Get Well Wishes

My boys gave me a headache today...being ugly to one another and arguing after school. So when they asked for me to turn on an audiobook In car this afternoon, I told them I just needed some peace and quiet.

Sam proceeded to tell me he would get me a drink of water when we got home and let me lie down on the couch, and he and Ben would take care of me.

And then when we finally got home from running errands and getting his haircut he wrote me a note...

Melt my heart!!!!

Sam's First Deer Hunt

Sam got to go on his first deer hunt with dad opening weekend, last weekend.  He was exhausted but had a great time and reportedly didn't want to come home.  John was probably most grateful for the iPad and the fact that another guy brought his son who was Sam's age...both provided entertainment.  They didn't get anything, but two deer were shot on another part of the lease and Sam got to see them.  Sam said that his favorite part was shooting his new BB gun, at the deer and grasshoppers.  John said Sam had a great weekend!

I asked John to at least take some pictures with his phone to document the weekend...

completely exhausted after a late night arrival and early morning awakening

Word World on the iPad in the blind

Sam's first BB gun

watching TV and eating a 6th birthday cupcake with Grady

riding in the front seat on the deer lease

playing with Grady

What Mom Can Do When the Family is Away

It's been over six years since I've been in my own home, alone, with no mouths to feed, no tears to wipe, no faces and bottoms to wipe, no responsibility...

This weekend John took Sam to the deer lease for the first time.  (More on that when they return later and I get all the stories.)  And after they left, my in-laws offered to take Ben for the day and overnight Saturday...so I could "play"...shop, run around, do what I want to do.  John told me "just wait".  He's been the one at home with the boys and I gone on trips in the past and he doesn't like us all being gone.  I was giddy with excitement!  I quickly realized if I didn't take this gift of time to do things around the house, I would be very upset that I wasted it.  So, I decided to clean out closets.  Needed for the boys' closets and the playroom closets, mine too, but I had planned to start with the main three.

Well, I sort of did what I set out to do...and then did a little of what my in-laws had hoped I would...

I have purged the playroom of "baby" toys and reorganized the closet.  Although it's already set up in a very organized way with containers and labels and a place for everything, the six year old and two year old AND the 41 year old do not help me keep it that way.  It's back to normal and it feels good.  In cleaning out the playroom closet I decided to tackle the toys that have been dumped in our guest bedroom for various reasons.  I'm almost finished and when it's complete, every toy in our house will be in it's place.  No more baby toys, no more worries of choking hazards in this house (which allowed me to bring some of Sam's old toys out that have been hidden).  While I thought this would bring sadness, it actually feels quite great!

And walking into the guest room brought on the most unexpected project...

I completely cleaned out and decorated the guest room.  This has been on my wish list for several years...we've lived in our house three and a half years and only had a mattress and box springs on a bed frame up there and used the room for storage (because it's upstairs and out of sight).  I bought an adorable bed, bedside table, and quilt and pillows for the bed.  And I cleaned EVERYTHING out of bedroom.  I found some old silk curtains that I can reuse so those are going up today and I'm ordering shades for the upstairs landing today...it actually looks like an inviting, cozy guest room now!!!  (I saw a wall hanging I'd like to have yesterday too but will wait for it to go on sale.)

The only problem with this is that I'm not sure hubby will leave me alone again for a weekend for fear that it will be costly, again.

I need one more weekend like this to complete the following projects:
Clean out boys' closets
Organize the office
Reorganize my closet and pull out clothes to donate

Perhaps being a hunting widow isn't so bad after all!

Halloween 2012

The world is a much better place with these two brave firemen in it!

Homework

...and so it begins...Kindergarten...and we now have homework!

I'm not sure I'm ready for the responsibility of homework and I honestly think it's more difficult for me than it is for Sam.  I'm trying to figure how how best to manage it.  Do homework first?...play first?...how long?...set a timer?...before dinner?...after dinner?  All these questions are running through my head.

Sam's teacher has created a really neat homework plan...She sent home a 5 by 4 grid with an assignment written in each box...counting while doing a dance, writing his name with three different mediums, counting the word 'the' in a book we read, etc...and then Sam colors in the box for each assignment he completes and returns the homework sheet when he's finished.  In addition to that he has sight words to practice each night, readers coming home to read on his own, and he needs to be read to (which I'm trying to do with a balance of pictures books and chapter books.

I just really had no idea I would be struggling so much with figuring this out!

Ben Starts Preschool

Day 1...no problems.
Day 2...whimpers, clingy, and close to crying.
Day 3...complete break down.
Day 4...complete break down but walked himself to class while I was dropping off brother-he showed up at his teacher's door alone, with his lunch, and sobbing.
Day 5...all is well-no problems!
Day 6 is tomorrow.

Ben has known his teacher since last school year and loves her...and she loves him.  So, he's very comfortable with her.  So comfortable that even though he's cried as I drop him off at school, he's wanted to be consoled and comforted by her...and his tears have stopped before I could even get out of the building.

Ben goes to school two days a week and tomorrow is the end of his third week.  I'm grateful that he's adjusted quickly although he did tell me that he cries because he wants mommy.  He loves his teacher and his friends and already has a bestie, Bo.  Lesley, Ben's teacher, told me he comforted Bo when he got weepy at school the first week after seeing his mom during the school day (she's the gym teacher)...Ben put his hand on Bo and told him, "It's okay buddy."  Sweetest. thing. ever!

The funniest story so far (aside from him going to class on his own while sobbing on day four) has involved pottying...
Apparently the second day of school Ben appeared from the restroom with his pants around his ankles exclaiming, "I potty!!!"  His teachers didn't know if he needed to go or had gone in his pants but when he told them, "No!  I already go in the potty!" there was quite a celebration.

Oh!...and another funny one...
The first day when Lesley told the kids to pack up their lunches and said school was over, Ben left his class...he packed up his lunch and walked out.  I was at the school doing some work and he could see me across the courtyard in the lobby so he appeared in the lobby hollering, "momma...momma...Ms. Lesley say it's over!".  I walked him back to his class and about the time we arrived, his teacher was frantically looking around the classroom because she'd realized Ben was missing.  We had to have a talk about waiting for mom to come get him in his class.

Some of Ben's favorite things about school so far...his friend Bo, his very own lunchbox, and the sandbox on the playground.

He still asks if I'm going to leave him at school each day when we go, but I can tell he's getting more and more confident and comfortable every day!

Ben-first day

Sam's Starts Kindergarten

Sam had his first day of Kindergarten last week.  We've talked about Kindergarten some, but I tried to be careful not to make too much of it because I thought it would make him anxious.  I wanted him to be excited but not anxious.

The week before school started, he got to visit his classroom for an hour with his classmates to check it out...a 'sneak peek', they call it.  He and some of the other boys in his class bonded and had great fun together.  I thoroughly enjoyed the sneak peek because Sam's teacher, Ms. Hilary, had a great scavenger hunt organized to get us, and the kiddos, familiar with the room.  We got to check out Sam's very own desk and storage area, met the hermit crab and found some cool activities.  I kind of chuckled to myself watching Sam write on the paper at the estimation jar because he had one foot on the floor and one leg stretched out on top of the table.  I also noticed that when he was doing work at his desk, his chair was pushed back and he was standing at his desk, not sitting.  I pointed these things out to Ms. Hilary and she "loved" it and made a mental note about his need to have a foot on the floor.  (One of the many reasons I love her and know that she is a perfect teacher for Sam.)  Sam now has a wiggle seat (partial exercise ball seat thingy) in his chair so he can still wiggle when he's supposed to be sitting.

Ms. Hilary and Sam

Sam was eager to go to school the first day and had fun...and then, the second morning got here, and we ALL felt the effects of this new, all day (8:45-2:15), Kindergarten. Whew!  He. is. tired!  Aside from that, Kindergarten is great!  His teacher is AMAZING!!!  And he's enjoying his friends.  He's been playing a lot of baseball, as well as Peter Pan....he already has a crush on one of the new little girls (or so it appears to me)...and he wants a play date with someone after school every day!

Some of the things he's said that have left me bursting with joy...

"I wasn't even nervous going to school today mom!" (about the first day of school)

After a week in school I asked him what the best thing about Kindergarten was..."The teachers are funner and you get to miss rest time."

"Ms. Hilary is the weirdest teacher in this school, mom...she tells silly stories and uses silly names."

Sam-first day

OH! and Ms. Hilary has a turntable and records and brought in some Johnny Cash for Sam...she's so great!

Preschool is Tiring

School began two days ago and I have some cute pictures of my big boys but they'll have to wait...

It's just after 8 pm and I'm already in bed. I have sewing and CD burning and painting to do for Sam's party this weekend but I'm checked out for the evening.

Yesterday was Ben's first day and he almost fell asleep finishing his lunch in a chair while waiting for me to get ready to leave. Today he was taking such a good nap and I unfortunately had to wake him to go get Sam. Rough times for Ben right now.

And Sam...poor Sam...he's so tired! He was quite crabby this morning...mean to Ben...frustrated with everything! I kept that in mind all morning as he was throwing his fits and just tried my best to keep them from escalating. Before leaving for school, he finally told me, "Mom, I just feel like I've lost all my power."

This afternoon we had to run some errands after school, followed by dinner at home, and TBall practice. As John was putting Sam to bed tonight, he was trying to tell him about the frog legs we saw in the seafood department at the grocery store...the poor boy couldn't even make a sentence. After stumbling around trying to tell John about frog legs he finally said, "Dad, I can't even remember what I was going to say...and that was the whole story!" he was asleep just minutes after that.

And this is what we found in our bed last night when John and I went to bed...a secret visitor...

Our Last Hurrah

Ending summer vacation with a trip to the aquarium followed by grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate shakes at the 100 year old Soda Fountain in town.

Board Games

Sam's current favorite game is Connect Four. But, last night he decided to revisit Checkers after a long break since I first taught him the game.
This morning he took some time at breakfast to try to teach Ben how to play Checkers.

Happy 41st!

Today is hubby's 41st birthday.  He's well over the hill now.  And, I'm posting a big happy 41st birthday message to him because I NEVER made the time to post about the big 4-0 last year!  Horrible, I know.  But, par for the course for me.  I guess it works out though because I've been thinking a lot, over the last week, about our wonderful trip last summer.

I surprised him with a trip to the west coast of Canada.  We flew into Vancouver and immediately caught a ferry to Vancouver Island.  We drove west, all the way across the island, to a little town called Tofino.  It was truly the neatest place we've ever been.  We were on the water, on a rocky cliff, but next to a beach...a little fishing/surf town...interesting combination, but it was cool.  One of our waiters at dinner one night told us that 70% of the town's residents were, at one time, visitors who decided they couldn't leave.

The drive from Nanaimo (where we got off the ferry) across the island to the Pacific Rim and Tofino is known as one of the most scenic drives in all of Canada.  And I just learned that Tofino was named one of the 'World's 20 Best Surf Towns' by National Geographic Adventure.

the drive across Vancouver Island from Nanaimo to Tofino

And the hotel we stayed in, The Wickanninish Inn, was the most relaxing, beautiful hotel with the most amazing services and staff I've ever encountered.  From the time we arrived to the time we left, we were treated like the only people in the hotel...like we were the most important people who had ever stayed there.  And it obviously wasn't us...that is the high quality service they provide.  Just as an example...available to us was the ability to order a sack lunch for our day's outing by hanging an order form on our door the night before.  We did this one day and when we walked downstairs the next morning, not only were we greeted by name, but our car was at the door within five minutes with our sack lunches sitting on the back seat!...I mean seriously!!!  And then later that day, I talked John into taking a surfing lesson, but I didn't know where to go to set it up.  I called the hotel concierge and told him what I was trying to do.  He hung up the phone with me and then called back five minutes later to let me know they had set up a lesson that was to begin an hour and a half later and gave me the address to go to.  Really?!?!?!  Service!  Unbelievable!

We listened to waves crashing on the rocks from our room...walked on Chesterman Beach...watched whales from our room...went sea kayaking...hiked through a rainforest on an Meares Island...went black bear watching...rode bikes to and from our hotel/town...feasted at a crab boil on the beach, complete with a fire and marshmallow roasting...John learned to surf on his 40th birthday!...and I got to visit the spa!

An absolutely amazing trip!  I wish I were back there right now!  And we are definitely going to plan a trip there for "storm season", which we were told is unbelievable!

the view to south from our patio in our room, looking toward Chesterman Beach

the view to the west from our patio in our room, looking out to the Pacific Ocean

sea star -- they were all over the rocks, mostly under the water

view from the boat, looking at the islands to the east of Tofino

adult, female, black bear we watched looking for crabs
(we saw two yearlings as well in different places)

crab boil on Chesterman Beach

that's our hotel behind John, on the right

logs on the beach that are washed up during storm season
(I thought this one looked like a seal.)

Sea Kayaking to Meares Island

my view from the kayak

boardwalk trail on Meares Island

us in front of a large cedar on Meares Island

another beautiful tree on Meares Island

John in his surfing lesson

catching a wave

...and standing!!!

river along the drive back across Vancouver Island

After spending three days in Tofino, we traveled back to Vancouver and spent three days there doing city stuff.

Visited Grouse Mountain where John completed "The Grind" (a 1.8 mile climb up the mountain, a 2800 feet elevation gain) while I took the gondola up...biked around Stanley Park downtown...visited Granville Island Market...ate lots of fresh seafood...walked lots and lots of downtown Vancouver.

John, coming off the Grind 

seaplane airport, Downtown Vancouver

charming Gaslight District, Downtown Vancouver

Looking across False creek from Granville Island at Downtown Vancouver

Art Camp

One of Sam's summer camp requests this summer was art camp.  I first signed him up for a Medieval camp at an art school that I've heard great things about and then found a Star Wars art camp at another art school that I just couldn't pass up.  He thoroughly enjoyed both...all the drawing and using oil pastels in Medieval camp (drawing is his favorite thing to do) and watching clips from Star Wars in Star Wars art camp.
Going to these camps has taught me how very anxious Sam gets about going somewhere where he doesn't know the people he's going to be with.  By the end of both weeks he was eager to go to camp each day, but it was very difficult for me to drop him off the first day or two in these unfamiliar places.

Pieces from Medieval art camp...

self-portrait

dragon with oil pastels

dragon made with clay and painted

Pieces from Star Wars art camp...

outer space acrylic on canvas

Yoda made with paper mache and painted

C-3PO made with plaster and painted

R2D2 made with plaster and painted

Ewok made with clay and painted

Sam the Cat

FB convo between Aunt Kris and me...

Kris

I must have a nephew that is part cat!!! Why you ask? Because in mid-stream he must have switched from toilet to cat box. I found evidence left on the seat, followed by a bizarre design left in the box...which Sage can't take credit for!!! Lol

Jen

I'm not sure if I should laugh or crawl under a rock. Goodness!!!! That child!

Kris

Well, I laughed...if that helps! I'm just glad I saw it before I sat on it...lol.

Jen

"Sam, where does Sage go to the bathroom?"

"In the litter box."

"Oh yea, does anyone else go in the litter box?"

"No, just Sage."

"Oh really? Are you sure no one else goes in the litter box?"

looks away...

"Well, maybe I do sometimes too."

looks at me...

"Sam, the litter box is not for you...it's only for Sage...don't do that again."

"Okay mom, I won't."

*grinning*

Got caught and he knows it.

Kris

Hahaha...wait, how many times has he done this?

Priceless Moments

We just returned from our summer vacation and this has to be my favorite picture...

(Thanks L for capturing it!)

Walking home after some post-breakfast beach time.