School days

It's been over a month since school started and I would like to say we are in the swing of things, but we have never been in the swing of things before so I am not sure we would recognize it. The first thing I noticed was our grocery bill. Somehow it practically doubled now that I pack their lunches every day. I am not sure how that happened. Does that mean that before now I was forgetting to feed them daily? I don't know. Then we have days like yesterday when John Henry ate his lunch in the car ON THE WAY to school so I had to explain to his teachers why he had nothing to eat for lunch.

I am pretty sure John Henry's teacher's think I am a crazy person. (Even without turning in a lunch bag yesterday with no food in it.) That is fair, because I am feeling a little crazy. Because I am working at the church, the preschool kids program found space for JH in the classes for the five days per week. Typically, there is not a five day a week program for 2 year olds. So, John has a M/W class, a T/TH class and a Friday class. Each class has two teachers. So, one classroom asks me to leave a change of clothes IN the classroom for, well - forever, I guess. I never saw the clothes again. I also need to bring a sippy cup with his name on it and put it in a bin in the morning. I need to bring one diaper with his initials on it and he needs to carry his lunch bag in when he gets there. Another classroom wants a change of clothes, the sippy cup IN the lunch bag and a diaper with his whole name on it. The other wants a change of clothes, two diapers, no name necessary, lunch bag stays in backpack and hangs on a hook outside. This week Monday AND Wednesday is Yellow day so he needed to wear yellow on those days. Tuesday's class is also Yellow, but Thursday is Black. My kids do not seem to own any black and John has one yellow shirt.  Sorry - I don't have time for all of that laundry-ing. Friday is Red day, but instead of wearing red, he needs to bring in something red for show & tell. Next week will be all different colors, so I am looking forward to that.

Then we have Sienna's class. Sienna's teacher is very nice and she likes her. But, the communication that I receive from her school is like doing a puzzle. For example...

See? You get to decipher when the Fitness Night is and when the Book Fair is, but you don't get the information in one place. You get to have find one sentence and then you have to find the other sentence that is like the other. It is like a matching game! You win if you can figure out what is happening and when. It's so fun. Yesterday we received a different piece of paper requesting specific classroom supplies along with instructions that (in bold) these SUPPLIES MUST BE RETURNED ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. This is another fun game because October 21 is on Monday!!! Do you return the supplies on Friday? Monday? It's a surprise. Wednesday was Pajama Day and Thursday was Picture Day. You will be able to tell if I won this game if Sienna is wearing her Cinderella night gown in her school picture. I'll let you know when the results are in.

Remember us?!

Let's ignore the part where I haven't posted anything about us or our lives for over 14 months. I'll try to catch you up quickly...

Sienna is 5 1/2 years old

John Henry is 2 years old

This summer we did a lot of this:

          

And some of this:

                                     

Also, Sienna has been taking gymnastics...

Therefore we have done this:

John pretty much does stuff like this:

 

And a lot of this:

But TODAY, this happened:

Sienna had her first day (almost) of Kindergarten.

I keep saying that today is Sienna's her first day ("almost") at school. Daniel thinks I'm crazy. In Charlotte, the Kindergartners have a staggered start which means Sienna went to school for a full school day today to meet the teachers, but will not go back to school until Friday. Today all of the kindergarten kids meet in the gym with the teachers and they play games, puzzles, etc., and then on Thursday, the school posts what students have which teachers. Her first day with her teacher and new classroom is on Friday. So, today is "almost" her first day of school. But she has another first first day on Friday. If I want to be an emotional wreck for two days this week, I think I am entitled an extra "waterworks" day for this special occasion. So, in my mind, my BABY GIRL has TWO first days. So there.

Little Bro needed a backpack too, ya know, because he has to do everything his sister does. He will be starting Preschool next week. 

Ok, I know.  I will need three "waterworks" days. 

 I have a kindergartener...*Tear*

We're all mad here.

Minnie Mouse goes to the Farm

Our fake life on Facebook.

On Saturday night I posted a photo on Facebook of the kids hanging out at the Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill, SC. It looked like they were having a great time. They were not. Actually, John Henry was fine - as long as you don't ask him to take a nap or go to bed, he is happy to contribute to the family activity by smiling. Here is the "fake" happy moment.

Here is the real moment that occured 30 seconds before the photo:

This is how it went down with Sienna:

Meltdown #1: She is extremely afraid of loud music - especially live music because she never knows HOW loud the music can be. So she walked around the festival whining with her hands over her ears at the same time somehow holding onto my pant leg.

Meltdown #2: We noticed a playground in the middle of the festival. This distracted her from the music so we were on board and she took off running to the slide. Because she was wearing a dress, she got a "burn" from her bare legs scraping against the slide. Crying ensues. Yay. Moving right along...

Meltdown #3: The Kids Carnival was further away from the music (score!) so we told her we would buy her tickets for ONE game or ride. One kind soul gave us (pitied us?) 3 extra tickets good for one game or ride that they weren't going to use (double score - free tickets!) So she picked the Moon Bounce.

Us: Sienna, are you sure? We didn't look at all of the choices yet."
Sienna: YES! YES! I want to bounce!!

About 3 second into her "bouncing", a bigger boy knocked her over.

Sienna: "Moooommmmmyyy!!" (More crying.)

Meltdown #4: Consoling occurs and she braves the Moon Bounce again. Until she saw a "Fun House" kind of thing next to the Moon Bounce.

"Mommy!! Mommy!! I want to do THAT one!"
"No Sienna - you picked the Moon Bounce - why don't you play some more because you only have a few minutes to jump."
"Noooooooooo - I want do to that one!!! (Enter crying and stomping.)


Then the whistle blows - No more jumping. (Even more crying. Big crocodile tears and everything.)


Because we are such good parents (Ha!) we rewarded her awesome behavior by letting her pick out a treat. She picked Cotton Candy. She stood sadly in line for her cotton candy. I asked her if she could she please smile and take a picture with her brother?

A HAPPY picture?

I told her that she was about to have a treat AFTER Mommy and Daddy let her jump in the Moon Bounce. I told her she should be thankful instead of having a bad attitude.

I took what I could get...our fake happy evening at the festival.

Sugar with extra sugar helped.

At least it was a beautiful evening and Daniel and I enjoyed it... even with all of the crying. One unexpected thing is that we didn't actually SEE any strawberries at the Strawberry Festival. EXCEPT...

...Check it out, Terra Nova Family....YES! It was a Strawberry Tilt-a-Whirl! It clearly wasn't as amazing as the one at the Enchanted Forest - obviously. But it must have been a hit if Miss South Carolina was takin' a spin or two, right? Do you think the crowns make you go faster?

Thanks Facebook for tricking everyone into thinking we had a perfect family moment. It was a family memory at least. And I think that counts for something.

Love my drama queen.

Here comes trouble.

We are still here!

It has been so long, I am not sure where to start. I will attempt to recap the past couple of months while John Henry is sitting next to me making copies on our copier/fax machine.

Things are busy as usual, but something in particular has changed my daily experience as a mom...the kids are playing together! I can get so much more done when I spend fewer hours "babysitting" Sienna's baby doll while she gets "dressed up" and "goes to the store." Somehow, Sienna is endlessly patient with JH and she will follow him crawling around the house, chasing him and tickling him. Of course, we do have those He's-drooling-on-my-doll/toy/game/etc. moments, but I really can't complain. Sienna is as crazy as usual, and John Henry never gets bored of her antics. Watching Sienna is his favorite thing to do. Except for making copies, of course.

JH is growing up waay too fast. I can't believe his first birthday is next month. It has been a very fast year and a very slow year. I know, that makes no sense. But if you are a parent, you get it. JH is a happy baby who LOVES to smile but he does NOT like to sleep. So, there is that part of me who was waiting for time to pass so he would begin to sleep through the night and take scheduled naps. But as expected, I am sad that he is starting to take his first steps and I miss the little (gigantic) baby that used to just let me hold him for two seconds. But he is off busy playing and crawling, and starting to talk. And sleeping, finally. 

He says Mama, Dada, Ball (pronounced "Khall") and Hi. He loves to put a toy on his head and smile because he wants to show us how funny he is. So we gladly laugh at his "joke" and we are, as usual, rewarded with his big, toothy smile.

He is still our big boy, growing out of his 18 month clothes. Unfortunately, he is stronger than I am, so it takes me approximately 10 minutes to change his diaper while he continuously tries (and succeeds) to escape from my weakling grip. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and chews the strangest things - shoes, books, his bed...he took a bite out of our window blinds like a little shark. And my iPhone Otterbox - aren't they supposed to be indestructible? The good thing is that I have been giving him every safe kind of table food - bananas, avocado, cauliflower, peas, carrots, kidney beans, etc. to take advantage of his anything-in-his-mouth stage so he does not become a super-picky eater like someone I know. (Me. But also Sienna.) 

Sienna just recently decided to dress herself. She dresses herself with one of her two favorite dresses with leggings. If we leave the house she needs a headband, a purse and a wallet (held separately - one in each hand) a winter scarf and bracelets. Recently she also had to add plastic high heels when we went to see my cousin's lacrosse game. By the time we shuffled from the car to the field, the game was half over. 

Sienna finally lets me take pictures of her, but usually it is so she can make a ridiculous face. 

If you think Sienna's walking in heels is impressive, check out Daniel's recent work outs...

Isn't he scary? He is, but I am proud of him.

I think that's it. Daniel's been working and working out. Sienna is being the big sister when she is not busy putting on every hair bow and bracelet she owns. JH is smiling and chomping on window treatments. I have been watching soap operas and eating bon bons. Occasionally I throw in a load of laundry, but it's bon bons, mostly.