Elmo Backpack

About a week ago Amanda found Andy's old Elmo backpack.  We got it for him when he was about her age and obsessed with Elmo, so he could bring a few of his own things with him when we went on trips.  Back then we went on a lot of trips, sigh.

It has a few small holes in it from being dragged on the floor, but otherwise it's in fantastic shape.  Since she has found it she barely takes it off.  She wears it in the car, even with things in it which looks very uncomfortable but she is willing to sacrifice comfort to keep it on, during meals, all day long.  She even takes it to bed with her, although I won't let her sleep in it.  The only place she is not allowed to take her backpack is school, because I don't want to cause any problems or fights.

I'm not sure how long this Elmo obsession is going to last, but it doesn't look like it's going to lose momentum any time soon.

Proud Mama

Usually I write about how much my kids drive me crazy, the strange things they do or say, how I muddle through my days.  C'mon, it's a lot more interesting than "my kids are the best and brightest kids on Earth".  Today, is an exception.  Today I am going to tell you about my brilliant son.  You heard me, keep reading, because you won't see a post like this too often.

My story begins at the beginning of last year, when Andy was entering the 2nd grade.  I went to Curriculum Night for the Gifted and Talented (G&T) teacher.  One of the things our district offers, which she briefly touched upon, is telescoping.  Telescoping is where they allow you to skip a grade, but only in one subject.  In this case, it's math.  Andy's a smart kid, and he's really good at math.  He understands it very quickly and you don't often have to explain a concept more than once.  After the meeting I asked the teacher a little more about it.  Basically you have to tell your teacher you are interested, and then they have to collect months worth of data on your child to see if they are even eligible.  It sounded like a ton of work so I just kind of let it drop.  I've told you before how lazy I am, right?

Fast forward about six months to Open House.  It just so happened that on the day of Open House the G&T parents group posted on Facebook something like, "Have you thought about telescoping for your child?  Ask your child's principal or teacher if they would be a good candidate."  If that had been posted any other day I would have completely blown it off and not thought about it again.  But since it was fresh in my mind, when I saw the principle in the hallway that night I asked her about it.  She didn't know if Andy was a viable candidate and told me to ask the G&T teacher.  Since we were on our way to her class I asked her next.  The first thing she said was, "Can he do fourth grade math?"  Charlie and I just looked at each other.  How were we supposed to know?  We didn't even know what 4th grade math entailed.  Again, it sounded like a lot of work.  So we dropped it.  A second time.

A week or two later a note came home in Andy's folder stating something like, "You have inquired about telescoping.  We are having a telescoping meeting at this day and time, will you be able to come?"  It was right after school and I didn't have anybody to leave the kids with.  We also had kind of given up on the idea of doing it.  So I checked no.  Not interested.  I sent it back and then discussed it with a friend.  We kind of agreed that maybe I should go to the meeting and find out more about it (she was intrigued as well) and she would watch my kids.  Bonus.  If anything I got an hour away from the kids by myself (you didn't think I would make it though this whole story without at least one shot at the kids, did you?).  Of course, I had already selected no on the form.  Oh well (so, so lazy).

A couple days later the Assistant Principal called.  She wanted to know if I had selected no on the form because we were no longer interested or because I couldn't go to the meeting.  That gave me the chance to tell her that I was interested and could now go to the meeting.  As it turned out, there were only six parents that showed up.  There are over 450 kids in Andy's school and only six were interested in this program.  Not that they really advertise it, I think there are lots of smart kids in Andy's grade that could do it, it's just not very well known.

They started going through a list of qualifications that the kids had to meet to even be eligible to take the telescoping test.  Meaning they weren't just going to let anybody take it.  Test scores, grades, classroom behavior, a little bit of everything.  As the G&T teacher went down the list, Andy met every single requirement.  Some of the kids were going to have to take extra tests just to see if they were eligible for testing, but for whatever reason Andy had already fulfilled taken them all.  Nothing was standing in his way.  The district was even willing to pay for the test to be administered, the only thing we had to do was give our permission for him to show up.  That completely met my requirement of me needing to do nothing but making sure he was there, and it was during the school day so how hard was that?

We studied a little bit to make sure he was familiar with third grade math concepts, and a few weeks before school ended he took the test.  We tried to explain the importance of making sure to use all the time and educated guessing if he wasn't sure of an answer, so I was a little nervous when he finished in about half the time given.  When I asked him why he didn't use all the time he said he had already gone over the entire test twice and it was almost time for recess.  Um, okay, I see where your priorities lie.  In order to pass and get accepted into the program he needed to get a 90% on the exam.  As it turned out he got a 74 out of 75.  He missed one.  We were unbelievably proud of him, but he was a little bit nervous.

Fast forward again to the beginning of the school year and his first day of math.  He loved it.  He loves his teacher, it's all good.  The only problem is that he's missed a few classes.  It's up to him to leave at math time and go to the fourth grade class, and sometimes, for various reasons, he doesn't make it.  The other day I was lecturing him about how he needs to leave whether his home room teacher tells him to go or not and that it is his responsibility to get to that class and how if he doesn't go he could miss something on a test that it only explained that one day, etc.  He just smiled at me and said, "I don't think that's going to be a problem."  Okay smart guy, why not?  Apparently his math teacher put him in a special group of five kids that's ahead of the rest of the class.  That's right, not only is he in an advanced class but he is one of the best kids in that class.  Now our pride is overflowing.

I don't know how much this love of math is going to last or if it's going to take him anywhere, but for right now I am so amazed at what he has done, how well he has adjusted, how much he hungers for more, that I could not be any prouder or happier for him.  How far my little man has come!

Hot Lunch

Last year a little cafe opened next door to Sarah's school so the school started offering hot lunch.  You order from the cafe and they bring it over to the kids at lunch time.  It is reasonably priced and according to Sarah they always serve something good to eat.

We never did it, however this week we are going to start.  Sarah's therapist opened her own office that is about 30 minutes from our house and we are trying to do therapy before school instead of after, so trying to leave the house extra early and get lunch made it just one thing too many.  A disaster in the making.

When I asked Sarah if she would be interested in getting hot lunch on Wednesdays she was uber excited.  Apparently there are a few other kids that get it and it is wonderful.  In fact, every since I told her that we are starting hot lunch this week she hasn't stopped talking about it.  She is counting the days and can't wait to see what it is.  It has replaced her excitement for the corn maze, which by the way opens this Friday.

Oh, to be five years old and excited by something so simple.  Only about 12 more years of hot lunch to go, you think she'll be that excited about it when she's in high school?

Water Park

Amanda and Sarah have decided that the bath tub is a water park.  It was kind of cute at first, especially when Amanda says, "wawapah" and gets a huge smile on her face, but it's MESSY.  It started out where they would just lie on their backs or their tummies and pretend they were swimming, but now they slide down the side of the tub, making huge waves.  Yesterday Sarah even had Amanda sitting on top of her while they slid down together.  We only fill the bathtub about 1/3 full, but water still goes everywhere.  Of course the girls don't mind, the messier the better.

Either my girls have very active imaginations or they really don't ever get to do anything fun.  I'm pretty sure it's the former.

Kid Quote of the Day

"I want to Skype with Daddy."

-Amanda, can you tell Daddy's been gone a lot this month?

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah:  Why will you never see a unicorn?  (a line from a song we were listening to)

Me:  Because they are magical, mythical creatures.

Sarah:  They got dead by a bad person.

Me:  Really?!?

Sarah:  Yes, a dinosaur.

Picture of the Day

A rare picture of all three kids looking like they like eachother.

Kid Quote of the Day

"Daddy doesn't know how to dry butts."

-Sarah, after swim class.  Charlie's rebuttal was that he does indeed know how to dry butts, but he apparently does not know how to dry hair because her wet hair dripped onto her butt causing her underwear to get wet and making her most unhappy.

The Floor

Amanda has taken to throwing things on the floor if she isn't happy with them.  Give her a fork when she wants a spoon?  She throws it on the floor.  Have the audacity to give her a yellow vitamin instead of a purple one?  Straight on the floor.  Done eating breakfast?  Handfuls of cereal this morning all over the floor.

It's everything.  Anytime she is mad or upset or disgruntled or there is a slight lack of communication, something gets chucked onto the floor.  It would be somewhat amusing, except she then refuses to pick it up.  Which means I have to. 

Today I had visions about leaving everything on the floor and seeing how long it would take someone else to pick it up.  Charlie is on vacation a business trip to St. Johns until Friday so he certainly isn't going to fly home to pick up anything.  When I say everything, however, I'm not just talking about Amanda's discards.  I'm referring to Andy's socks and Sarah's shoes and the blanket that is supposed to be folded up in the corner of the living room and the sofa cushions and crayons and scraps of paper and everything else that the kids leave lying around.

The problem is, they wouldn't pick it up.  Eventually I would give in because it would drive me crazy or Charlie would finally come home and comment on how disgusting the house was, because it would be.  One sticky, wet, polluted mess.

So for now, I'll make the kids pick up what I can and try to teach Amanda that it's okay to set something down or hand it back if you don't want it, and I'll get lots of use out of my awesome new hand vac.

Mixing Things Up

So I'm trying something new, mixing things up with the blog. Okay, really I just changed the way it looks, but that's a start. I feel kind of like an idiot, because I used to work in the dot com world, but that was back in 2004 before I quit to be a stay at home mom. In just a few short years I have turned into a technology idiot. In some ways it makes me feel like my mother, who I once spent about 30 minutes on the phone with trying to explain how to record something on the VCR (wow, I'm dating myself with that story), but in other ways I'm just too lazy to care and I'm okay with that. I would love for it to have lots of bells and whistles, but I really just want to write. Write and get all the stories out, all the craziness removed from my head, all the stress and drama and humor that comes with having three kids. Three kids that are far from perfect, and a definite work in progress, but that I still love dearly no matter how much they drive me crazy. My life would not be half as fun without them, but my vacations would be better. Anyway, I'd ask what you think of this new layout, but I've heard from a couple people that they can't comment on my blog. So, if you can, please comment and tell me what you think. I may not change it, but at least I'll know. That is all, kthnxbai!

Breakfast

Amanda really isn't much of a breakfast eater. I try to feed it to her every day, but she's got other ideas. She'll ask for cereal, but then leave all the flakes and only pick out the small pieces of dried fruit, which drives me crazy. Or she'll take one bite of her waffle and then drop it on the floor or offer it to me. Most mornings she asks for a cookie or candy, but I've stuck to my guns that those just aren't breakfast foods (however I did break down the other day and give her a pop tart. We don't usually have them in the house but I got a box free for spending $10 at the grocery store).

This morning I was tired. I went to bed uber late and then got up three times with the girls over the course of the evening. Sarah had to go the bathroom at 3a, Amanda woke and I pulled her into bed with me at 4a, and Sarah woke again around 5a because she missed Daddy. Yes, baby, I missed him too, believe me! Due to my tiredness I wasn't really picky about what Amanda had for breakfast as long as she ate something and it wasn't cookies or candy. That gave her a very wide berth.

When she got out the box of goldfish crackers and asked me if she could get a bowl for them Sarah couldn't believe I said yes. Amanda was super excited that she was in charge of her breakfast, and scooped out a few handfuls without even spilling them. She did leave the box on the kitchen floor, however, so I need to work on that. She sat down at the table with Sarah to eat.

I don't remember if she already had a glass of milk or if she asked me for one, but she wanted it in her "Amanda" mug with a straw instead of a sippy cup. As long as she stays at the table I'm okay with that, she's got to learn how to drink from a cup eventually. Somehow she got the idea, most likely from Sarah who tends to put crazy little ideas into Amanda's head, that she should dip her goldfish crackers into her milk. I had no objections to this as long as she still ate them. To each their own.

Except she didn't eat them. She filled her milk cup with goldfish crackers and then left the table. For all I know she didn't eat a single one. Another failed attempt at the morning meal. Below is the remains of her "breakfast".

Kid Quote of the Day

Sarah: Why did the pickle cross the road?

Me: I don't know, why?

Sarah: Monkey pants. Hahahahaha.


Because the jokes she tells are HORRIBLE, this one was actually kind of funny. Turns out she sort of stole it from the Disney Channel show "Ant Farm" (at least the monkey pants part), which she is way to young to watch but watches it because Andy does, but at least she caught the humor from the show.

Picture of the Day

Amanda, the shoe lover, decided to get out Sarah's light up princess boots today. I'm sure this brings back memories for my mother of when I would wear everyone's boots and discard them with abandon when I was done. I have no idea where she left them, which may be a problem if and when we need them this winter.

Steam

When Andy was little, he used to get a croupy cough a few times a year. I don't think he ever got a full-on case of croup, but the cough is enough. If you've never heard it, it's absolutely horrible. It usually comes on in the middle of the night, it sounds like your child is barking, and it's just scary.

The first time he ever got it we were freaked out. Thanks to Al Gore and the internet Charlie quickly googled the symptoms and we figured out that it must be croup. There are two ways that you can alleviate the barking and coughing. First, you can go outside into the brisk air, which depending on the time of year you may or may not have available in Texas, or you can steam up your bathroom and sit in it for 30-45 minutes and let the steam do it's magic. I don't know that we've ever done the first treatment, but I've had my fair share of trips in a steamy bathroom in the middle of the night with a toddler in my lap. Eventually they go back to sleep without any issues, but it's a long night.

We've done this enough with Andy that he knows the drill. His is usually brought on by allergies. He doesn't have very many symptoms otherwise, nothing like either of the girls, but he still gets that croupy cough when his allergies kick in. So, when he started getting symptoms he knows what to do.

On Sunday night, or more accurately early Monday morning, he was all congested and couldn't sleep. It was about 5:00 a.m. So, he went into the guest bathroom, which is kind of secluded from the rest of the house, and turned on a hot shower. He was worried that Sarah would wake up and get scared that he wasn't there (as I've mentioned before they share a room), so he woke her up and took her to the bathroom with him. He read her books to keep her occupied. He gave himself a "steam bath", but didn't get into the water so it wasn't a bath, until he could breathe better and his cough went away. We slept through all of this.

I got up around 6:40 to get Amanda, and was kind of annoyed to see him going into the bathroom because he knows he is not allowed to get out of bed before 7:00. I thought he was just taking a shower. Little did I know what had actually transpired up to that point, Charlie had to fill me in on it later. I'm not sure if Sarah ever got back to sleep or not, but now I understand why she was so, so tired that day. The next morning he did it again, but this time after a gentle lecture from Charlie did not bring Sarah into the action.

So, tell me, what does he need me for? Oh yeah, he can't get a driver's license or a job quite yet. If it weren't for that I think the kid could take care of himself pretty well.

Corn Maze

There is a very small farm down the street from us. Well, it's not in our neighborhood or anything, but when you come out of our neighborhood and drive to the next big intersection, there's the farm. It's a cute little place that has cows and horses, or as Amanda likes to say Nays and Moos, and every fall they have a pumpkin patch. I don't know if the pumpkin patch is a Texas or southern thing or if they've just come to be since I was a kid, but we never went to them when I was growing up. In fact, I never even heard of them until I had kids of my own.

Some of the pumpkin patches here are huge, but of course everything is bigger in Texas, haha. The one we like to take the kids to has bounce houses and a pumpkin chucker (a huge pumpkin slingshot with targets), pony rides, petting zoo, hay rides and even a few small midway rides. That one is awesome as far as pumpkin patches go. The only problem is that it's still pretty hot here in October, so the kids don't get to wear their costumes and usually have shorts on. Not very fall-like to me, but they don't know the difference.

The pumpkin patch at the farm near our house is small. In fact, it's so small that we've never even bothered to take the kids there. No rides, no bounce houses, nothing that special at all. They have pumpkins and that about it, except for the corn maze. Over the past year, Sarah has become fascinated by the corn maze.

Basically, they grow a small area of corn and cut a maze into it. I'm sure it's not that hard or scary and the kids probably spend less than five minutes in it, but it's all Sarah can talk about. We drive by that farm everyday on her way to school, and within the last couple of weeks the corn has started to grow. As soon as the corn started to grow she started asking about the maze.

As I said, we've never been. But last year one of Sarah's classmates went and told her all about the corn maze. She was intrigued. She wanted to go, but she didn't find out about it until close to Halloween and then we never had time before they closed for the year. Over the winter and spring every once in awhile she would bring it up and ask a few questions, telling me how her friend went in it, and I would always say let's wait until fall and we can go this year. What else was I supposed to say?

Now she's just watching that stuff grow. How high will the corn be for the maze? Will it be taller than me? Will it be taller than Andy? Will it be taller than you and Daddy? Is it scary? How long will it take? When can we go? What if we get stuck in there and never get out? Will you lift me up so I can see over the corn? Seriously, the kid is obsessed with the corn maze.

I'm not sure when they open, probably not until October 1. She may die with anticipation. Luckily that corn is growing fast and there is a huge pole that tells how tall it is. Right now most of it is taller than she is, which drives her nuts. All I know is that as soon as that pumpkin patch is open, she's going to make us go. Probably more than once. I hope she's not disappointed.

Picture of the Day

We took the kids to the museum last weekend and they had a blast playing with the wind machines. Sarah's hair is flying straight up, and Amanda is holding a stick with ribbons on the end.

It's a Start

I know I've posted a lot about the kids, especially the girls, going to school, but that's what's on my mind lately. It hasn't been going smoothly and it's starting to beat me down. So, since I can't think of anything else creative and funny to entertain you with, this is what you get.

This morning I actually got a sign that Amanda was starting to do better at school. For one thing, the boy who is always crying and standing at the door wasn't crying today. Serious improvement. He was still at the door, but wasn't crying. He looked like he may have cried at one point, but he wasn't crying when I dropped her off.

Second, although Amanda did cry when I dropped her off, instead of clinging to me with a vice grip, she walked over to her teacher with arms outstretched, wanting to sit on her lap and be comforted. This may not seem like a big deal, especially since she was still crying, but to me it means that a)she's not trying to leave, and b)she finds comfort in her teachers. That's a big deal.

It will get better, she will start to enjoy herself, and I will finally get confirmation that this is a good thing for her. We're not there yet, but it's a start.

Crying is Contagious

Today marks the fourth week of school for Sarah and Amanda. We had a few shaky days with Sarah, but she seems to be doing okay. She really likes the English days but unfortunately only two out of five are English and the rest are Spanish. On those days she is a little less willing to go to school and whines a bit more. Really, who wouldn't? It's hard, you have to think a lot more, and the day seems very long. I get yelled at a lot on Spanish days because the girls are tired and overwhelmed and I'm the one who left them there.

In Sarah's class, she's one of the only kids that cries. In Amanda's class, it's a different story entirely. There are very few kids that don't cry. It's understandable because it's the "young 2s" class, so most of them have just turned two and it's the first time they've been away from Mom for a significant period of time. I get that. However, it's the fourth week of school, you'd think they'd figure it out by now. All they've really figured out is that they are going to get left and they don't like it.

There are a few kids in Amanda's class that cry a lot. She can usually hold it together until we get to class, but when she sees those kids she starts freaking out and crying really hard. I feel so bad leaving her, but know it's good for her to be around kids her own age and want her to get that exposure to Spanish now rather than later. That's how it is with every kid. They are fine when they get to class and as soon as they see the other kids crying they think, "Hey, that kid's crying. I should probably be crying too." and it just gets louder and louder and worse and worse until the whole class is crying.

I like to blame one of the boys, because he cries hard and long. It's nice to blame somebody else's kid. However, I know it's not just him. In fact, today it was us. We came in about 10 minutes late and all the kids were sitting at the table. There were a few red eyes but nobody was crying when we walked into the room. Amanda started crying, and one by one all the other kids starting crying too. One kid wasn't quite crying, but he was still wearing his backpack as if he thought he would be able to leave at any moment. I felt so horrible for the teachers, who had probably just finally calmed all the others down, but they are pros.

The funny thing is, that class has an entirely different dynamic on Mondays and Wednesday. I know, because we walk by the class everyday as we take Sarah to her class. On M/W the kids are quiet and happy and doing the morning activity as we walk by. Nobody is crying or needs consoling, the whole room is calm. On the contrary, on T/Th Amanda's class is full of kids crying and trying to escape and they don't even have time to get the morning activity out. They are just in reactive mode.

It will be fine, they will adjust, the teachers will make it through. You can bet, however, that those teachers are going to get some very nice gifts at Christmas time.

Fashionista

These are the socks Amanda picked to wear to school yesterday. Yes, those are reindeer. Yes, it is only September, and yes, it is still over 100 degrees. To top it off, they are too big and the tags were still on them. We won't even talk about how much they clash with the shoes she picked. However, she insisted on wearing them.

As I see it, if she is willing to put on a pair of socks and we don't have to fight her to pick shoes that aren't Crocs, it's a good day. If wearing reindeer socks is going to ease the process of getting her dressed in her school uniform, then I'm all for it. The school has rules about what color her tops and bottoms have to be, but nothing about the socks.

Looks like I may have to take her sock shopping.