Waiting

I'm waiting for the camera to obey me. I want my pictures out. I go through the routine but, like a stubborn child, the camera pretends not to hear me. Maybe I should say the word "candy."

Bryce is finished with his September deadline. He worked long and hard, including weekends. But you know what? He is a rock star. Don't let his conservative appearance fool you.

This weekend Bryce and the big kids are going to Utah for Conference weekend. That leaves the twins and me here alone. We might go to the children's museum. We might go to the park. We might go insane.

Just kidding. (Kind of.)

Cameron and Harrison are enjoying preschool, I think. They always look happy when I pick them up. It seems like they are making friends. I am concerned about Cameron's fine motor skills, as usual. He will start occupational therapy next month to help with that.

Miss Mary is adjusting to her new track and teachers. I had no idea that switching to Mrs. Cropp would mean switching from one teacher to a team of teachers. That's a big adjustment for someone like Mare but she seems to be working it out. They are studying the 50 states in social studies and are starting division in math. They read "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume and just finished another book called "School Mouse" by Dick King-Smith. Sara is in her class, so I can't imagine what sort of antics are going on when the teachers aren't watching.

Tyce is growing like a weed. From 1st to 5th grades, he stayed nearly the same size. I hardly ever had to buy new clothes or shoes--seriously. He just wore the same things until they wore out. But suddenly he has huge hands, huge feet, and his new pants are high waters. It won't be long before he's taller than I am. It really doesn't seem that long ago that he was a toddler . . . I guess that's what people mean when they say that kids grow up fast.

That's about all for now.

I am going through an identity crisis of minor proportions. I would really like to go back to school or get a part-time job . . . but I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Enigma

Yesterday I journaled about how hard it is raising a 13-year-old boy. Oh man, did I pour my heart out. It's been rough around here lately, and I'm sure he'd agree (though he'd probably journal about how difficult his parents are).

At dinner that very night Tyce said, "Oh by the way, I'm Student of the Month."

"You're what?" I asked, choking on my spaghetti. "Studying the months?"

"No, I'm Student of the Month! At school! And we get to go on a field trip during lunch, so I have a form for you to sign."

Student of the Month? That's good, right? It's not code for detention or anything?

"Oh, and I have all A's in my classes so far," he elaborated.

You could have knocked me over with the No Wimps sticker he bought from his friend Elijah.

"Well, I am really, really proud of you, Tyce. That's awesome! Great job," I said.

Apparently, gratefully, there are some areas where things are going better than expected.

Facebook is sucking the life out of my blog

If you're a blogger, do you feel that way? That writing "Went to the movies with Jojo!" is so much easier than writing a whole paragraph about how you know Jojo, the thought process involved in picking the movie, the weird or annoying people you invariably saw, if you got snacks, and the plot of the movie (without giving it away, of course), and  . . . . wait, what was I saying?

Right.

Anyway.

Here is my facebook-styled update for today: "Had a great weekend with my parents and brother's family!"

But there's a lot more to it than that, which I do plan on writing about. I have good pictures (I hope) on Bryce's camera. Paragraphs and paragraphs to come, don't you worry.

I limit myself to one facebook update a day--at most--but here is what I would say if I were "one of those people" who keep you up-to-the-minute on their days (and who you probably have on "Hide"):

"Love my cute little nieces!"


"Made homemade spaghetti sauce today."


"It's so windy that I took two Sudafed to deal with allergy-related congestion."


"Let the kids watch 'Land Before Time II' while I checked my email."


"Need to get in the shower before picking kids up at preschool."

Look at me, bloggity blog blog.

Take that, facebook.

First Day of Preschool

Is today the day? Is it? Do I have preschool today? Is today my first day?

Yes, my perky perserverating fellow, I do believe it is.

(Woo hoo!)

Cameron and Harrison went with their little friend Kennedy to preschool today. When I picked them I couldn't wait to hear about their day. But all I got out of them--meaning, my boys--was, "Can we get ice cream? Aww, why not? We were good!"

I thought, if I get you ice cream today, the first day of school, you will ask me every single school day from now until kindergarten.

That Kennedy is adorable. She is high-energy and a lot of fun to be around. At first I wondered if my boys would be a little much for her to take, but I think they all appreciate the same level of noise and the fine art of slapstick humor.

It appears that today was a fine start to the preschool year.

A List of 9 for 09-09-09

1. Harrison can ride his new "tippy bike" without training wheels! On Monday morning (Labor Day) Tyce took the boys out for a driveway ride. Tyce decided to teach Harrison to balance and go, and after a 30-second lesson Harrison cruised down the driveway and into the street, looking like a pro. Stopping was a different matter--he crashed into the neighbors' trashcans and Grandpa Al's truck! But he just kept getting up and going. It's now two days later and he can stop quite well.

(I forgot to mention that the same thing was true of swimming--Tyce gave Harrison a mini-lesson and suddenly Harrison could swim. For real. In the deep end and everything.)

2. Cameron doesn't seem to feel the need to compete with Harrison on his accomplishments. He's happy for him but doesn't care to try those things for himself just yet.

3. I put in my track change request during the summer, after getting the letter that Mary would be assigned to Track 3 again this year. It was a great track for us last year because of the twins' preschool schedule, but the summer break was awful . . . as in non-existent.

To make a long story short, Mary has been moved to Track 4 with Mrs. Cropp. Finally! Mrs. Cropp was Tyce's teacher one year and we love her.

4. Miss Mary got her hair done again this weekend and it is adorable. But it still took 3 hours to get it washed and styled. On the upside, I went to the Mexican market and got a delicious plum. And read an entire issue of Good Housekeeping. And listened to all the beauty shop gossip.

5. Tyce is trying out for the basketball team at Brown. Today is school picture day and he looks sharp. He's worn a suit and tie every year for school pictures since 5th grade. I think it is so unsual and awesome. He's an enigma to me because last week I wore myself out trying to make him pull up his ghetto-slacker shorts.

6. I spend too much time trying to control things. And people.

7. It is really hard for me not to roll my eyes when the big kids make outrageous statements such as, "School is so boring," or "All the other kids have cell phones," or "I'm different than you! I don't like to clean." (What?) One day I got scolded by Mary for rolling my eyes at her. And I thought, Holy Cow, it really IS hard.

I try to model the behavior I want my kids to exhibit but apparently I have failed on this count.

8. Someone has made off with my cheese grater. I attempted to make zucchini bread out of the 2-foot long vegetables Grandpa Al gave me from his garden, but it's pretty hard to grate the zucchini without a grater. I can only imagine it is outside somewhere, being used as a hotel for slugs. But no one will admit to knowing where it is. Really? Hmm.

Must. stop. self. from . . . rollingmyeyes!!!! Ugh! Sorry, I couldn't help it.

9. Sometimes I would really like to get a job, as in go back to work. Do you ever feel that way?

Happy Birthday to Cameron! Happy Birthday to Harrison!

Today our big guys are 5 years old. They are so different from each other, but they're definitely best friends. They bring so much happiness to our family!

Five things we love about Cameron:

1. He is a hard worker. He's the best cleaner and sticks with the task until it's done.
2. He tries to understand everything, which is why he asks a million questions!
3. He loves to read.
4. He has wicked break dancing moves.
5. He sees nothing unusual about having a stuffed koala he named Tigress.

Five things we love about Harrison:

1. He is a little smarty. He is quick to catch on to new ideas and concepts.
2. He likes to look good. The right outfit, the right hair, and the right shoes are a must.
3. He makes really cool Lego space ships.
4. He is extremely independent!
5. He is quick to make friends.

We sure are lucky to have them. Happy Birthday to our awesome 5-year-olds!

Warning--I'm messing with the blog template.

Do not be alarmed.

I'm going to bed and will work on it tomorrow.

***Amendment: I will work on it eventually.

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