look cute in the uniform, doesn't he?

8. Aaron LOVED Disney World. While most people say "Oh yeah, Disney was fun" or things like that, Aaron was in love the minute we got there and still begs every day (7 months later) to go back. Everyone told me that four years old wasn't old enough for him to remember, and I'm sure that's true of most kids, including his older brother. But Aaron has an AMAZING memory and I think he really will remember it.

9. Aaron loves to be outside. I know this goes along with so many of the ones above. He has the freedom to run, scream, jump, and swirl. Warm or cold weather, it's almost like a need to be out in the elements.

10. Aaron LOVES school. And it seems to love him back. He has blossomed so much in the two months that school is in session. I never knew so much could change in such a short time. He is not only learning at an amazing rate, but his speech is so clear. His teacher loves him and says that he is so well behaved in class that she can put him anywhere on the rug and knows he will stay focused. Another BIG surprise from what I thought would happen in school.

Right now his only "red flag" is a few strong letter pronunciations and also fine motor skills. But those are the reasons I put him into Young Fives instead of kindergarten anyway, so all is well. He is even reading quite a few "popcorn" or sight words.

11. Aaron is unusually cheerful most of the time. And very goofy. Anyone who meets him, even if only for the first time, can feel his energy and can't help smile. He was that way from the time he was a tiny baby. I could take him anywhere and he would find someone (usually a pretty woman) and continue to make eyes at them until he got her to smile. Then he'd move on to someone else.

He's definitely my little charmer.

12. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't add this one: Aaron has a temper. A BIG ONE! When he gets angry, look out. And don't expect it to ease quickly. It takes him quite awhile to get over it. And we are still working on how best to deal with it.

Luckily since school started, we haven't been seeing it nearly as often.

13. Aaron is my snuggler. Although it is usually on his terms, he will still crawl into my lap on an almost daily basis, put his head in my lap, and ask me to rub his back. I know these snuggle days are going to pass quickly, so I will continue to cherish them as they come.

So, after a very lengthy post, you know all about my youngest. Probably more than you ever wanted or needed to know, but it was kind of fun to just think about some things that most define my little boy.

I'm so blessed that this special little boy is part of our lives. Happy 5th Birthday Aaron!

Closed For Flu

2009-10-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

When I drooped Aaron off at school on Monday, there was a third grade teacher in the hall saying, "I only have two kids in my classroom today". I knew things were looking bleak for Tuesday. Which was a problem since Aaron's field trip to the pumpkin patch was that day and he would not be happy if he couldn't go.

Then I got a recorded message from the principal that night. While the other schools with 25 percent absenteeism were closing, he decided to keep Aaron's school open. Huge relief! But when I dropped Aaron off, I asked the secretaries what the absenteeism was for Tuesday. When she told me it was about the same, I knew the inevitable was coming. And when I got home from work last night, there was the recorded message from the principal again, this time closing school for the remainder of the week.

I have several thoughts on this matter.

The first is of a complete selfish nature. I didn't realize how precious those few hours have become. I am kind of stressing over how to fill an entire day with Aaron every day for the rest of the week. And how to keep my house clean when that is when I do everything. The media states that any child whose school has closed for flu should be kept home at risk of infecting other kids.

But my kid isn't sick, so why do we have to stay home?

The next thought related to this is this: If 30 percent of the student population is sick, causing school to close and my kid isn't sick, does that mean that when school comes back into session next week, MY kid will finally come down with this stinkin' bug? I told Hubby last night that I would rather Aaron was sick now while school is out than wait to see. Especially with his birthday coming up this weekend. If he misses his Chuck E Cheese party on Saturday for illness, then we still have to pay, and he would be so sad.

So we sit here and begin the waiting game. Will the flu start it's trek through our home? Or will we all continue to just cough our way through life and stay minimally healthy. I guess I am not so concerned about whether it's THE FLU or not. Whatever virus sweeps through our home, we'll just deal with it, nailing symptoms as they come and weathering the storm.

I am really glad though that we still got to go on Aaron's field trip yesterday. Although only 12 kids were at school, it was still a fun little trip. 1 little girl got bitten (grazed) by a horse in the petting coral, but the donuts were yummy and all the kids picked out cute little pumpkins.

So I am now headed downstairs to exercise, take a shower, give Aaron his piano lesson (I forgot last week), and then I think we'll surprise Noah at school by bringing him a special lunch. Then we'll head to the party store to get some stuff for goody bags for his party on Saturday.

We're not going to let a virus stop us until we have to!

"I Pledge Of Egypt"

2009-10-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

About a year and a half ago, I posted a video of my son Aaron reading. I have been worried about his speech his entire life. I asked for some feedback wondering if others could understand him, since I felt like I was translating for him all of the time. I got a lot of wonderful feedback at that time.

A lot can happen in a year and a half. I found out the other day that the speech therapist had evaluated him and determined that he was fine and right on track. Although I still worry about him learning to say the "R" sound, I guess he's where he should be so I can just be proud of my little guy.

I had to post this video of him saying the pledge though. "I pledge of Egypt" yet "indivisible" is amazingly clear. We've come a long way, Baby!

A Great Weekend

2009-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

I decided that I have to bring back the Weekend Top Five this week. It was just such a busy and fun filled weekend. Here were the things that we will remember from the weekend

5. Birthday with my Mom and Grandma
Aaron's birthday is in two weeks, but with my mom visiting my grandma about an hour away, we went to visit her on Saturday. She had brought a little cake for Aaron so they could celebrate with him and also a couple of gifts for both boys.

4. Annual Wyoming Pumpkin Path
Saturday night was the annual Pumpkin Path in the city where we live. Local businesses all line up along the sidewalk in the park and hand out candy for the kids (and coupons for the grownups). Costumes are optional but it gave the boys their first chance to try out the Halloween costumes this year.

We have gone almost every year since it started (the year I was pregnant for Aaron) but this was by far the coldest of all. We had layered the boys' clothes up, but failed to think of gloves and by the time we were almost done, Aaron had started whining that he wanted to go since he was cold. Since we were almost done, we decided to actually FINISH the path for the first year ever and Aaron warmed his hands by keeping them in Daddy's hands while I carried the treat bag.

3. Family Birthday Party
With six adult kids (almost all married) and eleven (soon to be twelve) cousins, birthdays are hard to remember. So a few years ago, my parents started their quarterly birthday parties. We get together every few months and celebrate all of the birthdays within that vicinity. Yesterday was our next chance. We celebrated Aaron (who will be five in tow weeks), Cousin Jamie (also five in a few weeks), Cousin Piper (seven on Saturday) and my brother Matt (the Big 4-0)

I was so honored to have been asked to host the shindig and I worked all week to get the house ready. It made me feel good that everyone was comfortable enough with my little house to have it here. For being a small house, the kids (and I think the adults) all had a great time celebrating, eating and opening presents together.

Aaron got a bean bag chair from Grandma and Grandpa and has played on it non-stop ever since. As a matter of fact, it's two weeks before his birthday and he has gotten quite a few gifts that he loves. He is having a great birthday already and at least one more celebration to go. Lucky Kid!

2. Apple Picking
For quite a few years now, we have managed to put together an extended family trip to the pumpkin patch and it is always a fun time. The place we usually go to is closed on Sunday, so I searched for another one to go to this year. I found one that I thought was the one that Steve and I take the kids to every year and gave everyone the address, which ended up being incorrect. But nevertheless, we had a great time at Steffens Orchard. This was the first time we have ever been able to take the full group apple picking.

After a ride out on a wagon pulled by a tractor, we were able to give each of the boys a little bag to fill with apples. Although there were several varieties, my boys love golden delicious, so that is what we came home with.

The biggest thrill for hubby (and a little for me I must admit) was his phone. I know it sounds strange. But about five minutes after we arrived at the apple orchard, my camera battery died and I was VERY sad. So Steve whipped out his new phone and started taking pictures, which I didn't really put much faith in. But much to my chagrin, Steve loaded them into the computer when we got home and I still can't believe how great the pictures turned out. Now we actually even have pictures of ME during a family outing. Kind of cool.

1. The Green Monster
We are not the kind of peoplee that believe in giving a present to the other kid when it's someone's birthday. This weekend, the green monster showed up in Noah. We have never had this problem before with either of the boys, so it was a surprise to both hubby and myself when it happened. I also think it may be because of the grounding last week (which I will be posting about later this week). I think Noah was feeling left out and acted out on it.

I think the other issue is that Aaron is now old enough to be getting presents that would be great for either boy and Noah is noticing that he likes the things that Aaron is getting.

So after watching his brother get a lot of cool stuff all weekend long, Noah didn't handle it well at all. He commandeered both of the Lego sets that Aaron had gotten ("to make them for Aaron") and then started a major battle at bedtime about the bean bag chair.

Up until now, we pretty much have had the rule of "all toys are every one's to be shared". But this weekend is making me think that maybe that isn't such a fair rule after all. SO we had a very long discussion Sunday night before bed about the changes we are going to make. I think we will do more thinking on this matter and I may have more posts to write about it in the future. For now, Noah is going to have to turn the green monster off while Aaron celebrates his birthday again in a couple of weeks.

The Week Ahead:
Not really much going this week, which is a relief. It's supposed to be cold, which I thought I was ready for, but I guess not. I ate like a mad woman this weekend, so I will be Wii Fitting much longer than the last couple of weeks. As a matter of fact, I need to get off the computer and head downstairs right now. Have a good week.

It's All About the Bathroom

2009-10-08T05:23:00.000-07:00

This post is in two parts (sort of). It begins with a double bathroom problem, and ends with Noah's first grounding. If you're interested, I invite you to read on...

When we first bought our house, it had a main bathroom (tiny) and a fake-ish bathroom (minuscule) plopped in the middle of the bedroom. After a year or two, we pulled the "fake" toilet out of our bedroom for more space, knowing that someday only having one bathroom would become a problem.

And it has become a BIG problem. Every morning three and sometimes all four of us need to use it at the same time. Every morning fights erupt over it. It has been even worse since both boys have been suffering from runny BM's (the D word) for over two weeks now, so they are wanting to sit on there forever.

So bathroom talk in this way has been a common in our home while we are trying to figure out how much we need to save enough money(yeah, right) to install a toilet in out basement.

The boys have entered a phase of nasty "bathroom" talk at the same time. You know... "p#@p", "b*tt" and that kind of thing. Noah got in big trouble last week at school for using the word "privates". I have tried to talk calmly with him about them, knowing that it is part of being a boy at this age.

Then, when I drove on the field trip yesterday, the entire group (three girls and Noah) were all going it full force with the bathroom talk. I put a stop to it and the response from one of the girls was, "That's okay, we'll just wait until second recess". Real assuring.

BTW, THIS is the reason I toyed with homeschooling when Noah was first starting out. I just have no control over the influences of others at school and it drives me insane

So once again. I decided to just let it go for now. Then at the end of church night last night, the CE director pulled me aside to tell me that Noah had again been talking inappropriately in class, making some of the class uncomfortable. I called the teacher he had that night to clarify what had happened and apologize to her personally for his behavior.

I will not go into details about the series of events following our arrival home last night, but I can tell you it was not my shining moment in parenthood. But at the same time, Steve agreed with me which always makes me feel so much better when he's supportive.

I did speak to Noah's 2nd grade teacher this morning, both to let her know what is going on on the playground, as well as to warn her in case Noah acts out today as a result of his punishments.

He will be spending the next three days/nights "grounded". We have never done this before, but I think it is time for some drastic measures if he is ever going to learn that I mean business when this subject is being dealt with. He will come home from school every day, go straight to his room and stay there until bedtime.

In case you think this may not be punishment enough, take a look at the shelves under his bed. Do you think they look bare? The picture at the beginning of this post is the pile of all of the toys that are kept in his room. They are now in a stack in my room.

I mean business!

Who Says Cookie Making Is Reserved For Christmas?

2009-10-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy weekend. It followed a rainy week. We had planned to spend our Sunday downtown looking at all of the art from ArtPrize. ArtPrize is a competition that is currently happening in Downtown Grand Rapids where amazing artists from all over the place have created art and it is displayed all over the city.

There has been some amazing stuff, including a replica of the loch ness monster placed into the Grand River in the middle of the city. We tried last weekend to go see all of the art, but the thousands of people flooding the city made it next to impossible, so we gave up. Our favorite (and one of the only we've actually seen) is a mosaic mural on the side of the children's museum.

So we planned to go see all of the art on Sunday this week, but it was so cold and windy that we spent pretty much the entire weekend in the house. I did take Noah to pick out a Halloween costume and I'll be taking Aaron this morning, as soon as I get my booty off the computer and get downstairs to exercise.

While Noah and I were shopping for costumes, he saw some Halloween cookie cutters that we just HAD to have, so we decided to make Halloween cookies. With my new kitchen table (sale at Kmart) it was so much easier than before. Our old table had a ton of decorative bumps that icky gunk was always getting stuck in, plus a lot of the grooves had become flaking wood. Not exactly the most sanitary, or safe to roll out dough on.

So since I had my nice new table, since we had the cookie cutters, since we had absolutely NOTHING to do for the day, we went for It.

I started out just having the kids cut the shapes out.

But Noah really wanted to try his hand at rolling out the dough and I figured there was probably no reason to say no. He actually did a pretty good job with it.

While the cookies were baking, Steve took the boys downstairs for good old fashioned rough housing (boys will be boys) and when I called them back up to decorate, both boys were happily displaying bare skin chests. Which actually served well for getting frosting all over anyway.

They did all of their own spreading

And decorating with icing

And for the first EVER, we actually have pictures of Daddy decorating cookies with us. Up until now, we have always done this activity while Daddy was gone, and I was so excited to have Daddy participating this year.

This is just the beginning though. Usually he gets out of decorating the Christmas tree with us. Not this year. I am insisting on a real tree this year, as well as full family participation in the decorating process. It should make for a fun post in a couple of months.

This weekend also had another bell performance that went well and I managed to secure a babysitter for Black Friday, which also makes me very happy. There are a couple things on the kids' lists that I will need big sales to be able to afford. I also made the decision to let Aaron have a Chuck E Cheese birthday party in a few weeks.

I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been trying to stick with my rule about only posting if I have something interesting to say. But I am also finding that I am missing sharing my thoughts in witting. It seems that with exercising in the morning, and then getting ready for the day, by the time I have a chance to sit down at the computer after dropping Aaron off for school, I look around the house and find twenty other things that need to be done. This week I also have some work to get done to get the house ready for an extended family visit next weekend. I also am volunteering in Aaron's kindergarten class on Tuesdays now and I will be driving for a field trip for Noah this week.

Tomorrow I will share with you an experiment I tried yesterday morning before church. It worked but I'm not sure that it can last. I'll leave you in suspense...

Have a good Monday.

Something He'll Eat: A Smucker's Review

2009-10-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

"If your kid doesn't eat, let him go hungry."

How many times have I heard this comment made to me? Too many. And I SO wish that I had the luxury of following that rule.

You may not think of it as a luxury, but indeed it is when you have a child such as my older son, Noah.

Call it what you like, Noah has food issues. Although he seems to be starting to grow out of them, they are indeed still there. We discovered them in kindergarten when Noah was having so many problems in class. We toyed with all of the typical "diagnoses", but they just didn't fit, but it was clear that something just wasn't right with the kid.

So close to the end of a very difficult year of school, I started playing with food. Diet, to be more exact. I made some discoveries, such as red dye #40 caused my child to have a difficult time displaying any type of self control. I also discovered that processed sugar breakfast foods wore right out of him and it was as if he hadn't eaten at all. An hour after eating them, he was an emotional basket case for no reason at all.

Over the summer before first grade, I experimented even more with his diet, including beefing up his protein intake and lowering his sugar intake.

BINGO!

I started seeing some major differences. I started researching every food I bought to reduce the artificial dyes in the foods I bought, as well as the sugar content and protein content. The biggest change was in breakfast. I started giving him PB&J with low sugar jelly for breakfast.

As first grade started, we had the mornings pretty much figured out. The first grade teacher, who had shared the classroom with Noah's kindergarten teacher the previous year was amazed at the difference in Noah. She couldn't believe he was the same kid.

But a problem remained lunchtime at school. Noah remained unconvinced that it really made a difference for him and that he could simply throw away what he didn't want to eat like the other kids.

But, unfortunately, for him it matters. He isn't like other kids, that can just not eat if they don't want to. He NEEDS to eat, and at regular intervals to keep his food level steady all day. It is indeed a trait passed on, especially in the males, in my family.

It was a constant struggle all year to get him to be sure to eat everything every day.

Here comes the review part, I promise...

I spent the entire summer leading up to this year's entry in second grade trying out new foods for lunch to make him more willing to eat his lunch, thereby insuring a successful second half to his school day. They don't have hot lunch, but since he has PB&J every morning, I wanted to finally find something that he would enjoy eating and that would keep his protein level up for a few hours before the afternoon snack.

I found it! In Smuckers Uncrustables Grilled Cheese. Noah LOVES them! They come in several varieties:

The regular sandwich varieties start out in the freezer, and while they thaw in the morning, they're ready at lunch time to eat. Because of sugar content and red dye, Noah cannot have several of the other varieties, but Aaron has tried them and likes them. The whole wheat ones are brand new and I am anxious to try them out next with Aaron. For Noah though, we will continue with the grilled cheese.

They come with only four in a box, so I can't give them to him every day. But I am finding that if I rotate them with PB&J some days, and cheese and salami (another one we discovered this summer), I have finally found a way to provide some variety to Noah in his lunch and a motivator for him to eat everything as well.

Smucker's has ended their campaign to give away 80,000 free uncrustables sandwiches, but I would still encourage you to visit their website if you are interested in other ideas for healthy snacking as well as other products available through the company. I was amazed at how many other products were included in the Smucker's brand.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Smucker’s Uncrustables and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

New Things To Learn

2009-09-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

After returning home from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs last week, Noah decided to get right to work building his own lab in the back yard.

He has asked for his own toolbox full of tools for Christmas, which we are going to oblige. But I am a little worried about making sure he has appropriate things to build. I thought this was a fine start. His dreams are so big and I want to give him the chance to play them out to the best of his ability.

Notice the swim goggles? He couldn't find his construction ones and felt like he NEEDED them for his work. Of course, they never actually covered his eyes. About a half hour after this picture, the structure was quite impressive, with wood all the way around and he had even gotten the paint from inside to paint it.

Unfortunately, Hurricane Aaron came through a little while later and destroyed the whole thing. Little Brother is having some issues about being included in Big Brother's endeavors. We'll keep working on it.

Aaron has blossomed in the few weeks since school started. Everyone else keeps telling me they think he's physically grown, but I am noticing how much he has learned intellectually. He used to just gloss over letters and only wrote a few. The other day while we were at the library, he sat down and wrote out every single letter on this little pad they had. And when it came time to write the names on his cousins' birthday cards this weekend, without any help, he did it.

I was so proud of his penmanship that I had to photograph it.

My little boys are growing up

Tackling LIfe

2009-09-29T05:21:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Life has just kind of taken over and I don't seem to be getting things back in order as quickly as I would like. Every day I seem to have four hours worth of things I want to get done in the two and a half hours that Aaron is at school. The math just doesn't add up, does it?

Both children's choirs start tomorrow night, one including bell playing. I still need to get the posters made and color coded for that group. I also need to get all the way out to church to pick up the music to take a rehearsal plan before tomorrow, wasting yet more gas for the trek out there and back.

Laundry is mounting downstairs, including more left over from Aaron's throw up bout from yesterday afternoon. This indeed is the strangest virus I have ever seen. He was crying when I picked him up from school yesterday, saying his stomach hurt. By the time I had picked Noah up and was ALMOST home, Aaron threw up repeatedly all over the floor of the car, his clothes, Noah's backpack, and about a dozen other things that should not have been on the floor of the car, but were. I had to leave for teaching a half hour later, so after trying to get Aaron in and out of the bathtub, settled on the couch, Noah calmed down about watching his brother repeatedly vomit on him, clean up the backpack that had Noah's homework in it, and get the van cleaned the best I could, I finally headed out to teach.

So now I still have to get to a vacuum place to get the van completely cleaned out today.

No matter how many hours I spend cleaning our tiny house, it just doesn't stay clean and as I sit here, I see at least a half dozen piles of stuff that need to be taken care of.

I just gave Aaron a piece of bread wondering if he will keep him down. He is begging for more food and running around acting fine and I still have to make the decision about whether to send him to school in three hours.

After finishing writing this, I am going to head downstairs to exercise, even though my stomach feels like it's in knots and I am wondering if Aaron has shared his lovely virus with me.

But I have too much to do to get sick.

Is Anyone Wii Fit?

2009-09-25T06:37:00.001-07:00

So we were blessed last weekend with someone who was looking to get rid of their Wii system, complete with Wii Fit for a ridiculously low price and we took advantage of it.

Needless to say, I'm addicted. I have been exercising every morning after dropping Noah off for school this week. I really enjoy the workouts, but I have some questions for other Wii Fitters out there?

1. Is hearing "That's Obese!" in a squeaky little voice supposed to soften the blow?

2. Do I really need to watch my Mii blow up like a balloon as it delivers the "obese" verdict every morning?

2. Does Advanced Hula Hooping ever get any easier?

3. How come the muscles that I don't work during the yoga and strength training hurt more than the ones I do?

4. Why are my bones cracking more all day long than they were before?

6. Any tricks to make the aerobics activities a little more varied?

7. Is it even possible to get across the tight rope without falling?

8. Is anyone else as unbalanced as I am in the balance games?

9. Does any of this really work?

Yes, I have tried to alter my snacking habits along with the exercise to try to make sure I am fixing bad habits all around.

Aaron is so funny while I'm exercising. He sits and waits for me to finish the yoga and strength training because he likes to do the two person run with me. He has beaten me every day.

During other times of the day while we're downstairs Aaron goes up to the board on the floor and starts pretending to do step work. At least he's seeing me be active. I guess that's good.

I will still have a chance to work out tomorrow before we leave for a fun day with my family seeing my brother's new house, but I am taking the day off on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how difficult it will be to get back into it on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Fall Is Here!

2009-09-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's the first day of Fall. The time when the weather turns cooler, we get to break out all of the new long sleeve school clothes we got and put way all of the grungy short sleeve stuff we've been wearing all summer.

There's only one problem.

IT'S GOING TO BE 82 TODAY! What kind of Fall is that?

Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the excitement of the new school year, new shows, leaves changing colors, the anticipation of the holidays coming up.

My favorite activities of the fall by far are the pumpkin patches. Here in West Michigan there are a TON of them. And our little family spends pretty much every weekend visiting a different one. We have for several years now.

We have found some with lots of bells and whistles (hayrides, kiddie play areas) and some that simply have fields to pick pumpkins or apples. We love them all.

We have had a tradition for the last few years of our entire extended family getting together to visit a certain one for numerous years as well. Noah has been nagging for a week now about when we would be doing that. It's a busy fall so I hope we can still get that worked out. I love watching all of the cousins running around together.

As I sit here, I have already visited the Kent Harvest trails website, both planning to visit our annual sites (there are about five or six of them) and wondering if we should add some others to the mix.

Last June when Noah brought home his journal from the school year, he had an entry that said something along the lines of "This weekend we went to ANOTHER pumpkin patch. I hope we don't do that anymore". So I figured that he was pretty much sick of them and I was so sad that our tradition may be coming to an end.

But for the last week or so, all he talks about when we talk about fall is beginning the annual treks so I am relieved and excited to let the fun begin again.

I Love Fall!

The Allowance Post

2009-09-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

After several attempts through the last couple of years at allowance, I think we finally have it figured out.

And I could not be more pleased with how it is going.

I am familiar with a lot of different ways that people handle allowance. And every single person's way has value for them, which is great.

I was reading in the Family Fun magazine yesterday about parents keeping a running tab of allowance so kids learn to budget kind of like a debit card works. It also helps with cash strapped parents. I even know someone personally who does this method and they believe it works well for them.

We tried allowance last year, but it never really worked and the kids weren't really all that it into it so it seemed futile.

With the new school year starting, it seemed like a good time to try it again. So about three weeks before school, I headed out to the store and bought "chore charts". Now, we have tried different kind of charts before, and they haven't lasted, so I wondered if it would happen again.

Here are some things we have changed:

Each child has four responsibilities each day, catered to the things that often bring challenges in the household.

Noah's are: homework, being ready for school by 7:30 without me nagging, picking up all clothes both in the morning and at bedtime, and school behavior. If he gets even one tally mark at school, he loses his sticker for the day.

Aaron's are: quiet at bedtime (the one that has cost him the most stickers), lining up all shoes at night, taking care of all clothes in morning and at night, and school behavior.

At bedtime (or shortly thereafter in Aaron's case) each item gets a sticker. On Saturday mornings after they clean their room, they get $ .50 for each day they got four stickers. The amounts have ranged everywhere from $1.00 to $3.50 each since we started this system. Also, anyone who cries for help cleaning their room on Saturday morning has to pay a "fee" of a quarter of their allowance money for help. Some weeks Noah decided it's worth it, and some weeks he doesn't. I think all of these decisions are good for him. It's one more way to think about the value of his money.

I strongly believe in giving them real money rather than a running tab. I think it's good at this age to see a concrete example of how much a certain amount of money is. Plus, when they spend it, they do it all themselves. Another way for them to see it come and go in a concrete way.

Here are the results of our first month of this system:

A. Both boys have saved for several weeks and purchased something that they wanted

B. Noah has become extremely in tune with how much tax something costs, and has started figuring out how much he needs on his own

C. I have not had to nag in the mornings

D. We are having a little less trouble with Aaron at bedtime

E. We are not tripping over shoes anymore

F. There is now more begging in the store for toys. "Can I have that?" is directly followed by "Do you have enough allowance?"

The biggest change is how Noah sees money now. It comes up all the time and has resulted in some great conversations. Everything he sees in the store, he evaluates the cost and puts in terms of his (potential) $3.50 each week. When we were at church last week, he was begging to print something out on the library computer (a big no-no since some kids-not Noah-wasted some ink a year or so ago). He said "But Mom, I'll buy more ink with my allowance" and then asked how much it cost. I told him and he realized it would be eight times more than what he already had in his piggy back. The conversation went off from there and we had a great dialogue.

Aaron isn't quite old enough to understand all of the ins and outs yet, or have the higher thinking about it all, but I think he will get there.

What happens if we're out without their cash and they want something? I buy it and they pay me back with their cash when we get home BEFORE I give it to them. It's not theirs until they pay for it.

We finally have a system that seems to work. Now I need to go run to the bank so I have cash for tomorrow morning.

Have a good weekend.

In Full Swing

2009-09-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

As I sit here, I have just drooped Aaron off at school and am looking around the house at everything I should be doing in the two and a half hours before I need to return to fetch him.

Yes, everything is an absolute mess. But I am actually pretty content.

School has been in session for one week. In that time:

A. Noah LOVES his teacher and has received more "stickers on his pocket" than anyone else in his class for good behavior

B. Aaron is singing songs every day that he has learned at school

C. Our first bell performance is under our belt

D. Noah got all of the words right on his first spelling list for second grade (and was excited that he was the only one who spelled the word "through" correctly)

E. Aaron has started soccer (although we need to work on his attitude toward participation a little)

F. I am happy with my decision to wait one more year until I re-enter the daytime work force

G. Noah has been ready for school, including breakfast done EVERY day since the start of school, with the help of a sticker reward chart that is DIRECTLY proportional to the amount of allowance he gets Saturday mornings

H. Aaron is pronouncing some words better than he ever did before, and is correcting himself once in awhile as well.

I. I have all music for both choirs I'm directing at church picked out, copied and planned, ready for rehearsals to start in two weeks.

Yup, things are in full swing. I know Steve isn't mentioned, but he too is doing great getting into the swing of things with the new schedule, including having to take both boys to Aaron's soccer games by himself on Thursday nights.

I have a TON of stuff I need to be doing around the house. But at the moment, it is kind of nice to sit back and reflect on how far we've come. This is the first year that I don't panic about how the day might be going with Noah and I know that Aaron is loving being a part of a class.

Life is Good!

Church Picnic and My Personal Vice

2009-09-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was our annual church picnic. It's always a casual type of Sunday, where we usually kick off the fall church year. In addition to all of the after-service activities for day, my hand bell ensemble performed.

Now that we are into our second year of having hand bells, I decided to raise the bar a little and handed them music that was quite a bit more difficult than what I gave them last year. Today's piece was over three minutes long and contained two page turns. We practiced it every Wednesday night for the month of August, with varying degrees of success. Our group spans from professional musicians to people who never read a note until they joined our group. There is always a little bit of uncertainty of whether we will hit it on, or lose it completely. During our rehearsal before church, we had both extremes.

When performance time came, we all felt ready to go. In the middle when it got a little messed up, my concentration became more intense, and I was told from MANY people after church both within my ringers, as well as others who could see my face, that I looked angry during the song. I was certainly NOT angry, just really focused on the music and getting us back on track. I feel so bad that it came across that way and have since written an email to my entire group, apologizing for that look and hoping for forgiveness and understanding. One of our members said to another, "that's the way she ALWAYS is" which worried me even more. I wonder if that is how every one in the group views me or just that one person.

The real reason I am concerned is because it is actually bringing up an old difficulty that I have ALWAYS had. When I was teaching, I got glowing reviews about everything regarding my teaching, from classroom management, to programs produced, to teaching content. In seven years, I usually only received one "suggestion". I needed to develop a better "poker face" and not wear my emotions on my sleeve. Unfortunately, this is a problem I have in EVERY aspect of my life, but now that it has crept back up into my current job position, it makes it that much more clear that I am back to the drawing board again.

The service did hold some other nice moments though. Steve led the praise choir in a rousing rendition of Amy Grant's "Love Brought Us Here" and Aaron LOVED watching and dancing to the drums especially.

After church, while picnic activities were in full swing, it remained very hard for me to relax and enjoy the time, upset about how I came across. But kids had a good time, though I had failed to bring the kids' swimsuits for the water slide

Noah sat and played BINGO with me for awhile while Aaron was outside trying to throw balls and make our youth members fall into the dunk tank.

By the way, look at Noah concentration face. Like mother, like son.

Both boys then spent time on the cake walk, and both ended up bringing home yummy treats. The cake walk always cracks me up, because SO MANY people bring treats, that if you stay on the mats long enough, you will most certainly leave with a treat of some sort.

So here I sit, almost twelve hours later, kids are in bed, apology email has been sent out, video from the performance has been uploaded to our Facebook page, and I should be ready to let it all go.

But that's not me. I am truly my own biggest critic. I will probably sit and stew over this for awhile. But I will also think of the good that will come. You can bet during our next performance, I will be the smilingest hand bell director there ever was.

A Doll Adventure and A Poll (Please answer...it could be fun)

2009-09-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

Back in college, our campus ministry put on a little production based on Marlo Thomas' Free To be You and Me. I actually haven't ever played a recording of this for the kids, but I really need to.

Anyway, one of the songs we performed was "William's Doll" (If you have never seen this and you have little boys, PLEASE take a few minutes to watch. It may even make you weep.)

Anyway, while we were at the Public Museum this past Monday for Labor Day festivities, the boys wanted to go into the "doll" room. In previous visits, they have avoided this room, saying it was "girlie" stuff, but this day they wanted to go check it out.

Aaron especially was fascinated. He even wanted to return to the room later when Steve and Noah were looking at a new exhibit.

Aaron settled himself right down at the little table in the center of the little room and started serving tea with the little wooden tea set on the table.

The room has four walls all with displays of antique to more modern dolls. Some of them were so neat, and underneath were more cupboards and drawers to open to display even more dolls.

Aaron started opening cupboards randomly, but stopped short when he arrived at his favorite one. He LOVES fairy tales in general and just stared at the dolls of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.

Then he crossed over to the other side of the little room where a doll house was built into the cabinets. I sat down to play with him and learned quite a lot from listening to his commentary. Not to be outdone, big brother actually sat down and started playing with us.

Being the mother of only boys, I have always tried to provide the boys with dolls and other "girlie" opportunities, mostly because of the song above (that I hope you've taken a couple of minutes to watch). Noah refuses to "do girlie stuff" but LOVES his stuffed animals as if they're alive and Aaron has actually asked for a Barbie for Christmas.

Not sure about the Barbie, but I really enjoyed watching the boys engage in another kind of play during our Doll Adventure.

Poll Just For Fun: How many of you thirty somethings out there remember the name of your Cabbage Patch Doll? Please leave me a comment and tell me.

P.S. Mine were Lavinia Ruby and Karina Gayle, thanks to my parents who bought a van just so I could get a Cabbage Patch Doll that year in the 80's when they first came out and were completely unavailable.

First Day (Updated at the bottom)

2009-09-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

So as I sit here, Noah has now been sent off to school for his first day of second grade. This day is being met with uncertainty for me. I have not brought my blog friends along for the ride on this one, and facebook friends just a little bit. But long story short, in the last week, I have been flip flopping between switching Noah to Aaron's school or leaving him where he is. I am not going to go into details, but it has become an incessant discussion in our household

He does not want to, I really don't want to switch him, but in the long run it is probably the right thing to do.

So when I sent Noah off to school (old school) this morning, he didn't ask a single time about whether he was going to switch and I didn't mention it either. We went ahead with the usual first day moments:

Sitting on the front step with his brother

Standing at his locker

Standing at his desk

And even standing with his teacher ( who is one of the biggest reasons I DON'T want to switch him. She is so sweet)

But I will find out in a couple of hours if there is a spot for him at Aaron's school and then I'll have to be prepared to make the decision final. There are so many factors.

At this moment though, Noah has successfully started his first day and I get to repeat the whole ordeal again in three hours when we send Aaron off to HIS first day of school.

Of course, then I get to come home and spend my first "kid-free" hours cleaning out the refrigerator to find the stinky smell in our kitchen. Such is life.

I'll let you know what we decide as soon as I know.

UPDATE:
I hope every one's having a great first day back.
The verdict is in. there weren't any no-shows in second grade at Aaron's school this year so Noah will get to stay where he is. He is going to be so happy and I am glad that this decision is finally made. Now off to go clean the fridge.

A few pictures of the big Almost Five Year Old and his first day of Young Fives (which from now on we're just calling kindergarten...it's just easier)

His ready pose on the front step

Eating yummy special lunch with mommy at his favorite restaurant, Mr. Burger

He ate it all and asked for my sausage too

Standing outside the classroom waiting to be let in

Sitting at his desk, hardly able to contain all of his excitement.

My biggest worry about him this year: What to do all morning every morning while he's waiting to go. He asked every five minutes ALL MORNING if it was time to go yet.

4 Days Left

2009-09-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

As I attended both open houses at both schools that will be attended (as for now) this year by Noah and Aaron, I was asked a question. I stopped in to visit with Noah's first grade teacher from last year and the first thing she asked was, "Can you believe how quickly the summer went?" and I realized that unlike everyone else, I didn't feel like the summer flew by.

But now I'm starting to.

It was an odd sort of summer. I was home all day every day, leaving at night to go teach. But I still don't feel like we did anything worthy all summer long. I'm know we did. But I just feel like all I did all summer long was harp on the boys to be nice and behave.

Last year at the start of school, I had seen an AMAZING transformation in Noah that summer. He had not only learned to do so many things, but had matured so much that I knew first grade was going to be wonderful. And it was.

I guess I was expecting to see the same transformation this summer. Perhaps because Noah didn't need so much improvement as he had the previous summer. Or perhaps because Aaron has developed into such a strong willed challenge of his own that I was more stressed than the previous summer. But I just don't feel like I made a difference this time around. I worry that this summer will have ended and the boys have no fun memories planted in their minds to show for it.

Next week, while we're dealing with the start of school, we will also be dealing with a bunch of difficult family decisions and lots of new challenges. Decisions regarding schools, jobs, and money and new schedules for both boys. Nothing like plowing major changes all into a short period of time. By this time next week, so many of these questions will probably be answered. I have been losing more sleep than I have been getting trying to figure it all out. And it really doesn't do any good since it's all out of my hands at the moment.

As I head into this LAST weekend of summer vacation before school starts, my goal will be this: Let go of what is to come and make the most of our last weekend together before the new school year begins. We'll be heading to a zoo that we haven't been to since Aaron was a baby, as well as trying to find some other fun things to do as a family.

And each time I start stressing about what's to come, and I guarantee I will, I plan to tell myself to live in this moment. The memories we make may be important ones in the days to come.

Have a great holiday weekend and see you next week.