Summer Vacation

School is out!!

RR's summer vacation officially started on Monday afternoon. TT has been out of school since mid last week.

And so far... it's been a pretty good start to the summer. Now, if the weather would cooperate that would be great.

The boys are all signed up for the summer reading program and have eagerly dived into the books they got at the library today. Well, expect RR; he has like 5 new books on his Kindle. So he's diving into that. It doesn't have the same ring... but you get the idea.

This summer we are avoiding the "Summer Bucket List". We did this last year and in the end it made me depressed for not "doing anything". Seriously.

And with not having a list we've already done more items on last year's list than we did last year.

I made gummie bear popsicles. Yeah, I'm cool like that.
We went for a hike already.
We've been to several playgrounds.
We've been to Six Flags a couple times. Yup, got the boys season passes for Christmas.

And really I figure, between the season passes, the new park in town, the hiking club and the new pool and the summer reading program... really... what else do we need to do. Oh yeah... the weather to work out so the pool can get set-up.

School is out! Summer is here!

And oh yeah; summer surgery. Surgery for my partial thyroid removal is set for July 29. Talk about big and happening summer plans.

This summer is going to fly by. Between all of the things above to do. RR going to camp for a week in July. My surgery. And then heading to Maine to see my mom in August. It will be back to school time before we know it.

Here's to a great summer - can you see me raising my glass - now if only I can squeeze in a few coffee dates with my girlfriends.

Blissful Awakening

Wednesday morning brought the rude end to my time off from work and the end of RR's summer vacation. The alarm went off at 7am, and the day began. Thankfully I was still technically off from work, so I was able to take my morning slow.

Thursday I was back at work, but I had a class to attend; much closer to my home than work so I was also able to ease into the day (some).

Mind you... ERP was not sleeping during the time.  Thursday night we discovered the first "toother" had popped through and sleep mystery was solved.

Friday I was back in the office and RR had decided to go running before school.  This meant up and out, way earlier than we both had been up and out in a while.

Yawn.  Friday was a long day.

Last night I crawled into bed early.  Ready for some serious shut-eye.  Only to be awoken by ERP shortly there after.  I was concerned.  Generally speaking, if he sleeps from bedtime till after midnight it will be a good sleep night.  Waking before then and it is typically a long night.

But last night he proved me wrong, and after his little snack he slept till 4am.  From 4am to 5:30am, it was rough. Husband and I were tag teaming taking care of ERP and sleeping, or trying to sleep.  At 5:30 we opted to give him so Tylenol, he has another toother just about to pop through, and I took him back to bed with me, where he nurses till we both drift off.

Fastfoward to 8:30am... and I slowly start to wake up.  Aware that the room is brighter than I am used to. We nurse and snuggle.  Daddy wakes up and we play with Daddy.  ERP babbles, we all giggle and the day slowly starts.

Around 9am TT wakes up and comes to bed to nurse.  ERP snuggles happily with daddy.  Shortly after TT is done nursing RR wakes up.  He comes and snuggles with Husband and his brothers.

I take TT for a shower and come back to find RR snuggling with his littlest brother.

It was a quiet and relaxed morning, a blissful wake-up after the first week back at school and work.

RR then proceed to keep snuggling ERP even after I got him dressed.

Touch Typist

I feel that I am a decent typist.  I can type without looking at the keyboard.  Husband and some of our friends are amazed by my typing ability.

I see typing as a generation marker.

My co-workers are my proof of this marker.

Co-workers that are older than I type slower than I do and often use the "hunt and peck" method.
Co-workers that are younger type as fast or faster than I do.

I see typing a skill you must have if you are working in an office these days.  While I am conflicted about the limited time RR spends on longhand (or cursive) writing in school, I am thrilled he is becoming a more efficient typist these days.

As him and I were driving earlier today we got to talk about the topic of typing and I was surprised that he was already noticing how one's ability to type and type well enables them to complete projects sooner.  RR at the age of 10 is already a touch typist.  And he knows this is a skill you need.

At 10, I don't think we owned a typewriter, let alone a computer.

Pizza

The other night I sat down and really looked over RR's lunch menu; and I was shocked to see that if he wanted he could be eating pizza THREE days a week for lunch.  That's a lot of pizza!!

I am slightly outraged by this.  Most weeks it is offered twice.  Some weeks only once and some weeks three times.

Not only that, but they offered FOUR different types of pizza.  Which according to RR are all pretty much the same - nasty.  But then again, he is going through an anti-pizza stage.

Whole grain stuffed crust pizza
Pizzeria pizza
Sal's whole wheat pizza
Personal pizza

15 days of school (not counting snow days) in Febraury.  On seven of those days they offered pizza.  That's just about half the month.  Wow!  Factor in a friend's birthday party and one family meal of pizza... I just can't get over it.

What does RR get for school lunch -usually option #3 - cereal bowl with yogurt.  He'll get a hamburger if they are offered (usually once a week), hot dogs, taco salad and or fish sticks.

Spoiled

It's that time of year again - back to school time.  My Facebook status feed is filled with back to school photos (we go back next Wednesday - I hate them going back before Labor Day, but that's a rant for another time) and the woos and joys of back to school shopping.

I am amazed by some of the things my friends have had to buy their darling little ones for back to school - like deodorant to bring to the classroom.  How is pit stick a back to school supply?

I feel for those who are weighted down with long lists of what to buy and my heart breaks for those that don't have money to buy the supplies they are told their child needs for schools.  Yes, I am that person that when asked to make a donation of a back to school item at the register always says "yes".

I am spoiled.  Apparently one of the perks of living in my town is that there are no back to school supplies to buy.  And yes, he goes to public school.  I have no concerns over colored pencils and how many three-ring-binders my boy needs.

Instead of fear and loathing and making midnight runs to Staples and WalMart for the "essentials" I can stock up on markers and pens as stocking stuffers in August.

Now I realize that some people consider clothes and backpack buying as part of "back to school" shopping and in that sense we do have to do some of that.  Backpack - check - ordered on-line from LL Bean, but since it was a replacement for an LL Bean one he broke it was no cost (in the end) to me.  Clothes - he gets 3 new shirts every year.  Once for each day of the week for the first week.  I don't bother with pants; he'll wear shorts till Halloween and I don't bother with winter clothes till it gets cold, he's going to grow between now and then anyway.  Shoe shopping needs to be done twice a year at least; so we'll get some now while they are on sale.  See I've got it covered.

Easy peasey lemon squeezy.

Sorry fellow moms.... don't let those lists weigh you down.

School Lunch

Thank you school lunch program for making my life easier.

I am being serious.

I dread days when RR wants to bring his lunch with him.

When he was small and first started going to preschool I took pride in packing his lunch and spent undoubtedly too much time trying to come up with healthy and creative lunch ideas.

But now that he's big and is going through the "lunch boxes and cold packs aren't cool" stage; not to mention he's a bit of a slob and I dread when he brings home a old lunch kit, it's just easier for him to buy lunch at school.

Seriously... have you ever seen what happens to a yogurt left exploded all over the inside of a bag and left un-refrigerated looks like?  It's not pretty.  Not to mention the smell.  Eeeewww.

Then there is the hassle as to what to feed him; that doesn't require being kept cold (see above yogurt problem for why I stopped doing this).  We're lucky that he can still bring peanut products to school; but he crushes sandwiches unless they are in a Tupperware container, but those he looses and forgets to bring home...

You see my problem here?  I feel like I am blogging in a circle.

So yes, school lunch you are a life saver.  I love weeks my kid buys lunch everyday of the week.  My evenings are just that much easier.

For $2.25 a day he is fed.  How sweet is that?  And he's getting at least 3 servings of fruit and veggies (all of which I know he eats).  I wish I could eat lunch for that little.   But then again, in four years when I am having to spring for lunch for two boys I may not enjoy the "low cost" so much.... clearly I can see why growing up all of us kids didn't buy lunch regularly and why once we were old enough we made them ourselves.

But for now... thank you, thank you school lunches.  Thank you for making my life easier.

So Cute

I must say RR is not the most patient child, and with the territory comes the need to rush through things.  Everything is a race for him.  That being said, his craft projects usually are not his best effort.

And just when I have the kid pegged, he turns around and brings home these stunning soda can recycled craft pilgrims; totally blowing me out of the water.

Aren't they just the cutest?

Dirty Old Man

This morning I dropped RR off at CCD (that would be religious education for all of my non-Catholic readers) and went to McD's to have a peppermint mocha and do some studying for my lactation course.  Normally I hang out in our parish hall, but our community is in the midst of it's French Meat Pie Project, which involves making some 30,000 meat pies in a two week period.

So it's me, and the old folks hanging around the McD's at 8am today.  They are reading the paper and joking with one another and one of the older ones in the crowd comes over and asks me if I'm studying to become doctor.  I tell him, no and let him I am I studying to become a lactation consultant.  He asks "what?" like he was hard of hearing, so I repeat myself a little louder.  This goes back and forth a few times, until he catches on and says "Oh, breastfeeding.  I'm an expert at that.  We were all breastfeed when I was born."  Based o how old he looked, I was inclined to agree.  That's a terrible thing to say, isn't it?   At this point I am thinking he's just being friendly and wanting to chat.

He then comes back three more time to inquire about breastfeeding, and then offers to help me study.  This is where the confusion started setting in and I began to wonder his motives.

His next move is to go and tell some of his buddies about what I am studying.  Then he tries to recruit them into helping me studying, all the while telling me he's an expert on breastfeeding.  *sigh*

At this point I've had enough of my new friend, and thankfully it's time to go get the boy; so I head on out.  As I am leaving one of the old man's buddies is leaving as well and he's sees the cover of my textbook - "Oh, you're training to help other women help with nursing.  That's wonderful.  Good luck to you and try and not let Stan bother you, he's not playing with a full team."

Thank you kind old man for confirming my thoughts that Stan is a dirty old man and I wasn't loosing my mind.

Oh Nurse!

Me (looking at note from nurse's office): I see you went to see the nurse at school again today.

Him: Oh yeah, my leg hurt so bad. Grabs knee and falls to the floor in an over-dramatic rendition of his problem.  


Me (shaking head):  Are you sure your knee hurt?  It says here you went to the nurse because your left leg was really itchy.

Him: I got confused, first my leg hurt because it was so itchy.

Me:  I see.

Additional comments on slip from nurse:  Temp: 98.7, Pupils fine, Ice on leg and saltines.

_______________________________________

Last week he went to the nurses off because he got hit in the chin with a super-ball at recess and she sent home her standard note along with what to watch for in case of a concussion.  Really??!!  A concussion from a super-ball to the chin.

Turkey likes going to see the nurse at school.  He usually goes once or twice a week.  He has pretty much since he started school.  I asked about his frequent trips to the nurses office last spring and I was told he wasn't on her "watch list" of students that visit too frequently.  

I used to think it was because he was trying to get out of doing certain subjects in school.  But he doesn't seem to have a favorite time slot or day for going to see her.  He'll even go see her during lunch or recess.

We've asked him time and time again if he has a crush on the nurse.  He keeps denying it.

However the more I think about it, and the more I watch him I think he goes to the nurse because he is a drama-king and he loves attention.  And I guess there is no harm him this, until he gets to be on her "watch list".  

A Miraculous Recovery

Yesterday morning Turkey seemed fine when we dropped him off for CCD.  When I picked him up 50 short minutes later that was not the case.  Even before I saw him his teacher were telling me how sick he was, and hos he was "going down him fast".

We headed to Mass and he curled up on the bench with his head on my lap.  Add an extra grouchy Monkey and we left half way through (so not our style).

We stopped at the store on the way home and used one of the big two seater grocery carts, since Turkey didn't seem like he could walk so well.  He was having hot and cold flashes and whining something terrible.  On the way he just kept saying all he wanted to do was go to bed.... and seeing how he took a two and a half hour nap the day before we figured he must be sick.  I gave him some Nyquil and sent him off to bed.

He spent the next six hours in his room, awake and complaining about "loosing his mind" since there was nothing to do (mind you, he trashed the place playing).  At dinner he didn't eat much and was terribly stuffy and whiny, so back to bed he went.  Husband and I talked during dinner and decided to keep him home from school today, because something didn't seem right.

Around 7pm, him and I spent sometime together working with his Fizzy-Foamy Science Kit and off to bed he went for the night falling asleep right away.

At 6:15 this morning he climbed into bed with us and I told him he was staying home sick from school.  He had to go in he proclaimed; today they were going to start selling Smencils and he had $5 to spend on them.  I told him if he was going then he had to make his lunch and get dressed.  Within 20 minutes both items were done and he was eating breakfast, ready and excited for school.

What was this a miraculous recovery?  An allergy to CCD and church?  A reaction from the Fizzy-Foamy Science Kit?  Or perhaps just the lure of the Smencils is all that was needed to heal him?  YOU DECIDE.

Spelling

Spelling was never my strongest subject in school.  I recall many many tears over the subject in grammar school.  I can honestly say that I couldn't really spell until I was in college.

Thankfully that is not Turkey's case.  He's an excellent speller, on spelling quizzes at least (spelling in context not so much, but that's a different story), but he typically tests great at spelling.

Today he came home with a 90% on his weekly spelling test.  Many parents would be thrilled, but his spelling tests grades have been slowly declining over the last few weeks.  But the declining grade wasn't really what bothered me; what bothered me is that he misspelled  the word try.

I know he can spell try.  I know this for a fact.  He can recite how to spell this word without thinking twice, and spells it correctly when he writes stories and letter.

He spelled his bonus words of "frequency" and "magnify", but he misspelled try.  For the record he spelled it t-r-i-e.  Really???

When I asked him about this, he said "Why do I have to spell it right on the test?"

Me: "Well, that's the idea of the test.  It's to make sure you can spell the words right."

Him: "I don't see the point.  What do we have spell check for than?"

Me: "You need to, you must, spell the word correctly on the test IF you KNOW how to spell it."  And with that I imposed some real studying guideline for his spelling quizzes, which are in effect until he starts doing what he's suppose to be doing.

Such an odd problem to have.  Many parents make their kids study so they learn.  I need to make mine study to ACT the right way.  Sigh.

Working Mom Guilt

At some time or another, almost every mom that works outside the home goes through "working mom guilt".  It's one of those things that comes and goes.  I know I personally suffer from it more days than not, and usually I am not too bad at beating myself up over it.

Until a note comes home from school.

Make that two notes home from school, on the same day.  One from Turkey's teacher about him crying because he misses his mom, and one from Turkey himself.

"Dear Mommy, I miss you while you are at work.  (sad faces... then hearts) Sincerely, ... "

To Make You Chuckle

Around these parts Turkey is famous for his innocent one-line comments and actions that make us chuckle... I thought I would share a few recent ones to make you smile.


One evening as he was coming down with a cold, I told him I was going to put the humidifier in his room.  He responded in shear panic and horror: "You're going to set my room on fire!!"


I asked him what he wanted to bring to school for cold lunch on the day of his field trip.  "A turkey leg?"  Me: "Um, no".  Him:  "How about a chicken leg?"


One night before bed I asked him what he wanted to read.  He handed me the Oriental Trading Christmas Catalog.  "This would be good" he says.