Thursday, September 30, 2010

Now That's Domestic!

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For some unknown reason I decided to make Jac and Mia's Halloween costumes this year.  This project was supposed to be completed sometime in July so that I wouldn't be worrying about costumes in October, so much for that.  Maybe, if I were to be completely honest, I would admit that there are certain Mommy duties that I am not 100% comfortable with (like making Halloween costumes).  In order to be the best Mommy I can be, I do feel that at some point I should be able to make a Halloween costume or put together some random costume for the school play. 

Regardless, I have already spent a ton of time and money creating these costumes for the kids.  Jac's was completed with my mom's help in July.  Batman.  Felt cape, felt hood, throw on some black pants and a Batman t-shirt, voila.  Mia's pumpkin costume, however, is not complete.

As crunch time nears, I realize I need to get this done. Sooooooo, today I tackled it.  I say that like I just went to the store and bought stuff today.  Oh, no.  I have been cutting and pinning and reading directions over and over again for a good two weeks.  It was the sewing part that I tacked today.  I was nervous and downright scared to bust out the sewing machine that my mom gave me for my birthday.  I am familiar with this machine, it was my mom's for probably 30 years or more.  I used it to sew random projects when I was a kid and other random things as an adult.  I never liked sewing, requires too much patience.

I say that I have sewed things.  The problem with this statement is that I literally would sit down at the machine after my mom had threaded it and gotten it ready with the required stitch, needle, bobbin, etc.  Then I would take the material that she helped me cut, maybe even cut herself, pinned together herself, ironed and whatnot and I would sew a seam.  Needless to say, I am less than an expert.

But I did it!  Mia and I went downstairs today armed with new sewing scissors and a spool of orange thread.  I got the machine turned on and pulled out the thread that was in it.  I unwound a bobbin and read the directions on how to load thread on it.  I followed the directions and watched as magically the thread went up and down on the bobbin.  I threaded the needle successfully the first time.  All was good until I actually started to sew.  Not a lot of drama though, I just got a knot underneath by the bobbin that I had to pull out and get rid of.  A rethread of the needle and I was off and running.

Mia asked, why is it taking so long?  Indeed. 

I completed two seams that were neither crooked nor curvy.  I successfully laid out the other pieces and have them pinned and ready to go.  I also used Stich Witchery to applique the Jack O'Lantern face on the front of the costume.  Yay me!  I still have to put the rest of it together and also there is some sort of gathering, elastic, hem thing at the bottom that has me in a twist.  But one step at a time. 

Will I do it again?  I don't know. Maybe if I can't find what I want at the store.  The problem is Pottery Barn has this adorable pumpkin costume that looks suspiciously like the one I am making only with a straighter more evenly placed face, for $30 (my fabric and pattern were definitely more than $30).  Hmm. 


What I do like about this is having the kids help me make it, learn the process and watch their Mommy struggle with something.   They also enjoy (at least for now) knowing that I made it just for them.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Picture Day

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Today is Mia's picture day.  I took a couple of pics of my own.



And here is Mia's self portrait!

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Case of the Missing Blankie

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It was bound to happen, we really have been careful with our blankets to not have lost them in five years.  Yesterday however, they went missing and they never left the house!  Evidently the blankies had made it outside to play ambulance?  I am not sure what they were doing playing outside in the first place, in general blankies know to stay inside unless they are on the way to the car. 

So when bedtime rolls around I am told the whole story about how blankies were outside and presumably still are.  Out we go, looking for blankies.  First stop, the garage.  After a thorough search, one pink blankie is recovered and I have to tell you it really needed a bath. But it was already a quarter to eight, so no bath for you.  But one blue blankie is still unaccounted for.  We keep searching.  I search the whole house, just in case memories of the day aren't exactly correct.  No blue blankie. 

Jac is actually okay with it, pretty matter of fact.  Jeff says something like, it will help him grow up.  This does make sense from the one person in the house who wouldn't be woken up when Jac wakes up looking for his blanket in the middle of the night.  Mia keeps "thinking weird thoughts".

Mia:  Mommy, I am thinking something weird.

Me:  What's that Mia (hoping she is about to confess to hiding the blanket)?

Mia:  Well, it probably didn't happen, but what if a stranger (should make that a capital 'S' the way she emphasizes it) came and took it! 

Me:  (Almost laughing) Hmm, I don't think a stranger would come and take Jac's blanket.

Mia:  Oh yeah, you're right. 

Mia:  Mommy, I just had another weird thought.

Me:  (Still hoping she will confess, but interested in this weird thought.)  What's that Mia?

Mia:  This probably didn't happen either, but what if it (the blanket) walked off by itself?!  (Now, you really don't get the full affect from this blog.  I wish I had a camera at the time she is relaying these thoughts as she is very animated, like she is telling a ghost story with her hands up for emphasis and big wide eyes.)

Me:  (Seriously laughing at this point) No, I am very sure that blankets don't walk off by themselves.

Mia:  Oh, you're right.  (I can see her little mind going back to the drawing board, where could this blankie have disappeared to?)

So I put them to bed, one with her pink blankie and about 11 stuffed animals.  One all by himself, tucked in under the covers.  As we were settling in I asked everybody to say a quick prayer that Mommy might find this blanket when she looked again.  I gave kisses and told them I would be looking for the blankie.

I searched the whole house and then went back outside.  Patio, clear.  Yard, clear.  So back to the garage.  I went back to where Jac kept saying it should be right here.  And right there it was.  The blue car was hiding the blue blanket.  It was underneath the car, yuk, on the garage floor.  I tiptoed back upstairs and gave an already sleeping Jac his blanket. 

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Week 32 Update

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Well, according to my DH, "it feels like you are really pregnant now."  Hmmm.  I guess from a man's perspective the third trimester starts to feel like the real deal.  Anytime he lays his hand on my belly, baby immediately kicks.  I don't know if that means she is excited when he does that or she is telling him to back off!  I am big, there is no doubt, so visually I must look more pregnant.  I am tired.  I was probably more tired with the other two pregnancies just because of the circumstances, so that also makes it feel more real.  But what I really think he was talking about was the beginning of contractions.

On Thursday evening I told him, while watching TV, that I was contracting.  Just Braxton Hicks, but quite a few for one evening.  I drank a big glass of milk and we went to bed (okay it was chocolate milk, but still).  I was up two times before 1am going to the bathroom and still noticed that I was contracting, figured it was my full bladder.  I also had TERRIBLE dreams, intruder dreams, I hate those.  Then at 3am I woke up and while laying there had a couple of contractions, uh oh.  Had I been contracting all night?  I told Jeff that I was going downstairs to time them.  He said something like, "It'll all be okay."  And then promptly rolled back over.  So I stayed up timing contractions for an hour and half.  Lots and lots! Yikes! 

They weren't super organized, but about 4 to 10 minutes apart and lasted an hour and a half.  I drank two huge glasses of water and tried switching positions several times (side, side, back, pacing, standing, laying).  Then they stopped at about 4:30.  Thank goodness.  Of course they stopped, I was probably just a little dehydrated.  I was exhausted and achy the next day, like my belly had had a workout.  I didn't do a darn thing the next day, and was able to still sleep a good 9 hours the next night, no problem.

So, regardless of how normal this is or isn't, this pregnant lady is laying low for the next 3.5 weeks.  That's it folks, 3.5 weeks until I am 36 weeks.  I don't want medication, I don't want a hospital stay and I definitely don't want bedrest.  So floors, beds, laundry, you can wait approximately 3.5 weeks until I get this baby to full term (actually week 37, but they say that week 36 is close enough).  I am going to drink lots of water and sit on my duff and eat.  And maybe I should do some little things, like get the carseat out of the basement, have Jeff put the crib together, pack a bag and perhaps even choose a name.

One odd thing to mention, I keep losing weight.  Not a ton, but enough to freak me out.  I know that you can lose weight in the last month, maybe this is what I am in, for my body, the last month. I don't know but at my last visit I was down three pounds in two weeks.  Very odd, I definitely didn't do that with Jac or Mia.   

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Business of Marriage

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It seems to me that the age of four is when a little girl starts thinking long term.  She starts to understand the order of society and figures out that the majority of people in this world will at some point pair off.  Like most women, when having a task presented to her, decides to go ahead and tackle it and not put off the inevitable.  Who will I marry? 

This is the conversation that I did my best to stay out of yesterday afternoon:

Mia:  I am going to marry Jac.

Jac:  Well, Josie already told me that she is marrying me.

Mia:  (starting to whine) I need to marry someone I love and I don't love Andrew (another eligible bachelor she knows).  Besides, I need to marry someone close to my age.  Andrew is five.

Jac:  I am five.  I know that I was five before Andrew was five.

Mia:  (really whining at this point)  Will can marry Andrew.

Jac:  Boys can't marry boys.

Mia:  Mommy said that in some United States that boys can marry boys, just not this United State.

Jac:  Well, you can marry Sarah then.

Mia:  I don't want to marry Sarah.  Girls can't marry girls in this United State!

And for all of you who didn't have an older brother to admire, this is very normal.  I remember being dead set on marrying my brother right around this age.  I am not sure when I clued in that this was not only gross but illegal!
Somehow we were diverted to another topic having to do with who did and did not want to go to swim lessons.  By the way, it was a good thing that Jac attended last night because he was told that he officially 'could swim' by his instructor and that he would be ready for Level 2.  Mia was not happy about this and said she would not take another lesson unless Jac was in her group.  I told her she merely had to swim to move up to the next level and explained how and when that opportunity presented itself she needed to show her instructor she could do it.  Jac was on cloud 9 with his self confidence on high beam last night, it was very cute coming from my boy who is so often unsure of himself.  Ladies chasing him, moving up in swim lessons, it looks like it is going to be a good fall.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Swimming Lessons Part Two

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We are back in swim lessons and it has been going, well, swimmingly.  First of all, there is nothing like 45 minutes of kicking and moving in the water to knock out two little kids.  When they hit the sheets there is no hoopla, horsing around, or random requests for bunnies and water.  I keep thinking that I am going to need to get a tiny little treadmill or something for them so that going to sleep is a non issue this winter. 

They both love the lessons and are definitely improving and becoming more comfortable in the water.  Jac actually said that his favorite part was, "when I get to put my face in the water".  Well that made me laugh out loud because he has basically avoided getting his face wet for his entire five years on this planet. 

The little boy who caused trouble is back from the first round of swim lessons.  We like to think that this boy just has extra energy.  He jumps (constantly), he splashes (nonstop), he sort of pins kids to the wall (seems to have personal space issues).  Well, of course we talk about him before each lesson and discuss our strategy.  Jac will help Mia to move away from him.  Jac will be the big brother and make sure she feels like she can move.  Mia will ask him to stop with her mouth and keep moving away.  And if it gets really out of hand, they must ask the instructors for help (yeah right).  Needless to say, he isn't really upsetting her this time around, just annoying her.  She did say, "he must get more sleep than I do".  I asked why that was.  She said, "because he has so much energy!"  She is very wise.

I do admit that the one thing I really struggle with is the lack of family time in the evenings.  It seems like there is a constant battle to fend off evening activities that land smack during dinner.  I know everyone else struggles with this also.  I don't know how to recreate that time somewhere during the day.  I miss that brief connection when all four of us are together and around the table.  Any suggestions?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

All Good Things Must End

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In the process of recovering from the weekend, I have been opting for sleep instead of blogging.  I have been informed by more than one person that I COULD have a baby in four or five weeks.  Even though I have nine more weeks to go (yes, we are in single digits) Jac tried to come six weeks early and Mia tried to come five weeks early, and actually came four weeks early.  So, I am big, slow and have a lot to do, but sleeping right now trumps everything.

But that isn't what this blog post is about.  The end of Mia's birthday, that is what this is about.  Over the weekend we were able to celebrate her birthday with her cousins and she also was able to take a special treat to school this week to celebrate.  I must admit, I am glad to see the birthday come to a close.


Monday, September 13, 2010

What If I Paid You To Sleep?

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Sleep.  The Holy Grail, the one topic that EVERY parent has a story regarding, dilemma about or advice to give.  I really didn't get this prior to children.  I didn't understand the huge industry around sleep, different luxury beds, bedding, breathing devices, sound machines, eye covers, and the list goes on and on.  For me, sleep has always been super simple.  You find a quiet dark place, you lay down and bam you are asleep.  Stress was really the only thing that could ever interrupt my sleep.   Maybe a big thunderstorm or an even bigger scorpion in bed with me, but other than that I was confused by all the difficulty. 

And then I became a mom. 

When they are tiny you grow your mommy ears and can all of a sudden hear a pin drop in their room.  Coughing, labored breathing, tossing and turning; I can hear it all.  When they get a bit older you trust more that a cough and cold or a fever won't do any permanent damage so you sleep a little easier.  On the flip side, while you are learning new strategies to keep yourself asleep, you must also learn how to keep these new people asleep, also. 

I have reached the, what if I paid you to sleep strategy.  Which really isn't a viable option until they understand the value of a quarter.  Every night that they stay in bed all night, they receive a quarter.  Needless to say, in the middle of the night when a certain five year old boy wants his mommy a quarter isn't going to purchase his staying in bed.  There really isn't a price you can put on needing your mommy.  But we will continue this strategy for awhile.  The one thing I think it does do is reinforce the behavior you want.  The problem is that if the behavior you want never presents itself it is sure hard to reinforce. 

In the words of my mother-in-law, he won't go to kindergarten in diapers.  He also won't go to college waking up in the middle of the night and climbing into bed with me.  For that matter, I highly doubt he will go to high school or even middle school doing this.  However, will we make it to first grade, second grade, third grade or even fourth grade without nighttime interruptions?  I know that this too shall pass, but if anyone could give me a timeline on when it will pass; I would really appreciate it. 

I was called patient recently and almost laughed out loud at the complement.  But maybe it is true, maybe my family, Jac included; are teaching me patience.  Do you think if I can demonstrate patience the lesson could be over and we all could get some more sleep?

Friday, September 10, 2010

Everything Checks Out Good

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Mia had her four year checkup yesterday.  She was such a big girl.  Literally, this girl is big!  She is 90th percentile on height, I guess not too much of a shocker.  She is in the 50th percentile for weight.  Now these are great numbers, long and lean.  Hopefully she is able to effortlessly keep this body structure forever!  When Jeff heard these numbers, he said something like, "Sounds like her daddy."  He was very generous when he quickly ammended that to say, "Or her mommy!"  It kind of cracked me up.

The rest of her appointment went great, hearing test, blood pressure, physical, all good.  She talked to the doctor which is something my pedi does, to make sure everything is good with the child.  She asks questions like, "Where do you ride when you are in the car?"  I love that she is an advocate for her patient not necessarily the parent. 

Then came the shots.

I have had to hold Mia down twice in the last month to allow people to torture her.  Ugh.  She was sunny and cute and lovely and then she panicked.  She stood up on the table and practically ran to the other corner, I started to talk calm to her and get her "off the ledge", but she wasn't it having it.  So I grabbed her and told her that she had to lay down.  Double ugh.  She was so scared and big tears started to roll.  It was over quick, thank goodness.

As soon as I let her up, she popped up and straight into my arms and sobbed.  Until I asked her what was on her bandaids and then the sun came out again.  Amazing what a Tweety Bird bandage will do.  And off we went, like nothing had happened. 

Next year, Daddy gets to hold her down.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Preschool Here I Come

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Mia did great on her first day back to school.  It happened to fall on her birthday, but there was no problem.  She marched right in, hung up her back and coat and started playing.  No tears, no wistful  looks at mommy and she even flashed her smile for the camera a couple of times.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Party Girl

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I may have reminded my stubborn, opinionated little girl 500 times that she was not having a huge birthday party.  It worked out that the family parties got divided up and as far as a friend party, I really think that should be something big that you can remember.  All birthdays before the age of five or six for me are pretty sketchy in my memory banks.  Jac had a big five year party with six or eight friends just three months ago, so that is what she had stuck in her head.  Not to mention that there were maybe 15 adults present at his party.  It was a pretty big time, but I can't do that every year for every child!  More power to the mommies who do that every year, it's a lot of work!

I was getting a little nervous that Mia was going to be disappointed in her party.  She kept saying things like, "I won't have a lot of friends at my party, but all my cousins will be there."  I would then follow up with, "No, none of your cousins will be here on your birthday."  And she would glare at me and say, "I know!"  Then she would invite the neighbor boys to her "party", her nonexistent party.  And I would have to look at the mom and whisper, "There is  no party!"  And on and on, she also gave me lots of details about games and crafts and other fun things that would occur at her "party".  There were many times that I looked in her eyes and told her firmly that she would have a big friend party on her fifth birthday, just like Jac and that her fourth birthday was going to be two neighbor girls over for a craft and then opening presents with Mommy, Daddy and Jac.  I felt like I was deprogramming a prisoner of war, she would totally agree with me and say something like, "I was talking about my party next year."  But then the next day we would be back to the same conversation. 

So I caved, a tiny bit.  We bought more decorations than I intended.  I made cake and cupcakes so her friends would have a more "party" experience.  We also went to the Magic House a couple of weeks ago.  She is a mildly discontent little girl that sees the flaws in the world versus a sunnier outlook.  So again, I was nervous.

We talked about the cake.  She told me in detail, exactly what the cake would like and that I would be making it.  I like to make cake, all your love goes into it, but I am exhausted folks!  But of course when your baby girl asks you to make her "rainbow" cake you have to agree.  I fudged a little, my rainbow only had six colors; not seven.  As the days wore on she would tell me things like, "It will be half yellow and half blue, with a rainbow."  The last detail she added was Monday while we were baking the actualy cake, "Mommy if it is a rainbow cake it has to have clouds."  Seriously, birthday or not I think I snapped back at that one and told her she had to stop adding details. 

So here it is, the cake (with clouds, what can I say, I am a softy) was completely her concept.  The decorations and wrapping paper were solely picked out by Miss Mia.  We made pom pom animals that were a bit too difficult for four and five year old hands to create.  She decided on all the party favors.  I told her next year her party would be a complete surprise!  I didn't add that otherwise, she might not make it to her fifth birthday party....





And lest you think she is completely spoiled, she insisted that all of her friends get to blow out a candle on their cupcake also.  Her idea.


We visited the toy store a couple of times to try and get birthday ideas.  She was not shy in pointing to every toy and saying she wanted it.  I told her she needed to say, "I like this."  Before opening her gifts she told me that she couldn't wait to play with her Oso toy, I had to tell her she wasn't getting an Oso toy.  She also said that she was going to have two doll houses now, because she already had one and she had picked one out at the toy store.  What a lucky girl, nevermind that all of her gifts on the table could literally fit into a shoe box.  I let that one slide. 

We got her a camera from Fisher Price, one of those indestructible ones, she loved it.  We got her Twinkle Toes from Sketchers, she adores those.  She received some footy pjs, her favorite.  She wanted a two dollar vibrating microphone that we had somehow managed to avoid for four years.  She also got some paints, a Playdoh accessory and a basket for her bike.  She loved all of her gifts.  She was over the moon for her cake, although she didn't eat any of it.  She loved her name up on the wall, although thought it would have looked better in rainbow paper.  She really had a good time and felt special the whole day. 



Now I have a whole year to set expectations about her fifth birthday party, whew!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Mia Turns Four

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How is that possible?  Well, all of the cliches are true.  They grow up so fast. 

My precious baby girl is now a fully fledged pre-schooler with opinions, ideas and spunk.  This little girl is going to give the world a run for it's money.  She is a girl full of contradictions and complexity.  She'll tell you she isn't afraid of ANYTHING, except when she gets sleepy.  She loves to browse the baby toy section, but thinks that she can do anything that Jac and his friends can do.  She needs privacy to go to the bathroom, but still wants you to help clean up.  She is a tomboy without a prissy bone in her body, but still insists on wearing dresses when she wants to wear them. 

I love that she has a lisp that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. I love that she sucks her thumb and needs her blankie almost perpetually.  I love that she holds her big brother's hand when she is scared.  I love that she still says 'wipe' instead of 'white'.  I love that she will squeeze herself into any stroller that you offer.



And then the contradictions.  I love that she gets mad at you if you didn't let her order her own food at the restaurant.  I love that she is generous beyond her years and will share absolutely anything.  I love that she soothes her big brother when he gets hurt.  I love that she knows exactly what she wants and can explain it to you.  I love that she can remember tiny details from when she was two.

She is clearly a female.  She is hard to figure out and wonderful when you do.  She is everything you would want in a daughter and a sister; but I can see glimpses of the friend and even wife and mother she will become.  She is compassionate, trustworthy, loyal and so stubborn.  She can negotiate better than most 35 year olds.  She can pull off wearing winter boots in July and knows exactly what angle to wear a hat.

Did I mention she gives the best hugs and kisses?

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Can you tell?

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This morning I scrambled up some eggs for the kiddos.  I had four eggs left from the store, which normally would be plenty for the three of us; but I was curious.  So I went ahead and cracked up a fifth egg from a pasture fed hen.  Can you tell the difference?


The light colored eggs are from the grocery store, and are organic free range (although a lot of people don't really subscribe to these eggs as they are still mass produced).  The lovely orange colored egg is pasture fed, free range from a very happy hen.  If the color of the yolk doesn't convince you, the hardness of the shell and the thickness of the white should also be mentioned as superior to the store bought eggs.  All of these indicate (although I have no way of truly knowing) that the Omega - 3s in these farm eggs are much higher therefore a healthier egg.  And the kicker, about 25% less in price than what I would pay for an organic dozen in the grocery store.  Wow, that is a deal. 

The other benefit to buying eggs from this family farm, the risk of these food borne pathogens that have been causing so much ruckus is basically nonexistant.  Here is a great article talking about the Salmonella outbreak on the Iowa "family farm" that has forced the recall of millions of eggs.  I just think it is an extremely sad state of affairs when your four year old can't be allowed to eat raw cake batter.  What is the point of making a cake if you can't lick the beaters?

It isn't easy to come up with a source for pasture fed hens, but I know more and more people doing it. I found mine through my neighbor who is in a food co-op. Through this co-op she also has a source for farm eggs. I know that these aren't the most reliable eggs, in August through the 100 degree temperatures, the hens were unhappy and stopped laying. Poor hens, as a pregnant lady I totally understand. Also, I guess they will quit laying when it gets too cold. But still, if I can get these eggs 75% of the time, I am happy.  If you want to find these types of eggs, just start talking food to your friends, family and neighbors.  You might be surprised how many of them have found a source.

I have heard the argument often from conventional farming advocates, that there is no way that the food system could support everyone eating organic or pasture fed meat, eggs and milk.  My first argument back to these comments is, not to worry!  Conventional farming is killing us off fast enough that organic farming could scale pretty quickly, and those of us who it isn't killing it is simply sterilizing.  So between infertility and premature death organic farming has a fighting chance.  But that is a flip answer to a serious question.  I need to do more research on this, because I do believe that in all actuality we make a surplus of food that big agriculture is constantly trying to get us to consume (via cheap fast food or by using the byproducts to make our clothes, paint our walls and fuel our cars).  So I am not so sure that we need all of the corn and soybeans which completely dominate our food system.  Many of these resources could be devoted to happier hens, healthier cows and local produce.  This is a much bigger argument than I have time for on this Thursday morning, more on this later.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Kindergarten Update

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Jac is in his third week of Kindergarten and still loving it.  I guess though, if you don't love Kindergarten it is going to be a long 13 years of school!  He can't even pinpoint what his favorite thing is, he loves it all so much. 

Here are a few things I love about Kindergarten:
- His teacher is great.  First of all she communicates via email, love her.  I have all together too much paper in my life and to be able to file it in folder and refer back whenever I want is so nice.  (Why is there so much paperwork with Kindergarten?  It's like buying a new car or bringing home a baby from the hospital in Texas!  Forms to fill out, permission slips to sign, fundraisers to pay off, and of course his cute homework.)
- Did I mention his teacher was great?  Besides living in the 21st century communication style, she also seems to already be reading my sons strengths and weaknesses (or opportunities if you want to PC).  She has noted that he is a great listener and he is bringing home lots of stickers for our school's version of "good citizenship".  But she also has already started to try and bring him out of his shell.  She told me that he does talk to her if it is a one on one conversation, but that anytime he is asked a question in a group situation he freezes up.  So she is already working on it, fantastic. 
- The bus picks him up and drops him off in front of our house on time everyday!  Wow, I can really get on board with this public transportation thing.  Not only does it take one thing off my plate, but it also gives him a chance to practice his social skills (we have had a bit of angst already), and it is good for the environment!  The social situation on the bus, where you are prettymuch forced to talk to someone and sit in close proximity to people you both like an dislike, to get right with that in Kindergarten is huge.  I know some parents want to rescue their child from this situation (and I certainly wouldn't tolerate any form of bullying) but I love that Jac is learning more tools to deal with people and situations he isn't comfortable with, without the bus, we wouldn't have had some of these great learning moments. 

I think this Kindergarten thing is really good for all of us.  It is reminding me (as I remind Jac) to be tolerant of others and their personalities, but also speak up!  If something is bothering you, don't complain about it do something about it.  Really, all life's lessons start in Kindergarten, too bad that they don't end there.