Oh the joys...

of potty training. I'm warning you now, if you don't want to hear this...go back now! It's gross.

Kyle has been "potty training" (sort of) for several months now. Once I realized that I was training myself rather than him I backed off. He is capable of using the toilet, but being that he's still rather short he requires assistance. So technically, he is trained in that he will go if we put him on the toilet (in time), but he rarely tells us when he needs to go. Sometimes he surprises me and lets me know, but usually he doesn't. However, he did stay completely dry all day at Amy's last Thursday. Hooray! She's better about taking him all the time though...

On Sundays, our family takes naps. It's basically how we spend Sunday - church, lunch, nap. Katie fell asleep in my bed so I went up to her room to read and then fall asleep. Her room is nice and cold (and dark) so it's great for sleeping. Kyle usually goes to sleep around 12:45, but I could hear him playing for a while. I started to doze off around 1:45 when I he started yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!" I usually just let him yell for a few minutes, he gives up and then goes to sleep. But then, he really started screaming, "Mommy, I poop in my crib! I poop in my crib!" This too is not alarming because he doesn't like poop in his diaper so as soon as he starts to go he yells at me, "I going poop!" But, I got up to go check on him because who wants to sleep in a poopy diaper? Then he's screaming like a little girl, "Get it out! Get it out!" So I walk in there. He has thrown everything out of his crib (all pillows, blankets, stuffed animals). And he's standing there butt naked, clutching the side of his crib, trying to get away from it. Yes, he had taken his diaper off because he knew he had to go. So there it sits in the middle of his bed. Thank God for the "ultimate crib sheet". I still remember who gave those to me when I had Katie (Amy Raper - thank you!!!).

Read more...

First Day

She's there! Our morning didn't go exactly as planned, but that's okay. I felt really unprepared as I drove to school this morning and realized that I never really got a "checklist" of things that I was supposed to have. We paid for supplies but I failed to get them when I registered her. Whether that is my fault or someone else's I don't know. I didn't think to ask and since I work there now it was pretty informal when I registered her. Then I realized on the way there that I had not packed her any snacks. Again, no checklist. So lesson learned. Make a list and ask questions!

We stopped on the way to school to get her some snacks, but Walgreen's was closed at 7:55am. Rather than wait the 5 minutes, she decided she'd rather go to school and let me bring her some snacks later. When we got to school, she walked right into the classroom. It was full of parents hovering at the door which left Kyle and I standing in the hallway because we couldn't fit past the adults. Mrs. Feinberg helped her hang up her backpack while Kyle and I headed back to the office to get her supplies. While we were gone she went and sat in her spot (her teacher had them pick spots at the tables on Monday during Meet the Teacher) and started working on her paper. When I brought the supplies back she walked over to me got her crayons and pencil box, gave me a half hug and a smile and then turned and walked right back to her table. I did tear up on the walk down the hallway. Why is it that Kindergarten is harder on the parent than the child?

Fifteen minutes later I stopped back by with her bag of snacks. I was able to get the attention of the assistant teacher so that I didn't have to walk in and interrupt, but Katie did see me from her spot at circle time. She smiled and then turned her head back to her teacher. I remember when she was in a summer program at Epiphany when she was 2 and she would act like she didn't know who I was or who Nana or PopPop was when she'd see us.

When we got to school this morning Kyle really wanted to go with Katie. He insisted that he was 5 years old while we were walking in. He told us that he was going to Kindergarten too. On the way back home, he said, "Katie is supposed to be in her car seat. Where is she?" I told him that she was at school. And he responded with, "I don't want her to to go to school. I want her to come home. I'm mad."

So here are the pictures from home. She picked out her own outfit and has been patiently waiting to wear her new "sparkly heart shirt".





So now Kyle and I are at home. What are we supposed to do? I know we did this last year but I can't remember having him by himself. Actually I didn't - Katie was home on the days that I didn't work. I guess we'll figure it out...

I just went back and looked at last year's "1st day" picture (actually taken at the end of the day which is why she is covered in stickers from my classroom). She has grown so much! If you look at the window pane in this year's photos (above), you can see just how much. Last year:

Read more...

$2.57

All summer long I've been moaning about gas prices like everyone else. Our grocery store has a special right now and for an amount that you spend, you get $.10 off. Well the first week of this special, my discount showed up, but since then it hasn't. I just figured that Derek had been getting my discount on his card so I didn't think much of it. Last week, a manager was checking me out and she said, "You received the $.10 fuel discount [pause, as she looks at the bottom of my receipt], did you know you have nine discounts?" I was a bit shocked but I told her that I've been filling up and it's just shown up as the $.3 off. But today it worked! I got $.90 off per gallon. I just filled up my tank for $2.57 a gallon!

And, another parent from Trinity called last week and we are going to start carpooling in a couple of weeks. So, I will drive on Tuesday/Thursday which are the days I work and she'll drive Mon/Fri. She'll drive there on Wednesdays and I will pick up since Kyle has MDO and he gets out earlier than the girls.

In other news, Katie's first day of school is tomorrow. Amy has offered to take Kyle with her in the morning to run an errand so that I can drop Katie off without his help (he dumped out a basket of magnetic letters yesterday at Meet the Teacher). I'm not all that emotional about it, but who knows I may tear up tomorrow. Katie is really excited. Her teacher is great and from what I hear is fantastic with "shy" children. Last Tuesday I took Katie to work with me and by the afternoon she and another little girl were running down the hall to their classroom, peeking their heads in, yelling "Hi!" and then running away. While I wasn't excited about that behavior, I'm happy that she felt comfortable enough to do that.

Read more...

Shine Like Stars

Hark, the voice of Jesus calling,
“Who will go and work today?
Fields are ripe and harvests waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away?”
Long and loud the Master calls us,
Rich reward He offers free;
Who will answer, gladly saying,
“Here am I, send me, send me”?

If you cannot speak like angels,
If you cannot preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
You can say He died for all.
If you cannot rouse the wicked,
With the judgment’s dread alarms,
You can lead the little children
To the Savior’s waiting arms.

Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling, verses 1 & 3

Today as I stood in our church sanctuary singing these songs, I was reminded of why I made the decision to put my children in a Lutheran school. I've had people question, "Why drive so far for school? You'll be in the car for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon." "Why would you pay for private school when we already pay taxes for public school?" "Why not just put them in a private school in the Woodlands?" And also had them say to me, "it's just like a public school with Christians." These are all valid questions and statements which have caused me to doubt my decision a lot in recent months.

Today, I attended the opening worship service for the Houston Area Lutheran Educators. Standing in a church service full of about 200 Lutheran school teachers reminded me that this is not just a teaching job to them, but a ministry where they have the opportunity to transform lives for Jesus. These people make so much less than your average public school teacher. They could go make more money, but what is important to them is not the money, it's that they are able to share their faith and teach in a loving, Christian atmosphere. Today, I saw my 2nd grade teacher, my 5th grade teacher, my 7th grade teacher, and my junior high band director and choir director. I also saw several other teachers that I didn't necessarily have during school, but that had an impact on my life indirectly...either they coached my sisters or worked with my mom. There were also a few that I have worked with in the past.

The sermon today was based on Daniel 12:3, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." We are to "Shine like Stars" for these little children. What a blessing all of these people are! I am so blessed to be a part of it. And so thankful that my children are able to attend a school where the love of Jesus is shown to them on a daily basis. I know not everyone has this privilege and I know that our circumstances may change in the future and we may not be able to continue down this road. But I am so thankful right now for the gift I have been given in being able to choose this education for my children.

Read more...

The Best Ice Cream In The Country...

I am SO thankful for good friends who love my children! As you may have already read, I am pretty much back to work full-time this week so my kids have been bouncing around with Amy and Bethany (although Katie went to school with me yesterday). Today I was so jealous because they took them to Brenham to tour the Bluebell Ice Cream Factory. I assume that I have toured that place at least once in my childhood, but honestly, I don't remember. The kids had a great time and even received a comment from a stranger that they were "well-mannered". Granted, Kyle did have a teensy tiny fit when he dropped Amy's ice cream (he had already finished his and was working on hers), but they said compared to his usual breath-holding, face turning blue fits, it was quite minor.

Work has been going well and I don't feel quite so overwhelmed or upset as I did on Sunday. I'm looking forward to next week when I am only expected to be there twice a week though. However, that also means that my sweet little Katie will be starting Kindergarten in ONE WEEK. How in the world is she old enough to go to Kindergarten? She was just born! I cannot believe how much she has matured in the past 12 months. Her little face has changed, she has grown several inches and she's starting to grow out of some of her shyness. Granted, we still have little meltdowns over everything, but I think that's just my sensitive little Katie.

Here are some pictures the girls took. The older girls are Hope and Chelsea, the two girls that Bethany has been keeping this summer. They start school tomorrow. And I thought we were starting early!

Read more...

Slacker

I know, I know, I've been slacking on the posts. Sometimes there just isn't anything creative left in my head. I've been working a lot more this week since school starts in a week and a half. I don't think I should say anything else because you never know who might be reading this, but let's just say I'm not very excited about it at the moment. I will be working every day this week which seems a little too much considering I'm supposed to be PART-TIME...ONLY 2 DAYS A WEEK. Oh well. Details. My entire first paycheck is probably going to the sitters.

So there it is, a post.

Read more...

Smilebox

Okay, so Jen commented that I needed to check out Smilebox, so I did. What a fantastic tool! I made this little "scrapbook" in about 10 minutes. Granted, I did not purchase a "club membership" so there are going to be ads on it and I can't print it out yet, but check this out.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I'm so amazed. It was super easy, anyone can do it. I will definitely be following up with some other pages and probably joining the "club" in the future. I figured I'd just use the soccer pictures since I knew I had enough to work with. Hopefully it will post correctly on here so you can check it out too. What fun! Thanks Jen!

Read more...

Digital scrapbooking

Digital scrapbooking? I used to spend ALL of my free time working on my scrapbooks. Then along came Kyle and there went the free time. So, a few weeks ago Jen mentioned a friend of hers who does digital scrapbooking. I had no idea what that meant so I took a look at this site that she recommended - Shabby Princess. Wow! Apparently I missed the boat because this is probably what I should have been doing all along. I am the one who will sit for HOURS on the laptop working on websites, newsletters, anything I can possibly put together on the computer just to see my final creation. And here it is - the marriage of my two loves, computers and scrapbooking! So it's now been 3 weeks and I still have no extra time, but I have started dabbling. I have not created any pages yet, but I have taken advantage of their free desktop backgrounds where you drop in your own photos and then use it for your background. I'm still learning my way around with trial and error because I am not about to sit and read the directions. So here are the two "backgrounds" I have created. Katie was so upset when I just took off the July one because now Miss Amy is no longer on our desktop. Sorry Miss Amy! Maybe at some point I will actually have time to design a page and get it printed out.

Read more...