Get Out and Play!

The weather was glorious this weekend! Saturday was a bit of a lost day, because it was Yom Kippur, but it was a lot easier to fast and be appreciative of all of the wonderful things in life with bright skies and 75 degree weather.

Sunday was even more spectacular, and I was not going to waste it. While LP was in Sunday school, AK and I drew with chalk on the driveway and played in the yard. After picking LP up, we visited an orchard, picked out pumpkins at Stew Leonard's and went for a walk down to the lake. The girls made sand castles and waded in the water. Of course this meant wet and sandy feet and bottoms - but who cared?! That is what Indian summer days are for, right?

In a stroke of good timing, I was recently contacted by the folks at Clorox to help spread the word in their Play2Day pledge campaign. Basically, you pledge to spend at least 10 hours outside every week with your kids, and they donate money to Action for Healthy Kids, a non-profit organization devoted to helping children learn about staying active and eating well, for this campaign. They will donate $1 for every new pledge participant, on top of their existing $50,000 donation.

So I made the pledge and made good on it this weekend - how about you?

PS: Clorox2 is sending my some samples to see if I can't get rid of those sandy bottom stains (and to thank for for writing about the new campaign).

Update from the Field

In the middle of the night last night, the Hoos sat bolt upright in bed.

"Did you hear that?"

"Maybe."

"There it is again. I'm getting up," he says, grabbing a flashlight (I guess it could be a weapon?)

"Okay."

Running into the hallway, "Who's there?!"

Stops. "Oh. AK. Hi."

So, AK got up to pee and scared the crap out of the Hoos. On the bright side - SHE WOKE UP DRY AND GOT HER FIRST MARSHMALLOW.

For those of you concerned, we do have an alarm system and it was on. And we do know we have two small children who might roam at night, but perhaps we were not thinking straight.

Definition of Precocious

AK has been potty trained for months now. Actually, it looks like it is almost a year!

Unfortunately she still sleeps in PullUps. It was this age and time of year when LP gave up PullUps, so I remain hopeful.

Actually, I am more than hopeful - I am on to bribery. A few weeks ago, I offered AK the reward of a marshmallow with breakfast every morning she stays dry. She was totally stoked.

But it didn't help.

Until Friday.

AK crawled into bed with me and the Hoos and grabbed my hand, "Mommy, feel my PullUp! It's dry! Can I have my marshmallow?"

At first I was very pleased for her, "Good job, baby!" Then I got suspicious, "Hey, AK? Did you change your PullUp?"

Very sincerely she responded, "Yesssssss. The other one was wet - it had pee in it!"

All the Bright Side

It is coming up on 2 months since we moved into our new home in Fairfield. Is it all sunshine and light? No. (Yes, occasional dead mouse in the crawl space - I am looking at you).

But there are many, many things to be excited about.

Home: We are making fantastic progress on making the house ours. There is and will always be more to do and more ways to spend money (e.g., paint the family room, remove some trees, re-sod the lawn, get new blinds...), but we have plenty of time to prioritize and make small improvements. For now I am happy with the weeding I do while waiting for the bus and gazing lovingly at the tapestry we finally picked out and hung to cover the electric box in the middle of the living room wall.

Day care: The Hoos and I both remarked this morning that we think AK is happier at her new day care. There was nothing wrong with the old day care, but she just seems chattier and more relaxed at the new place. And I know she loves her weekly swimming class.

School: LP seems to be thriving at kindergarten. Always eager to board the school bus, she sits with her "bus buddies" (although she can't recall their names, or just doesn't want to tell me) and passes on the bus gossip. Shockingly, the big kids that sit in the back of the bus? Are still as raucous as when we were kids. She likes her teacher, enjoys aftercare, and continues to make new friends on a daily basis.

Etc.: We joined our local synagogue and LP is going into her 3rd week of Hebrew School. I am getting used to my commute and new routine and haven't had any complaints about my adjusted hours. The Hoos spent a couple of nights away earlier this week and while we missed him, he learned a lot and made some good contacts.

So really, who can complain?

There's Nothing Wrong with a Little Traffic

This week is the first week of our new routine - no holidays, no randomly early closing times, just "normal."

Well, at least it would have been normal if LP's eyes weren't bright red when I picked her up on Monday, necessitating a trip to the pediatrician, anti-biotic eye drops and a need to keep her out of school for 24 hours. But I digress.

This means is that I am heading to work on my own, without having to drop the ladies off at day care in the morning and with little to no involvement in the morning routine.

Of course, I still wake them up and urge them to come downstairs and eat while the Hoos gets ready; I also heat up LP's lunch and put it in its hot Thermos container and make sure everything is packed up in their backpacks. But, again, I digress.

For the last year I have had the pleasure of driving to work without the involvement of any highways, parkways or main roads. Now I have to go one measly exit on the Merritt Parkway and it takes me 35 minutes. And, because the distance between my exit and my work exit is 5.5 miles, it has the wonderful name of "no man's land." So, if I choose to go on it - there is no getting off or changing my mind.

Like last week, when I got on the Parkway and then realized I had left my laptop at home, but I still had to go the entire 5.5 miles and then 5.5 miles BACK to get it. But I digress AGAIN.

So, I have been experimenting with back roads. And by experimenting, I mean GETTING LOST. And wasting LOTS AND LOTS of time.

So, my lesson for the week - sometimes the tried, true, traditional, traffic-filled path...is the best one. Digressions aside;)

One Day Down, 13 Years to Go

LP was so super excited for her first day of school that she jumped out of bed from a dead sleep and began running around her room in a spin to get ready.

As she grabbed her clothes she yelled to me, "Mom! Can you make me a chocolate chip waffle? I will be down in a minute!"

As I warmed up the waffle she put on her new light-up sneakers.

When she finished her breakfast she was ready to hit the porch. I reminded her the bus didn't come for another 55 minutes and recommended that she pee and brush her teeth - which she did in record time.

At 7:35 she was again ready to wait on our (fortunately covered) front porch in the rain.

Finally at 8:20 we all moved to the porch to wait. When the bus came and the Hoos walked with her to the end of our driveway, she would barely slow down to give him a kiss. And then she got on the bus and didn't turn back.

And then I cried.

Okay, not really. Then we jumped in our cars and went over to the school to watch her get off the bus. We were not the only people to do this - and we probably wouldn't have, except our across the street neighbors (who share our bus stop) were going.

At this point, I must note that a lot of parents are crazy. We might be a little wacky, but we were not there to make our kid cry. We were there so we could cry. And see how big she looked getting off the bus (and man, did she ever, hiking her new backpack up as she climbed down the bus stairs). Other parents? They got in their kids' faces to take pictures. LP didn't even know - or care - that we were there.

Of course, she did great. She didn't give me too many details, but she told me that you can buy a bagel for lunch and not just the hot lunch (none of which sounded appealing to her). She also told me that she shares a locker and her teacher is nice and that she needs a water cup for snack time. Oh, and that the classroom has its own bathroom. And you don't even have to ask the teacher if you need to use it, you can just get up and go. And because there is no lock on the door, there is a sign on the doorknob that says "stop" on one side and "go" on the other. And that there are some "really young kids" in her class. And she knows they are young because they are "so little". Then she sat on the couch and ate lots of snacks (because being in kindergarten is hard work).

AK is doing great at her new program too. Today was the first day she cried at drop off, but in general she likes the teachers and the kids. Both of my kids are super-troopers. I definitely lucked out in that department - which, I guess, should make up for not having power for a week. But that's another story.

The Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared

See that picture? It is from August 26, 2006. Almost exactly 5 years ago.
Today she is barely recognizable as my round little baby.

It's not just that she has adorable freckles sprinkled across her nose, or that she has more words than even she can count; LP is so much more of a wonderful, independent person than I could have ever imagined having a hand in creating.

She is sensitive and nurturing. A born caregiver she watches out for her friends, helping to settle disputes and negotiate happy outcomes. She loves and takes care of her little sister. She has an amazing ability to read people and know what they need - almost basking in making other people smile.

LP is so excited to go to kindergarten. When I ask her about riding the bus and making new friends, she has no fear. Just optimism and excitement at the prospect.

I am confident in her ability to interact and build relationships. Scared at the prospect of her building a life I have no control over. Sure I pack her lunch, help her pick out her clothes...but I don't walk her to the classroom door. Or talk to her teacher every day. Or gossip with her friends' parents to figure out exactly what happened in the classroom that day.

I feel like I am entering a whole new phase of motherhood. I feel as unprepared for this as LP says she is prepared.

Chugging

Life continues at its hectic pace in my world.

This is the girls' last week at their current day care. For the first time in five years I HAVE NO DAY CARE PAYMENT. Of course this won't last, and it is only thanks to my long-ago made and forgotten about deposits but I will enjoy the extra cash for the moment.

Okay, moment over because, of course, we have a new home. That we need to be buy things for.

Like:

• Our fabulous new sectional that arrived yesterday! Super, super excited. Our living room, which up until yesterday had a lone rug and no furniture, is now a usable space. With an uber-comfy new couch!
• Curtains for the girls' rooms! It only took me 5 trips to JC Penney (seriously, the only place you ever need to go for window treatments) but between trip 1 and trip 5 I actually ended up saving $80, thanks to random sale pricing.
  
• Wall decals! Because of the tight timeframe between closing on the new house and actually moving in, we did not have time to paint. At this point, we may never have time to paint, but I put wall decals up in both LP's and AK's rooms and they look fantastic. Between the curtains and the decorations? Their rooms look more "theirs" than they ever did in our old house. After 5 years.
• A wall! Well, we didn't really need a wall. We did need to get rid of the random little "closet" in the middle of the wall in our family room. While storage is cool and all, having a solid wall is way cooler. And now we get to pick out paint and make the family room ours too! We never actually painted any rooms in our old house, so this is also pretty cool.
• A new TV! We never realized how big and clunky our old tube TVs were until we put them into the new house (well, we put one into the new house, the other one didn't make it in because the movers destroyed it). The Hoos got a great deal at PC Richard and he has already decided that the old TV, which we moved to our bedroom, needs to be replaced ASAP.
• Artwork! Now that we have covered one hole in the wall, we need to cover another wall hole. This one actually provides access to our electric panel. Of course, the sizing is odd and so we are struggling to find the right tapestry or piece of art, but while searching we found an artist that we both really dug, and so we bought a framed print for a place TBD.
  

Of course, we do not need to spend money to make our new house a home. This weekend the Hoos took the girls out into our backyard to do some fishing. According to their report, LP caught a "big fish" and AK caught "a little teeny baby fish." They also might say they caught a beluga, but the creek isn't that big - and it is fresh water - so they really mean "a blue gill."

So, to sum it up: Feeling good. Busy, crazy, but good.

Throw in the Towel?

As Wenderina recently (as in about 10 minutes ago) pointed out - my blogging has totally slowed down. It reinforces:

1. I was totally underutilized at my old job, when I started this blog and apparently had the time to post at least once a day; and
   
2. Perhaps I am just not all that interesting.

I really truly am busy. But with monotonous stuff - like trying to find a tapestry to cover the electric box so oddly placed in the living room of my new home and trying to find a replacement screw on mop ahead (apparently only available at hardware stores). Oh, and work.

It doesn't help that because I am dropping the girls off at day care on my way into work I don't even arrive until close to 9. And I still leave at 5 to pick them up, because, well, that is what I do.

Fortunately, I have less than 2 weeks of this crazy morning schedule and then the Hoos is back to being in charge of drop off.

Unfortunately, then I have a week and a half of LP getting out of KINDERGARTEN at 1:10 for early dismissal. And then we start out new routine of her going to aftercare three days a week and taking the bus home - at 3:30 - two days a week. Meaning I start a NEW crazy work schedule where I run out of the office around 3:15 on Tuesdays and Thursdays to beat the bus home, meet her and work from home for a bit before having to go and pick up AK.

The good news is - I will no longer have two kids in full-time day care. Yay! Saving money. Or rather, reallocating it to my new mortgage!

See? A totally boring blog post. Do you think I should just give up? I swear I am better at keeping up on Facebook. One sentence I can be witty - a whole post...not so much.

Newbie

We are officially moved into our new home! Yay!

We are loving the house, the neighborhood and even the commute has not been so bad.

So far we have seen deer, bunnies, fish, snails and a coyote all in very close proximity to our house. While we aren't living in the country, we are certainly in a place more woodsy than our previous home.

The girls especially love that we can walk to a life-guarded lake with a small, but lovely, beach. We went both days last weekend and they are both awesome about jumping in with two feet - literally and figuratively.

For instance, the day we moved in, Saturday, happened to be 'Family Fun Day' at the lake for our neighborhood association. That meant that lots of families were hanging out. LP and AK quickly made friends and frolicked as if they had known them their whole lives. On Sunday, when we again visited the beach to take a break from unpacking, LP walked up to some boys about her age and asked if she could play with them, "Sure!" one of them responded, "You are hired to be our snail catcher."

The Hoos and I, on the other hand, are not quite as good about putting ourselves out there. We did meet a few people - and they all seem very nice. It was a little...ummm...uncomfortable?... when one dad at the beach asked what we did and looked shocked when I told him. Not by what I do but by the fact that I work at all.

Then, yesterday, the Hoos' Aunt, who lives nearby, asked if she could stop over around 11am today to drop off a housewarming gift. According to the Hoos she was a bit miffed when he told her that I work and don't get home until later in the day.

The Hoos is concerned we moved to Stepford (never mind that he grew up in this town!), but we both remain hopeful that once school starts we will meet other families with moms that work in offices. It isn't a big deal, but it would be nice to know that I am not the only mom that has to miss mid-day play dates and PTA meetings.