2012_09_29 Saturday

Just call me Wife of the Year!! I managed to plan a surprise attendance and dinner/drinks for Dave last night. He was inducted to his high school's athletic hall of fame, and I got his HS buddies all to tell him they were unavailable. But then they all showed up at the ceremony to hoot and holler for him, and then I took the gang out for dinner, etc. I managed to arrange babysitters, a place to sleep over, and pack bags without him suspecting anything. HA! We had a really great time, and I wouldn't have been able to pull it off without his friends' help and complicity...then again, they love messing with each other, so it worked out well.

see pix:

p.s. the first one is from school spirit day for Jonathan!

2012_09_21 Friday

For this whole week, Jonathan has gotten up BEFORE his alarm clock, gotten dressed, and come downstairs (and started eating b'fast) before I've managed to get myself downstairs! And, I get up before his alarm goes off too!!! I've been amazed. So, last night, we set up a breakfast station for him in the dining room with a cup of milk in a dorm fridge, cereal and raisins in tupperwares, and a banana. He thought that was super cool.

2012_09_20 Thursday

Jonathan has been practicing his letters and writing lately. I got him a dry erase board that has lines on it to practice; it's pretty similar to the lined paper in school. Here is his first official note to me:


(translation: Dear Mom, I want to go to the ice cream place"

And, because he wrote it so nicely and all by himself, we went to the frozen yogurt store.

2012_09_06 Thursday

The long awaited photos from this morning. Jonathan was so brave and excited for school. He did tell me last night that he's prefer to go back to KinderGan (his preschool); I think I hyped up school a tad too much at bedtime.

Last night we did the German 'tute,' which is the cone in the pictures; it's filled with school supplies, etc. Typically, you carry it to school, but we did it last night. He colored his school bus on it, with him inside.

He got up without any trouble, ate breakfast quickly, and we even had a little time for TV. Lots of kids were at the bus stop; luckily we've played with them over the summer, so that was super easy. He jumped into the bus without even looking back. I got a little weepy (well, what's it called when the leprechaun clicks his heals together??) on our walk home without him. Then, we met up again on the blacktop at school and walked to his classroom, which happened to be the one we toured in June. He was pretty surprised to see us again, but he didn't cover or stick to us; he stuck by three boy classmates. The teacher is nice but didn't really talk too much. The whole morning was a little chaotic and unorganized, IMHO. The PTA then hosted a coffee/recruiting effort that I volunteered for a few things...like communications!

We picked him up at the end of the day at the bus stop, and all was right in the world. The kid is hilarious. He didn't remember that I had packed a snack, so he didn't have one. And, he only ate 1/2 (at best) of his lunch. He must have been starving through class, but with it all being so new, I don't think he realized how hungry he was. We got very little feedback, which was expected. He's truly mum about his days and always has been. When we ask very targeted questions, we'll get answers, but we sort of have to know what to ask first and even then the answers may be...imaginative. When we went to bed (at 7:30!), he asked if he could ride the bus again tomorrow "because that was pretty cool." And, the best thing about his whole day was "climbing the rock wall" at the playground (which may have been from the test run day, I'm not even sure they had recess!!).

See pix:

2012_09_05 Wednesday

'Twas the night before Kindergarten and all through the house....

Holy Moly!!! Jonathan starts Kindergarten tomorrow!! We've been practicing getting up early (ie 7:20am!!) this week, although I just couldn't manage today (since I was up until 1am working). Jonathan is getting the hang of getting up and getting dressed himself, especially since we lay out his clothes the night before. Then, I can get downstairs and make breakfast, agreed upon the night before, so it's ready when he comes down. We also tested out our walk to the bus stop as well. Elise's monitor does reach, so I don't feel like I need to wake her up so early for such a short period of time. Yeah.

We had our "Wonderful Wednesday" art program today. They made paperbag ladybug puppets (Oriental Trading again), which I think I may fill with snacks for school.

Unfortunately, the school's playdate was cancelled today due to rain. That was a huge bummer. We may swing by later today to find his numbered row anyway.

He's working on coloring his Tute right now. And, he's decorating whoo-whoos, which I also plan on filling with snacks (this was a project in Highlights Mag).

I've been having belly pains for the last few days; I wonder if it's my subconscience stress manifesting. Or, maybe I just pulled a muscle.

2012_08_28 Tuesday

Jonathan got his first professional hair cut today, in anticipation of Kindergarten. He looks so handsome. The tools she used were a little more intense (and loud) than dad's tools, so it took a little getting used to, but he did great. We also got a first day of school outfit too. Counting the days!

2012_08_24 Friday

I went to a mom's group meeting on Wednesday night that really struck me; it was about healthy eating (organic, raw foods, local, etc). I've vowed to myself to really try harder to avoid the garbage food and try to really focus on 'clean eating.' They got a charge out of my egg delivery/pick-up service. I made quinoa with mushrooms and carrots for dinner last night. The kids had fruit smoothies, 10-grain bread with butter/honey, carrots, lunch meat (will work on that one), and cheese slices for lunch. For b'fast, they had a plum and bagel with cream cheese (again, will work on that). I'm thinking seriously about joining a CSA, but since the season ends in November, I may be stuck starting in the spring of 2013. Maybe this will also get my rear in gear with planting our own garden. I can dream.

Anyway, this morning was the last morning Jonathan got to sleep in. Next week, we start practicing for Kindergarten. The bus comes at 8:15. This is going to kill ME! After b'fast (which seems to last forever), we jumped in the car and headed to a nearby arboretum. Elise asked if we were going on an 'addenture,' to which I always say yes. The paths were really nice, although a bit hilly, and no signage made it difficult to plan our walk; we somehow completely missed their nature center. Guess we'll have to go back to explore more. Jonathan got to pick which paths to follow on the way out, and I got to on the way back. I have pictures to upload; stay tuned.