Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label back to school. Show all posts

Friday, October 2, 2015

Hot Cross Hell and Other Happenings



We are well into the swing of the school year here and to say that we have been busy would be an understatement.

Of course, these are The Three Beans we are talking about here so no new activity starts with smiles and skips, it is more like screams and storming off into other rooms.

We started Religion, which consisted of the Lady standing outside her classroom facing the wall telling the Director of Religion Ed “But I have been coming here for two years!” before she was bribed with some candy and the escorted into the classroom by the very sweet assistant from her Communion class last year. 

You would think the Little Lady might be more open to things, this being her first year of Religion and having nothing to compare it to, you could imagine that instead of standing at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed saying simply. “No. No.” and then after finally seeing her sister go into her classroom having to be carried in by me, placed next to the teacher on the floor where they were gathered before immediately popping up and running out of the classroom.

Pick up went much better, the Little Lady came out with a new friend and everyone got candy from the Director. The Lady now doesn’t give me a hard time about Religion at all, partially because of the candy and partially because she has moved all her angst onto going to dance class.

Seriously Lady, this was you just a few short months ago, full of confidence before your big recital and now you are giving me a hard time about dance?

The Little Lady loves dance, swim not so much, but we are adjusting.

Where is QT in all of this? Happily getting up and going to school, going to swim, you know going with the flow.

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Hot Cross Hell

The Lady turned 8 this week. 8! I can’t believe it, not only have I now been blogging for 7 years, but the Lady is two years away from 10. Third grade is a big year and she has a good group of friends and another good class this year. Know what else she got this year? A recorder.

I like to think there is a special place in Hell for the lowest of the low, criminals who are reprehensible, child abusers and molesters, rapists, murderers, you get the picture. And these awful people are subject to the constant loop of third graders blowing into their recorders the first day they get them.

The Lady took hers into the car (on the way to dance) and just blew into it along to the beat of the music playing on the radio. At least I think that is what she was doing, it could have just been mimicking the sound of a dying animal, can’t be 100% on that one.

Now I am a staunch supporter of music and art in schools. I think it is necessary and I think that kids should be exposed to more of it, but at this point I think I would rather the Lady have brought home a set of drums covered in glitter.

I remember getting my own recorder in elementary school. Our music teacher, Mr. Potter actually carved our names into the back of them and we wore it around our necks on a string. I remember learning Hot Cross Buns. I can still play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. Know what the Lady came home playing on Monday? You guessed it. And my did she practice. I will say it got better. However, not only did I get a turn playing it, but so did QT and the Little Lady. And then there is that stick thing they clean it with. My gag reflex is going into overdrive just typing this. Ugh. Recorder spit.

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On Organization
 
I have been a bit more organized this year. I know it is a combination of being in a bigger space, having some flexibility to work from home some days and the fact that all three kids are in the same school. Part of me really wants this to be a lifestyle blog along the lines of Preserve or GOOP or Martha Stewart, where everything is pretty and organized. And some days I am a very, very cheap knockoff of that, I have bins that hold all their snacks for lunch! I created a homework station that keeps everything in one place! I have a giant expandable folder that has a few folders for each kid and all the good stuff goes in and all the rest gets shredded! But lets be honest here, some mornings are still pure chaos. And if you are looking for a lifestyle blog that revels in that type of chaos, doesn’t post anything for months, and sometimes uses swear words, I think you have found the right place.

Hope everyone’s having a good start to the school year!

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Back to School

It is September! That means back to school, pumpkin donuts at Dunkies, me trying to once again gain control of my life and get organized!

All three beans are in the same school on the same schedule. At least until dance and religion and possibly soccer and maybe swimming start.

But right now it is 97 degrees out and the kids are getting released early from school because of the heat.

Deep breaths!

Summer was crazy busy and a ton of fun.

The Lady is a fish in the water, she tackled the water slide at the pool, rode the waves at the beach house, the Jersey shore and OBX.

 The Little Lady got on roller coasters and rides that made my feet tingle by just looking at them, she turned 6 and went to camp with her cousins.

QT and I spent A LOT of time together this summer, but he got out and about. He turned 4, went to camp, spent time with his feet in actual sand and took a few bike rides in his Ninja Turtle helmet.


I got pretty tan, started training for my second 1/2 marathon this year and experienced all the highs and lows of working from home 4 days a week in the summer!

My husband tore his Achilles tendon the last week of school, got surgery, spent some time in a boot and is finally able to carry sleeping kids out of the car and drive a few balls off the range.

All things considered we had a pretty good summer.

Back to blogging!

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

When September Ends

Did everyone make it?

Did you make it through September? The new schedules, the new shoes, the new ways your children have found to prolong getting out of bed, complain about going to school and cause you unwavering anxiety in only the first month of school after a summer of sleeping in and doing pretty much whatever they wanted in the morning?

Did you send them off for the first time? For the third? To a new school? To one you love?

I did.

We are finally getting into some sort of groove at our house. We have double the homework at our house, although the Little Lady's is still pretty much coloring at this point. It has made the evenings go by much quicker. I will admit to nights of wishing my children to bed and clock watching starting at 5:45 when I walk in the door from work, but now, I find myself realizing that after dinner, homework and the occasional bath that it is 7:30 before we have a minute to breathe.Then we have to do reading log.

Oh Rainbow Fairy's how I have missed you and your trite, plot-less adventures.

QT is enjoying school. Did you all see his cute face on the first day? Oh you did? Here is another pic just because. . .



The other night, he crawled into my bed after his sisters were asleep and I was half asleep, put his hands on my face, turned it towards him and said "Let's talk about school, I love the snacks." I love snacks too, QT but it is 9:45 and momma's tired. (I do realize that 9:45 might not seem that late, but I had been a dirty stay out Saturday night and really needed to catch up on some sleep!)

I hope you all are getting through the endless piles of handouts that come home each night, have written your checks for school photos, the $10 wrapping paper for the fundraiser, and the book fair. I hope your kids are liking, loving, managing with all the new that was thrown at them this September and I hope that you, like me, are making the adjustments necessary to send them off every morning ready to start their day. 








Monday, January 6, 2014

Back to School

The Little Lady has been out of school since December 12. The Lady got out on the 20th and even though both of them went back for a full four hours on Thursday before getting the next day off due to snow, we really haven't had to do the full morning routine in quite a while.

That is why it was so nice this morning to be kicked in the face with the reality that we are back to school after the break.

It was a grey and rainy morning and even though my kids were up by 7 or 7:15 most mornings of their vacation, they chose this morning to sleep in. That might have had to do with the fact that the Ladies got very little sleep the night before because they had a sleepover with their cousins and QT didn't nap at all over the weekend.

I will say it was very hard to pull myself out of my bed as well, because as QT says when he asks to be wrapped up in his blue blankie, it is "comfy cozy" and who doesn't like being comfy cozy?

I for one love it.

So does the Lady, who refused to get out of bed. So does the Little Lady and QT who made their way into my bed for some TV time and waffles.

It was so nice to be late for work over the school break knowing that it was my own dawdling and poor time management, rather than the fact that I was trying to dress the Lady in her bed, shout out that the share letter was J today and that the Little Lady should be bringing the jewelery that was on the table under the TV while at the same time trying to brew my own coffee as a money- and time-saving resolution to start off the new year.

While I am looking to give the kids a bit of structure and re-establish some routine, I am not looking forward to the morning battles, especially tomorrow when the polar vortex moves in and I am pretty sure none of us will want to get out of bed, let alone put on a thousand layers and hope we don't bite it in the driveway again.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

Christmas Wrap Up

Was everyone else ready to send their kids back to school yesterday? The Ladies once again doth protested. The Lady thinks school is "boring" she wants to be chauffeured there in the morning and home again in the afternoon and hates the bus again.

Speaking of the bus, you know that one that drops off everyday at 4 p.m. sometimes not until 5 after. Yesterday it showed up at 3:45. Guess who wasn't at the bus stop waiting? Me and our new sitter who needs to know when and where to get the Lady off the bus. Thank you kindly to the very nice mother who walked the Lady home. Can you say total parenting fail on my part?

Below are a few photos from our very busy couple of weeks. The Ladies went to see the Nutcracker ballet the Sunday before Christmas. They thought sunglasses were appropriate attire. They did have a great time and it did allow me some time to wrap some gifts.

We headed up to my in laws on Christmas Eve and headed home with the beginning of all the loot these kids would receive. I will admit that this year I went a little overboard for them. Add that to everything they got Christmas afternoon at my sisters and the Christmas Eve haul and these kids made out. So much so that my husband actually went out and bought a shelving unit with bins to store all the new crap. We probably should have removed a few things from the house before we brought anything else in but I am hoping to sneak around their room one night hoping not to break my neck on any small pieces of plastic that might be strewn about the floor and gather up some old toys to donate.

My hubby had the kids all week and he did get them out of the house for a bit. We celebrated the Wild Man's 5th b-day and hung out with some family. Overall it was busy and full of arts and crafts and cars and trains.

Here are a few pics:



The Ladies on their way to the Nutcracker! Thank you Aunt Stephie and Aunt Courtney!
Christmas morning. Santa brought scooters for the Ladies. The Little Lady was unhappy that she couldn't ride it outside. I explained to her that even though she was wearing the appropriate safety gear she wasn't wearing any clothes.

Poor QT. Soon they will be applying sparkle face cream on you as well. The Lady created her own Salon, complete with an open/closed sign. You should have seen the botched nail job the Little Lady did on me.

The big kids Christmas afternoon.
QT "ice skating" in silly socks he took from his sister's drawers. I have to love not only his commitment to cars, blocks and balls but to pink socks and princess legos.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Lottery Loser

Well not only did I not win the largest Mega Millions lottery jackpot ever, I also lost the kindergarten lottery.

You would have thought that the universe could have evened things out for me. I mean, if I wasn't going to rake in millions upon millions of dollars for plunking down five bucks at a Shell station and letting the Quick Pick machine spit out a ticket for me, at least I could have gotten the Lady into the school I was hoping for.

No such luck.

The Lady and I will be going to orientation at her districted school on Monday morning, we will see how it goes.

I will say that after I told the Lady the names of the two possible schools she might be attending next year, she told me she wanted to go to the districted school--apparently it is the last name of one of the boys in her class who she always talks about and who had a kick-ass gymnastics party that the Lady would like to recreate for her own birthday along with incorporating both an Angry Birds and Barbie theme.

This was the deciding factor for her, so I guess I should be happy that she at least got what she wanted.

Posts about how I am going crazy over the thought of the Lady's bus ride, the transition to full-day kindergarten, and all other things associated with sending your first born off to "real" school--to follow sometime late summer/early fall.

Until then, I have to pick up some last minute Easter items and figure out how I am going to cram three Pinterest Projects into the next couple of days.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Nursery School: Day 3

Well, our morning was a little hectic. The Ladies didn't get up until 8, so our laid-back morning routine was kind of rushed.

The Lady, refused to get dressed, ate only a cheese stick for breakfast and hid under her assorted blankets for about 10 minutes.

Luckily, when the sitter came she was able to convince the Lady to put on her clothes, while I shoved her feet in socks, finished faxing some of my work, and tried to ignore the Little Lady who was crying for me.

We did make it to school on time, but the Lady was a bit clingy. Luckily, it was another little girl's birthday today and one of the Lady's teachers was able to distract her by asking her if she wanted to see the cupcakes they were going to have.

Bless you, Mrs. McMasters. Bless you. Not only was I able to leave the classroom, you knew the exact magic to use to distract the Lady. If there is one thing in this world she loves, and one thing in this world that reminds me that this kid has to be mine--it is her love of cupcakes.

I am off to pick her up, grateful that the first week of school has come to a close and hoping that next week will be a little bit easier.