Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Back to school 2011!



Kindergarten orientation yesterday



Trevor and his teacher





Stephen was up and out the door early yesterday!











Ryan woke up all smiles, but then when it was time to leave for school you can see how his attitude changed, sigh!









At school, he did get his happy back, thank goodness!











It's only 5 more hours till I see them. I know I will get used to this, but it is so quiet in the house without my little chatterbox Trevor. Trevor and I tend to do almost everything together, whether I am going grocery shopping, clothes shopping, PTA meetings, driving the other kids to an activity, he is usually by my side.


I was kinda an obnoxious mom today, i went inside the school and walked Trevor to class, OH NO!! Yes, there were the Annie dolls supposedly ready to lead the kindergartners to their classes, but I overheard several kids, oh scratch that, I OBSERVED several kids almost interacting with the Annie dolls (the people holding the Annie dolls had their work cut out for them trying to get the kindie kids to tell them what teacher they have so they could direct them! When my other two went to school they had those green sheets safety pinned to the back of their backpacks, so everyone in the school knew the kindies, and the teachers could look on those sheets to know where the kids was supposed to be going. Yes, the green sheets were a pain in the A - I mean butt, but it was kinda funny and cute to see the kids with their green sheets. (Great photo op too!).



So, I was going to go to a Mom's photography group meet up, but I am not feeling like ventruing out into this weather and I almost feel like I should be sittng by the phone just in case they need me for something, what if Trevor won't talk and they need a translator, or what if he starts crying and wont stop. Yes, I know those teachers deal with the kids who have a hard time every year and I know they are good at it, but I still am having a hard time going about my day.





There were a couple kids crying in Trevor's class when I dropped him off. I felt so bad for them. I was relieved that Trevor seemed ok. You never know if you are going to get the super shy Trevor, or the boisterous mischevious Trevor in these type of situations (he was kind of a selective mute the first few months of preschool). So I am hoping it is somewhere in between those two personalities!



Ryan had a good first day, but he is not much of a talker, so can't say much more than that!





Stephen made it to the bus on time and other than not telling me about how he lost his calculator last year (only found out about that a couple of days before school started), as well as his gym locker LOCK got stolen (which begs the obvious question, if you are using your lock and LOCKING it, how could it get stolen?? He too is not much of a talker, so I can only say that after asking tons of questions, things seem good in 7th grade so far!




Now, I need t go blare some music, run around the house dancing or whatever else I can do now that I have the house all to myself till 3:15!!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

End of July means Trevor's 5 and back to school is right around the corner



It's been quite a July! As August/back to school started getting closer and closer during the month of July, I got more and more anxious! It meant that my baby was getting closer to turning 5, and it meant that I would be alone all day Mon -Friday from 9:00 till 3:00 when my baby started kindergarten.





Needless to say Trevor is ready for school, but I am not! I've been dreading his going to kindergarten for months. I can tell he really misses the routine of school and he misses seeing his friends and teachers. So we started in the past 2 weeks doing some back to school stuff. My first accepting act of "back to school" was buying Trevor a lunch box (Buzz Lightyear - to the rescue). It was on clearance for 3.00 and Iw as tempted to walk away and pretend I didnt' see it, but I do love a bargain and Trevor does love Buzz!!




I also have been to JC Penny, Gap, Kohl's and other stores and have been getting back to school clothes. Last year I really didn't do much for back to school clothes shopping, but this year I didn't have much choice. Stephen has grown 1 1/2 inches in just 3 months and none of his pants fit, and many of his shirts would have left his belly hanging out, so we needed to get some clothes for him. And then I set up a portrait session at Sears for Trevor's 5th bday pics and of course I needed a new outfit for that and so one thing led to another and before you know it, I have myself some very stylish outfits for da boys!




I also ran across some sales for school supplies at Meijer. they ahd folders at a ridiculously low price,s o I threw a bunch in my cart. I had no idea what colors or how many I needed, but at that price I just tossed in a few dozen and hoped I had the folders covered!




Even though back to school shopping and plannning for the upcoming school year has begun, we are trying to relax and enjoy the last few weeks of summer.




Highlights of July 2011:






Trevor turned 5! Yikes! - We had a "Wet and Wild" / "turtle" themed party with 12 4-6 year olds in the back yard! It was very hot and humid that day so the parents were really sweating it out, but the kids had a blast! Turtle cupcakes, turtle pinata, and we found a turtle on the way home from shopping the day before the party, so he became our mascot!




The Wet and Wild apsect of it was the baby pool filled up and I put small toy boats in it and we put water guns and super soakers out, we had a sprinkler going, played pint the turtle on the submarine, musical chairs and had a water balloon toss, then a water balloon fight. It was great for Trevor to see some of his "turtle friends" (the preschool has all the classrooms represented by a mascot - animals/bugs such as turtle room, snail room, bumblebee, deer room, cat room, etc - Trevor was in the turtle room - another reason for our "turtle theme"!




It was a great kids party! We also set up a family and friends party for the boys on the next day for Stephen and Ryan's summer birthdays (I invited over 55 people and only Mike's parents came). It was very dissapointing! I don't understand why the closest relatives who try to come to all the boys parties dont tell me when they are getting conceert tickets or theater tickets or are going to be on vaction on the day of Trevor's bday. For 4 years they have been to parties the weekend closest to his bday and knew I would probably have his party that weekend. I could have and would have picked another date if a few of the people had told me about the conflict - if they even let me know right when the got the invite almost 3 weeks before the party I might have tried to reschedule. Stephen was pretty disappointed as we still haven't even had a freind sleeep over back in June for his bday and this was gonna be the nice celebration.




In addition to bday celebrations, we also got a trampoline! Friends in the neighborhood wer moving to CA and needed to get rid of it, and so we drove down the street at 3 miles an hour with a humongous trampoline balanced precariously on the top of the van!




We also have a turtle. Not sure if we will keep him or not as I am not sure how happy he is in the fish tank and can't tell if he is eating much. He was trying to cross liberty and we ran over him (the car went over him, but no wheels touched him so he was fine). I turned around parked and waited to go get him while traffice kept passing. right now he is on my island, and the tank is heavy witht he water and rocks in there. Not sure I wnat a turtle on my kitchen island indefinitly so I think at the end of the summer we will release him into a close by retention pond.




Other exciting news for July:



let's see - Stephen and Ryan went to a follow up ortho consult. (follow up from last year). Stephen is ready for braces and will have braces for back to school!






Stephen went to boy scout camp. First time he has been away at camp. (My first experience of him not being with me for more than 2 nights since his stay at my aunts a few years back - and that was with a relative!)






Lots of fun baseball as the baseball season ended! Stephen had a lot of fun and as far as Ican tell, I am pretty confident that he had the best batting average. He did very well as a pitcher and won most of the games he pitched in. I had fun watching and I didn't miss any games except for one while stephen was away at camp. I even went to one of his games even when he wasn't at the game! Yes, I am a true "baseball mom!"






I also took a photography class from Wabonsie college. I really enjoyed it and it has sparked my passion for photography. I am joining a few photography groups and hoep to make some ther photography lovers!




Some "Not So Exciting" news in July:



The summer months have also been filled with some less than exciting news from Doctor visits. Trevor has been to the opthamologist and the patching of his eye has caused his good eye's vision to deteriorate. now we are no longer patching the eye. Not sure long term what will happen but surgery could be in his future.




Ryan had his first endocrinologist visit. That boy doesn't eat hardly anything. Now my baby that was diagnosed as failure to thrive is "fatter" than my middle son. Ryan is not even on the charts for weight, and only 3% of the nation for height. We had some bloodwork done and he is showing some results that make the endo doc tell us to make an appt with a gastroenterologist. I've started supplementing his food with proteinex and we are pushing the pediasure shakes again too. He is very picky and loves to eat fruits and some veggies, not much in calories and no protein in his favorite foods, so we are trying to figure out how to get some wieght on him. He is 9 years and wears shorts that are a size 5 with an adjustable waist. For pants I have to get him skinny jeans - and a size slim with an adjustable waist in a size 7 to get them long enough. If only floods were in fashion or if he were a girl I could let him wear size 5 pants and call them capris!!




Stephen is now taking aromatase therapy medication. He has had such a great growth spurt, but doc is worried about him going through puberty too fast and his bones fusing before he has had a chance to grow to his potential, so aromatase therapy will keep the bones from closing and he can continue to grow. He was at Edwards for Growth hormone stym test and his levels are fine, so no growth hormone therapy for him. He is already taller than me! I hope he keeps growing at the current pace, well actually maybe not quite a tthis pace. I'd have to keep buying him new clothes and shoes!




Okay, so now its on to August! 19 more days till school starts, but who's counting!

Books I have read

  • Friday Night knitting Club
  • The tale of Edgar Sawtelle
  • Island of Lost Girls
  • The Prizewinner of Defiance Ohio
  • Nineteen Minutes
  • Kite Runner
  • Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons