Max had NINE family members at his preschool graduation. Brian only had me. Even so, Brian’s graduation on Friday was adorable. The kids wore paper graduation hats, with glittery tassels. They sang songs and recited some of the things they had learned over the year. The kids were well behaved as they sat and waited for their name to be called to go shake hands with the teachers and receive their diploma. I’ll be sure to post pics, as soon as Kevin comes home with the camera and we have Brian reenact the moment.\
Graduation was totally moot though because over half the class is staying for another year of preschool. Plus, of those kids going on to kindergarten, most are staying for the summer program, which is in the same classroom with the same teacher. So, graduation (and cake!) on Friday, back to school on Monday.
Category: Brian
He’s FIVE!
Saturday was Brian’s birthday. There is a growing set of photos from his party. I could use another weekend to recover from this one.
Sprouts!
We have sprouts! Brian and I transplanted Max and his science fair project plants and planted a bunch of other stuff (cucumbers, tomatoes and wildflowers) last Saturday and this week, we have sprouts! We’re trying the little patio garden this year to see if we can keep it watered and actually get something out of it. I’m trying to go in with no expectations, but so far, it looks like we’ll at least get some cucumbers out of it!
Picture!
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Brian at soccer.
Brian also gets his toes from his dad!
Brian has asthma. Woe. But just a little bit. “A whiff,” is how the doctor described it. The technical term is “mild and intermittent.” It used to be called “reactive airways disease,” which is a more accurate description according to the doctor. But, disease? DISEASE? Double woe. Anything with the word “disease” is bad.\
Brian’s been sick for the last two to three weeks. When his cough hadn’t disappeared after 10 days (being sick for nine days is ok- three days coming, three days here, and three days going), I took him to the dr. I figured I was overreacting, though I knew Brian’s occasional cough wasn’t normal. Turns out he had an ear infection, puss up his nose, and asthma! The doctor initially decided not to treat the “whiff of asthma” since it was just acting up because of the congestion. We went back to the dr a week later because the cough hadn’t ceased. Turns out Brian still had a raging ear infection. The doctor was pretty shocked, which was funny. He put Brian on a second-round of antibiotics and added some asthma medicine too.\
Brian doesn’t act sick, not counting the one day we tried to go out, except for throwing up once a day. He is really bored, but I can’t really send him to school or take him out to play. He is whiny and grumpy, but mostly due to the boredom and lack of Kevin at home. Brian is taking seven medicines right now, and all but one have to be given multiple times a day, waaaaa: two for allergies, two for the asthma, and three for his ear infection and congestion. Poor kid.
Friday Five
Another mom asked me out for coffee and I felt scandalized.\
This has been a rough week for us and I irrationally want Kevin to be here, suffering too. And/or I want some sort of reward. I am shallow that way.\
Brian has toy show-and-tell at school on Fridays. Today he chose to take an empty tape roll.\
Max is working on two big school projects and I am irked at how much oversight I have to do. When he becomes a big, fat, fucking success, I am going to lap up any praise people choose to bestow on me. (Before I always claimed it wasn’t me who made Max so great, but no more of that!)
Kids!
Max’s school requires a uniform, but every couple of months they allow the kids to dress in t-shirts if they bring \$1 for a local charity. I think this is a neat idea and so far the school has raised \$1400, but Max has never been able to participate. These casual days have themes and we’ve never had the right shirt. Once the theme was “favorite vacation shirt.” Since the grandparents have stopped going on vacation, we don’t have any for Max. (Brian has Max’s old ones, so he is ready!) Another theme was “favorite sweatshirt.” Which, no. We don’t do sweatshirts. I feel lame that my kid can’t participate in these casual days.\
Brian has had pizza six times this week. Oops.\
Max received his ITBS scores this week. This is a standardized test that compares students to other students of the same grade (nationally, I think). Max got the highest possible score.\
I have been trying to teach Brian to read, which isn’t going well. I am not trying to push him, nor am I worried, and his teachers say he is at least where he should be, but I don’t want to assume he isn’t ready and just ignore the reading. (Wow, that sentence.)\
Max’s school’s website vexes me. I can never find the info I need. Today he has a half-day, woe, but the site doesn’t say what time school gets out. What’s up with that?\
Don’t tell the kids that there is snow in Virginia. They’d be heartbroken that they are missing it.\
Max is on his third backpack of the year. The school requires see-through backpacks, which are either plastic or mesh and they don’t hold up as well. Boo.\
Once a week, Brian has pizza at school for \$2. Sometimes coming up with \$2 in cash is really difficult. Does that make me sound poor? All of the woe!economy media coverage is starting to seep in my brain. Last week I bought mini brie to fancy-up my lunch salads and I was all, “Brie! We can’t afford no stinking brie! Woe.” I bought it anyway. Heh.
Epic Post of Life!
Brian says things incorrectly, like, “S starts with scooter, ” and “B starts with balloon.” He also says, “I need to wear socks for my feet to not get cold.” I don’t know how to fix this. I’ve read that you shouldn’t correct kids sentences, but instead should repeat the sentence back to them correctly. He also refuses to use “I” at home, instead saying, “Me want juice,” and “Me want to go, too.” He does use “I” at school, so I know he is teachable. Maybe I just need to be more firm (about everything, I am sure). Of course he also says, “Why you dood that?” (The past tense of do, of course.)\
I am happy to report that Brian will now wipe his own butt. WOOT. This was facilitated by the kiddie flushable wipes left behind at Babba’s house by Kevin’s brother’s family over Thanksgiving break. Babba stuck them in the back of our van and told us to take them home. Score for us! (Hello, TMI. Hope he doesn’t want to be president someday.)\
Max was invited to join the Philosophy and Art club/class/thingie at school. He is the only 3rd grader to be asked, as it is only open to 4th and 5th graders. Whee. I am really excited for him.\
Kevin said that he wanted to eat less meat, so I gave him a dinner of a baked sweet potato, broccoli, and hard boiled eggs. That is the last time he’ll say anything like that, I bet. 🙂 Tonight is meatless spaghetti sauce with pasta. That he won’t mind.\
I have been feeling much better since starting the new medicine, which was also about the time Brian started school (no coincidence, I am sure). And it shows: the house is clean, the laundry is done and put away, and I have been cooking.\
Speaking of cooking: Cookie rec time! My grocery store oatmeal, cranberry, walnut break-and-bake cookie dough. It is soooo good. Run to your store, tomorrow, and check it out! We like to make homemade Christmassy cookies, focusing our energy on the cool stuff, and then fill in the platter with cookies from premade dough, since they are available in more typical-cookie flavors.\
Today is A Day Without Gays, which I forgot about until I signed on this morning. Supporters are asked to not go to work, not go shopping, and not use the tv or internet. I couldn’t keep my husband home from work, even though I wanted to, but I did manage to send him off with a brown bag lunch. I sent my kids to school even though I could’ve kept them home. It made the decision between going Xmas shopping and doing laundry really easy and I stayed away from the net for half of the day until I caved. Have you seen any difference today?\
It’s kind of sad that I couldn’t stay offline for an entire day, right? I even took a two-hour nap solely to facilitate this! I have a book that I was planning on curling up with, in between loads of laundry, but really? I need to be online. It’s a drug. An obsession. A vital part of my daily life, ok? OK!\
Good thing I caved though because when I checked my email I found out that our landlord has declared bankruptcy and the bank is now trying to sell the house. I am not sure this puts us in a more precarious position than before, since we were always in a precarious position, but it feels more imminent and there are now new people with which to coordinate things.\
Poking around Craigslist, I found this house for only \$50 more a month:\
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Kevin is in love with the kitchen:\
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It has 3200 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, formal living room, family room, sun room, and bonus room (and of course all the other necessities, heh). The inside is full of upgrades like wood floors, cherry wood cabinets, and built-in book shelves. It has a fenced, corner lot. AND IT IS IN THE RIGHT SCHOOL ZONE!! The problem is that after living in a house like that for a year, it would be really depressing to buy and move into the type of house we could really afford. But WOW. What a house.\
I have inside information, ha!, that Paula Deen is moving to our island. Maybe I will see her at Kroger? We have a local restuarant that serves better food than her “Lady and Sons,” according to Kevin. Maybe I will see her there? Wouldn’t that be a hoot?\
The weather here has been really weird lately. It is warm outside, but cold inside. Someone explain that to me, when we aren’t using the air conditioner. I’ve been thinking about taking the kids to the beach. It’s been over a month since we’ve been!\
This is my last edit, I promise. It started with one little error and then ballooned into a monster, I know. Sorry. But not really. Hee.
Talk about burying the lead
I want to blog, except I don’t really have anything to say. So, mundane details it is!!\
Max received his first quarter report card. He got all A’s and E’s (exceeds expectations) except in music where he got a ‘meet expectations.’ He has school until almost 4, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for more than homework, dinner, and a bit of down time. I want to get him into sports or music, but most of them start too late and keeping everyone healthy for more than 2 weeks in a row has been a challenge.\
Brian has school three days a week and really enjoys it. He gets a little bit of Spanish, music, and art. Considering how inexpensive it is and the fact that they had openings, I am surprised of the quality of care. He had a check up last week where he was pronounced mostly healthy. He has slight allergies and eczema, which we are treating with OTC allergy meds and fish oil. He was really well behaved for the almost 2 hours we were there. Several of the staff commented on it. :)\
Kevin works a lot. He also grills a lot and listens to music. I think that is all I have to say about him.\
The doctor upped my dosage of anti-crazy medicine. YAY! I love not being crazy. I’m not sure if it is working yet. Kevin could probably tell you though.\
We went to a bbq over the weekend that was set here: iconic Savannah. It was really beautiful, like a movie setting.\
Since we have family just outside of DC, I am thinking of taking the boys up for Obama’s inauguration. It’s the day after MLK Day. Imagine all of the fun parades and festivities! The 10-hour drive is kind of daunting though since it will be just 3 weeks after our last 10-hour drive and Kevin won’t be coming with us.\
On Saturday, Nov 15, there is a national protest against Prop 8 in almost a hundred cities across the country. Check for a location near you here. We’re taking the kids down to Jacksonville to participate since it is closer than Atlanta. It also seems like a better choice since Florida just passed a similar measure.\
Last Friday I took the boys to the beach because I thought it would be the last nice day. But nope! The boys have today off for Veteran’s Day and the weather isn’t bad, so we are going to the beach again. YAY for living so close to the beach.
This and that
- I’ve misplaced my iPod. I am bad enough at cleaning the house with it, I can’t imagine what I’ll be like now. Booo. I need my crutch! I am going to dig out our 80s-inspired iPod that is the size of my head and see if I can duct tape it to my body. That should get me through the day, I hope.
- The kids didn’t have school yesterday so we went down to Kevin’s office for lunch. The boys were happy when practically the whole office went with us. They just looooooove Kevin’s coworkers. Brian especially enjoys spending time with the office manager, Juliet. He makes sure to sit with her and walk with her and give her hugs. He got mad at me once and said, “I don’t love you anymore. I just love Daddy and Juliet.” A couple of weeks ago a bunch of us went out to dinner, including Juliet’s parents. Brian was really excited to meet them. I joked that he was meeting the in-laws. It’s so cute to watch and Juliet is so nice to him.
- I had a (bad) dream last night that we were moving to Utah, where we would be isolated in our liberal, hippie views AND we’d have to deal with constant four-foot snow. Kevin was thoughtful enough to buy lots of Christmas decorations so our new neighbors would like us, though. Hmm.
- As far as I can recall, I have never voted for a winning presidential candidate before. (I honestly can’t recall which candidate I voted for when Clinton was reelected, which wasn’t my first election.) It’s nice for that streak to be over.
- We’re going to the in-laws for Thanksgiving and I am really looking forward to seeing everybody. Kevin’s brother and his family, including a baby, will be there. YAY. And an aunt, cousin, and and a grandma are coming too. Lots of family time! I love it when the boys get to see their extended family. The downside is that we are staying in a hotel, which is my least favorite thing to do with kids. Worse than 4 hours at the Health Department without a lunch break, even. But that is what happens when your family quadruples in size, yes? So, nice problem to have, all things considering.