The Little Lady Graduates!

I can't believe I am sending another kid to kindergarten.

Today was the Little Lady's moving up ceremony at pre-school.

She woke up, got dressed fancy, applied a little lipstick on the way out the door (her father and I nixed the need for coverup!) and then there she was singing and dancing along with her class until they called her name to cross the bridge.

The best thing about the graduation ceremony at their school is that the teacher says something special about each child as they walk over the bridge. It is incredibly sweet and may have caused a tear or two.

The popsicle reception that followed was just an opportunity to have one last chance to run around with her friends. It was a beautiful day and she deserved it.

Here are some pics of the Little Lady!

Ready for the last day!

Crossing the bridge

Hangin' with her friends

Supermom? Superwoman? Super Morning?

I got up early this morning. Really early. Like, 40 minutes before I even set my alarm, which was about 45 minutes earlier than I usually set it for because I have kind of turned into one of those people who has to fit in a workout at some point during the day and the early a.m. was going to be it for me today.

This morning I didn't even have to hit snooze, I was up, out and working out. Done.

I emptied the dishwasher, ran a load of laundry, showered, got dressed and even had time to moisturize, which rarely happens before I hit the office and make it to the bathroom and realize that I actually left the house looking like the reflection that is staring back at me in the mirror.

My lunch? Already prepped the night before. The Lady's lunch? Done. Milk in cups waiting in the fridge for the kids? Did it.

Homemade pancakes? Batter prepped and ready to go stove-side.

I really started to consider becoming a morning person. All that extra time to actually get things done with care and concern instead of in a flash of crazy panic.

House clean for showing this morning? I even sprayed down the bathroom mirrors.

TV tuned to the Today Show and not some inane kids show? There is actual news happening in the world!

Oh Bean, what a wonder you are. What a modern mother. You certainly have it together don't you? Getting fit, getting organized, let's not forget getting clean, you can have it all.

Until. . . the kids woke up.

QT needed to be carried down the stairs, the milk I poured for the Lady was fine but the Little Lady wanted water. As the pancakes cooked on the stove, I had to wipe a butt, empty a potty, wash my hands (twice) all in the time before I flipped them over.

The Little Lady didn't want pancakes. The Lady didn't want syrup ON her pancakes but she wanted a bowl of syrup to drown them in. I took the syrup covered pancakes and handed them to QT who also told me he didn't want syrup ON them, so I did what any other mother would do and flipped them over and put them on a new plate. Done.

The Little Lady barely ate the egg I made her. The Lady's hair was akin to a rats nest and apparently the shirt I gave her was too tight. (Geez, Mother Nature what happened to that 85 degree weather you gave us yesterday, the Lady was super psyched to wear her full on matchy-match tank top and shorts, now she is giving me a problem about shirts with any sleeves.)

I left QT crying on the top of the stairs, gave a big kiss to the Little Lady who I would see later at her school and got the Lady to the bus stop. As I started the car for the drive to work, I realized I forgot my phone. Rather than go back to the house I just headed to the office.

Did I mention I didn't have any coffee at all yet and there is some sort of black smudge on my new pants?

An hour and a half later, I turned back around and headed to the Little Lady's school for a glorious 30 minutes of an end of the year party where we got to look in her binder of laminated work and go over all she has accomplished this year. It was a little emotional and I was so proud of all the work she did and so happy that she had such a good year. I can't believe she is graduating from pre-school tomorrow.

The k-turn I made in the middle of the ride home to hit the McDonald's' drive through wasn't a proud moment, especially since the Little Lady was going on and on about how she didn't want to go home and how I never do anything fun with her. I am sure rewarding her bad behavior with an American Girl Doll toy from McDonald's isn't really going to curb that behavior but I had to get back to work.

Did I mention I couldn't find my phone once I got home? I had the sitter call me twice, nothing. Granted, it is on vibrate but still. I had a moment of wondering if it was indeed in my bag the whole time. Alas, it was not. Finally, after searching for 15 minutes, I found it under the ginormous stuffed dog on the Lady's bed. My husband had called in the middle of the mayhem and I guess it just got overlooked. Although, fortunately the Lady's hair didn't and it eventually did get brushed. 

45 minutes in traffic to get back to work and here I am, drowsy, a little sore from my cardio fix, slugging back some Earl Grey tea and hoping my husband's flight takes off within the next half hour because if I beat him home those kids are going to lose it.

Might be super snoozing it tomorrow. 
 



 

Birds of a Feather. . . Freak Me Out

I think it is safe to assume that most of us have done something for our kids that places us a bit outside of our comfort zone.

In all honesty, just showing up at kids birthday parties and talking to parents I don't know gives me a little bit (more) anxiety. I can't wait until they are all drop offs.

Anyway, I also think it is safe to assume that most of you know that I hate birds. I have mentioned it here a few times. I just don't like them. At all.There really isn't anything I find redeeming about them and the fact that people keep them in their homes as pets weirds me out.

So on Saturday when we met up with a girlfriend of mine and her family at the local Aquarium, I wasn't really expecting a full-on bird exhibit.

I paid $3 for a cup of nectar and for birds to land on me. On my arms and my shoulders and my head. My head! Although, I did tell the girl in there with the stick that maybe it would be in her best interest to remove the one off the top of my head before I had a literal freak out.

Granted, the birds were very colorful and vibrant up close, non-withstanding their creepy claws in my skin and hair. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.  But it was way outside the comfort zone.

Not sure how I ended up in there with the Little Lady and QT in there by myself, but I tried to show them that I wasn't afraid/freaked out/totally skeeved by winged creatures and tried to even say things like "Look at the beautiful feathers, see how they are drinking the nectar. . ." all in what was probably a voice in a much higher pitch than my regular speaking voice and probably conveyed not one lick of confidence.

Then of course someone got pooped on. There were signs that warned of this. The really chipper guy at the front of the exhibit also warned us about it as he told us to Purell before we got in there. Like, the birds should be worried about getting something from me?

I have to admit I was super psyched it wasn't me and it wasn't in my hair. Poor QT though!

Thank goodness the poo consisted of what I can only assume was mostly nectar and was obviously being drunk in high quantities by these birds. It also only got him on the foot, but it was reason enough for us to leave that bird enclosure and I am 100% sure I won't ever be going back.

Waiting for his feet to be de-poopified

Not sure what was worse for QT the bird poo or the sand he got on his foot when he briefly stepped into a sandbox area. I was having flashbacks of last summer, luckily, we spent some serious time in another sandbox yesterday afternoon and we have found that as long as he isn't wearing any shoes he can handle it.

I for one am looking forward to an amazing summer, that hopefully is pretty bird-free. Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Day 2/5 Five Photos of my Day

Day 2/5: Work. Work. Work. Not very exciting, but I had a project to finish so I was busy, which is always good since it was still pretty crappy out yesterday morning. I didn't go outside at lunch so I was super psyched to pull out of the parking garage and see a beautiful afternoon.

I had to pick up some prescriptions at CVS and then I was headed to a quick meeting after work. Hey CVS? Any reason why when I refill my prescriptions online for pickup at 4:00 that I am still waiting 15 minutes for it to be filled when I get there at 5:15? Yeah, didn't think so. 

I still had some time before my meeting so I took a very quick 25 minute run to the beach and back. There is nothing better than some sand and sun. Also, the meeting was with a yoga instructor who is volunteering at the Komen CT walk next weekend, so it didn't matter if I looked like a sweaty mess, which I did, but it was well worth it. 

Ahh, Costco. . . 4 gallons of milk is about average per visit. It is scary when only three out of five of us actually drink milk. Oh well. I picked up some milk, bread and some new undies for QT (they had Mike and Sully on them!) and headed out. 

Lady in front of me fishing your receipt out of your pocket (your pocket? This is Costco, you buy the stuff, you keep the receipt in your hand so you can hand it to the checker guy on the way out) while eating a churro and holding a speaker phone conversation, while trying to pull your very full cart with one hand. DO NOT STOP in front of the exit. I will hit you with my cart!

Finally, home. Three kids in the tub is a good thing to walk into. The chaos that follows is not. Let's just say they all eventually went to bed. 

1/5 5 Photos of my Day

Ok, so in addition to posting on fb. I thought I would post my 5 photos in a day challenge pics here on the blog as well. I took a personal day yesterday to get some stuff done.

1. The Little Lady got to have a friend over and we took this one after dropping her off.

2.We then headed out to the doctor so that she could get a couple of shots so she was up to date and ready to enroll in kindergarten! Won't make the mistake of showing up to registration two shots short again!

3. Had to fit in a workout. I was able to find the time, but not necessarily the room as the three kids were super excited to get involved. The Little Lady was the only one who made it to the abs at the end.

4. Trains. Trains. Trains. Thank goodness QT doesn't actually make us watch Thomas the Train Engine. He is just content to set up the tracks and then leave them there while we all have to step around them.

5. I love to read. I hate reading for reading log. Sometimes knowing that we have to read just sucks some of the joy out of it. Couple that with the Rainbow Fairy collection of chapter books that we have started reading that lack a strong story arc and are all essentially the same, and you can see how  it sometimes becomes a tedious to-do at night. However, what is great is snuggling next to the Lady and spending some time with her.

Running a few errands in the rain

Waiting to get shots for kindergarten.

This was ridiculous. The kids were already bathed and mostly in pjs and yet took the time to work up a sweat. I promise I only stopped for like 5 seconds to take this pic!

QT loves his trains.

Reading yet another Rainbow Fairy book. I think we are on like book 100. Next up Scarlett the Garnet Fairy. Wish me luck tonight.