So tired it hurts

Getting back into the swing of things for preschool has been tough on my little buds. They spent today tired from the get-go. Last night Spencer had a complete meltdown at bedtime. He was so overtired he couldn't calm down but so exhausted it made me sad. Today Evie requested a nap. She didn't actually sleep, but I think being still for 30 minutes snuggled with Mama made the rest of the day just a wee bit easier.

After we picked Spencer up from school and ate lunch we vacuumed the sofa. Ick. After that we stopped by the library to get a book that the website said was on the shelves (it wasn't) and then walked to a small park a few blocks away after visiting the polar bear sculpture in front of the library. The walk was nice, though I did have to carry Evie almost the whole way back.

First Day of Preschool

Today was the first day of preschool for the year for both kids. I had to work, so Alan took care of taking the kids back and forth for their half days of class. Evie really warmed up once she saw all the fun stuff and she played with one of her friend's mothers. Spencer wouldn't leave when we went to pick him up. He was really taken by the tool bench with real tools.

This is a photo of them with their buckets, which are used to house spare clothes and carry things back and forth to school. All the kids in the same class get the same color bucket.

Dancing Queen (OK, Princess)

Evie's first dance class was today. She really enjoyed it. At first she was very shy and I figured she'd just sit in my lap the whole time. But about 1 minute into the class she told me she was ready. A few minutes later Spencer and I snuck out of the room. I watched her through the glass and she did really well.

Another new appliance

The kids were great today even though we had to stay home most of the day. We kept ourselves busy with a walk, Legos, the sprinkler, treasure hunting (pennies frozen in ice cubes in the water table), and books. We had one really low point when poor Spencer had an allergic reaction to a toaster pastry that he's had before from the same box with no trouble. But after a little bit of stress and some Benedryl all was well.

After waiting almost all day for the over repair guy he finally called us. After a long conversation it seems that the part that needs repair is almost as expensive as a brand new unit. We decided to get a new one since the one we have is old and likely to have other parts fail soon. But no cooking in the oven for awhile.

What's in a name?

Evelyn has decided over the past few months to add some alternate personalities to herself. She's come up with Cosmo (the out of control girl), Tud (rhymes with "good" and is goofy but not over the top) and herself. She can call herself anything she likes, and some days she doesn't talk all morning because she's being a cat and can only meow. It's a little tough figuring out what she wants to eat for breakfast those days.

But now there's a new name. Not a name for her but a name for a doll. This was my doll when I was younger and I always called her Amanda. I even told Evie this. But yesterday she started calling her Zelda. No big announcement about the name change, she just started referring to "Zelda" and we had to figure it out. I'm thrilled that her little independent self has declared a new identity for a doll she has made her own, but I'm a little sad that my doll isn't really mine anymore.

Money laundering

We had a few minutes to kill before lunch today, so the kids washed some coins (some real, some play) in soapy water on the deck. Now I don't have to worry about the germy money they always want to play with. :)

Before that it was two long walks and now we're getting ready to go to a friend's house for a bit.

Teacher Work Day

Alan took the kids today while I went to the first of two days of getting ready for the new year. When I got home I found they had made an awesome track in the driveway out of red and white chalk. They also did a bunch of household repairs. The kids were sweaty and smelled like sun screen, which is how it should be.

I had tons of fun getting the room ready. I will be teaching with one other teacher (Amy) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the other days the room will be used by the same age group but different teachers (Sally and Galina). It was so fun to "shop" in the various supply areas for the toys and supplies we thought we would need in the first few weeks.

Play Day

Today is one of those gloriously beautiful days so we spent the morning at the newest park in town. It's shaded in the morning so the kids could run around without getting too hot. The Y Moms group was there so all morning long there was a slow trickle of kids to play with. We finally came home for lunch and then Anna (our incredible babysitter) came over to tire the kids out while I tried to catch up on financial paperwork.

We had to get the gas line tested today. No gas leaks, but the oven does need to be serviced (preferably before it blows up). The water heater is now fixed, thanks to the nice older gentleman who checked the gas line. He said they weren't allowed to do service on appliances anymore, but he figured the water heater thing could be called part of his gas line investigation. All his friends in the appliance repair business have retired, so he couldn't think of anyone to recommend to me to fix the oven.

Alan's Birthday Weekend

This weekend was Alan's birthday, so it was all about Daddy (most of the time, anyway!). On Saturday we went to an IU football thing and Alan's Mom watched the kids while we went to a movie. The kids and I had made our version of an ice cream cake so that we could all have some. It was decent, but obviously not the real thing to me.

Trouble getting started

We simply could not get moving this morning. We finally pulled out of the house around 11:30am to go to the St. Mark's play yard. We ate our packed lunch and hung around for almost 2 hours before going to the co-op for our regular member day discount shopping.

The rest of the day was pretty dull, with some dress-up, outdoor Play-dough, and guitar learning thrown in. Evie wouldn't eat any dinner and was really upset to find out that she wasn't going to get a cupcake until she ate some regular food. She never did, little miss strong-willed that she is. We ended up putting her to bed early because she seemed so darned tired. Alan had to work late so the kids and I did bedtime alone.

Birthday preparations

We were in charge of the dessert for the combined birthday party tonight for Alan and Jenny (his Dad's wife), so we spent the morning making cupcakes and frosting. Our super babysitter Anna came over in the afternoon so I could clean and run a couple of errands, so the kids got to spend some quality time outside running around. I even got my hair cut! Yes, the small things bring me great enjoyment sometimes.

Fresh air and purple beans

Today we got a good dose of outside time, starting with some time at a park in the morning. We didn't realize it, but tomorrow is the first day of public school, so the park was packed. The kids were very good and came when I told them it was time to go, so we elected to do a fast food lunch. The plan was to call Alan and bring him lunch, but he wasn't around and we ended up taking it home.

After a trip to Wal-Mart we decided to break out the Slip 'n' Slide. While dinner was cooking I checked on the pole bean tipi. A bunch of beans were on there but they were rotten since we hadn't picked them. Some of them rattled nicely. There were some green ones, so the kids entertained themselves by prying some of the bean out of the pods. We found a few white ones, but most were a gorgeous purple. Evie called them "beauties." Every time she got one out she announced that she had another beauty. Spencer is a professional bean finder and can get them out of the pods in record time.

Sprinkler fun

Since we're way off the shreds of any routine we once had, today was a tough day. I let the kids sleep in and Spencer was cranky and touchy all day. We went outside for a little bit in the morning and then did "arts and crafts" (according to Evie) and built a train track for Spencer. After lunch we brought out the sprinkler for the first time this summer and it was a huge hit with Evie. Spencer insisted on moving it around and spraying everything. Since it's just a cheap plastic thing I finally had to make him put it down. He ended up going inside early and moping. They spent the rest of the time until Alan came home in their birthday suits, which I guess was fun for them.

I'm glad today is over!

Disconnected

Yesterday I spent the afternoon staining the fence. I spent close to zero time with the rest of the family and Alan took care of all child duties. I felt very disconnected from everyone. Today Alan took the kids to Putt Putt so I could do the grocery shopping alone because I'm really grumpy for some reason. Maybe if I get some good sleep tonight I'll feel better in the morning.

Keepin' 'em busy

Today we've been busy. We started the day with a bike ride on the Clear Creek Trail. The kids managed to ride 1.5 miles with a snack stop in the middle. We had a stressful start, but once Spencer and I arranged to agree on landmarks where he would wait for us it worked out fine. I walked the whole way but I can see that I'm going to need a bike soon.

After lunch we had a jam session at Spencer's Music Shoppe in the living room. Then we dusted and headed out the door for a shoe shopping adventure. Cosmo made a brief appearance, shrieking at the top of her lungs and grinning at all the people who stopped to stare, but we survived. We decided that once we got home we needed some more outdoor time.

Once the kids rode around on their bikes for a little bit we got the gift of PERFECT puddle jumping weather. First, a warm drizzle that made us put on the rain gear, and then enough rain on the wet ground to create almost instant puddles. The temperature was about 70F, which is great. The kids got completely soaked, head to toe, and needed to dump out their boots before coming inside.

Tonight we're supposed to go to Family Fun Night at the IU Outdoor Pool. Their last swim class there got cancelled last night because of a thunder storm so we thought it would be a good way to make up for it. But it's a little chilly to go swimming so we'll have to see. While I whip up a little dinner and make this post the critters are enjoying a well-earned rest in front of The Magic School Bus.

A new teacher

That's me! I'm so excited. I'll be teaching 4 hours a week at the kids' preschool. This nursery school is a truly spectacular place full of wonder and respect. We completely lucked into it as parents and now we get to be an even bigger part of it. Today was the new teachers' meeting. It was fun to see the new faces and find out more details about what we'll be doing.

The joys of travel

We're back after a weekend trip to visit my family in Ohio. Four or more hours in the car with the kiddos is always an adventure, but they were really great this time. On the way home we dropped off the boys so they could attend the Brickyard 400. It took the rest of the afternoon to do the unpacking (which isn't completely done, of course) and the grocery shopping for the week.

After all that Evie and I stayed out late at a concert at a local park. We met up with some of her friends from preschool. She was too shy to play with them much but I had a good time catching up with their parents.

A little banged up

Poor Spencer came home from camp early today after scraping up the side of his face. He's so tired he just couldn't get over it. Luckily I was already there to pick up Evie, whose camp gets out earlier. He looks a little worse for wear but I think he'll be fine. The worst of the cut was covered up by a bandange so I don't know how bad it is yet.

A little time to myself, sort of

Both kids are in camp this morning, which means I should be cleaning the office so we can turn it into Evie's room. Instead, I'm writing in my blog, emptying the dishwasher, getting the bag ready for swim lessons later, getting the luggage out for our trip to see family this weekend, figuring out what needs to be washed for our trip this weekend, and oh yeah, I had an appointment right after I dropped off the kiddos. You know how it is.

Stickers as pre-dinner craft

It seems like finding a nice, quiet, crafty thing for the kids to do while I make dinner might actually be reasonable at their ages--just not while they have camp in this ungodly heat and aren't sleeping very well after evening swim class. Today they chose to do stickers. Well, Evie chose to do stickers and then Spencer decided to join her when she wouldn't chase him. Then they fought over the magnifying glass so they could make the stickers look bigger. Then Evie got mad because she couldn't pull the stickers off her skin that she had stuck there a half hour earlier. Then there was more mayhem. And then dinner.

See, sticker crafts are good for you. Now I have to go pull shiny stickers off my kitchen floor.

Cosmo

No, not Kramer. OK, maybe a pint-sized version. Whenever Evie's feeling mischievous she announces, "I'm Cosmo!" Cosmo is a male personality, too. She giggles, grins, and misbehaves whenever she has put on her alternate persona. We have not clue where she got this, but at least we know when to expect mayhem!