Another School Year Begins



4th Grade and 1st Grade

We survived this morning.  Believe me, I was holding my breath.  I moved in 3rd and 6th grade, and I felt like I was right back there this morning.  I had a nervous stomach for the girls.

Laney was fine, no worries.  She woke up in a great mood, agreeable, excited, and jumped right on the bus.  Macie, on the other hand, was quiet, avoided all eye contact, and wouldn't eat breakfast.  I was feeling her pain.  Thankfully the bus stop was full of kids, Macie being one of the oldest, so there was no chance she was going to meltdown.

After school was just the opposite.  Macie came off the bus full of smiles and stories.  Laney said she didn't do anything or talk to anyone.  Oh well, they both say they will go back tomorrow...good thing.

 

I look at them and wonder where the time went.  Macie is 2 quick years away from dreaded middle school.  And when we last lived in Bloomington, Laney wasn't yet 2 years old.  Don't get me wrong, I am ready for summer to be over and a little normalcy in our schedule, I am just not ready for my babies to get so old. 

Sad

When I started this blog I envisioned a place to share funny stories, trips, milestones and photos.  It didn't occur to me that, naturally challenging things would happen in our lives too.  I like blogging, and I am a Facebook junkie, but I am not prepared to grieve online or solicit sympathy.  However, I don't want those of my 247 Facebook friends who know what is actually going on in my life, to assume I am being callous by not updating it in my status.  It is ok to still keep some things private, right? 

With all that said, it has been a really tough week.  My dad died suddenly.  I am still wading through a bunch of emotions that continue to hit me in waves.  Sad is really the only word to describe it.  All of it.  The life, the death, how I feel, all just, so, sad.  I am not quite out of the haze yet, but these things I know...since this is a journal of sorts, and very few people know about my blog (certainly not as public as Facebook), I will post so I can look back at these a-ha's.

Addiction sucks.  It affects everyone.  It robs the person of who they should/could have been, the relationships they could have, their physical health, and the ability to feel & express deeply.
My dad was not a bad person.  He just couldn't do any different or be any more for me/us.
It is never too late to change something that isn't working.  Any morning you wake up is an opportunity to do something different.  Death, on the other hand, is very final.
Don't assume you know what someone is going through or feeling, especially in grief.
And, once again, I am so thankful for Papa in our lives.

New Rooms

The kids are really proud of their new rooms...now only if they would take care of them and keep them clean.  I think they all turned out really nice.  Thanks Mom & Beth!

Usually, I am all for painting every wall, but "Yellow Lettuce" aka Neon Lime Sherbet only gets to claim one wall in a bedroom.  And the other 2 rooms can be seen from the front door, so we went with only two accent walls in each room.

Aunt Beth is the master organizer, and she had her work cut out when it came to Macie's room.  (She can be a bit of a hoarder, and likes to put random things in random places).  Macie just got a desk, complete with lots of cubbies, drawers, bins and canisters to hold more random objects.

Laney loves the way Beth prominently displayed all of her hippos. (The photo of the top of the dresser is only her gray hippos, so about a 1/4 of the collection).

Grandma bought G a great patchwork style quilt that we love.  He is having some challenges getting use to his new room.  He has been very particular about the placement of his furniture so we have moved things around a couple times.



FYI...The hippo in the shades is "Mike" and the one with the tiara is "Sarah"



American Girls in Chicago

While Grandma, Beth & Noni were here we ended the week with a trip to Chicago.  It was so amazing that it deserves its own post.  Grandma booked the American Girl package at the InterContinental Hotel right on the Magnificent Mile.  http://www.icchicagohotel.com/american-girl-chicago/index.cfm

I have to copy and paste from the website all that the package included because it was AMAZING!  And the cost of the room was less than $200!
Personalized welcome letter

Tiara for your girl
Complimentary breakfast
Trivia game during breakfast, with prize
American Girl® Doll-Sized Travel Bed to keep
Themed turn down service for doll and child's bed
Turn down amenity each night - fancy cupcakes & milk

It was a dream weekend for a little girl...shopping at the American Girl store, wandering the big city, taxi rides, huge pizzas, cupcakes, and carriage rides.  I am pretty sure they felt like spoiled princesses and they won't forget this experience.



Thanks Grandma for a great weekend!

An Exhausting Week

Grandma, Beth & Noni were here for a week and we got a TON accomplished.  Painted & decorated all the kids rooms, picnic at the park, visited to the Children's Museum, Miller Park Zoo, a baseball game, more parks, school clothes shopping, ate out, late nights chats, climbed trees, and lots of bike riding,...





Growing Up

My little girl has been busy growing up this week.  She is all ready for 1st grade.
First her ears pierced....

And now the holey-face phase begins....

One Minute Vent

My tan is fading. My hair is gray. I have been to the gym 1 time in 2 months yet my body aches. My hip hurts. I miss my friends. Cream carpet always looks dirty no matter how often I vacuum. The toys bins are unorganized. My laundry hamper is broken. The coffee table has become a tv stand.

***Ok, hopefully now I am over it. 

Overdue Update

Today was registration, and I have to admit, I was a little nervous. The move, so far, has been drama-free and I just didn't know if it will all become more real when the girls walk into their new school. 

I am a little concerned because I recently discovered that during the course of the summer Laney has done a brain-dump.  She ended last year above standard in many areas, but I think she has regressed a bit.  She is struggling when she reads, stumbling over words she use to know.  She would be happy if I read to her all day long, but she fights doing it herself.  I dug out all our BOB books, early readers, flashcards, spelling and addition workbooks. 

 

Even Macie who loves to read hasn't been overly motivated this summer.  I guess we have had a lot going on.  We spent the first half of the summer hanging out with friends, and lately all it seems we do is errands to get the house settled.  The kids have spent a lot of time outside in the dreadful heat riding bikes.  Now that we have sidewalks, Laney immediately took off without her training wheels, she is a riding fool. 

The kids have been patiently waiting for a new playset.  Eric and I have been working on it in the evenings for almost two weeks...finally, tonight it is finished enough for the kids to test it out. 

We have a little cleanup and a couple more boards to recut but it looks great and the kids are really excited.  It is huge!  I think from the top you can see all the way to Chicago.  We did all of it ourselves, no prefabbed cuts, but it saved us $1600!

Oh, and it occurs to me that I should explain my last post where I said I love the pond "with or without fish"...

The first owner of our house was a Master Gardener.  Along with beautiful plants she had installed a pond.  Rumor has it she would come out and babytalk to the fish every morning.  Eric met the people we purchased from.  They gave him the rundown of the heater, food, and the (Indian) names of the 5 koi.  So we inherited 5 koi, all at least 6 inches long. 

A couple days after being here I attempted to feed the koi,...I slipped and spilled nearly a year supply of food into the pond.  No worries, I spend the next 15 minutes skimming all of the food out.  However, a couple nights later, the pond was a little low so Eric added some water.  Watchful eyes (belonging to Laney) saw daddy do this and decided to add some more.  At 10:30pm, before we went to bed Eric happened to go outside to find the water running, the pond overflowing and dead koi littering the patio.

(Note: In a safe environment, far away from Hammons, koi have a life expectancy of 30-40 years).