I joined friends from St. Paul at USC Aiken on Wednesday to welcome students and invite them to the YaWaY service.
Girls Night Out at Maria's. I love my girls, and I love my margaritas!
We had a great time at Camp Kinard for the church picnic.
War with Caid.
Gerbil tombstone
Sarah's open house - she showed me what a pro she is at opening her locker. I know the quality is terrible, but all I had with me was my cell phone. Afterward we went to Sonic for dinner and lemon berry slushes. Sarah wanted me to put up the picture of me eating a foot-long coney, but I refused.
"Mom! Take our picture - you can put it on your blog!"
Tonight on the way home from the grocery store Sarah asked me if I'm on Team Edward or Team Jacob. I told her Team Edward... except in the movies I like Jacob because he's hotter. Then I realized he's like still a teenager.
We're stealing Caid's kindergarten teacher's idea and having a treasure chest for good behavior. She told me at open house last week that she wishes she could have a classroom full of Caids because he is so sweet and well behaved. "You mean Caid Yeargin?" I asked, "Are you sure you don't have him confused with another student?"
The treasure chest is obviously motivating him to do well in her class, so we told him that we would have a treasure chest at home too, and in order to earn treasures he has to be kind to his siblings and listen to his parents. He knew that today was the day I planned to go to the store to purchase items for the chest, and yet his behavior after school today was less than stellar.
I told him I didn't know if I even wanted to get the stuff to fill the box because of the way he was acting, and we sent him to sit on the couch.
As I walked out the door, he called to me, "Mom? Will you get me a surprise at the store? I've been good for a few minutes."
When Sarah woke up this morning her beloved gerbil, P-Nut was dead. She called to me and I came to her room to inspect and be sure he was, in fact, dead. When I pronounced he had indeed passed, I watched her face for reaction. (When Caid killed her goldfish because he took it out of the tank to pet it a few years ago, she fell into hysterics, so I was ready.) She looked sad, and I put my arm around her to hug her.
With earnest eyes, she looked up at me (barely up, because my 11-year-old only has three inches until she catches up with me) and said, "You know what really stinks?"
I got this idea from The Mom Creative... This segment of my blog shall hereafter be called Project Life Tuesday. You can read more about Project Life creative here. Each Tuesday, I'll (attempt to) post one picture a day from the previous week - my own scrapbook per say. It's the best I can do. I had to admit to Caid and Jack tonight that they do not have baby books (Gracie's stops at 9 months). Maybe they'll forgive me if I'm actually able to keep up with this project. We'll see.
Anyway, this week's Project Life Tuesday only has three days because I only came up with this idea on Saturday night at midnight. If all goes well, next week I'll have seven pictures.
We started Couch to 5K. This is the "after" picture on the day 1. Note my skinned knee. War injury already.
Shelly inspects P-Nut. P-Nut was not too thrilled.
Self portrait by Caid. He brought it home from kindergarten. He looks pissed. I wonder what his teacher thinks.
So this morning was pretty typical of mornings in my house. I woke up at 6 AM - just a few minutes before everyone else so that I could enjoy a few moments of peace before I rallied the troops. I woke each child (Sarah, Gracie, and Caid - not Jack, since he's not in school yet) first by gently shaking them. Then it began, pretty much like every other morning.
Have you ever watched Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory? Love that show. Last night I watched it and laughed because it seemed so familiar. This is kind of what it's like while I'm in the bathroom trying to get ready in the morning...
Seriously, I can get ready in 30 minutes - about ten in the shower if I wash my hair and 20 in the bathroom for makeup, hair, and clothes. If I don't wash my hair I can do it faster, but this morning I did wash my hair. It slows the process down considerably when you are interrupted every 45 seconds with a need, during half of which I am naked. The difference between my children and Sheldon is that he keeps knocking until someone opens. My kids knock once and then they open the door regardless of whether I respond.
So here are the numbers for this morning...
Number of times Gracie came in to tell me she was sick and can't go to school: two (if I took her to the doctor every time she says she has a stomachache or headache, I'd be accused of Munchausen by proxy).
Number of times Gracie came in to ask me which shirt to wear: one. (Number of times she actually wore the shirt I picked: zero.)
Number of times Caid came in to use the bathroom: one (we do have another bathroom but he doesn't like it because it has a window).
Number of times Caid requested that I button his pants: two. (Number of times I was soaking wet and naked during this request: one.)
Number of times Gracie asked to use my brush because she couldn't find hers: two.
Number of times Caid came in and sat on the edge of the tub to talk to me about nothing: two.
Number of times I had to leave the bathroom to make sure that Sarah had actually gotten out of bed: four.
Number of times Gracie asked me when I would be ready to go: two.
Number of times Caid asked me when I would be ready to go: two.
Number of times I had to remind Caid to lower his voice because his dad and brother were still sleeping: two.
Number of times Sarah informed me she called shotgun: one.
Number of times Gracie informed me that it's not fair Sarah always gets shotgun: seven.
Number of times I had to reheat my coffee because I got so distracted I forgot to drink it: two.
A clean page. The first post. I'm just sitting here waiting for my kids to say something funny so I can write it down. That's kind of a lot of pressure considering the number of people who have told me I need to write a book or keep a blog.
Jack is singing "I'm not wearing underwear today..." over and over. Is that good enough for a first post? (I haven't checked to see whether or not that's the truth. I'm kind of scared to know the answer.)
