At School with Caleb

Today I helped out in Caleb's class for their holiday party. It was a lot of fun to get to hang out with his classmates and they all kind of made me feel like a celebrity. "Are you Caleb's mom?" was the question of the day. They did some bingo, some snacks and some coloring pages before it was time for the school day to end and our two week vacation break to start. Caleb loved that mom came to help out with his class.

The South Korea Project -- Finished!

Caleb's 2nd big project of this school year was due today. He did an oral report about The Republic of South Korea. We did most of our work on the computer using a word pad program for typing out his speech and creating the bits and pieces for his poster board, but we also made a paper mache mask. He really got into this project and spent a lot of time working with me to get the information he was required to have. I'm really hoping he gets a good grade on this. I think he'd be crushed if he didn't. I also hope he could remember what the mask represented. It was a bit confusing and I sent the explanation sheet with it, but it wasn't something he'd be able to "translate/read" very easily.

Faking It

This morning when I got the kids up for school they definitely had a case of the Monday's...they faked sick.

I don't know what possessed them to try and get away with a day off from school. They got a freebie out of me last week during the bad weather AND this is our last week before summer break. Regardless, they tried to pull the wool over mom's eyes. I think they would have been successful if they'd just faked for a little longer. But just before school should start they were already full on bickering with each other and Caleb was squirming around under his bed.

I asked him if he was feeling even a little bit sick and he immediately began to cry and admitted he was faking sick so he could stay home. He just did not want to go to school today. And, as usual, if Caleb is sick and gets to stay home Lorelei usually has some sort of "ailment" as well.

I hollered a bit cause I was pretty darn mad and sent them downstairs to get their stuff on for school. We left the house a few minutes later and they made it in time to rush in the door after the bell. And when I say rush, I mean they RAN full speed inside. Whether or not that was because they knew we were "late" or if that was because they knew it was safer at school today...I'm not sure. ;)

All I know is that it better not happen again. And my policy of only letting them stay home if they have a fever is now in even stricter force.

The Korea Project

Caleb and I have been working together on his latest project for school. He had to pick a country to research and then write a one page speech, do a poster board that contained specific information AND create something that represented that country. These are the information pieces we made for his poster board. We spent a lot of time on the computer where I showed him how to use a word document, set spacing and font changing and adding pictures. All in all it ended up being a fun project, but a lot of work. I certainly don't remember 3rd grade being this detailed when I was there. Tuesday is the deadline and the only thing we have left to do is get these glued/taped/pasted down on his poster board. I'll share the completed parts of the project tomorrow.

The children were nestled...

all snug in their beds. While visions of SNOW DAYS danced through their heads.

Like much of the Midwest, we're under a Winter Snow Advisory of one sort or another and both Caleb and Lorelei have just about every single body part crossed in hopes of a snow day tomorrow. I'm sort of hoping we get one too, but I don't have my hopes up very high. We're in the icky part of the storm and mostly we'll be getting sleet and rain overnight and into tomorrow morning. If it freezes...we could get lucky. Or we could lose our electricity. :(

A Brief Overview

• Today Lorelei had her very last cheer practice for this season and I'm happy about that. We've been doing cheer practice about 4 days a week since the beginning of August and Caleb and I have had our fill. Lorelei however...would like to keep having cheer. Go figure. She has a pizza party at her coaches house on Friday night and her big Cheer Gala and Princess Ball on Sunday morning {very bright and early!}.
• This morning mommy was diagnosed with bronchitis. At this point I've been "sick" for about two weeks. For a few days I even thought it might be the ever popular H1N1 {which if you want my opinion has been blow out of proportion by the media!}, but apparently, I was wrong. I'm not pleased with the care I received, but at the very least I have an antibiotic that "might" help. Let's hope it does because I'm miserable!
• Caleb finished his seed project this afternoon. He was pleased with how it looked, so I guess that's all that matters. I'm wondering if we should have done a little more, but it is his project so he has to make that call. I'm just hoping we covered everything because I couldn't find the sheet tonight to double check. Ooops!
• We are definitely going trick-or-treating this weekend! YAY! I've been considering getting a fun Halloween shirt to wear. Something I can put over a sweatshirt or even a jacket. We're also going to our community Halloween festivities which should be a lot of fun.
• Caleb and I started looking through his Bear Scouts handbook and have found an achievement to start working on so he can earn his Bear badge this year.

Where is time going???

Wow, almost another month has passed us by!

Since I last posted Caleb has had his first official scouts meeting and he seems to really enjoy that. I think we have to get him a uniform before the first meeting in November, but I'm letting Dad take care of that stuff with him.

We are almost finished with our 2009 cheer season and I won't say I'm disappointed by that at all. It's been a crazy season and most of the time I feel like we have no idea what's going on at all. I'm just crossing my fingers that by some miracle the girls do well enough to feel good about themselves at their gala.

School picture day was today. We made the decision to forgo ordering school portraits and instead I'm going to take the kids in somewhere simple like Walmart for a session. It's cheaper and you get more pictures to give out to family and friends. We are however going to get them both yearbooks, because I'd like them to have those memories down the road. I was mad at myself for not getting them one last year!





The kids are really excited about Halloween. After being on vacation and then sick for the last few weeks, I finally asked them about costumes today. Caleb intends to be Optimus Prime while Lorelei is intending to reuse her kitten costume (if I can find it) from last year. We're supposed to attend a Halloween Party in two days (if everyone is feeling well enough) so I've got to get on costume search ASAP.

Lots of big life changes going on around here; all of them very positive and wonderful. :)

Homework

Instead of trying to keep track of extra paper for things like figuring out math problems or explaining concepts, I bought some very cheap Dollar Tree dry erase boards for both the kids this school year. Let me tell you -- they are handy! Since both kids have spelling tests on Friday's we used our dry erase boards to practice writing our spelling words tonight. No paper needed and when the kids were done they got to erase them and draw fun pictures instead. And, it's helping the kids learn how to save paper. All in all -- a win-win.

A Butt Kicking

The first day of school...


really kicked their butts....


and the pictures were too cute not to take.

Not the best first day ever...

Oh boy. This could turn out to be a very long year.

First, the kids dismissal doors are on direct opposite sides of the building. Caleb is let out at one parking lot and Lorelei an entirely different parking lot. Caleb will be picking up Lorelei after school (once the kids are comfortable with the routine) and walking home with her. So, I went to pick up Caleb first so that Lorelei would get used to waiting for him to arrive.

I waited and waited for Caleb and he never showed up. So, one of the teachers pointed out Mrs. L and I went to ask where Caleb was. Apparently right at the end of the day he busted open his lip on his desk. *sigh* So he had been escorted down to the office for clean up. As she was bringing me in to find him, he came walking towards us with one of the aides. I proceeded down the hall to where Lorelei should be waiting and Caleb's teacher was kind enough to take him back to class to grab his stuff and then offered to walk him to where I needed to get Lorelei.

Imagine my surprise when I get to where Lorelei SHOULD be, but she isn't there. The substitute informs me that Lorelei saw me and took off. She didn't realize that wasn't okay for a 6 year old to do. Lovely.

I spend the next five minutes frantically searching in a sea of kids, grown ups, teachers and traffic for Lorelei. To no avail. I'm about to head into the office, but it's super crowded so I figure I'll go back outside and grab Caleb's teacher from last year Mrs. M to help us search. I get back outside and starting scanning the area again when I hear Lorelei (crying, huge crocodile tears) running up behind me.

She got lost. (Obviously!)

She had gone to the office to tell someone, but it was so busy in there and so hectic it's likely they hadn't even gotten started trying to figure out where in the heck she belonged.

*sigh*

It's always good to have two heart attacks on the first day of school.

Her teacher has been informed (and probably not in my nicest tone of voice) that Lorelei is to remain at her dismissal door until either her brother or I physically retrieve her from the spot. Let's hope I don't have to do that again.

And, we're back to school...

George took Caleb to his door and I took Lorelei to hers. They enter and are released on opposite sides of the building -- so I only have the picture of Lorelei going. It's bittersweet to have them gone.

Lorelei was up before 7 and was completely dressed to her shoes before I'd even gotten out of bed. It was cute. Caleb, who is not a morning person, was a little slower to get moving. Once the kids heard it was just a half day they were both really excited. Lorelei's nerves got the best of her once we were standing there waiting for school to start, but she seems to like her "teacher". I say "teacher" because yesterday her normal teacher had a baby (sound familiar from last year??) and so the long term substitute was there instead. George said Caleb enjoyed getting to see his friends from last year, was a bit disappointed they weren't in his class, but went in to school with his class like a trooper.

Here's to a great school year.

T'was the night before...

Tomorrow is the first day back to school!

I can hardly believe that my "baby" is headed into first grade and my other "baby" into third. It seems that not all that long ago I was changing diapers and teaching them how to walk. *sigh*

They grow too fast.

As for tonight...

The kids had their showers. We laid out clothes for the morning. I've got two lunches to pack. And we'll start the school rush at about 7AM. Look for pictures sometime tomorrow on the blog.

And the winner is...

We walked over to the school this morning to try and find out the kid's new teachers. No luck. Just a sign on the door to say that the lists would be out after 1. So before heading over to the Burger King playland for lunch we tried again. Still...no class lists. We finally got lucky right around 2 o'clock this afternoon and the lists were out!

Caleb will be in Mrs. Lenzie's class in room 148.
Lorelei will be in Mrs. Oostman's class in room 110.

It looks like they each know at least one person in their class, which is good. Lorelei was very disappointed that a few of her friends were in other classes, but like I told both kids -- it's the luck of the draw.

It's been busy around here!

The days have slipped by so quickly. I don't even know where one starts and the next begins.

I suppose we'll start with Lorelei starting with her cheerleading group. The Fox Valley Gators.



We spend our evenings at a local park while she has practice. Starting at the end of the month we'll be going to games so that she can cheer. So far it's been a great experience. Tonight was picture night and as soon as I have ours back I'll post her "professional" cheer pictures for you to see. Let me tell you -- she looked adorable!

We got a new pool! Our baby pool wasn't cutting it and we were wanting to spend more time outside.



Talk about enjoyment! The kids and I have fully taken advantage of the gorgeous weather when it's happened and we've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks in our pool. I'll be very sad to take it down next weekend.

Caleb started and finished his first chapter book of over 100 pages last week while we were at cheer practice. Made me so proud to see him finally try to read a book of that length. He's been insisting for so long that he couldn't...but obviously...he can!




School starts in exactly one week. I'm not sure if we're looking forward to that or not? We dropped in today to try and get a look at which classes the kids were in, but they won't be out until Thursday. I think I'm more excited than they are.

I've started collecting up supplies and luckily we have a few key things still laying around from last year which is fantastic! Should help us save a little money anyway.

There's more, but perhaps I'll get around to some more posts. We'll see! We've been really, really busy!

Last Day of School

Well, I'm counting my chickens before they hatch, but I am now the mother of a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. Someone want to tell me how that happened?

Lorelei's report card clearly states that she has been promoted to the 1st grade. I don't have Caleb's yet, but since I got both an Honor Roll and a Homework Award certificates -- I think it's safe to say that he'll be promoted to 3rd grade.

I feel old. Really, really old.

On top of that, it's Lorelei's birthday next Saturday and she will turn 6. How is it possible that she's turning 6?? And a few weeks after that, Caleb will turn 8. *sigh*

But, Happy Last Day of School! Welcome Summer Vacation!

That darn swine flu...

Swine flu? Well, we don't have it, thankfully. BUT...there are cases in our state, county and city.

Tonight, the school is having a showing of Bolt for the kids and parents. A fun night for the family and just $.50/person or a clean soda can to recycle. Sweet deal. But, we aren't going. Because of swine flu.

I'm not paranoid about it, but they are suggesting to stay out of crowded places if you can -- and we can avoid this. In fact, we own Bolt on DVD. So, in an effort to still have our cake and eat it too -- we will be having family night here at home. Popcorn, root beer and a movie -- for nothing.

Another reason we'll be staying in? Caleb has a cold and a bit of chest congestion. So, since he's already a little sick, it's probably best not to have him around all those people. Obviously I can't keep him home for every cough or sniffle from school, but I can keep him from getting anyone sick at this particular family event.

Now, let's all hope that this swine flu business doesn't cancel his field trip to the Shedd Aquarium next Thursday. Not only is he really looking forward to it, I get to go along as a chaperone! And let's hope it's well controlled by the time summer vacation hits because I've found a ton of free programs for the kids to enjoy through the park and recreation department and I certainly don't want to have to avoid those!

{Oh, and mommy quit smoking 5 days ago. The kids -- haven't noticed. Despite being the ones who always told me I was going to die soon if I didn't give them up. Hypocrites!}

3rd Quarter Report Cards

We got 3rd quarter report cards and I'm one happy mom!

Caleb's 2nd quarter math grade was a D. I was not at all happy about a D and I let him know that. We also had a conference with his teacher because we wanted to know what the issue was. This quarter is grade has gone up to a B. I know that both George and I find a B acceptable and I was quite pleased to see that his effort in math had gone up as well.

Lorelei's report card is less interesting because it's kindergarten, but she's also doing very well!

So, 3rd quarter in my book was a success! Yay!

Happy April Fools

The kids are still too young to "get" April Fools day. And so, I don't trick them even though I'd like to. Besides, I'm always telling them I've called the circus and sold them to the monkey show anyway -- how much more foolish could I possibly get?

So, no jokes for us. I'm glad.

Some of my house is still clean at this point of spring break. The rest? Not so much. And it's mostly my doing. Because I hate folding laundry. And so, I'm behind. And I'll be behind until...until whenever it really bugs me and I have to get it all folded and put away. My take is -- at least it's clean. But perhaps I should at least move it upstairs so it's not, you know, sitting in my dining room and kitchen and living room. *sigh*

The kids? Well, they are sort of acting like they belong in the monkey show at the circus. The weather has not been fabulous this week. And I'm not a hardy all-weather kind of girl. So we've pretty much been inside...and it shows. I'm not even sure what we'd do if we did go out. I'd like to go bowling or maybe roller skating, but that would require a few extra adult hands. I'm not sure I can skate anymore.

I know I mentioned Skype not that long ago. I've actually been quite pleased with it. Being able to video call Korea for nothing is super awesome. My only complaint so far is that I can't find the "pictures" I've taken while in a video chat. Can't find them anywhere. So, once the call is finished -- I have no access. So, I have like 50 Skype photos and I can't look at them, use them, or even access them. I'm sorta annoyed. That being said, I'll take the small inconvenience for real time conversation with my special someone with the ability to see him at the same time. You really can not beat that. Absolutely no price on it.

Oh, and I've decided on the elements of my next tattoo -- based on that lovely photo from the other day. I'd like to have a pink frog, cherry blossoms and a rather knotty old tree all combined somehow. Not sure how, but that's what I'd like. Hopefully I'll have some to take my inspiration photos to an artist and see what they can come up with for me. And then -- we'll see how much it costs. And yes, I'm thinking a larger tat quite possibly on the side of calf and possibly down onto the ankle and foot.

Spring Break

All of next week is spring break for us. Could the kids get any luckier? They had nine days off. Went to school this week. And now get another nine day break. I hope I still have some sanity left when it's all finished.

The weather hasn't been very good this week. Overcast, windy, cool and definitely not sunny. I'm hoping over break we'll have some nice weather for going to the park and getting out and about. Maybe even some traveling if I can arrange it.

We had a lot of make-up homework from their week away, but I can say quite proudly that both Caleb and Lorelei have been excellent about getting it worked on. In fact, Lorelei finished all of hers on Monday night. I think she was excited about actually having homework like Caleb. With him, I take an entirely different approach so that he isn't overwhelmed and we do at least one sheet a day to get through it. We have one sheet left for tonight and then he'll be all caught up.

The school year is finally winding down. We don't have any real plans for the summer. I sort of like going with the flow and not getting too scheduled. They've both requested a few things they'd like to do and some places they'd like to go. All of which I'm pretty sure can be accomplished no problem. I'm sure we'll do lots of visiting since it's a lot easier to coordinate in the summer. And I'm hoping we'll have some visitors here this year as well. I know my very good friend is considering coming down with her girls to get a taste of our city life. And her first trip to Ikea!

On the road again...

On the road again
Just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin' music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again
On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again.

--Willie Nelson

Like the song says, we're headed out onto the open road again. Same destination as the last two weekends, but this time both the kids and I will be staying five full days! I'm taking them out of school for three days next week. I've never done that before so I just hope the homework overload isn't too great.

{The Very Trusty, Yet Very Dirty, Saturn}

We'll be back sometime on Wednesday evening. Hopefully I remember this time to take at least one picture every day for our 365 blog.

For the first few nights we'll be using a friends apartment who is not home. This is great! I'm glad we'll have some place where the kids can just chill and be themselves. Then on Sunday night -- I'm not sure where we'll be. I guess we'll figure that out as we go along. We have lots of visiting with family to do. We're going bowling at least one night. And we'll be spending time with my special someone before he heads off to Korea.

It's going to be an excellent weekend. I hope I've taken so many pictures that I run out of space on my SD card in my camera.