Water Day 2008

Today was Water Day for Colby and his kindergarten class. For the first time this year, I was able to chaperone an activity for his class and I really enjoyed it. The day started with a walk from the school to a small park where the parents had set up slip-n-slides, water slides, sprinklers, small wading pools with lots of bubbles and some other water activities. The kids had a blast and were so cute to watch running around. After a couple of hours of playing in the water, they had a picnic lunch and lots of watermelon. Then it was time for more shaving cream than 100 of the hairest men you know could use in a lifetime. The kids had so much fun with the shaving cream and I wish I would have had my video camera to video some of them. The pictures do not do them justice. We made shaving cream mowhawks on some of the boys and the girls ran around giving "shaving cream hugs". A handful of shaving cream became a "shaving cream bomb" and some boys would draw a bullseye on their stomach for someone (me) to try and get one of those bombs to hit the bullseye. The kids weren't allowed to have the cans of shaving cream themselves so it was the "adults" having to dole out the shaving cream and I really couldn't tell you who was having more fun! After the fire department had to come hose them down we rinsed them off, they played on the playground for a little while and then they walked back to school just in time to change clothes and go home.
Despite the blazing ungodly smothering brutal heat I had a great day with the kids and I am so glad I got to go. Colby said it was the best day of kindergarten and it was better because I came and I was the "coolest mom there". Just trying to figure out how many years until I become the "uncoolest mom in the whole world"...Oh well, I will just savor it for now and continue to delude myself that my child will never think that about me...I'll pause while you seasoned parents laugh at that one.
Tomorrow is his last full day of school and I don't know who is more excited at this point. I am relishing the thought of sleeping a little later and having no rigid schedule in the evenings. For the past week or so, we have been alot more relaxed about bedtimes and it has been so nice not to feel that stress in the evenings. We have been playing outside longer and I think we all just feel better when we don't have to stick to a tight schedule. I am sure that 2 weeks in to the summer, I will be praying for school to start again but right now, I am thrilled for the start of summer and the freedom to go and do and for Colby and Cannon to get to hang out and play together.

And for all of you who take the time to read these posts:

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

Colby officially has 7 days left of kindergarten. What a year its been. His class went through alot of changes this year from having to move classrooms and then having his teacher leave in the middle of the year, only to be replaced with one who had just graduated 2 weeks prior to starting in his classroom. It was alot of adjustments for him and his class but I have been so proud at how well he has handled each change. I am embarrassed to say that he handled it much better than his mother. It has been so amazing to watch him this year and see all that he has learned and how much he has grown up. I remember being so sad at the beginning of the year to see him start school because I thought it was the beginning of the end. I was sending him out to the big, bad world and he was never going to be all mine anymore. But, he is still all mine and for the moment, he still needs me and I couldn't be more proud of the fine young man he is growing up to be. He has such a great personality and a great sense of humor. He has such a sunny disposition and smiles all the time. He is respectful, kind and considerate of others. He thinks the best about people and we never see him being mean or teasing other kids. He is full of energy, as always, but has really grown up and knows when to settle down. He is not perfect and he tests my patience and my limits hourly quite often. But, I think that is just normal child behavior and not reflective of the good person that he is. And really, more than anything else, all that I hope for each of my children is that they are good people .

Academically, he is doing very well. I couldn't be more pleased with his school and what he has learned this year. I am very pleased with how they separate children into groups based on where they are academically so that each student is taught at their individual level. The groups are split amongst all of the kindergarten teachers and so they change classes for that. I think that is great because then one teacher isn't having to teach all different levels. Because he has a late birthday and had an extra year at home, I really worried that he would be bored and not challenged. I was very pleased to find that this was not the case. He was given extra work and challenged consistently. His reading teacher says he is reading on a second grade level and he is doing some second grade math as well. He seems to really love learning and I hope that it stays that way.

We recently celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and it was so sweet to see how into it he got. We decided to make spa sets for each of his teachers and he was so cute helping to make everything. I embroidered and decorated and he made his world famous homemade sugar scrub and bath salts. We have made this stuff together before but this time he was really into it. He picked out the scents he thought each teacher would like and is really becoming a pro at making our sugar scrub. After we were done I took some of the extra and did his hands and feet with the sugar scrub and let him take a bath with the bath salts. He loved it! For days, he wanted you to smell his skin and feel how soft it was. He gave each of his teachers full directions on exactly how to use it (because you know the way his mom did it is the only way) and told them that if they used it "it would turn your skin beautiful". Thankfully, she knew that was a compliment from a 6 year old. He also told one of his teachers "You know, I could have just bought you something (with all his money and everything) but this is more special because we made it"....Excuse me while I swell with pride...

Here are a couple of pics of our little creations...

One of the other mothers who volunteers in Colby's class said that out of the 3 kindergarten classrooms that she worked in, only a total of 5 students/parents even acknowledged that it was Teacher Appreciation Week or sent a thank you of some sort. Now, I admit, I might not have even known when it was had a friend of mine, who is a teacher, not said something to me about it. But, I think it is terrible that people don't acknowledge the hard work that these people do. I know just as sure as I am sitting here that there is no way I could be a teacher. It is a tough job, it keeps getting made tougher, it is often thankless and their pay is pitiful. My friend teaches at a local private school and gets paid less than minimum wage. That is just a sad, sad indicator of what is valued in this country. Pause while I stand on my soapbox...You know, this war on Iraq is supposed to be to protect our future. Our children are our future. Teachers are responsible for our future. With all the money that has been spent on the war, every teacher in this country could be a millionaire, every school in this country rebuilt and furnished with top of the line educational materials, and there would still be enough money leftover to feed, clothe and give medical care to every child in the country living in poverty...Ok, I am stepping down from the soapbox now...

So needless to say, I am one of those who is thankful for teachers. All teachers, not just the ones who have taught Colby. Although I am partial to them because if it were up to me to teach him how to read or write, I would be A) Dead from the deep and wide gashes on each of my wrists, B) Spending some time in a bare room with lovely soft walls, lying on a bed wearing a white jacket with 5 pretty little belts or C) decorating my new home cell at the women's prison. Colby would be A) dead, B) maimed or C) put up for adoption. And if he couldn't read or write, I wouldn't have found this on his dry erase board when I went to wake him up the other morning:

And it just doesn't get any better than that...So, I have made my peace with kindergarten and now see it not as the beginning of the end. But rather, the end of the beginning...

Child Psychology 101

I complain a little lot about the weather in Florida. However, I must admit that it is beautiful here this time of year. It is that pleasant time between 80 degrees one day, 30 the next and the 120 degree, 150% humidity days of late summer. So I decided to sit on my back deck this afternoon and enjoy the beautiful weather.

As soon as I sat down, my eyes were instantly drawn to the grossly overgrown, ragged looking, 6 mile long, Azalea bushes that line my entire deck and back of my house. I sheepishly realized that we have been here a year now and I have not done one single thing with the landscaping in the backyard. I slumped into my chair and wondered, not for the first time, what kind of crack I was smoking when I let David talk me into this house and its 50-acre, landscaped lot. Ok, I am exaggerating a little, but not alot. As I sat there looking at all that needed to be done in the yard, I thought to myself, "isn't this what I got married for?"...Now, for all of you who know my husband, I will pause a second while you stop peeing on yourself laughing and for those that don't, we'll just say that his idea of exerting himself in the yard is throwing the football with Colby.

So, after a little, OK, alot of cussing and mumbling about how terrible my life is and how overworked I am, I got up to search the garage for some hedge clippers to trim the damn bushes. All the while dreaming of who and what I was going to pretend each chop of the hedge clippers was destroying. After I found the said clippers, I meandered back to the yard to find Thing 1 (Colby) happily playing in a tree and Thing 2 (Cannon) happily sleeping in his swing. And right there, it hit me...I might have struck out on the marrying for yardwork deal but...I had yet to strike out on the having kids to be your slaves deal. Isn't this what I dreamed of in the 2 weeks past my due date I carried that beast dear, sweet baby. Or, what carried me through the 2 days of labor, the endless pushing, the 3rd degree tear and the I will never again be able to laugh/sneeze/run/jump or otherwise exist in nature without peeing all over myself?

Ahhh, the sweet vision of the light bulb flashing in my head...

Now, not wanting to ruin the future of our mother-slave relationship, I decided that I must proceed with caution in how I was going to present this new chapter in our lives to Thing 1. So, it went something like this:

Thing one: "hey mom, what are those?"

Slave driver: "oh these bright and shiny things?, they are for big
people only"

Thing one: "but what are they called mom, and why are they for big
people only"

Slave driver: "These are called the Quad S, and they are only for big people
to play with"

Thing one: "What does Quad S mean mom and how do you play with
them?"

Slave driver: "Quad S is a top secret code for Super Shiny Superhero
Scissors and they are used to destroy the evil bushes that grow uneven and
higher than Princess Mother Nature allows.

Thing one: "Mom, can I please play with those, Puhleeeeeeeeze?

Slave driver: "I don't think so son. I really don't think you are
big enough to do this very important work and I really really want to play
with
them."

Thing one: "Mom, I promise I am big enough, I can do it, really I
can. Puhleeeeeeeeeeeze Mooooooom?"

Slave driver: "I guess so son, if you insist"

PRICELESS

The Nanny Diaries...

When I took this job in Georgia that would require me being gone for 3 days at a time, we had to enter the uncharted waters of hiring a nanny. Since Colby had always gone to a daycare facility, having an in-home sitter was a new experience for us. So, when you think of a nanny, what comes to mind? Mary Poppins? Or maybe a young, perky, full of energy college student? Or maybe a little older woman who has children of her own? Or a grandmotherly type woman who would bake and knit and rock your precious baby...Yep, that is what we had in mind too..And thus, our journey through nannies began...

Let's begin with Nanny #1, the older, matronly woman who was referred to you by a couple who used her for 15 years and "loves her like she was part of the family", "she's the best thing that ever happened to us", she can sit for you day or night and lives 3/4 of a mile from your house...Hired. During the several weeks until we needed her full-time, she babysat for us on several occasions and all seemed to be well...We had a nanny, she was the one. No other potential nannies needed, she's going to start full-time in 2 days...So, I call her to check in and let her know what time to be there on Monday (this is Saturday) and she says..."you know, I am not sure I can do this". No, surely I am not hearing this correctly, "mscuseme", I say, "I thought you just said you are not sure you can do this afterbabysittingforusforweeksandyouneversaidanythingwaswrong". So she says "Well, my knees just give me so much trouble and I am afraid I might drop the baby, but, if that is ok with you, then I can still work for you"...Um, sure that is ok with me...FIRED.

That brings us to Nanny #2, The full of energy, 19 year old, healthy,college student...who, after babysitting your 4-month old baby for 12 hours, says to you, "you know, I'm just not sure I really understand how I am supposed to know when to change his diaper, should I just wait until you or your husband get home?" (3 days for me, 14-15 hours for David..). And, "I took him for a drive today but I am not sure I understand the carseat (you know the one you spent hours showing me how to work)...Are those straps supposed to go on him? I couldn't remember so I just put the seatbelt around him, but I didn't want it to be too tight on him so I didn't latch the belt, i just wrapped it around the seat..." FIRED!

Next...Nanny #3, The mid 20's, "I have Disney running through my veins" girl...Visions of Mary Poppins dancing through my head...She lasts a bit longer than the first, although Colby complains of being very bored because she "sure needs to take alot of naps". And I did start to get concerned when she spoke so often of all the pain pills she needed to take for her myriad of "health problems". But, we are cruising along, not completely happy with her, but not dissatisfied enough to fire her, until...I check my phone one weekend at work to see that I have numerous text messages from her. I start to read them and they say, "I have a migraine and I need to know what you want me to do with the kids, I can't get in touch with David" Now, mind you, I am not unsympathetic to migraines, I have had them myself. BUT, I still have to take care of my children when I have them and what the heck am i supposed to do 3 hours away? By the time I get to the end of the text messages, she has gotten in touch with David (who was in the middle of a case in the OR) and he is on his way home. Although slightly niffed, I call her to tell her I am sorry I didn't get her messages earlier and to tell her I hope she felt better. At this point she tells me that she is sure that she is still going to have the migraine tomorrow and Monday as well so she won't be able to work on those days...Wow, that is some migraine and I am really impressed with her ability to foresee the future and know that she will still have this migraine 2 days from now...That is until I get home on Monday and see that she has new pictures on her myspace page of her and her partner at a big Gay Pride event that weekend. Did I mention she was gay? Not that it matters and all. No really, I am really glad that she had a miraculous recovery and was able to enjoy all those festivities just hours after leaving my house "too sick to work". Really, I am...FIRED.

Now, at this point I am distraught and stressed beyond belief. Trying to find a nanny in 11 days before you have to go to work again when you live in a town with a population of 5, is no easy task and one that I am not up for AGAIN. So I am at Colby's T-ball practice, drowning in self-pity and crying on the phone to someone who, I am sure, was sick of hearing about my nanny problems. A mother of one of the boys on Colby's team overheard my whining/crying/feeling sorry for myself and said that if I needed someone to watch the boys, she would be interested in the job. Whoa, did I perk up...this was a real. live. mother. whose little boy looked happy, healthy and well-adjusted and I had talked to her on many occasions and she seemed normal and she had always shown an interest in Cannon...Could this be true? Not only would I have someone who had actually raised a child, but Colby would have a playmate. Perfect. Hired. So begins our journey with Nanny #4, the seasoned mother. It comes time for me to leave for the weekend for work and I leave with a spring in my step and the feeling that all this drama has brought us to her. the one. it was all worth it. perfect. Now, this first weekend she was with us, David was out of town so we needed her to spend the night at our house with the boys. She asked if it was ok that her fiance' stay the night too as she was a little uncomfortable in a new house by herself. Being a big chicken myself, I really had no problem with that and we had met him and liked him and so I had no reservations about him staying as well. I talked to them over the weekend and everything was going well and I again thought this is just perfect. Thank you sweet Jesus. I arrived home on Monday and marveled at how nice the house looked and how happy my children looked. I thanked them profusely for their services, showed them out, and patted myself on the back for a great find. I then sit down to the computer to print out a form Colby needed for school the next day. As I am printing, I notice a bunch of papers sitting on top of the printer and think that it was odd that there was paper stacked there because we never put paper there, being all organized and all...So, I go to remove the paper and put it where it goes only to discover that it is a stack of the most hardcore (and I mean HARDCORE) porn left there for my viewing pleasure. Now, I am not going to sit here and say that my husband would never, ever look at porn. BUT, after 14 years together, I felt pretty confident that this porn was not his style. However, before I made a fool of myself and killed/violently maimed/confronted these people, I better do some investigating. I did a little review of my browser history to find that the tons of pornographic sites that were visited and the pictures printed from, were all visited on the night that they were the only ones in the house and David was out of town. I decided that my children needed me and not just on the weekends behind a glass at the woman's prison and so I put away the guns and knives and calmly confronted them. After the predictable initial denial, they admitted that they had done it. Now, I will spare you the meltdown that ensued but suffice it to say it wasn't pretty...FIRED.

At this point, I am typing up my 30 day notice at work and preparing to apply for any Monday-Friday, 8-5 job, that would allow me to put my children in a daycare facility because bad stuff never happens in one of those. I didn't care if it was at McDonald's or if I never used my very expensive master's degree. While putting the final touches on my notice and filling out applications to the local gas station, I talk to the father of Colby's "best girl friend". That's Girl. Friend. NOT girlfriend. Make sure you get it right too or you will be quickly corrected and chastised by a 6 year old. Anyway, he tells me he might have an idea of someone who could watch the kids. Now, I assure you, I only half listened because I was not interested.done.finito.finished.notgoingtodothisagain. But, the half of me that loves my job and knows that bad things happen in daycare facilities everywhere did listen to him. He then tells me that his mom died last year and that his dad had kept all of his grandchildren while their parents worked all the way up until they started school. The youngest one had started school this year and with his wife gone, and no kids to watch, he was kinda lonely, needed something to do, and could use some extra money. Now, in case you forgot, please re-read above when I said what my ideas of a nanny should be. Nowhere do you see older man in there. So, I thanked him for his suggestion and promptly dismissed it without another thought. Well, in the next few days I kept thinking about it and realized that I had, and fired, a nanny that fit each of the stereotypes that I thought of as a "normal" and acceptable nanny. They all fit the picture but, none worked out. So, maybe I needed to think outside the box a little bit and give this some more thought. I am not going to lie, it took a few more days of chewing on the idea before I was ready to think about giving it a try. I continued to think about it, and, feeling like working at a gas station might not be my cup of tea, I decided to try out Nanny #5, the older gentleman. Now, after going through 4 nannies in 5 months, I had no expectations that this was going to work out and I braced myself for the worst.

Fast forward 7, yes 7 months. Nanny #5, the older gentleman, otherwise known as "Pappa" is our nanny and we couldn't be happier. Pappa is the best childcare arrangement we have ever had. I leave for work every other weekend without a care in the world, knowing that my children are being cared for by a man who loves them as much as he does his other grandchildren. There are times that I am too busy to call and check on them and that does not stress me at all. I have complete faith in him and the care that he gives the boys. Pappa practices ball with Colby for hours on end, rolls around and wrestles/tickles the boys on the floor, cuddles with Cannon in his recliner and so much more. Cannon jumps out of my arms when he sees Pappa and not a day goes by that Colby doesn't ask to go to Pappa's house within 5 minutes of getting off of the bus. On the weekends, Pappa's house is full of family and his other grandchildren, 2 of who are in kindergarten with Colby. Each and every member of his family has welcomed my children into their family and treated them as their own. Colby has never been happier and Cannon has never been more spoiled. Now, not only do we have incredible childcare, my children, who have never lived close to any of our family, finally have "family" that live close by. Family that is able to come to birthday parties, ball games, class plays, holidays, etc. Colby and Cannon had 7 other children to hunt easter eggs with this year and Colby said it was the best Easter he had ever had. Pappa is far from rich and lives quite simply. He doesn't buy my children things but they are beyond spoiled by him. Spoiled with the best things money can't buy, love and a sense of family. His house and his family is full of love and no amount of money I could ever pay him would equal all he has given us. Although I don't normally think too far outside of the box when it comes to the care of my children, I have learned to be a little more open-minded about what is the "norm" or standard when it comes to childcare. By looking past my preconceived stereotypes, we have gained that which is priceless....

We're going on a treasure hunt...

After weeks of practicing/insisting that I repeat the same song over and over and over again with him/driving me crazy...Colby participated in his first class play. It was a beach theme play with groups of students playing different parts and singing songs. There were dolphins, crabs, surfers, mermaids, life guards, pirates, sharks, and narrators. Colby was a pirate and we think, not at all with any bias, that he was the cutest/best/most precious/add your own mushy adjective, pirate his school has ever seen.

Here is a short video clip of his big debut!

Now, I am sure you are wondering why in the heck is he sideways in part of the clip, just like Cannon was in the previous post...WELL, I am so glad you asked. It is because his mother has the technological skills of an indigenous tribal woman living deep in the Amazon rain forest. In my defense though, the terrible quality of the video has to do with trying to hold a video camera still while holding a 13 month old in my lap who is incredibly fascinated with the camera and wants to grab it and trying to keep his hands off of it is like trying to keep a swarm of bees away from the honeycomb you are carrying away from the hive while riding a unicycle and balancing a bowling ball on your head...Enough said. As for the sideways view...how was I supposed to know that a video camera is different from a regular camera and you can't change the orientation (from a horizontal to a vertical view) by turning the camera...And, had I watched the video of Cannon prior to filming Colby's play 2 weeks later, I would have realized my stupidity and not ruined another video...Little life lessons...Or, as my dad would say, character building...

Arrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh!

Can YOU walk, laugh and clap at the same time??

Just a short video clip of Cannon at the park...he is really walking well and is pretty darn cute, if I might add...especially in that outfit his mommy made him!

Cannon Sucks...

Well, despite a nasty case of the flu/other virus from hell/germs daddy dearest brought home from the ER, we managed to have a small celebration for Cannon's first birthday. I shed only a few tears and have decided that I am getting much better at grasping the fact that my children must get older and that it is not such a bad thing...maybe

Anyway, I made a few outfits for Cannon's birthday to keep busy in the days prior to the big event to help ward off above mentioned breakdown and I was pleased at how they turned out. I may just use up all the old fabric I have laying around here and he can wear a new Jon Jon everyday.

The highlight of the night was, of course, the cake eating...It went something like this...

Why are all these people standing around and looking at me?

I am not sure I like this, what is Daddy carrying and what are these people singing (badly, I might add)?

Is that awful singing over with yet?

Ok, I guess I'll try a little, if you insist...

I guess this isn't too bad, I'll just have a little more...

Maybe just one more bite...

What the heck, I'll just put my whole face in it and suck it like it is a bottle...

And I won't stop sucking and pick my head up no matter how many people are peeing in their pants laughing at me...

Nope, I'll just keep on sucking until I have sucked down the entire cake, from the inside out...

Man, that was a great cake...too bad I don't know I am going to puke it all up later...